I finally dipped my toe into the world of Finlay Donovan and loved it!

* Couldn't find this in the database, so I chose another title by Mazanec.

A fake dating romance that also became a suspense/mystery at the end that made me wish I had paid closer attention to the side characters.

This unique book is about a young woman whose sister was raped.

Em deals with her feelings through writing about a historical figure named Marguerite de Bressieux. I had never heard of Bressieux, but immediately took a deep dive after finishing this book.

The author did a great job using prose, poetry, and art to tell a difficult story.

My husband went to book club for me last night because author Jane Porter was there with swag!!

All of the goodies and the signed book made my night as I recover from my surgery.

How funny is it that he got to meet her?! 🤣

I love historical romance 💕

In this book by the amazing Lisa Kleypas, our heroine is widowed after three days of marriage.

She should have a long mourning period, but the groom's cousin thinks otherwise.

I am a sucker for stories about cults.

Her religious journey started off very much with the truth, but that truth was twisted by people who took advantage of her during a vulnerable time in her life.

I'm glad she's on the other side of this experience and still has faith in God.

A great "dog memoir" by my favorite author!

I'm so glad I splurged and ordered a signed copy that came with a postcard of one of the three rascals ?

Funny, touching, sad - everything you'd expect from a book about dogs and how they touch our lives.

A difficult story with a hopeful/happy ending.

This memoir is something else! The author was raised by two very mentally ill parents and was helping her dad deal drugs when she was a preschooler.

Unbelievable. Powerful. Well told. Well-written.

Monthly report

I am grateful to my Romance Book Club for introducing me to author Jane Porter.

I loved this book about a 58 year old widow finding love "again" - but really, for the first time ❤️

Dollar Tree 💵 🌳 #bookhaul

An adult fairy tale about a young man who promises to bring a fallen star to the woman he thinks he is in love with.

Turns out the star is a young woman - the daughter of the moon.

It's always a pleasure listening to Gaiman narrate his own books.

The extras at the end were great!

Look!

My letter holder is empty!

That's because I'm all caught up on #LitsyLove 💞

A fun romp about a woman who is hours away from walking down the aisle to marry the wrong man.

👰‍♀ 🎄 🤵‍♂️💞

I am always leary of reading books by the "it" authors of the moment, but I still chose this for BOTM.

It was okay.

What I liked:
●I didn't see the twist until it happened
●It was a quick read

What I hated:
●The stupidity of the female main character
●That the made-up word "unbecredifabulous" was used three times

This was really good!

I have always been intrigued by the real Anastasia and the Russian royal family.

This book reimagines the life of Anastasia, throws in some magic, and gives her a happily ever after.

The book is over 650 pages, but it went fast and includes illustrations.

My sister sent me a Halloween box that included this book!

I read Camino Island a while back at my dad's recommendation and just finished book two, so I think it's safe to say I'm enjoying this series 😄

To me, this was a great idea but could have been done better.

I felt like I was reading a Creative Writing assignment that was predictable and not very creative.

Okay, but not earth-shattering.

Onward!

One of the perks of being in a book club led by an author 😀 📚 🖊

Thanks for tagging me @Deblovestoread !

1) No! We don't get trick or treaters out here in the sticks, and I've held off buying Reese's pumpkins for myself (so far...)

2) Looong, intriguing, illustrated

#Two4Tuesday
@TheSpineView

I'll tag @Bookwormjillk and @iread2much

This morning, I finished my second read-through of the Bible 😊

Five stars
Highly recommend

🙏🏻⛪️✝️

Anne Lamott always speaks to me, and this book about love was no exception.

You guys, look what my bestie sent me...a cool "from the library of" embosser thing!! ??

The story of a woman obsessed with true crime who finds her perfect match 🥰

This was fun!

Romance Book Club assignment for October.

I couldn't be more excited about my estate sale book haul today!

*Gift From the Sea
*Wuthering Heights
*The Hokusai Sketch-Books
*The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
*Green Mansions
*Salome

So annoying.

So repetitive.

This is my first Riley Sager and will most likely be my last.

I hated it so much that I found myself wishing the heroine would just die so I wouldn't have to hear about the "movies in her head" anymore.

You can't see the Kindle too well, but that's okay because look at my new tote bag!!

This was my first Sally Rooney, and I liked it okay.

Not much happens, really.

A young woman with endometriosis embarks on an affair with a married man. That's the book summary in my humble opinion 😄

The story of a teenage girl discovering who she wants to be.

There were moments when I was clutching my pearls at some of the sexual stuff, but those moments were outweighed by the times I was truly touched by Johanna/Dollie and her desire to become a writer.

I ordered this from a book store in Australia because I HAD to have a signed 1st edition from my favorite author 🥰

I enjoyed this story about a dysfunctional family coming to terms after the death of a sister.

The characters recognize each other's flaws and love anyway.

An eye-opening history of the Secret Service from its beginning after Lincoln's assassination to the end of Trump's term.

I am normally not interested in this kind of book, but when a loved one who is in the service recommended it, I wanted to read it.

The history was fascinating, and the peek behind the scenes was both intriguing and a little frightening.

This was my choice for Amazon First Reads this month.

A woman is asked to paint a portrait of her long dead grandfather and learns that he wasn't the hero people thought he was.

Nothing spectacular.

Ready for the next read!

A great book about a boys prep school in which writing and writers are greatly revered.

Every year, there is a writing contest, and the winner gets to meet a very famous author like Ayn Rand or Ernest Hemingway, for example.

The main character wins the contest and a chance to meet Hemingway, but things don't go as planned.

I had never heard of Mary Louise Kelly before picking up this audiobook, but enjoyed getting to know her through the stories she shared about her job and her family.

This book is just as much about her time with NPR as it is about her family life.

The parts about her father especially resonated with me.

I loved the nostalgia (1989), the camaraderie of the girls field hockey team, and the fact that they all believed that Emilio Estevez could bring them luck 😄

The setting is Danvers High School in Massachusetts - not too far from Salem and the witch trials of the past. The girls tap into something powerful and discover themselves.

Thank you @WildAlaskaBibliophile for sending this to me as the winner of your very first Litsy giveaway!

Historical romance is definitely my favorite kind of romance.

Read this for book club and loved it 💕

Also, the heroine is named Jennifer! 😃

What did you pick?

#botm ##bookofthemonth

I've never been one for Greek mythology, but Madeline Miller really makes the stories accessible and easy to follow.

I knew nothing about Circe going in, and now I love her 😄

Great story!

This was excellent!

I highly recommend listening to Whelan read her book.

The main character also happens to be an ex-actress who is now primarily doing audiobooks.

There is so much to this story - family drama that includes an aging grandmother, friendship, healing from a major accident, and romance. All of that and more.

Smart, witty, and moving.

I loved it!

I absolutely loved this story about a woman who thought she was ending her story, but really was just beginning a new chapter.

Witty banter, great characters, beautiful setting.

It all came together for a memorable story.

Loved it!

PS - I tried to pose with the book over my head and a peace sign, but looked absolutely ridiculous 🙃

I have books 1-3 from the Stranded in Provence series (it must have been free at one point) 😄

Book one, Parlez-Vous Murder, was very cute.

An American woman swaps homes with a French couple and finds herself stranded in France indefinitely after an EMP that changes the world.

She solves a murder because the police have bigger fish to fry at the moment.

I will read the next 2 books.

Thank you @dabbe for the tag! My #5JoysFriday are:

1) A fun poolside book club on Monday night 📚
2) Trying a new winery with my husband today 🍷
3) Finding estate sale treasures 😃
4) My youngest son turned 25 this week 🥳
5) Having the confidence to wear shorts out in public for the first time in years!

@DebinHawaii

I will always love Judy Blume, but this book about her "genius" bordered on preachy in the opposite way I normally think of that word.

I recently picked up a handful of Blume books, and I want to re-read them because, apparently, a lot of stuff mentioned in this book went over my little girl head.

It boils down to this - if you don't think books are appropriate, don't read them. It's none of your business what others choose to read.

Starting this one today

Thank you so much @Blerdgal_Fenix !! What a fun #LitsyLoveSummerSwap box 😃

I am almost to the end of my current book journal, so your timing on that is perfect 👌🏻 So excited to read the books 📚 I love that we both included socks for each other 🧦

#LLSS @Bookgoil @Deblovestoread - thank you both for hosting!

I am blown away by the brilliance of this David Copperfield retelling set in Appalachia.

Yes, it is difficult and sad, and not many happy things happen for Demon, but there is hope.

That hope brought me to tears in the last pages of this masterpiece.

This one will stick with me.

Received my #LLSS #LitsyLoveSummerSwap package 😃

Looks like a fun one!

@Bookgoil @Deblovestoread @Blerdgal_Fenix