I‘ve had this book on Kindle for months, way back when it was the last book for #EuropaCollective. Finally got around to it! A very interesting story about Belle Greene who became the chief librarian for J.P. Morgan in the early 1900s, all while passing as “white” even though her parents were descended from slaves. It‘s amazing how far we‘ve come from when having a single drop of black blood disqualified someone from so much.

1. Listened to podcast with two people trying to start a Jewish museum in Chicago. Loved their enthusiasm!
2. Excellent shrimp and scallop salad with pineapple-mango dressing and key lime pie colada.
3. Michelbob ribs in Naples, Florida. Had to “Take a picture with Mick”.
4. Two queen bees.
5. 90s and sunny every day in Florida. Lots of reading at the pool for hours…heaven!

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

1. I do carry cash for small transactions. Recently had a Lyft driver who I tipped in cash.
2. Boy does money affect these characters, a group of manipulative liars!

@TheSpineView

1 Still doing my French toast thing! This one is stuffed Bavarian cream (shared with a friend)
2 Three favorite shows streaming again.
3 Beautiful display of tulips caught my eye
4 One Queen Bee
5 Off on vacation tomorrow! Really looking forward to a break.

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

Ran out to get book 2 as soon as I finished book 1. Tara continues to be stuck on November 18th, but in this volume she begins to plan out her life, how she will continue to live day after day. Book 3 coming out in the fall, and yikes! there will be 7 books in this series. These books are very different from anything else I‘ve read, and that makes them valuable to me.

Only 38. I took 18th and 19th century Russian lit in college, so I did have those long ones! I might have read more, but can‘t really remember. 🤔

#TLT @dabbe

It‘s a long few years for Addie, whose husband is diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia in his 50s. She narrates the book throughout all the stages, sometimes with humor but mostly with despair. No kids, they had each other and their cats and lived a happy life until this came along. It reads like a true story, and I can verify this having lived through dementia with my mother and mother-in-law. She‘s a survivor and I understood her perfectly.

1. Hubby is a tax accountant so ours was filed a month ago.

2. Dementia

@TheSpineView Thanks for the tag! 🩷 #Two4Tuesday

Couldn‘t put this short novel down. The Danish author writes of a woman who is stuck on one day in time, every day for her is that same day. I of course thought it would be like Groundhog Day, but it‘s not at all as it‘s mostly about her feelings and thoughts and emotions. What to do about her husband and her future consumes her every waking moment. It‘s a thriller in an odd sort of way. Excited to read book 2!

This book is amazing, truly! A family lives alone on a remote island off the coast of Antarctica, protecting a seed bank until the next supply ship arrives. When a woman washes ashore, all their lives are changed forever. It‘s a story of hope, of secrets, of lies and of course of love. Narrated one chapter at a time by each character, we slowly learn their stories. My favorite book of this year so far. Highly recommend!

My favorites by a mile! Thanks for hosting, you‘re the best! 🩷🩷🩷

#CampLitsy25. @squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB

Fun quiz! Are we the only yellow readers? @MemoirsForMe

1. One amazing lunch! Nachos and coconut shrimp, not to mention a Pina-Rita rimmed in toasted coconut.
2. Puzzle of the week. I love romantic puzzles like this one.
3. Pumpkin Spice tea on a cold morning really hit the spot.
4. Hebru Brantley, Chicago muralist, interviewed on Chicago Humanities Tapes.
5. One Queen Bee, always fun to get it.

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

This is one peculiar book, clocking in at only 90 pages. Through the eyes of the narrator, we learn about the life of severely disabled Shaka, her fantasies, her dreams. She‘s so resentful of able-bodied people, especially when it comes to reading a book which she has so much trouble with. A soft pick for me, I doubt I‘ll be thinking about this again.

Saw 77/116. Before Covid, I saw everything at a theatre. Streaming is my theatre now!
Faves: Women Talking, Poor Things, The Banshees of Innisheer, Lady Bird, Silver Linings

@dabbe

1. Freesia has always been my favorite, so fragrant!
2. I‘m grateful that my family and friends all have their health. Grateful that I appear to still have all my marbles (maybe hubby wouldn‘t agree!). Grateful that my parents brought me up with unwavering love and instilled a lot of confidence and the feeling I could accomplish anything.

Thanks @Deblovestoread 🩷

#WondrousWednesday

Do not miss this book!! This is one gripping murder mystery with so many twists and turns. Great character development, a really good story and what an ending. Not kidding here, this book checks all the boxes. I was up half the night reading it. Thanks @Amor4Libros

So many of you guys loved this book. And so did I! Having just finished two short story collections (North Woods, also amazing, and Show Don‘t Tell, bailed on that one), I wasn‘t too excited about a third one. But these stories have such interesting characters plus they‘re written in pairs, each one with a connecting story. Every single one called out to me. So happy I found it due to #LitsyToB25.

Really liked this Brazilian novel from Europa Press. If #EuropaCollective was still around, this would be my recommendation. Why does Maju, nanny for a well-off family, decide one day to kidnap the little girl she watches? The story alternates points of view between the nanny and the mom. Richly drawn characters and a good story!

“I‘m kidnapping a child.”

Well that‘s a showstopper if I‘ve ever read one!

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

1. Puzzle entitled Good Hair. I thought it was beautiful!
2. See the tiny rocket on the left? Daughter sent this image from Cape Canaveral.
3. Anybody catch this viral image of two kids with Obama taking a walk in the background?
4. Wow, my incredible library now has pick up lockers RIGHT NEAR MY HOUSE! I can walk there.
5. Really happy this week to have Litsy in my life.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

I used to really like Curtis Sittenfeld. I thought her first two books were amazing, Prep and Rodham. But ever since then…meh. I dutifully start each one but then disappointment sets in. This is a short story collection. Read the first three, didn‘t get any of them, bailed. Maybe they‘ll speak to someone else, but it wasn‘t me.

I don‘t know how I came across this sweet, sweet book (maybe The New York Times?), about the relationship between 90 year old Eddie and 20 something Bella. These characters really came to life for me, along with all the other people who have been part of their lives. Some readers might find it cheesy, but I found it charming.

Litsy has opened up so many doors for me. As a constant reader, I relied on newspaper book reviews and word of mouth. Just following the handful of people I follow on Litsy, my book world is now so wide open. And now I‘m able to bring these books to my friends and relatives, a win for everyone! To those I follow: you have changed my life 🩷

#50KGIVEAWAY. @CSeydel

Poor Teiko! She gets married and immediately her husband disappears. She‘s not a detective, but she sets out to find out what happened to him, enlisting others for help along the way. It‘s a good mystery, and I enjoyed watching one ordinary woman piece together the timeline of events to come to a conclusion. Beautifully descriptive of several places in Japan.

@BarbaraBB @Cathythoughts You guys were right on the money with this one!

Really liked this one about a future world where everyone is dead from a big bad fog, except a small group living on an island, all villagers and three elders who rule the roost. They seem happy enough, but are they? Big twist and a rather convoluted ending, but all in all kept my attention till I got to the end.

@BarbaraBB

1. Friend giving us condo in Florida for three weeks in April.
2. The kiddos and I are planning a trip to Charleston over Mothers Day, possibly just to get this piece of 12-layer coconut cake.
3. Do not miss Adolescence on Netflix.
4. Sing Sing on Max is also terrific.
5. Grandson on spring break, went out to lunch twice, once to favorite Asian, once to favorite pizza.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1. I‘m getting lost working jigsaw puzzles.
2. I went through all my reviews of the last year and this was one of my only picks that didn‘t include murder, missing children or dysfunctional families!

@Deblovestoread thanks for the tag! @TheSpineView

I loved this book! It‘s a beautifully written collection of stories describing the current occupants of a house and tract of land in the northeast, over centuries. Each story grabs you and does not let go. Extraordinary, really, such a good book and a finalist for the Pulitzer.

1. Lunch at Manny‘s famous deli, been there since 1942.
2. Followed by stop at favorite cookie store: chocolate chip, lemon, coconut caramel chocolate chip
3. Watched Anora on Hulu.
4. Portobello Road puzzle, reminded me of October trip to London.
5. 1 Queen Bee, 1 Wordle in 2

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

This book was so convoluted I could hardly follow it. A woman gets a heart transplant from a woman who died and then connects with that woman‘s husband. There are four other women involved in this, most of whom seem to have no identities beyond what their connections to men give them. This whole story…pretty implausible. All the characters…pretty bland.

So happy I finally got to this memoir narrated by a daughter whose mother died young and left her gifts and letters to open on birthdays and special occasions for many years in the future. As the years go by and she gets to know her mother, you see her living her life and overcoming losing her mom at such a young age. I had tears in my eyes many times and I loved the author‘s resilience.

@Amor4Libros

1.Big week for puzzles! Top one, 2000 pieces, is The Grand Fiction Library. Middle one is an old New Yorker cover, easy 500 pieces.
2.Breakfast burrito with roasted corn, avocado, grilled potatoes and chorizo. Delish!
3.Love looking at a big stack of books to read. My mother always said if you have a book, you have a friend.
4.Walked in botanic garden on sunny day.
5.Going to Seattle with daughter on Mother‘s Day!

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

A good story about mother/daughter relationships and how to find one‘s way in a tough world. The mom is a single mother, ousted by her Hasidic community. And the daughter is just getting out of prison for attempted murder, where she‘s been since she was 15 years old. This is a soft pick for me as I liked the story but never really felt the characters come to life.

@Amor4Libros

Books about the future can be really fun and scary, all at the same time. This poor schlub, whose job is making sure allowed books reflect the views of the current government, is caught in a quandary when he starts to fall in love with the stories that are banned. Was never sure where this book was going, but it felt timely and sometimes realistic.

@BarbaraBB

Narrated by the mother, this is a story of overwhelming love for her daughter leading to an estrangement of epic proportions. We don‘t really understand what happened for the longest time, they seem to have a great relationship with lots of fun banter. Really interesting how the mother describes mother/daughter relationships in books she‘s read, actual books that are mentioned at the end in the author‘s note. Thought provoking!

I‘ve followed Rusty Sabich through several legal murder mysteries, and here he is again defending his fiancée‘s son who is accused of murdering his girlfriend. I don‘t love these books, but the characters seem real and the story always moves along. We don‘t find out what actually happened in this one until page 526 out of 534, even tho I saw it coming. A soft pick, well written but forgettable.

1. Best French toast hunt continues! This one was apple-streusel cinnamon-swirl and it was amazing. Cream cheese frosting put it over the top.
2. Son called from beach house in Belize where he‘s having a blast with 10 friends.
3. Friend gifted me book about 100 daring Jewish women.
4. 2 Queen Bees!
5. Lunch with daughter who has turned into an incredible adult, seemingly overnite.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

Almost bailed on this one as the three sisters who narrate this book think only about themselves every minute. However I stuck with it and it got better and better as we learn the back story of their parents and what it was like growing up in this family. The main theme here is water and lots of it in constantly raining London, where houses are built to withstand the heavy rainfall. I liked it but it‘s not for everyone. @sarahbarnes

Couldn‘t put down this story of a Philly cop looking for her drug addict sister while multiple murders of prostitutes are occurring. Lots of suspects as the bodies pile up. Can the cop protect herself and her young son? Liz Moore can really write and I‘ve enjoyed her three books that I‘ve read.

1.Once a year paczkis. Mine are fresh peach, fresh strawberry and lemon crème.
2.Drove up to Lake Geneva for the amazing orange duck at Mars.
3.Lung doctor said I had the healthiest sounding lungs he‘d heard all week and not to come back for a year.
4.One queen bee.
5.Breakfast with two best friends at IHOP where we went so I could get their stuffed French toast, but it‘s gone! BOO! And I should‘ve taken a pic ⬇️

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

I‘ve seen 74 academy award winners. My husband and my children are all movie nuts! I‘ve even seen Wings, the first best picture winner, because I took a class with Roger Ebert on Academy Award winners and he showed it. At the end of the class he said he‘d never teach this class again because the winners had absolutely nothing in common!

Thinking about The French Connection as Gene Hackman just passed away at 95.
I loved Ordinary People and ⬇️

A fictional story about Colleen Moore, an actress in the early 1900s, who sponsored an incredible fairy castle dollhouse at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I saw this dollhouse on many trips to the museum, as every year there was a field trip from school, and my parents took us kids there at least a couple of times a year. I loved it and probably still would if I got there again. Maybe it would still make me feel like a princess! ⬇️

1. Continuing my quest for the best French toast, pumpkin roll with cream cheese and spiced apples has pulled into the lead.
2. Today is hubbys big birthday and I ordered this watercolor of the place we met.
3. The Gorge on Apple TV is lots of fun.
4. Finished really tough jigsaw puzzle, as the pieces fit at odd angles and the colors were washed out.
5. Drove out to an old time chicken restaurant on the old Route 66.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

A YA novel about Joel, a high school kid who has lost his best friend and lives in a world of text messages that he writes but doesn‘t send. Hundreds of text messages. This kid feels so much and it‘s all bottled up inside. I like the way he‘s always swearing at people, but then goes back and explains what he really said which did not include those swear words. An uplifting message lies in wait at the end.

I loved this book. Section 1 is about Anna and David and their new neighbor. Section 2 is about Florence and Henry who lived in the very same apartment 50 years earlier. And section 3 returns to the original characters. I felt immersed in the world of the Paris neighborhood that they live in, the building, the constant of the scaffolding as the building is refaced, their relationships and loves. Read the rest in the comments below! ⬇️

This story of 4 year old Margaret losing her best friend grabs you AND DOES NOT LET YOU GO! She‘s unforgettable and when, at age 16, she sits down to try to figure it all out you still don‘t see where she is going with this. Couldn‘t wait to wake up this morning and finish it. Still thinking about it hours later and very happy to have you guys to recommend these books that would not have been on my radar. 🩷

@Cathythoughts @BarbaraBB

This is one of those books where you really feel you know the main character. Everything she says and every decision she makes rings true as the story alternates between her life in California with her teenage daughter and how her life led up to this point. I was rooting for her every chapter throughout the whole book. Terrific writing style, highly recommend.

@BarbaraBB @AmyG

These are all pictures from the India Blooms orchid show at the Botanic Gardens. My daughter and I go every year and the theme is always something unique and fun. That‘s a peacock in the middle and lower left is an orchid that smells like chocolate! It‘s a magical respite from the cold and snow. A full day of joy!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone. Let‘s have love in our hearts all day ❤️🌹💝

#5JoysFriday. @DebinHawaii

One half hour to read this one, a highly entertaining story about an immigrant needing to pass a test to keep him and his family in the UK. Published in 2019, it feels extremely relevant today, and thought provoking for sure. Any more info would give the plot away which has a big, big twist.

@Chelsea.Poole