I had to go back to The Pearl Sister because Wake Up and Open Your Eyes was automatically returned to the library last night. I wasn‘t quite finished, but there must be holds on it because I couldn‘t check it out again. #audiowalk

I had read and loved both The Housekeeper and the Professor and The Memory Police. This one is quite different from those. It‘s more easygoing. Tomoka is sent to her cousin‘s family for a year when she is 12. The book covers her relationship with her cousin, Mina, and their lives together for that year. Mina has a hippo that she rides to school. I wanted more of the hippo. 😊 Continued with Wake Up and Open Your Eyes on my #audiowalk.

This book has Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone vibes, with an unreliable narrator who is a mystery author and constantly breaks the 4th wall. We know Eleanor is untrustworthy because she reminds us of that frequently. It was a nice, light, entertaining night listen.

Tammany Hall in WUaOYE = Fox News like talk show. Tammany Hall in history = associated with the extremely corrupt New York Democratic political machine of Boss Tweed. I like the reference. Chapman has taken a pretty long time to get to the action. I‘m 4 hours in with 6 hours left, and the people who are supposed to meet have yet to do so. #audiowalk

I went back to this because it‘s a library book and is due in a few days. I got past the really gross scene that made me stop before; it went on for far too long. Otherwise, I‘m liking the book. Temps were down in the 50s today. #audiowalk

Now I‘m feeling sympathy for CeCe. She really doesn‘t understand herself; she‘s also always felt like an outsider and didn‘t know why. I commend Riley for being able to evoke in me this emotion for a woman I‘ve thoroughly disliked for 3 books now. #audiowalk

CeCe has me guessing all the time with what is actually going on with her. I think that may be because she, herself, is not sure. Short walk today — it was up to 76°. #audiowalk

Apparently rabbits come out around dusk here. I saw several on my #audiowalk

I wasn‘t in the mood for horror today — especially as there was a particularly gross scene when I started Wake Up and Open Your Eyes this morning, so I started the 4th book in Lucinda Riley‘s Seven Sisters series on my #audiowalk. I‘m feeling more sympathy for CeCe than I expected to.

Nobody in the book is likeable. Lucy is an unreliable narrator, and Ben has an agenda. I had a feeling that I knew what actually happened to Lucy‘s friend, and I was right. I enjoyed the way the story was told, and it‘s perfect for audio. My new #audiowalk book is Wake Up and Open Your Eyes. So far it reminds me a little of Stephen King‘s Cell.

I‘m going to do #BookBracket2025 for some fun this year. January‘s pick is All the Colors of the Dark. It was interesting and thoughtful.

It was such a pretty day today that I had to go out for an #audiowalk. It‘s our false spring, I believe. My azaleas will be tricked into blooming, and then it‘ll get really cold again. I‘m still enjoying Listen for the Lie but only have 2 hours left, so I need to pick a new listen.

My husband saw a YouTube video about the female spy portrayed in this book and wanted to listen to it, so it‘s our new road trip book. It was so nice today that we went to the beach. I read Mina‘s Matchbox and listened to Listen For the Lie on my #audiowalk.

This book just took an unexpected twist, so now I‘m really interested in the outcome. No one is who you think they are. The pictures on the left are from my morning walk, where I expected it to rain any second. The ones on the right, with the nice, blue sky are from my evening walk — I wasn‘t expecting it to change so much during the day. #audiowalk

This book grabbed me from the start; I hope it keeps up the pace. The combination of casual first person narrative and a podcast makes it particularly good for audio. I was finally able to get in a decent #audiowalk today!

This book could‘ve been a little bit shorter, but overall, it‘s a good book. It‘s dark but hope shines through at the end. Whitaker deals with the theme of how what happens to someone in the past can impact not only them but those around them far into the future.

I really enjoyed this book and loved the idea of gift economies. Like Kimmerer, I understand that replacing our economy with one like this would be impossible because of how entrenched our economy is, but, as she points out, we already have a small gift economy running alongside ours in the form of things like little free libraries and shared lands. Increasing these will give us a greater sense of community.

My leg hates me — same leg as my knee but this time it‘s my thigh. No idea what I did, but it‘s too painful to walk on or stand very long at all. So here‘s my reads for #weekendreads. I‘ll probably only finish The Serviceberry since it‘s short. Maybe All the Colors of the Dark. The others are: How the White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back, The Cloister Walk, and Mina‘s Matchbox.

I can‘t sleep, so I‘m reading this book. I keep meaning to read Braiding Sweetgrass, but haven‘t done it yet.

The temperature got up in the 40s today; I walked with my jacket open for a good portion of my walk. That‘s a Mardi Gras snowman in the pic. 😊 While I like this book, I can‘t figure out why I still have over 4 hours left. What‘s left to tell that would take that long? #audiowalk

While I overall liked this, it was a bit too pedantic, and the all female country was a little too perfect. The practice of eugenics that led to their utopia was, although only mentioned once as history, disturbing. The narrator also views attempted rape in a “boys will be boys” manner. I loved that their society included pockets — lots of them— in the women‘s clothing, showing not much has changed since Gilman wrote this.

I did decide to go for a short walk but didn‘t listen to anything because the quiet was so nice. Missy loved the snow.

Well, it started snowing here, so I‘m inside with Charlotte Perkins Gilman and the lovely cup of tea my husband just made me.

Boy, was it a bit chilly this morning! When I went to walk, it was technically 40°, which I can do with a light jacket; however, the “feels like” temp was 29°, so I had to layer a bit AND wear a jacket and a hat. The characters in this book are just making me so sad for them all. #audiowalk

I didn‘t walk today, but I did finish The Husbands. It was an interesting book with a unique premise. I wasn‘t in love with the ending, but it made sense for the book. Here‘s little George by herself and with our old boy, Cow. He‘s often grumpy, but he likes her.

I‘m enjoying this book, but I sometimes get a little lost for a minute with the jumps in time. We are supposed to get a lot of rain tomorrow and then snow, so I‘m trying to get in my #audiowalk while I can!

Apparently my complaint about the #ClassicLSFBC books is always going to be the lack of imagination regarding race, sex, and gender roles. Here it‘s mired in the 1950s; Bradbury can‘t even imagine that Martian society might be set up differently. Some stories (Night Meeting) are beautiful, while others (Way in the Middle of the Air) are deeply disturbing. Bradbury‘s writing style is interesting — it‘s suggestive of constant movement. #audiowalk

This book is very different from what I thought it would be; it‘s more a series of interconnected stories than a novel. I‘m enjoying it so far. #ClassicLSFBC #audiowalk

While I did end up liking this — I liked Star and was pushing for her to get a life separate from her sister — the ending felt a little anticlimactic. I had a picture in my head of Jamie Gertz, who played Star in The Lost Boys. I also started The Martian Chronicles for #ClassicLSFBC for my new #audiowalk book.

No walking today. We went to the samurai exhibit at the History museum downtown, and the city‘s Christmas tree is now a Mardi Gras tree. I‘m reading The Husbands in ebook format. Interesting premise: a woman‘s attic provides her with a husband she never had, then she discovers she can get a different one every time she sends the current one into the attic.

I have about 3 hours left in this, so I should finish it soon. It ended up not being boring at all. I was afraid twisting my knee was going to set me back a lot, but my physical therapy went well yesterday and I had a good, long #audiowalk today with no pain.

My knee allowed me to walk today but for a shorter distance than usual. I actually had to wear a coat today as it was in the high 20s. I‘m interested to see how Star‘s and Flora‘s stories converge. #audiowalk

Low pick. I liked it better than Are You My Mother? but not as much as Fun Home. Alison Bechdel takes us through her life using the sports and exercises she was into at various times. She also connects these to her psychological state. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Kerouac, and other literary figures show up occasionally, but I‘m not as sure of the reason for that except she‘s comparing her state of mind to theirs. No walk; I twisted my knee. 😞

My library had this in audio, so I started listening to it for #nunlit #nunlitquarterly, only to find it‘s really not suitable for listening— at least not for me. I couldn‘t remember much of what I heard, so I returned the audiobook and got the Kindle book for $4.99. I‘m appreciating it more in print.

That‘s the thing about dual timeline stories— just when you get really interested in one timeline, the narrative switches to the other. Oh well, I can deal with it. This is the perfect weather for me — sunny, nice breeze, low of 40° and high of 66°. #audiowalk

I didn‘t do any walking today — just relaxed and read these two short but very different books. This 5th book in the Before the Coffee Gets Cold series may be my favorite; the stories were very touching. I also liked The Bookstore Wedding, which is the second, after The Bookstore Sisters, in an Alice Hoffman series of shorts. Missy has the cone of shame on because of a wound she won‘t stop scratching; she‘s not happy.

Well, for a whole chapter Star has managed to live her life a little separate from CeCe. I hope that bodes well for the rest of the book. #audiowalk

This is a beautifully written book, and I do understand why it won the Booker, but if you want a plot, don‘t look here. This is simply various descriptions of the Earth as seen through the eyes of 6 astronauts as they complete 16 orbits of Earth. Harvey also provides glimpses into their minds and lives, but nothing really happens in the book.

I‘m not really sure how Riley is going to make this story interesting, as Star lives her life being dictated to by her sister, CeCe, but we‘ll see. I‘m not sure how I‘ll feel when I get to CeCe‘s book because I really don‘t like her. #audiowalk

I‘m not getting into this book as much as I did the first one, but I‘m not sure why. I still like the characters, but the plot seems all over the place. #audiowalk

So many bad decisions made by the Blue sisters, but this is ultimately a hopeful book about the power of sisterly bonds. I enjoyed and liked each sister individually. Beautiful day today; I could‘ve worn shorts. #audiowalk

I didn‘t walk today. Instead, we all spent our day watching Christmas movies, playing games, and reading. I did my annual read of A Christmas Carol, while my daughter read Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich. It was a relaxing day, and I found myself, as usual, particularly struck by Dickens‘ language. This time I was amazed by how completely he can describe someone with just a few words, allowing you to picture these people fully formed.

Finally got my Christmas tree up today! It was a beautiful day to walk, so I took a short walk and then spent the rest of the day relaxing with my husband and daughter. #audiowalk

My daughter wanted to deep clean the house, so she encouraged us to go the beach. We didn‘t need much convincing as it was a beautiful day. We didn‘t have a road trip book as we listened to Christmas music instead, but I continued with Blue Sisters on my #audiowalk. They all keep making such bad decisions, but I‘m pulling for them.

I had started this before but wasn‘t in the mood for it, now I am so it‘s my new #audiowalk book. So far, I‘m enjoying it. The weather was lovely, so my walks were long.

Well, that was one depressing and thought-provoking Christmas-adjacent book! I did like it though. It got a little repetitive and long-winded in some places; at a couple of places, I actually said out loud, “Will you just get to the point?!” Willis‘ take on pandemic behavior is absolutely right. #ClassicLSFBC #audiowalk

I‘ve got about 3 hours left in this book, and I‘m holding out for a happyish ending. Probably not realistic, but I sure wouldn‘t mind one. It got up to 79° here today, so I was walking in shorts again. #ClassicLSFBC #audiowalk

Well, something happened in this book that I wasn‘t expecting, but when I look back, it‘s not surprising. A friend and I went on a historic homes and churches tour, and it was such a beautiful day, I went for another walk when we were done. #audiowalk #ClassicLSFBC

It was such a beautiful day for walking today — sunny, not too hot, not too cold, and a nice breeze. #audiowalk

I‘m predicting that someone Kivrin meets in the past is not who we and Kivrin are lead to think he is. I‘m not that great with figuring things out, so we‘ll see if my prediction is right. #ClassicLSFBC #audiowalk