In light of recent developments, I decided to lean into Black History Month for the month of February. My remaining book club and #authoramonth selections are already poised in that direction. While looking at my TBR list, I remembered something from my year end stats that I forgot to post at the time.

On both Goodreads and StoryGraph, Finding Me was the highest rated of the books I read in 2024. Isn‘t that interesting?

The tagged book isn‘t necessarily going to be one of my favorite books for the year, but it‘s my favorite for the month. #wrapup

1. Davey Martinez rocked Washington Commanders gear at the Nationals Hot Stove event on Saturday, but they lost anyway. No matter because the Nationals Opening Day is in less than two months.
2. With help only from the warmer temperatures, I cleaned the dribs and drabs of snow and ice from the parking lot.
3. The days are getting longer, and that will accelerate in February.
4. I ran into a friend I hadn‘t seen in a few months. ⬇️
#5joysfriday

Not much better this week! 12/100 #TLT

Survey link: https://www.listchallenges.com/litsy-ap-literature-free-response-titles-list-2

Some highlights
1. Kindred
2. The House of the Spirits
3. The Great Gatsby

Follow up to My Name Is Mary Sutter, about a determined young woman who serves as a doctor during the Civil War. It‘s several years later, and Mary is working in Albany, New York. When a surprise blizzard strikes and two young girls disappear, she doesn‘t rest until they get justice. I don‘t believe there will be a third book, but I‘ll look for others she has written. #serieslove2025

I read Book 2 for book club a couple years ago, so I was happy to circle back to the beginning of the story. I listened to the audiobook version, which was a good production using three main narrator voices and a fourth narrator for the “framework” story.

Meanwhile, two more are actively in progress.

#serieslove2025

1. On the surface I‘m fine. Deep down, however…
2. The tagged book and, apparently, anything by Jenny Lawson.
#mentalhealthmonday

I‘ve been reading various other things this week, so I‘m back on Sunday again. Watching football and eating potato skins. #hyggehourreadathon

I like all different kinds of mystery books, but especially procedurals with a hint of romance. #sundayfunday

I hope the coming week is better for you @BookmarkTavern

Running away from home was a mixed bag, both in terms of the trip itself and what I was running away from, but the week had many joys.
1. I visited a park that commemorates Williamsburg during the Peninsula Campaign.
2. I had occasion to use this lovely candle.
3. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde spoke truth to power.
4. Politics Girl was 🔥this week.
5. Greek food for lunch was delicious.
#5joysfriday

I took AP English during the time covered by the survey! Don‘t ask me what we read, because I don‘t remember. It wasn‘t any of these books, though. Still, I think of it as one of the best classes I took in high school. All 12/100 books are ones I read as an adult. Highlights:
1. Anna Karenina
2. Bless Me, Ultima
3. The Cider House Rules
Survey link: https://www.listchallenges.com/litsy-ap-literature-free-response-titles-list-1
#TLT

GPS missed it by “that much” on Monday, but I did find the used bookstore Turn the Page on my way out of Williamsburg yesterday. (It‘s not in the Litsy database.

I managed to restrain myself and only bought the tagged book.

It was also charming to listen to big band music while browsing, and even the bag is cute.

1. I‘m retired! However…willful ignorance on the part of my colleagues used to drive me crazy!
2. I couldn‘t think of anything so I looked it up and got the tagged book. 🤷🏻‍♀️
#two4tuesday

I didn‘t go to Dublin(!) like a friend of mine did, but I‘m in Williamsburg and, more importantly, away from the DC vibe, as well as the faux news that will no doubt be blaring out of the other room at home. Today I plan to check out a couple bookstores and a local park, and try to avoid the siren call of news and social media.

Meanwhile, here are some suggestions from the Red Wine and Blue webinar I watched last night.

I‘ve run away from home for the next couple days and brought the tagged book with me. I‘m a little late to #hyggehourreadathon because I was watching webinar with Heather Cox Richardson. I have a feeling that once I start reading I won‘t last five minutes before I fall asleep in this nice comfy bed.

The first thing that came to mind…
#sundayfunday

This started out moderately promising, but by the end I couldn‘t wait just to be done already. Parker is okay, but Wimsey is kind of a jerk. The story is rambling and a little cringey. #authoramonth

I don‘t know exactly what this #snowycover has to do with the book I just read, but it was a very interesting story. #25alive

1. I picked up the tagged book from my free cycle group.
2. The house was at the end of a long drive in the woods, and when I got there I saw a bald eagle in the trees.
3. Then I went to my favorite indie bookstore followed by a late lunch of loaded fries and spiced winter ale.
4. I spent several hours waiting while my car was being serviced, but I had a good book (and some entertaining canned TV programming) to keep me occupied.
#5joysfriday

I‘ve read 12 of these, most of them as an adult. Here are some favorites.
1. Jacob Have I Loved
2. The One and Only Ivan
3. I, Juan de Pareja
I read another Robin McKinley book I enjoyed, so I‘m adding the tagged book to my TBR. #TLT
Here‘s the link to take the survey: https://www.listchallenges.com/litsy-full-list-of-newbery-medal-winners

Thanks, Lynn, for running this giveaway! #49bdaygiveaway

Who needs Benoit Blanc when you have Maggie and Ethan? Will they find #lastinglove or … something else? #25alive

1. Snow can make driving difficult, but it‘s pretty and peaceful while falling. Then when it‘s on the ground it makes winter nights less dark, which is good when the days are shorter.
2. I did a little search for books about winter in the mid Atlantic region and found the tagged book. The opening sentence of the blurb rings so true for me: in the summer it‘s hard to imagine how it could ever be winter (and vice versa).
#two4tuesday

I definitely recommend this. #sundayfunday

I went to my favorite indie bookstore to order something then stopped in for a late lunch and early #hyggehourreadathon at the local brewpub. While I read another chapter of this silly book, I‘m enjoying a spiced winter ale and some loaded nacho fries. There‘s football on the TV, but every time I look up it‘s in commercial.

The good news is this was a compelling and interesting story. It‘s 1922 in St. Louis, and the MC gets inadvertently involved in investigating the murder of a player for a local Negro League team. He finds out more than he expected about the racism and violence of the KKK and segregation. There‘s also a little personal crisis in his life.

The bad news is I can‘t find the next installment. Not insurmountable but inconvenient.

#serieslove2025

One of my all time favorites! #FridayNightShare #naturallitsy #midwintersolace

Catching up with the last couple weeks of joys since I pivoted to a full year of joys last week.
1. I finally visited a local Amish market & bought some yummy muffins & other baked goods.
2. We got about 7.5 inches of snow & one of my neighbors made the world‘s most pathetic snowman.
3. Our friends from NJ came to visit with their sweet collie.
4. I got a new Billy bookcase & did a little rearranging.
5. Local teams in the playoffs.
#5joysfriday

I‘ve read 28/100 including all of the Grimm fairy tales, that were in a fat book that I devoured as a child. In some cases that may have been ill advised! (I‘m looking at you, Red Shoes!) But I digress. Here are some of my favorites.
1. Watership Down
2. The Secret Garden
3. Brown Girl Dreaming
Here‘s the link if you want to take the survey: https://www.listchallenges.com/litsy-bbcs-100-greatest-childrens-books
#TLT

Beautiful service. 😢

Her writing flows over you like water, and she led such an interesting life. I‘d like to dive into the next installment, but I still have three physical library books I need to finish soon. One of them is from another series that‘s also nearing the end, so I‘ll keep pausing the García Saenz for now. #serieslove2025

1. Sometimes! (It‘s complicated.)
2. Tagged!
#two4tuesday

For #whereareyoumonday I‘ve compiled a rough list of where the books I read in 2024 were set.
USA 39.5
UK 12.5
Europe 4
W Hemisphere 1
Asia/Oceania 7
Space 1
Various or indeterminate 14
Nearest: The Ways of the Dead (Washington DC)
Farthest: The Last Gifts of the Universe (space)
Picture is from my visit to Bath in October.

When you‘re waiting for snow and watching football, of course you read a book about baseball. #hyggehourreadathon

Just one?!?

I recently learned that one of my favorite books from 2024 will have a sequel this year.

#sundayfunday

What was my favorite book of December? And the answer is…this clever and wistful story about siblings in space with their cat. Their CAT, y‘all. #12booksof2024

One day every adult on Earth gets a box with a string inside that indicates their life span. Are these boxes #blessings or curses? It‘s hard to say! I think my book club will have lots to discuss.
#25alive!

We‘re getting close to the end! #12booksof2024

I‘m doing something a little different for #5joysfriday this week. Usually I make a Thanksgiving post but didn‘t for some reason this year, so I‘m rolling it into a joy a month for 2024.
Jan-a clean closet at last
Feb-winery outing w/ book club
Mar-Monet exhibit
Apr-Malice Domestic
May-mountain laurel bushes
Jun-strawberries
Jul-new pastor
Aug-Opera in the Outfield
Sep-day trip to DC
Oct-Gladstone‘s & Bath
Nov-see comments
Dec-Christmas parade

This charming MG fantasy was my favorite for October. #12booksof2024

Last year I read 42 books that were part of a series and discontinued a handful where my interest had waned with the passage of time. I also started three new-to-me series because I couldn‘t help myself.

I‘m going to start #serieslove2025 with a smaller focus and not try to read everything everywhere all at once. I‘ve already started reading a few of these, so then I can fill in some others!

It took me a while to finish this, but that was a mood and time thing, not a book thing. #12booksof2024

This is a nice reading journal, but I never used it, so I took it to the LFL along with another offloaded book and an extra 2025 planner I somehow acquired.

I missed my chance to donate the rest of the magazines in my free cycle group, so I‘ll just keep chipping away at the pile when the mood strikes me. It didn‘t strike me in December! No worries, though, because the pile is much smaller than when I started.

#readordonate #monthlymagazineblitz

Continuing through the year to August. #12booksof2024

I‘m moving to StoryGraph, so here‘s one last #wrapup from Goodreads. Some stats are from my own spreadsheet and some from GR.

Out of 77 authors, 43 were new in 2024, 51 were women, and 18 authors of color. At least eight authors identified as LGBTQ and/or the story featured one or more LGBTQ POV characters.

Surprising no one, almost half (43) were mysteries. Six were MG/YA, 15 had a speculative element, and 18 were historical. More in comments!

Which book was my favorite in December? Was it the intense historical novel that left me with a book hangover? Was it the intriguing cold case mystery? Was it the wistful story of siblings in space? Was it the charming prequel to a book that was a monthly favorite earlier in the year? Was it something else?

You‘ll have to wait until Sunday (if I counted correctly) to see! 😎

#wrapup

1. No numbers just reading.
2. New book from Laura Lippman!
#two4tuesday

This book was ponderous and annoying. I picked it for my book club and was almost immediately sorry. But I persisted and finished it!

The Wild Inside doesn‘t make a lot of sense and contains animal abuse that isn‘t contained just to “the wild.”

Burn had an interesting premise but didn‘t really live up to it, and I‘m probably done with Peter Heller.

The Darkness was great until the ending, and that‘s all I can really say. 🤬

#worstof2024

Another vote for James! #12booksof2024

My favorite from June and possibly my favorite of the year. #12booksof2024