#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in a fairy tale land where Viv, an orc, has just hung up her sword and opened a coffee shop. 😄☕️
@Cupcake12

Evening mood
Have added to my collection today, including the tagged.

There was a lot going on in this book: a current murder, a historical presumed suicide, a historical presumed accidental death, a bunch of actors (ie excellent liars) as suspects, some emotionally fraught circumstances for Lynley, some excellent detecting by Havers, and some political BS. It made for an entertaining read but I need to give this series a break now. I'm definitely going to continue but I need to read some other stuff first.

August 2025 #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin 😁
@TheAromaofBooks

I'm in the middle of two books but do not expect to finish either tonight so here is my July roundup. Lots of good books this month; I think my favorite is Mary Jane.

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in the Scottish Highlands during a snowstorm/ house party/ murder
@Cupcake12

I really enjoyed meeting Lynley & Havers, although this definitely was darker than I expected! I've already borrowed the next book from the library. Good pick for #TravelingThrills @Jerdencon
@TheAromaofBooks

Soooo many books on my TBR! 📝

Saturday morning, starting a new book at my #happyplace, nothing to do today but read. It should be a good day. 🩷

I finished this book, then turned back and read it all again. I love this, but I still don't quite understand all of it. The letters and the progress of Red and Blue's relationship: yes. The world-building: not completely, but I understand enough for it not to get in the way of the story. Not my usual thing but I truly enjoyed it.

@TheAromaofBooks @Jerdencon Do any of these sound good for #TravelingThrills?

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in Minnesota, getting introduced to ex-sheriff Cork and various townsfolk of Aurora and the nearby Anishinaabe reservation. At the beginning of the book, Cork feels he's at rock bottom as his marriage is imploding, his mentor recently died, & Cork has lost his appointment as sheriff. But soon, things get quite a bit worse for him as people in the community die and/or disappear & Cork can't resist investigating. @Cupcake12

I read this (while enjoying this view 🤩) and it was fine. 🤷‍♀️ I was certainly interested in learning how a book about a fairytale world Hazel had made up as a child in England had been written by a young American author but it was too drawn out. I skimmed a bit here and there because things were taking too long.
Also, I'm kinda tired of love triangles and this one didn't have anything to cause me to feel an exception. I wish that either

This has arrived @TheAromaofBooks 😊 I'll start reading it later this week.
I guess it's time to decide if we want to do another round of #TravelingThrills
I'm game if y'all are @Jerdencon

I loved this! I won't say much as I know there's a group doing a buddy read right now but I have to say how much I love a book that revolves around female friendship. Sammy and Andy are both wonderful characters and I was fully invested in their stories.

I'm not sure about this. It did not play out the way it sounded from the blurb & the expectations set by the cover. The story it does tell- of 3 women whose lives have take them places they don't want to be, and who have to decide what changes to make- is mostly good. My biggest complaint is that there's too much build up/ background for each

#WhereAreYouMonday
So far, in Dublin but the cover leads me to think we won't be staying there
@Cupcake12

Liv's mother died by apparent suicide on her 6th birthday. On her 25th birthday she receives a packet from her mother's lawyer and everyone at her job is murdered while she's at lunch. Panicked, she goes on the run (and ends up attaching herself to a random guy who may not be so random) while trying to figure out what happened, then and now. So far so interesting. And I guess the suspense part of the book was OK. (Faint praise intended) ⬇️

First I enjoyed Dex's & Mosscap's conversations about existence & identity. This has been described as "cozy sci-fi" which I think is very apt. But I could have used more world- building & plot. Also I loved the descriptions of Dex's wagon, the towns in Panga, & the tea "ceremony" itself but I was invested in their journey to becoming a successful tea monk & felt short changed that we're just told it took two years & lots of experimentation. ?‍♀️

Sunday reading 🌞

The morning is chilly (which is awesome because that means it isn't hot), the tea IS hot, and the book has a catchy first line that's already pulling me in. I ❤️ weekends #BackPorchReading

#WhereAreYouMonday
The first half of this takes place in NYC (though the MC lives in Chicago) but now we're in Mumbai to get some answers.
@Cupcake12

Another day, another book.
Yesterday's attempt did not work for me either (I hate this pattern 😖) so I'm trying this one and I feel good about it. 🤞🏻

I get why all the other mothers hate Florence- I hate her too. She's self-absorbed and irresponsible. She's a bad sister and friend and, despite loving her son, is a terrible mother. She's morally flexible and does something quite awful in an attempt to protect her child from suspicion in the disappearance of a classmate. This was such an entertaining train-wreck I could not put it down! And the actual mystery (of the vanished boy) was good.

I‘m fortunate in that my life has contained more good and neutral days than bad ones but, still, I don‘t know how I would have kept on keeping on without books. 💗

I'm struggling to read right now (witness 8 books for all of June 😬) and the Fiona Davis book I started yesterday is not working for me right now. I know I love her so I'll come back to it later. In the meantime, I'll see if this grabs me. 🤞🏻

My best book of the first half of 2025 (HOW can half the year be over already??) is.... These Silent Woods!
I've read some really good books this year! I'm looking forward to the next 6 months of reading.

Starting a new book this morning (I love holidays 😊📚❤️🤍💙)
#BackPorchReading

I loved this! It's the summer of 1975, and Mary Jane has a job nannying for a family in her neighborhood. The father is a psychiatrist and is treating a rock star who is staying with them, along with his famous wife. Mary Jane's parents are cold, rigid, and conventional, so the free spirited lifestyle she encounters in the other household opens her eyes to new ideas. I will be watching for more by this author.

Just one more work day this week! 🎆 Time to relax and start a new book.

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin books for July 2025 😊
@TheAromaofBooks

Apparently I didn't read much in June. 🤔 My favorites were the Hillerman books, I need to get the next one.

I'm way behind on my #TravelingThrills book. Sorry @Jerdencon @TheAromaofBooks 😬
I'll try to finish this week.

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in 1970s Baltimore and, while I've never been to Maryland, the 70s vibe is taking me right back to my childhood! 🥰
@Cupcake12

There were some good things about this (representation galore, good family- and found family- relationships) but the parts I didn't like (insta- everything, a way too alpha Alpha Male*) tipped the scales too far for me. I'm really not the target audience so that's probably the problem. 🤷‍♀️ (*he was very sweet to her but I'm not in the mood for that level of overbearing.)

I'm #onmountaintime for a few more hours. 😍
This was surprisingly deep for a book marketed as a thriller- which feels inaccurate. David has a one-night stand & when he wakes up, the guy in his bed is dead. Fearing he'll be blamed for the death, he calls his literary agent & they decide to take the body back to the hotel room where they originally met. But when he gets there, the guy's husband catches him in the room! (No, David didn't know he

I'm reading while escaping the heat in the mountains for a couple days. 😊 This political thriller is a quick, entertaining read but it's #goodnotgreat
Every character in this book (except the child, Bella) is unlikable and morally gray so, even though the reader is rooting for the James family, it's hard to

This was cute! I loved both Aiden and Lucie (and Maya and Grayson) and I was rooting for them. I loved that the plot evolved around a radio show and that Lucie is an auto mechanic. And that she has a nearly perfect coparenting set-up with Grayson.
The last few years I've found romance boring/annoying, so I haven't read much of the genre, but maybe I'm getting over that. 🤔🤞🏻 I'll try more by this author.

This was great! But also quite sad- small spoilers in comment. I'm glad I picked this series up again. I read them long ago (I was in HS, I think) and I've always remembered liking them and, upon rereading a couple, I can say I very much enjoy Hillerman's writing and I like being in Joe Leaphorn's head.

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in Baltimore. Only 4 chapters in but this is good (and funny) so far.
@Cupcake12

#BackPorchReading 😊

I loved the setting of this and the premise (Sea witches! Shipwrecks! Sunken treasure!) but it fell flat for me. Mari's storyline was better developed so I enjoyed it more and I admired her. Haven's story should have been full of adventure & romance and it was, -ish. But I feel like we only got the outline of her story: she only went diving once before being betrayed by her dad's buddy & her employers, and I felt like a lot more should have been

Weekend reading plans: I'm finally going to finish Amalfi Curse and I need to read the Nancy Drew today. Also need to make progress on AVLV and I'm eager to jump into MJ.🤞🏻

Y'all! My son introduced me to Epic: The Musical (of the odyssey) on Spotify and it's amazing! I'm listening to it while reading this graphic novel version of the tale for a fully immersive experience. 😄

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3HvgaZeBWbr7UjFeicPFRI?si=TGRqwulCRjG13ABqQO3V...

#WhereAreYouMonday
I'm in Italy 🩵💙💜
@Cupcake12

For #JaneAustenThenAndNow I've read the novellas related to Northanger Abbey. There are 3: As Much As He Can deals w General Tilney & it was not bad; The Art Of Sinking is about John Thorpe & I couldn't finish it 😬; For Mischief's Sake is Frederick Tilney's story & the one I liked best of the three.
These stories try to flesh out Austen's rogues, often w an aim of leaving a better impression of them. It sometimes works for me but not always.

#BackPorchReading I 💜 Saturdays 😊

This was good but was too long; both narratives felt too drawn out but the unusual format was intriguing. It was heartbreaking to consider the stories of women and girls forced into plural marriages and the effect it had on the children (and surplus boys) as well. Both timelines were interesting but I felt that the story of Jordan and his mother could have been fleshed out more.
Between a pick and a so-so.

It's a chilly morning for porch reading, but, as always, it's making me happy. Our road trip was fun but there's no place like home! I started this while we were in Moab, as I wanted to read something set in Utah, and I'm still plugging along.

Here are June's #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks 😊