My daughter-in-law recently sent me these special bookmarks that I will treasure always…

I‘ve been avoiding books that include Covid but was finally able to get brave and trust this author, a particular favorite of mine, to handle the topic and it‘s ramifications for her characters with grace. This story also takes place in Minneapolis in the wake of the murder of George Floyd but in Erdrich‘s hands nothing becomes maudlin or preachy, the narrative of the lives of extraordinarily ordinary people just becomes comforting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I continue to enjoy this series and its funny, fiery protagonist, Flavia Albia. I‘m also enjoying the evolution of her relationship with her love interest, as well as the fleshing out of some of the minor characters from the previous books. Definitely recommend visiting Ancient Rome with these books for an enjoyable afternoon. 📕💕

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I enjoyed this romance, it was just what I needed to get me out of my reading slump…Ahmad and Evie were just lovely to root for and I‘m looking forward to the next in this Belles of London series…Favorite Quote: “It‘s lately seemed to me that we ladies are dropped into a churning sea and forbidden from revealing that we know how to swim.”⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Evelyn entered the shop alone. She was at once assailed by the scent of fresh ink, paper and new leather bindings. A delicious fragrance. She breathed it in, feeling at once both excited and oddly at peace. For a reader, a bookshop was rather like a church.”

I‘ve recently identified a new category of books in my reading life…the “I know this is a good book but it‘s overwhelming me to read it right now” category. Real life issues are interfering with my attention span; gone are the days where I‘d sit down and read for hours. Yesterday I gave up on a 700 page book at 40% because of its length but also because it‘s book one of a trilogy. Anyone else experiencing real life affecting reading life??

At first glance, you might be tempted to think of this as a cozy mystery. But after having read a couple of the more recent titles in this series and deciding to go back to the beginning with this one, I‘d say the only cozy aspects are the descriptions of food and the rural French setting. The mystery itself is gritty and morally challenging for our hero and the first in a very very good series. Oui! 🇫🇷
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FYI: CURRENTLY ON SALE FOR YOUR KINDLE $2.99 🇺🇸

I enjoyed being in Molly‘s world for awhile. Through her first person narrative You, the Reader, understand things she does not but, at the same time, she often takes your breath away with her insight, especially where it relates to how others perceive her. Like others I‘m not a huge fan of the reveal in the epilogue, it felt unsupported by the rest of the story and as if the author just couldn‘t let us enjoy a happy unambiguous ending. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Had such a lovely visit with my son, DIL and granddaughter last month. Must admit that so far she seems to share my love of Art more than my love of Reading…I had several toys here for her to play with during her visit and her absolutely favorite things were the coloring book and crayons. 🧒🏻🖍 ❤️

Picked this one for the Cover…Stayed for the Story ✍️

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As a teenager I loved hard boiled detective fiction. The policemen of McBain‘s 87th Precinct, Travis McGee, Lew Archer all intrigued me just as their predecessors like Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe. When I saw the old school cover and premise of Five Decembers I added it to my TBR. When it won the Edgar, I started reading. Is it good? Let‘s just say Hammett, Chandler and both MacDonalds would be very impressed. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m beginning to think I have a penchant for historical novels featuring women in unconventional roles. This series featuring Charlotte Holmes and Mrs Watson solving mysteries and tangling with the so far elusive Moriarty is very good. I‘ll be continuing, especially considering not one but two surprises I did not come close to guessing. I love when an author makes me gasp! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Someone sweet is coming to visit me in May! 🧒🏻💕

Beautiful 🥺

(From Good News Movement via Instagram)

I‘ve been struggling to read lately, just lots on my mind, but downloading this title I purchased years ago was a good jump start to getting back into my books. This author did an excellent job taking the compelling story of real life Pinkerton agent Kate Warne and making it her own. She seamlessly integrates the few known facts about Warne and develops a believable story of dedication, love, loss, bravery and page-turning intensity. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Seems fitting that my current read is far as far can be from me on this World Book Day! 🌎 📖 ❤️

#WorldBookDay

My advice if you‘d like to murder someone…
Don‘t move to Coopers Chase, the home of Elizabeth, Ron, Ibrahim and Joyce, aka The Thursday Murder Club.
You will be caught, probably because they are way smarter than you and you will underestimate them.
Such a delightful series! My hope is that Mr. Osman will write many many more of their adventures for me to reread in my dotage. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Joyce reminds me of Rose on Golden Girls. #ripbettywhite #WeekendReading

“Every time I walk into a bedroom these days someone has been shot. I was going to plump up the pillows in the spare room earlier but got cold feet.”

“MI5 know who I am now, though, so that‘s one for the Christmas newsletter.”

“I still haven‘t quite worked out how my Instagram works, which is very frustrating, as GreatJoy69 now has over 200 private messages.”

“I felt a lid shift. A lid that I‘d pulled over me after the effects of one war, only to find that another war was trying to prise it off again. I knew I had to hold onto it for as long as I could.”This intense look at the initial days of the Paris Occupation through the eyes of damaged & conflicted Detective Eddie Giral was excellent. Lloyd expertly uses words to give dimension to every character;You, like Giral, don‘t know who to trust. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There‘s a type of historical fiction I‘ve been fascinated by, one I‘ve never actually seen identified as a trope or sub genre. I first became aware of the idea watching the British tv drama Foyle‘s War which features murders being solved during WWII. PI Bernie Gunther does the same in 1930‘s Germany and The Last Policeman trilogy has an ordinary detective solving a murder despite the end of the world countdown clock ticking (cont…) #WeekendReading

Am I the only one who takes a ridiculous amount of time to decide what to read next? Seriously, I‘d be half way through my next read if I didn‘t spend so much time looking at all the books on my shelves and reading apps trying to decide. Yep, I‘m a mood reader who sometimes can‘t decide what mood I‘m in even! 😜 I envy those of you who regularly create TBR piles and stick to them! 📚❤️

The 5th installment in this series continues the adventures of Imperial Police Force Captain Wyndham and Sergeant Banerjee in 1920‘s Calcutta, India. Their relationship has evolved until a strong bond has developed, constantly challenged by the moral and political issues always near the surface during the British occupation of India. It is their relationship, more even than the mysteries they solve, that make this series stand out ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading the newest addition in the Wyndham & Banerjee mystery series and it‘s excellent so far (about 25% in) because for the first time some of the action is narrated by Sergeant Banerjee. This comment made me lol:
“Sam would have cautioned me against trusting her…forgetting the many, many occasions where he had believed a woman more on the strength of her perfume than of her statement.” Such a good series! 🤓
#WeekendReading

Wow. Sometimes you put a book down and think “that was a great story”. Himself is indeed a great story, but my biggest takeaway is “What an incredibly talented writer!” Jess Kidd puts together prose magically. Every word, every turn of phrase, every page is wonderful. I‘ll be reading her backlist and everything she publishes from here on out. Highly recommend Himself. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finished Americanah earlier today, so decided to head from Nigeria to Ireland for my next read. HIMSELF has been on my kindle for a long time and I loved THINGS IN JARS so I have high hopes for this title…the description certainly ticks lots of my reading boxes!
#WeekendReading

This is a pick for me even though I can‘t say I loved this book. I found it compelling to see the US through the eyes of a Nigerian woman, especially her experiences and observations on race and gender. The writing is excellent and Adichie seamlessly takes the narrative back and forth between the two main characters. It wasn‘t until I finished that I realized I just didn‘t like Ifemelu. She was selfish, lacked empathy and had a superior ⬇️

My weekend read illustrates something I love about reading: Despite having nothing in common with the characters in a book, there is so much that we all share in the human experience no matter our ethnicity, race, age, country of origin, place or time we live in now…I‘m making a concerted effort in 2022 to read authors who take me completely out of my own life experiences and Americanah is an excellent start.
#WeekendReading

I‘ve been adding my reads to my Goodreads account all year but it was just a few days ago I realized I‘d read 49 books. So, of course, I decided to read just one more to hit 50. This first in a new series by this prolific writer was good, I enjoyed it, but it would have been much better if the book blurb hadn‘t revealed a spoiler about the death of a main character that occurs well into the tale. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Happy New Year, All 🥳

Interesting article on downsizing, especially your books!

https://www.nextavenue.org/the-perils-of-downsizing/?utm_source=Next+Avenue+Emai...

Merry Christmas to All My Litsy Friends! You Are A Gift in My Life! Advice for 2022? Eat the Cookies!!! 🍪🎄🧒🏻❤️💚❤️

This first in a five part series featuring The Seeker, head of the Guard protecting Oliver Cromwell, is compared to the Sansome series and aptly so, although it is set 100 years after the time of that other Cromwell and his infamous king. I expected to enjoy the mystery and intrigue of this tale and it‘s enigmatic antihero but was unprepared for the beauty of the writing. The author she has a gorgeous way with prose! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I hardly ever do this but Razorblade Tears was so good that I immediately went back and started this previous work. This man can WRITE! His prose is electric and precise like literary surgery. He gets every sense involved so you see, smell and taste the action. He is a gifted storyteller. I hope he will also be a prolific one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wow. I‘m just going to let the tears streaming down my face and the fact that I spent the last 25% of this book with my hand over my mouth and eyes wide open stand as my review…Wow…⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The second installment in what is quickly becoming a favorite series. Flavia Albia is an immensely pleasing and fascinating character: I simply love being in her head and heart as she navigates Roman society and defies all the conventions that society tries to put onto her. Happy to know I have a few more in the series to look forward to! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

No Words … 👨🏻‍🦰🧒🏻 📕 💕

One thing they don‘t tell you about becoming a grandmother. Your heart will simply swell out of your chest with love and pride when you see Your child with His Child.👨🏻‍🦰🧒🏻🧡

This series starring Sherlock Holmes and his partner/wife Mary Russell was my first experience where someone other than the original author features well established characters and expounds on their canon in a compelling way. This remains an amazing series 17 volumes in and this latest adventure does not disappoint. If I ever meet Laurie King I will thank her for this and for opening my eyes to the joys of well written pastiche fiction. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I continue to enjoy several historical mystery series set in India, including this latest title in the Perveen Mistry series. The author delves much further into the roles of women through the eyes of Perveen, the first female solicitor of Bombay, as she endeavors to break ground in her career despite societal obstacles. This series also explores the history of India during the time of British rule, a topic I find fascinating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is #13 in this series and, yet again, Elly Griffiths does not disappoint. The mystery was engaging as is always the case with Ruth Galloway and company. The fact that I figured out who the killer was way before the end wasn‘t even disappointing because it‘s the relationships between the recurring characters that makes this series compelling and a must read every time. Looking forward to #14, especially after reading the last page! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finally read this one…what the heck was I waiting for, it was VERY good!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This takes place during the 1889 Paris Exposition. The protagonist is a bookseller/amateur detective. I stopped halfway through when he spies on a woman he‘s become obsessed with and sees her hugging and laughing with another man. He declares she‘s a whore then a few pages later purchases a nude painting she posed for. I nearly threw the book across the room! Hard to believe written by two women; something was definitely lost in translation.

This Twitter post cracked me up this morning 😆 and of course we all love that her arms are full of books!📚
(Posted on Twitter by UK author Beth Morrey)

A haunting story, based on true circumstances but fleshed out by the story of an invented reporter who becomes completely invested in and altered by her experience covering the case. I enjoyed this writer‘s prose and her way of bringing humanity to horrific crimes.
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So Happy to be Celebrating this Beautiful and Precious Child‘s Birthday Today!!!!!!! 🥳💖🎉#GrammysGirl

This second entry in the Giordano Bruno series continues the intrigues of its “renegade monk, philosopher, scientist, poet and magician” as he strives to stay alive and protect Queen Elizabeth from the machinations of the French, Spanish and Scottish courts, all seemingly intent on ending her reign. A historical thriller I enjoyed, despite figuring out several plot points well before the end.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just two more sleeps until I‘m with this little lady!!! 💗

I was in the mood for a historical romance and this cover attracted me but it didn‘t match the contents. The writing was stilted. The hero and heroine were lackluster with no feeling of connection between them yet they share their deepest secrets after one dance.Too much describing, not enough showing. For example, reading about an attempted robbery feels like reading a police report, rather than being put in the middle of the action. Bailed!👎🏼

Many excellent historical mysteries are set in India and this newest series featuring India‘s first female detective inspector is an engaging entry into the category. Most I‘ve read are set during British rule but Khan sets his tale during Partition, a time of political, cultural and religious upheaval. I look forward to future installments of this series and learning more about this difficult and long reaching time in India‘s story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️