I‘ve been listening to a chapter or two of this every few days around some other audiobooks, but this morning I sat down to read most of the chapter about Cartimandua & Boudicca. I‘m continuing to enjoy it, but it‘s definitely better in small doses so I can focus on just one or two of the women described each time.

#nonfiction

This was a delightful listen. I thoroughly enjoyed the magical system and the characters. It‘s the first book of a series, but it has a complete story of its own. Faye has grown up as the daughter of the groundskeeper for a wizard, and she‘s learned a lot about magical creatures and the magical properties of plants. When the wizard suddenly dies, she gets caught up in events as his ghost chooses a successor.

#MiddleGrade #audiobook #TRS2025

💛 The gift of this beautiful throw that is customized with my name and a list of favorite books!
💛 Completed our first week back to school & spirit week for Courtwarming
💛 Beautiful weather & some lovely afternoon walks
💛 Music
💛 The pets!

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This was a great combination of science fiction and fantasy. Lunar Jones has grown up on Mars, struggling to survive and help the other kids he lives with. Then one day he stumbles into a secret bunker and learns more about the dragons that are paired with each planet and moon, and his life will never be the same. There are some great friendships that develop as well as interplanetary adventure.

#MiddleGrade

This was one of my favorite middle grade reads for 2025. It has a good combination of dealing with grief while also investigating a mystery and including plenty of humor. I especially loved Charlie the parrot.

My review 🔗: https://litsy.com/p/Nmc2UFMzb3Fu

#MiddleGradeMonday #MiddleGrade

I‘ll join in the #Storygraph sharing. I tend to use Goodreads more consistently, but I‘d like to do more tracking with StoryGraph for challenges as well as the stats and graphs.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/profile/daisey

Here are a couple more graphs of my 2025 reading stats. The bar graph of publication dates has become one I always find interesting.

#ReadingStats #2025Stats #DaiseysReadingSummary

This is a cute read about a first crush and friendship, both online and IRL, with plenty of reminders about responsible online behavior. Ingrid is 13 and much more comfortable in her online persona than in the real world of middle school. I had to suspend disbelief a bit to follow Ingrid in her lack of realization, but it was a sweet story. This is MG but also on the edge of YA in its focus on relationships.

#MiddleGrade #YA #TRS2025

I meant to start this book a bit earlier over break, but I guess it was meant for today. Always fun to read something on the day it‘s set.

#MiddleGrade #TRS2025

💛 Spending more time with my family for the Christmas holiday and my nephew making supper for us.
💛 Snuggling with the cats after being gone for several days
💛 Homemade pizza on a Friday night
💛 Watching Luthien be so happy to run and explore
💛 Tallying book stats and seeing progress on my #1001books tabs

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

After considering my reading stats from last year, I would like to make a more conscious effort again this year to read, or more likely listen to, at least one nonfiction book per month. So, today when I needed something to listen to on my walk with Luthien, I downloaded this one. I‘ve also got a print copy to reference as I listen. I enjoyed the informative but humorous style of the first few chapters.

#Nonfiction #audiobook #audiowalk

🎶 I saw posts last year about this book that includes information about a piece of classical music and often the composer for each day of the year. After completing A Tree A Day in 2025, this seems like a great book for 2026. The ebook edition is currently $1.99 if anyone else is interested, and playlists of the music are available on Spotify & Apple Music. If you are reading it, please comment so I can watch for your posts. 🎶

#AYearOfWonder

This is the basic list I plan to use throughout 2026 for #BookSpinBingo. I added a line for the #192030 challenge and decided today to add a yearlong read of A Year of Wonder, but most of it I kept pretty much the same as the list I used last year. It includes the challenges and lists I‘m constantly working on as well as space for changing readalongs. It also gives me a lot of flexibility from month to month.

My 106 books included some great reads, but I only chose a few to highlight. I reread The Tale of Genji on audio (72 hours) and finished a multi-year read of all the Sherlock Holmes stories (71 hours). Kristin Lavransdatter was my longest print read and an amazing story. I included Heartstone on this graphic, but really it should be the Shardlake series. Fingersmith & The Colour were fascinating #1001books. A Tree A Day was great nonfiction.

This year I read 33 books from the #1001books list which included 2 rereads to bring my current total to 320 of the 1318 on the list.

Most memorable reads from this year include Kristin Lavransdatter, Fingersmith, and The Colour.

#ReadingStats #2025Stats #DaiseysReadingSummary

2025 #BookSpinBingo

I really enjoy BookSpinBingo as a visual way to track my reading from month to month. This year I completed 106 books.

#ReadingStats #2025Stats #DaiseysReadingSummary

December 2025 #BookSpinBingo

I finished a few more long reads this month as well as a few middle grade reads, some holiday reads, and a few others for a total of 17 books. Both Kristin Lavransdatter and A Tree A Day were fantastic long reads!

#BookSpin 20 - A Tree A Day
#DoubleSpin 10 -

#ReadingStats #MonthlyStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

I finished my final read of the year with the last pages of this delightful book. I‘ve thoroughly enjoyed reading all the anecdotes full of fascinating information about trees in small sections over the course of the entire year.

#NaturaLitsy #ATreeADay #Nonfiction

So, I‘m a teacher on break, and I completely lost track of the fact that today was Monday. 🤦‍♀️ Please still share your #MiddleGrade recommendations for books that feature a character‘s birthday this week.

#MiddleGradeMonday

This was an impulse read Christmas break because I‘m always on the lookout for more books to add to my class library, and it‘s a light pick. Mitch‘s cousins get into a food fight at Thanksgiving, and the parents decide to take all the presents away and donate them to charity. Mitch is inspired by heist movies to steal the presents back, and the cousins find a way to work together to make it happen. What will they do with them once they have them?

This was a slow read for me, really more of a start and stop kind of read because of life and wanting to focus on it when I did read it, but it was an amazing story. It follows Kristin throughout her entire life in 14th-century Norway. It was an often frustrating read, but so worth it in the way it completely pulled me into Kristin‘s story.

#KLBR #DoorstopKristin #1001books #translated

This is a story where everything revolves around game play, and players must continue to win to remain an active part of the society. Of course, the overall game is never truly fair but biased towards those with wealth and power. This misfit team of teenagers is determined to make it into the game that could change it all. As an adult reader, the plot was a bit predictable but it was a fun premise.

#MiddleGrade #audiobook #TRS2025

💛 Visiting family for Christmas celebrations
💛 Beautiful weather & time outside to enjoy it with Luthien
💛 Helping out family with some farm work
💛 A Christmas puzzle
💛 Holiday meals and treats

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This was an interesting little tale describing an island where pirates arrive seeking gems and ban all items and item names using the letter named in the title. Yet, in this tale, that letter is used many, many times, including in a few very necessary ideas.

#1001books #audiobook

I had to go ahead and finish this one ahead of schedule when my library audio was about to auto return. It was a completely wild and entertaining ride that frequently made it hard to only listen to a chapter or so at a time. I am intrigued by this as the beginning of a series that goes on to focus on Campion, but I‘m not sure I‘ll make time to continue it.

#HashtagBrigade #audiobook

Merry Christmas and a lovely day to all my fellow Littens! I spent a bit of time this morning reading more letters with my coffee and then listening to A Christmas Carol while prepping food for later today.

#Christmas #FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas

@Gissy Thank you so much for the lovely Jolabokaflod gifts! This is a book I‘ve truly been looking forward to along with delicious chocolates, hot cocoa mix, bookmarks, ornaments, and this most adorable little cat calendar. I am headed to church now but will absolutely be perusing the sections of this book a bit when I get home later tonight.

#JolabokaflodSwap

Today I finished an audio reread of The Tale of Genji. I did not listen nearly as carefully as I read the first time a few years ago, but I found it interesting how some scenes were so familiar from the previous read. It is still a beautifully written but infuriating story.

#1001books #Reading1001 #audiobook #Translated

For #MiddleGradeMonday I‘m sharing the classic Christmas read about the Herdmans and a new one that I just picked up to read this week. Stealing Christmas doesn‘t have a lot of reviews, and they are very mixed so we‘ll see how it goes.

#MiddleGrade #Christmas

I don‘t usually participate in the Sunday #HyggeHour because I‘m frantically working to get things ready for another week of school, but it‘s Christmas break! So, this evening I‘ve settled in for a bit to catch up on some of my reading of Letters from Father Christmas. I love Polar Bear‘s antics and the illustrations on every reread.

#HyggeHourReadathon #TolkienChristmas #FellowshipOfTolkien

This has been on my TBR for a while, so I listened to it today. It‘s a fun origin story for Santa Claus including how he started using a sleigh pulled by reindeer, getting in houses through the chimney, filling stockings, and his immortality, all with with no Christian connections.

#MiddleGrade #Christmas #audiobook

📷: Giving the pets a little extra attention after a busy week at school.

Eve & Andrew have been best friends forever, but at the start of 8th grade everyone around them suddenly decides they need to be girlfriend & boyfriend. Both really want to just stay friends, but now they don‘t know how to get back there.
Middle school relationships are frequently a mess, and this book covers pretty much all the ways. Yet, at its heart, it‘s about the importance of friendship and communication.

#MiddleGrade #TRS2025

This was a fun read, but it was also pretty light on plot. I kept hoping for more backstory and detail.

#MiddleGrade #GraphicNovel #TRS2025

More Friday joys shared on Saturday
💛 Last week of school before break and Secret Santa fun with my colleagues
💛 My Jolabokaflod Swap package arrived! @Gissy @MaleficentBookDragon
💛 Christmas cookie swap & Making Chex Mix
💛 Quiet Saturday mornings with the pets
💛 Looking forward to few days with no specific plans except time to prep things for Christmas visits with family

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

@alexus_sb I ran into a shipping issue, but your swap should now be on its way. Hopefully, it will have smooth sailing the rest of the way.

#JolabokaflodSwap

Ok, friends, I thought I had a few books featuring Hanukkah on my shelf, but apparently Let It Glow (also recommended by @Karisimo ) is it. So, I‘m looking for all your winter holiday recommendations.

Therefore, I‘m cheating a bit for the prompt. In this story, the family celebrates the entire season of Christmas including but not limited to days for St. Nicholas, St. Stephen, and the Three Kings.

#MiddleGradeMonday #MiddleGrade #Christmas

I‘ve had this book on my class shelves for years but never read it myself. It was a lovely story about community and hope. I loved seeing Marly‘s joy in everything she learned from the names of beautiful spring flowers to all about tapping trees for maple syrup.

#ChildrensClassicRead2025 #Newbery 1957 #MiddleGrade #Pennsylvania #MsDsLibrary

Another Saturday edition of weekly joys

💛 The pets
💛 Crockpot meals
💛 Eggnog & baking cranberry eggnog bread
💛 Christmas shopping with friends
💛 Holiday reads & readalongs

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

This is another tough one for me to review. Through much of it, I wondered what in the world I was listening to. I know it was full of symbolism, but I‘m not sure how much I understood. There were parts that left me baffled, others that made me laugh out loud, and some that were just brutal. The cats of the Majestic might have been the most interesting part for me.

#1001books #audiobook #Ireland

I‘m already behind on my own schedule, but this evening I read a few letters with supper. In the 1927 letter, Father Christmas mentions the Polar Bear and the Man in the Moon playing snapdragon, grabbing and eating raisins or almonds from a burning bowl of brandy. The article linked in the comments includes instructions if you‘re looking for a new holiday game.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas #Christmas #Reread #ReadAndEat

I read this one a few years ago and keep meaning to reread and continue the series, but I still haven‘t.

#MiddleGradeMonday #MiddleGrade #Christmas

Join @Karisimo and I in sharing Christmas middle grade reads with magical characters (Santa, elves, etc.).

#MiddleGradeMonday #MiddleGrade #Christmas

A quiet Friday night at home is the perfect time for a glass of cranberry wine and a few pages from each of these December reads. I also listened to the next chapter of The Crime at Black Dudley while I made supper.

#FellowshipOfTolkien #TolkienChristmas #Christmas #ChildrensClassicRead2025

💛 First snow of the season & coming home early from school
💛 Ceramic pen holder & desk decoration that I can change seasonally
💛 Books, blankets, & warm beverages
💛 Christmas lights
💛 The pets

#5JoysFriday #DaiseysJoys

I started this middle grade read today, and I think it‘s going to be perfect for December. It‘s been on my shelf a long time, but I‘m just now finally picking it up for the children‘s classic read with @TheBookHippie

📷: Luthien just came in from running in the snow and had a bath. Now, she and La Gata are ready to snuggle in for the evening.

#MiddleGrade #ChildrensClassicRead2025 #MsDsLibrary

It‘s been several years since I read Code Talkers, but it is still one of my favorite historical fiction books set during WWII. Grenade is about the Battle of Okinawa. The books on the right are nonfiction for middle grade readers.

#MiddleGradeMonday #MiddleGrade #WWII #MsDsLibrary

#MiddleGradeMonday is back! Join @Karisimo and I in sharing middle grade reads each week.

Also comment on one of our posts if you would like to be added to a tag list. I‘ll tag a few people I know have participated before.

Happy December! I completely forgot to consider posting in advance, but I will be doing my annual reread of Letters from Father Christmas if anyone wants to join me. The schedule is just a general plan to spread the letters out over the days between now and Christmas. Please share your thoughts as you read!

I‘ll only tag everyone on my #FellowshipOfTolkien list on this first post.

#JRRTolkien #Christmas #Reread #TolkienChristmas

November 2025 #BookSpinBingo

I didn‘t listen to as much nonfiction as I hoped, but it was still a good month overall. I also fit in some great middle grade reads and a couple from the 1001 list.

#MonthlyStats #ReadingStats #DaiseysReadingSummary

I didn‘t put much effort into reading this one during the fall after the readalong was over, but I‘m back to it again now. It‘s good, but frequently I‘ve wanted something lighter when I was reading in print. However, it feels a fitting read now as the weather turns colder here, and I absolutely want to finish it before the end of the year.

#KLBR #DoorstopKristin