Well now you tell me.

When I searched for this, it brought up another book with the same title and the subtitle: “Grace for Every Kind of Broken.“ That kind of fits this too. It's a quiet, slightly mystical, very sentimental story in which every character learns how to be a better, more loving person through some kind of grace passing amongst them. A comfortable read right now.

#BookSpin

I found this too meh to finish. It had quite a lot in common with I Think They Love You -- romcom cliches by the bushel! -- so I'll count that as my #RiseUpRead for the month. 😜

The United states has become ungovernable not because of political differences or protest or a lack of civility but because this is a country unwilling to protect and care for its citizens--its women, its racial minorities and especially its children.

When politicians talk about civility and public discourse what they're really saying is that they would prefer for people to remain silent in the face of injustice.

#WhereAreYouMonday I'm in post WWI England - twice, since I'm also reading The Secret Adversary. It's a rough time but perhaps things are looking up.

Plus chapters of my buddy reads for The Bell Jar, From Dust to Stardust and The Secret Adversary.

#ValentinesDayReadathon

There is no educational resource in the cosmos greater than a nerd who thinks you're wrong.

Even more applicable now than when it was published 2 years ago. I'm not Christian, nor very religious, but Budde writes with so much openness and inclusion, I felt welcomed into the book. She also uses examples from various cultural touchstones and from a diverse group of people, as well as from the bible. Very worth a read, though I disliked her tendency to paraphrase in quotation marks.

#MonthlyNonfiction2025 @julieclair

We do not choose where we are in the human story, only how we live in the time we are given.

A much nicer Valentine's Day read! Denz runs into the man who broke his heart in college, just when he needs a fake relationship to prove he's serious enough to take over his father's party planning company. I enjoyed his twitterpated pining and the big wacky cast of family and friends, plus there's a nice growth arc for him. If you yearn for romcoms with black and queer characters, this was literally written for you.

#ValentinesDayReadathon

Of all the depressing rom-coms to listen to on Valentine's Day! This is the sequel readers of Who's That Girl wanted, but frankly, I would've been happier with a nice epilogue. It's just hurt and insecurity over and over again, and the prose seemed oddly dull. The best part is in the acknowledgements: “Apologies to Tara, given she always wants more filth, though. May your ice planet be always full of Barbarians.“

Happy? Valentines Day. 😂

I read a quarter of it with interest but it just got too weird for me. I couldn't see myself believing in a happy ending.

#QueerBC @PuddleJumper

A beautiful little book, in which Ward talks about her hard road to fulfilling her dream of being a writer. This is for the people to whom things don't always come easily, who have to keep their vision in mind and take step after patient step to reach it.

#BookChain book #6
@TheAromaOfBooks

An excellent read in many ways, but it's driving me crazy that she misquotes from “Lord of the Rings.“ If you're going to paraphrase, don't use quotation marks!

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

I appreciate what the author's doing here, but I just couldn't handle all the endless discussions.

I'm more likely to DNF a book and then find I love it on the second (or even third) try, but this one I loved for the first half and then hated for the second. Something had turned around when I next tried it -- ten years after the first read -- and discovered it now completely worked for me and is a 5 star read.

If Moist was any judge, the man in front of him was the biggest fraud he's ever met. And he *advertised* it. That was... style. He told them what he was, and they laughed and loved him for it.

A soft pick, because most of it is really not my cup of tea, but the illustrations bring a humanity and authenticity that save it from being the above image.

I just noticed this blurb for thebook: “A potent and electrifying critique of today‘s feminist movement announcing a fresh new voice in black feminism.“

Seems like whoever wrote that really wasn't paying attention.

I'm calling this a pick because it was an engaging listen with some very good characters, but I have very mixed feelings about it. The arc for the main character is good... we gradually find out that she had been really crushed and made small by her ex, and needs to grow into herself again. But I felt like almost every “lesson“ presented by the book was wrong and I was kind of horrified by the overall idea of a website spewing your worst thoughts.

“No offense, but I'm not sold on romance. The relationships portrayed in these books are problematic. They're not realistic or attainable.“

“Problematic relationships are completely attainable.“

Attractive, expressive art is the highlight of this Regency romance graphic novel. The characters really come to life and I especially love how George, a trans man, is drawn, always completely himself even when forced to wear a skirt. (There's a wonderful section at the end in which the characters themselves explain the historical basis for the black and queer characters in the story.) cont.

I'm feeling very behind from last month and have a lot of library holds coming in, so giving myself a nice stress-free board. I hope!

#BookSpinBingo

Three bingos this month! I added my extra books to the sides for a complete record.

#SeriesLove2025 : Rattling Bone; The Shadowhunter series graphic novels; The Cruelest Month; A Rule Against Murder

#AllergicToChunksters: Lark Rise to Candleford; Project Hail Mary

#ReadOrDonate: The Prince by Elizabeth Minogue, donated

#MonthlyNonfiction2025: Organizing for the Rest of Us by Dana White;
Congratulations, the Best is Over by R. Eric Thomas

I included ebooks I deleted under donated and did *not* include freebies under bought. 😏

Thanks to Puddlejumper for the template.

A remarkably good month! I made an attempt to fill the last three spaces but just didn't have anything I wanted to read. On the bright side, I deleted some freebies. 😇

All books that I might never have gotten to if it weren't for Litsy. ❤️

#WeeklyFavorites @ReadForLife

The Celebrants is a pretty good read. Reason to Believe, just really not what I wanted to read about right now. The Book of Love is a *chunkster* and also a disturbing read, so I'm going pretty slow.

#Roll100 @Puddlejumper

#BookSpin February

Such an intriguing book, and an intriguing theory. A good time to be reading books that help me understand monsters of the human variety.

This was the #QueerBC book from, what, October? Also my choice for “featuring a cryptid“ for @Faranae's #URC. I can't imagine a more interesting cryptid!

My husband not only left our nice warm bed to make me breakfast, he did so when he was just at the part where Gamache explains the murder. Greater love hath no man!

A soft pick for me, because the illustration style mostly feels distant and unemotional to me, and unfortunately like a corporate training manual. This is one of a few comics in which I felt the style worked with what the words were trying to say.

Wow, what a yarn! It took me a while to get into the golly-gee-whiz tone of the first person narration, and I confess I skimmed over a lot of the scienc-y parts, but it's a great story that had me smiling through my tears at the end.

#AuldLangSpine

For the #AuthorAMonth folks reading Sayers: https://grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibits/show/imaginary-books/dorothy-imaginary

An #AuldLangSpine book, a #Roll100 book, and a just for fun book.

Read the Malinda Lo story for #QueerBC, and some of the others. Lo's is a lighthearted “Roman Holiday“ plot in a not particularly different future. Kind of meh, honestly. I liked Mason Deaver's “boy band members ran away for the weekend and fall in love,“ and a love triangle story that ended, as so many readers hope they will, in a polyamorous relationship!

I read most of these for school or because I thought I *should*, but these two I love.

#TLT

Finding it hard not to feel very cynical about the premise of this, especially today.

As a teen I adored the romance in Farjeon's Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard, but also appreciated the book‘s distinction between romanticism and love, so it was interesting to see her exploring similar themes here. The question is left more open-ended, but I ultimately found the book pretty sad, despite its humor.

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

“You name will be branded in society. Women will draw their skirts aside as you pass. Men will refuse your hand at baccarat. You will be ruined, financially and socially. You will be dis-Almacked!“

Oh my, the end of “The Bastard...“ makes all the rest worthwhile!

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

So the current situation, if I have it correctly, is three men in love with one woman, and one man in love with three women. 😂

#FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

A very subjective #FourFoursin25 choice, but it makes sense to me.

I liked this considerably more than the second book, though there are always several things in a Penny book that make me go “huh?“ And I do NOT like Clara being messed with!

This is--sort of--my first #AuldLangSpine book. I'd already read Here for It by R. Eric Thomas, so instead listened to his next book of essays. It was just as good and very timely. Even though he's a gay Black man and I'm a straight white woman, I relate so much to his issues with mental health, and his continued work on his identity and his marriage.

Thanks to @monalyisha for her hard work hosting and @dariazeoli for a great list!

Kneeling in the fragrant moist grass of the village green Clara Morrow carefully hid the Easter egg and thought about raising the dead, which she planned to do right after supper.

#FirstLineFridays