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JackOBotts

JackOBotts

Joined August 2016

“If you think reading is boring, you‘re doing it wrong.”
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The Celebrants by Steven Rowley
review
JackOBotts
The Eyes of the Dragon | Stephen King
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🐉🐉🐉🐉
4 dragons for this read, which my 10 year old highly recommended to me (his first King novel). Also my December #doublespin pick.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4d
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JackOBotts

Seeking book recommendations for my 10 y.o. son. He‘s in 4th grade and dipping toes into horror…he‘s been allowed to watch some scary movies (The Omen, The Conjuring, The Shining, It (1990 miniseries), Signs, The Sixth Sense).

He‘s wanted to read Stephen King, so for his birthday he got The Eyes of the Dragon & The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. He‘s devouring these books…

Any recommendations for where to steer him next? Thanks, Litsy! 💜🩷

JackOBotts No nightmares from the reads/movies. He‘s also reading some of my Fear Street books from childhood, but not as fast as the King novels. I will add that we‘re trying to avoid excessive language, sex, gore in the books at the moment (good luck with King!), but he also understands the balance. #raisingreaders 🥰 (edited) 3w
Lauredhel Is he too old for Goosebumps? I feel like ten isn't quite too old yet? 3w
Lauredhel More YA but a mix: Anna Dressed in Blood, Wilder Girls,Miss Peregrine series, Shirley Jackson, Dread Nation, Hold Me Closer Necromancer series (humour /horror), Through the Woods, Kaaron Warren, Holly Black, Mira Grant, some T Kingfisher, Monstrumologist, Claire Legrand, NK Jemisin, None Shall Sleep 3w
See All 7 Comments
thegirlwiththelibrarybag I‘ve not read them myself but I do get asked for the Five Nights At Freddy‘s books reasonably often at the library (we shelve them in teen) 3w
PathfinderNicole I have a 7th grade horror fan myself and he LOVES the Five Night‘s at Freddy‘s books! There are full length novels and oodles of short story collections. There are also a couple based off the kids horror game Hello Neighbor. Try Mary Downing Hahn or Betty Wright for older kid friendly horror too 3w
Billypar I read this as an adult a few years ago, but it's one I wished I read as a kid because it's so, so creepy and original. Not at all like adult horror if he's reading King, but I don't think it feels too young either. 3w
JackOBotts @Lauredhel @thegirlwiththelibrarybag @PathfinderNicole @Billypar ~ thank you for all these recs! 🙌🏼 Time for me to do some reading - I mean, research -of my own! Gotta catch up with his King titles first…or simultaneously! 📚📚 3w
25 likes7 comments
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JackOBotts
Starling House | Alix Harrow
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Enjoyed visiting the Starling House and meeting some of the good folks of Eden.

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JackOBotts
Meant to Be | Emily Giffin
Mehso-so

Meh…while I finished, this wasn‘t a read I‘d highly recommend. I wasn‘t invested in the characters or the storyline; however, I did manage to finish. Happy to move this along to a new home.

⭐️⭐️

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JackOBotts
The Unhoneymooners | Christina Lauren
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️
Fun, quick read…makes me want to get on a plane to Hawaii on this chilly November morning!

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JackOBotts
December | Robyn Brode
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As 2024 starts to transition to 2025, I‘m thankful for another fun year of #bookspin with @TheAromaofBooks ~ thank you for hosting! 💜🙌🏼

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2025 is going to be the fifth year of BookSpin!! 😲 1mo
28 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was a delightful and cozy read. I enjoyed the dual timelines and seeing Val work her way through the riddles as she becomes part of the Primrose Hill community. Take me to the Book Garden, please!

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JackOBotts
Love and Other Words | Christina Lauren
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⭐️⭐️⭐️

A quick read ~ out of my traditional “comfort zone”

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️ While it feels a bit too obvious, I did find it helpful and was thinking about the “combinations” I work with (including myself)

If you think you‘re surrounded by idiots, then perhaps you are the idiot…you can‘t expect everyone to be/act like you, so it‘s beneficial to seek to understand those surrounding you.

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was fun…and I learned that my nephew and his mom are reading the series, too. Should I continue?

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

Finished The Answer is No today for my November #bookspin (Kindle). Just a delight. Backman has a delightful knack for absurdity, humor, and humanity. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! I got this one as a free Kindle book this month but haven't read it yet. 1mo
30 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
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Currently reading this #kindlepick for my November #bookspin 👍🏼

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JackOBotts
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Thanks to #roll100 & my November #doublespin I am delighted to move this 2018 #both off my #tbr shelf. This was enjoyable, and I liked seeing Hazel unravel the mystery. 3.5 ⭐️

TheAromaofBooks I quite like this cover!! 1mo
30 likes2 comments
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JackOBotts
Circe | Madeline Miller
Bailedbailed

Made it to page 137…just not into it…time to get the book back to its owner.

19 likes1 stack add1 comment
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JackOBotts
The Wrong Number | R.L. Stine
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️
And now it‘s my son‘s turn to read this.

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

Good pick for spooky season. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

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JackOBotts
Novemberschokolade: Roman | Ulrike Sosnitza
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November #bookspin list ~ we‘re in the homestretch for 2024…how is this happening?!

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! I can't believe how fast this year has gone!!! 2mo
25 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
Hidden Pictures: A Novel | Jason Rekulak
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a quick and gripping read - perfect for Halloween season! Fun Fact: this author is from my town in Central Jersey, so some of the local nods (RU-Rah-Rah) and allusions to the Middlesex Greenway were fun lil‘ Easter Eggs of sorts.

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JackOBotts
We Sold Our Souls | Grady Hendrix
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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Metal and gore 🤘🏼🎸
Filing in the #mysoncanreadthiswhenhesolder category, definitely up his alley

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JackOBotts
The Hitchhiker | R. L. Stine
Pickpick

3.5 ⭐️ ~ fun and quick ~ R.L. Stine has the formula down. I will let the kid read this one. The innuendo should just soar over his head. Hopefully this will reinforce the “don‘t hitchhike, don‘t pick up hitchhikers” mantra I‘ll say on repeat in the years to come! 🤞🏼🤣

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JackOBotts
The Hitchhiker | R. L. Stine
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Next up on the #canmykidreadthisyet list…this guy…my son‘s just finished Stine‘s The Cheater and enjoyed it. He‘s not yet 10, so I guess this is good parenting. He‘s dying to read Stephen King, but this will have to do…for a little while longer. We‘ve got some “good for kids” King coming his way for his 10th.

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JackOBotts
We Sold Our Souls | Grady Hendrix

For years, Dr. Murchison had taught her to breathe in the flower, and blow out the candle. Now she breathed in Slayer and blew out Black Sabbath.

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JackOBotts
Mehso-so

My October #Roll100 & #DoubleSpin ~ there is a lot in these vignettes about murder and violence in Essex County (Massachusetts) densely packed, but “just okay” for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo
19 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

September #Roll100 & October #bookspin - a powerful read that follows Cora on her fight for freedom. Setbacks and challenges don‘t begin to describe the atrocities. Moving.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2mo
PuddleJumper Wahoo! 2mo
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JackOBotts
The Measure | Nikki Erlick
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My September #doublespin and Book Club pick for October. Felt good to read a book that I wanted to keep coming back to. I think our group‘s discussion will be a good one.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2mo
24 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
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September was a slooooooow reading month for me…hoping my October #bookspin helps me get back in the swing.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3mo
23 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
The Cheater | R.L. Stine
Pickpick

Fun throwback c/o my parents‘ basement… #treasure looking forward to diving into others in the box. 📦

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JackOBotts
Carmen | Prosper Merimee
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Mehso-so

Okay novella…admittedly I‘m unfamiliar with the opera. But I am happy to me moving through the Art of the Novella series, thanks to #bookspin (this is my September pick).

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo
25 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
The Book of Cold Cases | Simone St. James
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy to have finally returned to Simone St. James. This book blends together some of my favorites: true crime and ghosts…

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JackOBotts
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My September #bookspin list looks very similar to that of prior months…but that‘s okay! Plenty of opportunities to tackle #mountTBR while still having room for “mood reading”. How is it September?! And, in a very un-New Jersey twist, my kids head back to school this week…in August! What is happening?! 🤣

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo
24 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was pulled in quickly and enjoyed seeing the timelines play out.

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Parenting someone recently diagnosed, this book is a helpful tool for perspective. Both Penn and Kim are candid about their experiences and the impact of ADHD on their lives & relationship. (August #doublespin)

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 4mo
25 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
The Seven Year Slip | Ashley Poston
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Enjoyed reading this during a weekend getaway.

40 likes1 stack add
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JackOBotts
Daphne: A Novel | Justine Picardie
Bailedbailed

My #Roll100 for August and I‘m not feeling it…so why continue?! Move it out into the world for someone else! #thankyouNext

dabbe #hailthebail! 🖤🐾🖤 4mo
JackOBotts @dabbe yes! I said to my husband, “I don‘t think I‘m going to keep reading this.” Then said to myself, “Walk away now! What are you waiting for?!” Need to embrace the bail! 🙌🏼 4mo
dabbe @JackOBotts I have no idea why I gave you a paw print! I should have emojied 🤩🤩🤩! 😂 4mo
31 likes3 comments
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JackOBotts
The Nose | Nikolay Gogol
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Mehso-so

“So-So” because there is probably so, so much I don‘t quite understand…amusing though and with the author‘s self-awareness at the end I know that a trip to Wikipedia may be in order.

My #bookspin for August (A Melville House read). 🙌🏼

27 likes4 comments
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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I enjoy how Davis embraces the two timelines together.

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JackOBotts
The It Girl | Ruth Ware
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not my favorite Ruth Ware read, but it kept moving and kept me guessing till the end.

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JackOBotts
August and Everything After | Jennifer Salvato Doktorski
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August #bookspin - August?!

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 5mo
18 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

Another amusing installment ~ enjoying the friendship our leading ladies have. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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JackOBotts
Anxious People: A Novel | Fredrik Backman
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Backman does such a great job tapping into the human condition…I want to meet and have coffee…or a beer…or some closet wine…with each of these characters. This was a twofer: July #bookspin and #roll100

PuddleJumper Nicely done! 5mo
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 5mo
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JackOBotts
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Jamie! 😍 This was a delight to receive earlier this week. Thank you for the little Michigan surprise pack. 💜 You can bet I‘ll be savoring these in the coming days. Thank you so much! 💜

JamieArc You‘re welcome! I hope the mints didn‘t come melted! They are one of my favorites. 5mo
JackOBotts @JamieArc - they traveled well and are delish! I savored the first one yesterday! 5mo
31 likes2 comments
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JackOBotts
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Josh & Chuck are the PB&J of podcasting, and this books was a delight. Their voices came through in their writing. Looking forward to diving back into their podcast episodes.

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JackOBotts
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This is why Josh & Chuck are “my people” - working a They Might Be Giants nod into a footnote in a chapter about do(ugh)nuts. 😉 #Istanbul(NotConstantinople)

Mollyanna Love a good They Might Be Giants reference 😀 6mo
Suet624 My friend and I were just talking about trying to see They Might Be Giants in Boston! 6mo
JackOBotts @Suet624 - this is a sign…do it, do it! My sister brought up going to see them with my son (9), but we can‘t make the NYC date. 6mo
JackOBotts @Mollyanna 💜💜💜 6mo
Suet624 @JackOBotts I‘ll see if we can pull it off. 6mo
31 likes5 comments
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JackOBotts
The Duel | Giacomo Casanova
Pickpick

My July #bookspin (history repeating from 2020) is still a pick. Duels are still absurd.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 6mo
19 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
The Duel | Giacomo Casanova

Evidently I‘m re-reading this…and am the most recent poster (2020). 🤣 And again for BookSpin. (I don‘t consider this cheating)

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JackOBotts
Pickpick

Even with the murder and mayhem, this series continues to delight. Fun and breezy reading.

24 likes1 stack add
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JackOBotts
The Guncle | Steven Rowley
Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ~ delighted to sneak this in as a final read in June

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JackOBotts
July, July: A Novel | Tim O'Brien
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How is it time for July #bookspin ~ here‘s my list to kick off the back half of 2024! 😬

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 6mo
17 likes1 comment
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JackOBotts
Pickpick

Fun, quick read…I‘d love to read Phoebe‘s dissertation. 🤣

⭐️⭐️⭐️

keepingupwiththepenguins Same!! 😍 2mo
25 likes1 comment