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Clare-Dragonfly

Clare-Dragonfly

Joined September 2016

review
Clare-Dragonfly
Lolly Willowes | Sylvia Townsend Warner
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Pickpick

What a delightful book! Oddly paced, for sure, but worth the time it takes to get there. I‘m glad I finally read it.

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Clare-Dragonfly
Mill on the Floss | George Eliot
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I‘m reading this as an ebook, but I just had to share the gorgeous copy that my library has. The page edges are shiny gold! 🤩

StaceGhost Oh this is so pretty! 7h
Leftcoastzen Nice! 7h
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 5h
22 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Lolly Willowes | Sylvia Townsend Warner
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“I don‘t think one has much option about keeping a cat,” Laura said. “If it wants to stay with me, it shall.”

It seems the Cat Distribution System was in full effect a hundred or so years ago! (Featuring: Magrat!)

Ruthiella I suspect it is as old as the domestication of cats (or as old as the domestication of humans from the cats‘ point of view!😹) 1d
22 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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And here‘s my #bookspin list for April! @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2d
18 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
Pride and Protest | Nikki Payne
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Bailedbailed

There‘s nothing wrong with this book. I just don‘t have any enthusiasm for it. And why bother spending time on books I‘m not enthusiastic about?

29 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Long Live Evil | Sarah Rees Brennan
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Pickpick

This is a very fun read. I loved how Rae embraced her villainous character. It irritated me how she kept believing (or trying to convince herself) that things would happen the way she half-remembered them going in the book, even though her very presence in the plot massively changed things. The ending was a great twist! I think book 2 comes out soon and I‘ll definitely be reading it, but I‘m not running out to buy it.

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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

Lots of fun craft ideas in this book, mostly using old sweaters or other clothes you can buy at a thrift store. I liked the cute illustrations but at times they made it unclear what to do. I‘m sure I could work out what to do if necessary though. Also unclear at times were the British words unfamiliar to this American 😂

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Clare-Dragonfly
The woman in white | Wilkie COLLINS
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Pickpick

Murder! Conspiracy! Intrigue! That was a great deal of fun, made even more so by reading it with the #hashtagbrigade. It has its issues due to the time period, but the characters are surprisingly complex—even the villains, while being over-the-top evil, have real depth. Thanks as always to @BarkingMadRead for being our hashtag queen!

BarkingMadRead This one was actually really good! We‘ve had some bad luck lately 🤣🤣 2w
Ruthiella I measure all Victorian sensationalist literature against this book. It is the superlative example in my experience. 2w
Clare-Dragonfly @Ruthiella Udolpho isn‘t Victorian, but I‘d rather read this a dozen more times than reread that 😂 2w
32 likes3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz | Lyman Frank Baum
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Pickpick

Very fun and silly story! It reminded me of a couple of the Narnia books—I wonder if Lewis had read it. Dorothy, the Wizard, a boy named Zeb, a horse named Jim, and a kitten named Eureka travel through many lands under the earth, each dangerous in its own whimsical way. The Wizard is kind of a badass in this book. It irritated me that it took Dorothy so long to come up with her solution. But at least her speech didn‘t have so many apostrophes.

25 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
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For my Grady Hendrix fans: one of my favorite witchy podcasts did an interview with him! I haven‘t read any of his books yet but after this interview I definitely will. When he starts off his discussion of researching witchcraft with “it‘s complicated” you know he really did the work.

https://newworldwitchery.com/2025/03/14/episode-258-witchcraft-for-wayward-girls...

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Clare-Dragonfly
Pride and Protest | Nikki Payne
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Did I need two new library books? Absolutely not. Did I pick some up anyway when I went in to make returns? Indubitably! #libraryhaul

Aims42 …. Wait. You can return library books without checking new ones out? SINCE WHEN? 🤪 I‘m on the “2 books returned, 3 new ones checked out” routine currently 3w
Clare-Dragonfly @Aims42 If I‘d been good, I would have used the outdoor book return slot and never set foot inside the library! 😅 I am doing well, though—I actually returned 3 and only checked out 2. 3w
Aims42 @Clare-Dragonfly 🙌🙌🙌🙌 Nice!! 3w
24 likes3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

This book is exactly what it says it is: techniques, patterns, and samplers for blackwork embroidery. Unfortunately, it doesn‘t have any information about doing blackwork on clothing (as it historically was), which is what I really want to do. But I suppose I can practice on Aida and figure out the rest myself.

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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

What an absolutely spectacular book. Alix E. Harrow is officially an auto-buy author. In fact, I was six pages into this when I decided to buy A Mirror Mended (I already have A Spindle Splintered) so I can read alllllll of her books.

RaeLovesToRead I'm really looking forward to Starling House in particular! (Although I think I got this one in the Orbit sale too) 1mo
LoverOfLearning Oh I love this book! Read it reads ago. I hope I can reread it one day! 1mo
Clare-Dragonfly @LoverOfLearning I think it would be a great reread! 1mo
32 likes3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath
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Pickpick

What a gorgeous, wrenching book! I‘m sorry it took me so long to read it, and grateful to @BarkingMadRead and the #HashtagBrigade for moving it up my TBR. I don‘t know if it would have been even better to read when I was a teenager or if it would have been a little *too* relatable then.

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Clare-Dragonfly
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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Got my #bookspin list ready to go for March! Will this be a month that I read both my picks? Probably not! 😂

Suet624 LOL 1mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! There is always hope 😂 1mo
18 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
The Dark Fable | Katherine Harbour
This post contains spoilers
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Bailedbailed

Big twist! The POV character has known most of the mysteries all along. Nooooooope. I‘m out. #AuldLangSpine @Ellie_H

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Clare-Dragonfly
Embroidery: A Maker's Guide | Victoria Museum
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Pickpick

Quick and informative book on embroidery, including a wide variety of historical styles. There didn‘t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to the different styles described (one of the contributors‘ bios has a lot about her being a sashiko expert but there‘s no sashiko?) and I think many of them could have used more description, but I really liked being introduced to some styles I‘d never heard of. With modifications, I may try some of the projects.

33 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
Ozma of Oz | L. Frank Baum
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this, though not as much as previous books. Dorothy is really obnoxious in the beginning and it annoyed me a lot how Baum wrote her pronunciation, especially since it‘s a change from the first book. But it‘s funny (albeit quite dark at times, in a way the narrative doesn‘t seem to acknowledge) and the characters—Billina the talking hen, Langwidere the lazy princess with her heads, Tik-Tok—are delightful. #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

BookmarkTavern I‘ve always wished that Langwidere showed up again in a later book. She‘s such an interesting character. 1mo
Clare-Dragonfly @BookmarkTavern Yeah! Where did she get all those heads?! She can‘t have traded for them all, like she offered to do with Dorothy… 1mo
willaful @Clare-Dragonfly I actually had a conversation about this recently! I had never wondered, assuming it was like Barbie accessories or something. 😂 My friend had always assumed she killed people for them!

I actually prefer the way Dorothy talks here. I find the first book too formal in tone to really enjoy.
1mo
Clare-Dragonfly @willaful Oh, Langwidere is definitely too lazy to kill anyone! 1mo
20 likes4 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

I considered bailing on this during the first few chapters, but decided to stick it out until the title happened. I‘m so glad I did! The dull, frustrating first several chapters are important to set up why no one wants to listen to or help Iris. I figured out the mystery fairly early on but reading along to see how the characters would figure it out and the mental tortures Iris goes through along the way was very enjoyable. Movie is on Hoopla!

JenlovesJT47 I‘m so bad I didn‘t even get to this book yet! 😭 Glad you enjoyed it! 🤗 3w
23 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

I forgot to review this when I finished it! I loved it so much. It was like a cross between The Secret History and Pamela Dean‘s Tam Lin in many ways—so it felt derivative, but in a great way. In the second half, though, it pulls away from those comparisons and becomes much more its own thing. Heartbreaking and gorgeous. I just wish I were more familiar with Julius Caesar (the play).

LoverOfLearning Listened to it on audio 2 years ago. Gave it a 3 star but I listened to it quick quickly so I think I lost some detail. Currently rereading it :) 1mo
Clare-Dragonfly @LoverOfLearning Yes, I think this is one where you really have to pay attention to the details! I think I had to reread the last few pages to fully understand. Hope you like it better the second time around! 1mo
LoverOfLearning @Clare-Dragonfly I'm sure I'll love it a lot more this time! :) 1mo
29 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Primer | Thomas Krajewski, Jennifer Muro
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Mehso-so

Fun story. The characters felt pretty flat and, well, cartoonish—especially the villain. I thought everything came too easily to the main character. The idea of body paints that confer superpowers is very cool.

The art is incredibly fluid and vibrant. I felt like I was watching a really well-animated movie (Lilo and Stitch came to mind) instead of reading a book at times!

@Ellie_H #AuldLangSpine @monalyisha

TieDyeDude Good review! I think this character has a lot of potential, but it was definitely geared towards a young audience and focused more on the fun of becoming a hero than the challenges. 2mo
Ellie_H Yay!!😁 I am so happy you liked some parts of the book!! (edited) 2mo
32 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Bookshops & Bonedust | Travis Baldree
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Mehso-so

I kept expecting some exciting twist and it never showed up. Which I guess is the point? I hope it isn‘t that I dislike cozy fantasy. I adore Becky Chambers. I‘m sure a big part of it is that Baldree likes to use my biggest bookish pet peeve.

I did adore Satchel.

Rachel.Rencher I liked the first one more than this one. This one just kind of fell flat. 2mo
RaeLovesToRead Which pet peeve is this??? 2mo
Clare-Dragonfly @RaeLovesToRead As an example, we are in Viv‘s POV, and she comes up with a plan, but we readers don‘t get to know what the plan is. 2mo
RaeLovesToRead Ah yes, that is super annoying! 2mo
31 likes4 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Nobody here guessed it but my bestie (who got me into Shirley Jackson) did! 🥰 One of my favorite books.

Suet624 Oh! 2mo
33 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
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What do you think it could be? I‘ll open it up in a few hours and find out! If someone guesses right they win a trophy. An emoji trophy 😂

Bookwomble The Shining? 👯‍♀️ 2mo
Suet624 @Bookwomble sounds about right. 2mo
Clare-Dragonfly @Bookwomble That was what I thought on my way to the car. 2mo
24 likes3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

This book is aimed at organizers, but I highly recommend it even if you (like me) don‘t intend to do any organizing. It‘s full of information, both actionable and philosophical. This is a book we need in this time of terrifying fascists destroying our government.

34 likes1 stack add
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Bailedbailed

This book is gorgeous and informative, but it‘s too dang heavy and the font is really small and cramped. For a book that has so much emphasis on design, they really didn‘t design that aspect well.

32 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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#bookspin list for February! @TheAromaofBooks

You may note the inclusion of “a zine” at the bottom of the list. I have a bunch of zines that I want to get around to reading. I‘m pretty sure I even know where they are on my shelves. However, I simply have not bothered to pull them off the shelves (no spines!) to get their titles, so if no. 20 is picked, I‘ll just grab a random zine.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo
18 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Mehso-so

I liked very few of the projects in this book. I would definitely not call all of them upcycled, and many of them needed more detailed instructions. Also, the author seemed really arrogant. But there are some good ideas and useful tips (like what kind of glue to use), and I think one of the things about upcycling is it‘s hard to say “here‘s a project you can do” because it‘s so dependent on what materials you have at hand. Borrow, not buy.

dabbe 🖤🐾🐾🖤 2mo
Clare-Dragonfly @dabbe I think this was the first time they‘d both been on my lap at the same time! 😻 2mo
dabbe @Clare-Dragonfly So adorable! 🩵🩶🩵 2mo
28 likes3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Bailedbailed

Sorry, #HitchtoScreen. I just couldn‘t stand to be with these people a moment longer.

JenlovesJT47 😬 I‘m about halfway through and I have to say, the movie is much better! 2mo
35 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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This book takes two hands and that‘s not permitted at the moment.

Ruthiella 😻😻😻 3mo
30 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
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I‘ve been sick the last couple days and Let This Radicalize You is just too much for my tired brain to take right now. This seems like it will do the trick instead.

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Clare-Dragonfly
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Mehso-so

Fun, twisty murder mystery—it just never really grabbed hold of me and I found being in Pippa‘s head a little annoying. I definitely didn‘t see the ending coming and it all clicked together! I did love that the intro has her capstone project proposal and the teacher says “whatever you do, don‘t contact the families.” I immediately hoped she would contact the families and that‘s the very first thing that happens 😂

First #AuldLangSpine @Ellie_H

Clare-Dragonfly Side note: The publisher evidently moved the setting from the UK to US for this edition, but it wasn‘t done so thoroughly that I couldn‘t tell. There are a few linguistic tells and, uh… when the cops show up they don‘t have guns out 😅 3mo
Ellie_H Yay 3mo
Clare-Dragonfly @Ellie_H ❤️😄 3mo
Ruthiella Why do publishers do that? It‘s so obnoxious. 3mo
35 likes4 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Pickpick

What a cute book! This is my first time continuing the series past the first book. It was fun to revisit the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and all the other characters are funny. I loved how the girls with knitting needles were able to conquer the Emerald City! I didn‘t like how beauty is equated with goodness, but the ending made me very happy nonetheless. I wonder if the rest of the wishing pills will be discovered as the series continues.

KCofKaysville @Clare-Dragonfly I read a few in Grade School and was addicted! 3mo
20 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
The Marvelous Land of Oz | L. Frank Baum
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Ruthiella 🤣🤣🤣 3mo
BookmarkTavern I love the Scarecrow. 😂 3mo
27 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Mehso-so

This book is part memoir, part writing instruction/inspiration. I didn‘t think the two aspects were well connected, and I wasn‘t enthusiastic about either one. The memoir was interesting, but it was told in such a non-chronological way that I was frequently confused. The writing part seemed shallow at first, but as it continued I did find some gems.

I was a HUGE fan of FLB‘s teen books when I was a teen, so maybe I expected more.

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Clare-Dragonfly
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Mehso-so

I‘m disappointed not to have liked this more than I did! A sapphic sci-fi Sherlock Holmes?! Yes, please. And all those aspects were great. The worldbuilding was so creative and fascinating. But I never felt a connection to the characters or the chemistry between them. I never felt the importance of Pleiti‘s profession and the ending fell pretty flat because of that.

#doublespin for January @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 3mo
30 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
Persuasion | Jane Austen
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Last week I got into a conversation with a coworker about Jane Austen because she was wearing a sweatshirt with Wentworth‘s letter to Anne on it. Today she gave me this sticker 😄

TheBookHippie ♥️ 3mo
wanderinglynn Love the sticker! 3mo
peanutnine Omg best interaction ever. Love it 3mo
41 likes3 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
Iron Widow | Xiran Jay Zhao
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this a lot. It‘s violent and heavy-handed but the characters and story are fun. Some of my complaints definitely seem to be assuaged by the ending and I will be reading the next book.

Also, I can now be even more enthusiastic about my hopes to knit the Chrysalis shawl, designed by disyarning inspired by this book 😄

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Clare-Dragonfly
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I have no idea why Storygraph thinks Little Women is longer than The Mysteries of Udolpho. 😂 But here‘s my 2024 wrap-up!

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Clare-Dragonfly
BookSpinBingo | Untitled
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Squeezing in my #booskpin list for January! You‘ll see that the final three are from my #auldlangspine list from @Ellie_H !

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 3mo
22 likes1 comment
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Clare-Dragonfly
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The tagged is my top book for December 2024. But, as soon as I read Braiding Sweetgrass, I pretty much knew it was going to be my top read for the year. *Maybe* if it had gone up against the entire Rook and Rose trilogy as a whole (as you‘ll note both the first and third books of that trilogy were my favorites for their respective months)… but that‘s not the case.

I feel really good looking at this. So many wonderful books read! #BookBracket2024

20 likes1 stack add
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

What a beautiful, intense, wrenching book. Aberg-Riger puts together words and images so creatively to tell stories from America‘s past, mostly about the ways people have been oppressed. Many of the stories I knew, but didn‘t know all the details, or had never seen them from the angles she shows. There were also stories I didn‘t know. Highly recommended.

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Clare-Dragonfly
The Mysteries of Udolpho | Anne Radcliffe
Panpan

The best thing I can say about this book is we probably wouldn‘t have Northanger Abbey without it 😂😂😂

TheBookHippie 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 3mo
BarbaraJean 😂😂 3mo
25 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Small but mighty Christmas #bookhaul 😄

lynneamch Sounds fascinating to me. Thank you! 3mo
Clare-Dragonfly @lynneamch I learned about the tagged book from the podcast Dressed and it goes with a museum exhibit too. So much cool stuff! 3mo
Amiable A friend just recommended this book to me: 3mo
Clare-Dragonfly @Amiable I have that on my shelf as well! 😄 3mo
23 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
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Not exactly a holiday book, but it‘s such a cozy reread that it‘s still perfect for the time of year! 🥰 #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

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Clare-Dragonfly
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Beautiful start!

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Clare-Dragonfly
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Pickpick

A fascinating book with a sense of humor! I love linguistic history and this book really delved deep. I learned all kinds of fascinating nuggets. For example, did you know that the “hus” in “husband” and the “house” in “housewife” come from the same thing?! The author did share some opinions that I side-eyed as on the border of TERFy. Note: the title is a little misleading; this book is very specifically about English.

23 likes1 stack add
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Clare-Dragonfly
The Mysteries of Udolpho | Anne Radcliffe

Nymph, in thy orisons / Be all my sins remembered.

Though this be madness, yet there is method in‘t.

#hashtagbrigade #hamlet

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Clare-Dragonfly
The Cruel Prince | Holly Black
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I got my #AuldLangSpine list from @Ellie_H and she obviously has GREAT taste! Holly Black 😍🖤😍

I‘ve put The Dark Fable and Primer on hold. Looking forward to them and the rest of the list! Except I‘ve already read the first four… but… maybe 2025 is a year for a Holly Black reread?

monalyisha 1/2 old favorites + 1/2 new reads to explore = happy math (which is the first (and probably last) time I‘ve ever used those two words together)! 😉 4mo
Clare-Dragonfly @monalyisha Yes! 😂😂😂 4mo
30 likes2 comments
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Clare-Dragonfly
The Mysteries of Udolpho | Anne Radcliffe
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OK, I‘m satisfied with that information about Morano. Let‘s move along now. #hashtagbrigade #accumulatemoremisfortunesplease #countkidnapper #countdickwad