This book is bizarre and wonderful, a mix of prose and poetry. Time is frozen in June 2020, but Tru has bigger problems - there is a mysterious switch in her house, and her father keeps building impossible boxes around it. Though it appears fine from the outside, the house is crowded, turning upside down, and isolating everyone living in it - a manifestation of the family\'s mental struggles to reconcile the terrible actions of an unnamed sibling.

Some of my favorite art for one of my favorite series 😍 The papercraft piece was a kit by RosieThorns88 that I assembled this weekend, the bookmarks are from Happy Hello. I might have to move this all to another spot where it can stay together, I don't trust the frame not to fall when baby explores the lower levels of this shelf. 🤦🏼‍♀️

A great new novella, it felt more like a detective/CSI story than previous books, the sci-fi elements seemed less emphasized, it was fun, just felt a little different. Though the core story could stand alone pretty well, it still draws a lot on character development and event arcs from previous books, so I think reading it in isolation would not be as cohesive. Also, I love JollyBaby. 🥰😄🤖

The #babylitten wore his Very Hungry Caterpillar shirt in honor of Eric Carle and Lois Ehlert; we don't have a shirt of hers, but do have the beautiful books.

Super cute picture book reminiscent of the opening of Shrek meets The Day the Crayons Quit with art in the vein of This is Not My Hat. The bears are tired of having to act out everyone's stories! Let a new animal take the lead role! But who could be suitable? 🤔 I got this from Usborne, not sure it's readily available outside of that if you're looking.

-18 here in Kansas, what a delight. 😑🥶 We haven't been part of rolling blackouts yet but our city did have some yesterday. The threat of power loss finally forced the university I work for to close for today, they never close for anything!

Fantastic day for #LittleChristmasSwap opening! Thank you so much @Judybskt! 😍 I love John David Anderson's books, and so does my grandma, so she'll be borrowing this! Eric Carle is one of my favorite illustrators but we haven't read this one, that was beyond sweet of you to include my #LittleLitten for his first Christmas! ❄ My mom tried to steal the treats and I said “um no here's an Oreo because we have lots of those.“ 😂 @bookish_wookish

Thank you so very much @Butterfinger for the delightful #jolabokaflod swap presents! I'm touched you included my #LittleLitten and made his first Christmas extra special! His book is adorable (and apparently tasty), I'm excited to finish my trilogy, and the truffles are sooooo good!
#jolabokaflodswap @MaleficentBookDragon

Got my #LittleChristmasSwap package from @Judybskt! And in case you were wondering how long your delivery may be delayed, this was labeled as sent Dec. 5 with normal projected delivery of Dec. 9 😬, traveling about halfway across the US. (Not a complaint, my aunt is a mail carrier, just reference for if you, like me, still have something in tracking limbo!)
@bookish_wookish

Husband is taking these to the grocery store post office today, so they'll get in the mail tomorrow! #Jolabokaflod #Jolabokaflodswap coming to @mrsmarch, #littlechristmasswap coming to @Littlewolf1! The contents are wrapped fyi. I'll disclose that I had a covid exposure on 12/5, no symptoms plus a negative test on 12/10, I'm officially released from quarantine on 12/16. I wiped down the boxes.

@MaleficentBookDragon @bookish_wookish

😁😁😁 I don't know why I didn't make myself look more excited in the picture but I think this is my #Jolabokaflod and I am actually quite excited! Going to have my husband peek to confirm. @Butterfinger @MaleficentBookDragon #jolabokaflodswap

As a conservative Christian in a red state, this was thought-provoking. I agree it's good to understand what other religions say, and believe his stories of Islamaphobia are true. But when he says thinks like (paraphrased from memory), “Do Christians really believe that I am going to Hell?“ with the tone that his selfless, generous life should save him, I'm left like, “Well... yes.“ We never get to hear his friend Pastor Mandy's take on that.

#LittleLitten says this board book gets 5 ⭐ for taste, I also say 5 ⭐ for the rest of the book! It uses his art and iconic paint colors, and references happy trees, clouds, animals and all things Bob Ross! 🎨

@Texreader asked for #LittleLitten pics so OF COURSE I'm happy to oblige! 😁 His latest bookish happenings: being the Very Hungry Caterpillar for Halloween (I made his hat!), 5 month old milestone book stack pic, and cuddling the Spot stuffed animal that was mine growing up. 🥰

Nothing says self-care like joining some fun, low-stress swaps! Each are one book plus some treats/chocolate! If you get my name, hello! I know my profile has been sparse lately, the #littlelitten in my last few posts will tell you why. This is my treat to myself for first-time-mothering during a pandemic.

#LittleChristmasSwap by @bookish_wookish and #jolabokaflodswap by @MaleficentBookDragon
#litsyswap #litsyswaps

The Very Hungry Caterpillar got eaten by the Very Hungry Baby! 🐛 #babylitten

Bedtime stories! We switch off who holds the book and who gets cute baby snuggles. #babylitten

The public library isn't reopened for browsing, but luckily the Library of Grandma is open for business!

By day, he reads board books. But by night, we're doing an audio buddy read of Crazy Rich Asians. 😆

My first #LittleLitten, Isaac, arrived in the wee hours of Monday morning. 🥰

My mom is almost as ready as I am for my #littlelitten to get here (due June 1 but doctor think he'll be late), she's been collecting kid's books and stuffed animals for years! This is her basement, we're having the second grandbaby but the first same-town one.

My mom won a volunteerism award for serving as our local jail librarian, and the newspaper wrote a very nice article about her! 😁📚🌟🎉 I'm the daughter that gets a little shoutout along with my older brother.
https://themercury.com/features/people/our-neighbors-woman-shares-love-for-readi...

Thanks @AmyG for the #jolabokaflodswap goodies!!! The chocolate has been sampled and deemed extremely delicious, and I can't wait to read this, I love Shusterman's stuff! I know my mom will be wanting to borrow it after I'm done! And thanks @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing!

With the outside looking like this (and still coming down), I'm wishing I could follow my #JolabokaflodSwap package as it heads to Florida! 😬 @MaleficentBookDragon

My #Jolabokaflod swap is heeeeere!!! Not sure who from, but thank you to whoever is Goldsmith in Colorado! Can't wait for opening day! 😍🥳 @MaleficentBookDragon My package will be mailed this weekend.

Posted by my library today 😆

Does anybody know of any Winter/Christmas/Secret Santa swaps taking place this year? Or Thanksgiving? 🤔
#swap #litsyswap #secretsanta

If you feel oversaturated by faux-European fantasy, check out this twist on Korean folklore! I haven't watched K-dramas, so some of those tropes may be more obvious to other readers, but I thought this was a great unlikely allies/enemies to lovers story, with mouthwatering descriptions of food. Miyoung's torn loyalties and revenge vs protection were some favorite themes, roguish Junu was my surprise favorite character.

Sent this late-night message to @Jediash1 when I was halfway through and now that I'm done I CAN YELL TO EVERYBODY ELSE THAT I LOVED THIS SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!! It was super funny and sexy and my husband's D&D character conveniently has the same lean, black leather look that Simon-as-pirate does, which very much worked for me. 😗 If you're up for adult romance at all, READ. THIS. BOOK! I finished just in time for local Shakespeare Festival tomorrow. 😆

I get...uh...a tad excited when presenting my options to book club. ? My friend asked if there are any books I don't like, I told her, "YES! They're just not in this bag!" Only the best of the best for a book club pick!

Adeptly captures the teen voice, particularly how they can both make stupid jokes and then shift to expose vulnerability to a trusted friend. Funny, heartfelt, honest and engaging, with openings to discuss race, class, expectations, gun violence and sexuality from a variety of perspectives, and how different people have different ideas of what happiness and contentment look like. A love story, but not a romance, if the distinction matters to you.

HELLO I LOVED IT. If you liked Dark Matter, pick this up ASAP, or if you just like gripping, completely unpredictable, brain-bending books that leave you breathless but proud for (somewhat) keeping up with the insane concepts. Like DM, the synopsis barely scratches the surface. Inevitability vs. infinite possibility. Memory vs. history, and which creates which. And check out that swag holographic cover treatment! 1000% buying a personal copy.

This book is b r e a k i n g m y b r a i n
But in a good way. I hope the second half stays as strong as the first half, because so far it's a fantastic follow up to Dark Matter. 🤯

And that's a wrap! #24in48 @24in48

The bear looks slightly alarmed to be a picture book pin hanging out with my YA fantasy pins, but if you've read This Is Not My Hat, you know the bear can hold his own...
🐻🧢
@24in48 #24in48 literary loot challenge #bookswag

These are two middle grade favorites I've discovered in recent years, a haunting, atmospheric fantasy and a contemporary that mixes humor with an accessible look at the good and bad that can come with anonymity.
@24in48 #24in48 MG/YA challenge

Ok, so our spare room isn't exactly prime material for a romance novel, but this is definitely the bed size where someone would stoically volunteer to take the floor, but we all know how that ends. RELUCTANT SHARING AND ACCIDENTAL CUDDLES!!! Fake dating is another favorite trope of mine, being fulfilled in the tagged title, which I'm currently listening to. @24in48 #24in48 romance challenge

Audiobook challenge for #24in48! I don't buy audiobooks, and prefer the convenience of streaming through Overdrive and Hoopla, but will get CDs for readathons when I'm listening for a long stretch of time. @24in48

SFF challenge for #24in48, I'm hoping to finish my arc of this upcoming YA fantasy this weekend! I've been really enjoying it, 12 bird-named castes each have a type of power (peacock and swan are two, no Crow emoji to match the title), and the Crow witches use teeth to access power. A fantasy take on systemic discrimination, the different responses of the Prince and his guard about being confronted with it deliver an interesting contrast. @24in48

Kicking off #24in48 with the audiobook of the tagged title and starting to work on a big family photo project for my mom. Please enjoy this picture of Baby Me with Clifford. #readathon

5th anniversary today, #24in48 Saturday and Sunday! Spot-on card made by my graphic designer husband! 😄

Got my mug from the @Litsy #downphoto contest (it's a big boi!) AND I got called a "lil book nugget" so yes today is going very well and I think I need that phrase on a tote bag. #totelife

The moment I spotted Red Rising on one of our student worker's desk and it led to a great chat about contemporary vs classic, how it's ok to not enjoy Tolkien's writing, the diverging threads of the Enderverse, and good ideas vs good execution in books. Wrapped up by dropping recs of Dark Matter and Vicious because those are my ultimate go-to titles, this day is a SUCCESS!

5 hours later and it's all ground down to snug edges! Thank goodness for "10 hours of epic music" YouTube videos to keep me company, because the grinding proved to be too noisy for an audiobook.

This is poetry disguised as science fiction, a lyrical masterclass in using two POVs as the nexus for small snippets of stories/letters than span all of time & space: historical, fantastical, lovely, brutal. Alternating bwn Blue & Red gives a look at both sides. Many references packed in - bonus if you catch them, still enjoyable if not. One of the most unique concepts I've ever read. The linked snippets style is comparable to Reincarnation Blues.

My 4-day weekend project... though it may end up taking longer. Got all the glass cut, and it's on to the grinding, my least favorite bit. But it'll be worth it!

Happy 4th of July to my USA friends! 🇺🇲 Hope everyone is having an excellent Thursday even if it's not a holiday for you. 😊 Celebrate the fact that it's almost Friday!

Dragonslayer is the fantasy embodiment of dad bod Spider-Man: former best-in-the-land swordsman Gill has been out of the game for a while, but a newly awoken dragon isn't waiting for him to get back in shape. Add in a new young friend (Solène) who possesses untested, potent magic. Chapters from the dragon's POV are a unique element. A fun adventure suitable for many ages, as it refrains from mature content. Plus, all 3 will publish w/in 12 months!

For me (not a horror reader), this was on the edge of my comfort zone for most of it, suspenseful but not nightmare-inducing, but the ending took the brutality and violence past what I cared to read and I skimmed the final few chapters. Fans of the genre may find it comparatively mild as the supernatural elements escalate and pieces come together. It's a page-turner, but ultimately not for me.

This book has a delightful dry wit, and my absolute favorite thing is Gill continually trying to spend as much of the Prince Bishop's (his old rival) money as possible.

The Dragon books are Dav Pilkey pre-Captain Underpants, and they are ADORABLE! They've been out of print for years so we buy them whenever we find them used, but just learned at #alaac19 that Scholastic is bringing them back!!! Reformatted to look more like a chapter book for today's young readers, same great stories and illustrations. My faves are Dragon's Fat Cat and Dragon Gets By, there's also A Friend for Dragon, Halloween and Christmas.