Beautiful, sensitive story, mostly fiction, about Shakespeare's young son who died. This book imagines he died of the plague. I just loved Maggie O'Farrell's writing. It reminded me of Lauren Groff or Hilary Mantel. 5⭐
#AuthorAMonth

"We were working late on the time machine in the little makeshift lab upstairs."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Lit Hub is celebrating short stories in May. One each day. https://lithub.com/tag/one-great-short-story/

I finished this book a couple of weeks ago and forgot to come back and post a review! In any case, I think the book is well-worth reading. I don't think you can say you “enjoy“ a book about mandatory mental incarceration, but this book, drawing on the author's own experiences, oozes empathy and compassion, along with the indifference, roughness, and cynicism of the mental health workers. It's a pick for me.

A corporate retreat goes wrong after an avalanche traps them in a ski chalet in Switzerland. This starts out slow but picks up the pace from the middle-ish onward. I wasn't blown away by this book, the only Ruth Ware I've read, but it was readable. I did figure out early on who the killer was & how things would end up. It felt a bit formulaic. A so-so pick for me. I'm not likely to pick up any other Ware titles.
#AuthorAMonth
@Soubhiville

Chapter One: Leaking Sacks of Chemicals
“I don't think he's been in here before, “ Alexandra Horowitz tells me, “So it should be very smelly.“

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
#WeekendReading

I'm not good with poetry. My brain rarely has the patience for it. But I do want to improve and Poetry in America is one of my favorite ways to do that. For #NationalPoetryMonth you can stream all episodes for free at https://www.poetryinamerica.org/tv-series/. If you subscribe all seasons are available on PBS Passport also. And LitHub announced this PiA marathon screening on the World channel, if you have access to that.

Happy Poetry Month!

I'm just starting this little book about the main character (named Daniele Mencarelli?) who ends up in a psychiatric ward under involuntary commitment.

It's interesting so far. This is the second good Italian author I've found through Europa Editions. Huzzah for translations! 😊

#NetGalley asked, “Do you want to read a book about the search for giant freshwater fishes?“ I replied, “Heck, yeah!“ Depite jumping back & forth & to & fro amongst the author's many fishery projects, the enthusiasm & passion the author has for this subject is clear & conveys itself on the page. Travel the world with the author learning about river eco-systems & conservation all while hunting for a record-breaking fish! 5⭐

Catching up with some long overdue reviews. Thanks to #NetGalley and #HenryHolt for an #ARC of this book. This title published this week in the US. This is Cecile Pin's first novel & she will be a writer to watch. Her writing style is quite lovely. This story of 3 siblings fleeing post-war Vietnam and their struggle as refugees is emotional, but the author keeps you rooting for them. I felt fully involved in these characters lives. It's a pick! 👍

This is the Steinbeck book I read for March's #AuthorAMonth thanks to a very kind gift from @Soubhiville. I enjoyed the book quite a bit. Steinbeck doesn't write about what he finds in America so much as his own story about traveling around America. Overall his POV, as one might expect, is a bit dated. It wasn't bad enough to interfere with the enjoyment of the story. It's a nice, light travelogue. It's a “why not?“ pick for me.

I very much enjoyed this collection of stories about black middle-class characters. The stories are funny and smart and razor-sharp in their societal observations.
Definitely a pick for me! 👍 5 ⭐

WOW! WOW! WOW! Thanks @Soubhiville for the wonderful prize PACKAGE of books for participating in the #AuthorAMonth challenge in 2022. This was WAY more than I was expecting and all perfect books I would have chosen for the 2023 challenge. Such beautiful editions too! I'm looking forward to reading all of these! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 😊 💖

My friend's son had his first child, a daughter, last October and I have yet to send a gift. I have decided that I want to start, or severely populate, her first library. I know there will be some Boynton books definitely included, but what other books would you all recommend for a first library? What are the classics? What are the hot new books? Any an all recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! 😊

The new edition of Buzz Books from Publishers Lunch is out and available for free download. I always like getting a copy of this ebook with so many excerpts of upcoming titles, it helps me decide which ones I want to try by reading a little sample first. They cover both fiction and non-fiction. The spring Romance Books should be out a bit later too, for those interested in that.

Download at: https://buzz.publishersmarketplace.com/

Hey, I read a thing!
I was awarded this #ARC through the Publisher's Weekly Grab-A-Galley giveaway and accessed it thru #Netgalley.

This description--“Sister Holiday, a chain-smoking, heavily tattooed, queer nun, puts her amateur sleuthing skills to the test.“--grabbed my attention immediately. This is a first-in-a-series title for Gillian Flynn Books at Zando Projects Publishing so you know it's going to go to some dark places, and it does. ⬇ ⬇

Riley wore blue contact lenses and bleached his hair--which he worked with gel and a blow-dryer and a flatiron some mornings into Sonic the Hedgehog spikes so stiff you could prick your finger on them, and sometimes into a wispy side-swooped bob with long bangs--and he was black.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I knew I was going to like this book! A look at the scientists and hard science behind the hunt for the origins of the covid coronavirus. More questions than answers at this point but if you're interested at all in how viruses work, I highly recommend this book. No politics, except where it intersects with scientists doing their work. No Fauci or public health crisis stories. Just a thorough and informative science timeline, clearly explained. 5🌟

This was part thriller, part philosophical musing, part sci-fi dystopian novel all based on the octopus. I have a fascination with cephalopods anyway and this book was about their intelligence which I really enjoyed. Lots of pondering on the nature of consciousness and being human. I liked all the parts and would recommend this book! 4🌟

Current mood. Interesting fore edge painting.

#currentread

A new book from my favorite science writer (and an expert on viruses) about the origins and implications of the COVID-19 coronavirus? Yes, please! 😊 👍

Hi all, I've been pretty quiet on here lately. Nothing wrong really, just too much life going on. I now have covid on top of everything else. At least it has given me some time to post about this lovely book I read last month though. Loved this girl power story. The right story at the right time for me.

I‘m very glad to have had the chance to read this book from #SimonandSchuster. I received an #ARC from #NetGalley. I don‘t think I went looking for it, but I‘m very glad I found it!

Path Lit by Lightning is the story of Jim Thorpe written by renowned historian and biographer David Maraniss. This is a very thoroughly researched and detailed biography.

This is a VERY STRONG PICK for me. 5 🌟

From “The Queen's Son“ by Bettina von Arnim, published in 1808.

“There was once a king who ruled over a delightful land, and his burg stood on top of a high mountain, from which he could see far into the distance.“

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Hey all the audiobook readers out there. I am taking a very unscientific poll. The publisher I work for publishes exclusively non-fiction history.

One of my book narrators suggested that we include a companion PDF of all the images in the book. This is a thing that can be done through Audible?

I don't use Audible enough to know. What do you all think? Would you like such a thing included with an audiobook? Or would it be so much extra floof?

Here's the update to my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks for July. Both classic fantasty stories! Can't wait to dig in!

@TheAromaofBooks

It is 1931, I am five years old, and my older brother Bernie takes me to see a movie called Frankenstein at the Republic Movie Theatre. Big mistake!

#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

Well, here is where I am at for #Bookspin for July 2022. I am so deeply behind with all the chunksters I'm supposed to have read by now (which I haven't) that I'm going with all short stories for July. I've got three fairly large collections I'm working on so there's more than enough here to spin with!

@TheAromaofBooks

Ludovica never liked having to face the sky.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I had another thought about book technology. See #SundayFunday thread. There is one book-related tech I use every day. It's not an app tho. It's a browser extension called Library Extension. Add it to your browser & then when you're on a book-related site (goodreads, storygraph, amazon, B&N, bookshop, scribd, libro, etc.) it will show you if that book is available in your local library.

I know it's not Sunday anymore, but I use some apps that I haven't seen mentioned so I thought I would post anyway.
1.litsy, gr, storygraph, YouTube, ig, and TikTok among others. I've just started trying out an app called Likewise and one called Tertulia (iOS). These are both mostly just discovery apps from what I can tell.
2. Litsy, gr, and storygraph pretty much every day. I want to make the jump from GR to storygraph and abandon the Amazon ⬇️

I know many people here admired Colson Whitehead's book The Nickel Boys. I saw this book in some promotional piece this past weekend. It's the real story of the Dozier School that Colson Whitehead's book is based on. Told by the forensic anthropologist investigating the deaths and identifying the bodies. Pub day is supposed to be tomorrow. #NewBook #PubDay

Finally getting around to posting my #bookspin and #doublespin selections for the month. More #chunksters! Not surprising. They take up a huge part of my #TBR.

I will say though that the Physics book goes back to the very start of my #Goodreads list from 2008. One of the very first books I #TBR'ed there. The very first book I TBR'ed on Goodreads was the 3rd book in the Name of the Wind trilogy by Patrick Rothfuss. Still waiting on that one. 😊

📷 by @DavidDrexler on Instagram.

#ThinkPositiveBePositive @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My brother, who loves photographing street art, captured this sidewalk stencil.

Thanks #NYRBBookClub for another really good read! This is definitely not a book I would have picked up on my own. While it's hard to say that this story is “enjoyable“ I did enjoy the feverish paranoid quality of the characters stories and imaginings. I started out trying to sort out what was true and what wasn't and then realized it would be better just to go with the flow. A truly unique and mesmerizing read.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

My #Bookspin for June looks exactly the same as my #Bookspin for May as both spin numbers were “renewables,“ or in other words, stories of my choosing. Still working on my chunksters from earlier in the year! Looking forward to June's Spinning Wheel of Book Fate! 😃

@TheAromaofBooks

This was a fun and fast read. In this book of haiku for the modern age everyone will find at least one haiku they can relate to and many more that will amuse. It‘s a pick because some of these are snort out loud funny. 🤣

People were eager to see "the Big Indian" as soon as he returned to America. He was a celebrity now, a global sensation, after winning two gold medals at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, where the dapper king of Sweden was said to have called him the greatest athlete in the world.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

My #BookSpin for May was a story from The Big Book of Science Fiction. If the spinning wheel of book fate keeps this up I'll have this 1160-page book finished in no time! ha! This month's story was Mechanopolis from 1913 by Miguel de Unamuno; translated from Spanish. It's a very short story. A man travels to a world where there are no humans, just machines. ⬇

@TheAromaofBooks

"This morning I got a note from my aunt asking me to come for lunch."

Sounds ominous.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I am so far behind in posting reviews! Just reading like a fiend + life getting thrown in my face = not. enough. time. sigh.

I did finish this book in April the #AuthorAMonth author for April. I had been warned that it was a really good book and that I would need a box of kleenexes. I didn't. I found it more melodramatic than dramatic with sparse detail given it was supposed to be an historical novel. ⬇

@Soubhiville

I received a complimentary ARC of this book courtesy of Netgalley and Random House in exchange for a fair review.

Woman of Light is a multi-generational story about the Lopez family which starts in 19th-century New Mexico and follows their migration to 1930s Denver. The story centers mainly on Luz who is a seer, but also includes her brother Diego who entertains and hustles with a snake charmer act.

My #Bookspin list for May. Wait. . . what month is it again? 😲 There's no stopping 2022, I guess.

Not that I needed anything new to read, but just look at what came in on my library hold list today. 😍😳🍀 Both of these books are going straight to the top of the #TBR list.🎉🎉😊

1. Finishing up a book called Basali! for #readingafrica2022.

2. I like both, but don't read much in either format.

3. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett.
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Today's best find was this boxed set of Richard Russo short stories. #bookcrawl #score! I've been looking for this to purchase for a long time!

The results of today's #bookcrawl. Such a great day. The sun was out for a change. I haven't been out for real book browsing in almost 2 years! Finish off with lunch at Five Guys and the day is pretty much perfect.

Next stop on the #bookcrawl The Book Deal! 📚📚📚💜

It's #bookcrawl day! 😊📚📚📚 Starting at the friends of the library pop-up book sale. 💜

Is there such a thing as #readingsynchronicity? I ended up reading these 2 historical novels of Korean 20th-century history at the same time. While the Sea Women focused on a particularly strong subset of Korean cultural community, Pachinko, also focused on strong women, told more about the Korean diaspora in Japan as a result of the colonization of Korea before WWII. Both highly recommended! 4 ⭐ each!

I‘m quoting an entire paragraph because I love this.

“Basali literally translated into English is “women,” but its meaning as an exclamation on Sesotho is rich with humor, affection, and women‘s connection. Usually exclaimed by one woman to another, often delivered with a laugh, an amused shaking of the head, or a clapping of hands, Basali! strongly evokes Basotho women‘s love and respect for one another. ⬇