Oh no! Not a fiction fiend! Whoever would want to be THAT?? 😆

I have a fuzzy assistant. #catsandbooks #helping

I think it is possible I am too analytical a thinker for this book. The lyricism in the writing obscured the plot to a degree that I found distracting. I could see the intent of the authors and I enjoyed the premise, but I had to fight through the imagery and word choice.

Look, sometimes you need to read something a little fluffy and ridiculous about small town Texas life.

This book has also been published as A Woman at War, and I think that‘s a better title. The main character is at war in many ways, and seeing her navigate the various levels is interesting. The author also clearly understands her subject and I enjoyed the medical/scientific aspects.

I‘m mostly a print reader, but Wil Wheaton‘s narration was so good for the last Randall Munroe that I decided to try this one too. Totally worth it.

I would read pretty much anything Ursula Vernon writes. Her blend of humor and world-building is just my cup of tea. This book is what happens if you cross Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and a D&D campaign. It is hilarious and smart and definitely worth the $1.99 that it‘s currently being offered at.

Once again I have read a book set in two time periods and once again I think one time period was much better presented than the other. I still liked the book, but the uneven writing/storyline means it‘s not a pick for me.

I really liked how this novel combined two true things: Blue People and Pack Librarians. The characters aren‘t drawn to be total angels or devils and the realities of life in that time are presented realistically. Recommended for fans of medicine or history.

This should have been fascinating, but I feel like the subject was just too big. There were too many people and places and dates, even for a book that was focused on people/places/dates so it all felt a little jumbled.

This was a great blend of American history, medicine, and botany, which is pretty much my catnip. The sources are exhaustive and there are many useful illustrations scattered throughout the book. Recommended for anyone who likes the three topics above.

I picked this up on a recommendation and really enjoyed it. The Seven Years War isn‘t something I recall very well from school, so it was interesting to read something in this time period.

I was determined not to buy more books until my TBR pile was less likely to have Godzilla at the top of it, but this subject and cover design got me.

This was a delight, from start to finish. It was on a summer reading guide (which I have had variable success with in the past) and I am so glad I gave it a shot. The characters need each other in a way that is healthy and the dialogue is very snappy. It‘s not Tolstoy, but sometimes you don‘t need Tolstoy. You need Evvie Drake Starts Over.

This was such a fun book. It‘s sort of a P&P retelling, but it was also its own book. I have read (and bailed on) more than one retelling that just tried too hard. This wasn‘t one of them.

“To me, the truth doesn‘t ruin anything. Why should understanding the universe diminish our wonder at it?” That right there is the essence of being a scientist, as far as I am concerned. I seek to understand, but it doesn‘t diminish my wonder.

This book was a freebie, so I feel no guilt in bailing on it. Between the typos, the snide tone towards most of the women in the book, and the incorrect statements (with no citations to even attempt to back them), I gave up.

“Because I keep reading and feeling this yes, right here, again and again, and it‘s not that I‘m agreeing with anything—it feels like the opposite, that I‘ve gotten so much wrong, but yet I‘m loved and, if I ask for forgiveness, I can be forgiven and it can be spring. And that compels me to change. All the grace and mercy and love that‘s there for the asking, for the receiving, is not a fairy tale.”

This was a recommendation from a Summer Reading Guide. I appreciated that the author didn‘t treat his character negatively due to his non-neurotypical characteristics and it was quite cute to see him interacting with the love interest. It was probably even more funny to me because I not only know people like the main character, I probably am the main character sometimes. 😂

I‘m on a boat with a million activities and what did I do first? Found the Library and got a book (never mind that I have at least ten ebooks with me...)

Found this in an airport bookstore and decided it needed to come with me.

I‘ve read two previous books by this author and so far this one is just as good as those. If you want books about strong, scientific-minded women in history, give this a read.

There is a reason the kids used to call me Book Freak in school. They never understood why I didn‘t find that to be insulting....

Normal people wonder if they‘re packing enough underwear for a long flight and long trip. I worry about whether I‘m packing enough books. Fortunately, they‘re ebooks, so I‘ll just check out lots and if I don‘t finish them all? Better than running out!

I first tried the audiobook of this. Nope, not getting into it. Then I tried the traditional book, and I made it through, but I put it down several times. The side characters were far more interesting to me than the main characters, which moved it from a pick to so-so. It also moved it from a bail to a so-so.

You know you read too many books when ... you see a book that looks really interesting, so you check it out. You read a bit of it and it seems kind of familiar, but it‘s not on your library history, so maybe you haven‘t read it? You read more and yep, you‘ve already read it. That‘s when you realize you‘ve read so many books that this one has scrolled off your library history.

This book has been on my physical TBR pile for months. I own it. But I‘m going to be travelling, so I just got it from my library‘s electronic database because ebooks are much easier to transport. So tell me, Littens ... have you ever done this? (Please tell me I‘m not the only one.)

I really enjoy books about spies and spying and cryptography, but was skeptical about a fictional story rather than the nonfiction I usually read. The story was a little uneven (as others have noted) and I did enjoy the WWI sections more than the WWII sections, but overall it‘s still a pick. Be sure to read the Author‘s Note at the end.

This was a good book, but also a hard one to read. I saw myself in Annika so many times, which was both endearing and uncomfortable. The romance was sweet and I believed the characters‘ growth and journey. There‘s a twist at the end that I didn‘t love, but it didn‘t change my rating. Overall, I was glad to have received this ARC and glad to have read it. #tghutksmartbitches

Sometimes my undergrad degree in Zoology is a little more apparent. This is one of those times, because I found this little book on the search for, discovery of, and science about the coelacanth very interesting. It‘s a bit older (copyright 2000), so there‘s more that we know about the coelacanth now, but it‘s still a good history with some nice humor (and, since the author is British, a few digs at the French!).

Spider expert. Hobbit. Hopefully he never ran into Shelob...

Crivens! and crochet. (C to C shirt in progress) #crochet #audiobook

I don‘t tend to read political autobiographies, but the sample chapter for this ebook was interesting enough to put myself on the seemingly endless library hold list. I wasn‘t disappointed when I finally got to read the rest of it. Mrs. Obama is, by turns, funny, poignant, and serious as she tells her story.

I‘ll say it up front — this book is going to be uninteresting to a lot of people. It‘s a biography and exploration of the life of a doctor in the American Civil War. It‘s essentially a book at an intersection of history and medical science. However, if you happen to be a weirdo like me who likes that niche of a niche, it‘s fascinating.

I wanted to like this book. It had an interesting premise, a dancer heroine, a quirky hero, and a little forced proximity drama. Also, it was free, which tends to lower my expectations. Unfortunately, I just couldn‘t care about any of the characters and some plot elements made me irritated. I won‘t be deleting the ebook, but for now it‘s a bail.

Any time it snows I remember how much I loved reading this book when I was a wee little bookworm. I think it‘s time to find a copy again.

I had met her in a place where she was a person, instead of a problem to be solved.

#HufflepuffProblems or possibly just #OverlyPracticalPeopleProblems: a character has just decided they don‘t need to get building permits for a renovation, because what could go wrong? And all I can think is “Noooo!”

Thanks to #tghutksmartbitches for the ARC. I‘m loving it so far.