@TheAromaofBooks I overcommitted to too many buddy reads for September and I don‘t want to make the same mistake in October. So I‘ve decided to opt out #TheScarletLetter, although I‘d still like to remain on the tag list so I can read the snarky hashtags and find out what others think and feel about the story of Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl. #RandomClassics

I enjoyed this very much for #AuthorAMonth. Binti is a Master Harmonizer, she sees beauty in numbers. She sees the world around her in numbers, so she sees the beauty all around. When she encounters an alien race for the first time she is harmonizing a peace between them and humanity. I listened to this in audio format and the narrator‘s voice was especially lovely.

It seemed to start off a little slow, but then it picked up so I kept listening. This is the first book I‘ve listened to narrated by Wil Wheaton and I wasn‘t exactly sure how I‘d react to a story read by Wesley Crusher. But he did a good job. I could tell which character he was voicing when he spoke, which I believe is vital when listening to a book. Down with books narrated by AI! Enjoy folks! Now back to our regularly scheduled reading.

I‘m signed up for a number of buddy reads and I‘m having a difficult time keeping track of them. So I‘m going to list as many as I can, along with the host. Please help me add any In which I‘ve shown an interest or I may have forgotten.

I had no idea there were so many #JaneAdjacent books until just this month! My true confession is that I‘ve read about half of Pride and Prejudice and that‘s pretty much it. I had a terrible time keeping track of all the characters in The Murder of Mr. Wickham. So I‘ll make every effort to take care of catching up with Jane Austen‘s books while still enjoying as many #JaneAdjacent as possible.

This book was a delight. And the killer was not someone I would have predicted. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟#PemberLittens #JaneAdjacent

This book was delightful. It was so wonderful listening to Sadie change, not just the way she saw the world, but how she felt about it. In the author's afterward and acknowledgements, I'm not sure if she uses the word kindness, but that was the overall message this book gave me. I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6 stars out of 5.

I enjoyed this mystery and its lessons on the history (and, wow, what a history) of chocolate. I didn‘t really buy the romance, though. It didn‘t build, it just sort of happened near the end of the book. I probably will listen to the second entry in this series, The Cocoa Conspiracy, because I enjoy a good mystery and I want to hear more about the history of chocolate.🍫

This isn‘t the type of book I usually read or listen to, but I‘m really glad that I took the time for this one. I described it to a friend as Die Hard meets Designated Survivor meets MacGyver. This was just so much fun! Yes, it‘s violent and bad things happen, but I‘m pretty much in love with the protagonist (hero?), Dez.

Look what I‘m doing, y‘all. 🙌

I listened for 2 1/2 hours and decided to call it quits. Maybe if I had tried it at another time, I would have been able to enjoy it. When I was younger I read everything I could get my hands on. But I‘m more of a mood reader these days. Sorry, folks in #RandomClassics. Maybe next month‘s selection of The Scarlet Letter will better hold my attention.

I just started listening to this book and already I‘m hooked. An attempt on the life of the Prince Regent AND a lesson on the history of chocolate. I had no idea that over the millennia hot chocolate was a luxurious beverage but no one in Europe knew how to prepare chocolate to be eaten until the mid-1800s. As Mr. Spock would say, “Fascinating.”

This is actually the third book in a cozy mystery series set in a small Scottish village. Near the end of the story the MC is given a sweet Scottish Fold. I prefer to read books in a series in order, but this one is included with my Audible subscription until 9/12 so I read it out of order. The who and why of the mystery are well done so I would recommend the book and the series to anyone who likes cozies.

This book is three novellas by three different authors and each novella is part of a different series. Each murder is written around the theme of cocoa. I‘m not sure any of them works very well as a one-off, but it has brought three different cozy mystery series to my attention and I might look into one or all of them. It‘s a pick mostly for that reason. And for those of you who bake, two of the novellas provide recipes. 😋

This book was sort of a Tom Clancy-light. I haven‘t read anything by Clancy since the 80s because his writing is so dense, short on character development, and technology-focused. Unmanned is about technology also, but it does seem to be a bit more character driven. I give it a pick because I kept reading to find out what happened. I only give picks or bails, nothing in-between for me.

Mystery rapists, lousy psychiatrists, ghosts. Meh.

I just realized the narrator for A Passage to India by E.M. Forster, which we are reading for the #HashtagBrigade, is also the narrator for Kim by Rudyard Kipling, which we are reading for #RandomClassics. @TheAromaofBooks and @BarkingMadRead are you two working in cahoots?

This short just whets my appetite to learn more about the life and work of Marie Curie.

The little surprise twists in these stories really catch you off guard.

My review is a little late but this is one of the books I finished for August‘s #TBRTarot, a book with a name in the title. Maximum Ride (known as Max to her friends) is the 14-year-old leader of a flock of children whose DNA has been spliced with bird DNA. These kids have wings and can fly, and their powers are growing. They‘re fleeing the evil corporation who experimented on them and raised them in dog kennels. This is the second book (cont)⬇️

Indigo is journalist Nora Hesper. Nora Hesper is the urban legend and vigilante who punishes those who harm others, particularly when those causing the harm are the members of the cult The Children of Phonos. This time they are kidnapping, torturing, and leaving the mutilated bodies of children in public places. The more Nora learns about the Phonoi the more she begins to question her memories and her very identity. Recommended with caution.

At first, I felt ambivalent about this book. It took me a while to get on the right wavelength, if that makes any sense. But I kept listening and began to really appreciate the author‘s narrative. I enjoyed some parts of it more than others, but I just kept listening. There was nothing dull about this book, so I felt no need at all to bail. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes their fairy tales turned on their heads.

Unlike the Sookie Stackhouse series, this mystery series improved as it progressed. The final book in the series wrapped up any loose ends from previous books as well as solving the mysteries in this book. Fun series!

The first chapter was short, sweet, and to the point. The descriptive language was lovely. This is the September selection for the #HashtagBrigade

I tried listening to the first chapter the night before last even though we were supposed to begin reading a chapter a day for the #RandomClassics #BuddyRead for September beginning today. I listened for 30 minutes and had to stop because it wasn‘t really sitting right with me. Today I listened to the entire first chapter and I‘m really intrigued. I can‘t wait to find out what happens next!

I‘ve been listening to this for #CampLitsy23 and I just can‘t. I‘m three-quarters of the way through, there‘s a voice in my head saying that I “should” finish it. The other voice is saying “stop shoulding your life away.” So I‘m done.

I read a book that I think was first serialized in either Analog or Asimov‘s. I think it was in the 1990s. It was about a tween girl who had a very high IQ and seemed to be one of the few survivors of something… A plague? The story was her journal entries from which she eliminated certain words. “It was a kid!” became “Was kid!” I can‘t remember the author or the title, but I remember that I found the book very entertaining. Can anyone help me?

@BarkingMadRead I understand from @TheAromaofBooks that you are hosting a Buddy Read oh A Passage to India in September. Would you please tag me for this as well as all the other selections for the #hashtagbrigade

I moved into my new house in May 2020. I‘m still unpacking and sorting. I wasn‘t particularly active on Litsy since then for a variety of reasons. But this summer with my Litsy friends has been great! I‘m not going anywhere again. Weird thing: I just found four addressed and stamped envelopes from when I was only semi-active. There‘s nothing written on any of the cards in the envelopes. I‘m going to chalk this up to grief and moving. #JustBecause

I have to confess I never have read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, but I plan to correct that omission whenever my hold comes in at the library. The strange thing is that I know I have had a print copy for years and never read it. And now it‘s boxed up. But Hannah‘s story is compelling. There are happy times but they are overshadowed by what we as readers know is coming. This book is for #TBRTarot, a book with a name in the title.

When this month ends, #CampLitsy23 will end as well. I wonder if anyone could please suggest a good buddy read to join? I‘ve started participating in the #SundayBuddyRead, but I‘d like to be part of additional buddy reads. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks, buddies!

I think this book was quite good. Probably one of the better Aurora Teagarden mysteries. I‘m glad I listened.

First, I didn‘t read the Manga, I listened to the Audible Original Daniel X: Genesis. I have a love/hate relationship with dramatized audiobooks. This wasn‘t quite a “hate” but it was nowhere near a “love.” It was loud! Almost eardrum bursting. I had to force myself to finish this because it is a prequel and I haven‘t decided if I‘m going to continue the series. I can only hope it gets better.

I wasn‘t sure if I‘d enjoy this book because I usually don‘t read any kind of romantic fiction. But I understand Sally so well. I‘m not a brilliant writer but I am an insecure woman who couldn‘t quite understand why someone loved me. Parts of this book had me crying because I recognized myself in Sally. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 I will try other books by Curtis Sittenfeld. And yes, I gave it six stars.

This third book in the DS Jenna Morgan series is superior to the second book by far. A fire consumes a mansion in the countryside, a fire that is determined to be arson. But the body count doesn‘t add up. Who set the fire? Whose bodies are so badly burned that when placed in a body bag, the bag melts? And who survived. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is the second book in the DS Jenna Morgan series. I found some of it to be repetitive and I think there was some lazy writing in some spots. The main villains and the side villains in both books were misogynistic dog haters with mommy issues. I don‘t know if the author thinks all criminals have these traits or what but I hope the villain in the next book in the series is not the same as the first two. I also became annoyed when, (cont)⬇️

This is a mystery/thriller, the first in the DS Jenna Morgan series. This one is personal for Jenna because her sister, Fliss, is missing. As it turns out, it‘s someone Jenna knows, who has taken Fliss. Someone who thinks Fliss recognizes him. A satisfying listen.

I enjoyed this. I don‘t think it‘s a five-star read, but it was fun.

I‘m disappointed that this book isn‘t clicking with me. It‘s not holding my interest at all. So, bye-bye, Constance, we must part ways. Sorry #SundayBuddyRead friends, I will see you next month.

I guess I‘m not intellectual enough, but so far I‘m having a very hard time focusing on this selection for the August #SundayBuddyRead. Somebody please tell me I‘m not alone.😟

I just started this selection for #CampLitsy23 and I had a really difficult time during the author‘s description of election night 2016. It is seriously anxiety-inducing to think about #45‘s occupation of the Oval Office. Or the possibility that it could happen again.

I read an article a few months ago about this series being banned in Florida. I can‘t remember if it was in school libraries or all libraries. I was inspired to find out why. I‘m actually pretty inspired to read every banned book I can because I hate censorship! This wasn‘t exactly great literature but it was fun and I want to find out what happens next. And I want to piss off the censors as much as possible.

This is a “mosaic” novel by eight different authors. One of them is Charlaine Harris, queen of Southern cliches. The MC, Nora, lives on New York‘s Upper West Side, where she has become friends with one of her neighbors, a young woman from Atlanta named Shelby, who has long red-gold hair. I can‘t decide if this is an homage to Steel Magnolias, or laziness on the part of Harris. Stay tuned.

“My cats are assholes. But they‘re my assholes.” - Nora

This book was somewhere between a pick and a so-so. It ended up being a pick because all the loose ends were tied up. That doesn‘t always happen in a mystery. There‘s a big wedding. A man is murdered. Four women confess to the crime. There‘s a lot of jumping back-and-forth between backstories and how memories are shaped over time. The narrator was probably the weakest part of the book. (cont)⬇️

This is my first time participating in #TBRTarot. The prompt for July is to read a book with the word “and” in the title. I enjoyed watching the TV show as a little girl. I enjoyed seeing the movie as a young woman. I did not enjoy this audiobook as much as I had expected. Lucy spent most of her life doing what others wanted, her husband, her mother-in-law, her sister-in-law. The death of her husband was an opportunity for her to be free (cont)⬇️

A number of people participating in the #SundayBuddyRead really, really didn‘t like this book. But I didn‘t hate it. I have a habit of trying out as many books as possible about books, libraries, book stores, writers, etc. The cover is gorgeous, and that‘s it‘s selling point for a lot of people. But it has the word “book” in the title, so I was doomed. What made the book so entertaining for me was discussing it with Littens. And I heard book recs.

Is anyone here a House fan? Do you remember his motto, almost like a mantra? #SundayBuddyRead