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BarbaraJean
Salt Dancers | Ursula Hegi
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Pickpick

This is a quiet, internal story, with abuse, abandonment, and unanswered questions at its heart. Julia—pregnant at 41—returns to her hometown after 23 years away. She‘s searching for answers & some measure of resolution about her past. I appreciated the nuance with which Hegi paints her characters—acknowledging both the repercussions of abuse & abandonment, and the unreliability of memory—as Julia struggles to reconcile the past & move forward.⤵️

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) Post-college (early 2000s), I read a couple of Ursula Hegi‘s books—Intrusions and Stones from the River—which made Hegi an auto-buy author for me for several years. Salt Dancers was one of those auto-buys from a now-long-closed Borders‘ sale shelf. Although I remember one of my best friends reading and loving this, it sat on my shelf for years. A trifecta of challenges prompted me to finally read it back in August. ⤵️ (edited) 11h
BarbaraJean This was my July #BookSpin, and it also fulfilled 1995 for #192025, and # 38 (published before I turned 20) for #50x50. @TheAromaofBooks @Librarybelle 11h
Librarybelle I really enjoyed Stones from the River! Stacking this one! 9h
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! now
25 likes1 stack add4 comments
review
mcctrish
Autumn | Ali Smith
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Pickpick

Bag #2 of Botanical Gardens. I LOVE Ali Smith ❤️ and I love this book! Written in 2016 the divisiveness of Britain is reflective of the US right now, the art talk fed into my obsession with Mona‘s Eyes, and the relationship between young Elisabeth and old Daniel creating a bridge between generations ❤️❤️❤️ I can‘t wait to listen to the next 3 in this quartet

TheBookHippie I just started the book! 2d
mcctrish @TheBookHippie 🎉🎉🎉 2d
lil1inblue Ali Smith is such an amazing writer. This reminds me I still need to finish the last 2 seasons! 2d
AnnCrystal 🤩🧩💝. 1d
41 likes4 comments
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mcctrish
Autumn | Ali Smith
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I‘ve been waiting forever for this audio book and to start this massive Lego set - both are spectacular

Sparklemn I‘ve had this sitting on my shelf for a while now. Looking forward to your review. 3d
mcctrish @Sparklemn I have almost bought this 4 part story collection so many times - I love Ali Smith - I am loving the audio but the words are glorious and I wish I could slow down and read them over a few times at some points 3d
Hooked_on_books I have this set! It‘s a lot of fun to put together. 2d
mcctrish @Hooked_on_books I have saved it forever 2d
AnnCrystal 🤩🧩📚💝. 2d
43 likes1 stack add5 comments
review
JillR
Painter's Daughters | Emily Howes
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Pickpick

A fictionalised take on the childhood of Thomas Gainsborough‘s daughters, I found this really interesting; the exploration of mental health, and also Thomas Gainsborough‘s desire for his daughters to live a happy life, not forced into the conventional path of marriage, yet leaving them both floundering as he has no idea how to articulate how that might happen. The writing and narrative lifted this above standard historical fiction for me.

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rebcamuse
Martyr!: A novel | Kaveh Akbar
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Favorite read of October was Martyr! #TOB2025

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peanutnine
There There: A novel | Tommy Orange
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November #Roll100 picks @PuddleJumper
36 and 9 are past picks I never got to so I'm gonna try to make an effort to read them this month. 19 is the second in a series and I really need to reread book one first so I don't think I'll have time for that right now

PuddleJumper SVSSS is one of my favourites. I like cracky unhinged things 😅 4d
26 likes1 comment
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keithmalek
Pickpick

This feels as if it could have been written by the great Jonathan Tropper, one of my favorite novelists. Maybe that's why this was the best novel I've read this year. Or maybe it's because it's funny. And sad. And beautiful. All I know is that it's everything you could want in a novel. #2025Book47

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keithmalek

Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more.
--Virginia Woolf

review
Nessavamusic
The Lightning Bottles | Marissa Stapley
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Bailedbailed

This had an intriguing start, then the writing became less interesting and it had a teen romance, which I just done like. Just not for me, but I know others like this one. #hailthebail
A #roll100 off the TBR

PuddleJumper 🎉🎉 Hope the next book is better 5d
42 likes1 comment
review
rebcamuse
Beautyland: A Novel | Marie-Helene Bertino
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Pickpick

The title felt a bit gratuitous to me, but then I thought, what would I title this novel?...There are moments that read like a charming coming-of-age tale, others that twist your heart [...] What a gift to be able to see ourselves through her eyes, to laugh at our silliness, to cry at our cruelty, to empathize with our pain. FULL REVIEW: https://readingrantsandraves.blogspot.com/2025/10/2025-45-beautyland-bertino.htm... #TOB2025 #TOB25