As I'm moving more into #SlowLiving and trying to disconnect from the fast-everything, stress-inducing, chaotic consumerism of modern life, I'm glad I checked this book out from the library. I've already set myself up for a screen-free Saturday every week, starting with next Saturday. I'm doing mine a little differently, though, since I still want to write blog posts on the weekend. I'll start in the early morning and go until Sunday morning.

I recently learned about Lillördag, “Little Saturday“, a Nordic tradition of doing things you normally only do on the weekends about halfway through the week so you have something to look forward to and break up the daily routine a bit. I'm starting a puzzle while listening to the tagged audiobook. I also got take out, which I rarely do, even on the weekends. So far I'm very much enjoying the relaxation after a chaotic day at work.

Today I was betrayed by someone who I thought was my friend and it could end up affecting my job. I'm more hurt than anything else so I figured escaping into this Cozy Fantasy with my Book Goblin mug full of tea might be the best way to shake it off and move on.

I'm very much looking forward to both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for April! 😁

I've had a StoryGraph account for years, but back when I initially signed up, I didn't feel that it was as good as Goodreads, and stopped using it. Now, as I am trying to move away from Amazon (after learning how much the company takes from book sales), I've decided to try out StoryGraph again.

You can find me there @ FortifiedByBooks with the pic of 5 year old me sticking her tongue out at the camera. I'll follow back as soon as I get settled.

Here's my #BookSpin list for April! There's a lot of cozy feel-good books this time.

This was my #BookSpin for March. It was good, but I felt like a lot of the points the author's were trying to make didn't go deep enough. This whole book could have been a YouTube video. There were some funny bits of trivia, though. #2025OffMyShelf

🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟This was my #DoubleSpin for March, and it's one of the best books I've read this year! I love the Discworld series, and Rincewind is one of my favorite characters. #OokBOokClub #2025OffMyShelf

“It means that if we want silence, we must actively seek it out, for instance by taking vacations without cell phones...“
After getting a bunch of non-urgent work-related texts, I found out how to temporarily block specific phone numbers while still getting texts & calls from people I actually want to talk to while I'm on vacation. I even set it up to auto activate on the weekends! Just because I have a phone, doesn't mean I'm accessible 24/7!

This week-long vacation is all about slowing down, resting, and being gentle with myself. What better way to do that then by reading this book and hanging out with my fur babies, Dresden and Raith.

Vacation mode activated.

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin look like the perfect books for me to read this month.

With the exception of a couple of reading challenge books, I filled my #BookSpin list for March with as much coziness as I could while still trying to get to books that have been on my TBR for years.

My #DoubleSpin for February was nice to read, but there were no mindset-shifting insights like I heard so many other readers have had. I did notice that there is another book with the same title but by Margaret Smith, and even the covers look similar so I wonder if I read the wrong book and everyone in the Minimalism community was raving about the other one? At least it's #OffMyShelf.

Poetry just isn't my thing. I absolutely love The Bell Jar, but I would need to take a class to understand her poems, and even then, I think I would struggle. I'm glad that I finally read this short book, even though it took #BookSpin to get me to pick it up. At least now it's #OffMyShelf

I've been having a lot of bad days lately and today was no exception. In the past, I would console myself with a trip to the bookstore where I would spend way too much money. Since I'm doing #ShelfLove this year and have an extremely limited budget, I decided to go to the library instead and check out more books than I can get through in 2 weeks (I also have 2 other books checked out already). It was just as comforting, but 100% free.

Here are my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books for February, and boy are they a morbid combination! February has been historically a not good month for me, so that's fitting.

My #BookSpin list for February is full of books from my TBR, with the exception of Night Shift by Stephen King, which is the #LosersClub book of the month. I will be getting it from the library since I don't already own it. All of the other books will qualify for my #ShelfLove reading challenge and many of them will qualify for the #2025OffMyShelf prompts as well. I picked mostly shorter books since February is usually not a good month for me.

My #DoubleSpin for January was magical and weird and so different from just about anything else I've read in the Fantasy genre that I'm not sure how to rate it. I didn't LOVE love it, but I did find many of the sentences and individual words were soothing somehow. I don't know how else to describe it so I'm giving it a “Pick.“ #2025OffMyShelf

This was my #BookSpin for January, and overall, it's a solid Pick. Though it's the last book in the Raven Cycle series, it's only a short story and is told from Opal's perspective. You would definitely need to have read the other books in the series to understand what is going on and why. Though I haven't read Call Down the Hawk yet, I imagine that this is a nice bridge between the 2 series. #ShelfLove #2025OffMyShelf

I'm joining @wanderinglynn's #2025OffMyShelf reading challenge to make my own #ShelfLove challenge a little more exciting! I'll be adding books that fit these prompts to my #BookSpin lists as well.

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for January! I'm looking forward to both of them😁

Here is my #BookSpin list for January! 2024 was my first year doing this challenge, and it helped me get through/rid of quite a few books. I have high hopes that 2025 will be just as successful!

I never thought I would enjoy a James Patterson book, and I never expected to see him as the author of a warm, family-friendly Christmas story. This was definitely a great #BlindDatewithaBook. I read this for #CozyChristmas and #YuletideSpirit.

I'm joining #ReadOuttheOld as I finish up the #CozyChristmas readathon today! I've got a Christmas book to finish, both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books to read, and a couple of library books I want to get to before New Year's Day.

At the airport waiting to fly home and I've been alternating between the tagged book and the audiobook of Dickens's A Christmas Carol. #CozyChristmas

Since I have the whole week off from work, I'll have plenty of time to read! So why not sign up for a holiday readathon?! #CozyChristmas

I'm really excited for my December #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin! 😁

My #bookhaul from the First Light bookstore in Austin, TX.

I'm posting my December #BookSpin list early since I'm going to be too busy during the week and next weekend to post.

My #DoubleSpin for this month was a quick read that spoke to my Hobbit self. Someday, I want to live somewhere surrounded by trees, even if that means I have to plant them myself.

This was my #BookSpin for this month. It was only OK. The writing sometimes felt a little off, but I'm not sure why.

My November #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books look like the perfect cozy reads as I slow down for the month.

My #BookSpin list for November! Most of these are physical books that have been on my TBR for quite a while, and the others are a mix of audiobooks and ebooks I've been wanting to read.

My #BookSpin for this month is absolutely beautiful and I will be keeping it as part of my permanent collection. I will also definitely be rereading it at some point, especially the stories “The Splendid Cannibals“ and “The Woman Who Befriended Ghosts.“ #TrappedInASpookyHouse #RIPXIX #Spookoween #FrightFall #SomethingWickedFall #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐This was my #DoubleSpin for this month as well as one of my #CastTheDie books and this month's book for #LosersClub. I'm so glad I finally read it, and I only wish I had read it years ago! #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #FrightFall #RIPXIX #Spookoween #SomethingWickedFall

The #FrightFall 24-Hour #Readathon starts in about 15 minutes (10 am EST)! These are just the physical books that I will be choosing from, and they're all from my #BookSpin list and a couple of them are books picked for me for #TrappedInASpookyHouse and #CastTheDie. I'll also be trying to get bingos on several boards including #SuperNaturalBookBingo. #LosersClub #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew #Spookoween #RIPXIX

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for October are also two of my #TrappedInASpookyHouse books. Carrie is also one of my #CastTheDie books and this month's book for #LosersClub and both count for #RIPXIX and #HauntedShelf #BlackCatCrew Hopefully I'm not forgetting any tags.

Here are my books for #CastTheDie. I'm definitely reading Carrie by Stephen King, for the #LosersClub read-along, and I will try to get to the others as well, especially the tagged book, which was my lucky pick. All of them count for #HauntedShelf team #BlackCatCrew and #RIPXIX.

Another #readathon in October? Sure, why not?! My goal will be to finish as many books from my October #BookSpin list as possible, and I'll also try for at least one bingo on the #Spookoween bingo card.

@TheSpineView

My TBR list for what feels like a million reading challenges & readathons in October that I signed up for! While it is primarily my combined list for #BookSpin and #CastTheDie, it includes the books picked for me while I'm #TrappedInASpookyHouse. All of the books count for #FrightFall, #RIPXIX, and #HauntedShelf as part of the #BlackCatCrew. I will also try to complete several different bingo cards along the way!

@BookwormAHN
@TheAromaofBooks

@DieAReader - I hope this was your list! If so, enjoy your time being #TrappedInASpookyHouse I loved Bird Box (and the sequel too)!

@PuddleJumper

My #BookSpin for September was a lot of fun. I could see it being made into a movie. I loved the Star Trek jokes/references. It was a great last book of #SciFiSummer for me (even though the reading challenge doesn't end until the 21st) and a great light-hearted start to #RIPXIX (even though I've already got a fair number of short stories under my belt for that reading challenge).

This was my #DoubleSpin for this month, and WOW was it intense! It was incredibly disturbing and most of the time I didn't want to put it down as the main character became more and more unhinged. As with most of the books Jenny Lawson has picked for her Fantastic Strangelings book club, I was left wondering what I had just read, but in a good way.

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for September: Night of the Living Trekkies by Kevin David Anderson and Mrs. March by Virginia Feito. I'm especially looking forward to Mrs. March since I'm really behind on the Fantastic Strangelings Book Club books. Mrs. March was the pick for August 2022! #RIPXIX #SomethingWickedFall

This weekend is the start of my major reading season, and my and the boyfriend's anniversary (11 years and we haven't killed each other...yet)! #SciFiSummer is going strong until the Autumnal Equinox, but #RIP starts on the 1st, which is also #BackToHogwarts day. I also signed up for the #WhatTheDickens #BuddyRead of David Copperfield. My goal is simple: read when I can and as much as I can #ForTheLoveofBooks #readathon hosted by @TheSpineView

September for me means a combination of #SummerSciFi and #RIP, so I tried to reflect that in my #BookSpin list for the month.

@TheAromaofBooks

I finally finished my #BookSpin for this month. It wasn't bad, but it was gross much of the time and kind of ruined the glamour of being an astronaut. This book is not for the squeamish or those who would rather remain oblivious to the often disgusting logistics of putting humans into space.

This was my #DoubleSpin for this month. While it was good, it's probably my least favorite of the Discworld series so far. I loved all of the others, but this one not so much. It's still a Pick, though.

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for August both look great. I'm especially looking forward to reading Pyramids!