Not really my lucky day when I pulled this 480pg book off the library shelf because it and I didn't get along. At all. I even tried using one of my Ever& credits for the audio and that was worst than just reading it with the narrator speaking at the slowest pace to ever be spoken and not being able to pronounce local names correctly. Beyond that the book wasn't good (IMO) too many threads - the author kept throwing herself and her abusive 👇

I was going to listen to the audio of this because the physical has become a super drag, but the narrator is saying local names wrong and nothing is more nails on the chalkboard then people who don't know how to say Willamette.
(Wuh-la-muht not Will-a-met, it is a first nations word.)

Question for the Litsy wise - if someone blocks you what does it look like?

I think it is funny (I am not offended) and I am just curious if my hunch is accurate, is it possible that if you try to tag them (for a prompt they started) they will not pop up, that I can click through from someone else's post, and get to their page but it says they have hundreds of thousands of points but no posts yet?

Also did I block them? Ahah How would I know?

Tagged is my first #10BeforeTheEnd book, Murderland I have started, but feels like it will be a struggle. Behind is my next ups.

#WeeklyForecast

A little horror for the season
Tingle is back and just as bananas as always. This book centers luck, probability and a world gone mad. At the center is Vera who is a sympathetic and believable character. I like Tingle's writing and even as the story get crazier and crazier his writing stays firm.
Some scenes are a bit graphic he describes things well, I was especially creeped out by his descriptions of people eating.

"We're all guests out here in the wild, passing through like we own the place and quickly discovering that nature has other ideas."

Chuck Tingle is known for his wild "gay horror" but I think people should talk more about how he is actually a good writer too.

This one is super wild! I am enjoying it.

Technically the 10 weeks begin on Wednesday, but lets get a head start! What #10BeforeTheEnd are you starting with??

I am starting with Careless People which is very overdue to the library.

If you would like to join just pick 10 books you plan to read before 2025 ends and get to reading. Good Luck to all who join.

This is a difficult book to "rate" I went in a bit begrudgingly. An American White Woman teaching us about Indian slums? I am cautious of profiting off the poorest of the poor.
Her writing is fantastic. It is a difficult topic and I think she does well telling you the facts while also being sympathetic. It is a tightrope telling such sad stories with care, but I think she did that well.
I don't know if I can rec it, but I am glad I read it.

Keeping resistance weird.

Be safe out there this weekend!

Book sorting day.

Pulling up my #10BeforeTheEnd
Thinking about 2026 it's so soon, and there are so many books I haven't gotten to!

This was a struggle. I switched to audio, but overall I was just bored. I know this is a well loved book. The writing was great but I found all of the characters annoying. Many are very priggish more so than the couple who are called out as. I like Cecilia but we barely get to see her (calling her puritanical sister Dorothea Dodo cracked me up) I realized later it takes place over 2 yrs in these characters lives and I am shocked felt like 70 yrs.

After much hemmming and hawwwing I have my #10BeforeTheEnd

Many of them were on my original #25in25 that I just have not been able to get myself to pick up. I need to stop buying books I cannot seem to force myself to read!

I am actually excited for all of these so hopefully they are not a pain to get through.

At the beginning of the year I picked 25 books I wanted to definitely check off my bookshelves in 2025.
I am going okay(ish) some big chunkers waiting for me. But I ticked off Middlemarch last night, & I am now down to 7. I am going to add most of those to my #10beforetheend challenge and push through on them! I know everyone loves Anne of Green Gables, I do not know why it has been so hard for me to pick it up, it was even a bookspin 1 month.

I cannot believe it, but, next week kicks off the last 10 weeks of 2025. So here we go!

For those who would like to participate it is time for the annual #10BeforeTheEnd

Pick 10 books, dedicate yourself to finishing them before the end of the year. Super simple.

Tag me if you want to join, I love seeing people's lists!

#Weeklyforecast Making my way through Middlemarch a bit at a time. I thought this was going to be a banger for me I love Elizabeth Gaskell, and English country society storylines but I am having trouble paying attention while I read this. Still hoping to finish by end of week.

Also reading Chuck Tingle ? and hoping to get to this library book. I hate "Reality" dating shows but I have enjoyed a few books on the premise so going to try Compund!

"Portland is Portlanding" is the most Portland headline out there.

I have been distracted and personally overwhelmed, but I am so proud of my city. Emergency Naked Bike Ride was today so look forward to that in the news it was a cold and wet day for it.

"I have found it absolutely astounding, all the trouble living has turned out to be.'
What a lovely surprise book. I read this in less than a day. I loved the literary references, it has been a long time since I have read an epistolary novel but this one really worked for me even if I didn't always like the MC. I thought it was a well done contemplating look at life and aging.

So glad everyone was raving about this! Especially @BarbaraBB
I picked it up last night and am already 3/4 in. A book lovers dream of a book I love how many books have been mentioned are many my own favorites. It is increasing my TBR but I am so enjoying it.

This feels like a Woman's Prize book. I would not be surprised to see this on their list next year.
I think putting it on the Booker list was a mistake, but I personally really enjoyed it. I thought it gave a great overview of T&T from the 70-90s Though it was an incredibly White view that the author could have addressed better.
As someone who was left at a hospital in 1980, and who was adopted, I found this incredibly interesting on that front.

Taking my neighborhood walk many neighbors are all set up for the season!

Listen to this tagged on audio while also reading it, it is pretty chunky.

This might be one of the best known true crime books. A John Cusack movie was even made of it (I have heard it is not good so I am passing on it). I found the book itself to be a bit scattered. Lots of characters (in every sense of the word) most not really having anything to do with the story beyond giving the book a particular vibe. Savannah itself comes off as a very well drawn character, and for that I think the author did a good job. 👇

“I felt perfectly safe in my rolling metal fortress, rusted and dented as it was. Nothing and no one could get to me, and nothing and no one did—with one very notable exception. Her name was Chablis.”
Have to admit, the one thing I didn't expect in a Southern Murder book was a side character who is Trans and the author respecting them. Learning today about beloved Lady Chablis a Trans performer in Savannah who died in 2016 of pneumonia at age 59.

Nonfiction November is coming and looking through what I have on hand to read is making me a bit sad. I am reading Murderland and Midnight in the Garden (maybe Peepshow if I can squeeze it in)for Spooky Month. I would really love to hear fun NF you have read lately I could throw in? I have the new Mary Roach on audio, and thanks to @Hooked_on_books Cheese War is waiting for me at the library. I am really excited for the tagged.

Out this Tuesday! (Oct. 7)

This is a genre bending story, it starts very hard sci-fi with words my STEM background brain didn't really know, but then slowly morphs into something so much more. I think some people will struggle with the almost magical realism quality of the story. I loved the weaving in of Jim and Tawny, their story of finding each other again and them bringing in the past and the Indigenous folklore, well done!

I started and stopped this a few times before I turned to the audio which is excellent. The book is a bit too flowery of language for me, but it does fit the fairy tale theme. Once I got into the story I loved the tale of Esther and Ysabel Hawthorn, 2 beloved sisters. You can feel their bond through the pages and that point where they start to want different things. I can see this story as a classic fairy tale to read to children.

Grey October vibes.

A light pick. I loved the cat (Pumpkin - fitting for the season) but the book itself felt a bit too sentimental, and with too many storylines for such a short read. I would have preferred it if it was about the siblings and the bad guys only.
The writing was fine though and I enjoyed August's storytelling if they could tighten it up a bit so I will try their next that comes out next year.

Fresh Month, Fresh Season, Fresh board!

#BookspinBingo Board
#Bookspin - Flesh
#DoubleSpin - The River Has Roots

@thearomaofbooks

I read 17 books in September, and DNF'd 2. Some really stand out books this month! Tagging the 1 I keep thinking about.

4.5⭐
Sky Daddy
The Anthropocene Reviewed
Travels With My Aunt
The Hounding
Cry of the Owl
4.25⭐
Minor Feelings
Stone Yard Devotional
4⭐
Gold Coast Dilemma
Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad
Is This A Cry For Help
Come Rain or Come Shine
3.75⭐
Our Evenings
Ignorance
Storm We Made
3.5⭐
Twilight of Empire
Dating Dr Dil
Mr Salary

#Bookspin - Cry Of The Owl ✔
I didn't get to my Double Spin, and I am not sure I ever will.

Bingos - 4

Goodbye September. I hardly knew ya!

#Bookspinbingo
@thearomaofbooks

A really great distraction book. All of these characters are wild! I am always surprised when I read a Highsmith that her books are not more popular, they are propulsive, it is often impossible to guess what the characters are going to do next, and a stark reminder of what we have gained as a society (911!?!) since the 60s. Also makes you feel like if you had committed a crime then it would have been so much easier to get away with it!

A friend to me to her new favorite bookstore in Camas Washington. It is gorgeous, and they have the funnest bookclubs, like a cookbook club where the members pick a recipe and they have a potluck at the end of the month! I don't cook but I think it is the best idea. The shop is super cute and they have a small cafe that serves coffee, wine, and beer. 😍

Bookish - Camas Washington

Screaming at these characters to stop talking to the police without a lawyer!

A guy who cannot figure out They/them pronouns and who is expected to marry a politician he is on the other side of the aisle from (one who is advocating for MCs kind to be disfigured because they are physically strong??)

This isn't working for me. Not far enough a long for an actual review, I just feel gross reading it. Also I am 3.5 hours in and I don't think we have met a woman with a name.

Not too many spooky season reads, not feeling it this year yet. We will see if that changes.

#Bookspin

*Cat (Serene) is not allowed on the table
This was the wrong time to read this book. I thought it was well crafted. Chan handled the multiple times and POV well. I was never confused where or who we were dealing with. I appreciate this being an area that is a historical blind spot for me (British Malaya occupied by Japan)
The writing is obviously debut level, a bit chunky, occasionally trying to do too much. But she gets her points across.

This sounds like the perfect book for an Aardvark book box! Fingers crossed!

I wish I would have read this while in Prague and in a better headspace. I think it is very good, I am just not in the mood at the moment. He compares moving countries and going back to Odysseus and mirrors 2 characters journey. It was well written and smart without feeling pretentious.

It has been a rough week, but I am stopping to appreciate this moment

ARC - Hole In The Sky by Daniel H Wilson (known for Robopocolypse) out in the US October 7, 2025

Girl math I try to pitch to my therapist

I enjoyed this. A literary character driven story. I have a fear of mice so the book really got under my skin in a creepy crawly way. But I enjoyed the slow contemplating writing and liked the MC. Living in a religious order when you are not religious is a draw for me. As a non believer myself I have stayed in nunneries but always go short periods while traveling this idea of escaping the world by doing that really drew me in.

Current and up next reads.

My goal each year is to read less than half American stories, so this week is great with Australia, Czech (could technically be considered French), and Malaysia.

I am finishing SYD today and hoping to also finish Ignorance if I can squeeze it in then the others this weekend.

This one really isn't for me 😂. I dislike fall. It is my 2nd least favorite season and it comes after my favorite which is hard!

I really dislike pumpkin spice things so I have tried that latte but no thank you!

3 favorites though:
Mulled wine
Pecan pie
Cinnamon rolls

PS what is the difference between a cinnamon bun and a cinnamon roll? I don't know if I know the bun

#TLT @dabbe

This has a fairy tale feeling to it that I really enjoyed, it also felt like fall even though it was set in an oppressive dry summer. There is a continuous ramp up of hysteria that was done very well.
I liked that there were a few different POVs and that they were all distinct and easy to tell apart.
I really enjoyed this.

Low pick. The writing as always with Hollinghurst is gorgeous, but he has an old fashioned way of writing that makes me question what decade or even century we are in.
This is deeply a character study. It feels very slow moving but you go through most of this man's life He is bi-racial in England, a student an actor and a writer
It was a big too slow for me but I appreciate the beautiful writing.

Back home and back at it!
#WeeklyForecast

I am 3/4 through Our Evenings
Want to tick off this Kundera that I dragged through Austria and Czech Republic and didn't open. Then Patricia Highsmith and I grabbed the audio of The Storm We Made which has been on my bookcase forever.

"Thomas nodded. He saw what she was trying to say: that history was round, that all things pass. But she was wrong to think it about this situation. There had never been anyone like the Mansfield sisters; there would never be anyone like them again. Their spiritedness and singularly, the way rumors about them bred. How people grew preoccupied with them, how they dreaded and pursued them and might eventually ruin them."

There are 2 things Prague loves a weird statue and Franz Kafka.
In the old Jewish quarter you can find this interesting statue of Kafka outside the Spanish Synagogue

New Emily Austin! US publication Jan 13, 2026.

Like with most of Austin's work it is incredibly in the he MCs head. Her fans will enjoy this one. I felt a bit bogged down in the current event library/censorship talk. But overall I enjoyed spending time with Darcy. I really loved how she showed the difference in a 20 and 30 year old and how much a person grows and changes. Through the cleaver like ok back using therapy sessions.

This is a must read. Such an incredible dive into being Asian American. With a focus on art, and what she describes as the invisible area between Black and White America.

Park Hong is a poet and her writing shows. It is not overwritten but is very well told.