Putting this together and I realize it‘s my first grid since Feb where I own more print copies of the books than ebook or audio. Tagged my favorite!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I very recently read/enjoyed the Reappearance of Rachel Price but to do so required a suspension of disbelief that was at times hard to hold back. This book is completely the opposite and we are immersed in the local officials whose priorities change when a missing/disappeared woman shows up in her hometown. It was fun to read both so close together.

Charlie White passed away on his 109th birthday in 2014. The author was neighbor and friend to this centurion and was regaled with 100 years of memories. I loved reading this but realize I‘m biased because there is many a Kansas City reference here. Also, my grandfather was a medical doctor (wish I knew his professional story better now) in the same era as Charlie so I found his description of pre vs post WWII doctoring fascinating.

Oh Evan, I‘m sending you hugs! This is such a wonderful, heartbreaking story, and I get how easily a tragedy 🎭 such as this could go awry with unexpected tangents in a high school setting. I haven‘t seen the musical but listened to the soundtrack (thanks Alexa!) as I neared the end of this book.

May 2024 #BookSpin Category YA / Mid Grade @TheAromaofBooks

Well, it seems I‘m an auto read for this author. This is a fun romance sans a ubiquitous fake-dating or miscommunication trope. It‘s also a celebration of supportive best friends. But what I most look forward to in her books is her love for all things Canada. 🇨🇦 I‘d love a stay on PEI, and Anne of Green Gables is added to my TBR!

It‘s a so-so but in a good way - over-acting and full of laughs with those aunties being their lovable auntie selves. And we get to take our armchairs to Jakarta! I won‘t remember this story in a month but I will remember the giggles. I can see an opening for a continued series, but I‘m content at a trilogy.

Sometimes it‘s nice to read about a delightfully ordinary character, and Micah Mortimer is that guy. He‘s fortyish, educated, self-employed, pays his bills, likes his family, has a girlfriend but never considered marriage. …Then one slightly unexpected thing happens in his week - and it makes for a story worth telling! @TheAromaofBooks May 2024 #DoubleSpin Category: Pub 2020-21

With a book of short stories I‘m best served with a physical copy of the book on my nightstand where I read and absorb just one story every couple nights. This book contains 6 fascinating Russia / NYC short stories and a 1930s LA noir novella. I enjoyed all of them, but my favorite was the short story, The Bootlegger, about of a new patron of Carnegie Hall aghast at the actions of an elderly patron. The cover art is perfection for the content.

It‘s 1976 and nearly 25 years since Eilis returned to Brooklyn after visiting to her Ireland home. With her marriage on shaky grounds and her mother turning 80 she finally returns to Enniscorthy for an extended stay. This is a slow roll (I resisted peeking to the final pages) but Eilis‘ narrative represents the stories of so many lives. The lives where one can almost put themselves first. I hope we get to meet Eilis as she neared 70! 👇

In my bits of studying the politics leading up to the American Civil War I momentarily memorized enough names and dates to pass the subsequent test, but no interest beyond a course. This book was fascinating- S Carolina was the Mc. Now I‘ll remember beyond Abraham Lincoln and Robert E Lee. I‘m intrigued if the next time I reading/watching Civil War material, I‘ll be like …oh yeah, Seward, Ruffin, Beauregard, Anderson… I know about them.

In my A+ to F rating system I had 4 books rating my subjective A- (4.5). Highlighting the tagged because I‘m thrilled a challenge brought it to my attention!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I saw Ann‘s 20-yo first and out-of-print book was being republished following the success of her last two books so I had to check-it-out (literally 🤣). I was expecting to be curious about her progression in storytelling even if underwhelmed with the writing or a feeling the story was dated. But honestly, I forgot all about my preconceptions and just enjoyed this family drama.

Following real life cult cases turns my stomach inside out, so I just don‘t go there. But boy, I have fun reading a fictional cold cases - especially when the narrator hears voices in her head! Even though I figured out the guilty party pretty early it was still a good yarn.

Sometimes I complain when a book spends so much time in the MC‘s head rather than allowing the reader to experience the details play out. But here I felt like I was inside Hazel‘s head and when supporting characters stepped in to move the story along I just wanted them to go away. Hazel (and I) were doing fine on our own following the breadcrumbs to solve these deaths. 🤣

This book may have been better served with a prologue set 10 years prior to suss out Connor as a cad, the relationship Eleanor had with her sister, and why we wanted to root for this MC. Once past the messy beginning it was a fun ride with the reader pulled into the chapters as snarky bits about the publishing industry are discussed. There is also piles of current music and book references which was entertaining. 👇

I spent 38 years as a Dept of Army civilian. Military wives were part of neighborhoods, my work environment, my friends, (my mother-in-law). I wasn‘t expecting this book to be insightful for me but it was. The whole enlisted vs officer‘s wife thing - boy, I get it. The kids thing - I get it. But my experiences were never with a community of special ops soldiers and their spouses - what they endure is a unique fraternity/sorority of emotion.

It‘s April and once again my tax bill was significant. So this #IndexCard display represents in part a game I play …. In my head I subtract $15 from my tax bill for each new release I‘m able to nab from the library. This month I subtracted $225 - not bad, but I have a long way to go 🤪
April 2024 #MonthlyWrapup

I‘m thrilled this book came to my attention through #NunLitQuarterly and soon become immersed in Agata‘s world. I‘ll never make my peace with the power the Catholic Church gives to families of wealth, nor the amount of young girls rehomed to convents - but gosh it makes for an interesting read. I believe this was my first translated novel of 2024! I was also intrigued with Agata‘s 1840 fascination with the P&P Bennet sisters.

Ohhhh, I‘ve never stacked my unreliable narrator stories up against each other, but this is a good one! I feel like I just can‘t say anything else less I give away any of the mystery.

Road trippin in NW Arkansas with this one! I enjoyed the setup for this story and wished good things for both Daphne and Miles. …PSA: There is no statute of limitations on the crimes an adult child bestows on their parents‘ parenting. (Every time I read a book such as this I chuckle at this running PSA joke 😜 I use to have with my now late father any time he‘d be in light ‘trouble‘ with another of my 5 siblings).

I had so much fun when my April BS&DS allowed me to prioritize 2 books in one series that I came up with a new category for slot 3. If nbr 3 is picked, I get to cancel the other number and prioritize either a series or an author for both spins. Come on 3! Also I‘m on my first road trip since prior COVID where the destination is not family. I‘m headed to cute little towns in NW Arkansas! 👇

May 2024 #BookSpinBingo

I suspended disbelief because I found it hard to accept a 16-yr disappeared/kidnapped woman considered so casually by authorities in her community. I‘d have also changed the ending for some truthful YA empowerment. That aside, I thought this thriller was an engaging and fun ride.

Another grid of satisfaction and the tagged was everything I was hoping it would be! …And thank goodness for tax dollars being baked in to the support of public libraries so I can experience so many new books in a month!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

I love it when authors succeed in writing a stand-alone series where supporting characters in one book become the MC‘s of the next book. It doesn‘t matter to the current story if you‘ve read the previous books, but it‘s delightful Easter egg when the memory of current supporting character rushes back from its place in memories almost lost. I also love a rom-dramedy with meaningful issues.

This is my first BS/DS doubleheader! This series received so much Litsy love that I‘d be amiss not to add it to my TBR. I finally prioritized these warm-hugs-in-book-form and read them back-to-back. They are both cute as a bug‘s ear, I liked both equally, and perfect when you yearn for a couple days of stress-free reading.

Lattes: #BookSpin Cat: New-to-me Author
Bookstore: #DoubleSpin Cat: Kindle

I was caught up in this story and found it sophisticated storytelling. Fantastical as it might be, there‘s a cautionary tale here when all citizens of one country are beholden to the beliefs of a single faith and when there is no freedom from those beliefs.

In my mind this story was an animated film with all the makings of a new fatherless Disney princess (with tats!) and a righteous mom-loving right-hand man in a matriarchal society. I‘m thinking Olivia Rodrigo for the Oscar-nominated song!

Helen and Grant (both 18) were impacted by the suicide of Michelle, 16. Now, 13 years later, Helen and Grant‘s lives are brought back together. …Honestly, it‘s not the plot that will stick with me as much how inconsequentially the impact of that death to Grant (non-family) was considered by Helen and her parents (family). It‘s one of those who-was-she-to-me things that always strikes an emotional chord with me.

Things are not going well for recent divorcee, Megan. She‘s an overworked critical care nurse raising a 16-yo daughter in an apartment by the L train. She‘s creeped out by a recent string of break-ins/rapes. She attends a divorce support group where she befriends an old HS classmate. That‘s a lot of lose threads and this author pulls them nicely into a tight story.

In a modern world of protecting vampyre colonies since 1983, it‘s best a human avoid drinking a vampyre‘s blood if bitten. But vampyres have rules too…stick with animal blood, don‘t kill other vampyres, don‘t turn a child, be prepared to live for centuries and die for decades. You‘ll put your entire colony at risk should you murder a human and a human anthropologist of vampyres (the MC) authorizes the culling of your entire community. 👇

This is very good historical fiction and I encourage anyone to read the author‘s note prior to reading the story. There is so much research of 1938 Philadelphia and the note helps you appreciate the genuine circumstances her fictional characters navigated.

Wow, an entire grid of newly published books and the princess wins the tag!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

Note: To equate quarter ratings to A-F scores, 3.5 and 3.25 both garner a C+, but 3.5 represents my quandary when I can‘t decide between a pick or a so-so!

I really love when Chanel Cleeton‘s books are wrapped in Cuban/American history so I was disappointed that we didn‘t experience in real time Carolina and Carmine growing up in Havana. As a mystery it was a bit of a slow burn but still satisfying. What I liked most was the atmospheric 1920s and 40s Miami vibe. And the peacocks - if you‘ve had daily experiences with a pride of peacocks (I have) you‘ll appreciate their characterization here.

This was fun. The story and characters pick up where the last sentence ended in Book 3, and all characters good and bad have a reason to show up in Atlantic City. My only issue is I wish I hadn‘t read each of these books in the weeks after publishing because I think it would be so much fun to binge this series.

This was such a feel good read with lovable characters and forward motion the whole way for MC, Eve. The few supporting characters are interesting on their own and I can imagine the author writing them into the MCs of their own stories.

I discovered Lisa a few years back through the essays she wrote with her author daughter about their lives together, and I‘ve kept up with her new releases. …There is stuff going down in this story that‘s bigger than the Devlin‘s, but I don‘t think I‘ll remember those details in a month or two because it was the interesting dynamics of the Devlin family themselves that caught my attention.

I‘m giving a pick to a book that made me feel … ick. I didn‘t want to stick with it and at the same time couldn‘t stop. The ick factor faded, and I found the last third intriguing. But here‘s something else I‘m thinking about… I would have DNF‘d well before the final third had this same story been written by a man, and that only adds to my wild thoughts on this one.

My favorite part of this book was the building of this family family because they are all just good people.
Although I respect the track this story took, I found it a bit heavy handed as it made its way to the end. (Also, the input of right-ring extremists frustrate me in my fiction as much as in real life.)

I like the plot of two gay women taking their favorite teacher (also gay) on a cross-country trip so he can die peacefully in his favorite place (surrounded by not beige). It lost credibility for me since the two 32yo women were college grads (UofWash and Yale) and HS teachers with the emotional intelligence of middle schoolers. I can‘t countenance a 32 yo woman (let alone two) pining for their potential 8th grade love that got away.

Hmmm, I started out liking this but began to lose interest as the murderery parts were told vs shown to the reader. Just when I thought this was a meh read things got twisty and the reader finally experiences crimes play out on Park Ave‘s Windermere Apartment. Note to Self: when I finally have the opportunity to move to NYC, find a loft in Brooklyn!

I always look forward to a new release from this author. Each book is so different from his previous works and I just buckle up for the ride I‘m about to embark. I couldn‘t stop reading this and loved Crissy, Betsy, and Marissa. Chrissy working a Las Vegas residency as a successful Princess Diana impersonator amongst contemporary things of today just somehow worked. Honestly, how does Chris come up with his stories!?

Happy Easter Everyone! I‘ll be sitting here testing myself to see how well I recall the notes scribbled on the backs of my cards this month!

March 2024 #MonthlyWrapUp
#Indexcard collection

This grid is telling me that I‘m loving books published this year! And yet, the win goes to the tagged - a masterclass in writing.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

Come September I‘m able to nominate three books for consideration of my 2025 IRL Bookclub, and I may have a lock on my first nomination. This story was fascinating. I‘m left with so much to consider and talk about that I don‘t even know where to begin. Kudos for giving Frida Kahloa shout out because Anita was gave me Frida vibes all day long!

Wait, you mean it‘s almost time to pack up my bunnies!? January may have lasted 528 days, but February and March felt like 2 long weekends!
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I read my last self-help book on grief years ago, but can‘t quit a memoir of someone with the words to document their own unique experience. Sloane was grieving the violation of a home robbery (jewelry inherited from her mean grandmother) when hit with a grief no one anticipated – the suicide of her one-time boss, and best friend Russell. ⚠️ TW: This could hit hard if moving through a friend‘s suicide remains a struggle to a reader.👇

Oh, I don‘t know, I think I‘m too old to make it make sense for a 40-yo mother of a 14-yo to start a thing with the 20-yo star of the British boy-band her daughter fawns over. Honestly I didn‘t seem as though Solene was having real world fun - I mean outside great sex, then talking to her boy-toy about said great sex. I‘m am though intrigued to see Anne Hathaway take on the role in the adaptation of this story..

I didn‘t realize murder exchange was a trope in thrillers so had this déjà vu thing going as the plot unfolded. I finally went to GR to verify I was reading a newly released book and discovered the inspiration of a 1951 Hitchcock film, Strangers on a Train (it even gets a nod in this book?) I‘ve yet to figure out which remake(s) I experienced causing such vivid déjà vu all the way to the final page!

If you‘d love a RuPaul tell-all story about wild nights with drugs at the best clubs, this book might disappoint you. RuPaul is not in the business of trashing people. This is his origin story, how he stepped into his identity, the freedom he found through drag, his realization that he too had a long-time addiction and how he addressed it, his need for kindness, a his love for his family and Georges. 👇

Oh, this is a good one. It starts out and carries on as a fun romcom with a touch of magical realism that fits the story so seamlessly it‘s like yes, of course, some people just receive notice of how long a relationship will last. But this is Rebecca Serle and her stories have delicious layers making this so much more than a romcom.