@Hooked_on_books We finished this 500 piece puzzle in 2 evenings. My mom is a really good puzzler! 😁 Thanks Holly, we had fun. Afterwards we read off all the titles to see which ones we have read. We guessed maybe around half.

Day 5 of #12BooksOf2025. I love this author. Anyone know if she has a new book releasing this coming year?

Book 4 of #12Booksof2025
Vera Wong delights in trying to solve the murder mystery of a body she discovered in her tea house. And attempts some matchmaking along the way.

Book 3 for #12Booksof2025, my best book of March. Possibly the best nonfiction I read all year.

First #bookspin list for 2026, and I‘m going to be focusing on my #AuldLangSpine list from @rachelsbrittain . I have physical copies of 4 of her books and two audiobooks on hold from the library, can‘t wait to see how many I can get to. The only actual title here is for bookclub, and then I also gave a couple spots to holiday gifts. I‘ll get back to a more normal title list in February. 😁📚❤️

There is a very good chance this will be my final finished book of the year. It‘s a good one to go out on!

We follow the lives of two women through a dystopian future in which eating is taboo and done in privacy and sex is demystified and mundanely performed anytime, even publicly. It‘s a story about morals and classism, and it definitely seemed to be pointing fingers at real world corporate corruption and political deviousness.

I really liked this, but I‘ve enjoyed pretty much all of this author‘s work. The end was pretty epic, a very easy to envision boss fight!

My best book of February for #12Booksof2025. I love this author.

I finished up my #10BeforeTheEnd, with a little time to spare 📚🙂 Most of these were really great too.

Best book of January for Day1 of #12BooksOf2025.

Sietje and her little look alike from @Hooked_on_books ! I‘ll have to get another photo of them together once the stripes fade the rest of the way. Holly I am really impressed, this is a sweet gift I‘ll treasure. ❤️ thank you.

Oh my gosh @Hooked_on_books the little Sietje is so cool! You did really get her markings right! I love her. I always love opening your gifts, every book is exciting. The tagged fits perfectly with one of my bookclub topics for 2026- Someone You Admire. 🙂 I can‘t wait to visit old Venice with The Glassmaker. I absolutely love the cover of Playground and Overstory is an all time favorite so I‘m sure this‘ll be great. And you know I love an older⬇️

@AmyG what a wonderful holiday gift bundle, thank you so much! The tagged is going right on my #AuthorAMonth shelf, great choice! I saw Alice Winn at TX Book Fest a few years ago and have wanted to read In Memoriam ever since. And Sleeping Giants has been on my TBR a while too. I laughed so much reading the Judgy Fish stickers, and I love the lobster cards! You‘re so thoughtful. Big holiday hugs (and I hope you‘ve gotten some snow by now.) ❤️💚❤️

Thank you @Mitch for the Christmas book! I‘ve never heard of this but it sounds great. I look forward to curling up with it! Merry Christmas to you, Mel, and Woodford! 💚❤️💚

Thank you @staci.reads for the #jolabokaflod book and chocolate! These almonds were a great choice for me, I love them. Venkman approves your book choice. Happy Book Flood Day! 📚🎄Thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing, I love this swap.

It‘s been quite a year of reading #AuthorAMonth friends! This is your one-week-left reminder that we‘re drawing close to the end of our month of Nora Roberts.

January‘s author will be T Kingfisher. It‘s about time to put in your orders or library holds or find her on your shelf. I‘m excited to kick off a new reading year with you!

As always let me know if you‘d like to join or be removed from the tag list. See my last post for the 2025 form!

Hello #AuthorAMonth readers! We are so close to the end of the year! Are you ready to fill out your 2025 reading form? It‘s not mandatory, but I think it‘s fun, and it‘s how I choose our yearly prize winners. Need a reminder of what the prizes are?

1- The “Most Read”
2- The “Every Month Club”
3- The “Everyone is Eligible”

https://forms.gle/TwEynK2GyNYwh7556

⬇️more

I received a little box today that I assume is probably my #jolabokaflod. It has no return address and no hashtag on the outside, so I‘ll let you know for sure tomorrow. 😆🎄📚?

There was a big enough gap between the second book and this one that I wondered if it was ever coming.

I love this series. This one is long, and some of the political parts felt too long, but I was glad to see more of Lyra and Pantalaimon. I thought it wrapped up pretty well.

This was my December #doublespin.

Jackson‘s debut novel is about a young woman who has just moved from “baby jail” into a group home. She allegedly killed an infant her mother was babysitting 6 years ago, when she was 9.

I thought this was good, but could have been a bit shorter. Some of the middle part dragged.

“Some children are just born bad, plain and simple.”

#FirstLineFridays
(A day late)

My #JolabokaflodSwap is on its way @MaleficentBookDragon 😁📚. It should arrive Monday, it‘s staying in my state.

Thank you for continuing to hold my favorite swap of the year!

#SunriseAndBook

I had been meaning to read this. I‘m glad it was chosen for my December #bookspin.

I feel like everyone else has already read it, but if not it‘s about a 9th grade girl who was raped at a party and her struggles afterwards. I believe it‘s often read in school, and also has been banned in places. Jason Reynolds‘s afterword is another excellent perspective.

Almost Famous is one of my favorite movies, so when I saw this had been released I immediately looked for it. It‘s really good, as you would expect from the guy who wrote for multiple papers and big music magazines and did screenplays!

Highly recommend, get it on audio if you‘d like to hear it in his own voice. I‘m off to rewatch Almost Famous!

Manga about a high school student learning about the Asexual spectrum when she starts at a new school. Full of descriptions of different ways people might identify as Ace, as well as stressing that every person has their own way of being, and the most important thing is getting to know yourself.

I added this to my TBR after reading Sandwich by Newman. I‘m so glad I did, I really loved this.

It‘s a short read but powerful. Ash‘s life is in turmoil, as she deals with the terminal cancer diagnosis and hospice placement of her best friend since childhood, Edi. It‘s quirky and very family focused, and I especially loved Ash‘s daughter Belle.

If the #AuldLangSpine lists hadn‘t already gone out this would have made mine. Next year!

I reread this for bookclub, and it was a nice visit to memory lane. I must have been quite young when I read it last. It‘s still delightful.

I am a huge StoryGraph fan, as I know a lot of Litsy is. Are you? If so here is the link for the #AuthorAMonth StoryGraph challenge, which is a fun way to track your reading as well as seeing books other readers have chosen for each prompt. Enjoy!

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/b855bc01-00bb-4993-b8c0-3387d8b...

(Let me know if you see any typos or have other problems with it please 🙂)

Who knew Nora Roberts wrote fantasy?

I admit to feeling reserved about the very mainstream authors who have entire shelves of their books at the library and I can expect to have to reshelve at least one or two of them every week during my volunteer shift. So I wasn‘t anticipating liking a NR book, and I was trepidatious when she was chosen for #AuthorAMonth.

I didn‘t mind this. It has some cliche fantasy moments, but a low pick for me. ⬇️

It‘s time to update my #AuthorAMonth tag list for next year. This helps me clear out folks who are no longer interested and add new people who are. I am making an entirely new list, all you need to do to be on it is comment below.

What is #AuthorAMonth? It‘s a reading challenge in which we attempt to read at least one book from a particular author each month. The list of authors was nominated and elected by Litsy readers. ⬇️

My Mom got us a tree and we put it up today. With a reread of Winnie-the-Pooh and a fireplace crackling on the TV, I‘m feeling a bit festive. 🎄❄️ (There might be snow coming in tonight, I‘m hoping that doesn‘t happen!)

I love this #AuldLangSpine list from my match @rachelsbrittain ! The only one I‘ve already read is Sunrise on the Reaping. In January I‘m going to attempt to read 3- The Incandescent, as I already have it, Hemlock & Silver (Jan‘s #AuthorAMonth, how convenient!), and An Extraordinary Union as I can get it right away on Libby. I‘m making myself a StoryGraph challenge to keep reading the rest throughout the year.

Looking forward to diving in!

Well #authoramonth readers, we have arrived in December, which brings us to Nora Roberts.

I started The Awakening today, which is the first in her fantasy trilogy. I‘m enjoying it more than I expected to!

Feel free to include any of her pen names in your reading this month, including the popular JD Robb books.

Do you know what you‘ll be reading?

I didn‘t look into this much before reading it and expected a cozy found family foodie story. Oops!

It‘s actually quite sad, about depression and being a societal outcast, check content warnings if needed.

It did have some happiness, and the main characters are cooks so there is a deep dive into making sweet adzuki bean paste for dorayaki- a Japanese pancake with bean paste in it.

I did end up liking it, it just wasn‘t what I expected.

Chris‘ wife died giving birth to their daughter, so The Kid is given a second shadow. That‘s how criminals are marked and punished. She‘s marked as a killer from birth. Chris has her own second shadow.

This was tough to read as it‘s mostly about the grief of losing her spouse and raising a child alone, as well as social commentary about being marked a pariah for something outside your control. 1984 vibes, very explicit sex, and melancholic.

Well that‘s another bail for me… I got about 150 pages in. There were some parts I thought were really interesting, but others felt like a slog. Oh well #hailthebail, on to something else. (Seeing other reviews here helped the decision.)

My #doublespin for November.

I loved Nora Webster, so I expected to enjoy this more. Unfortunately I got really bored with it and stopped at about 70%, but I‘m going to try the movie to get the end of the story. I know bookworms, possibly a bit taboo, but I‘m just not into the book.

This is my mom‘s Zoey. She‘s staying with me while Mom travels for the holiday. Yes she has yogurt on her face😆. She‘ll be having a bath tomorrow.

It seems too soon to post my December #bookspin, but Monday is the first so I guess not. As always I‘ll be excited to see what @TheAromaofBooks pulls out of the hat!

December‘s author for #AuthorAMonth is Nora Roberts. I just searched her on Libby, and a bunch of JD Robb came up. At first I was confused, but here‘s what Wiki says. With over 225 novels, hopefully everyone can find something by her to read! 😂 When you post about her books in December just mention it‘s still her if you read one of her pen named books. Wow! 😮📚

Welcome to our last week of November #AuthorAMonth readers. Already! One more week with Joan Didion.

December brings us to our final author of 2025, Nora Roberts. Did you know she has several pen names? See my next post on this book title for more info.

Enjoy the rest of the month, have a good holiday if you‘re feasting tomorrow. And happy reading!

Another fun fantasy from Travis Baldree, this one is about Fern from Bookshops and Bonedust.

I went with the audio since I‘m waiting to purchase the paperback when it comes out. I have to say I wish I‘d waited to read it, as I‘m not a fan of Baldree‘s narration. It was still good, on the light side of fantasy though I think the books are getting progressively less cozy. There were quite a few battles in this one.

I really liked Zil the goblin.

Did you see? Registration is open for #AuldLangSpine2026! Go to @monalyisha to get the link, the form has the rules and guidelines. I‘m super excited to learn who my match will be this year, and to get my reading list!!

I think this is Schwab‘s best book yet. It‘s like she tried to write the perfect vampire book specifically for me. I loved this.

Could it be partially because I read and loved Ann Rice as a teen? Maybe. Could it be partially because I love a good sapphic historical fantasy? Yes probably.
Anyway, 5⭐️ for me!

@Texreader posted this sale, but be aware this is Book 2 in The Arc of the Scythe series, and you do really need to read Scythe first. For February‘s author for #authoramonth

This is some dark, grim stuff. It starts with the author investigating a suicide then immediately dives into her struggle with alcoholism, so go in prepared for an emotional ride, though Butcher also talks about using compartmentalizing and distancing as a coping mechanism.

There is posturing of being “one of the guys”, being of an older (than me) generation, and that NY/NJ bruskness, and all of those rubbed me a bit throughout.

Have you been waiting for this announcement #AuthorAMonth readers? I‘ve been excited since I started working on results and graphics yesterday. Here is our author lineup for 2026!

41 people voted this year. The author with the highest vote count was Amor Towles with 24. Then Martha Wells with 20. Many of the rest each had 19.

Is there one author or book you‘re most excited to include in your 2026 reading plan? (I‘ll comment below my tag list.)

I read The Swimmers by this author a couple months ago and @Hooked_on_books said how much she liked this one so I stacked it.

Otsuka definitely has a signature style! I liked this one more. I think audio is a great way to read these, I was able to absorb it without struggling with the flow.

It‘s told from the first person plural, or “we”. The narrators are Japanese “picture” brides shipped to the states about a century ago.

I missed reading for #CampLitsy this summer as I moved. But this got such a wave of Picks that I put the audio on hold and finally got to listen. And wow, it was really good!

I thought the format of present and flashbacks worked really well, and it was easy to slide into the main character‘s shoes (Birkenstocks!) as she tried to cross Portland on foot after an earthquake rocked the city. Oh yeah, while late term pregnant!

First snow at my new house! Happily it‘s less than an inch and the roads are fine so far.

This is a thought provoking novella of speculative fiction, set just a bit in the future. Every American gets a Universal Basic Income once a year, on the title date. Told from 4 women‘s POVs, each with a very different life circumstance. I think it‘s one of the best TOR novellas I‘ve read.

Check content warnings if needed.

Another really good book by Erdrich. I love the banter of her characters.

It‘s a really strange story- read the blurb. If you like this author I think you‘ll enjoy this one.