No time to make it pretty as I‘m heading out of town for my birthday weekend!!! I‘m happy to say 11 of these are from my TBR shelves!

#bookspin

There are a few really good ones here, but The Covenant of Water just stole the show. Black Cake is excellent as is Beyond That, The Sea and We Are Not Like Them and of course Fresh Water for Flowers. Excellent reading month and 5 Bingos!

#bookspin
# bookspinbingo

I‘m already predicting that CoV will be my book of 2023. It‘s gonna take quite a book to beat it in my mind.

This is my idea of heaven…..a beautiful morning with the birds singing and me and a book soooo good. I‘m 300 pages in (almost halfway and I already give it 5 stars!). Happy Sunday Littens! I haven‘t cut the hangers off my plants yet but I will after I finish this book! 🤪

She is twelve years old, and she will be married in the morning.
#Firstlinefridays

1. Yellowstone and 1923-I can‘t wait for the next episodes. I‘m behind on everything else because I‘m reading instead of watching TV. 🤪

2. Any lake! I love being on the water.

3. Wordle and Mahjong

Good enough to keep reading, but it wasn‘t good enough to be a pick for me. Too predictable for me, but a good commentary on the power of social media and how it can take you down just as quick as it builds you up. This was my #bookspin book as well.

Almost a blackout for the month! I blame the cold weather for allowing me to hole up at home with a book many days. Not sure spring is ever coming here 😏. Maybe this week we may see some 60 degree days.

The choices are getting harder and harder to make. It‘s shaping up to be a great book year. 😍

This is number two in the trilogy. I think The Power of the Dog was better. I wonder what it says about me that I would keep turning the pages (over 600) on a book so violent and just downright nasty??
However, in my defense I‘m learning a lot about the real “war on drugs”. I will definitely be finishing this trilogy in May with The Border.

First time camper! Here are my picks. I can‘t wait to see the longlist

#camplitsy2023
#camplitsy

It‘s Friday for me and it‘s sunny and 84degrees in Minnesota in April! Finished this one on my balcony. It‘s my #bookspin book and I‘m continuing to move through my #AwesomeApril stack.

I loved this one! I thought it was better than Circe.
4⭐️‘s
#AwesomeApril
#readathon
#strongwomen

Reminded me of a Hallmark movie, but who doesn‘t like a Hallmark movie now and then? Sweet characters and the setting doesn‘t get better than 3 weeks in Italy. 3-1/2 ⭐️s
#AwesomeAprilreadathon
#ARC

Still snow on the ground, but warm enough to sit out on my balcony and just enough sun left to finish this one. I sort of find his books dull until the bitter end. This one didn‘t make me gasp like Defending Jacob, but still a soft pick for me.
One down for #AwesomeAprilReadathon

Here we go! My stack is tall, but I‘m determined and a few of these are for book groups and library books so I need to finish those. One is an ARC and a couple are loans from my sister and I will see her at the end of the month. Happy reading everyone! ❤️

#AwesomeAprilReadathon

I seriously struggle with Pic Collage. Maybe it‘s because I do it on my phone. The book cover are too big or too small. I can‘t get them just right and my background moves…arghhh. Anyway here‘s my pics so far.

Had a pretty good reading month even read a few not on this list.
Favorites were:
Power of the Dog
Girl, Woman, Other
Age of Vice
Forever Interrupted
Lessons in Chemistry

#Bookspin
#Doublebookspin
#bookspinbingo

This is not my usual genre, but this book was so good, brutal, but brilliant. My first Don Winslow, but not my last! The Cartel is on my list for April #bookspin!

@The_Book_Ninja You were so right! It‘s a wild ride!

#respectyourcatday is everyday at our house. Steven demands it!
#dailychallenge

April #bookspin

A couple of these haven‘t left the list all year. Perhaps April will be the charm and I‘ll get to them. Library Holds often have to take precedence.

March Madness has been stealing some of my reading time, but I‘m diving into this one on the recommendation of Paul‘s brother.

#bookspin #doublebookspin

Completed both my #booksin and #doublebookspin for March.
This Time Tomorrow didn‘t resonate with me. I didn‘t like the whole time travel aspect (which was basically the whole book). It was my first book by this author so can anyone suggest one of her backlist?

The Stationery Shop has been on my shelf for a couple years. A woman sitting next to me on a flight to AZ was reading it and recommended it. Loved it!

I loved the humor in this one. I do think it needs to be listened to as I‘m not sure I would have loved it as much if I had been reading it.

These are my top six for the tournament. At least I think so. 🤪
This was my first year participating so I have nothing to compare this year‘s short list to, but many Littens have said this wasn‘t a great year. I enjoyed following everyone else‘s posts and picks almost as much as reading the books! ❤️❤️❤️

The last #tob23 short list read. The only one I didn‘t at least try was The Passenger. This one will probably make my top 5 of the short list. I‘m not sure this one will stay with me though like a few of the others. I‘ll rate the list later this weekend.

I had a hard time choosing between this one and Babel and A Quiet Life.
#2023ReadingBracket

February is in the books!

#Bookspin
#Doublebookspin

I‘m not really this book‘s target audience, but if you are in your twenties it‘s an interesting take on everything from dating to selfcare to loneliness for a generation coming of age in the digital age. Finding out what‘s important to you and what you want your life to look like even if it‘s not what society/social media is telling you it should look like. 4⭐️‘s

It‘s not pretty, but here is my list for #bookspin, the March 2023 addition.

#doublebookspin

Tried to finish this last night, but my eyes kept slamming shut so I‘m finishing it just in the nick of time this morning! It was an okay story, but for some reason that I cannot put my finger on, I didn‘t love it. 3⭐️‘s

This man sure can write! This was my #bookspin for February. I originally incorrectly put it down as his first book A Little Hope which I had already read. (Which is wonderful too!). He will definitely be a “must read” for me going forward. 5⭐️‘s

#20in4Readathon

My goals:

Read my #bookspin and #doublebookspin (A Quiet Life and The Love of my Life)

Read Olga Dies Dreaming (my last #tob23 book)

Whatever is next in my library stack, but we have a lot going on this weekend so I doubt I will get this far. 😫

I loved this book! Not my usual read, but I thought it illustrated power and the cost of fighting against power in a very real way. I also appreciated all the research the author did regarding language and history. Definitely one of my #tob23shortlist favorites!

One of the best of the #tob23shortlist for me. I stayed up way too late the night I started. These characters had a lot going on and it seemed a bit disjointed at first, but it still captivated me right away. My IRL group will read this when it comes out in paperback and I can‘t wait for that discussion!

I usually don‘t like this technique…all letters, but since it was short it worked for me.
#AAM

Waiting for my windshield to unthaw go I can get to the library before the 1-2 feet of snow dumps on us over the next 2 days. Winter is definitely not over in Minnesota. This book was quite good about the witch hunts in Norway. Someone on here recommended it, but I cannot recall who it was.

All I‘m gonna say is not my thing!

Surprisingly, I loved this one. I was not looking forward to it and probably wouldn‘t have read it if not for #ToB23. All the gaming stuff didn‘t matter to me, but I loved the study of relationships in this one. Each character was memorable and a bit quirky…..Aren‘t we all? I think that‘s why I loved it as much as I did.

#wonderouswednesday @Eggs

1. My automatic read authors are: Sarah Stonich, Elizabeth Strout, Curtiss Sittenfeld, John Boyne, Ken Follett, Barbara Kingsolver, Louise Erdrich, Ruth Ware, Alice Feeney, Amor Towles. This are just a few….🤣

2. Anywhere outside in spring, summer and fall. In winter in my comfy chair covered up with a blanket.

3. Yes I have in the past. I still read at my own pace hence I usually join challenges with @Andrew65

I saw so many people reading this on here and I was experiencing FOMO so I had to read it. I like a story with strong women characters and this did deliver; however, I thought it was a bit unbelievable in spots in my humble opinion.

I was not a big fan of Daisy and the Six and I skipped this one when it came out. I read Carrie Soto in December and was surprised that she had a small role in this book too. I really liked how June and Mick‘s backstory was mixed in with the story of the children. It worked for me and kept me turning the pages.
#AAM

This is really going to date me, but I read this over 20 years ago and one of my IRL book groups picked it this month so I figured I‘d listen to it and see if it still held up. Still one of my all time favorites! ❤️ May Dodd was an amazing woman.
#readagain #bookgroup #alltimefavorite #standstherestoftime

1. My library holds that come in pretty much dictate what order I read things. Also my IRL book groups.

2. I read every day of the week, but I love to read outside the best. I figure by April 1st I might be able to do a few afternoons if I dress warmly. 🤣🤣

This book needed a better editor. Way too long. Could have easily been 75-100 pages shorter. It was a good story, but I thought it alittle too far fetched to me. It was trying to be too many genres at the same time. I kept reading and I didn‘t hate it, but I probably won‘t recommend it to too many people. 2.5 ⭐️

#2023readingbracket

I went with Mouth to Mouth for January even though The Violin Conspiracy was right there too.

#AuldLangSpine was an amazing experience! Thanks so much for hosting and how sweet to do a giveaway! The cherry on top. 🍒🍒🍒.
I would love to read The Change.
#AuldLangspinegiveaway

I didn‘t love it,but I didn‘t hate it either. It doesn‘t get a pick from me because it was hard to follow the story lines at times. I never would have read this if not for #ToBshortlist2023 and even then it took some of you saying good things about it and my library had it.

Mostly library holds, #tobshortlist2023 #AAM, book group picks and a few I didn‘t get read in December and January.
Thanks Sarah for continuing to run this challenge!
#bookspin