I‘ve been rearranging rooms in my house and purging stuff. I created a little reading nook and it makes my heart happy when I walk into the family room. I have not read a single book on this bookshelf 😂

This month‘s book club read. I was down to the wire to get this read so I alternated between the book and audio over the weekend. I enjoyed getting to learn through the AF (artificial friend) and the story has a lot to discuss with today‘s political climate and where we as a society are with technology. I think it will really engage discussion with the book club gals.

This one isn‘t getting a ton of love but I very much enjoyed the audiobook. It is a time travel book (my favorite!) that highlights two strong Mexican witches, Nena and her grandniece Marta. It‘s about family and love, though not perfect in any way, and I really liked the cultural aspect. I would have liked to know how Marta‘s case ended, but it really isn‘t important to the overall story. The ending made me smile.

This is a journalistic approach into the world of the wealthy, capitalism, and the ways the ultra wealthy evade paying taxes. I enjoyed the start of this but did get a little lost along the way. I still feel I learned quite a bit though. One thing that irked me is the author is female but the narrator for the audio was male.

I think I put this one in hold back in October for Native American month and just got around to reading it. Short, autobiographical story about grief and ways of the Ojibwe cultures. It‘s a sad one but I enjoyed it.

I originally listened to this when it was first published and just finished a reread of it for bookclub to refresh my memory. Whether you choose an audio or physical copy, it‘s a wonderful read.

De Leon is an anthropologist who spent years getting to know Honduras smugglers and spotlighting their job, why they do it, how they do it, how the job affects them, relationships to cartels and gangs and so forth. We often look down upon these men, the violence and drugs that surround them, but De Leon saw through these stereotypes and gave an in-depth picture of the whys to it all as the reader gets to know the individuals and their stories.

I‘m not really sure how to explain this one. Haunted house? Ghosts? Alternate reality? It‘s definitely creepy, and frustrating as you‘re rooting for Eve, the narrator. The end leaves things pretty opened ended with a WTF did I just read feeling. Overall, it was a good realty escape.

Krakauer was on an assignment to Mt Everest, to write an article for Outdoor Magazine. He joined a guide led by Rob Hall. A mix of weather, inexperience among climbers in the group, poor decisions and a lack of communication, mostly due to lack of oxygen, the trek became fatal.
Date nite to Royal Spice, a local Nepalese/Indian restaurant. I had Newari Khaja with goat, naan, and Nepalese rice pudding. #FoodandLit

I‘ve been listening to this series rather than reading it. The first 3 hours had me feeling a bit lost & confused until I found a podcast to review the first two books. Once I had the review, I was right back into the story. Overall, I enjoyed the adventures. I get the cliff hanger abruptness at the end but I wasn‘t ready for the end 😩
Now the wait…

#FoodandLit This is a book of philosophy and confessions. I don‘t think I was in the right headspace to read about a white, narcissistic, man this week. The writing style felt its 1950‘s. The character is contradictory and I‘ve had enough of that lately but Camus did have several quotes that made me stop and think.
I made Dutch Baby Pancakes and they were delicious. I‘d like to play around with some other flavors and order some stroop syrup 😋

I‘m hosting the senior center book club tomorrow for work and one of the genres they suggested was ‘Women Spies.‘ I chose to read The Invisible Woman because the author and subject are both local to me. Virginia Hall was recruited by England to be a wireless operator after a hunting accident that caused her to lose her leg just under her knee. Learning about her war accomplishments is pretty amazing and I‘m glad Robuck chose to tell her story.

Pelosi narrates her book highlighting her most momentous events in the last 4 decades. She starts off with her husband Paul‘s attack, then covers 9/11 and the Iraq War, the 2008 recession, health care and the Affordable Care Act, Jan 6 then wraps it up with the AIDES quilt and a little insight to her home city, San Francisco. I really appreciate her hard work and the decades she‘s spent fighting to make our country better. ‘For the children.‘

This has been on my TBR for 15 years! I‘ve read a couple other titles by Maguire and they‘ve been hit or miss for me. Once I got into the writing style of this I was hooked! The gaps in years between sections left holes in the story that I desperately want answers to. I may have to give Elphaba a go when it‘s published this spring. Maybe the others in the series? I was hoping to just read this and be done but I after finishing, I want more 😆

I decided to listen to this for two reasons. I‘m trying to live more intentionally and I‘m trying to minimize the stuff in the house which I feel I‘m doing a great job with. Hubby, not so much. This wasn‘t 100% what I was looking for but I did have some takeaways.

I‘ve decided Ann Napolitano is not my cup of tea and that‘s ok. I feel like her writing is generic but her ideas are good. I read this one for book club and the member that chose this read loved it and the characters. It‘s a modern retelling of Little Women, which is fine I just feel like her writing is bland and basic. I read Dear Edward and I liked that story but her writing is not for me. I am looking forward to discussing it at book club.

I love that Libby tells you exactly when your book will be returned! I have 3 hours 28 minutes left and it‘s due in 1 day BUT I know I have until 7:43 PM which makes a world difference! Essentially 2 days 😆

My library became a Book Sanctuary in 2024 🥳 The tagged book was the most recent Top 10 challenged booked I read according to ALA.

A patron at work recommended this book about the murder of Emmitt Till. It‘s a brutal read but I‘m glad I listened to it. Thompson grew up 25 miles from Till‘s murder and never heard of it until he went away to college. He does extensive research to give the reader the history of the Mississippi Delta, its people and what is believed to have happened surrounding Till‘s lynching.

I always enjoy looking back at the books I‘ve read throughout the year. I didn‘t do a reading challenge in ‘24 but kept up with my monthly book club friends and hosted the book club at the senior center quarterly for work. I‘m looking forward to the books ‘25 has in-store for me. I‘ll continue the book clubs and add Litsy‘s #FoodandLit this year for something new! My current read is Wicked 🧙

Trevor Noah‘s latest book is a picture book for all ages. It‘s cataloged in the adult section but would be a terrific read for elementary aged kids and up. It‘s an ode to his childhood and mother about growing up with chores and responsibilities but staying a child with adventures and imagination. ❤️

This is a haunting recollection of the earthquake that shook Haiti in 2010. Each chapter tells the story of someone affected by the tragedy; lives and relationships intertwined in one way or another. Almost 300,000 people lost their lives and 1.5 million were left homeless.
This is an important piece of literature and I‘m glad it was chosen as our One Maryland One Book this year, though it was heartbreaking and tough to get through.

This is more of an essay about how we as a society are too dependent on consumerism and our economy and how we should cut back and share/gift more. As a librarian with 2 Little Free Libraries, a Caring Cupboard at work, a food donation bin that always seems to be full and a new found love of sewing/upcycling, I whole heartily agree. She uses the Serviceberry throughout the book as she makes her points. I very much appreciated this one.

I learned a lot about the history of white evangelicals and how their beliefs and religion play a roll in today‘s politics. Very enlightening but also cringey.

I finally picked up a Han Kang book. She sure punches a lot into such a short novel. I think this is the first book I‘ve read about anorexia. Yeong-hye begins having dreams and becomes vegetarian. Mental health and trauma plays a big part. The story is told by multiple POV‘s, all infuriated with Yeong-hye‘s decision to go against the grain of society.

My afternoon reading buddy.

Fantastic! Taking place in rural West Virginia, a trans-autistic teen has to stand up and fight for the right of himself and his family and friends as the bad apple of the small town‘s sheriff‘s department continues to live and act above the law. Things begin to get out of hand as this thriller turns to murder and gore. I asked a colleague today if she‘s read it to find out it‘s her current read. Can‘t wait to discuss it when she finishes 😊

I reached my reading goal for the year, 75 books. I lowered it a bit this year but it‘s nice to know I‘m keeping up with my reading along with my other hobbies 😊

Whew! I found myself checking my duffle bag pockets before AND after packing for a short roadtrip. This is an excellent memoir about Brittney Griner‘s arrest and imprisonment in Russia. I didn‘t know a lot about her but I really enjoyed learning about her, her time in prison, her family and the hardships she‘s endured as a black, lesbian, 6‘9 basketball player. I really feel for those that don‘t fit the norm of society and the hatred out there.

I attended a training recently on working with neurodivergent colleagues and decided to listen to this book for a little more insight. It talks about different types of neurodiversities and highlights women in these categories, which I really appreciated as it‘s always been a male dominated study. This book was enlightening and I had some takeaways and see many traits in my immediate family which is not surprising at all.

Not exactly “brief” at 17+ hours, I felt like I was taking a college class on AI and the history of communications. YNH shares ideas about how humans network, how information travels and how terrifying our online world currently is and where we go from here. If you have an interest in AI and its future, internet bots, how our online information is taken and used, this book gives you a lot to think about. I enjoyed the ideas I leaned about.

I did a reread if this one for book club. The first round I listened to the audio which was delightful and entertaining. This go round I read the book. I like the print format better because it‘s visually obvious how the book is organized and broken up into Articles and Sections. I also retained more from reading vs listening. We had a wonderful discussion at our monthly book club meeting last week.

This was an interesting read! It highlights all the major events that have happened in the White House Situation Room starting with JFK and ending with Biden. You learn about events, how they were handled, and what the thought process was as well as how different presidents used the room during their presidency. The audio has recorded conversations and interviews and at the end there is about a 40 minute interview with Stephanopoulos on the book.

This is kinda like hunger games but they put inmates, mostly black, into the colosseum to fight to the death for the enjoyment of others on a television show. It‘s disturbing but an in your face way to highlight the American prison system that you can‘t look away from. Clever.

Just finished this audio and really enjoyed it. This was well written, entertaining and she narrates it! I loved getting to know her as a person, her goodie two shoes personality, her family, her dreams, her hard work, her friends, her experiences and really just everything she shares. ❤️

I really enjoyed Vonnegut‘s writing style and his take on a WWII story. Billy Pilgrim was a POW in Slaughterhouse-Five when Dresden was bombed. Vonnegut spins the story by using time travel to tell Billy‘s story during the war and his life before/after the war. He also adds a twist of an alien abduction. This book left me wondering how much actually happened and how much was in Billy‘s head, much like I felt after reading Life of Pi.

Finally finished this book and loved it BUT the first half took me weeks to read because nothing really happened and I wasn‘t invested in the characters. The second half I gobbled up in a couple days. Basically, it‘s the story of gay siblings living together and their day to day life. They have a large, complicated yet lovable family and though far from perfect, they have each other‘s back through rain or shine with ALL the love.

An extraordinarily exaggerated story by quirky Baltimore‘s quirkiest writer, John Waters. Marketed as “a perfectly perverted feel-bad romance” this felt like it was written by a sexually frustrated high school boy. The scam artist characters are not ones to love but the story was kinda funny in an absurd kinda way. Not for everyone but living in the B‘more suburbs, it resonated with me. Bonus points for the author narrating it. 3.5⭐️

This was a sad story but I enjoyed it. Charles is a Native American living in Maine. He‘s taking care of his mother who has dementia. He lives across the lake from his daughter and her mother, keeping tabs on them though his daughter doesn‘t know of his existence. Charles is a storyteller and tells us about his life through various stories about himself. There are a lot of layers to this one and it is thought provoking.

Reads like a quaint southern book, but the drama is political with book bans, white nationalism, antisemitism etc. Each chapter touches on a character who takes one of Lula‘s books, but each book has had the cover replaced, and we learn how the chosen book relates to the individual. Things get out of control when book banning leads others to wanting a Confederate statue removed. A divided town learns how to respect one another and their history.

I don‘t read a lot of mystery, but picked this one up and looooved it! The storylines take you back to the 60‘s and mid-70‘s, two missing children cases, siblings, @15 years apart. Young, female detective and it all takes place in and around a summer camp in the Adirondacks. You get to meet several people and get various points of views. Different.

This book had me reflecting on our country during Lincoln‘s time in office and how divided America was vs the division we face today. I liked hearing about how Lincoln listened and worked with both sides of slavery and differing opinions though I found some of the Civil War battle stuff dry. Since starting this book, I‘ve seen a lot of Lincoln references. Timely indeed and I‘m looking forward to our book club discussion.

This is a beautiful ode to Mother Earth. Elegantly written by a biology student/professor and Native American about all the Earth gives to us. I learned a few things and I‘m grateful for what she has to teach us. In many ways, this book reminded me of Lab Girl but a much softer read if that makes sense.

This an extremely well researched book highlighting a wealthy town/school system in TX. I feel like I can just leave it there. You know where it goes. Racism, book banning, conservative, right wing, Christian nationalists, you get the gist. It‘s sad and frustrating and infuriating but I hope people read this, see the wrong in these ideas and thinking, and be the change. My heart breaks for the non-white, LGBTQ+ kids in this school district. 💔

#1 read this year! I‘m not usually a fan of short stories because they always seem to leave me wanting more, but these short stories hit different. Each story is a different POV, but each is Palestinian and living in Baltimore, so the characters tie together. Most stories revolve around culture, the older generation favoring Palestinian, the younger American. I loved getting that glimpse into important events in their lives.

This one was kinda odd but I enjoyed the message of living your life and not wallowing in the past and your regrets. A lot of magical realism to make the story fantastical and creative. Overall, I enjoyed listening to it.

I‘m so happy DH continued the All Souls series! Matthew and Diana are back and this book revolves around Diana‘s higher power, her father‘s family (the Proctor‘s) and where the twins stand with their powers. I loved all the new Proctor characters, the ghosts, the Salem stories etc! This book made a blah week so much better! *I had to use my Bodleian Library bookmark for this one 😀

This was recommended to me by a colleague and though I do enjoy weird books from time to time, I just couldn‘t get into this one. It was like Beauty and the beast but the beast was a worm like monster disguised as a human who falls in love with a human whose awful family is hunting the monster. It just wasn‘t for me.

I really enjoyed this historical fiction romance story between news reporter Nick and newspaper owner‘s son Andy. The story did a great job of depicting NYC in the 1950‘s for gay couples.

This is a slow burn of a read. I loved the story and the characters and this was probably the best ending to a book I‘ve ever read. *I took my kindle on a backpacking trip in Wyoming and my son snapped a picture of me reading by the water ❤️