This was January‘s FOTL book club read. I snagged it on Libby because I was afraid I‘d not get to it otherwise this month. I‘m really glad I made time for it! The story, set predominantly from the end of the Depression through the years of WWII, follows three young Asian women as they navigate life as nightclub performers with sexism, racism, and familial cultural responsibility weighing them each down in their own way. Unique period fiction!

This one. 😳 This was a book I both read and listened to to absorb it all. The short stories were good but the novella was frightening and stressful and made me feel anxious and claustrophobic. But it was so beautifully written. And given our current state of division, it felt plausible in a terrifying way. I highly recommend this read/listen.

I hadn‘t planned to read/listen to this trio of Mickey Bolitar books as they were geared to a YA audience. After reading the last of the Myron Bolitar series and Win, I realized I probably should snag these because I was lost on a couple of plot points. These are good and I sincerely hope there will be more in the series. I particularly fell in love with Spoon. I‘d love to read where their story goes to next. Nick Podehl is a fantastic narrator!

I am surprised this book isn‘t more highly rated. I thought this was a beautiful read about a young man struggling to truly grow up and navigate complicated relationships as he writes his first book - with one of the most famous women in the world as his editor. The characters all felt very real to me and the relationships rang true. I will certainly continue to follow Mr Rowley‘s work.

I really enjoyed this one! And I feel like the narrator is getting better at voicing the female characters. I particularly enjoyed a story told exclusively from the perspective of Windsor Horne Lockwood III. There really isn‘t much I can say other than if you like Win‘s extravagant weirdo of a character in the Myron Bolitar series and haven‘t read this yet, you will probably enjoy this as well.

I really identified with this book. Step siblings are so often thrown together, expected to bond and accept one another, then expected to sever the relationships when their parents choose to once again end their marriages. For anyone who has been through that or navigated trauma with siblings and step siblings, this story may ring true. Ann Patchett does such a wonderful job telling complicated family stories.

I have worked through all 11 books Myron Bolitar series this year via audiobook. As much as I adore Steven Weber as an actor, I am not crazy about how he voices the female characters. I much prefer the performances by Jonathan Marosz. That being said, I really enjoyed this book! Apparently I need to go find the 3 Mickey Bolitar books - I was lost on major plot points between this book and the last one due to the Mickey books. On to Win!

Thank you, thank you @kspenmoll !! I am so excited to get this book, and signed book plate in it as well! And loved the UConn chocolate - that‘s fantastic!

Happy Jólabókaflóð!

I appreciate Dr Ehrman‘s work. We are both recovering evangelicals and I appreciate how he looks at religion through the lens of the academic, historical discipline. Many of us want to see what is there via the scholastically defendable arguments, which were never presented to us. While this particular book is not perfect, it is a place to start if you are interested in the subject.

Jólabókaflóð !!!! @BookBosomed1 , your package is coming your way! When it gets there, you can open it - the package is wrapped inside. Ellie, Velvet, and Constable Dogberry say “Happy Jólabókaflóð!”

@MaleficentBookDragon #jolabokaflod2021 #jolabokaflodswap

I got my #jolabokaflodswap today! I can‘t tell who it is from to tag them yet, so if you sent this and recognize it please let me know. 😃

Yay!!!!! New Rivers of London book coming in April!

For you nerds like me that love this series, Mr Aaronovitch posts about it over in FB land:

https://fb.watch/9PkjDEY8Jo/

😂 Also - The trailer makes want to yell “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!!!!”

This was a really great biography, written from the perspective of a historian rather than that of a literary critic. Very well annotated - the last 120 pages or so are notes. If reading authors like Ron Chernow or David McCullough aren‘t your thing, you may not enjoy this “warts and all” presentation of Wilde‘s life. Personally, I was surprised by what an irresponsible, lazy, mooch he seems to have been. 😂 But I love his writing nonetheless.

As I continue on with this ginormous scholarly tome on Oscar Wilde, Hank the Book Sniffer is getting bored with its sniffiness and wishes I‘d move along to another book already. Goodnight, y‘all!

#HankTheBulldog 🐶📚

The Americans, he noted, “are great hero-worshippers, and always take their heroes from the criminal classes.”

Oscar Wilde certainly had us pegged. Odd that he was in St Joseph, MO just after Jesse James was shot and witnessed the dismantling of his house.

Another great listen! Lesley Manville and Allan Corduner give wonderful performances. Like the first book in the series, this book is a “who done it” within another “who done it” and features the character Atticus Pünd. If you enjoyed Magpie Murders this one will probably fun for you as well.

I read this a few years ago but relistened on Libby before moving on to Moonflower Murders. It‘s a good production!

I‘ve read more than 20 of Coben‘s books in the last couple of years. This is my favorite, and in my opinion, by far the most thought provoking. It delves briefly into ‘cult of personality‘ politics and the manipulation of social media via artificial means and disinformation, which is interesting. I really enjoyed this and immediately preordered the next in the series, set to release 3/17/22.

It seems that Stephen Fry had done a series on the Edwardian era. If you subscribe to Audible the podcast series is included. It‘s pretty great so far if you are into that sort of thing.

I really enjoy listening to this series. Rory Kinnear gives wonderful performances in all the audiobooks. The story on this one was a little slower than the others, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. It seemed at the end that a book 4 may be a thing, so that makes me happy!

I am in the minority on this one, I fear. I found this repetitive and the plot somewhat lacking. I started off reading it but ended up listening to the last 2/3 on my Libby app. I kept waiting for it to do something other than just swirl through potential outcomes of Ursula‘s life but it never did. I liked parts of the book but overall it was not all that engaging for me. Glad I was able to listen rather than reading it all.

About a quarter through this book and still not sure whether I like it or not yet. But I can say one of my fave things about used books - I picked this one up at the Friends of the Library sale - is finding artifacts from their previous lives stowed away in the pages. This particular one looks to be a bus ticket from 2010, which seems especially interesting given the book‘s subject & the book‘s publication date in 2013.

Another extraordinary audio production of The Sandman. Act II is just as wonderful as Act I with the vocal company, led by James McAvoy as Morpheus and Neil Gaiman himself narrating, performing brilliantly. If you are a fan of this series and haven‘t given these productions a listen, you may want to give it a go.

This is one of the most unique books I‘ve read in a very long time. It‘s told in the first person by a narrator who holds the reader at arm‘s length while simultaneously sharing very honest and personal feelings about her work, relationship, and family situations. The narrator is an interpreter in The Hague and the nuanced intimacy of common language was a theme I found particularly engaging. One of the more “literary” books I‘ve read the year.

I so enjoyed this book! Funny and touching, it beautifully tells the story of an aging star and her new assistant - both of whom are broken in their their own unique way - and the bond they come to share. I learned of this book after having thoroughly enjoyed The Guncle, which was written by the author‘s husband. I am so glad I did!

Yeah. He knows. 😂 If you‘ve read the tagged book you get why this is funny.

Found a super funny reel on IG where he talks about how he‘s so old he no longer remembers the first rule of Fight Club. 🤣

#ifyouknowyouknow #hometownhero #springfieldmo

Loved this book! It‘s was so good. It tells the story of Angraboda - wife of Loki, mother of ‘monsters‘ - from her point of view. I knew little about Norse mythology outside of Neil Gaiman‘s work and occasional stories I read here and there. This was a wonderful retelling that I recommend to anyone interested in mythology.

Fixin‘ to go read myself to sleep. Hank the Book Sniffer seems to have his sense of order disturbed by my mighty bright book light sticking out the top of my book. 🤣

#HankTheBulldog

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me of an early John Grisham-type thriller with short chapters that clipped along. Quick paced, fun read!

This book is fantastic if you are a history nerd. While it‘s named for Vespasiano da Bisticci, he is just the anchor for the telling of the history of the written word in the west. This book goes into how Greek literature & philosophy were handed down, how parchment was made, the history of paper, the stories of notable patrons of the written word, so much! Seriously. If early Renaissance is your thing, this is worth checking out.

I really wanted to like this book. I love Shakespeare and magical realism is typically my jam, but this one left me cold. I didn‘t like any of the characters and really didn‘t care about any of them. I‘m not even sure why I trudged on with it. I guess I kept hoping it would pay off but it just did not for me.

Heads up, Nerds! Blake Crouch is doing an event on 9/14 for his local library - the Southwest La Plata Library District - and it will be streamed on FB live.

Here‘s the link to the library page: https://swlplibrarydistrict.org/home/my-calendar/

This was the first book by this author that I‘d come across - I snagged this when looking for something on Libby to listen too during yard work. Good book! I will certainly find more from this author. This one felt in a similar vein as Harlan Coben thrillers, so if you enjoy his work maybe give this one a go.

What a delightful listen this was! I absolutely recommend listening to this book as Mr Jordan‘s conversational tone and inflection really bring a lot to the stories. My chores flew by in his charming company!

Another great book from Grady Hendrix. The chapter titles alone are hilarious. While not preachy, the book makes great points about violence against women as entertainment and who is perceived as a sympathetic victim and who is not in the horror genre. In typical Grady Hendrix fashion, there are also several characters you‘d love to imagine punching in the face. If you like other books by this author, you‘ll probably like this one as well.

These stories are such great company while I‘m doing yard work. I‘ve really started to enjoy the characters in this series and I adore the precociously feminist sensibilities of Phryne Fisher. I also love that stories do not shy away from uncomfortable topics and realistic human behavior. I imagine I‘ll continue on with these as my gardening picks up this fall.

Hank the Book Sniffer and I are starting a new book tonight since we can‘t sleep. Sleep well (or read well?), Littens.

#HankTheBulldog

Finished this up while supper was in the oven. It was between so-so and pick for me. The last few pages pushed it up over the fence to pick. But I dislike every damn character in this book! 😂🤣 They are all just horrible people. It‘s been a bit since I was rooting for everyone to lose. 😆

This was a fun little listen whist pulling pulling weeds! I‘d never heard of this series, but Phryne is fantastic and I will reading and listening to more of this series. Thank you, @Crinoline_Laphroaig for the recommendation!

Whilst sitting here reading I just realized today is Missouri‘s 200th birthday. On August 10th, 1821 President James Monroe signed the legislation making Missouri the 24th state. Happy Birthday, MO!

What a wonderful little book! I laughed aloud often and teared up more than I‘d expected. Perfectly imperfect Patrick learning to deal with his own long delayed grief while attempting to help his niblings deal with their fresh grief made for a wonderfully heartfelt story. There are pop culture and theatre references (some decades old) that really add to the fun if that‘s your thing. The author gave a splendid performance in the audiobook!

This book is so good. It‘s obvious McNamara painstakingly researched the cases. Throughout there are places marked with ‘Editor‘s Note‘ that sadly remind the reader that the author did not survive to see the book published. McNamara was a rare talent - capable of conveying the horror in an oddly sterile manner without sensationalizing and dehumanizing the victims. She never gives into the gore for shock value. Excellent true crime read.

It looks as though I am in the minority, but I actually liked this one more than The Silent Patient. While I guessed the culprit before the reveal, the motive was a surprise to me. I did like the bit of crossover between the books, however. I will definitely continue to follow this author!

The long list for the Booker prize is out. Here‘s the link if you‘d be interested to see what‘s on it:

https://thebookerprizes.com/fiction/2021

Happy to see the tagged book on the list!

So we‘ve always been a ridiculous sort of folk. 😂🇺🇸

This bit is from the very beginning of chapter 6, which opens discussing the yellow fever outbreak in 1793.

I lived in San Antonio in the late 90‘s when some of the push to revisit the accepted creation myths of Texas heated up. Even back then the vitriol exuded by traditionalists was enough to make the argument to me that they were trying discourage real scholastic discourse. The 1st half of this book talks about the events leading up to the Alamo and the battle while the 2nd half talks about everything that has happened since. 👇🏻

Reading with my MightyBright light and some Makers. Happy weekend, y‘all!

I really enjoyed the second installment in Tapper‘s Charlie and Margaret Marder series. Of course, it‘s far fetched with all of the fictionalized famous folk (Rat Pack! RFK! Sam Giancana! Janet Leigh!), but his references at the end gave me lots of NF follow-up to read later. Fun little escapist mid century page turner for what it‘s worth.

Yikes. Well this is one where the book isn‘t better than the series. 😳 TBH, I thought Sookie and Bill were the least interesting characters in the show. The secondary characters made the series for me. I don‘t know what I was expecting but Sookie is written as a shallow simpleton and Bill is a boring and bossy creeper. No character development. The other characters are barely even window dressing. Zero campy fun.

Since the power was out with a storm, Hank and I finished this one up by lantern light today. Stephen King may have found it insanely readable but I found it insanely predictable. I figured out less than 100 pages in where it was going and judging from other reviews here I suspect I am far from alone in that. And the ending. . . . bluuurrrggghhh 😑