Murder! Conspiracy! Intrigue! That was a great deal of fun, made even more so by reading it with the #hashtagbrigade. It has its issues due to the time period, but the characters are surprisingly complex—even the villains, while being over-the-top evil, have real depth. Thanks as always to @BarkingMadRead for being our hashtag queen!

Very fun and silly story! It reminded me of a couple of the Narnia books—I wonder if Lewis had read it. Dorothy, the Wizard, a boy named Zeb, a horse named Jim, and a kitten named Eureka travel through many lands under the earth, each dangerous in its own whimsical way. The Wizard is kind of a badass in this book. It irritated me that it took Dorothy so long to come up with her solution. But at least her speech didn‘t have so many apostrophes.

For my Grady Hendrix fans: one of my favorite witchy podcasts did an interview with him! I haven‘t read any of his books yet but after this interview I definitely will. When he starts off his discussion of researching witchcraft with “it‘s complicated” you know he really did the work.

https://newworldwitchery.com/2025/03/14/episode-258-witchcraft-for-wayward-girls...

Did I need two new library books? Absolutely not. Did I pick some up anyway when I went in to make returns? Indubitably! #libraryhaul

This book is exactly what it says it is: techniques, patterns, and samplers for blackwork embroidery. Unfortunately, it doesn‘t have any information about doing blackwork on clothing (as it historically was), which is what I really want to do. But I suppose I can practice on Aida and figure out the rest myself.

What an absolutely spectacular book. Alix E. Harrow is officially an auto-buy author. In fact, I was six pages into this when I decided to buy A Mirror Mended (I already have A Spindle Splintered) so I can read alllllll of her books.

What a gorgeous, wrenching book! I‘m sorry it took me so long to read it, and grateful to @BarkingMadRead and the #HashtagBrigade for moving it up my TBR. I don‘t know if it would have been even better to read when I was a teenager or if it would have been a little *too* relatable then.

Got my #bookspin list ready to go for March! Will this be a month that I read both my picks? Probably not! 😂

Quick and informative book on embroidery, including a wide variety of historical styles. There didn‘t seem to be any rhyme or reason as to the different styles described (one of the contributors‘ bios has a lot about her being a sashiko expert but there‘s no sashiko?) and I think many of them could have used more description, but I really liked being introduced to some styles I‘d never heard of. With modifications, I may try some of the projects.

I enjoyed this, though not as much as previous books. Dorothy is really obnoxious in the beginning and it annoyed me a lot how Baum wrote her pronunciation, especially since it‘s a change from the first book. But it‘s funny (albeit quite dark at times, in a way the narrative doesn‘t seem to acknowledge) and the characters—Billina the talking hen, Langwidere the lazy princess with her heads, Tik-Tok—are delightful. #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

I considered bailing on this during the first few chapters, but decided to stick it out until the title happened. I‘m so glad I did! The dull, frustrating first several chapters are important to set up why no one wants to listen to or help Iris. I figured out the mystery fairly early on but reading along to see how the characters would figure it out and the mental tortures Iris goes through along the way was very enjoyable. Movie is on Hoopla!

I forgot to review this when I finished it! I loved it so much. It was like a cross between The Secret History and Pamela Dean‘s Tam Lin in many ways—so it felt derivative, but in a great way. In the second half, though, it pulls away from those comparisons and becomes much more its own thing. Heartbreaking and gorgeous. I just wish I were more familiar with Julius Caesar (the play).

Fun story. The characters felt pretty flat and, well, cartoonish—especially the villain. I thought everything came too easily to the main character. The idea of body paints that confer superpowers is very cool.

The art is incredibly fluid and vibrant. I felt like I was watching a really well-animated movie (Lilo and Stitch came to mind) instead of reading a book at times!

@Ellie_H #AuldLangSpine @monalyisha

I kept expecting some exciting twist and it never showed up. Which I guess is the point? I hope it isn‘t that I dislike cozy fantasy. I adore Becky Chambers. I‘m sure a big part of it is that Baldree likes to use my biggest bookish pet peeve.

I did adore Satchel.

Nobody here guessed it but my bestie (who got me into Shirley Jackson) did! 🥰 One of my favorite books.

What do you think it could be? I‘ll open it up in a few hours and find out! If someone guesses right they win a trophy. An emoji trophy 😂

This book is aimed at organizers, but I highly recommend it even if you (like me) don‘t intend to do any organizing. It‘s full of information, both actionable and philosophical. This is a book we need in this time of terrifying fascists destroying our government.

This book is gorgeous and informative, but it‘s too dang heavy and the font is really small and cramped. For a book that has so much emphasis on design, they really didn‘t design that aspect well.

#bookspin list for February! @TheAromaofBooks

You may note the inclusion of “a zine” at the bottom of the list. I have a bunch of zines that I want to get around to reading. I‘m pretty sure I even know where they are on my shelves. However, I simply have not bothered to pull them off the shelves (no spines!) to get their titles, so if no. 20 is picked, I‘ll just grab a random zine.

I liked very few of the projects in this book. I would definitely not call all of them upcycled, and many of them needed more detailed instructions. Also, the author seemed really arrogant. But there are some good ideas and useful tips (like what kind of glue to use), and I think one of the things about upcycling is it‘s hard to say “here‘s a project you can do” because it‘s so dependent on what materials you have at hand. Borrow, not buy.

Sorry, #HitchtoScreen. I just couldn‘t stand to be with these people a moment longer.

This book takes two hands and that‘s not permitted at the moment.

I‘ve been sick the last couple days and Let This Radicalize You is just too much for my tired brain to take right now. This seems like it will do the trick instead.

Fun, twisty murder mystery—it just never really grabbed hold of me and I found being in Pippa‘s head a little annoying. I definitely didn‘t see the ending coming and it all clicked together! I did love that the intro has her capstone project proposal and the teacher says “whatever you do, don‘t contact the families.” I immediately hoped she would contact the families and that‘s the very first thing that happens 😂

First #AuldLangSpine @Ellie_H

What a cute book! This is my first time continuing the series past the first book. It was fun to revisit the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and all the other characters are funny. I loved how the girls with knitting needles were able to conquer the Emerald City! I didn‘t like how beauty is equated with goodness, but the ending made me very happy nonetheless. I wonder if the rest of the wishing pills will be discovered as the series continues.

😂😂😂

#BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

This book is part memoir, part writing instruction/inspiration. I didn‘t think the two aspects were well connected, and I wasn‘t enthusiastic about either one. The memoir was interesting, but it was told in such a non-chronological way that I was frequently confused. The writing part seemed shallow at first, but as it continued I did find some gems.

I was a HUGE fan of FLB‘s teen books when I was a teen, so maybe I expected more.

I‘m disappointed not to have liked this more than I did! A sapphic sci-fi Sherlock Holmes?! Yes, please. And all those aspects were great. The worldbuilding was so creative and fascinating. But I never felt a connection to the characters or the chemistry between them. I never felt the importance of Pleiti‘s profession and the ending fell pretty flat because of that.

#doublespin for January @TheAromaofBooks

Last week I got into a conversation with a coworker about Jane Austen because she was wearing a sweatshirt with Wentworth‘s letter to Anne on it. Today she gave me this sticker 😄

I enjoyed this a lot. It‘s violent and heavy-handed but the characters and story are fun. Some of my complaints definitely seem to be assuaged by the ending and I will be reading the next book.

Also, I can now be even more enthusiastic about my hopes to knit the Chrysalis shawl, designed by disyarning inspired by this book 😄

I have no idea why Storygraph thinks Little Women is longer than The Mysteries of Udolpho. 😂 But here‘s my 2024 wrap-up!

Squeezing in my #booskpin list for January! You‘ll see that the final three are from my #auldlangspine list from @Ellie_H !

The tagged is my top book for December 2024. But, as soon as I read Braiding Sweetgrass, I pretty much knew it was going to be my top read for the year. *Maybe* if it had gone up against the entire Rook and Rose trilogy as a whole (as you‘ll note both the first and third books of that trilogy were my favorites for their respective months)… but that‘s not the case.

I feel really good looking at this. So many wonderful books read! #BookBracket2024

What a beautiful, intense, wrenching book. Aberg-Riger puts together words and images so creatively to tell stories from America‘s past, mostly about the ways people have been oppressed. Many of the stories I knew, but didn‘t know all the details, or had never seen them from the angles she shows. There were also stories I didn‘t know. Highly recommended.

The best thing I can say about this book is we probably wouldn‘t have Northanger Abbey without it 😂😂😂

Small but mighty Christmas #bookhaul 😄

Not exactly a holiday book, but it‘s such a cozy reread that it‘s still perfect for the time of year! 🥰 #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

Beautiful start!

A fascinating book with a sense of humor! I love linguistic history and this book really delved deep. I learned all kinds of fascinating nuggets. For example, did you know that the “hus” in “husband” and the “house” in “housewife” come from the same thing?! The author did share some opinions that I side-eyed as on the border of TERFy. Note: the title is a little misleading; this book is very specifically about English.

Nymph, in thy orisons / Be all my sins remembered.

Though this be madness, yet there is method in‘t.

#hashtagbrigade #hamlet

I got my #AuldLangSpine list from @Ellie_H and she obviously has GREAT taste! Holly Black 😍🖤😍

I‘ve put The Dark Fable and Primer on hold. Looking forward to them and the rest of the list! Except I‘ve already read the first four… but… maybe 2025 is a year for a Holly Black reread?

OK, I‘m satisfied with that information about Morano. Let‘s move along now. #hashtagbrigade #accumulatemoremisfortunesplease #countkidnapper #countdickwad

#bookbracket2024

Wow. Powerful and really makes you think. Scary, as well, because how many people are actually going to be strong enough to stand up to tyranny? The illustrations are unusual and fascinating. I‘d like to read the full book at some point; there are definitely parts of this that I didn‘t understand. I wrote down a lot of quotes.

I did find it strange that there were frequent and specific references to Trump, but he is never named.

Join me and @BookmarkTavern #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad starting next month! I read the first book many times as a kid and have been meaning to continue the series for a few years, so even though I am overloaded on buddy reads and library books, I can‘t resist joining in.

Here‘s my #bookspin list for December! @TheAromaofBooks

“Make an effort to separate yourself from the internet. Read books.”

That‘s some advice I can get behind 😁📚📚📚

“The mistake is to assume that rulers who came to power through institutions cannot change or destroy those very institutions—even when that is exactly what they have announced that they will do.”

I‘ve seen so many people talk about the 2026 and 2028 elections as though we can rely on them happening. I don‘t believe we can.

So much happens in this book! How do I review it without spoilers? I‘ll just say that some stuff I knew would come up in the end did have a major impact (Fiavla!) and other stuff I never saw coming and was emotionally wrenching as well as story-logic perfect (Tanaquis!).