New reading milestone: first time crying during an audiobook (while riding a stationary bike no less). Tender and wise, this book about an elderly woman living in an assisted living facility was so well-rendered that at times it made me so sad that I didn‘t want to read it. But I‘m glad I did! The book was really generous in its observations about aging and life in general. And the relationships between the characters developed in a lovely way.

1. Yes, my husband and I made an actual written bucket list! It‘s mostly places we want to go.
2. Yes! Going to the Grand Canyon is on the list and my parents recently moved out west, so I‘m hoping to go when I visit them.
3. Hmm...my comfort zone is pretty big so anything outside it is probably something I really shouldn‘t do 😂
4. I really want to read it — I‘m just gathering the mental fortitude!

#hellothursday

So charmed by the fact that Charlotte Holmes has a thing for Joey Tribbiani!

Meticulously researched and morally complex, this is an exceptional novel among the many set in the English Reformation. The book follows Matthew Shardlake, a lawyer in the patronage of vicar general Thomas Cromwell, as he investigates a murder at a monastery. This novel shines in a lot of ways. The great depth of historical research on the author‘s part is evident even to someone with a passing familiarity with the era. Great historical mystery!

Arrived today — so happy to have this in my hands! 😻

My favorite of the series so far and that‘s saying a lot. As I‘ve said before, it‘s hard for me to be objective about these books because I love the main characters so much. But I do think this one had the best combination of well-developed plot and profound emotional depth. My favorite part was that Charlotte tells half the story in her own voice, filling in the details of her past. She‘s wry, vulnerable, brilliant, and struggling to grow.

Really enjoying this one so far. Sweet, funny, and sad at once. Plus, it‘s set near my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee!

I finished this one a while ago, but I‘ve been procrastinating on reviewing it because I‘m afraid I have too many feelings about the series to be thoughtful about it. I love our Charlotte and Jamie! I think this is weaker than the first book plot-wise, but it‘s very exciting and has some heartbreaking character development.

My February in review:

Books read: 11

Favorite: There were so many good ones this month! Probably a many-way tie, including the Charlotte Holmes series, The Lost Queen, and Sawkill Girls. It‘s a great month when you can‘t choose one favorite!

Least favorite: Honestly, The Thief. It was just too boring and obvious and young seeming for my taste.

Getting started on this Tudor mystery tonight 😍😍😍

The title really says it all. This collection of stories centering on the titular elderly lady, Maud, is quite amusing. Maud detests problems and she has an efficient, effective, and, yes, no good way of solving them. I usually don't enjoy short stories because I like to spend more time with characters, but this worked very nicely because all of the stories centered on the same character and theme. Overall, funny, but a bit lacking in depth.

Getting into Charlotte Holmes 2!

I love Mists of Avalon and most narratives influenced by early British and Celtic mythology, so I was pretty much guaranteed to love this book. And it did not disappoint.

This is more of a straightforward historical novel than Mists of Avalon, but it‘s very well done. And, like Mists, it centers in large part on the shift from the old gods and goddesses worshipped by the early peoples of Britain to Christianity. Overall, fascinating and lovely.

Such a cute cover design!

1. An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good and Three Things About Elsie (two very different variations on a theme)
2. I think hardbacks are beautiful but paperbacks are easier to read — weak wrists!
3. More than I‘d care to say, but I very distinctly remember not getting through Silas Marner.

Current read and I‘m loving it! Almost reads like a prequel to Mists of Avalon 😍

Oh boy, this one was special. I basically have heart eyes about it. YA, fantasy, mystery, a bit of supernatural horror - this book was pretty much designed to fulfill the recommended daily allowance of all the literary nutrients my brain craves. From the writing style to the plot and characters, it was another of one those small alchemic miracles where the book and I were kindred from the start. Lyrical, gorgeous, and feminist, highly recommended!

Best use of a day off!

It‘s always the best, and so rare, when a book surprises you in a good way. I had been interested in this series for a while but was hesitant about it because a teen Sherlock Holmes seemed potentially corny.

I was very wrong.

For me, this was one of those almost magical reading experiences where the book and I had just the right chemistry. The story had a lot of things I didn‘t even realize I wanted. In short: I adore Charlotte Holmes.

1. Calvin and Hobbes comics, Harry Potter series, Little Women, and Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild
2. Lots of sleeping! Also doing a belated Valentine‘s celebration with my husband and spending a day at the Met
3. I have so much love for this iteration of Holmes and Watson
4. That I can do? Not many. I can‘t even whistle. But I can stand very high on my tiptoes for a long time.
5. Happy to! 👍👍👍

#friyayintro

#frideas

1. Aladdin
2. Moana
3. Probably the stepmother in Cinderella because I hate unfairness and cleaning
4. Djali (the goat in Hunchback of Notre Dame)
5. In Big Hero Six, one of the animators designed Aunt Cass to look like his wife

Ahh, received my first set of books from Book Riot‘s Tailored Book Recommendations in the mail and I‘m so excited to dive in! Looks like they did a great job tailoring them to my taste.

Listened to a bit of this audiobook this morning while getting ready for work. Really enjoying the narrator‘s performance and the story has me hooked so far!

Starting this one properly tonight and I just love this cover.

Read this in one sitting, but I kind of had to push myself to finish it. I‘m really disappointed because I‘ve heard such good things about this series. Maybe it was overhyped in my head, but for me this just wasn‘t anything special. I liked the Hellenic-style setting, but the plot was so predictable. And other than the main character, the characters were not that well-developed. It might be for a younger audience than the books I prefer.

I really thought I would love this, given the gorgeous cover and all of the amazing reviews I‘ve seen. But alas, I ended up with lukewarm feelings about it. I think the setting and world-building were great and showed a ton of potential. But the plot and character development sadly did not live up to it. Also, the English translation was noticeably clunky.

1. The bold Art Deco-y cover for Seven and a Half Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle really drew me to the book.
2. Gosh, probably just dinner with my husband and we‘re exchanging book presents 😊
3. Brown - I have brown eyes and hair, so I just feel drab in it.
4. They planned to name me Jacob.

#friyayintro

This is exactly the kind of mystery I crave. I've read a lot of mysteries set in boarding schools and high schools lately, but this is the first mystery I recall reading with a summer camp setting and it worked beautifully. So much built in creepiness. I also thought the author did a terrific job developing the character of the narrator. I did not see the end coming at all! And that's exactly what I like in a mystery. Chilling and very well-told.

Goodreads: apartmentofmirth
Instagram: holyguacamullen

This is a great idea - so excited to follow Litsy folks elsewhere!

#hellothursday

Stressful week at work. Reading is the best way to let go for a bit. This book is charming so far, if a bit slow. And I love the cover!

This was solid mystery, but I was a little disappointed. I loved One of Us is Lying and I feel like this one did not live up to the quality of that book. I think that it was a little too short and felt rushed, even though there was a lot going on. One great thing about OOUIL was the shifting perspectives throughout the book. This novel shifts between two perspectives, but I still felt like I got to know the two main characters less.

Zipping through this one and loving it!

The Harry Potter and Magicians comparisons in on the dust jacket for Vita Nostra are all wrong. This book has very little in common with either of those series, though it ostensibly takes place in a school that teaches something like magic. This is a much, much stranger and more philosophical book. And darker. I felt rather misled by the marketing. This is more of a Kafkaesque metaphysical parable than a fantasy novel. And it was often boring.

1. My Fair Lady
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. City of Bones
4. Emma Thompson/Michael Fassbender
5. Uprooted

#frideas

1. I prefer stand-alone books to series (but I still read a lot of series)
2. Salty! Chips and guac all day!
3. Hilda and Bill, Joe and Kathryn (I was named after her)
4. Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin
5. London

#friyayintro

My January in review:

Books Read: 9
Pages Read: 4236
Favorite: tie between It by Stephen King and In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
Least Favorite: Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller — very slow and I couldn‘t stand the protagonist. I was fooled by the gorgeous cover!

It was really nice to revisit the Buffyverse with this one. Although it features a whole new cast of characters, many old friends had cameos. I really enjoyed the dialogue and style, which did a great job of mimicking the witty, slangy dialogue of the show without sounding dated. Some of the tension in the relationships was a little forced and unearned seeming — the characters had poor reasons for not communicating. But overall a worthwhile read.

Still home sick with the flu, so I‘m starting this one. I love the Buffy TV series with all my heart, so I have high hopes for it!

This is not a nice book. But it is an excellent one. Intricate and stark, The Traitor Baru Cormorant has a fascinating protagonist in its title character. Witnessing her development was thrilling. Brilliant and cunning, she uses the weapon of economics to try to manipulate the Empire that stole her home from within. But ooh boy, the Masquerade Empire is a bad, bad terrifying villain. Highly recommend this dark, compelling book.

The only perk of being sick is the reading time. Starting this one now.

After reading this and Space Opera, I am in awe of Valente‘s imagination. She writes the most surprising things with such daring and confidence. Radiance is a unique book — I‘ve never read anything like it. Because of that, it took me some time to get my bearings while reading it. But it is well worth reading because the setting is achingly gorgeous and fascinating, the story is beautiful and bittersweet, and the writing is wise and clever.

Audiobooks are the only way I can bribe myself to clean my apartment. Not far into this one but it has definitely grabbed me.

1. Radiance by Catherynne Valente, The Last Time I Lied By Riley Sager, and The White Album by Joan Didion

2. Ravenclaw

3. Steven Universe

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Starting this one next. I had my first encounter with Valente last summer with Space Opera and found it delightful, so I‘m excited to read something else of hers.

Just finished this beaut and good lord, y‘all. The ending kicked me right in the soul. And I mean that in the best possible way. I cannot wait to devour more of this series. It makes me feel many things. Plus, the language is lovely and sometimes startling. And the characters and dialogue are very well rendered. Funny, sexy, beautiful, and clever — this book was a perfect Friday night date. I‘d let it break my heart any day.

This arrived in the mail yesterday 😍

Big day at work today, so trying to calm myself by reading. Loving Didion‘s discussion of Georgia O‘Keeffe.

Next up! It is very much on.

Charming and exciting, yet dark, I greatly enjoyed this book although I didn‘t quite love it. The cast of characters was varied and delightful and the narrative zipped along. Much of the dialogue sparkled, but some of the attempts at 1920s slang came across as corny to me. While I often enjoy the 1920s as a setting, I found that this book was a little too on-the-nose in its characterization of the era. But overall, a zippy, entertaining read!

Currently tearing through this one. It checks a lot of my *yes please* boxes: supernatural, historical, AND mystery. And it reads very quickly for a book of its heft! Plus, it matches my lavender marshmallow candle 😊