Enjoyed this exploration of the history of the North American coyote and the explanation of how, despite serious eradication efforts (and in fact as an unintended result of them), the coyote has now taken up residence in almost all of our urban cities. I live in Santa Fe…looking into the eyes of a coyote passing you on the street is a truly breathtaking experience. Has happened to me twice in the last couple of years.

I‘ve always had respect for his acting chops, but now I have immense respect for the man behind the scenes as well. Fabulous autobiography. There‘s a lot of “there there” with Will Smith!

Waiting for next in Inspector Gamache series from Louise Penny so thought I‘d take up where I left off in Bruno Courreges series. Superficial similarities between the two…male policemen who enjoy food, native French speakers, take place in small rural towns (one in France and one in Canada). That‘s where the similarities end. I prefer Louise Penny‘s writing, which gives me glimpses into the minds of the recurring characters and is more lyrical.

Lovely character driven conclusion to the Wayfarer series. 3 strangers of different alien species are trapped on Gora, a nondescript planet that is a stopover for ships traveling between wormholes, when a technological failure makes travel temporarily unsafe. With nothing to do but wait, the strangers learn about each other‘s lives and cultures while enjoying the hospitality of the owner of the Five-Hop One-Stop and her precocious child.

Repeating since I didn‘t get anything read for May. #bookspin #doublespin. If things slow down and numbers don‘t repeat...maybe I‘ll get one from May and one from June done in June!

For May: Tagged book is #bookspin. Red Rising is #doublespin. @TheAromaofBooks

#bookspin #doublespin for May. @TheAromaofBooks

#doublespin April. In this non-fiction memoir of her body, author explains how sexual trauma at 12 impacts the way she views her body, her self-esteem, her relationships with family members & future lovers. She writes about the emotional & physical pain she endures as she moves through the world at her size, the logistical challenges of navigating a world built for smaller people, & the ways she is both seen & not seen because of her size.

Well that was a fun start to a series. Time traveling historians, a smart ass heroine, a little romance, some unexpected treachery, dinosaurs! #bookspin for April. @TheAromaofBooks

Phyrne joins a travelling circus as a trick horse rider to figure out why the circus is experiencing a series of misfortunes, including a murder, that threaten to put it out of business.

A 5 star read!! A caseworker for the Dept In Charge of Magical Youth is sent to investigate an orphanage for magical youth on an isolated island. He is warned that his trip is highly classified, he is to report back on a weekly basis for a month and is only given information about the highly unusual children at the orphanage once he is on his way. One of the most amusing and heartwarming books I‘ve read in quite awhile.

If you‘ve ever had to deal with looking for a parking spot on a regular basis in NYC, this book will probably tickle your funny bone. Tepper takes his car out of the garage every day, parks in a legal metered spot, feeds the meter with a few quarters and then tries to read his newspaper in peace until the meter expires. This enrages those searching for a parking space. After a reporter writes about him, Tepper experiences unwelcome notoriety.

Historical thriller about a servant and former slave who is put on trial for the murder of her employer and his wife. Frannie can‘t remember what happened that night and thus is unable to assist with her own defense. Arc of the story leads from her childhood as a slave on a sugar plantation in Jamaica to her life as the personal maid for a beloved and seriously troubled mistress in London.

Art and Murderbot are teamed back up in the first full length book in the wonderful Murderbot series. Gotta love this relatable AI with severe social anxiety, a deep distrust of friendship and hilarious addiction to TV serials.

Wonderful book about a staid woman named Cora who agrees to act as chaperone when 15 year old contemptuous Louise Brooks from Wichita, KS goes to NYC to study with a prestigious dance school for the summer. Both of their lives are changed dramatically by what occurs that summer.

Tagged book is #bookspin and Hunger is #doublespin for April. Looking forward to these two. @TheAromaofBooks

#bookspin #doublespin list for April. @TheAromaofBooks

#doublespin for March. Powerful mages bind secondary mages and use them as batteries to enable stormsinging, which controls the country‘s dangerous weather. One of the mages from a powerful family runs away from his fate as a secondary and becomes a doctor, who realizes that something is terribly wrong with soldiers returning from a war. He needs to solve a murder to piece everything together. Beautiful gay love story as well. @TheAromaofBooks

Reading this short memoir about depression.

#bookspin for March. Set in Key West and the Bahamas. In addition to a former detective now unhappily working as a restaurant food inspector, a kinky coroner, a voodoo queen, and real estate speculators, a monkey claimed to have been in Johnny Depp‘s Pirates movie has a central role in book. I loved Hiaasen when I read him years ago but now his characterizations of women (manipulative or bimbos) annoy me and the plots are formulaic.

A woman‘s dying father extracts a promise from her that leads to the uncovering of a series of disturbing secrets that begin at a psychiatric hospital in the 50‘s. Lots of unexpected twists and turns. Fiction is based on actual experiments done on psychiatric patients. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_experiments Multiple trigger warnings: suicide, abuse of psychiatric patients, childhood trauma.

This time Phryne‘s witnessing of a murder during a dance marathon leads her to investigate the blackmailing of gay men and to hunt for a missing shellshocked son/brother who doesn‘t wish to be found.

Scholarly biography of Lucy Parsons, a controversial African American anarchist whose husband was hung as a result of his written advocacy of labor violence leading up to bombing at Haymarket Square. Includes history of the labor/union movement and too much alphabet soup when it came to acronyms of various unions/labor orgs. Interesting to read at same time as Trump‘s Senate trial for incitement of violent mob that attacked US Capitol.

Dark comedic book about two sisters, the older one covering for her younger sister, whose boyfriends keep ending up dead. Some fairly predictable twists but a quick amusing read.

Fabulous YA novel about a teen mom in high school and her love for her infant daughter, grandmother who raised her, and best friend (who‘s a lesbian). Her mastery of food/cooking plays a very central role.

This time Phyrne is mixed up with anarchists and a missing girl who has run away from a dysfunctional home life. Love the books and the TV series. Modern day Victoria Dock looks beautiful at sunset not sinister. :)

Tagged book is #bookspin and Witchmark is #doublespin for March. Planning to get them both read this month. @TheAromaofBooks

#authoramonth2021 A short book of essays written during the pandemic. Most mention/touch on pandemic in some way but only one is really centered around the pandemic.

#bookspin #doublespin list for March. @TheAromaofBooks

#doublespin book for February. Loved this Mayan mythology novel set in the 20´s with a strong teenage female protagonist! Twin gods are vying for control over Xibalba. Hun Kame, the twin trying to regain his thrown, is inadvertently awoken by Cassiopeia and a quest ensues to take back what has been stolen from him by his twin brother. He shows her the world beyond her small village and she teaches him lessons about love and mercy.! @TheAromaofBook

About life in Bed-Stuy, hip hop/rap culture, and the love of a sister and his two best friends for a uniquely talented rapper killed as a teen before he had a chance to share his gift with the world. His friends are determined to make him famous posthumously and his sister wants to discover his killer and bring them to justice. The author really brought this era in Brooklyn to life! 4* read for me.

A wonderful book of connected vignettes that each tell the story of a single dish and a character important in the life of Eva, providing an interesting way of watching her grow from a baby who is fascinated by a farmer‘s market table of unusual tomatoes into a renowned chef who, for a steep price and years on a waitlist, provides small groups of food enthusiasts with an ever changing “adventure meal” that they will never forget.

I‘ve loved every book by this author I‘ve read. This dark school of magic is like Hogwarts on steroids. Monsters lurk everywhere (yup, even under your bed) and the students have to make allies for mutual protection or chances are they will die before they graduate. The teachers certainly won‘t intervene. The female protagonist is a sarcastic and talented loner whose growth consists of learning to trust/accept the help of others. 5 * read for me.

As a piece of fiction (plot, character development), I think the book is lacking, but as a warning about the political, sociological, philosophical impact of a society based on fear, rage, triumph, hate and doublethink it is brilliant. Some of what he warned us about has clearly (to my mind) come to pass. The question for me is whether it‘s too late to turn things around. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I tried...90 pages in I was still completely lost. Sad because I loved Gideon the Ninth.

Oh my gosh. So good y‘all. The black bisexual female main character is a multiverse traveler who experiences so much personal growth over the course of the book. Includes a complicated love story, treachery and betrayal that spans worlds, and an exploration of how wealth and poverty may or may not define who you are, how you live and how you are viewed by others.

Feb #bookspin is George Orwell‘s 1984. #doublespin will be Gods of Jade and Shadow. Really looking forward to these two reads. 1984 is a reread but I have no memory of the book. @TheAromaofBooks

Chilling story set in an eerie mold filled house about a creepy family headed by an evil patriarch who bends everyone to his will. Except for Noemi.

February #bookspin #doublespin list. @TheAromaofBooks

Carla is a cheese fiend. Maybe she senses all the talk about cheese in this book? :)

Kate has learned that her grandmother Katherine is a time traveling historian from the future. Her grandfather has changed timelines when making jumps in order to accrue personal power and will destroy anyone who gets in his way. Kate is the only one who may be able to stop him and correct the damage he‘s done. To do so she‘ll have to be trained to make jumps and go back to the Chicago World‘s Fair to warn her grandmother about coming events.

Had to search out a quick summary of The Fifth Season to reorient myself. Amazing world building in this trilogy.

Explores how physical/emotional/sexual abuse can haunt and imprison family members via a cycle of violence that repeats generation after generation. Illustrates the ways in which adults and the church turn a blind eye to abuse, allowing it to continue unabated with no protection provided for those most vulnerable. Eloquently shows the power of friendship forged during childhood. Set in Southside Chicago. Sentient church building is a character.

Excited about starting this one today. Book description from Goodreads.

Terrifying, tragic and infuriating. Planning to watch some of the Netflix documentaries on the opioid crisis after I finish this.

Cozy feel good book about two sisters who‘ve taken very different paths centered in a small Vermont town. Fairly predictable but I think I needed the peace and quiet and predictability of a book about small town life. And now I want a piece of burnt sugar maple cake!

I‘m enjoying this sweet little novel about a small town in Vermont and two polar opposite sisters, one of whom is an artistic risk taker who has traveled widely and the other who has been the family caretaker and has developed deep ties to their hometown. And I‘m almost always impressed when a novelist can work in a Rumi quote.

Starting the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club pick for January.

A wonderful LGBTQ YA novel that turns the Cinderella fairytale on its head. A rebellious female teen, with help from a female descendant of Cinderella‘s maligned step sister, is determined to uncover the truth about Cinderella and Prince Charming and, in so doing, hatch a plan to overturn the abusive patriarchal system the inhabitants of Mervailles have been living under for 200 years since Cinderella‘s untimely death. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

An incredibly satisfying end to this wonderful trilogy. Great start to 2021 reading.