I loved the last book and loved this just as much. I read through it just as fast and wow, what an ending!!!

I have been in a terrible reading rut. But I picked this one up from the library and hopefully have broken the drought! I could not stop reading. I raced through the pages with a sense of urgency and NEEDED to know the ending. Y‘all, it was so good!

Work has been busy because crime goes up with the warmer weather. I‘ve been up since 4:30 am for a search warrant with the SWAT team so I feel like I deserve some reading time!!

That was the most suspenseful wait!! There are still so many books coming out this month that I want to read but I‘m glad BOTM included these three.

Holy cow what did I just read?! I loved this book and found myself slowing down toward the end because I absolutely did not want to be done with this story. Warning though: some of the pacing gets slowed down by all that science, however, for some that may be a plus.

Wow. Anyone see parallels here?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mynorthwest.com/2900533/tension-grows-over-encampme...

Holy shit that was a good book. Here‘s what I love about memoirs: they are written by the living, therefore, because the end is not set in stone yet, they are almost always hopeful. I have loved Brandi Carlile since I was a confused queer college kid (who could not yet embrace being queer). Turns out her music still moves me to tears. Do yourself a favor and get the audiobook!

It‘s like Christmas once a month! Anyone order the twin to my box?

They were both on my TBR list so I am super excited. I‘ve been in a slight reading slump with my physical books. Can‘t wait for these babies to knock me off my socks.

I start Crime Scene Tech class this week (a 6 week class that meets one week a month for 6 months). This class is no joke and already feels like being in college again. I have a 64 page reading assignment that we are being tested on first thing when we get there 🙀 I‘m getting a little nervous about how intense this class is going to be.

Help! Has anyone read Fledgling? I‘m not far into it at all and because of my job I‘m super weirded out by the relationship between the MC and Wright. Does that continue? I‘m she‘s described as looking 10 or 11. My mental picture may be too sharp to keep going.

One of the most fun yet emotion stirring books I have read in a long time. This was a great spring read and gave me all the feels by the end.

Lord I was wearing out my refresh button. New books are always so exciting. I took a plunge with the McClain book. I don‘t do novels like this often because I‘m a detective (believe it or not fiction often gets the job wrong- shocking I know). And I investigate sexual assault cases so I try to stay away from it in my entertainment. But that author has not led me astray yet.

I listened to the tagged book while taking a walk. My mother is doing better and will be coming home from the hospital on Friday. This is the first bit of reading/listening I‘ve really been able to do in several weeks. Glad I could usher in spring while I was at it.

Thank you @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for the positive quote yesterday. I definitely needed it. I had to rush to my hometown because my mother had a stroke that has left her uncommunicative. Which is frustrating and saddening for us both. They are continuing to run tests today to find out why she is having back to back strokes. I packed a new book and an old favorite.

@laurenashley had a great idea to #introduceyourself so I‘m playing along. Hi, I‘m Rachel. I‘m a detective in Arkansas and work crimes against children/sex crimes/major crime. I‘m also polyamorous. I‘ve been with my husband for eight years and we have been with our girlfriend for almost a year. We have a beautiful 3 year old. When I‘m not working, I‘m reading as much as my family will let me. I adore audiobooks.

I highly recommend this book. I told my girlfriend sweet things about this book and then told her that it reminded me of the butterflies in the stomach days of our early relationship. Apparently I did good because I came home to flowers. 😏

I was an English Major in college and have decided to go back to my roots and add more poetry back into my reading this year. I‘m 40 pages into this collection, and I have already laughed, cried, and swooned a little. I didn‘t know I missed poetry.

Well this one gave me just as many feels as The Nightingale. I can‘t wait to pass it along to other readers in my life! Also, forgive the bad pic, I was trying to take a pic with all the falling snow. There‘s a reason I‘m not a photographer.

Baby girl spent an entire week at her grandmother‘s because every adult in our household is an essential worker and had to be at work in all the snow. So now that we are back at home, she hasn‘t left my side. At least she doesn‘t care if I read a book while she watches tv.

I have Aftershocks four stars on Goodreads. I was impressed with how well she crafted her story, particularly with using earthquake terminology as metaphor to structure the book. And while I do not have a wide range of ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity in my own background as Owusu does(or the best private and international education), I can certainly relate to her need to understand her parents and her relation to them as a young adult.

If you added a 309 after this number, we can be friends. Love playing the number game with my litfluence.

I adore this novel! It was well crafted and brought setting to life. In the end I closed the book and the title took on new meaning (isn‘t that always fun). I can‘t wait to pass this one along to other readers in my life. Also, I‘m clearly writing this too soon after reading because my mind is still jumbled up with my emotional adoration for this story!

My BOTM came in!! It‘s so hard not to drop absolutely everything right now and launch into these books.

Can you guess which Hogwarts house I belong to? Lol my girlfriend is Slytherin and is trying hard to get me to embrace my secondary house, Ravenclaw.

Now I‘m trying it on audio too. Im pretty far into it and I‘m not sure if it is grabbing my attention. I‘m shockingly considering DNFing. Anyone read this one that could encourage me to keep going?

This is what my self care looks like today. The cookie is a snack from our Universal Yum box. This month was from the Netherlands.

This was a quick easy read and very well written. I loved falling in to this world!

This book reminded me of Leslie Marmon Silko ‘s writing and is the contemporary Native American writing I‘ve been waiting for. I‘ve read reviews in which people seemed confused by it. But I loved the integration of myth, family and ancestral history, and their present reality. It is a hell of a book about healing and the layers of healing humans must go through.

I started reading the tagged book and am loving it. But sometimes you gotta stop and watch My Little Ponies with your toddler 🥰 and in case you were wondering, yes that‘s market on her face 🤦🏻‍♀️. Clearly I needed to get my nose out of my book.

First book to actually finish in the new year. This was not the first book I started but it grabbed me and kept me listening. I‘m thankful for books like this to help me broaden my perspective. This was my first read to look at our system of race as a caste system- girl ain‘t wrong tho!

Thank you @kspenmoll for the #LCS gifts! Only one candy bar made it long enough to take a pic 😁🤫 @bookish_wookish thank you for hosting

First read of the new year. I decided to break out my iPad bc it‘s been a while since I‘ve read from my elibrary, and just bc I haven‘t been reading them absolutely doesn‘t mean that I haven‘t been continuing to buy them.

Omg this book gave me all the feels!! Harper wrote such a beautiful book of stories that used her experiences in the ER to expound upon deeper issues of abuse, identity, grief, love, and most of all...hope. There is so much human experience is such a small book! I highly recommend.

This is how I am blissfully spending my New Year‘s Eve. Thank the gods for being comfortable in my 30s and not being in a too tight outfit, drinking beer I don‘t even like while being around more strangers than friends in a bar or party. I‘m also thankful that this last year saw me promoted to detective so that I could be home in bed with my husband and not on the streets tonight.

I didn‘t quite make my goal, but I‘m happy with the amount of reading I did this year. Considering all the changes, ups and downs, and pressures put on me this year I‘m dang proud of how I‘ve pulled through- and not just in my reading. Also, I‘m clearly not as good at keeping up with what I‘ve read on this platform.

I‘ll be honest, this was slow going. But I often feel that way when I read Hoffman‘s books. And as per usual, I was in love with the work by the end! The last 100 pages really were the best even if it took a long while to get there.

Thank you @MicrobeMom for my #jolabokaflodswap package!! That is a lot of chocolate that almost didn‘t make it long enough for the picture. I can‘t wait to jump into this book!

No matter what else I‘m reading, it‘s all being dropped for Ready Player Two. I‘m so excited!!

I should be preparing for classes I‘m going to be teaching at our academy, instead I‘m listening to the tagged book and coloring. It‘s called balance (aka procrastination).

This story was strange and a little slow going at first. However, I slowly started to identify with and root for these sisters. It was a fun, easy listen.

In case you were wondering what an SVU detective might be reading, here‘s a stack of recent books I‘ve been reading. The tagged book isn‘t in this picture but a really good one if you are interested in deception detection. Happy reading my friends. #truecrime #criminalinvestigation

I am seriously behind if I want to meet my Goodreads goal of 100 books this year. So I‘m picking up some poetry! I was an English Major in undergrad with a serious love for Barbara Kingsolver so this collection is speaking to my soul.

I can‘t resist!! #jolabokaflodswap hosted by the awesome @MaleficentBookDragon great, easy, and fun book swap. #bookswap #swap #christmasswap

In case you were wondering about some of the books I‘ve been reading to get better at interview and interrogation. This book was all about the non verbals and is useful for anyone who wants to “read” others better.

Halloween may be over but I‘m carrying on with the spirit of the season.

I know people are saying this book is racist, but I don‘t think that was the author‘s intent. The MC is highly guarded and mistrustful of others- as she should be since everything and everyone seems to want to kill her. But I also LOVE El! She smart and powerful, and has more sarcasm in her little pinky than I have in my whole body I enjoyed this world and can‘t wait for the next one that is coming out next summer.

Look what my girlfriend got me! We both have an interest in hedge magic and have started building up our witchy library.

Grocery shopping took absolutely everything out of me today. Self care right now means a book, a bath, and cinnamon apple tea. And I am seriously enjoying Addie LaRue! I can honestly say that I was not expecting some of the surprises presented already.

It took me a few tries to get into this book. But after I did, it really became a world I kept being drawn back to. Solid coming of age story!