#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“The Miss Chinatown contestants were clustered together behind a canvas screen near the stage.”

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“I have done great deeds both good and evil, and who is to judge me but the gods, and what shall they say to me but that I dared?”

It‘s hard to put down this high fantasy book inspired by Pre-Columbian civilizations‘ traditions and stories. The book is filled with members of battling clans in the vein of Game of Thrones and the Grishaverse but feels fresh and new. I liked all of the POV characters and can‘t wait too see what happens next. On to the next book in the series!

Stacey Lee writes riveting historical fiction featuring Asian American characters. This one is centered around a driven, fearless teen growing up in San Francisco‘s Chinatown in 1906 who seeks a quality education. Our #SundayBuddyRead group also read Lee‘s book Luck of the Titanic last year—also fantastic with an equally brave teenaged hero.

Sweet middle school/older elementary chapter book about finding one‘s family. It was nice to read a main character that was in the foster system. It acknowledges some of the tougher issues but keeps a positive outlook. Lots of food and recipes to try too.

I love Barbara Kingsolver‘s way of blending rich stories, larger than life characters, and real issues into her novels. This one does not disappoint on any front. Plus seeing the parallels she draws between the Dickens‘ classic was interesting in itself. I read it much more slowly than I do most books.

A guided meditation inspired by a poem on Calm this morning. Love it! Nice way to start the day or get a 10 minute rest/recharge in. #PoetryMatters

You can listen to it for free:
https://www.calm.com/player/HL8ZcV7Ti_?share_token=v27PV2F8F0Z7QUVTUZ3lnTBAD-s3Y...

This one is still a hit with my middle schoolers year after year! They actually cheered when Ulysses confronted the suitors in all three Humanities sections today! Be still my teacher-reader heart!

My class Ulysses inspired playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6W54wXFvID7iBecXhOXRNQ?si=nkY0CoJsS6Ccj8PGOZih...

Adaptation recommendation! This Netflix limited series based on the book tagged—it‘s so good! It follows a real resistance group in Marseille in 1940 that was able to get artists such as Marc Chagall to safety. It puts people of color, women, and gay men back in to capture this real story more fully. I have some new heroes now in Mary Jayne Gold, Varian Fry, and Peggy Guggenheim. It‘s also filmed in Marseille and beautiful.

Just saw on 60 Minutes that Killers of a Flower Moon movie adaptation is about to be released. It‘s a Martin Scorsese starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Nero. I read it a while back with #SundayBuddyRead, and it‘s haunting. The 60 Minutes interview of David Grann explains his process—very interesting too!

Carrie Soto, Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones—Taylor Jenkins Reid sure loves driven female lead characters who hold nothing back! Tennis phenom Carrie Soto is tough, talented, and passionate.

I liked her and was rooting for her tennis comeback at the ripe “old” age of 37 (lol sports). At it‘s heart is a tribute to fathers and daughters. Though the tennis game descriptions ran a little long for me, all in all I enjoyed it.

Loving the movies, I have long been curious about Star Wars books. Such a huge following! If you are wondering about a good place to start, here‘s what a cool Star Wars mega fan friend told me:

A good Star Wars book to read from the extended universe I would start with is my favorite character, Darth Malgus. The book is called Star Wars The Old Republic - Deceived, which takes place over 3000 years before Episode 4 - A New Hope.

Such a fun listen! Narrated by the author and about audiobook narrators. Whelan‘s range of voices is amazing!

These 1920s murder mysteries set in Bombay are so much fun to read. Each book is even better than the last! I ♥️Perveen Mistry!

Loved the Amazon Prime adaptation of Daisy Jones and the Six! They made a few changes but all worked well. It took a few episodes to warm up, but that suits the plot well too. The songs they made for it are really catchy too. Fun to watch a book come to life!

Slim, surrealist novel based on a day in an author‘s life in Syria. It felt so much like Kafka but also seemed inspired by the self-exiled author‘s experiences. I found it fascinating but also tough (oppressive government, male dominated society, so much ego). It left me wondering how much is based on fact? #FoodandLit #Syria

Stevie Bell‘s latest adventure takes her and her friends off on an adventure to England. It‘s fun, mysterious, music-filled (90s Britpop this time) and angsty as ever.

I loved it although the mom in me kept wanting to make Stevie take a warm bath, do a load of her laundry, and replace the half of her clothing that is worn out. This teenage detective genius seriously needs a mother figure.😅😥🕵️

Thanks again, @Readergrrl ! The new poster looks great at school! It is so cool to see the people chosen for the periodic table spots and fits right in with our motif. 💗 #Blitsy @Chelleo

Hurray for #Blitsy and @Chelleo and @Readergrrl ! It was so much fun to open my Black History Month swap boxes of carefully chosen books, beautiful postcards of brave Black women (each is a mini artwork!), and yummy snacks. I‘ll take a photo of my cool poster once I put it on the wall at school. 😉 I can‘t wait to get reading once back at home. Thank you!!!

Visiting Jack London‘s “Beauty Ranch” (state park) in Sonoma County. His book Valley of the Moon was set here. It‘s a gorgeous place!

Alex Stern returns and is even more powerful in this second book set at Yale among the creepy secret societies.

I loved the found family theme with the extra doses of magic, but there‘s a lot going on in this book. Maybe too much. I found myself thinking of the quote by Chanel, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

I rarely reread books, but I‘m so glad I reread this one (before reading book 2). The main character, Alex Stern and world of secret societies of Yale are wonderfully crafted. Dawes and Darlington were just as charming as I remembered. How does Bardugo manage to make you miss a character so much?! My copy had a few author annotated pages at the end—deliciously fun! Moving on to book 2 right away… 🥳

Having a rough time with this book. It is beautifully written as Junot Diaz always is. However, it‘s difficult to connect with the characters. They feel kept at a distance, and the stories are disjointed. So little to redeem them (abuse in all forms), they are tough to root for. 😢 #FoodandLit #DominicanRepublic

My #BHMswap is its way to Espanya! 🇪🇸 It should be there in 10 days. Wish I were going with it! 😂💗👏👏👏 @Chelleo

Yet more evidence that the kids (and kids' books) today are awesome: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/teen-books-trending-on-booktok

Really fun middle grade read with a rich world of elven tech, mysterious creatures, and powers. I loved the hero, Sophie. Now I‘ll have another fantasy book to recommend my middle schoolers.

Kinda wishing I didn‘t like it so much now that I know it‘s up to nine books in the series. 😅 #BlameLitsy

While reading this book I had the strongest feeling of deja vu. I was convinced for that I‘d already read it. Then I realized—it‘s just the same vibes as one of my favorites The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It‘s warm and wonderful and set in rural UK around the world wars. I loved it so much (and then immediately rewatched the Guernsey movie). 😊

Whelp! I gave it my best shot but my Ugandan chapati definitely turned more like naan. Not soft enough to roll into Rolex but tasty. That was fun! #FoodandLit @Catsandbooks @Texreader

Kirabo‘s journey through childhood to young adult to find her mother and her way in 1970s Uganda was beautifully written. I kept drawing comparisons to the heroines in Jane Austen I was rereading for another book club. Both authors are exploring what it means to be women bound by their societies‘ expectations while dreaming of more. I‘m so glad I read this book with #FoodandLit for our look at #Uganda.

@Texreader @Catsandbooks

One of the best books of 2022! Great YA realistic fiction from a queen of YA fantasy! Sabaa Tahir had me rooting for her teenage characters even while they made huge mistakes. She captures emotion and difficult situations (loving someone w/addiction, past trauma shaping lives, racism) with honesty, compassion. Her biography at the end shows how much of herself she put into her two MCs. 💗

Hurray! I‘ve been wanting to read this book for too long and so has my husband. The chocolate is also delicious (sampled some already 🤣).

Thank you for adding bookish fun to my holiday, @Sharpeipup (and to @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing)! Books and chocolate—what a perfect combination!

Beautiful book about friendship, loss, and video game design. Sam, Sadie, and Marx‘s trials and triumphs make for an enjoyable, though sometimes heart wrenching read.

Perfect, warm holiday (anytime) read. I‘m just loving this sweet book so much I want to hug it! 💗

Powerful and sad, Take My Hand focuses on the topic of rights and justice for children, people of color, and for the poor. It‘s fiction but based on a trial from the 1970s involving two sisters in Alabama. The main character, Civil, is a young nurse whose sometimes misguided desire to help is compelling. This one is an all too real heartbreaker.

Fantastic book with so much heart! I loved all the POV characters, but my favorite was Marcellus (the octopus). The story is set in the Pacific NW with a strong, wise older woman; curmudgeonly 30 year old guy; and cunning cephalopod. Found family, loss, and squeezing the most out of life seem to be strong themes here. So good!

Hi @CindyMyLifeIsLit 😊 Your #JolabokaflodSwap is ready and will be on its way in tomorrow‘s mail. Thank you, @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting this fun, no stress seasonal swap! 💗

Wow! This book lives up to the hype. I just love all the characters so much. 😍🐙🐈‍⬛

#WondrousWednesday • @Eggs

❄️ Days off and time with family

🎄 All I want for Christmas is a new year and I‘m so grateful😊

⛄️ Ooh, The Little Book of Feminist Saints and/or pretty much anything on my TBR

Beautifully written capturing the horror of what it might have felt like being forced into marriage at 13 in the mid-1500s Italy (and the pressure of producing a male heir). The references to artists and historic families of the time had me referring to Google frequently. Sad but intriguing read.

I‘m sure there will come a time when I get tired of this YA mystery series, but that time is not with this fourth book. I found the stand-alone incredibly satisfying taking the teenage detective Stevie digging into a 1970s murder at a summer camp. It‘s just a fun read all around! Plus it had me listening to Stevie Nicks and researching the fascinating, macabre work of Francis Glessner Lee.

Travel, found family, quirky characters, warm fuzzies… this book checked a lot of my boxes for things I gravitate to in books.

It‘s about a widow who finally has the chance to make her own decisions and decides to take a trip to America to better understand her son. I also liked that I learned a few things about Bangladesh‘s history too. Maybe a couple too many POV characters, but other than that an excellent, fast read.

I‘m loving the new podcast Book Exploder! It‘s hosted by Susan Orlean, and she talks to other authors about breaking down key passages in their books.

This wonderful episode gave me a much deeper appreciation for Tayari Jones‘ book. I had no idea of her process (basically wrote 2.5 books and then interwove their stories 😱): https://open.spotify.com/episode/3lBbAwFe56klGNvpzCBDE5?si=OSkiFAraS2WEuUl7hkMvS...

Beautiful fairytale-style story inspired by East Asian folklore. Six Crimson Cranes features a fierce heroine, Shiori, who is fueled by love for her family and a desire to control her own fate. This hero‘s journey is decidedly YA and quite enjoyable.

So much to explore! My TBR is growing today…

2022 Books We Love:

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2022

(Not actually the tagged book, but a short story by the famous magical realism author.)

This deliciously sweet short story about two sisters kept apart, baking, books, and a magical-ish island felt more like Sarah Addison Allen to me than typical Hoffman. I devoured it in one bite nonetheless. Great palate cleanser after some very heavy reading this week.

I had a great #NonfictionNovember thanks to Litsy reading groups #SundayBuddyRead and #SheSaid

Both books took feminist looks at the world. One was historic about a group Pan-Am stewardesses (Come Fly the World). The other was very modern and personal about health, work, divorce, family, and dating (Ladyparts). Both gave lots of food for thought.

Wow! What a great, compelling read! Emma Donoghue‘s novel spans just 3 days of 1918 in a maternity room for women with influenza. It is powerful as a historical novel but also so timely. The character-building is beautifully done, often few words.

Oooh, this Litsy chance to win from this cute, bookish Etsy shop is awesome!

Tag #BookishCoupleGiveaway and @Rachel.Rencher in a post to enter today and tell your favorite genre along with the photo above. My favorite genres are sci-fi, fantasy, and historical fiction. 📚 Thanks for the chance to win!

Shop link: https://www.etsy.com/shop/thebookishcouple

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” I was so confused when I first read this, but now that I‘m more than half way through, it makes me smile. It‘s so totally the main character, Cassandra and her obsessive need to write (the kitchen window brings in the day‘s last bit of light).

Hey Litsy! Please help me welcome our school librarians, @MzSaraPugh and @TheImposterLibrarian who are humoring me and checking out Litsy, our amazing bookish community. 😊