Happy Christmas, or the season of fairy tale retellings! ❤️💚❤️💚 #BookHaul

It seems as if art departments are always underfunded, so the Bob Whites come together to run a bikeathon to raise funds for the arts @ the high school. But then there is vandalism & threatening calls.

Another fantastic story of the Bob Whites coming together to work for their community. A mystery that Trixie seems to fall into more, & real communication between friends! Also, love that I still have to look up words for Mart. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

I‘m finished getting ready to head over to family‘s for Christmas Eve in a bit, and I just knew this had to be my word for #WeirdWordWednesday !

Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, I hope you all are safe and warm, and with people you love!

Thank you all for making this site such a respite. ❤️💚❤️💚

I am making a commitment to increase the nonfiction I read in 2026.

And why not make it fun? Every month I‘m going to try & read a nonfiction book based on 12 of my favorite historical American Girl Dolls. #AmericanGirlReads

And then I thought, why not expand it? So I made a Storygraph challenge with some possible fiction & nonfiction prompts for each doll.

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/decd114d-c3bf-4960-a1c3-b761b26...

The life of Madame Restell, one of New York city‘s most accomplished abortionists in the late 1800s.

This was a fascinating look at a unique woman. From such an impoverished life, she quickly became a wealthy woman while providing an important aspect of women‘s health care. Frustrating to read, as we are fighting the same goddamned fight, & also weird tone shifts, & unnecessary tangents, like an entire chapter on architecture.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

I just used this one for my Sunday Funday post, and I really loved it! The description of the weather and everyone cozied up in the gorgeous inn was perfect for winter reading!

#MiddleGradeMonday @Karisimo @Daisey

1. Visited England with my mother! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
2. Started writing again! ✍️
3. One of my best friends got engaged! 💍

#MajicMonday @Eggs

#WeeklyForecast

I can‘t even begin to describe how excited I am for this Moby Dick retelling I‘ve got coming up! 🐳

#BookReport

What a fascinating range of books this week has been!

5,000 years after the Labyrinth, the Minotaur is working as a line cook in the American South. & all he wants is to live his life & make the connections all people crave.

Such an odd little book. Just the day by day life of the Minotaur. Paced pretty slow. Tonally, it flip flops between tits/ass jokes & melancholy examinations of the deep loneliness that affects those seen as Other by their community. Not sure how I feel about the end.🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

Nate‘s just looking for a break after losing his job. Then he gets sort of kidnapped by a former Marine & a girl w/ too many secrets on the run from the government.

Fun road trip story, kind of like a queer Firestarter meets ET w/ interesting characters (especially Art!). The pacing felt off, particularly in the 1st half, & the narrative got a bit repetitive, but it‘s also a sweet story of finding family in the face of destruction.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

This was a lovely little story about a mysterious inn, pirates, ghosts, and a hidden treasure.

I should actually continue this series!

#SundayFunday Have a happy Solstice or Christmas or anything that you choose to celebrate this week, and don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

There‘s a little coffee shop where the patrons can sit & come to terms w/ huge changes in their lives like loss or a first love.

This was sweet, but I went into it expecting a little more. There are only three parts, & I did appreciate the open ended qualities of each, but I wish each had had a little more time, & I definitely wish that the coffee shop itself had played a bigger role.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Hahaha! Nice! Anyway, I totally guessed on half of these, and I‘ve only seen this movie once like six years ago! 😂 Might have to brush up on this movie!

#TTT #TakeThreeThursday @dabbe

After escaping the icy Tundar, Sena & Remy land on Remy‘s old home jungle planet w/ a plan to find Remy‘s lost friend. Only, an ex partner holds that info hostage until Remy agrees to help the revolution.

Remy wasn‘t quite as engaging a narrator as Sena had been, but this was still a fascinating sequel! Planet wide revolutions, conspiracy, betrayals, there‘s a lot happening here, sometimes too much. But engaging enough I‘d read book 3!🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

Has my day been absolutely full of things that need doing, and have I enjoyed being around and helping the people I love? Yes.

Am I looking forward to tomorrow when nothing is expected or needed of me, and I can bury myself in blankets and books? Also yes.

#WeirdWordWednesday #WeirdWords @CBee

Non-fiction #MyLitsyAwards ! @CSeydel ‘s template again!

Best Overall - Girl Warrior

Best People to Hang Out With - The Mythmakers

Most Gripping - Read This When Things Fall Apart

Most Dishy - The King‘s English

Most Entertaining - Useless Etymology

Biggest Surprise - Murder Ballads

Saw @CSeydel ‘s #MyLitsyAwards and just knew I had to fill it out!

Best Buddy Read - A Witch‘s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Best characters to hang out with - the City Watch in Feet of Clay

Best Auld Lang Spine book - A Strange and Stubborn Endurance

Best New to Me Author - Molly O‘Neill

Most Sequel Worthy - Of Monsters and Mainframes

Biggest Surprise - The Tainted Cup

This was such fun! Loved going back over the year.

Din & Ana‘s newest case might be their most difficult w/ the victim found in pieces, negotiations of the Empire acquiring a new kingdom, & a terrorist threat on the horizon.

The world building astounds me! Combined w/ in depth character work, a mystery that kept me guessing even as I predicted 1/2 the solve, Bennet‘s quickly becoming a favorite. I am getting a touch irritated w/ the repetition of how Din‘s Engraving abilities work. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

There were a lot of picture books about Kwanzaa to be found, and then I found this one!

I vaguely remember seeing Chocolate‘s NEATE books in my Scholastic Fair growing up.

#MiddleGradeMonday @Karisimo @Daisey

Getting up out of my nice, warm, cozy bed and going to work.

Except now I‘m home from work, so I‘m curled up with a blanket and The Princess Bride movie. ❤️

#MajicMonday @Eggs

#WeeklyForecast

I‘m almost done with A Drop of Corruption, and what do you mean I have to wait until next year for the next book?! 🥺

#BookReport

I finished two ARCs this week! 🎉🎉🎉

Bree‘s destiny as a Scion of Arthur is under threat when the Order doesn‘t want to acknowledge her claim, & a mysterious Hunter that has been chasing her ancestors appears.

An intense roller coaster of a sequel! The world gets fleshed out a lot more, we got more of the magic, & Bree making connections outside of the Order. I do find myself impatient w/ the love triangle, & I‘m not a fan of cliffhangers. But I‘m excited for book 3!🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

There is nothing in the world quite like a gift from someone that knows you really well! 💖

I can‘t wait to dive into this retelling of the Minotaur in the American South.

Why yes, I did make a bookmark out of the gorgeous wrapping paper.

My nibling gave this to me a couple years ago for Christmas. I had never read the book before, and we had been talking about the movie.

I thought it wouldn‘t live up to the hype it has, but it absolutely did. ❤️💚❤️💚

#SundayFunday Stay safe and warm today, and don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

It is dark and chilly outside, so I‘m curled up with a book, hot chocolate, and a lovely candle. I‘m all set. 💖

No one is expecting Nancy to return to Eleanor‘s School. But ghosts are killing the living statutes of the Halls of the Dead. & Nancy needs all the help she can get.

Love the return of Nancy! The story got to acknowledge how hurtful her leaving had been, showed friends reconnecting after a long time apart, gave us insights into 2 new worlds! I was frustrated by who the villain turned out to be, otherwise a solid entry into this series!🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

10 people are invited to the mysterious Soldier Island. At dinner, they are each accused of getting away w/ murder. & then the 1st body drops.

1 of my favorite Christie stories. A fascinating examination of morality, & a spectrum of guilt. 1 of her stories where you must reread it, because as soon as you know who did it, you can go back & truly appreciate the breadcrumbs she trailed. & Stevens is utter perfection in this creepy mystery.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Happy Sea of Monsters day, yesterday! The nibling came over and had requested a blue dinner for the premier.

The blue bread and blue ranch dressing worked a treat!

The blue dye for the potato chips did not. 😂😂😂 #BookAdaptations

A mystery author‘s book signing is upended when the author mysteriously collapses. Lana puts her investigative skills to work when it turns out the author was murdered.

I love the settings for this series. The community is so lovely & works together so well. & the friendships Lana has are so fun. & while the mystery was predictable, all the suspects were set up well. Was less of a fan of Adam in this 1, but that might just be me.🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

I actually haven‘t read this one, but it‘s been on my TBR forever! I really enjoyed the Artemis Fowl series, so I‘m looking forward to reading this some time!

#MiddleGradeMonday @Karisimo @Daisey

#MajicMonday @Eggs

I can see the pinks and golds and blues of the sunrise as I finish getting ready for work. ☀️

Robert Burns‘s poetry and songs.

A delightful collection that really showcase the author‘s love for his country‘s landscape and history, and people. So many poems lovingly describing people he knew. I need to find some of these read out loud. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

#WeeklyForecast

It‘s sequels all the way down for my upcoming reads!

#BookReport

So many good books read this week!

Princess Melilot has been sent away to marry a king after failing at too many quests. Her travels bring her into conflict w/ mutant monsters, 12 identical huntsman w/ secrets, & a talking misogynistic lion.

I was giggling like a loon. I really love fairy tale mash up stories, & this one referenced so many. But also manages to be a compelling story of a princess finding her own power & coming to terms w/ fraught familial relationships.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗

I remember reading this book years ago, and the original cover with the red mittens and the snow just stuck in my head!

#SundayFunday Have a safe and warm day, and don‘t forget to tag me in your posts!

“Bookstores are the happiest places on earth.” 👍🏻👍🏻

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

#5JoysFriday @DebinHawaii

New books!
Christmas presents wrapped!
New October Daye book announced!
Podcast episode that made me laugh so hard I cried!
#AuldLangSpine list!

A Christmas charity event for the local animal shelter gets messy when the big donor pharmaceutical CEO gets murdered. Monica decides to investigate when 1 too many of her neighbors ends up having a motive.

This was delightful. A charming setting, beautifully described for the winter season. Fun side characters, a mystery that kept all the suspects suspicious, & Monica has a really fun family dynamic. Wish there were recipes! 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Y‘all!!!!! Look at the cover for the next October Daye book! I‘m so excited!

#CoverReveal

Sometimes, all one needs is time to take a break & a book recommendation to change your world. Fortunately, that‘s just what the Soyangri Book Kitchen provides.

I really love these fabulist stories that are just vignettes of people dealing w/ problems stumbling on a magical little place that helps them recontextualize their lives. I do wish we could have gotten more time w/ each customer & the staff, but this was lovely.🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

#BookSpinBingo #BingoBoard December and Christmas are some of my favorite times of the year. I have so much to look forward to this month!

#BookSpin NetGalley #DoubleSpin Bloodmarked

#Roll100 The Inconvenient Indian, Great Fortune, Burns Poetry

#OokBOokClub Where‘s My Cow?

#BobWhiteBuddies Mystery off Old Telegraph Road

#QueerBC The Bones Beneath My Skin (I knew I had forgotten to add one!)

#ThematicCozies Where the Bodies are Berried

Saint Nicholas was Greek?!? BRB, I have to add baklava to my Christmas wish list!

What a fun quiz! #TTT #TakeThreeThursday @dabbe

Success! I am so ready for Christmas. 🎉🎉🎉🎉 #AudioWrapping

Some of these presents have been sitting in my closet since the first week of October. 😅😅

Yes, yes, that is in fact a tiny crowbar taped to the top of the large present in the back and on the left.

And so the wrapping begins! #ChristmastimeIsHere #AudioWrapping

Good news! I bought the last of the Christmas presents.

Bad news! I bought more presents for me too! #BookHaul #OopsIDidItAgain

What a magnificent list from @WildAlaskaBibliophile !

Four authors that have been on my watch list for a while, and a book I actually already own (Silver in the Wood!) Got a few placed on hold already, and I‘m so excited to dive in!

Thanks again and again to @monalyisha for putting so much work into this! #AuldLangSpine

The nonfiction continues to increase! Woohoo! 🎉🎉🎉

#StoryGraph #StoryGraphStats #StoryGraphWrapup