Fall is my favorite and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is fitting the dark vibes of the season. Currently cheating on my NF books for some storytelling and feeling like that was the right choice.

🕯️🔥🍂🌚✨☕️📚

Started this last night. Does anyone else take a PAINSTAKING amount of time trying to choose their next book? Even after combing through my TBR I ended up choosing this which wasn‘t even on my list. My final semester of grad school starts next week so I wanted something engaging before the guilt of reading for pleasure returns again. Commitment issues aside, it was the Cheryl Strayed endorsement that pushed me over the edge. I trust Sugar.

NYE hangover necessities. Happy 2023 to one and all. I‘m not sure how many books I read last year because I haven‘t been the best at posting on here and keeping track. I set a goal of 20 books for 2023, which no doubt pales in comparison to many of you but that‘s over a book a month and feels attainable for me. Bonus for going over 20 if I can.

@Kimberlone definitely came through on this rec. I absolutely loved this book per her suggestion. As a former linguistics major and a brief student of ASL, I‘ve always been equally fascinated by Deaf culture as I am by manual language. I agree the ending was a bit of a fizzle but in many ways book‘s ending mirrored “the end” referenced in the book. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in or limited knowledge of Deaf culture.

Incredible concept and storyline following the Vignes twins and their daughters. This was my first Brit Bennett novel and I have to say the characters were so well-written and complex that they often felt real. While the end of this story kind of trickled away instead of providing a large resolution, it almost felt more appropriate because that‘s how real life is. It‘s messy, it ebbs and flows and sometimes we just keep moving on.

I started this book in HI during vacation and quickly picked it back up after the holiday frenzy ended. I‘m loving it so far! The past few days I‘ve devoured so much of it that I‘m tempted to pause just to savor it before I finish.

It‘s been SO nice to have time to pause and enjoy myself these past few weeks. Tonight my mom returns to stay with us for another several weeks and I‘d be lying if I said I‘m not already mourning the absence of calm.

I feel guilty cheating on my school textbooks with a physical novel but for whatever reason an audiobook feels fine.

I‘m not much for romance as a genre but I am really enjoying this book so far. Cleeton does a wonderful job expressing the realities of Cuban politics without glossing over the painful truths of the country‘s history. This is a novel where multigenerational families, romance, socioeconomics and deep loyalty for La Patria collide.

I‘ve been exploring Macinac Island, MI with my fiancé over the past few days. We Stumbled upon some vintage books in one of the many overpriced but extremely cute shops on the island.

This novel lands somewhere between a pick and so-so for me. While I loved the characters and their unique relationships and interplay I also sort of saw the ending coming. To be fair the book kind of lays out the ending in the first few pages. I guess I was hoping for something a little more climactic (aside from the fire). I did love how honestly this book portrayed the role of a mother and that even the best of them (or worst) are just human.

Just found this vintage 1964 print of Casey at the Bat illustrated by Paul Frame in my parents bookshelf while prepping for our upcoming family garage sale. I can tell by the handwritten numbers on the pages that this belonged to my Grandpa Keenan lovingly referred to as “Papa Joe”. Any ball player (especially me) can relate to this tale. There‘s no worse pain than the fate of the game resting on your shoulders and then striking out lookin‘.

Rainy day in Anchorage. Pausing for a few pages before getting back to the seemingly endless amount of garage sale items I‘m currently organizing.

Thoughts so far on Little Fires Everywhere (only about 1/4 of the way in): This is feeling like a fast read so far, I only started it yesterday but I‘m absolutely loving the character development and relationship between Moody and Pearl as well as her mother Mia. Can‘t wait to learn more about Izzy.