#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) my son insisted on driving me everywhere on Mother‘s Day
2) flowers everywhere
3) got my porch set up for summer reading
4) pretty sunset last weekend
5) the sun finally came out yesterday

TGIF!

Back to spending evenings on the porch with Not My Cat. Summer is here!

(Started this book tonight on the recommendation of a sometimes questionable co-worker. Has anyone read it?)

I got this free on a stuff your kindle day. Those books can be hit or miss but this one wasn‘t half bad. A cozy mystery set in New Zealand post WWI. I wish it were illustrated because the dresses the seamstress/ sleuth described sounded amazing! #ReadingOceania24

Yesterday went off the rails so I‘m catching up today!

1) my childhood library was a really old building so there were books tucked into every nook and cranny. I remember discovering a long shelf of mysteries as a teen in an unused conference room. The rest was history!
2) Usually the library or Everand
3) Just finished one, so I need to figure out my next read

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

This one was a little more serious than Troost‘s other books. Having faced his alcoholism and completed rehab Troost takes on another adventure- this time following the steps of Robert Louis Stevenson in Oceania. I actually appreciated his introspection and enjoyed this one more than Sex Lives of Cannibals. (He seems to pick his titles at random. They have nothing to do with the books.) #ReadingOceania24 @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle

A fantastic book with relatable essays about mourning and endless nostalgia about songs of the 80‘s and 90‘s. Today‘s playlists don‘t hit the same as a good old mixed tape!

Here‘s the after photo of my reading porch @Roary47 @julieclair @marleed @Ruthiella @mcctrish

Goodbye green spots!

I enjoyed this although not as much as Station Eleven. I like when books tell me what they‘re about and this one took a while to get there. #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville #BacklistReadathon @TheAromaofBooks @Clwojick

The view out my window as I sit down for #hygge hour. Hoping to finish another #AuthorAMonth book then it‘s off to bed. Thanks for hosting @Chrissyreadit @AllDebooks @TheBookHippie @jenniferw88

Happy Mother‘s Day to me. Soccer got canceled for today due to field conditions so I caught up on my #LitsyLove and now am about to read for as long as I want. I really love watching my daughter play but was not looking forward to driving 3 hours to watch her play for 1.

This weekend‘s project is to clean up my reading porch. Here‘s the before.

This book, I love it so much. This is my third time reading. It all comes together beautifully, and it only gets better with each re-read. #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

I never watched this show but I loved to read the snark on Television Without Pity. I thought Jill did a good job with this book. She told a balanced story.

These books are getting a bit formulaic, but I‘ll keep reading them because of the cats and the books.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) Two new trees in the front yard
2) roses are in bloom everywhere
3) This Nancy Drew cover- I just love it
4) My neighbor‘s cat who hangs in the yard each summer is back
5) Tater Tots!
Bonus: TGIF!!!!

1) 👩‍👧‍👦🐈📚
2) 🕊️🌎📚

(Grateful for the books I have and hopeful for the future ones that will come my way 😄)
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

#WhatsNewWednesday

First ladybug this year 🐞🐞🐞

I didn‘t like this one as much as the first, but still enjoyed it. Hooray for a woman cybersecurity expert! I like how Slocumb tells the stories of people who don‘t fit the stereotypical molds we usually hear about.

My favorite cover so far. I‘m going to try and find a print of it.

I‘ve been trying to figure out all day what to say about this. I ended up with this is a good book so long as you‘re okay with it being about something other than you thought it was supposed to be about.

Curious now to go back and see how it did in the #LitsyTOB

My favorite hour of the week is about to begin ❤️
#hyggehour

Daisy conked out hours ago, but I had to stay up and finish this book. Emily Henry‘s books mean summer to me. I loved the characters in this book, and the Lake Michigan setting. All worth tomorrow‘s exhaustion.

The weekend‘s here!

No spoilers please but I am enjoying this a quarter way through and help us all if we don‘t find out what happens to the father at the end I will go scorched earth on this audiobook.

Louise Penny is my go to author when I feel a slump coming on. I don‘t often re-read the later books in this series, but decided to give this one another go. The scenarios in the later books get a bit unhinged, but in the best possible way. I missed the Three Pines crew though.

#5JoysFriday thanks @DebinHawaii

1) Sunrise on my way to work
2) A walk in DC after my son‘s lacrosse game
3) Stumbled on the high school‘s senior night for softball. Had a good time watching them play while my daughter practiced soccer.
4) Cat in a bag
5) Flowers everywhere!

1) It‘s not springtime without baseball!
2) Probably Demon Copperhead although The Women was a close runner up.
3) My nephew is graduating!
#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

Really loved this coming of age graphic memoir about a kid being raised by his grandparents in Massachusetts. It was a great story and since the author graduated high school the year before me it was nostalgic as well.

Also getting ready for May! #FoodAndLit #Spain

Of the 17 books I read in April these were the top twelve.

Made arepas tonight for #FoodAndLit #Venezuela

Kids are already asking when I‘ll make them again!

I didn‘t love this as much as Big Stone Gap, but I did enjoy it. It almost felt a little bit like a prologue to Demon Copperhead in a way. The mines are closing but the opioid epidemic hadn‘t set in for SW Virginia yet. #Backlistreadathon @Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks

The sun is setting and it‘s time for #hyggehour

I‘m drinking my tea and reading until I can‘t keep my eyes open any more. This was our first really warm day here this year and we‘re all feeling it.

I ended up listening to the audiobook version of this, and I‘m glad I did. The author reads it herself and you can hear the emotions in her voice in certain parts. I liked what she had to say about being a working mother. I‘ll transfer my notes to the book and get it in the mails this week @TheBookHippie @ElizaMarie @bookandbedandtea #LMPBC

My May #bookspin list
1-3 Station Eleven The Glass Hotel & Sea of Tranquility
4 The River We Remember
5 The Clue In The Diary
6 The Fifth Season
7 Funny Story
8 Micronesian Blues
9 Wide Sargasso Sea
10 Out of Circulation
11 Seams Like Murder
12 The Heaven And Earth Grocery Store
13 LMPBC
14 Walking With Sam
15 Headhunters On My Doorstep
16 Counting The Cost
17 Crook Manifesto
18 War Fever
19 Symphony of Secrets
20 A Most Agreeable Murder

Talked the fam into the Netflix version of Rebecca tonight. This is the type of messed up situation they will love, plus it has an evil housekeeper. Usually I have to watch my #hashtagbrigade movies alone so this is a big night.

#AwesomeApril starts tomorrow and my plan is to not get out of bed until I‘ve made a dent.

Couldn‘t resist had to finish tonight. Good pick #hashtagbrigade

I‘ve read this before, but reading it a chapter a day made it feel more menacing.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) different flowers blooming every day
2) Stream cleaning with my daughter last weekend- we were very proud to lug a water logged chair out of the water
3) cats in the sun
4) beam of sunlight from the sky
5) fun books from stuff your kindle day yesterday

Loved this book and can‘t wait to discuss it with #NaturalLitsy

I know this is a bad idea, but I really want to go hug a bear right now.

First night on the porch this year. Reading the tagged and listening to the Red Sox.

😍😍😍
I didn‘t vote for this one for #CampLitsy because I don‘t want to wait until June! For me summer starts when I get the new Emily Henry.

My votes are in! Can‘t wait for #CampLitsy24

This is very handy when you‘re working on reading challenges!

This was a fun gardening journey. I enjoyed it even if my garden only consists of a couple of raised beds and some pots.

This book was written in the 60‘s and you can tell, but it was still a lot of fun.

Do not disturb. #Camplitsy24

Ahhhhh Saturday 😎

#5joysFriday @DebinHawaii

1) reminiscing with my kids about our NYC adventure a few years ago
2) my neighbor‘s cat who spends summers in our yard came by last night
3) teaching my son to drive- he‘s not bad!
4) flowers everywhere, favorites this week are green dogwoods and columbine
5) this weekend should be calmer than the last two have been

Listening to something easy on my audiowalk tonight. Last weekend I was wearing fleece and now there are buttercups. Made me smile after a long week.