We signed one of our kiddos up for rock climbing class and I probably should have budgeted better! It is an hour and a half class and located about 5 minutes away from a bookstore. Here is today's haul!

#BookHaul

Always happy to join a #Readathon - especially this time of year as I try to get a good start to reading for the year! Plans for this readathon:

Finish Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant
Read The Disappeared by Kim Echlin
Start a third book.

May not hit all my goals but I've gotten off to a good start this year. Kiddos have lots of weekend activities this winter so hoping for a bit of extra reading time.

#JanuaryBluesReadathon @Liseworks

I've been creeping everyone's story graphs and adding them but if I missed anyone and you want to add me feel free. Same handle as Litsy. I really only use it as another form of tracking books and challenges but always happy to add friends 🙂. #Storygraph

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/jess861

Kid had an appointment today so I took a few hours off work to read while we waited in a waiting room. Picking this book up for #BookedInTime . From what I've read so far, the pace might be a bit slow for me but it is still early goings so we'll see how the rest goes.

@Cuilin

This book is a pick for me - although not a standout. A quicker and enjoyable read about women and how they assisted with the radar work during WWII. Loved learning about how radar played a roll in WWII despite it being a new technology. It was a good blend of learning about how radar technology worked/was used with the other storylines going on. It is pretty easy to see where the book is going but still well written and an enjoyable read.

The first Oh Canada Book Club pick for 2026 has started with This Side Jordan by Margaret Laurence. This is a bi-monthly read so it will go through to the end of February.

All are welcome to join this laid back book club where we explore the books written by Canadian authors. Feel free to join in when a book interests you and jump out when one doesn't.

#Canada #CanadianAuthors #BookClub #BuddyRead @Litsyevents

Picked this book up for my first #LiteraryCrew and it's the first book up in 2026. It is cold, and I feel absolutely no want to be productive today. Perfect day to curl up with a book and do nothing else....until the kids get bored with the Lego! 😆

@Librarybelle

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for the month of January using colours on covers. These books should check a few boxes on other challenges/reading events as well. Looking forward to getting my 2026 reading underway!

3. Grey on the Cover - Radar Girls
5. Beige on the Cover - The Curse of Pietro Houdini

@TheAromaofBooks

I hope everyone who wanted to participate was able to enjoy a nice cozy mystery as we head into winter for the #OhCanada read. This is a light discussion on thoughts about the series and/or author.

A reminder that many read different books in the series so no spoilers please.

#BookClub #Canada #CanadianAuthors #BookClub #BuddyRead

Once again, I will start the year off with all the ambition in the world to participate in many challenges/events. I will likely only participate a month or two like usual but it's still fun for me!

My 2026 #BookSpin #DoubleSpin will continue to be colours on the book cover - because I just love how it's still kind of random while allowing some flexibility in which book I read.

Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for hosting this fun event once again!

Soft pick - I enjoyed this book set in Paris during the late 1800's about two sisters finding their way after their fathers death. It was a good look into the time period and what young girls had to do to survive but also how certain choices could impact their lives. I did find I wanted to put the book down at times in the beginning but I'm glad I finished. The way the author intertwined the story with some boy criminals at the time was well done.

Great #BookHaul from my family for my birthday earlier this month and Christmas. A nice mix of books to add to my bookshelves. I may have to use the library a bit less in 2026 and start reading the ridiculous amounts of unread books I have at home 🤣!!

Thank you so much @TheLudicReader for such a wonderful and thoughtful #Jolabokaflodswap !! Such an amazing package with an extra book to go with it and a top 20 list!! So excited for both of these books and to look into some of your favourite books of the year.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Jolabokaflod and Holiday season!

Thank you again to @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting another wonderful #Jolabokaflod

Starting the weekend off with a vanilla latte and The Painted Girls for the #BookedInTime read.

#FridayHappyReadingHour

I don't really read many mysteries let alone cozy mysteries so I don't have much to compare this book too...but I did enjoy it and will likely read more in the series at some point. I did find it hard to follow all the characters at first but once I was a couple of chapters in I figured it out. The characters and the town fit what some small Quebec towns are well. A good cozy mystery to read in December - and I never figured out who did it.

Votes are in for This Side Jordan by Margaret Laurence as the first book we read for #OhCanada in 2026.

All are welcome to join in on this low key bi-monthly read where we explore Canadian authors. Participate whenever you feel like - drop on in if you see a book you want to read! Discussion question(s) will be posted at the end of February.

#Canada #CanadianAuthors #BookClub #BuddyRead

#Jolabokaflod package in the mail today! Thanks for running this wonderful swap @maleficentbookdragon

Curled up with a vanilla latte and the #OhCanada book pick on this snowy day.

I had never heard of Belle and it was fascinating to read about her. Such a strong and brave woman! The way she built herself up to be one of the first successful career woman is truly inspiring. The book touches on a number of issues including racism and equality. Another main focus is art and manuscript collecting. There were sections it was slow but the writing made you want to read each word. It was refreshing to read a book in first person.

Cracking a beer tonight for #happyfridayreadinghour while I aim to finish this book over the weekend!

The wrong groceries were delivered and the house who got ours refused to return them. We get to keep theirs even though we didn't want it because it's nothing we eat. I don't like to rant but this one is really bugging me - no consideration for others! Poor driver first day too! Hence why I need a drink and a book tonight! Apologies - rant over!

Just picked up my copy of Still Life from the library for the #OhCanada read. I've heard nothing but good things about this series, including from the Librarian that was checking my books out!

One month left and I'll post a discussion point at the end of December. It will be a brief, high level discussion post since people are reading various books in the series.

All are welcome to join this bi-monthly read where we explore Canadian authors.

The #OhCanada Book Club is back for 2026 - with a cute little Beaver!

This year we'll start with some classic Canadian literature as requested. This is the Jan/Feb vote on which Margaret Laurence book we'd like to read. I don't read much classic lit so I'll be discovering new books as well. Anyone who suggested an author on previous posts will get one of those authors picked in 2026 for a vote. Always open to new suggestions.

All welcome to join

Up next for #BookedInTime #BookedInTimeNovember2025 . It's set a little outside the guilded age years but I think 1905 is considered guilded age still to some - close enough anyways. I've heard good things about this book and even the librarian commented on it when I checked it out so looking forward to this read! Hoping to start it later this evening.

Definitely a fiction book with some unbelievable parts but it was a great book. It is well researched and written. It is a story about two woman finding themselves. It is about the treatment of Veterans and their mental health. It is about de-institutionalization in the 60s and some of the repercussions. While it doesn't dive deeply into the topics it brings attention to them with a good fictional story to go with it. Glad I picked this one up!

Just signed up and excited for #JolabokaflodSwap !! We always let our kids unwrap a new book on Christmas Eve so excited to have one to unwrap and enjoy myself!!

I'll send out my package a bit earlier than normal....yay for Canada Post 😆

Thank you for hosting @MaleficentBookDragon

A dangerous game to be drinking a dragonfruit tea at this hour!! But I'm wide awake now to get through a chunk of this book. I really enjoyed part one (although I did find one of the characters dialogue slightly annoying). Hoping part two is just as good.

If I'm posting a review at 2 AM you know what happened 🤣 . Work will be full of regrets tomorrow!

The #OhCanada November/December read has kicked off and feel free to read any book from the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series by Louise Penny. I will be reading book #1 (Still Life) as I haven't read any of these books before. Discussion will be high level with no spoilers since there will likely be multiple books read.

Anyone is welcome to join - easy going group read where we explore Canadian authors. We will be continuing in 2026 too.

An absolutely gorgeous day here, even if it's only 10 degrees. It's a bit cloudy but so bright and crisp out - I love this weather!! Going to start the tagged book with my Ice Cap. I believe this book looks at the mental health side of Veterans through a fictional story - so I'm hoping to learn a bit from this book.

#SweaterWeather #IceCap #Autumn #AutumnReading #LibraryBook

Love our local library and the amazing kids section it has! Kids picked up some Halloween books and a few others while we were there too. A trip to the library is always fine!

#Library #LibraryBooks #KidsBooks #HalloweenBooks

This book was ok for me. I enjoyed digging into the Cold War but didn't find this to be much a spy story. It was an easy read but the characters didn't develop much. More a story about two sisters and the ones husband and how much he likes to drink. The ending also seemed a little too unrealistic for me. I did enjoy the Cold War historical aspects of the book and hope to read more Cold War historical fiction in the future.

Hoping to finish this book in the next few days as I'm about two thirds through now. It's a gloomy, rainy day here so I'll likely spend the evening reading. Wish I could curl up now but it's Monday.

The book has picked up and I'm enjoying it so far. The writing makes it an easy read but still enjoyable. Excited to find out how it plays out for the characters.

Continuing to read the tagged book with a side of cheese for #JustOneMoreChapter #readathon. Enjoying the book so far but I do hope the story starts to move along soon. Hoping to get more than a few chapters in outside this evening but it looks like it might rain...not that we don't need it as can be seen by the grass in this photo!

This is my #BookedInTimeOctober pick.

Going to start the tagged book and enjoy #FridayHappyReadingHour this evening with a dark beer. Brought some snacks along for the read too. Been a long week at work so I'm so ready for some down time!! Great kick off to the #JustOneMoreChapter #Readathon

@mcctrish

I feel exactly the same as @TheAromaofBooks - life is finally starting to settle down and I'm feeling like picking up books again. It seems like a great weekend to participate in the #JustOneMoreChapter #Readathon .

I'm either going to try to put a dent in Mistborn: The Well of Ascension or I'll get started on Our Woman in Moscow. I'll see which book I feel like curling up to tomorrow after work.

Thanks so much for hosting @TheAromaofBooks !

The #OhCanada book club is going to head to Three Pines for the last read of 2025. Read any of the Louise Penny books depending where you are in the series or a book you maybe want to reread. There will likely be a few different books read so discussion question(s) will still be posted at the end but will be high level as to spoil any of the books.

All are welcome to join this low key bi-monthly read of Canadian authors. We will continue in 2026.

Too nice of a day to spend my lunch hour working inside. Ran to the chip truck to grab a poutine and going to do a bit of reading on my lunch.

It's slow progress but I'm chugging through the book. I'm into the mist storyline way more than the other storyline in this book so far. It has been building into a better book for me so hopefully it keeps building!

Just a reminder that there is about a month left in the September/October #OhCanada read for those who are interested in this book.

Also wondering what the interest is in continuing in 2026. I've enjoyed hosting so I'm happy to keep it going if there is still interest. The bi-monthly cadence works well for me, does it work well for you? Also, if you are interested do you have any authors you would like to read? Types of books you enjoy?

Thought it would be fun to go with a bit of a different genre for the next book.

1. Still Life - Book 1 of a well loved Canadian mystery series. Book 20 comes out this year so plenty more to read if you enjoy the series.
2. Pattern Recognition - Book 1 of a science fiction series. There are 3 books in this series.

Full disclosure - I mainly read fiction so I haven't read either of these - but would love to discover a new author with you all!

I finally started the second book in the Mistborn series.....7 months after the group read of the Mistborn series I attempted to participate in 🤣🤣!!

I finished part one but this is going to take some time for me to read. I usually read 300 page books not 750 page books, lol. Been in a huge reading slump for no particular reason so hopeful I can kick out of it and actually finish this book! Enjoying it but liked book 1 better so far!

WOW - thank you soooo much for this most amazing #FallingForFallSwap pacakge! You can't really see it but there is also a doormat under all these wonderful items!! I love, love, loved that you got one of your kiddos to pick out a book and can't wait to read it! I can't thank you enough for this wonderful #fffs package! You are too generous @DinoMom

@Avanders @Chrissyreadit

I dropped off my package at the post office today! Well my husband dropped it off because he was off work today - so apologies as there won't be any writing on the outside of the box, lol. But everything is wrapped on the inside so no big deal if the box is opened....also sorry about the horrendous wrapping job - can't say it's something I excel at 😄

#fffs #fallingforfallswap @Chrissyreadit @Avanders

My #FallingForFallSwap package arrived!! It may have arrived a while ago but I'm terrible at checking my mail 😆!! Thank you so much @DinoMom I can't wait to open them (especially the bonus picked by your kid - such a neat idea!!)

@Avanders @Chrissyreadit

I needed a bit of a break from adult reading and decided to pick up an old favourite. I'll probably just reread here and there on nights I want a break from whatever book I'm reading at the time. It's such an old copy that it is called Philosopher's Stone and has 1 wand printed twice in the school list. I've read this series so many times it's ridiculous but here I am about to reread again 😆

The #OhCanada book pick for our September/October read. All are welcome to join this bi-monthly read where we explore different Canadian authors and discuss at the end of the read.

Sorry for just a small post on this - August has been quite busy here.

Beautiful day for some outside reading in the backyard. It is almost sweater weather today and probably will be this evening. Starting the reread of the #OhCanada book. Will post a discussion post on August 31st.

A slower paced book set in a Scottish village about a woman who lost a son and has to deal with those emotions when a young boy washes up in a storm years later. While it was a slower paced book it still held a good pace to it and was an enjoyable read. The book makes you feel like you are in a 1900 coastal village. It is character driven and the main character became a bit annoying but after reading the ending it all comes together beautifully.

Sorry for the late post on the vote for the next book! Two different types of books by two authors. Please let me know which book you would prefer to read for the September/October read of #OhCanada . Moon of the Crusted Snow is the first of two books (so far) and Three Day Road is the first in a trilogy.

Anyone welcome to join in this easy going book club where we explore different Canadian authors every two months.

#BookClub #BuddyRead #Canada