Themes: Atmospheric, WWII Literary Fiction, Beautiful Writing

I would 1000% recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed “A Gentleman in Moscow” by Amor Towles. There are many commonalities, but also the magical realism in this book was such a beautiful addition. This was a book I didn‘t want to finish because I didn‘t want it to end, but I just HAD to finish it so I knew how it ended 😂 Loved it!!

Feeling this today. To echo what many others have already said, I didn‘t recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day in school for 13 years to now be called WOKE 😒 I‘m feeling grief for what happened yesterday. Feeling grief for what‘s to come in the future. I know I‘m not alone in this feeling so that gives me hope! Happy ‘Bonus Reading Day‘ & National Caesar Salad day to those feeling the same today🕯️

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣IT‘S CURRENTLY RAINING! I can literally feel our crispy front yard grass saying, “OOO! This is NIIICE!” 2️⃣Had a fun Thursday night out at a bar trying new drinks with family who feel more like friends 3️⃣I love my current read! (Sorry, repeat from last week but it‘s still true!) 4️⃣ Nothing to do today but read and relax 5️⃣ This community fills me with such JOY! Thank you for being the light in these dark times! 🕯️

#WeDoNotCareWednesday #WDNCW @dabbe

It‘s 9pm and I‘m in bed for the night with my cooling blanket (thanks, Costco!), MLB Big Inning on, and my book. The sleep aids have been taken so, peace out ✌️

#TopReads2025 for June goes to “Before Dorothy” by Hazel Gaynor. This was such an amazing read that once I was hooked, I couldn‘t put it down. A must read for every fan of the ‘Wizard of Oz‘

Themes: Small Town Life, Big Fish in a Little Pond, Epistolary Format

This was such a charming, delightful read that had me chuckling one minute and tearing up the next. I loved it!! Full disclosure, I did have to make notes on who everyone was and who they were related to. A ‘List of Characters‘ would‘ve been very helpful at the beginning, but don‘t worry, you‘re good after page 25, haha! Highly recommend this one for a good palate cleanser 😊

#PoolDay 😎 #INeededThis 😍

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1️⃣My governor, JB Pritzker (IL-D) is running for re-election. THANK GOD! We need more politicians with backbones to stand up to old #EmperorHirocheeto 🌮 2️⃣Coffee 3️⃣I love my current read! 4️⃣I helped my husband‘s cousin‘s wife talk through some family issues. The family she and I married into is nutty sometimes 🤪 We both felt better in knowing we‘re not alone ❤️‍🩹 5️⃣Looking forward to a Pool Day on Sat!

Make it make sense because I don‘t understand it either 🤪😵‍💫🤔

This book was fantastic! I enjoyed it so much but the icing on the cake was the Author‘s Note at the end ? If you have any interest in The Wizard of Oz, The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and strong female characters, add this to your TBR pile right now! I devoured this book over the weekend and greatly appreciated the escape from the +90° temps my neck of the woods was experiencing, as well as the escape from our dystopian reality as well.

Reading in the shade with a steady breeze, it‘s actually not unbearable 😎🤪👍

This was much heavier of a read than I was anticipating. However, there were so many quirky characters & situations that the balance between sad and funny was very well done. After finishing it, I think it‘s a five star read. Originally I thought 4 stars bc PJ walked a thin line for me between, “Poor guy” and “OMG! Grow up!” But then I loved Pancakes (the agent of death cat) and that character deserved a star, ergo, a five star read ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. My garden is growing and thriving!
2. Silent Bookclub with friends and wine on Tuesday night 🤩
3. Having Juneteenth off work to reflect and just take a moment
4. Enjoying my current read and getting excited to finish it and start a new book📖
5. I‘m off work today and am currently enjoying my happy place in my backyard listening to the birds and drinking my coffee ☕️🕊️

Play along if you found joy this week!! 💛🧡🩷

A #nofilter lunch date with myself and my current read (“The Road to Tender Hearts” by Annie Hartnett) 🚗🛣️🐱

Yet another brilliant, entertaining, great book by Allison Montclair and yet another terrible title 😆 I feel like at this point (this is Book 7 after all) the editor has a dartboard and whatever 3-7 words get hit, that‘s the title. All joking aside, these books are amazing and have the perfect mix of humor, wit and dark underbelly of post-WWII London. I will forever auto-buy whatever title is announced next, terrible or not 🤩

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. Physical Books
2. eBooks
3. Spending Friday afternoon book shopping, having lunch and hanging out with my BFF and her 2.5 year old daughter (pic are my purchases and my Kindle Paperwhite that was delivered today!)
4. Having grocery shopping as the only item on my Saturday “to do” list
5. Spending Sunday at the ballpark with my husband and his dad for Father‘s Day

Find the joys, they‘re out there! 💛🧡🩷

This was a chunkster on my iPad; 701 pages and time spent reading was 17 hours and 43 minutes 😳 I enjoyed it though! Reading it was like watching a variety of TV shows, especially The Bear for Nico‘s storyline. I can‘t say I‘d recommend it to everyone, but if you‘re feeling in the mood for a story with a lot of quirky characters (definitely bookmark the ‘Cast of Characters‘ pages!), you may like this.

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
No pics from my week, so I thought I‘d share my parents‘ cat Millie 😻1️⃣Finally enjoying summer temps to sit outside and read in!2️⃣ I‘m off work today, my Aunt and I shopped our town‘s annual “community wide garage sales” 3️⃣ Had an ebook I was on hold for come in and I‘m enjoying it 4️⃣ A “Sunday Funday” planned with my BFF, looking forward to it! 5️⃣ Watching the breakup of Cheeto Taco & Muskmelon is hilarious 😂

A #nofilter Thursday morning pic before work 🥰 Coffee, birds chirping, and a good book? Sign me up!

Themes: Book about Books (and book clubs!), Murder Mystery, Great Characters

Anytime Freya Sampson has a new book announced I always run to my library‘s website to put my hold request in. This is another funny and easy to pick up read, no note taking or Post-Its required to keep up with the action (phew!). It‘s a great library borrow, I‘m glad I read it but I won‘t need to have a copy in my own collection to re-read.

#TopReads2025 for May goes to 2 favorite books that I couldn‘t decide which one I loved more, so they both are picked! “Big Bad Wool” by Leonie Swann and “Dungeon Crawler Carl” by Matt Dinniman are quite possibly as opposite as you can get but were both fun! One has talking sheep who solve a murder, the other has a talking cat surviving a Hunger Games-esque quest with her boxer wearing bodyguard. I‘d highly recommend both!! 🐑🔎🐈👑

Themes: Hercule Poirot & Catchpool, Cozy Murder Mystery

This was a fun and twisty read, Sophie Hannah has done a superb job writing as Agatha Christie! Fans will enjoy and recognize Poirot‘s unintended humor (I chuckled so many times at his wit and dry humor 😆) and the “grand reveal” is classic Christie. Highly recommend this series of New Hercule Poirot mysteries!!!

Feeling a little bit of both; “Wine-down Wednesday” and “All I wanna do is wine” today 😂 Short weeks always throw me off, but Friday will be my first ‘Summer Friday‘ at work so I‘ll be done at 12:30pm instead of 5pm 🤩🥳 Photo inspiration from @mcctrish 😍

Themes: Humor, Science Fiction, A Series, Lots of Swearing

There was so much happening in this book, wow! 🤯🤯🤯🤯 And of course I just want to continue with Book 3, but I know I should pace myself 😆

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1. IRL Bookclub was on Sunday. What a joy this group is! Bummed we‘re taking June off and won‘t meet until July 🫤
2. Plants were purchased AND PLANTED!
3. Silent Bookclub meeting with my BFF, such a fun way to spend a few hours 🥰
4. The rest of the ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl‘ books I ordered were delivered. I‘ll have to pace myself reading them 😂
5. Just have to power through today and then it‘s Memorial Day weekend 😎

After doomscrolling on Instagram for way longer than I should‘ve (seriously, WTF 😵‍💫😣🤬), it‘s time to reset and regulate my nervous system and watch my comfort show (The Office) and read my current entertaining, silly, utterly ridiculous book. Hope everyone is having a good night 💛🧡🩷

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! #BookMail #LongLivePrincessDonut

Themes: Molly the Maid #3, Whodunit, Semi-Epistolary novel

A good, solid “pick” if you enjoyed the previous ‘Maid‘ books 👍 My only compliant still after finishing it was what I already posted about; it was annoying that the diary entries didn‘t look any different from Molly‘s POV in current day, so I won‘t go into that again (but man, that realllllllly irked me 😆).

I‘m enjoying my time revisiting Molly and all her friends, and I‘m liking the “flashback” format with Gran‘s diary. But. But, could they have formatted the diary chapters so they didn‘t look exactly the same as Molly‘s current day chapters?? So far, Gran‘s diary chapters begin with, ‘Dear Molly‘ but my brain could really use a different font or even if the chapter was all in italics, that would be so helpful 😆

I‘ve seen this book pop up here and there on Instagram, and the readers always raved about it. So, when I saw it on the bookstore shelf, I took the plunge. I figured since I loved “The Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy” and “The Hunger Games” then maybe I‘d enjoy this too. I LOVED IT!! If you‘re looking for a “suck you in and lose track of time” read, this is IT! I‘m impatiently waiting for Book 2 to be delivered 😆

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. I started an AMAZING new book series that I can‘t wait to continue reading this summer (‘Dungeon Crawler Carl‘ by Matt Dinniman)
2. A red-belied woodpecker (we named him Tom) stopped by our house
3. Had a blast book shopping with my BFF last Sat. We‘re going to make it a monthly thing this summer 😎
4. I‘ve written out my list for the garden center tomorrow!🌷🌿🍅
5. Consistent outdoor reading weather has arrived!!

A #NoFilter Tuesday after work photo 😎 I‘m 140 pages into Book 1 of the ‘Dungeon Crawler Carl‘ series by Matt Dinniman and I‘ve decided I will be reading this entire series this summer. It is SO fun!🤩🤩🤩

Themes: Sleuthing Sheep‘s, Fun characters and great storytelling

This was Book 2 in the “Sheep Detective” series and it was just as great as Book 1 (“Three Bags Full”). I love this series, and I hope there‘s more from Miss Maple, Mopple the Whale, Sir Ritchfield, and Heather too!

#AdultingDoneRight Enjoying chips & queso for dinner with my current (fabulous!!) read 🥰🤩 Happy Mother‘s Day to all the amazing mamas here!

Today my friend and I went to 2 indie bookstores since she had a family thing on Indie Bookstore Day in April and was bummed to miss all the excitement. Well, today was a blast!! These are my two newest additions to my TBR mountain 😆 Can‘t wait to read them! #BookBuddies

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. This quote I found on an Instagram reel, “You are allowed to feel joy that makes no sense to anyone else” 😌
2. Lou the Cardinal back for a visit to my birdfeeder🐦‍🔥
3. Tuesday trivia with my BFF, it was Disney themed and we came in 2nd place!! 🏆
4. Summer Fridays at my work were just announced!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳
5. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and I‘ve got a brand new library book 🤩🥳🙌 The second in the “Sheep Detective” series from Leonie Swann 🐑🐑🐑🐑

My Saturday wind down 🥰 (not pictured the can of Yuengling flight beer I‘m sipping on) #booksbrewsbaseball 📖🍺⚾️

“For readers, books are a universal salve. When we are hot, we read to feel cooler; when we are cold, we read to warm up; tired, books wake us up; anxious, they calm us.” (pg. 142 of the tagged book)

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

1. Going for Hiabchi tomorrow to celebrate my husband‘s birthday!! Yum 😋
2. Discovered some new emojis with the new IOS update:🫜🫆🫟 🫩(this last one is my spirit animal 🤪)
3. Everything is so green and lush right now! 🌷🌿🍃🌱
4. Coffee ☕️
5. The SAVE Act will be DOA when it reaches the Senate 😮‍💨 Thanks for doing something, Chuck Schumer

If you‘d like to play, consider yourself tagged!

Themes: Historical Fiction, Irish Folklore, Dual Timelines

This was a sweet read, perfect for reading in a comfy chair with a blanket and a cup of something warm to drink. It started a bit slow for me, but then I was hooked and couldn‘t put it down. It really made me want to re-read “Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell” by Susanna Clarke 🧚

#TopReads2025 for April belongs to the one and only Vera Wong ☕️🫖🔎 “Vera Wong‘s Guide to Snooping (On A Dead Man)” was fun and while on a bit darker side compared to her first book, still the same old, fabulous Vera! I hope we haven‘t seen the last of her!

Themes: Diary format, Book about Books, Excellent Palate Cleanser Read

This was a delightful, funny read. Anyone who has worked retail or in a customer-facing job will relate to Shaun‘s plight 😆 At my next bookstore visit I‘ll be sure to look for his other books

My conquest from visiting my indie bookstore today 😄 Even though I get overwhelmed with crowds, I did it. I parked far enough away to avoid getting stressed and walked, which was fabulous since it‘s sunny out today and not terribly cold! Now I‘m sitting in our backyard in a camping chair becauseu I know it‘s too early to bring out our patio furniture 😂😎 Happy Reading!!!

Definitely in the minority on this book, but I lost interest halfway through. I didn‘t connect with any of the characters and the “I don‘t like this” vibes started to outweigh the “I love this!” vibes. #HailtheBail 🚀

Cheers to the weekend!! 🍻📖🎉 I made it to 5 o‘clock 😅

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. My MIL treated my SIL and I to a manicure. It was my first one & I learned a lot, like if you don‘t like the color after they paint your pinkie you can ask for a different color 😂 Had I known this, my nails would look very different now lol (the pic is my “after”)
2. Love having MLB.tv and watching all the baseball games
3. Homemade pizza last night
4. Coffee & Wine
5. Tomorrow is Indie Bookstore Day in the US 😍📚

Okay. This bail is 100% on me. I really wanted this to be a book version of the History Channel‘s “Food that Built America” show. This is not like that. Family drama, oh yes. Characters that are difficult to like? You betcha. I‘m glad I found my copy at Savers for $3.99 because that‘s exactly where it‘s going back to. #HailtheBail

Themes: Mystery/Thriller, Good bookclub pick, Twisty plot

This was a book I wouldn‘t have picked up had it not been my bookclub‘s next read. I even told my husband a few pages into it, “this is just really weird” 😂. I did end up liking it though, I thought the characters were fully formed and felt ‘real‘ and Whittaker‘s writing flows really nicely. So many good quotes too! I can‘t wait for our next meeting to discuss this!

Themes: Historical Fiction Mystery, Famous Authors as characters, 1930‘s London

This was an okay read, it‘s between a so-so and a pick. It wasn‘t amazing but I was interested enough to keep reading it. A good library borrow 👍

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii
1. I spent last weekend with family and we had a blast! Visited 3 indie bookstores and I blew past my budget so quickly 🤪 (totally worth it!)
2. My mom got a new iPad so I got her old one 🙌
3. My parent‘s cat (Millie) is such a joy, she‘s playing hide & seek 😂
4. Found a fabulous beer that supports the libraries in Cedar Rapids, Iowa 🍻
5. Spending tomorrow with my favorite aunt for another breakfast & thrifting date💕