Welcome to Litsy!

Glad I persevered but sorry to use such a word where reading is concerned.
My FIL was a Baptist minister and I've good memories of comet Hale-Bopp (I was pregnant), so there's that.
I did enjoy it in the end but it's a qualified pick: the vibe was more 1897 than 1997, which was disorienting, and several minor characters, along with the whole Maria Vaduva story arc, didn't quite come into focus.
I did like Grace and Thomas's complex friendship.

Love me some Ruby Vaughn. 🧡

My review on this one is rather long (it‘s a definite 5⭐️ for me), so if you‘re interested, here‘s the GR link:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6562240496

And I‘d recommend starting with its predecessor The Curse of Penryth Hall to get the full effect. 😉

Kept seeing this and resisted reading it. Saw someone said how they were learning and made myself pick up the paperback. 🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎. Art history, equine science, horse racing in the antebellum South, 3 timelines and a bit of a romance…Loved this Read. Not a horse person but now I am closer to being one. Based on the stud Lexington.

Some books just feel like magic, and for me, this is one of them (among the likes of Where The Heart is, The Help, and Practical Magic). I think what makes the magic is the author's ability to fully immerse the reader's senses in her descriptions of the setting, and to make the reader fall so in love with the characters. This one is going in my top 10. 🥰

Another book club read. It just wasn‘t for me. Maybe because I did it as an audio book? Maybe because I wasn‘t interested in the topic? Maybe I wasn‘t able to fully comprehend it due to current events? Either way, it was very well written and narrated. I did learn a thing or 2 about the unionization of coal mining. Just too many old western type shoot outs for me.

✨✨✨

Marginalized by society and family, Lady Augusta and Lady Julia Colebrook, judged spinsters, seek meaning and purpose. Augusta (Gus) is bolder than her sister, but Julia can hold her own. In separate chapters, they embark on quests to protect or rescue woman who have been preyed upon by men. Along the way they become powerful, and may find love. Set in Regency England and well researched, it was a great read to counter the election results.

This was almost entirely awesome. Great writing, good plot, memorable characters, all with a generous dash of quirkiness, dark humour & a little bit of (not sure what the word is for living/ghost relations!) romance! Loved the charismatic Bridie and her maid, Cora. Loved villain Gideon - so awful! I loved Bad Dorcas, boo! Hiss! And how could I not loved Ruby Doyle?! Fun, engaging read - I'd LOVE a sequel! Only negative was violent attack on MC.

"I am not a slave anymore. I am free."

This story is a powerful way to teach about slavery, freedom, and courage. Students can create a timeline of the Underground Railroad or write letters imagining what life was like for Henry Brown.