#teamraindeergamers
1. Snuggle under the covers, I‘m not a fan of the cold
2. Mystery and historical fiction
3. Hot chocolate and butternut squash soup
4. Love holiday movies, have many favorites. The first that come to mind: Die Hard, You‘ve Got Mail, Miracle on 34th St.
Don‘t have a favorite holiday book
5. Finding new books (because my TBR list always wants to grow! 🤯). Enjoying December with Litsy friends

This was the first book I got for kindle, back in 2009. It was free & languished on my TBR list until the Napoleonic prompt from #bookedintime. FINALLY read this. The Napoleonic Wars with dragons. Great world building and I‘m totally invested in finding out what‘s next for Temeraire. I‘m on a roll reading books with great dragon characters. Next up is Yarros‘s Iron Flame.

I hope #serieslove2023 goes to 2024. I keep adding new series! 🤦‍♀️

Surpassed my goal for #novelnovember.
I finished all 6 books! 🥳
Loved both nonfiction books : The Six, Lost City of the Monkey God.
Enjoyed His Majesty‘s Dragon. Historical fantasy; Napoleonic War with Dragons!
Glad I finally got to The Secret Garden. First time read for me—quite late to the party
Paris Bookseller was a bit out of my comfort zone, but interesting to learn of Sylvia Beach
Agatha Christie book was meh—Can‘t win them all

Excellent read about the first women astronauts..including a bit about the Mercury 13-women who went through the physiological and psychological testing in 1960, but were still excluded from the space program. Highly recommended to anyone wanting to learn more of about the female pioneers of NASA and all they went through to achieve their dreams.

#novelnovember #bookspinbingo #doublespin

Well I‘m sooo surprised! I know several people who loved this book. However, I just could not get invested in it. Gave up at 32%. I would have bailed sooner if not for the glowing accolades. I think it‘s me, not the book. Anyone else struggle with this one?

#hailthebail

Had to rate this a pick! I don‘t think I‘ve ever had such a visceral reaction to a book!
I wanted to throw this across the room several times. I was screaming in my head for Rachel to get a clue, STFU, get real! This was a train wreck..and I couldn‘t look away! Initially felt sorry for Rachel…by the end of the book I felt she & Anna deserved each other. Cannot believe she wrote this, especially as her cc charges were reversed. ⬇️

I wasn‘t familiar with Douglas Preston, journalist, but WOW! He joined the expedition into the rain forest of inner Honduras to report on the search for an ancient lost city. Snakes, bugs, mud, a curse, and so much more. It felt like an Indiana Jones adventure. But real..so all the more terrifying! I couldn‘t put this down! Archaeology, science, medicine. My cuppa tea! I must read another of Preston‘s non fiction. Such a fan now! #novelnovember

Doing great with my goal to get to some nonfiction this month.

I don‘t read many celeb bios but I had to read this one. From Thespian in the RSC to Captain of the Enterprise! He‘s such a versatile artist! This book totally met my expectations. Irreverent at times. Heartfelt at others. Apologetic when needed. So many moments that captured my interest. My favorite was his meeting with Sting. I won‘t say more…read it for yourself. 😀. #doublespin

Joining @Andrew65 for the #novelnovember readathon. Hoping to finish 4 books…and continue to make headway with Don Quixote! I still haven‘t decided on which book from my TBR mountain to read for #bookedintime, but I think it will be one of the two pictured. @Cuilin

Absolutely loved this book! The beauty of the cover matches the beauty within! Character driven book with a great sense of place. It met a prompt for #52bookclub2023, set during the Roaring 20‘s. We follow Zora‘s journey from a childhood in poverty as she reaches for her dream of one day becoming a fashion designer. I was hooked from start to finish! This is a new author for me and I will definitely look out for others. Any recommendations?

Despite my time limitations for reading/posting on Litsy, I had a fun #Scarathlon and finished 14 books.
Thanks @AnnR @Read4life @aperfectmjk @Clwojick & @TheAromaofBooks no full bingo cards, but hit a few bingos on all.

25,935 points for the 2nd half of Scarathlon.
Grand total for the month: 33,814. Yippee!
Thanks to a great team leader @Emilymdxn and to my #skeletoncrew teammates! You all made it fun! Hope next time I can share more in posts

Woot Woot! 3 Bingo‘s this month!
I read 14 books, 13 by audio.
November does not look as promising, but I‘m hoping to get at least 8 read. 🤞🤞

I surpassed my goal for #outstandingoctober! I finished 5 books! 🥳 #skeletoncrew
It helped that I did a tremendous amount of driving. These books were great companionship!
My favorite was The Paris Library—even with the setting of Occupied France during WWII.
Think I‘ll be avoiding books about wars for awhile.

I‘ve not had much time or energy to get here, so posts have been few despite it being Scarathlon. 🙈
Hopefully this will change soon.

Pay, pal, pals, pall, part, parts, party, past, pass, path, paths, pathos. yes, par, pen, pens, spoon, spoons, spool, spools, scan, scans, sap, sallow, seen, saw, seethe, loner, loners, loon, loons, scare, scares, snare, snares, scathe, sell, seal, stole, steal, steel, share, shares, shallow, slope, slap, hollow, loon, loons, lone, lane, lanes, snow, those, these, teen, teens, snare, snares, scratch, three, wheel, wean, west,

I highly encourage you to read this book if you‘ve been putting it off!
I avoided this book (and all the movies) because I‘m not a fan of horror. MISTAKE!
This is an amazing book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I now have a much better perspective of the all the more contemporary versions of these characters of Dracula, Renfield, and Van Helsing. Wish I had read this years ago.

This audible version with the multiple narrators is perfect for the epistolary style.

Thanks to @Emilymdxn for introducing me to this book! A quick, fun, heartwarming read about two friends spending their last Pumpkin Patch Jamboree together because they will be starting college next year. Great to start the fall/halloween season. I‘m not much of a graphic novel reader, but this was lovely! #skeletoncrew #scarathlon

I‘m joining @Andrew65 for #OutstandingOctober
My goal is to finish at least 3 books during this event. I think i‘ll make it.

For the first time, I‘m in the middle of 5 books at the same time. Ack!
4 are group/buddy reads. I‘m behind the group on 2 of them, but hope to catch up soon!

Bwahahahaha, post edited. It‘s Outstanding October, not 20 in 4 yet 🤦‍♀️

#Scaralthonphotochallenge orange
#skeletoncrew @Emilymdxn

Joining @BarkingMadRead for #pemberlittens #hashtagbrigade buddy read this month.

Does anyone else miss the old Penguin Publishing orange book spines? 😍😍😍. Wish I had collected more of them…..

#Scaralthonphotochallenge
Day 7 pumpkin

Both books are on my TBR list this month!

I‘m racing through this series! 3rd book in 2 weeks! Historical mysteries are one of my favorite genre. So glad I finally started this one. I love the characters more and more as the books progress. I‘ll be jumping ahead to book 8 to join @Andrew65 on Librarything for a group read of the book. Join us if you are interested! Andrew creates wonderful questions and the discussions are lively, fun and informative.
#serieslove2023

New author for me. Absolutely loved this one. Creepy, scary and a bit out of my comfort zone, but worth the chills! A part time true crime blogger spots a woman acquitted of 2 unsolved murders in her hometown. She gets more than she bargained for when she decides to try interview the woman.
Recommend as an audioread.
I will definitely try another by this author!

#authoramonth
#littenlisten joining the litten group, trying for bingo!

I achieved my goal for the readathon! 26 hours read
Finished 2 books, started a third

Road to Roswell is campy and wacky. Alien abduction, a UFO convention, a road trip, and romance…with Men in Black and an Elvis impersonator. A silly but fun read. I got bored in the middle—it was a tad too long. But fun for what it is. The audio version is the way to go for this one.

#2 of the Sebastain St Cyr series did not disappoint, reading book 3 soon.

Why did no one tell me this was a creepy, scary thriller!!!!!!
Are all Simone St James books this genre? #authoramonth

😱😳😧

Will need to stop reading before sunset and have a alternate happy, comedic book to read before bed or I‘ll have nightmares!

I am a fraidy cat and avoid these kind of books/movies. But I‘m too far into it…and hooked…so will try to finish. 😂

On the upside, I‘ll get the extra points for Scaralthon! #skeletoncrew

Finally decided on my list for October.
Let‘s see how far I get! 😀
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Hooray! Great month!
1. I got a Bingo!
2. I finished both the Bookspin and DoubleSpin books!
3 I gave 4.5 stars to 4 books:
Tom Lake, Chain-Gang All Stars, Witness for the Prosecution and Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I‘m joining #20in24 this month!
My goal is 20 hours of reading, but hoping for more! 😃

Finally, finally, finally getting to this series.
I promised myself I would not start a new one until I finished one of the 32 other series I am currently reading.
Fail! But this was worth it. A great first book. Love Sebastian! Love the Regency Britain historical setting! Appreciate a Magistrate (police officer) that is neither a buffoon nor an antagonistic pain in the …. Lots of great characters! Looking forward to more. #serieslove2023

All ‘new to me authors‘. Absolutely loved Tom Lake, but suspect Meryl Streep‘s performance was the reason. Patchett may be too ‘schmaltz‘ for me, but I‘ll certainly try another. Both the other books started very slow and I nearly bailed on both. I‘m glad I persevered. Ended up enjoying both and was completely bowled over by Chain-Gang All Stars. Once I got past all the blood and guts, I found it an incredible read.

Here‘s my #scaralthon #tbr list.
The bottom row are my buddy reads/definite TBR in October.
Not sure what else I‘ll read that is specific to the ‘scary/autumn themes, but the top row shows the only books in my massive kindle tbr list that fit—all now downloaded to my kindle app.
#skeletoncrew @Emilymdxn

Only a few days left to sign up. Join the fun! #scarathlon #skeletoncrew @Emilymdxn

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdnawYo1IDsBAr2s_LlqzBQlxM8KGwIqDxE1Dm4...

I may be the oddball of the group. I‘m a scaredy-cat and avoid horror/scary books as much as possible. I even had to fast forward through the Ready, Player, One movie when it got to the part about The Shining. Lol. However, I‘m a fan of The Walking Dead and read Chris Carter mysteries that are not for the faint of heart. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I‘ll be enjoying the lighter side of Halloween! #skeletoncrew see below for answers to the questions.

My favorite Agatha Christie read to date!
Time to rewatch the Billy Wilder movie.
I have vague memories of seeing it ages ago and recall it was excellent.

Loved this book! Took me ages to finally read it!
It‘s so true that your mood & the medium used effect your reading.
I tried this e-book about >5 years ago, thought it was meh and set it aside pretty quickly.
I like epistolary style (84 Charing Cross road is still in my top 10 books of all time) and all my reading buddies loved it, so I was shocked!
Tried it again via audio and absolutely loved it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thanks to #bookedintime for the 🥾

Catch up post, all read last week. All good, but not spectacular.

Gaiman book was a blast from the past! Loved getting some HHGTTG dirt & hearing excerpts from the radio shows. Quite fun for die hard fans—must read the audio version with Simon Jones-aka Arthur Dent

Landay book was a great mystery about a Mom who disappeared and Dad is prime suspect, but the pacing felt slow at times.

Binti was for #authoramonth. Always fun to try new authors.

Pride and Prejudice retelling set in modern day Chinatown. I‘m a fan of many ‘austen inspired reads, but this one fell flat for me. #moremehthanyeah. On the upside, it did complete #Titlestartingwiththeletter”G” for #52bookclub23, so not a total loss.

Here‘s my September bookspin list.
#bookspinbingo

No Bingo again this month, but a productive month with an eclectic group of reads: fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, science fiction, and non fiction.
Finished both the BookSpin and DoubleSpin reads. 🥳
Favorites: Hunting Evil and Fourth Wing
#bookspinbingo

😔🙄🤬😱😔😭😔🤔 An emotional rollercoaster! Disheartening, disturbing and thought provoking book about the plethora of guns in the US. Larson does a good job of explaining how it got so bad & tries to provide a solution to let people own guns while still protecting the public. Written more than 20 years ago, it is somewhat outdated and now seems a bit naive. Ultimately he lays the blame with the NRA & the entertainment industry. I tend to agree.

I had high hopes for this book, but found it to be fairly un-engaging. Although it was not the best choice for this month‘s #bookedintime read, it wasn‘t a total loss since it removed a book that had been languishing on my TBR pile for nearly 10 years.

A War College where the students are trained to bond with a dragon….if they survive the first year. I heard it was good for people who enjoyed Divergent and the Hunger Games, so I gave it a try. It was true for me! Loved it! This is a complete book with a satisfying conclusion that can be read as a stand alone. However, It ends with a twist that makes me want to read further adventures. Book 2 will be released in November. Can‘t wait!

@TheSpineView
Thanks for the tag @Cuilin

School started this week!

The tagged book. I read it many, many years ago. It was a favorite of mine. I‘ve thought about re-reading it, but afraid it won‘t hold up.

What an exciting read! I must say, I started this book about 2 months ago; I set it aside after listening to the 1st hour & wasn‘t feeling the love. A few days ago I picked up where I had left off & loved the rest. I think the necessary history and background made it a slow start, but once the shipwreck occurred and the survival story set in…Wow! Loved the reader! I‘m not usually a fan of a strong, emotive reader, but his enthusiasm added a lot!

I love this series…and this book is my favorite to date. Hard to write a review without giving anything away, but I thought this was a great psychological thriller. A bit reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs…

#serieslove2023 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

July was not a great month for me.
Yellowface was far and away my favorite of the month.
The Witch Hunter‘s Tale and Ink Blood Sister Scribe were quite good.
No bookspin and no bingo.
Here‘s hoping August is a better month 🤞
#bookspinbingo

I think I am in the minority here, but I just could not get into this book.
I attempted several different times, thinking it was just bad timing.
After reaching 40%, I decided it‘s time to give up. #hailthebail
I enjoyed some parts, but others were dull, dull, dull.
First book by this author for me. I‘m afraid to try any others 🙈

I don‘t know how this got on my radar. It seemed like it would be too YA for me. It was not.
A library of magical books. Two estranged sisters. One stays at home and protects the library. The other stays far from home and never remains in any one place too long. Mystery, magic, romance, family. I loved it all.
A slightly slow start but the pacing got better and better throughout and by midpoint I didn‘t want to set it down.

I had high expectations because I loved reading The Marriage Portrait. However, I found this one slow to start and uneven at times. I had so much trouble following all the characters that I had to look for a list of them to help me keep up. Nevertheless, parts of the book were so compelling I couldn‘t put it down. My favorite part of the book was following the journey of the flea that brought the Plague—fascinating!
#authoramonth @Soubhiville

I enjoyed getting back to this historical mystery series that is set in 17th century York. This time Midwife Bridget Hodgson is pitted against witch hunter‘s that are out to execute innocent women. This one was a real page turner. Sam Thomas excels at setting a scene—he makes you feel like you are there!

#bookedintime @Cuilin
#serieslove2023 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

I had a great first half of the year!
My favorite was Demon Copperhead, but all 4 books in the top row were 5 star reads for me.
I rated all the others as 4.5 stars.
Can‘t wait to see how the next 6 months go. I can tell it‘s going to be hard to choose a top 10 for 2023!

I cannot believe how much I loved this book despite disliking nearly every character. The MC has no redeemable features and she does a wonderful job deluding herself into thinking she‘s in the right. Loved this first person narrative. It was a cringe-worthy read I found hard to put down. Highly recommend the audio version! I knew nothing about the book before reading it…which I think was ideal. Thanks #camplitsy for putting this on my radar.