This gothic horror novel about an autistic trans boy sent to a school that is supposed to turn him into the perfect subservient wife is heartbreaking, horrifying and political. I've read two books by this author and loved them both. Perfect Sunday reading on my deck.

@KadaGul look what arrived in the post. Thanks so much for this over-the-top #fallcardswap!
I was confused about the return address, though. 😂

First Bookoutlet haul of the 2025-26 school year. The Good Ones and Our Kind of Game came home with me. #sorrynotsorry

New school year means new books for my class library…except for Finding Grace and Save Me (don‘t judge me; I am completely obsessed with Maxton Hall) #sorrynotsorry

Back during Covid, my son colour blocked all my tbr books (that would fit on the one set of shelves I had for them). This morning, I thought I would reorganize them alphabetically and integrate the books in my bedroom because, frankly, it‘s impossible to find anything. In doing so, I discovered….I need more shelves. 😂🤣🤪

I spent today…my last before school starts properly….flat on my back after my first Shingrix jab yesterday. I felt like shit. 🤣 I did finish this book, though, which I really liked. The story starts with the birth of Cora‘s second child, a son, and follows his life (and the lives of his older sister, Maia and his mom), imagining its trajectory based on the name he‘s been given: Bear, Julian, or Gordon (the name of his abusive father.) 4⭐️

My #fallcardswap offerings are ready for the post office. @TheBookHippie

Finished this on the last weekend before heading back to school. The story of a group of people from different backgrounds whose lives converge in unexpectedly tender and devastating ways. I enjoyed this read, but wasn‘t a fan of the ending. The writing was fresh and interesting, especially considering it was a debut.

The annual Boys and Girls Club book sale started today so….#sorry not sorry. To be fair, some of these belong to my daughter. Also, I will likely go again on Sunday.

Sloan never tells the truth and it‘s gotten her into hot water her whole life. Then she meets the Lockhart family and as a reader you‘re supposed to wonder who‘s lying to whom? It‘s mindless entertainment, but it‘s all tell and none of the characters‘ motivations are ever adequately examined. It was just okay for me.

While this book strains credulity on just about every level, it was a quick read, which is just what I needed after my last book. Ash is suspicious of her mother‘s new bf, the too-good-to-be-true Nick Radcliffe. So she does some digging. Ripped from the grifter headlines.

Although the writing was beautiful, this family drama about siblings Alice and August and their fraught relationship with their free-spirited mother, Charlotte, didn‘t quite land for me…especially the disjointed (although perhaps that was intentional) second part.

@dabbe
Spectacular day on the river. I brought a book, but I spent all my time in the water.

Couldn‘t put this one down despite its subject matter which is not graphic but still difficult. Sara and her husband Damien move to a remote house in the Irish countryside where something extremely disturbing took place decades prior. Sara is on shaky ground anyway, seeing as her husband is a controlling asshole, but as she learns more about the house, she finds her own voice again. I really liked it.

I have now read all four of Winstead‘s books. This one, about a young woman trying to come to terms with her father‘s death by getting involved in an online community of true crime sleuths, would likely come in third place after Midnight is the Darkest Hour and The Last Housewife. Despite the nods to some things that hold a special place in my heart (online communities for one) & being a page turner, it didn‘t quite land.

I was delighted to host a little contingent of Litsy folk from NB today in honour of Denise‘s visit. Pictured here are l-r @DinoMom @ShelleyBooksie , me, @dabbe and @merelybookish . I hadn‘t met any of my fellow NB Littens before, so it was terrific.
Readers unite!

This book took forever for me to finish. I am not sure why: it is smart, thoughtful and well written. A woman returns to her alma mater to teach a mini course about podcasting and revisits the death of her roommate.

Brand new Halifax bookstore, Egghead Books. If you are ever in the area, check it out.

@ShelleyBooksie I arrived home from visiting the kids in Halifax today and this delightful birthday gift was waiting for me. The book mark is appropriate; the tea cups adorable and the book definitely on my list of most coveted. Thank you so much for thinking of me. Looking forward to *finally* meeting you this summer!

@Chrissyreadit #tagyoureit

Well, this book has boats. It was my first Elizabeth Hay and I remember liking it a lot…as I have liked all the other books I have read since.

#serenesaturdays @TheBookHippie

Tunes blasting, cleaning house (purging and getting in all the nooks and crannies) is oddly satisfying and calming.
Weird, right?

I have been puttering all day in anticipation of @dabbe 's arrival and now it is time for a little Prosecco/reading break.

If you liked The Book of Lost Things or A Monster Calls, I think you would really love this story about a young boy who moves to Brighton with his mother and new stepfather. Made me cry.

@Chrissyreadit not sure if this fits the bill for #tagyoureit but here is my contribution.

It‘s been a dog‘s age since I have read anything by Jodi Picoult and I had never heard of her co-author, but I 5⭐️ loved this one. Told from the perspectives of a mother whose 18 year old son has been accused of murdering his girlfriend, Lily, and Lily‘s own perspective from the months leading up to her death, this book is thoughtful and heartbreaking. Yes, it‘s topical, but I didn‘t feel emotionally manipulated. I did, however, feel emotional. 💔

600+ more pages with Johnny and Shannon. I laughed. I teared up. There were some pulse pounding moments. Did it need to be this long? No. Were there some things that got on my nerves? Yes. But I really liked the main characters and was content to spend this time with them. I won‘t be reading any more of the series as I expect it will be more of the same.

#WDNCW @dabbe
I don‘t care that some people might think I am too liberal. I‘m 🇨🇦. Even the people I know who identify as conservative would describe themselves as fiscally conservative and socially liberal…and in our last federal election they all voted liberal so we wouldn‘t have our own version of the current US hellscape here. #sorrynotsorry

Happy Canada Day! @dabbe I will take you to this very spot when you come to visit!

I mean, I guess it says everything that you need to know when I tell you that I now must go buy the sequel…and I never read sequels. There was definitely some stuff about this book that made me cringe, but it was also laugh-out-loud funny and the two main characters are likeable. You weren‘t wrong, @TheSpineView .

Today is the first day of my summer holidays and it is 30 degrees Celsius of perfection on my deck. Just finished this book which was 80% delightful and 20% 🤷‍♀️, which makes it a pick for me. We'll be discussing it at bookclub on Monday night.

You wouldn‘t necessarily want to be reading this horror novel about Reid, Ana and their one-year old daughter who move into the Deptford, a swanky apartment building in Manhattan, alone at night. It‘s creepy (and campy)- part Rosemary‘s Baby and part ‘salem‘s Lot. It wasn‘t 5-star fun for me, but it was an enjoyable read.

#truefact

I finished it, so I guess that‘s something. I am not really sure I understood it though. Three separate narratives concerning family, identity, fraud. There was something about it that kept me reading, but when I got to the end I was a little bit 🤷‍♀️.

This is the rationale I use every time I purchase books. #sorrynotsorry

After Aaron‘s wife is killed, he discovers some secrets that she had been hiding and it sends him on a journey to finish what she had started. Haunted by grief (and maybe even his wife), this book wasn‘t scary or propulsive, but I did want to keep reading. It was reminiscent of Peter Straub and Thomas H. Cook. More literary than I expected. This was my first book by Malfi, and I would definitely read more. 4⭐️

20% off at Indigo for teachers is a siren call, especially when having a plum plus card gets you an additional 10% off. What‘s a bookworm to do?

#Chatterday2025 Tagged by @kspenmoll @AllDebooks
I am hosting a couple friends tonight before we go see the father of my bestie be inducted into the NB Sports Hall of Fame. This is an impromptu pre-event event, so I guess I will spend the day cleaning and making some nibbles to eat before we head out. If I am lucky, I will get some reading done.
On another note: only one more week of actual teaching before exams…so 🎉

Many thanks to @AmyG and @TheBookHippie for the delightful surprises waiting for me when I got home from school today. Birthday gifts are always lovely, no matter when they arrive. Thank you so much for thinking of me! 😘

Beautifully written novel about a divorced couple who travel across Canada to bring to a close the mystery of their daughter who went missing 20 years ago. Kathleen and Yannick have been estranged for many years, but new information reunites them and they decide to drive to BC together. It‘s a trip fraught with emotion and memory. I loved this one, but it‘s sad.

Happy 64th birthday gift to myself. (Although I clearly don‘t ever need an occasion to buy books. 🤣) I have lots of thoughts about another trip around the sun. And a lot of anxiety (something I don‘t really experience much) about the shitty state of the world. BUT a lot of hope, too. Or is that panic? 🤷‍♀️ Thanks to all the Littens who have enriched my life. Bookish people are the best!

A cold, wet, Victoria Day to finish this story of a girl who arrives in Paris to spend time with her brother only to discover him missing. It was okay.

I was all in for the first 3/4 of this book about a woman who returns to her childhood home after a long estrangement from her mother who is now dying. Horrible things happened in this house at the hands of her father, a convicted serial killer, and Vera now his to reconcile the love she had for him, her fraught relationship with her mother, and , oh yeah, there‘s something under her bed. It got weird.

Can't say that I completely understood everything Lanier said, but I did get the main message: social media is ruining the world and we are its slaves. Not Litsy.

When Mary and her husband Graham move into a remote cottage after a devastating tragedy, Mary finds that she is not alone. Over 100 years earlier, 13 year old Eliza‘s life is forever changed when an accident brings James Dix into her orbit. Dual timeline grief horror that was both creepy and heartbreaking. It‘s been on my tbr shelf for ages, and so I am glad I finally got around to reading it. It‘s a whopping 500 pgs, but well worth the time.

#truth

#justification

Yeah, not so much with the believability, but the beginning was good and I kept turning the pages so ... So. 🤷‍♀️

Independent Book Store Day #bookhaul. ❤️

Fact.

This is my 2nd Emily Henry and my 2nd bail. She is just not for me. The forced witty banter, the cookie cutter plot. I made it to page 80, but I am moving on. 🤷‍♀️