I‘ll play!
1. Alexia Tarrabotti from Soulless- she‘s practical, funny, and a force to be reckoned with. I found her when I was in my mid 20‘s and she was what I needed.
2. Sarah Bishop from the All Saints trilogy- I love those books, and Diana‘s Aunt Sarah feels more like a real woman than the two protagonists.
3. Sophie from Howl‘s Moving Castle- she‘s so real and so feisty! #wondrouswednesday

Do I have STACKS of books I should be reviewing for work? Yes. Do I have ARCs that I should read right now? Also yes. Am I reading a new Buffy book despite not reading the comic in forever so I feel a little lost? Definitely.

I‘m not really into celebrity memoirs: celebrities often feel too much like a fantasy. Tom Felton, on the other hand, has told his story in a very humble, reality-based way. He feels like a person you‘d actually meet. His story wasn‘t necessarily relatable, but it was real. #pop23 #celebritymemoir

Thank you to the publishers for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

Friends, this style of writing is not for me. The dialogue between the Irish characters felt like an ad for Lucky Charms. I‘m confident that no one actually sounds like that. I didn‘t get through much of the plot because I was cringing so hard. There are folks who will love the quaintness of this story, but I‘m not one of them.

I need something light to offset the, unexpectedly, heavy pie book I started this weekend. This is light, but maybe I went too far. Other reviewers said that the dialogue was like a Lucky Charms commercial. They weren‘t wrong. This is rough.

Do you ever open TikTok and think you‘re just going to look at some silly videos only to immediately get called out? Like, same. Goddamnit.

Expect a lot of quotes from this book. Rossi Anastopoulo is very funny.

I‘m recovering from a nasty bout of norovirus. Instead of getting up and walking all the way to the kitchen for a library book, I grabbed one of my ARCs that I never managed to get to.

What an insanely beautiful book! The writing was lush and loving. This coming of age story isn‘t like any that I‘ve read: it‘s a spiritual coming of age. What will Antonio become? Can he hang onto the magic that Ultima shows him? Will he ever have his questions answered? #pop23 #bookishouldhavereadinhighschool

“There are many gods,” Cico whispered, “gods of beauty and magic, gods of the garden, gods in our own backyards- but we go off to foreign countries to find new ones, we reach the stars to find new ones-“

I know I‘m a little late! Anyway, 1. There are lots of benefits, but my favorite is just losing myself in what I‘m reading. No thoughts, only book. 2. I just brought home When Women We‘re Dragons. It looks so good! 3. My fave new mystery author right now is Deanna Raybourn. Killers of a Certain Age was everything I wanted it to be.

What a fun twist on Greek mythology! The story is not light (there are definitely adult themes including SA) but the way the author deals with the subject matter feels organic. I love the art and especially the color work. Also, Zeus answers the phone with “Ahoy hoy.” It‘s so dumb. I love it. #pop23 #bookwithalovetriangle

This is such a beautiful book. What an interesting idea that thinking any old thing could be blasphemous.

In a previous post, I wrote about books we are considering for our next Community read. This is one that my coworker is thinking about and thus recommended to me. The artwork is beautiful! The story is all about pride, conviction, and holding onto your sense of self even if the powers that be don‘t want you to. #pop23 #bookthatafriendrecommended

“Cards on the table: this is not going to be my proudest moment. In fact, my mum doesn‘t even know about this story. Sorry Mum.” #FirstLineFridays

We‘re finishing our library‘s Community Read of Firekeeper‘s Daughter, and already planning for next year! Here‘s my some of the ones I‘m considering for my short list. (Plus coffee mug for pretty!)

After a string of books that I just couldn‘t get through, this was a quick, cute, and funny collection. #pop23 #bookwitharabbitonthecover

You guys, I could not. I made it a quarter through and I‘ve noped out. Between the SA and the weird sexual tension, I‘ve determined that this is not for me.

I didn‘t get far in this, honestly. I think it was supposed to be funny and scathing, but I‘m not British and the jokes didn‘t land.

After a full day headache yesterday, self care Sunday is all about household chores and audiobooks. So far this is… pretty much what you‘d expect. #bookwitharabbitonthecover #pop23

This series is my current comfort read, and I especially love the audiobooks. Meg is hosting a slew of Canadian programmers in her rambling Victorian, including their soon to die lout boss. Comfy hilarity and unlikely serendipity ensues. My only qualms with this book are to do with it be of the suspects and the geography of WI and how cold weather works in the series as a whole. Pictured is Nurse Wednesday.

I‘m horrible at keeping house. Like, it makes my stomach ache when I think about it. I really love Domesticblisters on TikTok, so I acquired this, her book. I shouldn‘t be crying over this, right?

This book is going to join my list of recommendations. I came for the science (history of science is one of my favorite sub genres) but the found family theme that the author wove through the book kept me going. Hope and her best friend Bill‘s relationship is what everyone needs in their lives: crazy ideas, crazier implementation, and laughter and profanity when stupid shit invariably happens. #pop23 #bookwithgirlinthetitle

Is this a biblical quote? Whatever it is, I love it.

A little backstory on what‘s happening here, Hope is a geochemist and Bill is her best friend and lab partner. Bill just shaved his head and Hope isn‘t taking it well. They‘re nuts. I like them a lot.

I love the Barker and Llewelyn series. If you‘ve never tried them, picture a world with real historical people and events, a Sherlock with morals and a heart, and a Watson who is a young man and occasionally not a brain between his ears. Occasionally, I get so annoyed with Thomas that I have to stop reading because I can‘t take the second hand embarrassment. (Pictured Wednesday with second hand embarrassment)#pop23 #bookthatmybestfriendwouldlove

I‘m off desk for the rest of my shift, so I‘m getting some processing done and listening to Barker and Thomas on the trail of a wiley assassin.

I love this series and almost always listen to it. The audiobook reader for the series is normally fabulous however, has the worst American Southern accent I‘ve ever heard. Yowzer. The rest of the book makes up for it.

I am now in the camp that, for me, the only way to read Tolkien is an audiobook. My brain glazes over all the long lists of names and the songs and plodding plot. But, if it‘s an audiobook with the charming Rob Inglis (or Andy Serkis!) reading it to me, I can be present in the story. #pop23 #bookaboutavacation

I‘m not far in, but this book is hitting me right in the feels.

#firstlinefridays Okay, not technically the first first line, but in the first paragraph.

Maybe I‘m too old to just get into Discworld. All the jokes were flat, and it was nothing but jokes. Sigh. I feel like I wasted a Hoopla checkout.

It‘s -13 here in NE WI and I need to keep my hands busy. This was appropriate! The color way is “Autumn at the Last Homely House” by Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm. I think I‘ll make a cowl.

You know, I‘m enjoying Tolkien much more in audiobook than otherwise. #pop23 #bookwithavacation

Did you see the movie RED or RED2 with Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren? The are a lot of similarities between this book and those movies. The four retired killers are a group of ladies that rely less on gun power and more on planning and their friendship. Add in some clever one liners and #aforbiddenromance and you have yourself a fun time! #pop23 (Cabbits not featured, but there was a Kevin)

I cry malarkey! Hardship and stress are the best times of dessert!

This was the tiny break I needed before I work on my two massive reads for the challenge and a work project that I‘ve been putting off. Meat Cute is a prequel and cute and silly and just adorable. It was like opening a box of chocolates and grabbing one at random to discover that, wow! It‘s a really good ganache! (Not my photo, but pertinent to the story.) #pop23 #shortestbookonmytbr

I have a bad habit. When I really love a series, I acquire all of it… and then I don‘t finish it. Sometimes ever. I LOVE the Parasol Protectorate. I love the entire Parasoloverse, except I have three books that I can‘t bring myself to finish. Here‘s number one. It‘s a prequel, and it will certainly be the least serious thing I read all year (unless I‘m very lucky.) #pop23 #shortestbookinmytbrpile

After this book, I‘m going to look up content warnings before I acquire the items. If you‘re planning on reading this, please know there are several instances of SA. Blech. This book started out fascinating; what if women one day learned that they could shoot electricity out of their hands? It‘s a cool premise and the characters are really interesting! But then, it devolves into a gross mess. Blech again. #pop23 #booksintotvshowsormovies

When I started the Reacher novels, I burned through the first dozen in a matter of months. I loved them. Now rereading this. I can‘t help hearing all the jackass dudebros trying to be as cool and inserting themselves into his persona. Reacher is still kinda fun and he always saves the day, but he‘s not as fun as I remember. #pop23 #readitlike10yearsago

This year, to pry me out of my comfort read hole (I think I only read comfort reads for the last couple of years because… life) I‘m try Pop Sugar UK‘s 2023 Reading Challenge. I‘m going to alter it slightly (I am not reading all the romance suggested.) For the “book that is coming out as a tv show or movie” I‘ve selected The Power. So far, so fun! I haven‘t read dystopian in AGES!

It took me a whole year to get into this book, but I‘m so very glad I persevered. Past the teen hormones (and they‘re necessary because this is a book for teens first) and the thrilling FBI case, is so much heart and love for indigenous folks. I cannot do Firekeeper‘s Daughter justice in my review. It was beautiful. Parts made me sob. I saw a few things coming. I cheered Daunis on. I sobbed some more. #pop23 #meanttoread2022

I‘m still plugging away. So far, the deeper I get, the less teenage angst there is!

Confession time: This is the Winter Community Read for our library. The library I work at. I am on the committee that chose this book. I‘ve known that we were going to be reading this book since last January. I‘ve had this very book in my house since June. Internet friend, I have not read this book. Oh well, no time like the present.

Donna Andrews always delivers cute and funny murders, this was no different. I had a hectic week, but this was a lovely Christmasy escape. My only complaint is that the author clearly has never spent any time in my fair state, WI. There is a small plot point that involves some characters from WI, and they don‘t act like people from here. That‘s just me being nitpicky though.

This is a spin off from a long running series. Maybe if I had read the series, I‘d find some redeeming quality in this book. Alas, I did not. I couldn‘t make myself care what happened. I hate giving books bad reviews, especially since I was given this as an ARC by the publisher, but it was dull.

Finally we‘re looking into the suspects! It feels like it‘s taken a while to get here, but it may be that I‘ve had a lot going on. #PegAndRoseSolveAMurder

I‘m on my lunch break and trying to get a few chapters in. Let me set the scene: the murder from the title has occurred. The protagonists are sitting at a table chatting about the murder. One of the protagonists offers the other cake. They‘ve had a shock. The second refuses because cake is sinful. I am firmly on Team Peg. Rose is insufferable. #PegAndRoseSolveAMurder

I won an ARC! (That‘s really the only thing I ever win, but not complaining!) So far, it‘s a cute book. Peg and Rose are septuagenarian SILs. Peg is a little prickly, but funny. Rose is a bit holier-than-thou, but she‘s starting to loosen up. I‘ll let you know how it goes. #PegAndRoseSolveAMurder