Everything‘s fine.Everything‘s great. But you‘re always aware that at any moment, with no warning at all & no way to head it off, you might have to throw clothes over your pajamas & head out into the night, scared out of your mind, to battle whatever demons have come. It‘s always this serrated edge of scared for them & because of them, angry at them for getting into trouble & angry at whatever trouble had the audacity to get into it with your kids

February Book Spin

I‘m ready to #bookspin in 2024!!

My daughter is off to grad school today after a sweet summer at home, so today has been coffee, bookstores, tears, tea, reading and making book lists. It‘s a happy day, I promise!
@TheAromaofBooks #bookspin

I missed #bookspin so this morning I grabbed all the books under my coffee table and in my room and stacked them. Top is 1, bottom is 14 & any number higher will be a new release pick. I haven‘t seen the numbers yet, so I‘ll go check now!

Surprised with delight. So many times I said, “Guys, I‘m reading a book about a guy who took a walk. That‘s it. It‘s just a guy walking.” I took my time and often thought of stopping, but this book had a moving completion and I‘m glad I stuck with it.

“The letter that would change everything arrived on a Tuesday.”

#firstlinefriday
@ShyBookOwl

I did it! I marked the last Friday of the month as bookish Friday, I took my morning slow, made my #bookspin & had a nice time, except I didn‘t actually read… 😂It‘s a growing process!

For some reason I‘ve been worried about Tom Hanks dying for the last few years, 🤷🏽‍♀️ he‘s such a talented man who seems to live with conviction, I‘m looking forward to his book!

1. I‘d spend just a bit more, don‘t let the gift go to waste!

2. I walked into the bookstore with my friend who is in a wheelchair with a friend who has been vaccinated for covid in a hospital in a nursing facility.

I‘m not sure where that came from!!

“Isn't it elegant not to have tantrums any more! I guess half of it is because you don't expect them; and the other half is roller skates. They use up a lot of energy and iron out a lot of feelings. Like Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup they ought to be called the mother's friend.'"

It‘s an errand and reading day, while my son takes his screen reader class at the Braille Institute, Tuesday has been declared Starbucks day ☕️ #childrensclassicread2023

When I was a kid I was rarely allowed to eat with my book, something about socializing with other humans 🤷🏽‍♀️. Now that I‘m a grown up lady, I eat with a book as often as I can, except when my family is at the table because… well, it‘s the way I was raised! 🤣

Finished! I skimmed the long mathematical and scientific rants and took in the story parts. I liked the ending and I‘m ready to watch the movie again. Last summer we took a whole day and did a 3-4 Jurassic movie marathon that the kids still talk about, it‘s a happy memory.

Many in my family loved this book more than the movie, it was honestly whatever to me.

Can I get some applause and cheering? I read a book outside of my comfort genres!! 👏🏽 👏🏽 👏🏽

This was a birthday Audiobook gift from my brother in law and I mostly understood what was going on most of the time! 🤣

“The late twentieth century has witnessed a scientific gold rush of astonishing proportions: the headlong and furious haste to commercialize genetic engineering.”

#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

“Nobody tells you that to grieve is to shoulder the expectatons of others. The requirement is that you mourn in silence, cloak yourself in dignity and make others comfortable. I do not know how. Therefore I grieve out loud.”

I agree this ought to come with a collection of TWs & understand why it‘s been called relentlessly depressing and has mixed reviews, but golly, this book caught me at just the right moment. The unapologetic embrace of grief, the fact that it went on too long, took too much, was too selfish, was privileged in the ability to wallow without real responsibility drew me in. Ha! That sounds wacky, but there was something here that spoke to me! 🤷🏽‍♀️

Sick today, but not too sick to read. 😈 Maybe 2023 is the year to appoint a reading day once a month, doesn‘t that sound heavenly?

March Report:
✔️ #Bookspin : River Sing Me Home
✔️ Double spin : Stateless
✔️ #childrensclassread2023 : Black Stallion
✔️ April Bookspin List
Jurassic Park is one of my #roll100 books but we‘ll see if I finish in time. 🤞

It‘s hard for me to review books right after I‘ve read them, it‘s looking back that I realize how much I enjoyed them or how a book has effected me. I‘m a person who takes time to process. So, I wasn‘t expecting Maame to be my favorite book so far this year, but looking back at my lists, it came out on top

March is my birthday month and I LOVE my birthday!! I‘ll treat myself with books and lots of reading time, yay March #bookspin!

Saturday audiobook while I wait for the car to charge. This book, which I‘d never heard of was a recommendation by my daughter who read it on a recent trip.
It‘s… quaint.

“The women were arguing.” #firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

More Valentines arrived! This has been so much fun, thanks for hosting @Catsandbooks #valentinecardswap

“In African culture—Wait, no, I don‘t want to be presumptuous or in any way nationalistic enough to assume certain Ghanaian customs run true in other African countries.”

First Line Fridays
@ShyBookOwl

It was a great month of reading for me. 3 books I walked away from but the 9 I finished were so satisfying. Antsy for February!

I‘m excited to keep reading in February, this year has started good on the reading front ❤️#bookspin

I‘m getting annoyed with this lady‘s creepy obsession with someone else‘s child. I understand it to some level, but it‘s going too far. Perhaps the author has me right where they want me. Time will tell, 77% done.

I listened to this while on a trip this weekend and really enjoyed it. I loved hearing how she sorted through the things that had happened in her life. She writes thoughtfully and with conviction.

Golly, I‘m on chapter 5 and concerned for the plight of deer. They can never feel safe, must always be on edge, even in joyful moments, must be watchful. Their fathers don‘t acknowledge their existence and their mothers can only hope they make it to adulthood. Where are the deer psychologists to help them work through these awful childhood traumas?

Who knew Bambi would provoke such thought and concern? #ChildrensClassicRead2023

How many books can I start at the beginning of this year? I left the kids at home to drive through and get dinner (no kids means audiobooks). This book drew me in today when I finished Sea of Tranquility, it‘s an audiobook day cuz I‘m preparing for a trip.

Real life will start again soon and I won‘t have time to look for one more good book, until then, I‘m enjoying the season!

On my way to Los Angeles for Christmas part III. This is my #bookspin for January, time to finally finish this one. I read AJ Fikry at least once a year so I was thrilled to see this book and waited for it to be released, but for some reason I haven‘t finished it. 🤷🏽‍♀️

January #bookspin I spent the day working on my new journal and book plans and challenges, which are an impossibility as far as completion goes, especially if I‘m reading this Stephen King novel for the rest of my life.

Anyway, I‘m trying out paper for my planner again, I don‘t know who said we should go digital, but paper is more fun. I‘ll let you know in 2024 if I was successful!

First time having Covid so it‘s audiobooks and basically still handling everything in the household but now it‘s with a mask. Still gotta be mom.

The Goodreads Choice Awards inspired me to read new genres and this one was my #bookspin for December. Obviously I ordered it for same day delivery!

I often feel pressured to read books that I think I should, but I think I‘m going to try to overcome that. Life in a household of ten is full of should and have to dos, reading is no longer going to be one of those! My list this month is only books I would be happy to pick up, I‘m not trying to prove anything to anyone!

This community is so full of delight in reading, this won‘t be hard to do. ❤️ #bookspin

We like this version of A Christmas Carol with the beautiful illustrations by Brett Helquist. We‘re reading through it slowly while we do our daily countdown to Christmas after school snack time.

I had a magnificent and terrifying dream last night, I believe it was from reading this book before bed! I was hoping to sink into a good story this past weekend, as my final book of November, this was a perfect pick for that.

There were some scenes that were more detailed than I wanted to read and sometimes it dragged on, jumping from character to character, but as a whole it was a quick read that held my attention which was all I asked for.

I couldn‘t finish this one. I felt like the author wasn‘t in touch with her own feelings enough to describe them so they fell flat. I could only tolerate the daily monotonous routine of describing vague feelings, monkey drama and sitting for hours next to Pumas for so long. I came to the point where I wondered why I was continuing. See how this review has dragged on? That‘s how this book was to me.

This book was delightful. I switched between audio and library book. Stanley reads the audio and it‘s well done. I enjoyed hearing his story and learning new recipes. My family is going to have to endure my new obsession with Italian recipes!

This month I‘m either going to follow my #bookspin list plan and finish a bunch of books I‘ve already started OR I‘m going to continue chain reading every current bestseller that comes across my path!

Getting ready for the movie, production begins October 31st!

This was simple and sometimes preachy, not as good as Beekeeper of Aleppo, but I still enjoyed it. It felt like a book with an overstated purpose, which in the end took away from the story resulting in the purpose having less impact.

Finishing up some September books and working on my shelf for October. I‘m hoping to need to buy the book for this month 😂 You know, so it can be a TBR book for bookspin!

#bookspin
@TheAromaofBooks

I‘m hoping something starts happening in this story soon? Librarians are riding horses and carrying books, there are miners working in a mine… I‘ll give ya 100 more pages of my time!

It took me a little while to realize it wasn‘t the I.T. Girl, apparently she‘s not in networking. Who knew? Haha, oops. This book was good and too long and sometimes unbelievable. It kept me captivated and engaged the whole time even when I didn‘t love it. As you can see, I have mixed feelings but I can‘t deny that I read it all the way through quickly and stayed up to finish it.

Jumping in this morning real quick! @TheAromaofBooks my first one this year I think! #bookspin

Reading this as a buddy read with my son. He‘s practicing reading aloud and improving his English so he reads in Braille and I in print. We just randomly jumped in at book 8 because that‘s what was available in Braille. I think I might actually like the story, we‘ll see, it‘s not my usual genre!

I‘ve been enjoying this book a lot, here in the middle Dawn is starting to bug me because she‘s so judgmental about those she cares about, but I think that‘s the point, she‘s going to learn to love even without controlling. At least I hope. Her heart is in the right place. See! She has me invested!

Look, I know this book is popular, but is it just the most boring book ever? I have tried reading it in book format and I‘m 35% into the audiobook and I really just don‘t care what happens. I don‘t know if part of is that I have two blind sons and so that part is just lost on me or if I need to give it more time… It‘s been years since it came out, everyone has read it and I can‘t do it!

#bookspin for December. I was so happy with my success in November, I‘m ready to begin the next round!

She‘s been like this for days, speeding through this series.