Please excuse the messy writing, but here‘s my list for June- just under the wire! #bookspinbingo

I had no idea what this was about, but I listened to it because it was so highly recommended. I also had never read Brooks before…. But woah. This was absolutely fascinating and so well written! I was nervous about multiple narrators, but it was so well handled…. And the research that had to have gone into this! I‘m blown away.

Light, clean romance that is set up as friend-to-lovers with a little fake-dating trope thrown in (but kind of forgotten about). It got better as it went on, but I think I like her other books more. #ISpyBingo: uniform (this was a tough month for this bingo card- only got 3!)

Another excellent graphic nonfiction for YA… in this one he breaks down the Russian invasion of Ukraine by focusing upon one key battleground city: Mariupol. #bookspinbingo #bingo

Excellent graphic novel inspired by her mother‘s experience as well as other South Koreans separated from their families still in North Korea.

Fun and quirky nonfiction regarding what life was really like for women in Victorian times; including but not limited to: dress, going to the bathroom, flirting, hosting a dinner party, and hysteria. Lots of quotes from original texts/manuals from the time and lots of snark to keep it real.

Historical fiction set in the late 1940s where two young black women‘s lives intersect. One is a Howard Univ student who marries an affluent soon to be doctor. She never feels accepted by his well-to-do family and is further crushed when she can‘t bear a child. The other a teen in a gifted program that fall for a Jewish boy and finds herself pregnant. Her story is particularly horrific…. But everything just kind of fell apart for me at the end.

Whoops - stayed up way too late finishing this one but I HAD to. Loved it so much

My reading this month has been abysmal. And then I almost forgot to read this one in time for one of my book groups! So I pushed thru it this weekend. Thankfully, the story was compelling enough to help me out, and this has such a creepy unreliable narrator (which I love). There is a lot of terrible things that happen to people/kids/pets so be prepared. There is a cliffhanger ending too…. Might read the sequel someday.

I am still really enjoying this series…. But this one is not as strong as the others. It‘s an interesting locked room type mystery, set in England and there‘s some drama between Stevie & her friends & David… particularly the idea of the future… but there‘s a lot of different characters stuffed into this with everything else that pulls it down. #ISpyBingo: lamp (well, more of a chandelier but I‘m counting it)

After a quick mad scramble - here is my list for May. Apologies for the truly atrocious handwriting tonight. #bookspinbingo

This was actually better than Sheets. It goes a bit deeper into the newly introduced character Eliza, who doesn‘t fit in and is having suicidal thoughts after being bullied by classmates. I felt more invested in this than Sheets, though some jumps in time or place were still a bit jarring. #bookspinbingo #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

I‘ve been hearing about this forever so finally gave it a read. It‘s sad, and someone in town should say something about a 13 year old running a laundry by herself - and maybe check in on the depressed dad? Kudos to the gym teacher for at least asking if she‘d like to talk. Overall, it‘s okay. I‘ll read the next too though as I brought that home too 😎 #ISpyBingo: pastel cover @Clwojick

This was a cute kids graphic novel centering on one kid‘s quest to find a sport he is good at in order to make his parents happy. His invisible friend Chunky is his sidekick/mascot and of course the ending is that you need to find what makes you happy, not anyone else. I liked that this showed a bit of the parents POV: worried for his health, job lay offs and financial troubles etc)

Oh this was lovely fun! A queer historical fantasy romance and mystery…. I loved these characters- Robin and Edwin and will definitely continue the series. #bookspinbingo #bingo

This was such a cute graphic memoir detailing the talented author‘s experience as a visible Muslim who had an arranged marriage. It explains a lot about what that actually means for her, though she is careful to state that this is HER experience and others may be different. #ISpyBingo: scarf

Within the first few chapters, I hated everything about this book but mostly the characters & their motivations. But I read it anyway, and it started to grow on me…. And *insert eyeroll* I finished kinda meh about it. It was fine. Not going to chase down book 2 though.

This was very seriously difficult to put down (but I had finished my breakfast and HAD to leave the diner). So I kept reading as soon as I got home. And, boy. This is a excellent MG novel in verse from the perspective of a 12 yo boy who feels a little invisible but also responsible for his older brother who is needing help and attention that single dad isn‘t providing. The lesson here is that sometimes you need to tell secrets to help others.

I recently read a YA book by this author and wanted to read an adult romance from her, and I think this is her latest. Turns out, it‘s the second in a series, but that didn‘t matter at all. She continues to deliver witty, fun dialogue with her characters and I enjoyed every minute. The set up for the final conflict was super far-fetched coincidental (laughably so) but I did not care one bit. Still a fun ride.

Recently there was a hashtag/readathon highlighting trans/non binary books & authors and this caught my eye. (Sorry, I forget the hashtag). This is an excellent graphic memoir where the author is dealing with being at college, coming out as genderqueer, and being with their family as mom does her best to fight cancer. Sentimental and emotional, but not overly so somehow. #bookspinbingo #bookspin book

Oh this book ❤️❤️ the audio was amazing - I was laughing and crying everyday driving too and from work. So much fun and so much heart.

This is about an overwhelmed single mom, taking care of her aging father, and barely holding her own shit together. Dad dies, sons cat runs away, and her brother returns to “help” but brings his own baggage. There really isn‘t a lot of depth here, and I didn‘t understand some of the bigger points being thrown in regarding the sugar mill. The abrupt ending left me scratching my head. #ispybingo: spark and floatation device (it‘s a stretch)

Unfortunately, this book sucked all my reading mojo from me this week. It really shouldn‘t have taken as long as it did to read, but I would just constantly put it down. The premise was interesting- young girl coming of age unravels long held family secrets…. It just didn‘t flow for me. I‘m curious as to what the book group will say about it this week. #ispybingo: cursive font

While I‘ll admit I didn‘t like every single scene or section…. There were many times I was doubting there narrative and then suddenly it all became clear and beautiful and kind of amazing. There is some major character development, and so much more than mere video games (which did make me nostalgic though I was never ever a gamer). Really enjoyed this one. #ispybingo: colored font and boat @Clwojick

Here is my humble #bookspinbingo list for April! I‘m feeling pulled toward graphic novels at the moment, so I put a bunch of them on here (after my book club and in progress books). Hopefully these will also help in my #ISpyBingo board as well, but I haven‘t been great about my planning there @Clwojick

This was a fun little YA romance, with a “Groundhog Day” premise but with Valentine‘s Day… and, yes, @Clwojick , I ABSOLUTELY fit this in this month‘s reading for the #redtruck in #ispybingo! 😂😂

I‘ll admit, I held off on reading this because I thought I knew how it was going to go. But I was so wrong- this isn‘t at all what I expected - its so much better! Very clever!

While. Might not have laughed as much as I did with her earlier books, these were still some very funny essays about aging, and just being over 50. #ispybingo:balloon

This is a tough one, both in underlying subject and in delivery. Women who have long been held down by the men of their Mennonite community examine their lives and their faith and come to a group decision as to what to do next when they discover the men have been drugging & raping them for years. ⬇️

Wow, this blew me away! I know very little about Korea, and this has me wanting to learn more. There is a particularly brutal scene that I was no at all prepared for, but I absolutely loved this book. The audio narration was fantastic as well.

I am so enjoying this series! Mitch has always been a great character, it was great to see more of him, and see him a bit more serious and vulnerable. I absolutely wanted to smack April up side the head a few times though. #ispybingo: sword

I enjoyed this modern spin on Christie‘s “And Then There Were None” and blew through this audio in an afternoon of #audiopuzzling. I liked the reveal of the bad guy, but the reasoning was a little bit of a reach.

I just enjoy her comics so much.

Oof. I didn‘t even know that I thought dolls and puppets could be creepy until this. It starts slooow but picks up speed quickly in this ghost story with gore and laughs and a bit of Southern Charm. #ispybingo: window

This was alright…. I enjoyed his previous book more, but the verse didn‘t always work for me here. I also felt like there wasn‘t enough of K- too much left out of his story, so he ended up flat which is unfortunate. Loved Fin, but then that got going a little too fast…. Oh well. Can‘t love ‘em all #ispybingo: purple clothing

Finished this for LJ review - if will pub in July. A woman with dreams of being a great translator, but currently subtitling Bollywood films, is invited to a super secret language program that promises fluency in any language in 10 days. It sounds too good to be true… but it works. Until she starts digging and discovers how it all REALLY works, and what the cost truly is.

Here‘s my list for March! I literally just threw it together, so I hope it also works with #ISpyBingo, but time will tell on that.

Take a Choose Your Own Adventure and pair it with a Regency romance, and this book is what you get. So much fun! I read through two scenarios and they were completely different. Pure entertainment. #bookspin #doublespin

This was more than I anticipated- I didn‘t expect the frank and honest discussion of MC‘s depression (and I didn‘t expect to identify with it so much) all in a romance between coworkers. I really liked this. #bookspinbingo #bookspin

Eh…. This was recommended to me by a friend, and now I have to figure out how to tell her I couldn‘t finish it. This is about a woman who volunteers to teach teen boys in a group home how to cook, in her father‘s memory. But there‘s a line in the prologue from her mom that says “Atheists don‘t do this kind of work.” Which I absolutely do not agree with. So I tried to keep reading, but everything is now clouded with a “holier than thou” feel. ⬇️

Fun little audio with an curious premise. I didn‘t necessarily love all the characters, and that‘s okay. #bookspinbingo #bingo

Classic Christie…. And my first Miss Marple in decades!!

This was a great little audio. It tells the story of a 13 year old girl, born without arms, who moves to Arizona with her adoptive parents. Feeling out of place in her new school, she befriends a boy with Tourette‘s and together they find a mystery to solve, and help each other through their challenges.

Yikes. It‘s just over 200 pages and written in verse and I still almost gave up on it. It‘s not that it‘s terrible or anything, just so completely bleak and depressing I just didn‘t think I could stand any more. I had to talk myself into picking it back up. The ending tries to leave you worth hope…. But doesn‘t quite get there. Man, I really need something happy after this.

I totally misremembered my schedule and both of my work book groups are meeting this week - and I hadn‘t read the book for Wednesday! So I grabbed the audio and a puzzle and dug in yesterday & today. This was enjoyable (though the author‘s love of listing things got old with me fast). Funny in parts, but nothing super crazy. Now, onto the next audio so I can finish the puzzle! #audiopuzzle

This book (and the previous one) are audiobook musts. It‘s hard to say that I liked a book about racism, but I really enjoy the way the authors tell these stories, and their banter on the audio shouldn‘t be missed.

I love this couple so damn much… and in this novella, they are grappling with the fact of Nick going to uni and Charlie still in school another year. There are a bunch of conflicting emotions, and honest teen reaction (and frankly, inaction). ❤️

This was really a lot of fun! I read book 2 in the series first, not realizing that it was a book 2…. So I‘m glad to have gone back and read this one now. Some repetition here and there, but I really enjoyed it. #ISpyBingo: Cursive font

This was recommended by a friend and I‘m glad she said something about it! The audio was fantastic, and had a bonus story at the end. I did roll my eyes at some of the name-dropping but, I mean he HAS met & played with some incredible people. It‘s also part love letter to his mom, to his family-esp his daughters, and to music. And, he is a great storyteller.

Here‘s my February list for #bookspinbingo! Let‘s see how this will translate for #ispybingo as well…