I had been looking forward to this one, but it fell flat. Some of the writing was beautiful, but also felt similar to the "Cosmos" miniseries and not terribly original. I think I could have really liked it, if it had been twice as long so I had time to get to know the characters. I don't mind if a novel is light on plot, but I didn't feel like this had enough depth to go without a plot.

The last Trixie was light on mystery, but this one was all mystery & no sense. Trixie finds a letter in a hidden room in her house that no one knew about, which might mean her house was part of the underground railroad. That plot point gets dropped though because Di's parents just happen to be taking a trip to Williamsburg, where the letter originated. It felt much more like a Nancy Drew book, what with the hidden locket and concealed staircase.

Reading Natalia Ginzburg, and this novel in particular, was an excellent use of the July 4th holiday. The war is over and Elsa's Italian village is returning to life after fascism. I particularly enjoyed the lines about how no one likes Purillo, who sided with the fascists, even as he continued to live among them. And I sympathized with the repeated refrain, "Why has everything been ruined?"

This was so difficult!! I loved all of these books. It's been a great reading year so far.

I've decided July is going to be a "catch up" month. So, no new #bookspin list for me just now, but I'll do it again in August. @TheAromaofBooks

My bingo board for June didn't go quite to plan, but that's okay. 😊 Thanks, Sarah! @TheAromaofBooks

This was a bit of a let down. The Postcard was one of the best books I read last year, so I expected more from this than what I got. It seemed both overly long and short on plot, which isn't a good mix. I wish they'd written more of a straightforward novel. This feels more like a journalistic account. I learned a lot, but unfortunately it wasn't about artists I find particularly interesting.

I'm a month behind on the #bobwhitebuddies Trixie read through, but hoping to catch up this month. This one was light on mystery and heavy on sailing, but I didn't mind. The kids weren't whiny and argumentative like that horrible one in the cave, so I'll take it! 😆 The ending was sweet, too.

I've been meaning to read James for a while now (esp. since it was my #bookspin for May), but I thought I should reread Huck Finn first. Turns out, it wasn't a reread since my bookmark from high school was still in it. Much like my experience reading Jane Eyre a couple years ago, high school me was right! Meanwhile, James was fantastic. I loved the characters so much and Everett left out most of the parts from the original that I didn't like.

Greetings from the house of sickness!

My son went on a school trip and the gift he brought home was Covid. None of us have had it before, but we're all fully vaxxed and boostered, so it isn't *too* terrible.

I committed to entirely too many things this month. I finished the May book for #bobwhitebuddies so I'm only a book behind. I did manage to finish this month's reading for #europacollective and #KLBR. I'm behind on #beyondtheyellowbrickroad.

I read most of this on a train trip with my son from New Orleans to Los Angeles. We watched two of the Tinker Bell movies as we rode, too, and then we went to Disneyland. I didn't finish the book until we were back home, but I can't imagine a better scenario for reading this story. The world of Pixie Hollow was so much a part of my son's childhood and this book was a sort-of grown-up, but not too grown-up, way to return to it.

Here's my #bookspinbingo board for June. My #bookspin is Voices in the Evening and my #doublespin is Orbital. 🤞 @TheAromaofBooks

We're already a week into June and I'm just now posting my May wrap-up, so that should tell you how hectic things have been lately! 😜 No bingo and I didn't read my #bookspin or #doublespin, but I'll catch up... eventually! @TheAromaofBooks

I meant to do this list before I left for a trip, but I didn't. So, here's my haphazard #bookspinbingo list for June, which I wrote on a train and is probably missing something. 😜 @TheAromaofBooks

Trixie is 14 years old, so I don't think "frustrated" exactly qualifies as a "big word." The website I had been using for info on the Trixie books has disappeared, but I have a feeling this isn't one of my favorite ghost writers. Anybody have a source for those? #bobwhitebuddies

This was my first time reading Pollyanna and it was better than I expected. I like the Haley Mills movie, but that's really just about liking Haley Mills. The character of Pollyanna has less polish in the book and seems less contrived. Also, I had no idea what calf's foot jelly was, so I had to look it up and then it felt obvious...but still sounds so gross! #kindredspiritsbuddyread

I finished this earlier in the month, but I apparently can't post things in a timely manner anymore. 😜 I was sad when it ended because now I just have one more to read in the original series for this reread...and there are sad things coming up in the next one...

I love everything Annie Hartnett writes. Once I started this, I was frustrated every minute I had to spend doing anything other than finish it. This will definitely be a reread at some point. There's so much death and so much goes wrong, but it's still so hopeful and funny. Five gold stars! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐

Another catch up post and another reread. I enjoyed this much more than I did the first time, in 2023. I've been reading LM Montgomery's journals with #kindredspiritsbuddyread. They give so much more context. Susan seems to echo LMM's concern over WWI. Also, the Anne books have been better in publication order, rather than chronologically. I still have the same gripes as last time (too little about Avonlea favorites), but oh well.

Catching up on posting my May reads...
I was in the middle of rereading The Golden Compass last month when the news broke that Book of Dust 3 is happening soon, so now I think I'm going to reread all the Lyra books to prepare. I finished rereading this one on May 1 & finally read Lyra's Oxford, which actually comes after The Amber Spyglass but I didn't know that. I've read the main series before anyway, so it was fine. I love these books so much.

This store is in Pensacola, about hour from where I live, so I haven't shopped there frequently, but I've gone out of my way to go there several times. Not anymore!! I'm so mad and disappointed.

A new month! May is always so busy and I have a trip planned for the end of the month. But, that trip will involve two whole days on a train, so I'm going to read that whole time. Glorious. My #bookspin is James and my #doublespin is Pollyanna (for #kindredspiritsbuddyread ). Thank you, Sarah! @TheAromaofBooks

This was a disjointed month and my reading was all over the place, but I got a bingo! #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I have decided not to look into who actually wrote each of these, so I can go in blind and hopeful. This one was better than the last one, but there's still a change in the way Trixie is written that I don't enjoy as much. It was fun that the kids from Iowa came to visit & I enjoyed the descriptions of 1960s NYC. I kept forgetting Dan was actually with the group this time though. Whenever he spoke, I'd think, Dan? Who is Dan? 😂 #bobwhitebuddies

This was a short collection of subtly interconnected stories set in and around a haunted hotel. It's more spooky than scary, which is what I like. Not my favorite Daisy Johnson, but still good!

My #bookspin list for May is ready! 😊 @TheAromaofBooks

I read another Oz book today. Gathering these stories into collections like this one makes sense because they're so fast-paced (and sort of...pointless?). There was an especially fun cameo appearance by a non-Baum magical being, and the book ends with Dorothy still in Oz, which is different. #beyondtheyellowbrickroad

Book review catch-up post 5 of 5:

This is the fourth volume of LM Montgomery's journals and by now I really feel like I know her, warts and all. She was not a perfect person, but she had a wonderful sense of humor and, in this volume especially, a difficult life. It was hard to hear of the pain she endured at the loss of her closest friend and the onset of her husband's mental illness. Three more volumes remain and life doesn't get any easier...

Book review catch-up post 4 of 5:

This one didn't resonate with me as much as I expected it to, but it was engaging. There were a few loose ends that I wish had been explained. I would read more by Lansens, so overall I liked it. #ohcanada

Book review catch-up post 3 of 5:

I read this for my IRL book club and it was... something. There was a lot of fat shaming and an actual rape (nonviolent, you totally see it coming), but the discussion was pretty good and that's keeping me from panning it.

Book review catch-up post 2 of 5:

This wasn't for me. As I said in one of our #kindredspiritsbuddyread discussions, it's a lot of wandering around in the woods occasionally interrupted by horrible violence. The "bad Indians" were bad because they were of a savage tribe, while the "good Indians" were held to a higher standard than the whites in both ethics and competency. The ending was a shocking disappointment.

Book review catch-up post 1 of 5:

These poems, in English and Anishinaabemowin on facing pages, cover the natural world and Native American history (distant and recent) and perspectives. I found myself staring at the Anishinaabemowin versions, which I couldn't read, picking out the rhythms and musicality. The poems were meaningful, but the experience of interacting with a Native language had the greater impact on me. Recommended.

I'm going to try to get caught up on reviews today. 🤞But, in the meantime, these are my new glasses! They're from Pair Eyewear and this bookshelf pattern attaches magnetically. I can change out the design based on mood, color, etc.

I got a new phone & remembered that the Litsy app isn't in the Android app store anymore. I tried using the web version, but apparently Litsy wasn't working for anyone last night? This morning, I could tell it was working again, but when I'd like something, the "like" would immediately disappear. So, I downloaded the APK. Because I really can't imagine getting through life, especially now, without you guys. (Image is a work email from yesterday.)

Uhh. I don't know about this. I will never read Infinite Jest. Or House of Leaves. If there was a question about a mystery in an English village, I missed it. Or, more accurately, for me "a book by an author who wrote one book you loved and two you hated, but maybe this one will be good??" Plot isn't as important to me as mood. I love a book where nothing happens, but the narrator had a lot of Thoughts. Or an English mystery. Or a children's book.

I can see see why not everyone would love this book, but it worked for me. I was racing to finish it ahead of meeting the author this evening, so I switched back and forth between audio and print. When she was signing my books, I asked her if she wrote the audio descriptions of the photographs (which mention color, even though they're printed in b&w) and she didn't! That added another layer of translation, in my mind. She gave a good talk, too.

We were in Birmingham yesterday, so I got to visit one of my favorite bookstores, Thank You Books. I got 2 books and a hoodie. Husband and teen got books, too. It's a fabulous store. I highly recommend going by, if you're in the area!

This was the sign I marched with on Saturday (picture taken before I attached two sticks for handles). There are SO MANY issues, but this was the best sign idea I had. Possibly because some of my favorite memories are from Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Acadia. 💚

I've gone completely off my plan for April and started the month with two British mysteries. I've been so angry and anxious, spending time writing postcards to voters, making signs for protests, calling my reps, etc. These were both mysteries about a detective on vacation who couldn't help but work to turn the world to rights. It was probably the most relaxing thing I could've done for myself. Now, back to my planned reading and fighting fascism.

We've somehow made it to April and I probably won't get a bingo this month either! 😆 My #bookspin is What the Chickadee Knows, which is fitting for poetry month. And my #doublespin is the next Trixie Belden for #bobwhitebuddies. I might have that backwards, actually, but I'll read them both anyway! Thanks, as always, Sarah! @TheAromaofBooks #bookspinbingo

Who were the kids in this book? Because they didn't act at all like the Bob-Whites from the first 10 books. Trixie was persistent to the point of being annoying. Their poor uncle! He didn't get to see them much in Iowa (& Trixie almost drowned) & they aren't paying any attention to him in Missouri either (& Trixie almost drowned). I hadn't realized that Kathryn Kenny was a pen name, but it's pretty obvious to me now. #bobwhitebuddies

I don't think I've ever come across the name Glendenning before, but here it is in the last book I read and the book I'm reading now. Weird.

My favorite part of this one was Eureka the kitten, but she did make me wonder why Toto didn't talk. I thought it was hilarious that Dorothy meets up with the wizard and they don't catch up on what's happened since they last saw each other until they've escaped death, what? 3 times? #BeyondtheYellowBrickRoad

It's interesting that the Melanie Rehak book (which is great!) has almost the same title and is the same color as the original, 1975 edition of this Bobbie Ann Mason book. Mason's book covers lots of sleuths, not just Nancy, and has Mason's personal commentary. I love Bobbie Ann Mason and her thoughts on the Bobbseys, Cherry Ames, Trixie Belden, and others were entertaining. I think I'd like to try a Judy Bolton, but probably not a Vicki Barr.

Here's my #bookspinbingo list for April, which I wrote with pen for some reason, like an April Fool's joke on myself. 😜 @TheAromaofBooks

I can't believe I didn't get a bingo! 😆 I got so close! This has been a great reading month for me. Creation Lake, How to Build a Boat (my #doublespin), A Forty Year Kiss (my #bookspin), and The Girl Sleuth were especially good. I'll get my list for April (and a few catch-up reviews) posted tomorrow. Thanks, Sarah! @TheAromaofBooks

I took an impromptu trip to New Orleans to hear Michael Lewis, Casey Cep, Sarah Vowell, and W. Kamau Bell in conversation with David Shipley. Looking forward to reading this!

I'm going to an IRL book club meeting for this book soon. My 1st time at a book club in almost 7 years (since I sold my bookstore) & the 1st time I'll be at a book club & not leading the meeting. I really wish I'd liked the book more! The 1st part was like Cherry Ames Goes to Vietnam, then there were far too many romances & the plot twists...good lord. I felt like it went on far too long. And what's with the cover art cribbing from Miss Saigon?

My spring cards are officially in the mail! I included stickers from this National Park themed sticker book, and they vary drastically. Most of you will get flowers and birds, but one lucky duck will get the bison sticker! #springcardswap

I don't think this is Butler's best, but it's still a pick for me. His characters are always so real and his books are never even slightly pretentious. (Not that I don't like pretentious novels, of course. I often do.) I think my criticism of this one is that there were a few too many plot points and not enough character development. Having said that, I read it incredibly quickly (for me! I'm slow!) and found it engaging.