2024: 10 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Theres no doubt in my mind why this book was named one of NYT best 10 books of 2023. The author uses real case law and the 13th amendment to paint a picture of a world where American prisoners are pitted against each other in gladiator style death matches for the viewing pleasure of the public. It uses violence to make the reader reflect on heavy themes such as punishment, redemption, rehabilitation, the commodification of...

2024: 9

Double lives. The secrets we keep from our loved ones and the lies that we tell for them. Reconciling those things with how we see ourselves and our place in the world. Whether we're good or bad people. This book was so so for me. It's set in South Texas in familiar cities close to home and at times made me feel closer to the story and at other times infuriated me due to inaccuracies.

2024: 8
First 5 star read of the year. Octavia Butler's books give me anxiety in the best way. Her novels and characters are easy to get invested in so you really feel the story. This post apocalyptic novel is terrifying in how ordinary the atrocities happening are. There's no super bug or nuclear fall out, just plain old human hubris. Massive inflation, water shortages, and gross wealth disparity lead America to regress.

We bought this cabinet to store liquor, glasses, extra kitchen stuff etc.... and just like everywhere else in the house, it's been completely overrun by books.

My husband: Mary, you've got a problem.
Me: yeah I'm running out of room for books.

2024: 7 This was alright. Entertaining sci-fi but not enough to bring me back for book 2.

2024: 6 If you're into Jordan Peele movies this will be a fun read. Thrillers are my favorite genre to listen to in audiobooks. Really grab and hold the attention.

2024: 5
Entertaining audio book for a lazy rainy Sunday. Good enough to make me want to pick up book 2 of the duology.

2024: 4
I love magical realism. It takes me back to childhood and the stories my grandma would weave for me. This book hit close to home. I'm not Ecuadorian but I am a latina from Texas and very frequently drive through a small town called three rivers which instantly became the village of four rivers from the book in my imagination. I can relate to the familial folklore and culture so this was a fun read for me.

2024: 3
Not my favorite of hers and definitely not up there with her best but it'd do for a flight/vacation type read.

2024: 4

Sitting here about to start reading when I should be taking down all the christmas stuff. Incidentally, I'll be dropping this book somewhere once I'm done with it in hopes that someone picks it up, reads it, and then passes it on again. #bookfairiesusa

2024: 2
Went in blind and was surprised by a quirky, funny and heartwarming found family story.

Book 1 of 2024

So glad I never watched the show/movie. Went into this one not knowing anything about it. I think I've found my groove in audiobooks finally. Definitely enjoying listening to thrillers and mysteries.

Listened to the audiobook and it was EXCELLENT. Written as a letter to his son about his own experience growing up black in the USA.

Dolly is a living saint. I highly recommend the audio book so you can hear her tell the stories behind her most famous songs. Smiled the entire time I was listening.

Hitting the road for a 5 hour road trip so I thought I'd start this big bitch and catch up on some reviews

So it turns out I don't hate all audio books. I'm finding I need a little mystery or thriller type action to keep me interested. All of these were fun listens.

A cold and dreary day at the beach is perfect reading weather. Love a good fairytale or mythology retelling and this one did not disappoint.

Picked these up on a quick Target run. Collecting books and reading books really are two distinct hobbies and I love both.

Definitely in a thriller/mystery mood when I picked out my Book Of The Month books for February. I'm a huge fan of the Agatha Christie books I've read so far so I'm looking forward to Death On The Nile.

I've been super swamped lately but I'm taking this Sunday to drink some spiked Mexican hot chocolate, get some reading done, and post some quick reviews. Happy Sunday!

I HATE AUDIOBOOKS! Please change my mind!!!! I just started delving into AB because I love the idea or getting through some TBRs while I do shit around the house but I just can't get into them. I never like the books I listen to and I can't even tell if it's because I actually don't like the book or just don't like the format. Please recommend your absolute favorite AB so I can get over this and learn to love them.

🥱 I gave this one about 50% of the book and it never really caught me. Giving it up to move on to the next one. Too many books to read and too little time in which to do it.

I picked this one up knowing it was loosely based on Asian history and folklore. Right around when the book gets to Golyn Niis it dawned on me what time period and history it was based on. About 20 years ago I read a book called The Rape of Nanking that has stayed with me because of how disturbing it was. I immediately knew the scenes this author was depicting were recreations of the true events chronicled in that book. Heavy stuff. (1)

Bring on the cold front.

We've had quite the drastic weather swing here. Nearly 90° yesterday and it's currently 42°. We are so ill prepared for cold weather that people are being asked to stay home if they can due to sleet. I'm looking forward to bundling up and getting some solid reading time in this weekend. The last time we had a cold snap our power went out across Texas and lasted for 5 days locally. Fingers crossed it doesn't get that bad this time around.

It‘s a beautiful day in south Texas. 70 and sunny. Me and my reading buddies are picking a spot in the shade to enjoy the afternoon in.

I'm beginning to believe that contemporary romance isn't for me. The ones I love are few and far between.

Trying out more audio books this year. They've never really been my jam but I like the idea of being able to listen while I do busy work around the house. That being said I'm not sure if this one didn't hit with me because it was audio or because it just didn't hit. Seemed like it would be right up my alley but was just so-so

A smutty retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Both can be found on Kindle Unlimited. 2nd book is better than the first. 3rd book out Feb 7th.

This year's first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read. I'm 2nd generation Mexican American and grew up in a border town and this book hit close to home and brought tears to my eyes. Many of my family and friends have lived through the struggles written about in this book. I thought it was done really well and spoke to true experiences.

The view from this morning's reading spot. Wish I was reading something spooky and atmospheric to go along with the thick fog. Relaxing on my family's ranch in deep South Texas for the weekend.

Couldn't sleep so I just wrapped up The Maidens on audio book. This is my first thriller/mystery audio book and I caught myself talking to the recording as if I were watching a scary movie like "no girl dont go into that room" ?

January's Book Of The Month box just came in ❤

Last book of 2021. Total of 85 read this year. This one was alright. Entertaining but nothing to write home about.

Stayed up entirely too late to finish this last night. This is book 2 of the Sholomance series by Naomi Novik. I love her books. I originally thought the Sholomance series was going to be a duaology so when I got to the cliffhanger ending I immediately went online to check if there was going to be a third book after all. Good news is book 3 will come out in 2022. If you don't like cliffhangers I suggest waiting until then.

I picked these up at B&N's sale yesterday. The store was packed and it was great to see so many people buying books. Who says print is dead?!? Now if only there were more indie stores in my town.