Meh. Magical realism just isn't my cup of tea. But I really enjoyed the characters Hart created, I liked getting to know them and liked how their stories came together.

This gave me such Rebecca vibes. It‘s so atmospheric and Hawkins unravels the story so well. It‘s a slow & steady climb to the end, which, when you get there, you don‘t see how it could have resolved any other way. I will say, I did not like the last page but it fits in perfectly with how things shake out.

So good! This almost felt like a series of disconnected fairy tales in the beginning but then settled more into a novel. Maybe it‘s the Love Actually of book bans and closet Nazis? Whatever it was, it was pretty damn good. It did drag a bit at the end, stopping it from being a five star read for me but it got close.

My January #DoubleSpin

This really hooked me early on but my interest kind of waned toward the end. Not sure if it was the book or me that was the problem. I did still enjoy it but it wasn‘t quite the page turner that it started as.

I enjoyed this enough but was super distracted by the "rebranding" of Kelowna as a big city with a significant Bengali population? The tallest office building in Kelowna is 23 stories. So I don't know how Cynthia got an office on the 30th floor of a glass skyscraper. And the 2021 Census had 120 people of Bengali descent in Kelowna. So... Stuff like that just really puts me off.

While I did think the pacing in this one was off, I think it might be my favourite of the series so far. The last 1/3 or so felt rushed - and I would have like a little more time with Bart's return, Kelley's crisis, and the wedding. I really liked Margaret in this installment and the growth that Jennifer, Ava, and Kevin showed was really lovely to read. I don't think we've seen the end of Jennifer's problems, though.

#ElinHProject

I didn't like this one quite as much as I liked Winter Street. Mitzi really got on my nerves and Ava's love triangle felt too similar to last year's story but with the gentlemen swapped. But I did really enjoy Margaret & Drake's romance and while I wouldn't say I enjoyed Jennifer's storyline, it was one of the more compelling arcs. I am eager to pick up the next one so that I can see what happens there and what happens with Bart.

#ElinHProject

I wanted more. I know we're getting more soon but the next instalment picks up a year later! There was a lot of time spent setting the scene, which was great but it felt like that came at the expense of giving us more of the plot. I loved Kevin & Isabelle's story, I cheered when Ava dropped Nathaniel, I wanted to punch Patrick in the face, and Mitzi was the least likeable character I've seen from Elin H. so far.

#ElinHProject

What a fun Christmas romp! I love a locked room mystery and one with humour? Sign me up for more. I need to read Ally Carter's backlist ASAP.

Oh, there were parts of this that hit a little too close to home... But it also gave me some interesting perspective I didn't have before, which made it a really compelling read. A great way to start 2025.

I‘m excited to start this yearlong adventure in classical music. Thank you, @Librarybelle for putting it on my radar!

I'm always so cautious when I pick up a romance because I HATE when the inevitable breakup happens because two adults lack basic communication skills. So I went into this carefully but was pleasantly surprised at how this unfolded. It had a great cast of characters, really put me in the Christmas mood, and I loved the little tongue-in-cheek references to living in a Hallmark movie.

Cute and I liked how it was structured but this may be the end of the line for me for Benjamin Stevenson. He‘s starting to feel a bit like a one-trick pony.

Getting my #AlwaysFullyBooked reading planner set up for 2025. Irrationally pleased with my star rating system legend. This is the first year I‘ve used quotes!

My list AND I are ready for 2025 #BookSpin.

I‘m taking a bit of a different approach this year and including some of my other reading projects in my list. This should help me make steady progress on those projects AND see more Book Spin Bingo success.

Woo hoo!! First roll of the year! Bring it on, #Roll100. I am ready for you (she says over optimistically)

Between the holidays and some health struggles with our senior pup, my reading has not gone the way I‘d hoped this month. I have a tonne of half-finished books and a stack of library books languishing. So my goal is just to read! Ideally, I‘ll get two of my three library books read and finish up a couple of my in-progress reads. And as always, I want to read something I‘m super excited about on New Year‘s Day.

Thanks for hosting, @Andrew65

I didn‘t make great progress on the series I‘m trying to get through in 2024 so most of these are not new series I‘m wanting to dive into. Here‘s to better progress in the new year for #SeriesLove2025!

I‘m ready for #Roll100 in 2025!

I have four chunks with 25 titles in each - gifts, BOTM/Aardvark, eBooks and paper. I had a really hard time whittling the list down so I‘m pretty excited for the upcoming year!!

I‘m not usually a short story fan but if Amor Towles is writing it, I‘m reading it. Some were excellent. Some were pretty good. Definitely one of the better short story collections I‘ve read and it was great to visit Eve again.

It‘s no Thursday Murder Club but it‘s not bad. The characters all felt a little one-dimensional with the same character trait being brought up over and over, which is what made this a so-so for me. It‘s zanier than TMC, which will work for some people but didn‘t pull me in enough to keep going with the series.

I expected more of a traditional mystery/thriller but I don‘t think that‘s a good representation. It‘s a bit dense and can get quite heavy (a child dies - we learn that very early on and the book unravels how we got there.) It feels more about class and agency than what happens to the child. It‘s interesting just not what I expected.

This was an interesting story but I was irked that Michael referred to Stéphane Breitwieser as Breitwieser and everyone else, including his mother, got the last name treatment but Breitwieser's girlfriend & coconspirator was referred to only by her first name. It's so disrespectful and shows such disdain for a woman when she gets the first name treatment but men do not.

I‘m ready to not read a single book from my #BookSpin list in December!

Utterly predictable but fun to see Molly and friends at Christmastime.

This is a good book but not a good book for me. It explores some really heavy topics - medically assisted dying (known as MAID in Canada) along with depression - and with all the heaviness of the real world these last few months, I need light in my fiction. It did lead to some good conversation in #mummydaughterbookclub, though.

@Andrew65 is back and hosting a #20in4 readathon this weekend! I won‘t get anywhere near 20 hours done but I‘m terribly behind on my #RandomClassics reading for Three Musketeers so I think I‘m going to aim high and try to get through 20 chapters of it. Thanks for hosting, Andrew, and welcome back!!

Do I speak a lick of Spanish? No. Did I let that stop me from buying this beautiful Spanish edition when we were in Argentina? Also no. Maybe this is how I‘ll learn the language!!

The last #Roll100 of the year 😭

I‘ve already read 2 of the 3 rolls (yay!) but I‘m so far behind on previous months that I‘m not subbing anything in.

A thousand enormous thank yous to @PuddleJumper for organizing this and the encouragement over the year!!

We just got back from the most amazing trip to Argentina a few days ago and one of the highlights was visiting this stunning bookstore that used to be a theatre. I would have stayed for hours but browsing for books in a language you don‘t speak isn‘t quite as satisfying as if you could read all the books.

I would like to petition the courts to return to May, please? I am not ready for November in any way, shape or form. I have, as a show of good faith, made a #BookSpin list but I respectfully request we rewind to before the summer started. Thank you for your time.

Abbi Waxman has been one of my favourite authors since I picked up the Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Going back to her early work has been on my list for years and I am so happy I finally got to this one. It‘s just lovely - sweet and funny and a little irreverent… It‘s everything I want and more.

My June #BookSpin and Roll 66 for #Roll100 that I actually read in June!

Did we need a sequel to Brooklyn? No. Did this really need to pick back up with the same characters versus creating a new cast of characters? Also no. I didn‘t care so much about Eilis in this but I was captivated by Jim and Nancy. I would have happily taken just their story.

It‘s a #RandomClassics miracle! I finished Evelina!
I ended up restarting it a couple of weeks ago on a long hike with a different narrator and that made all the difference! I quite enjoyed this and I think I‘ll probably pick up a little print version sometime in the future.

My unread #Roll100 books are really starting to pile up - so I‘m not subbing anything in for the roll I‘ve already read. Hopefully, I can pick these up at some point. They are both on my kobo which is perfect because we‘re travelling this month but I never end up reading as much as I hope.

This might be my favourite Hallett yet? She‘s such a master at constructing an interesting mystery and then presenting it in just the most imaginative way!

We played a fun little game before the silent reading part of Silent Book Club this month. People LOVED the stickers and it made the game pretty lively when it was time to steal from each other!

Just the kind of book I love for October and while it had some good twists, I called the who pretty early on. The how and why was fun to see unravel, though.

Another of my #trappedinaspookyhouse reads, chosen for me by @GHABI4ROSES and organized by @PuddleJumper

Mostly I got this because I love The Lazy Genius Podcast and I wanted to support Kendra. But as with anything, there were a few gems to take away.

My July #BookSpin that I actually read in July and has been sitting in a pile of books to post to Litsy since then.

This took me an oddly long time to get into but it did pick up and I really liked the direction Connally took the story. I don‘t think I‘ll continue with the series, though.

One of my #trappedinaspookyhouse reads - thanks for picking it for me, @GHABI4ROSES and to @PuddleJumper for organizing!

Is it just me or was the big twist pretty obvious? It was still a good page turner, though!

Happily, I found this one less predictable than The Plot but also, it‘s incredibly far fetched. But there were a couple of real laugh-out-loud moments and overall, I enjoyed it!

I‘m settling in for the #CozyReads readathon @Bookwormjillk is hosting this weekend. I have an ambitious stack but it‘s a long weekend so hopefully I make some good progress!

💔💔💔

What was this book trying to be? If it wanted to be a psychological thriller, it didn‘t need about 50% of the pop star stuff. And if it wanted to be an insider‘s glimpse at a pop star‘s rise, the mystery was distracting. And ultimately, the “secret” and its fallout got zero attention (and frankly, completely unbelievable)

Thank you @Bookwormjillk for hosting the #CatsAndDogs readathon this weekend! My devil dog had surgery on Thursday so we are camped out on the sofa all weekend while she recuperates so I‘m hoping to get through this stack plus my Three Musketeers chapters for #RandomClassics

(Also, I can‘t believe my dog didn‘t wake up while I was balancing books on her!)

I would have liked to spend more time with the passengers. I just didn‘t really like Cherry or her story for the first half of the book! So I could have done with less Cherry and more with Allegra, Paula, and Leo in particular.

Look at me with my #BookSpin list ready to go before the numbers are pulled! Not sure how we got to October so quickly but at least I‘m ready for something.

Ah, October. One of the best months of the year to have a beautiful stack of #roll100 books that I‘m super excited about that I won‘t pick up because I‘ve put too many books on hold at the library.

Jumped into one of my #trappedinaspookyhouse books a bit early.

Happy to have this one off my shelf. It was a perfectly fine story with the humour you expect from the Ferguson brothers but it wasn‘t enough for me to keep going with the series.