Packages for #bestof2021swap and #jolabokaflodswap are bundled up, shipping out and headed on their ways today!

Getting ready to start this book for the “Nonfiction Nerds” discussion group on Goodreads. We‘re reading it for December. Join us! (FYI, it‘s available on Hoopla.) 🙂

“Winter … is a period of rest, of going within ourselves & taking in all that we have been through in this year. This time of hibernation is so necessary for our tired limbs, our burdened minds. Winter takes away the distractions & presents us with the perfect time to rest & withdraw…& then the new year will begin again, & like a seed planted deep in the earth, we will all rise with renewed energy to dance in the sunlight.” — Bridget Anna McNeil

Well-researched narrative of the incredible life of Thomas Francis Meagher. He led a failed uprising against British rule in Ireland, was banished to Tasmania for life, escaped and made his way to America where he served as general of the Irish Brigade in the Civil War, and became governor of the Montana Territory—all before the age of 43.

Here are my first picks from my fabulous #NewYearWhoDis match, @Singout ! Because I requested a match partner who had a list that was balanced with both fiction and nonfiction, I picked one of each to start off with in January. I already own “Salt Houses” and “When They Call You a Terrorist” was on my TBR, so it was an easy choice! 🙂

#NYWD22

Who wants some holiday cheer in their mailbox instead of bills or junk mail? This girl right here! I just signed up for the #cardswap hosted by @LibrarianRyan All winter holidays are celebrated! So head over to her page or hit the hashtag above and sign yourself (and your mailbox) up for some cheer.

I‘m so thrilled with my #NewYearWhoDis reading list from @Singout — a super mix of thoughtful nonfiction and literary fiction, which is right up my alley! I‘m thoroughly amazed by your matchmaking skills, @monalyisha —are/were you a therapist or a yenta in this life or a previous one? 😀

#NYWD22

Spent the morning volunteering as a patient escort at Planned Parenthood, where groups of old white men spent their time yelling about how much God hates me. 🙄 Felt like I deserved a treat after that, so now I‘m in my happy place. 🥰

1. Not currently. Have been in 2 in the past.
2. The tagged book resulted in quite a spirited discussion about parenting and nature vs. nurture.
3. I prefer a debate. Although when we discussed the tagged book, one club member got so freaked out by it because it made her worry that she might be making the “wrong” parenting choices and turning her kids into sociopaths. She never came back to the club meetings again. 😬
#sundayfunday

Finished this #ChunksterChallenge2021 read. It‘s a pick with reservations. Needs editing, IMO. It took nearly 450 pages before I was fully invested. That‘s way too much time. I get that McMurtry was aiming for a sweeping epic, but the scope was too wide for him to properly wrap his arms around because some of the storylines petered out or felt unnecessary to the whole. Favorite characters: Gus and Clara.
Glad to have finally read this, though!

I finally made it to Part III (page 619 in my copy). Where‘re y‘all at now, @GinaKButler @Kelly326 @CoverToCoverGirl ?

#chunksterchallenge2021

When reading a book about spirits it‘s good to have a black cat around. It helps with the ambiance. 😀 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛
#catsoflitsy
#authoramonth

Starting this one for November‘s #AuthorAMonth —it‘s a chunkster at 800 pages!

A head start on #ChunksterChallenge2022, @CoverToCoverGirl @GinaKButler @Kelly326 ? 😀

A long, 15-hour day of volunteering at the polls for the municipal election in my town just begs for a chunkster on hand. Good thing I‘m already in the middle of one. 😀

Weather forecaster on radio: “It‘s going to be a rainy, raw day today. Go back to bed. It‘s a total waste of a day.”

Me: “I beg to differ…” 🙂

This is what love looks like: My husband, reading the chapter in “Lonesome Dove” that details an apparently graphic snake-related scene in order to summarize it for me so I don‘t have to read it myself and trigger my reptile phobia. ❤️❤️❤️
(Thanks again for the advance warning, @Graywacke ! 🙂)

I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Julia Child in this memoir —she was witty, intelligent and wickedly funny. I admire her passion for learning how to cook and mastering her craft. Some of the book is overly detailed (too much so, IMO), but Julia‘s charm and joie de vivre wins out in the end. Thanks for the experience, #LMPBC #Round12 #GroupN !

Spent the weekend in LA —and of course I had to stop here! It‘s the largest new and used bookstore in California — 22,000 sq. feet with a record store, comic book store, 5 art studios, an epic yarn shop, a book tunnel, and unexpected nooks of funkiness. It‘s located in a hundred-year-old bank building, so there are vaults and (supposedly) ghosts.
​
Oh, and it also has tons of books. 😀

Just finished this account of the 1918 flu pandemic. This passage struck a chord. When I was a child in CT in the 1970s, my mother made us wear camphor bags during flu season every year. I hated it. I later discovered that my great-grandmother had survived the pandemic, and for the rest of her life wore a camphor bag in winter. As did my grandmother and mother. It‘s amazing how long the memory of that horrific time impacted my family‘s actions.

I flew from Rhode Island to California today to attend a wedding this weekend. Trying to stay awake a few more hours to let my body adjust to the time difference, so I wandered down the street to the shopping promenade near my hotel. Hmmm. I can‘t imagine how I‘ll be able to kill that much time. 🧐😀

They may be sleepless in Seattle, but we‘re just sad here in Providence (at the airport). Casualty of COVID? ☹️

My cousin just sent me this. She said when she saw it she immediately bought it because “it has books and tea and that‘s what I think of when I think of you!”
I think my work here on the planet is done. 🙌🏼👊🏼

Got up early this morning so I could net an hour of reading time in honor of @TheAromaofBooks before logging onto work. Happy birthday, Sarah! I‘m working a full day today too so my contributions toward your #BirthdayBash will be sporadic throughout the day.

Ok, yeah—it‘s a political thriller so you know that someone will end up saving the day. But DAY-UM it was a wild-ass ride to get there. Whoever had the idea to pair Louise Penny‘s storytelling talents with Hillary Clinton‘s DC-insider knowledge deserves a big fat promotion. And the Three Pines Easter eggs were brilliantly done. Although it‘s scary how realistic the plot scenarios are. I may not sleep much tonight … or, well, ever. 😳

Thanks for the tag, @EadieB !

1. I don‘t actively seek out books about witches, wizards or paranormal activities. I can‘t think of any fictional ones that I‘ve especially enjoyed other than “A Wrinkle in Time.”

2. I‘m a nonfiction gal. My favorites would include accounts of actual witch hunts throughout history, including the tagged one and others by Yale historian John Putnam Demos.

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

@GinaKButler @CoverToCoverGirl Look what I picked up at a library book sale today for $1! They are in perfect condition—I don‘t think they‘ve ever been read. #chunksterchallenge2022 , perhaps …

Just spent an hour browsing the fall library book sale in the city where my husband works. ❤️ My #bookhaul is on the left—some for me and a few others that I‘ve already read for my dad. Plus I picked up an entire bag of paperbacks for the inpatient book cart at the hospital where I work. All for $18! Score! Love these library sales.

Chunkster check in: I‘m plugging along—made it to page 210 (chpt. 23 in my edition). I‘m still not in love with it, but I‘m invested enough that I‘ll keep the momentum going (slowly). How are you doing, @GinaKButler @Kelly326 @CoverToCoverGirl ?

Spent the night in NYC to see “Hamilton” on Broadway. And of course no trip to NYC can ever be complete without a pilgrimage to the Strand. 🙌🏼

Celebrated hubby‘s birthday by spending it with Alexander Hamilton and Company. So grateful that Broadway is open again! It was simply incredible. Still amazed that Lin Manuel Miranda managed to turn Ron Chernow‘s weighty nonfiction tome into this musical masterpiece.

Book 2 in “The Emigrants” series about a Swedish family‘s journey from their homeland to America in 1850. This volume starts with their arrival in NYC and details their journey to Minnesota Territory and the first year as they struggle to make a home and a working farm. Excellent read.

Watched the interview on “CBS Sunday Morning” with Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny about their new book, which releases on Oct. 12. Immediately went to Barnes & Noble and pre-ordered the e-book. Can‘t wait for it to arrive on my tablet!

Awww, thank you so much for the treats package, @Lauram ! Completely unnecessary because I thoroughly enjoyed participating in your #summer2021 giveaway, but totally appreciated all the same!

It‘s time to dive into this chunkster with fellow #chunksterchallenge2021 fans @GinaKButler and @CoverToCoverGirl ! I‘ve never read it, and have been looking forward to it. Although the mention of a rattlesnake in the very first sentence is making me cringe (person with a major snake phobia over here 👋🏼). 😖😬

Sitting on the shuttle bus into work. We‘re stuck in traffic with an accident on our side of the highway. These are the times when I‘m glad that I always have a book with me.

Fascinating bio of Anne Hutchinson, who was banished from Massachusetts Colony for heresy and helped settle the colony that would become Rhode Island. The first part focuses on her trial with written transcripts, which is a bit of a slog. Nearly 400 years later, the obvious sexism against her is appalling, but her intelligence and wit while holding her own against her male accusers shines through. She was a feminist before the word was invented.

I‘m conflicted by this memoir of a female naval aviator. She makes great points about the sexism she experienced in the jet community and the need for gender equality in the military, but she also leans way into stereotypes about what women think or want. And the timeline is all over the place. I think I‘d enjoy this more as a straight nonfiction account instead of a memoir because the author‘s voice actually got in my way.
#LMPBC

@magyklyXdelish ! What a fabulous treat box for #FallingForFallSwap #FFFS ! No tricks here. 😀 I love everything—especially the leaves! It was like opening a box full of autumn. Thank you so much!

And thank you for organizing this swap again, @Avanders

I‘m never getting out of there. 😬😱

Ok, this made me LOL. 😄
Possibly because I raised two boys. 🙄
And I have four brothers. 😬😖

Lunch break on the back patio at work. I don‘t want to go back inside. The book is too good. 😬😀

Oh, library book sales … how I‘ve missed you. 🥰

Detailed account of the Challenger shuttle tragedy, with a heavy dive into the personal lives of the 7 who were lost (6 astronauts and Christa McAuliffe, the first Teacher in Space). Learning so much about them adds to the tension that builds as the launch date approaches—you want to reach into the pages and yell “don‘t get on that shuttle!” I vividly remember watching the launch and explosion live on TV, and this brought it all back.

You guys! I went into the library to pick up the book I‘ve had on hold for a month (The Burning Blue) and the latest Louise Penny novel was sitting on the “new books” shelf—obviously just waiting for me to snag it! I grabbed that sucker so fast … I can‘t believe there isn‘t a huge wait list for it. Today‘s my lucky day!

Visiting Leavenworth, Washington, home of the world‘s largest nutcracker museum. (More than 7,000 nutcrackers!) Spotted some literary pieces: a few Shakespeares, a couple Charles Dickens, and a Mark Twain.

Have book, will wait for ferry from Kitsap Peninsula into Seattle.

I mean, everyone goes on vacation with a fully stocked e-reader AND two extra paperbacks just in case AND stops at several local bookstores during their trip and buys even more books that will have to fit into the already jam-packed carry-on suitcase. Right?

Visiting relatives on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, so of course I had to scout out the local bookstore in Poulsbo. It‘s adorable. 🥰

1. 🌷🌞🍁❄️I love all the seasons —that‘s why I live in New England

2. Reading. Always. 😀

3. Hay-on-Wye, the book town in Wales

4. Grateful that my Marine son, who is deployed in the Persian Gulf and assisted with the evacuation of Afghanistan, is safe. And thankful to have a president who stepped up & made the hard choices necessary to get us out of a 20-year war and finally bring our troops home. 🙌🏼

#wondrouswednesday
@Eggs

It‘s here! It‘s here! My #FFFS #FallingForFallSwap box is here!

Now to stare at it until Sept. 22. 😬

@Avanders