This grid was filled with a pile of stories that were okay. But I‘m sure glad I prioritized the tagged - I will think about it for a long time.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

Uhhah, I think this book was well-written - a book of ordinary people living ordinary lives - adult lives that might be better lived had George and Jenny never met. Reading about the drudgery that life can sometimes be left me rather exhausted for the experience. It tried interest with a Super Bowl commercial but that moment but wasn‘t enough for me to pull my thumb up.

A secluded cabin in Oregon at Christmas and a meet-cute with the local hometown hero, and they get to work on holiday music together - count me in!

I am so used to reading JPE books some 10+ years after they‘ve been published that I just don‘t even know what to do with a book published last month. I liked it. There‘s an interesting meet cute and love story with his typical issue of one of them with a secret so big it upends the romance. That secret (no spoilers) is one I‘ve read played out in a pile of books and genres in the last few years so interesting to read his take on the trope.

I dove in based on the title and cover art with expecting this to be a bit more holiday centric than it was, but that is true for me in a pile of holiday themed books. This romance was fun, I liked both Maggie and Ethan and rooted for their HEA. A cozy murder mystery writer falling for a serious crime thriller author makes for an entertaining storyline.

I‘m a sucker for the trope - American girl flies to foreign country to meet up with her busy, successful bf and plans go awry when gorgeous foreigner speaking perfect English swoops in to save FMC from a life of drudgery. Yeah, that‘s all good and all here, but don‘t go to Paris in December if you‘re gonna complain about cold, the French accent, or constantly remind French meet-cute he is 1/2 American by virtue of his bio dad‘s birth place.

James was atop my list to read before year‘s end. Then my Dec #BookSpin category was YA/Mid Grade so I decided the stars and moon aligned for me to reread a book more than 1/2 century since my initial experience. I appreciate this for the classic it is, but I really wanted to be done with it soon after starting. The casual and constant use of the ‘N‘ word is painful to read.

The concept of this intrigued me, two sisters reunite after inheriting their paternal grandparents‘ Oregon Christmas tree farm - one ready to sell, the other eager to maintain tradition. In a novella I want to be impressed that a story is completely told in such few pages. But here - two sisters, visiting mom, hunky widow next door and his two daughters - too much was ignored to get to the HEA for the MC and her HS crush.

Over half a century has passed since I read, watched, imagined, and loved the adventures of Tom and Huck. I hope it was just the young girl in me… wanting to Nancy Drew Becky Thatcher up and get more of her perspective of life on
the Mississippi, because I don‘t recall wondering about Jim‘s perspective… I‘m humbled.

I‘m always surprised how much story RPE creates inside these little books. I own all three books but didn‘t realize they were a series and picked the third book to read. My opinion might differ if I had the backstory, but I was never sure if I was Team Faye or Team Blythe - both seemed lovely. … This book written in 2000 has several lines reading as micro aggressions today - I wonder if I‘d have realized that 24 years ago - I hope so.

It‘s hard to explain my giddy pleasure when I pull a grid together, gather my ratings (back of index cards) and discover the book languishing on my shelf won the grid😀

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

This book lingered on my shelf following controversy from the first book about who has the right to tell Cilka‘s story. I‘m glad I read it and felt the author well-defended in both preface and afterward her effort to write and her wish to honor the memory of the real life Cilka. But female rape survivors of Nazi war camps were subjected to chargers of sleeping with the enemy an sentenced gulogs in Siberia. That‘s so wrong.

Dec #DoubleSpin

Honestly, now that we know and love Molly and her entourage so well, I thought this novella was a fun way to add a little holiday detail to her story. It was adorable and just right for the season. Congrats to Molly and Juan Michael.

I stacked this book expecting to read HS inspired by the Russian art world defections. Good thing the MC explained early on she was 7 in 1992 so I could adjust my head to a current story. It was hard to root for the MC, Natalia, because she was so self-involved (as her profession demands). She tells the reader her sweat doesn‘t smell and describes herself among the great artists so it becomes obvious her character is one to simply observe.

This was a cute story - a snowed in holidays between a college‘s house mom and the head football coach with the obvious HEA outcome. The only thing that bugged me was Becca imparting her leadership skills Harrison as if a professional coach has neither experienced his own mentors nor undergone any leadership training.

Props to the author for this slow roll of a years-flipping mystery. There were just a handful of characters here and I think that adds to the challenge of creating a good mystery. At several points I thought it could be either of the three primary characters with just enough mention of supporting characters to think - well, maybe that character. I do seemed drawn to mysteries set in the PNW.

I settled into this knowing I was reading a Christmas love story and forgetting there was a mystery involved. I was probably 2/3 in when I realized oh, wait a minute is this going to happen (insert spoiler here)… Well, yes that deed indeed go down, and yet it‘s still an RPE HEA. …I do love reading his little books this month even though it destroys my GR average page count for the year 😄

This was a cozy murder mystery with 3 IRL writers collaborating about 3 novelists (each with expertise in their respective genres) ostensibly traveling to Scotland to collab on an old murder. Ostensibly being key here. Fun but way too long. I felt I knew each of the characters quickly and the authors spent too many words convincing me what was already clear. I just expected more from this collaboration so a so-so to almost slow pick

I give this HEA props for being a story with a Christmas cover and setting maintaining a holiday spirit for its entirety. Not all holiday touted romance succeed to that end. The meet-cute was funny while the subsequent drama (monetary need to upkeep an old English estate) could have been sharper. But overall, the story of a one-and-done child actress of a holiday classic now all grown-up and hating all things seasonal was a fun read.

This was a light, easy, somewhat flawed read. It was obvious from the get-go who was going to be the HEA for Anna so that had me lightly reading her dates concocted by her kids. The reader was also privy to Anna‘s inner voice which seemed a bit redundant for the outcome we already knew was going to happen.

What entertains me about my #indexcard collection is I don‘t differentiate between physical, e-book, or audio, thrifted, pre-purchased, or library loan - it‘s just stories I‘ve consumed. And good lord, I need the spoilers written on the backsides to re-open the ‘pages‘ locked in the cavernous halls of my brain!

Dec 2024 #MonthlyWrapUp

The lion‘s share of my reads fall between a 4.0 (solid B) to a 4.75 (solid A) reflecting I enjoy most of what I read. I developed my quarter-point system after realizing my yearly GR average indicated a score well below my actual enjoyment level.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I picked up these 2 DVL books at the Friends of the Lib book sale last January. Being short I read both for my #BookSpin category. Funny, each is a different story, but both have female MCs in which life has them headed to the same small town and both find an unanticipated DNA match to a close relative. I was calling the story each time - turns out both inspired Hallmark Christmas movies🤣

Nov #DoubleSpin Cat: Holidays
@TheAromaofBooks

I read this now so it wouldn‘t linger on my TBR until next October, and I really liked this witchy Scottish story. Alternating chapters between 1594 and 2024 works well for me because I can lose interest in books set early and in the last millennium. Here I was invested in how the two timelines came together and had equal interest in both stories. Also, good to be reminded how easily one can fall victim to a cult in this millennium.

This book is a warm hug and so sweet it could likely be substituted for a cup sugar in seasonal baking. I think what worked for me with this collection of misfits was it was less about how the world did them wrong as it was about how each believed themselves unworthy until they opened themselves up to friendship.

There‘s always a book or two in my December picks that brings a tear to my eye. I hope that‘s true for you, as well. In fact, I hope you find yourself immersed in the type of settle-in and read-all-day book bringing forth a good old-fashioned ugly cry! #BookSpin #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

This generational drama turned out to be different than what I expected. I really liked it and was fascinated by the characters the author prioritized. Lila (2nd gen) was fascinating and complicated and I wished she‘d have survived beyond chapter 1. Grace‘s development had me rooting for her progress. And Ruth, as found family, was a treasure.

So imagine if two people brought the same puzzles together and l decided to combine the pieces before putting together two of the same puzzle. then they discover that each box also contained pieces of other puzzles. Yeah, like that.

How Gladwell weaves together events to explain the human experience amazes me. Here for example we get 1980 LA bank robberies, Palo Alto CA‘s experiment in racial integration, the cheetah monoculture, how Miami became what it is today, the rapid acceptance of gay marriage, the magic third, the superspreaders who play an outsized role in propagating ideas or lies, the Harvard admission process, triplicate prescriptions and the opiate crisis.

A drama of a 29-year-old woman from acoma believing herself to be 16 going on 30 wasn‘t working for me until page 33 when the backstory begins with Drew and Evie alternating chapters between past and present. I was all in and finished before recalling my amateur book-editing talents were needed on those first 33 pages 🤣This story gives me strong Colleen Hoover vibes which is fine for me but realize some have a visceral dislike of CH fiction.

I like the way the story was written in alternating chapters between 1999 and 2023 showing the reader the disappearances vs being told what happened. What makes this a slower pick for me is the 2023 characterization of the MC, Lyndsay. I think the story would have been better had they edited out her angst, made her more likable, and gave the reader fear for her safety.

I really enjoyed reading about how much Hilarie loves her life and the people in her small New York State community. She loves all things witchy from mythology & goddesses, herbs & berries, planets & astrology, poetry and her collection of words is wisdom. She even purchased a haunted house. She seems to live a hygge life and I‘m down for that.

It wasn‘t until I assembled the pics for this grid that I realized what a memoir mood I was in. I chose the tagged for the grid because I believe it to be an important piece of literature.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

David Karr beautifully captured his thoughts and encouragement of his daughter through his words written to her. …I lost a parent first as a toddler and next at 48. In my 30s I was gifted a book called Motherless Daughters realizing then absolutely every age is the wrong age to lose a parent. …To be 26, following in your beloved father‘s pro footsteps, battling the addiction he knew all too well - argh that had to be tough to move through.

I could feel the insular small rural community on every page of this book when the rest of the world seems so far away and you marry someone because, well, they asked.

Without doubt this is the skinniest BOTM book I‘ve ever purchased, but it was worth every penny. It‘s filled with hope, love, and humor. And yet my tears landed on pages knowing this is only fictional insofar as it‘s written by a successful novelist who wants to retain creative license to her work. 🥰

I read this WWII HF for my IRL bookclub. It was predictable in that the endings for each primary character concluded as expected - and also as I hoped. I liked the characters and enjoyed reading the impact they had on each other. I did think the aftermath of the women surviving bombings was treated a bit too casually especially compared to Grace‘s father, Ben, as a WWI survivor.

I‘m hard-pressed to give a memoir anything less than a pick out of respect for anyone capturing their story in published words, but I had a hard time reading this. Augustine writes with humor the life he led when the adults in his world had absolutely no business being in the company of a minor. I was so mad at the system for allowing a child these experiences that I found no humor here.

I‘m giving this a slow pick because as I think about the atmospheric story now having reached its conclusion, I like and understand why it was told the way it was. But while reading it I kept thinking - the most interesting people are already dead 😵. I didn‘t particularly care about Grace who was alive and well.

For me it‘s simply fun to read or watch Stanley Tucci eat his way through life surrounding himself with people he loves. Ifl he had to spend a week in my house with me as hostess and cook I‘m not sure if he‘d die from absolute boredom from adventure or of bland food starvation. Either way it would be absolute torture for him.🤣

This is my first book by this author chosen solely by the autumn cover. It was a quick and satisfying read about two people falling madly in love, and the required conflict is the speed of said love. This is a standalone book, but the MC has a BFF (as any good HEA must 🤣), and I had a distinct feeling the BFF had a backstory. Checking GR and sure enough last Oct the BFF was the MC of her own story. I‘ll probably read that one, as well.

I didn‘t think I needed to be reminded of how brutal oil companies in its pursuit of profit can be so incredibly cruel to a people and their land, health, and culture, but dang😡 And missionaries aren‘t looking so good either. #NFN

This grid crossed months but my Oct TBR was unreasonable so today is something like Oct 37 for my reading priorities 🤣 Tagged my Favorite which at least works for #NFN.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I was over 3/4 through this when I correctly realized an upcoming twist. After that it was wondering how it would go down if and when Clove came to understand the situation. The ending was fine and changed from pure entertainment (as if growing up in domestic violence can ever be fodder for entertainment) to a story with a message.

This book gutted me, and no pun intended - it‘s so well executed it felt like nonfiction. Ansel Parker is on death row with 12 hours to live and no justification to consider him anything less than the murderer he is. Nothing changed my mind about him. But his mother, his wife and her family, those murdered girls who never saw their potential realized - they are unforgettable.

Nov #BookSpin Cat: Needed 90 days for Oct TBR @TheAromaofBooks

This is an entertaining creepy-kid (or is she?) thriller. I‘ll be surprised if this is not the first in a Stella Hudson, best-interest attorney series. It was set up like those old-school network legal shows where there is a situation to resolve with guest characters, but there‘s a separate story of the weekly returning characters we grow to love with this last 5 minutes dedicated in full to them.

you ever listened to the audio of a book and wondered if your experience would have been equally enjoyable in print? That‘s what happened to me here as narrator, John Pirhalla, captured the essence of Frank Szatowski so perfectly. The good of bad intentions of everyone else paled compared to my hope for Frank‘s satisfaction. I googled this narrator and I‘ve only experienced one other of his 400+narrations!

I‘d recommend reading this nonfiction of 10 distinct wrongly convicted cases in segments. It‘s heartbreaking and I have so much gratitude and respect for those passionate to take up the case and do the work fighting for justice of those wrongly accused. I don‘t use the word shame lightly - but those in the legal system who knowingly work to retain wrongly convicted to save their own reputation - shame on them. #NFN

I‘m a mood reader but can‘t believe I stayed on theme for the entire month! My issue is I stacked my Oct TBR all year and need an additional couple months to flatten said TBR so I‘ll just redate tomorrow to Oct 32!

October 2024 #MonthlyWrapUp #indexcard

So this announcement was delivered to my email this morning - a new book with a June 2025 release date. I can‘t wait for one of my auto-read, pre-purchase authors to deliver a new story. I chose the tagged since this was when I discovered her and read her back catalog while waiting on new releases.