Starting this one tonight - it looks 👻 👀🤗

4.5 ⭐️🙌🏻♥️

This is finally out today in the US… but I didn‘t wait until today to get my hands on it. I can‘t exactly lay it all out here on the interwebs… but, oh, Littens, I‘d love to to tell you. And you‘d love to hear it. And Joe would love to hear how committed I am to the things I love. He loves a person with passion. Does he finally find The One in Wonder? Lucky for you, Joe is very forthcoming about his misdemeanors… and more…

Yay! I did a thing!! I got more people to read!!!
People at work were having a little fun with how much I read.
So I suggested we read together - a book a month.
I chose this first, because it‘s funny, and has a lot of heart, and has broad appeal, and there‘s plenty to talk about.
I thought it was going nowhere, but I got two takers today - yay!!!
We may stay a small band of 3.
But my hope is that others see how great talking about books is ♥️📚

My favorites from 2022 - with 273 reads, I can‘t pick just 12 🤷🏻‍♀️
Notes on each in the comments below…

My stats for 2022!
All challenges completed ✔️

Is anyone else doing the #tenbeforetheend challenge?
Pick 10 books to finish by the end of the year.
Here are my picks 💁🏻‍♀️

Do I need a tarot deck?
No.
Am I gonna start telling fortunes 🔮?
No.
Do I want a tarot deck Erin Morgenstern developed while writing The Night Circus 🎪?
Hell, yeah, I do!
This is a work of art ♥️
Check out the Phantomwise Tarot. It‘s gorgeous 🤩

Do I need a tarot deck?
No.
Am I gonna start telling fortunes 🔮?
No.
Do I want a tarot deck Erin Morgenstern developed while writing The Night Circus 🎪?
Hell, yeah, I do!
This is a work of art ♥️

It‘s #nationalreadabookday and I just heard the sad news that Peter Straub has passed away.
So I‘ll take today to recommend his Talisman books with Stephen King, and his Blue Rose Trilogy. Pick up any book by Straub if you‘ve never read him - he‘s a treasure - and let him live on through the works he‘s left behind.

Just got a friend request on Goodreads from some guy.
Checked out what he reads - I don‘t need to fill my feed with stuff i‘m not interested in.

And it‘s allllllllll stuff like this 🤦🏻‍♀️
Nope! 💁🏻‍♀️😂😖

It doesn‘t matter what it‘s called - it only matters that IT‘S HAPPENING 🤩👍🏻🍾♥️

Got #bookmail today
Brought this to my local bar to enjoy with an adult beverage
Opened it up and voila! I scored a signed copy!🙌🏻🏆

So my niece is heading off to college next week.
And her first Lit class isn‘t English Composition 101.
Or Early American Literature.
No.
It‘s “American Ghosts.”
What?!?!!
So, so jealous 😜
And… also so excited I can already recommend books to complement her reading and maybe use for a paper 💁🏻‍♀️♥️

That‘s a wrap for July!
Here are my faves for the month.
Try any ~ try them all ~ I enjoyed each of these 😊
#julywrapup

#bestof2022sofar

Reading this book was like watching athletes warm up, when you‘re really here for a good game. You see the potential, but it‘s just not happening.
I had high hopes for this. There is so much praise for it.
But I just couldn‘t attach to it.
And I have too many other books to read 💁🏻‍♀️

4.5 ⭐️

If you haven‘t read this book yet, you‘ve already waited too long - go read it NOW!
Time travel ✔️
Space travel/colonization ✔️
Life in a Matrix ✔️
Humanity in the face of being a simulacrum ✔️
Less than 300 pages ✔️
And more pandemics than I could keep track of ✔️✔️✔️
I loved it 😍

Anybody else doing the #kindlespringchallenge?
I have done ALL the tasks.
But it won‘t credit me for one - the 2021 Chart Topper.
I finished it (this book 🤞🏻) weeks ago.
I have synced and refreshed my Kindle & my Kindle app on my phone countless times since then.
Everything else has synced and been counted.
Anyone know why it‘s not working?
Did I have to buy a NEW book out of the top 100 of 2021? That‘s the only thing I can think of 🤷🏻‍♀️

5 ⭐️🙌🏻
This little book is the perfect length, and was written with enough time passed to see the impact Doolittle had on the Pixies‘ career and subsequent music. Kim Deal wouldn‘t sit for an interview. But everyone else, including the producer, made a contribution. It ends with a dive into each track.
Fun fact: this starts and end with songs about mutilated eyeballs 👀 I never realized that.
A good read for fans 👍🏻

This book is …
How I feel about the generation before me.
How I feel about the people who gave up trying to stop COVID after the first couple weeks.
How I feel myself separating from our current status quo. I would love to ditch 99% of the world and start over with the few who get it.
It‘s a breakthrough in the relationship between science & faith.
It‘s disturbing, and unsettling, and hopeful all at once. Just like every great Millet novel.

#indiebookstoreday purchases & swag 🙌🏻

I got Sea of Tranquility & The Candy House.
And Freedom was the #blinddatebook that came with my tote & goodies.
So fun!!!

4.5 ⭐️

This is an outstanding debut.
The characters are fully drawn - fully human - fully flawed. And spending time with all of them is a pleasure.
There is a desire to know what happened, and how it will turn out. But those don‘t overshadow the unraveling of each moment. There is no need to rush.
It‘s heavy subject matter. But the author carries the characters & readers through the story gracefully.
Don‘t miss this one.

It‘s #worldbookday !
What are you reading today?
I‘m working on
NF - Zero Fail by Carol Leonnig
SS - The Time Traveler‘s Almanac
A - The Other Side of Midnight by Simone St James
F - And then I‘m starting What Comes After by JoAnne Tompkins

Pick a book ~ buy a book ~ visit a Little Free Library ~ go to your public library ~ find a deal online ~ read a well-loved favorite with a child in your life ~ just read something today ♥️📚

Months ago, I struck up a convo w/a neighbor. Soon we talked about my fave thing, which is also one of his:📖.
He‘s new to town, so I shared some bookish resources. I learned a bit (there is an above-average number of rare book stores in NE, & maybe a ring of rare book thieves!). It was great. Next day, I woke up to this well-loved book outside my door. I‘ve been reading it since.
Just finished. Now to pick a book to share when I drop it off 🤔

Just talked to my baby niece and she was excited to tell me about the new book she read.
I explained to her that this is an Edgar award winner, and what that means.
She told me she was writing a list of all the author‘s books she wants to read - I explained she was making her first TBR 🙌🏻😃
And then she found that Willo Davis Roberts has over 50 books! So she found her first back catalogue to dive into 🥰

And this… is #whyweread 💁🏻‍♀️🥰📚

Nothing like reading a book about vampires 🧛 and hearing someone rap at your window at midnight 🕛🤯😱😳

It takes a while, but once this takes off, it‘s a great read. Not life-changing, earth-shattering, the type of book you shove in people‘s faces and yell, “Read this!” But a good, solid story, with interesting characters who have tales to tell.

My first #DNF of the year.
This is a 14-hour listen.
And after 2+ hours, I heard nothing interesting/compelling/original to hold my interest.
So I‘m walking away.

Bouton stood next to the greats and held his own, yet was on the periphery even before he published his iconoclastic diary.
He was a ball player, entrepreneur, father, husband, stepfather, inventor, screenwriter, speaker, and a guy who built his own rock walls. He took to life with gusto.
Listening to him read is a treat. He cracks up at some of the old stories.
It‘s no wonder that this was named one of the best books of the 20th century.

Full disclosure:
I know the author.
But that doesn‘t detract from how good this book is.
The link to my full review is below.
If you have any interest in this topic, you should read this book - Deborah has a lifetime of wisdom for you to engage with.

Read this book 🙌🏻📚♥️

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41746752

A plane goes through turbulence and lands safely… only to come out of the same turbulence 106 days later.
What happened?
My one issue is that the author never convinces you of the theory that he goes with.
That said, the story really is about the people on the plane. In that time, some people die; marry; get pregnant; break up; achieve the success they‘ve worked for. What to do with the alternate version of themselves that knows none of this?

Fantastic!
The author/narrator is a delight to listen to.
The stories of these women are intriguing and inspiring.
And everyone - EVERYONE - needs to know about Princess Olga of Kiev 😮
(Also, Genghis Khan was not the brute we think he was 🤷🏻‍♀️.)
Definitely worth your time.

Oh, wow, I loved this!!!
Forman brings these 3 young strangers together one day in NYC, right when they all need each other most. She captures the braveness it takes to move out of childhood, while giving each of these characters a couple hands to hold on to as they do.
We should all be Freya, Nathaniel, & Harun, and be blessed with friends like them.
The audiobook is superb. And it features an original song at the end I‘ll be humming for days.

I‘m not an avid Patterson fan.
I respect him, but I don‘t read all his work, nor await every release.
And I‘m ambivalent about these collaborations. On the one hand, he‘s elevating another author - cool. On the other, it comes off as a cash grab - not cool.
That said, I absolutely loved this story.
You get a play within the story. The characters come alive. And there are plenty of twists.
There was nothing about this that wasn‘t done perfectly.

This was fascinating.
Bloom is very much the heroine of her tale. And that‘s ok by me.
She captures the straddling she did between awestruck small-town girl & ambitious entrepreneur perfectly, so the audience can experience it vicariously.
Really great listen.

Only complaint - my version didn‘t have an update on her legal troubles. That should be added for future readers/listeners.

I have to say… I really liked this.

Fantasy is NEVER my go-to genre. But I got this audiobook as a freebie years ago. I finally got around to listening to it.
And I was captivated. I already got the next installment ready to go.

Tahir does such a tremendous job of creating these characters that it doesn‘t matter what world she puts them in: you want to spend time with them and root for them.

So go do it. You‘ll be glad you did.

4.5 ⭐️

Full review in link below ⬇️

In short, I wholeheartedly recommend this, especially as an audiobook.
It‘s his account of the loss of his son to suicide; the Insurrection; and his work as Lead Impeachment Manager - 3 events that happened in quick succession.

Raskin has restored a portion of my faith in humanity, and I need that so. He is an American treasure, and a blessing to us all.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/58935131

5⭐️
This book was perfect 👌🏻!
And so was the narration.
Once again, TJR tells a complex, nuanced story that envelops the reader in the world she creates.
My only complaint is that the Riva siblings seem a little too good, for people who went through all the trauma they did.
But I enjoyed this nonetheless.

I have no idea how to rate this 🤷🏻‍♀️
It‘s … definitely well-written. I won‘t soon forget it. And the ending… what did THAT mean?
But it‘s A LOT. Like, too much. Really explicit ~ really detailed ~ But … did she have to go THAT far???
I can‘t really recommend it. If I told anyone to read this book, and they weren‘t down with it, they would never trust me again.
So… read at your own risk … if you are okay with being deeply disturbed.

If you haven‘t listened to a Graham Norton novel yet, you are missing out, indeed!
Norton sets his books in his native Ireland, and narrates them all for the audiobooks. No matter the subject matter, it is a delight to hear him tell a story. You can pick any of them and have the same great experience. Treat yourself this year to this ♥️

I‘m going in … 😳

My last dabbling with this… subject matter, let‘s say … was Earthlings, and I did not love it.

But I am giving this a try 🤞🏻

My #top21in21

This year seemed harder to make it happen than 2020 🤷🏻‍♀️
And looking over my list, there are a LOT I don‘t recall at ALL - that‘s very unusual - I usually have at least an impression, if not total recall.

But these stood out for sure.

My top 3 would be
Plain Bad Heroines
The Midnight Library
Queen of Spades (read it!)

Happy Reading in 2022! 📚📚📚

Phew 😮‍💨. Cerone Family Reading Challenge JUST crossing the finish line 🎆

I feel like not enough people talk about Jess Walter.
That needs to change.
Everything of his, I end up giving 5 ⭐️
I listened to the Audible version of this story - I think it‘s included with subscription.
The blurb here says it seems to be part of a collection of his due out next year.
However you do so, get this into your brain. Beautiful, classic storytelling with the right amounts of drama, melancholy, & humor. Chef‘s kiss of a book 😚

Series review…
Loved Book 1 - couldn‘t get enough
Book 2 gave me nightmares - can‘t tell you the last time that happened
Book 3… I had a hard time getting through it.
And I think it‘s COVID-related 🤷🏻‍♀️
By Book 3, the world has lost so much - even if they succeed in ridding the world of vampires, they have lost so much that it‘s hard to root for it.
And in Year 2 of a pandemic, I feel echoes of that in life 🤷🏻‍♀️
Wish I‘d read this sooner.

My #spookyreadathon got a bit derailed in week 2 🤷🏻‍♀️. But I finally finished this tonight.

Without saying a word about the pandemic or the current political situation, it does a LOT toward explaining how we‘re fighting about basic provable facts. I was not expecting that.

Link to full review below. In short, I recommend it 👍🏻

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3078870296

#spookyreadathon got off to a sluggish start - I had some non-spooky reads to finish. But I have 5 done ✔️ and I‘m working on 3 more this weekend.
So far, I really like everything I‘ve read 3.5 ⭐️ and up 👍🏻

Happy Reading 📚 👻 🕯

Loved this book. Just … loved it 🥰
Read it straight through in about 3 hours ♥️

I usually do an A to Z.
This year I decided to spread it out over print books, audiobooks, ebooks.
I also wanted to focus on my First Reads picks I get from Amazon Prime and never seem to read 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️
And I‘ve added in a Nonfiction category.
Two are done ✔️
Now to see if I can finish up the other 3 in 5 months 🤞🏻📚🙌🏻

I read a lot of books last month.
These were my favorites.
#Julywrapup