1. Farm.
2. Not necessarily a place but a process. I couldn‘t think of a book with a farm that I actually want to live on. Anne of Green Gables might be close but I wouldn‘t want to live in that time period. 😅

#Two4Tuesday

My May list for #BookSpinBingo. 🥰

My #Roll100 picks for May. Two continuations of a series and a nonfiction that‘s been sitting on my TBR for quite a while.

It‘s a gorgeous day out! Letting The Wyrmling play in his water table while I attempt to get in a few pages of this new read. Forecast says it‘s supposed to drop back down to the 30-40 range in the next few days so we‘re enjoying it while we can. 😔

Watching the last episode of Fallout tonight and ordering my favorite pizza. It‘s going to be a great day! 🥰

5 ⭐️s
After my first Simak merely a week ago, I was nervous about how much I might like this one. I ADORE it! It‘s a library copy but I love it so much it‘s been added to my list of books to buy for my collection. Enoch is such a wonderful protagonist. Just enough of the old fashioned without being a patriarchal ass. His relationships with all the supporting characters were so lovely. I will absolutely be picking up more Simak in the future!

1. Stranger in the Mirror
It‘s been hard coming to grips with how much I‘ve changed since getting pregnant and having The Wyrmling. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well. Although it‘s still a surprise when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My mental image of myself hasn‘t updated to the new outer look…

2. Tagged. Excellent book about an adventure I could never hope to survive, but loved reading about.

#Two4Tuesday

4 ⭐️s
I‘m surprised how much I enjoyed this. My heart hurt for the two characters but also I was happy for them and what little time they did have. It took some adjustment for me due to it being an affair, and I was a bit surprised how accepting I was of it. The quietness of the love is what I think did it for me. In a world where 99% of the romance books are just thinly veiled smut, it was refreshing.

This was my #BookSpin for March.

3 ⭐️s
My first Simak, I‘ll be tackling another once my library hold comes in. I enjoyed the writing and sped through the book. The ending was quite a letdown. I was especially annoyed with the blatant misunderstanding of evolution and how the entire narrative hinged on that misunderstanding. There were several loose ends that remained undone by the end as well. Still enjoyable enough for me to look forward to reading another by the author.

1. There are many people that if I were to describe my feelings for them might fit the description of a personal hero, but I shy away from using such a label. Unfortunately I‘ve come to regret the ones I‘ve labeled as such in the past. In all honesty (as vain as I‘m sure it sounds) the person that is most likely to be my hero is myself.
2. This entire series has numerous heroes in it, so I chose the final book.

#Two4Tuesday

1. Checked off the eclipse. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can go for a hike Saturday.
2. Coffee. I don‘t snack a lot while reading, but a good dark chocolate if I do.
3. I love matching my bookmarks to what I‘m reading. Whether it‘s by theme or color.
4. Currently reading multiples. I‘ll tag the one I‘m likely to finish this week then add the others in the comments.

Tagged if you were in the path of totality!

#MotivationalMonday

Totality. I‘ve seen an eclipse before but never been in the path of totality. Truly a unique experience. The pic is with my phone, so nothing great, just the universe doing its thing. To the right you can see the little spot of light, Venus, and the little light to the left is Jupiter.

The Wyrmling was thoroughly impressed. I don‘t think he‘ll be capable of remembering it, but that‘s what photos and videos are for. ❤️🌌❤️

5 ⭐️s
I honestly can‘t help but love this series. 😅 This one really started to branch out the multiple POVs a lot more than the previous ones. I always enjoy that. I‘m so glad I saw through the bs at the beginning or I would have been awfully upset. I still adore Richard and Kahlan. Even though he is still a big doofus a lot of the time. Zedd was fun as always. The supporting cast continues to be fleshed out more and I love many of them as well.

The Postman
Bladerunner
Jurassic Park

It‘s very uncommon for me to think the movie is better, but I couldn‘t finish the snooze fest that is The Postman and absolutely loathe Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (the book Bladerunner is very loosely based on). Jurassic Park is still a good book but the movie is much more fun and of course Hammond is actually likable. 😅

#TLT

Two very different choices for April‘s #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin 😅 I‘ve fallen behind with my reading goal for the year so I may have to focus on some of the shorter reads that are on this years TBR. We‘ll see. 🤷‍♀️

Unless a miracle happens this is all I‘m getting for the first quarter bingo of the year. I read more than this but didn‘t leave spaces for extra reads/prompts. So hopefully the free spaces I put on the second quarter bingo help me out there. 😅 But hey, one bingo! Better than I usually do with a monthly bingo! ❤️

Time to cleanse my palette after my last read… 😅 So glad tomorrow‘s Friday. 😮‍💨

Hopefully taking The Wyrmling to the zoo on Saturday then Sunday‘s all day with family. The flowers are coming up in my garden and soon I‘ll be able to read outside again!

World War Z
The Hobbit
Interview With the Vampire

#TLT
#ThreeListThursday

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView 🥰
If you‘re reading this, consider yourself tagged!

1 ⭐️
Ugh. Hated it. The smut scenes aren‘t even worth it. Just go read something on AO3. I‘m glad I got this as a freebie because there is no way I‘d forgive myself for wasting money on this… I told my husband I don‘t think the author has ever actually had sex or at least not fulfilling sex. 😅 Red flags everywhere. I literally got the heebie-jeebies from the cringe. 😖 I hope the super powerful AI the MMC created destroys them all. 🤣

1. Most people I read are dead or out of the game. 😅 Stephen King is definitely an author I can never pass up and Grady Hendrix is a new one that I don‘t think could disappoint me.
2. Wheel of Time series for fantasy. The Stand for horror. Hitchhiker‘s Guide to the Galaxy for science fiction.
3. Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson. No one could have taken over Jordan‘s work like Sanderson did.

#WondrousWednesday

The quarterly bingo is working out for me so far, so I‘ll continue with this new board for April-June. Left myself some free spaces this time so I don‘t risk reading something that doesn‘t fit a space on the board. 😅

I use my spin app to choose what prompt fills each box.

My #BookSpin list for April! So looking forward to warmer weather so I can sit outside and read again. 🥰

My April #Roll100 picks!

5 ⭐️s
An absolutely amazing story of survival. What these men went through is unimaginable and they faced it all head on. Shackleton was a rare kind of leader that got his men through the most unforgiving place on Earth. Nothing could stop them and the way they kept their humanity through it all is inspiring. Lansing brought all their accounts together in one compelling book, giving the reader a first hand look at what humans are capable of.

3.5 ⭐️s
For the first 7/8 of this book I loved it. That last 1/8 hit and it went from a hard 5 to barely above a 3. I really loved the characters and how human Doerr portrayed them. No one was villainized with a vague stroke. Of course there are Nazis and they are very much in the wrong. But Doerr reminds us that unfortunately they are just as human as those they sought to exterminate. The end just felt so lackluster for what he‘d built up to.

5 ⭐️s
It‘s often difficult to rate and review classics. This was a rather short/quick read. For me, it was a heartbreaking story of both the darkness man brings down upon his fellow humans and the darkness within that envelopes even the greatest minds at the end of life. No one is immune to the march of time. What is left of us is scant, half remembered truths that we have no say in. The parts about the infection of the western world upon the ⬇️

My #BookSpin list for March. February wasn‘t as productive of a reading month as January. One of the books I‘ve been reading had me dreading picking it up, so I blame it. 😅 Hopefully March will be a better reading month for me, both in quality and quantity.

A very sci-fi and fantasy heavy #Roll100 for March. 😅❤️
Startide Rising and Centaur Aisle are both continuations of series that I need to read. Special Deliverance will be my first Simak.

Thank goodness this buddy read isn‘t due until the end of March. I‘m just over 50% through and I desperately need a break. Probably going to set it aside for a week and see if I have any urge to pick it back up. I‘m so confused on where the science fiction is? Other than the pretty little light shows that the scorpions wear, I don‘t get a sci-fi vibe from it… Not sure WHAT vibe I get from it. Just…confused and exhausted by it.
#ClassicLSFBC

1. I think it‘s been about fifteen years since we moved into our current place?
2. Anne of Green Gables

A day late with this one. 😅
Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author
#Two4Tuesday

5 ⭐️s
A reread for me. The last time I read it I was in middle school. I was shocked at how much of my memory of it had been hijacked by the films. I‘m curious to see how much I misremember from the following trilogy. 😅 This will always be a very nostalgic story for me. I felt a profound connection to the young woman I was when I first read it and fell in love with Tolkien‘s world. ❤️
This was part of my February #Roll100

Hey guys! My cousin is the artist for this comic. He‘s done a lot of work before for the big comic companies but this is his first creator owned comic endeavor. Any support would be great, even just sharing the kickstarter link. Although pledging does come with some pretty sweet rewards. 😍

If you like Doctor Who or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I‘m sure you‘ll love this comic!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/manbomb/omega-1

I was doing so well too! I think I‘ve come to the realization that I just can‘t put a complete embargo on myself and expect myself to not rebel. 😅 I think I might have to start giving myself a gimme here and there to let off the built up pressure or the Mucinex fueled spending spree I went on last night will just happen again. 😬

5 ⭐️s

An excellent read! Probably one of if not THE best book on dinosaurs I have ever read. It‘s written in such a way that anyone could pick it up and read it. You don‘t need to be obsessed with dinosaurs like I am to understand it. It flows beautifully from the time before the dinosaurs, through their rise to the top, their reign as the dominant creatures on the planet, to their rather violent demise. Absolutely love this! It was a library ⬇️

It‘s taking me a bit to really get into this one. I think mostly it‘s the writing style. It‘s not bad, by any means, just something to get used to…

My February #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin! Both have been on my TBR for ages so I‘m looking forward to knocking them off.

4 ⭐️s
The beginning is a bit slow but boy that second half of the book flies by! I‘m much more used to action-packed sci-fi, so I wasn‘t expecting something so philosophical. But I loved it. The themes this book touches on are extremely relevant today. There were times I disliked Shevek, but overall I think he‘s a character that will rattle around comfortably in my brain for a long time. I‘m definitely hooked on this author now! ❤️
#ClassicLSFBC

Posting to brag about my husband surprising me by making a whole set of eight concealed “floating” bookshelves. Now to figure out where I want to hang them. Then to choose the lucky books to be displayed! ❤️🥰❤️

1. Definitely Stephen King‘s It.

2. That‘s a tough one. I have some really great ones lined up. Probably my reread of The Hobbit. I haven‘t read the LOTR series since middle school, so I‘m excited to revisit Middle Earth as an adult with new perspectives.

Consider yourself tagged if you‘re reading this! ❤️

#Two4Tuesday

I can‘t believe it actually happened! I put one spot on my #Roll100 list down as a reread space for a beloved series. I figured out of 100, it had a super slim chance of getting picked, but only two months into the new year and BAM! So I chose LOTR since it‘s been the longest since I read it. I also decided to go ahead and start with The Hobbit, just like I did in middle school when I first read the series. ❤️🥰❤️

My #BookSpin list for February. I‘m going to continue carrying the list over throughout the year and just slip new choices into the emptied spots. I‘m also strictly putting only my physically owned books on here.

The weather in my area is acting like Spring is already here, but I don‘t buy it. Something‘s coming round the corner, I just know it. 😅

My copy finally came in from the other library to mine! Let‘s see if I can get it read before February. 😅
#ClassicLSFBC

2 ⭐️s
I really thought I would enjoy this book but the further I got, the more it fell apart for me. By the time I got to Air, everything felt so disjointed that I was struggling to even figure out what the purpose of this book even is. I don‘t deal with an overwhelming existential crisis the way the author seemed to. Lockdown and quarantine were actually small blessings for me, personally. It gave me the space to breathe and the time to stop ⬇️

Visited Covington, OH today. I‘m on a self-imposed book buying ban and so I made sure not to pop in to any bookshops. Unfortunately several of the other very cool shops we stopped in at had secret little stashes of classic sci fi books that kept calling out to me. It was VERY hard (especially with many priced as low as a dollar), but I stayed strong and made it home without any books coming with me. 😅

Well, it took way longer than I wanted but I finally finished editing my first BookTube video! If you decide to watch it, please let me know what you think. There‘s a lot that I can improve on and I would sincerely value constructive criticism. 🥰

Here‘s the link: https://youtu.be/-ouvwvmdSpk?si=pUt9ML9pwdHI-wo8

5 ⭐️s
I‘m hooked. I have to read ALL the Sherlock Holmes now! It‘s always so hard for me to review mysteries because I feel like I might inadvertently give away too much. I was a bit saddened that as my first Holmes story it didn‘t have much of him in it. I was also surprised at how often I laughed. I wasn‘t expecting that. This was a great read and I‘ll be keeping an eye out for more to add to my collection. 😍

This was my #BookSpin for January.

It‘s been in the negatives here and me and The Wyrmling snuggled up and took a THREE HOURS long nap this afternoon. 😅 I meant to have him nap while I read but mama‘s eyes drifted shut and that was that. I‘ll try to squeeze some pages in now before bed.

The one thing that could rival my love for a book map…

2 ⭐️s
Ugh. I debated having this be a DNF but then it started to get good and I thought, “Okay, I‘m starting to see some potential.” Then it all started going downhill again. I really started to worry when I was running out of pages and there was no way the story could be finished. Then I turned the page and BAM book done. I literally flinched and looked around a room I‘m in BY MYSELF, as if the walls would give me some answers. Not worth my time.

5 ⭐️s
How do you condense a 1,000+ page masterpiece into a less than 500 words review?
King always surprises me with how well he can remind me of childhood fear. How well your own imagination can frighten you more than real life. And how that same imagination can be your only weapon against both the real and imagined horrors of this world. I enjoyed how the past and “current” events tied together throughout the book. I love King‘s writing style.🤡

I‘ve adored this book ever since our teacher read it to us in school. We had cutouts of a mitten and all the animals to play with. It‘s originally an old Ukrainian folk tale. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. I bought a copy for The Wyrmling for Christmas this year. ❤️

#MidWinterSolace #FridayNightShare #Naturalitsy