⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Three very different women find themselves as employees of a male run bookshop in post WWII London. The bold aspiring-writer Vivian, smart, quiet Cambridge graduate Evie, and frustrated homemaker, Grace. The bookshop is filled with quirky characters, rivalries, and romantic longings among its small staff. Jenner hits all the right marks with literary undertones and historical details. This book is an absolute delight! 🫖🚺📚

My kind of morning...☕ ⛱ 🌊

Finding myself with a couple of leisurely hours at Barnes and Noble this evening. ❤

This book was fantastic! Hilarious for any mom who either loves to hate or hates to love wellness trends, social media influencers, and tiny toddler tyrants. A complete, unexpected delight. 👶 🍼 💊

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I expected to like this book, but I was surprised by how much I LOVED it! It is warm and funny with a heavy dose of nostalgia mixed in. The story is endearing while honoring a bygone era and still managing to nod to the future. Generation wars ensue, but the players eventually realize when they combine their values they can achieve the greatest outcomes. A perfect, fun summer read. ☀⛱

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Hannah has uprooted her life and moved across the country to marry a man she barely knows but seems to love almost immediately, Owen. She soon learns he is not who he has made himself out to be when he suddenly disappears. Finding herself wrapped up in a mystery, while also try to care for Owen's contentious teenage daughter, Hannah realizes she may be in way over her head. This was a fast-paced thriller! I really enjoyed it.

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I didn't know much about Frida Kahlo, but I became interested after reading about her journals. I was excited to see this as a BOTM add on. This was an approachable book, good for anyone with a new curiosity about her. This is not for scholars of Frida. The concept of tying her life to a self-help style book was unique, but I got bogged down by the overwhelming amount of repetition. I think this happened because of the format. 🎨💐 🇲🇽

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This book covers the fiery relationship between Man Ray and Lee Miller set against the backdrop of 1930s Paris. I had never heard of either of these artists, so I enjoyed learning about them. Miller's experiences were particularly fascinating. Loved all of the references to art 🎨, photography 📷, and allusions to the creative thinkers of this time. The characters were hard to connect with, but the historical aspects saved this one for me.

Chapter 26! 🔥🙊❤ That is all. If ya know, ya know. Lol.

My May BOTM picks 💐.
I absolutely love the joy of picking out these selections every month! It looks like I will need to get Malibu Rising and Great Circle pre-ordered from elsewhere. 🌊✈ Summer reading, here I come!

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A passionate, penniless artist and a free-spirited, high society girl collide in a post WW1 love story set in London. This novel portrays the lost generation in a surprisingly fresh and modern way. I've been thinking about this one obsessively over the past few days. I'm a sucker for the 1920s.

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This was a fun, sweet story spanning multiple generations in the Fontana family across both Italy and America. Some of the plot points and the characterization was a little beyond the point of believability, but as a rom-com style novel it worked. The descriptions across Italy were beautiful. 🇮🇹

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This book definitely grew on me. I thought the first half was a little bit silly in its treatment of the subject matter, but it developed in such a way that was pleasing and meaningful for the reader. This is a lovely, quiet story about love and grief. I enjoyed it very much.

"That was the thing about best friends. Like sisters and mothers, they could piss you off and make you cry and break your heart, but in the end, when the chips were down, they were there, making you laugh even in your darkest hours."

This says so much about me and how I practice self care.

I was introduced to the Starz series last spring and promptly proceeded to binge the entire thing. Now that I've had a bit of distance from the show, I wanted to start working my way through the books. 1 down, 7 more to go. The show really did a great job of honoring the book in season one! There were some differences, but I actually liked those new choices too. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you so much @charlene1321! My region is forecasting accumulating snow off and on this week. This will be the perfect mystery to add to the atmospheric chill. ❄ I'm excited about the book and love 💘 the chocolate goodies! Happy Valentine's Day! 💝 @candority #bookcupidswap

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This book was magically whimsical and had such a beautiful message. Thank you @Soubhiville for treating me to this quirky story. 🌊 👾 👹

Is it October 5th yet? 🎃 🧙‍♀️ Something to look forward to in 2021. I think I'll reread the first three books in anticipation of this final installment. 🧹

Better late than never! February bookspin ready to go! @TheAromaofBooks #bookspin #bookspinbingo

I received my #bookcupidswap! 📬 I didn't see a litsy handle on the box, so I'll hopefully be able to tag the sender when I open it on the 14th. ❤ 🤍 @candority

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I enjoyed this one, but holy smokes it was sad. In the hard scrabble hills of depression-era Kentucky, tender and strong Cussy Mary is a heroine to cheer for. I never knew about the blue people of Kentucky or the pack horse librarians. I thought I was getting into a sweet little tale about book deliveries/mobile libraries but this was so much more. #newyearwhodis @Kdgordon88 @monalyisha

I am so excited about my BOTM selections for February. 😍

Sent out my #cupidbookswap today 🏹 💕. It should be there by Wednesday. Thanks for hosting @candority !

I don't typically read novels in verse, but I really enjoyed this one. Xiomara made me feel like a 15 year old girl all over again. She is grappling with first love, finding her identity, and an overbearing mother among other adolescent struggles. It was beautiful and telling -- a reminder about how hard it still is to be a kid! I think my students would love this one too. Thanks for the recommendation @Kdgordon88 and @monalyisha for organizing!

I tried, but I have no clue what is happening in this book. 🤷‍♀️ I'm going to shelf it for now and maybe come back at a later date. The concept sounded intriguing. I think I just need more available brain space than what I currently have to work through its complexities. #authoramonth @Soubhiville

I try so hard not to think about this! ?

"Libraries are life-enhancing places of wonder. It's not you, libraries, it's me, as the popular saying goes. The thought of books passing through so many unwashed hands - people reading them in the bath, letting their dogs sit on them, picking their nose and wiping the results on the page. People eating cheesy crisps and then reading a few chapters without washing their hands first. I just can't."

I finished my #bookspin and #doublespin selections for January. Two very different books, but they both featured strong women with complicated mother/daughter relationships. I'll post my reviews soon with more thoughts on each. @TheAromaofBooks

Weekend reading vibes. ❤ 📖
Planning to finish Poet X, get next week's reading done for An Inquiry into Love and Death, and start at least one new book. Ready to escape into my books after this tumultuous and exhausting week. #anywayyoureadathon @kimmypete1 @Eggbeater @MidnightBookGirl

1. Returning to school, orthodontist, physical therapy, soccer, and boy scouts. This is for me and my kids since their commitments are also mine. Lol.
2. It was an icy, cold weekend in St. Louis. I didn't leave the house at all, and I loved it! I read and stayed up late.
#motivationalmonday @cupcake12

Last of 2020: In a Holidaze #sundaybuddyread 🎄
First of 2021: The Death of Mrs. Westaway #jolabokaflod swap gift. 🙂🍫
@BookNAround #lastfirst

1. Tagged
2. I started reading more than one book at a time which has always been really hard for me to do!
3. World of Wonders
@ozma.of.oz #sundayfunday

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Harriet "Hal" Westaway is barely surviving and keeping her head above water from both bill collectors and a sinister loan shark. Her luck seems to shift when she learns of a possible surprise inheritance. This one is full of mystery, suspense, and dark family drama with many twists and turns. This is my favorite Ruth Ware so far.

#bookspin #20: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
#doublespin #4: Poet x
@TheAromaofBooks #bookspinbingo
Here we go! I wanted to get this posted before starting to mark them off. 🙂

Eh - I'm about 80 pages in, and it's just not pulling me. I think the timing might be off for me with this one. It's not bad; I'm just lacking the patience to stick it out for the slow burn right now. Plus, it's due at the library, so I'm going to return it and move on!

2020 was a great reading year for me! I think The Sundown Motel was my favorite book. I had no expectations going into it, and I was surprised at how quickly I flew through it. It wasn't "perfect", but it definitely put me back in the mood to read more thrillers. I honestly enjoyed what each of these books had to offer this year.

This book is putting off some lovely dark academia vibes. 📚 🏫 👩‍🏫 I believe in all of these charming things too. Including the ghosts, I might believe in them a little bit too 😉. #sundaybuddyread

Bookspin Bingo for January 2021! The last five will be for spontaneous choice reads. Selections include swap gifts, #Sundaybuddyread, #authoramonth, and #newyearwhodis recs. I'm looking forward to my first go at this! @TheAromaofBooks

Bookish family ?s 2020. ? Ever since I listened to the podcast, "Dolly Parton's America", I've been intrigued by her and her journey. This songbook is beautiful on the inside. ?

Stayed up late finishing this one. It was a delight, and I loved it! 🎄 ❄ #merryreaders #wintergames2020 @Clwojick

Outlawed sounds like such a quirky, fun read! My dad LOVED westerns. Louis Lamour filled the bookshelves of my childhood home. We read Lonesome Dove and watched the early 90s miniseries together. My dad is responsible for sparking much of my initial interest in reading. His westerns were one of the things entrusted to me, to eventually pass to my son, when he passed away. I am intrigued by this take on a female western; I couldn't resist. 🤠🐎

Merry Christmas Eve from my little bakers to yours! This is 6 and 14. 🤣 After the cookies are done, I'm looking forward to settling in with some chocolate and a book. 🎄 🍫 📚 #jolabokaflod

Thank you @hermyknee for my #jolabokaflod swap! I love Ruth Ware and can't wait to get into this one! 🍫 @MaleficentBookDragon

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Addie LaRue may be one of the loneliest main characters I've ever encountered. She is forgotten by every single person she meets the moment she leaves their sight. Is this a gift offering her freedom from any consequence or an unmanageable curse? With an immortal life, Addie learns to find the gaps that make this life worthwhile. This was a beautiful story of love, memory, beauty, inspiration, and the pressing impacts of the passage of time.

Happy #LLWS opening day!! 🤗🎁 Thank you so much @Soubhiville ! I am so lucky! I ALMOST bought the Lana Del Ray book last week, but I resisted the urge. I am so glad I did! I love her. I cannot wait to read The House in the Cerulean Sea with my son. The boutique coffee is perfection *chef's 💋* ☕ and the little Narwhal pin is so cute and perfectly complements The Cerulean Sea! 🐋 I am over the moon with my goodies! @Bookgoil @rsteve388 ❤💚

Friday night perfection...❄🍷

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This was a sweet read for December and the cover is adorable! It was delightfully predictable but sprinkled with a few bothersome choices made by the main characters. They lost my support for a bit which is why I'm going with 3 stars. I also felt like a few of the minor story lines fell flat. Not terrible but not quite my favorite holiday read either. The scenery from London was well done, and it provided a nice little mental vacation. ❄⛄

These two are starting to get on my nerves a bit. 🤦‍♀️ I'm looking forward to talking it out on Sunday! ❤ #sundaybuddyread

At the start of the pandemic, I somehow had the lucky grace to stumble upon the author, Suleika Jaouad. In a time of uncertainty, she developed a grass-roots writing community by offering insightful & inspirational daily writing prompts. I can't do her or her work value with my words. I highly recommend googling/checking out The Isolation Journals. I had the good fortune of participating in a live session with the tagged author. It was lovely!

Hey @hermyknee! I received my #jolabokaflod box today. I'm so excited! At first I thought maybe BOTM was sending me a Xmas gift. Nope, it's something much better than that! 🎄 ❄ 📖 🍫 I can't wait to open it. Also, we may have been a good match! I am a high school English teacher, and it looks like you teach too! ❤ @MaleficentBookDragon