I had to finish reading Wolf Hall before I started this one, so I wouldn‘t get my Henries mixed up 😆

I didn‘t know much about Eleanor of Aquitaine going into this, but now I realize why E.L. Konigsburg found her so fascinating. Headstrong, determined, wife to two major figures of her time, mother of Richard the Lionheart and the infamous King John—and with a finger in a LOT of different political pies! The narrative frame here felt a bit odd:⤵️

This was worthwhile, but it was also quite a slog. The first section was immediately engaging, but once the narrative shifted to grown-up Thomas, the tone shifted and the pace slowed way down. Mantel had a couple of writing quirks that didn‘t help: she almost always referred to Cromwell just as “he,” which often made it difficult to follow dialogue or internal thoughts vs. spoken words. That said, I admired Mantel‘s recreation of the Tudor era ⤵️

Weekly check-in for #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead - our first with the #LMMJournals!

I have to apologize for breaking up the reading so oddly—it wasn't until I finished up my own reading that I saw I'd completely missed a natural break at the end of 1890 and kept us going into 1891 for a grand total of 2 pages. 😂

How is your reading going?
What are your thoughts on this week's reading?
Any observations, favorite sections, or quotes?

📚A great IRL book club meeting on Sunday
💐Roses and larkspur from the garden
📚BookSpin Day!
👒Starting Vol. 1 of L.M. Montgomery‘s journals
🦘The news that this weekend my niece gets to help transport a baby wallaby from the Tampa Zoo back to the zoo where she works in Kentucky

Here are my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks for May! Iron Widow is my IRL book group‘s pick for this month. #BookSpin landed on a category: I need to choose something from the 1920s-30s for the #192025 challenge. These three are leading the pack—any recommendations?

“I love books. I hope when I grow up to be able to have lots of them.”

💜📚💜 Kindred spirit, indeed!! I started this tonight and it‘s delightful so far—and I LOVE all the pictures included! #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals

Waaaait, not yet!! I need this for June, not May!! #CampLitsy24 #LibraryProblems

Ohhh, I love this.

“Well, here‘s your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts—the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation.

And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you.

And still the box is not full.”

#RandomClassics @TheAromaofBooks

I loved the premise of this: during Covid, the author sets out to make a sweater from scratch. Not just knitting it, but going all the way back to the starting point by learning to shear a sheep—and then learning all the other steps in between. I expected more about the process of making, but there was a fairly even balance between the mistakes and triumphs of shearing, spinning, dyeing, and knitting, and the author‘s reflections along the way. ⤵️

TWO bingos this month for #BookSpinBingo! And 5-star reads for both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin. 🎉🎉 This was a library-heavy month, with only four read from my physical TBR. But I read some fantastic books this month!

Favorite April reads:
🌙 The Girl Who Drank the Moon
🗝️ The Velvet Room
⛰️ Saltus
🌊 Clear

I had read some of Kowal‘s Lady Astronaut books, so when I saw this in a LFL a couple years ago, I snatched it up! I was interested to see what Kowal did with a completely different genre than the Lady Astronaut series. So when #JaneAdjacent planned this for their April book, I was excited to tag along! It sounded right up my alley—Austen-esque with a touch of magic—and was definitely as advertised, with a delightfully familiar Jane Austen feel.⤵️

I just pulled my battered old copy of East of Eden off the shelf, ready to start chapter 1 for the #RandomClassics buddy read tomorrow—and the front cover stayed on the shelf. 😆 I either need to read very gently, or maybe check out a library copy…

Something I‘m realizing about first-person narratives is that I need to enjoy the “company” of the person I‘m going to spend 300-ish pages with. Or they have to at least not annoy me. Unfortunately, Ernest annoyed me.

I appreciated the way Stevenson constructed this—with a section for each family member, revealing who they‘d killed. I liked the setup with the “10 Commandments of Detective Fiction.” Ernest bending over backwards to emphasize ⤵️

Here‘s my #BookSpin list for May! Lots of spots for #192025 options since I realized I‘m at the point where I need to read 2 or 3 each month. Looking forward to seeing where the BookSpin fates take me in May!

I have three copies of this poetry collection—thanks to my mother. I used to pore over her copy (top right) for hours when I was in elementary school/jr. high. She eventually got me a copy of my own (the one at the bottom of the be-ribboned book stack). She later bought me another copy (top left), forgetting she‘d already gotten me one! My mom passed away two years ago, and now I have all three—it‘s difficult to part with any! #SundayFunday

First of all—the variety of covers for this is hilarious! I read a digital copy (top left) that makes it look like a ghost story or gothic thriller. I see where this image comes into the story, but—it‘s so exactly wrong that it‘s maddening. If I‘d found this as a kid, no doubt it would have been the Dell Yearling edition there on the bottom left. 😆 This was a sweet, nostalgic hug of a book. It‘s exactly the kind of book I‘d have loved as a kid ⤵️

Has Kelly Barnhill written anything that‘s lousy? Because if so, I haven‘t found it yet. I loved this. It has all the wonderful trappings of a fairy tale—a misunderstood witch, a tiny dragon, a young girl bursting with magic, selfish city leaders—and it combines those ingredients to explore themes of found family, truths revealed, sorrow, and love. 💜💜💜 This was my March #DoubleSpin.

#5JoysFriday
🎷My husband‘s jazz combo concert on Sunday: big turnout, gorgeous weather, fantastic music!
💍 My husband and I ordered rings for our 10th anniversary in March, and mine finally arrived
🍻 Had a great lunch with former coworkers on Wednesday
✍🏻 Made progress on a writing project, so I had something to share at writing group
🏕️ The #CampLitsy24 buzz is bringing me joy—can‘t wait for the reveal of the July/August titles!

Valentine‘s Day used to be Valentina‘s favorite holiday—but not anymore. She believes her family is cursed to be unlucky in love. But when she meets a cute lion dancer on Lunar New Year, she embarks on a reluctant journey, hoping that maybe—just maybe—she can break that curse. This didn‘t have the complexity I loved in American Born Chinese, but as a love story, it still took some unexpected turns! Great characters, & I loved the artwork as well.

Funny, sad, quirky, and sweet—this book is a delight. Ferris Wilkey‘s family is hilariously all over the place. Her little sister Pinky Wilkey (“that‘s a terrible name,” said my husband) wants to be an outlaw—her catchphrase is “out of my way, fools!” Ferris‘ uncle is painting the history of the world on the walls of their basement. Her grandmother‘s health is a worry. Ferris‘ aunt, a hairdresser, is working through her split with her husband ⤵️

Hello, Kindred Spirits! Here is an UPDATED schedule for May/June. Since the #CHILDRENSCLASSICREAD2024 with @TheBookHippie will be reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm in MAY, I shuffled our schedule around so we can join in the excitement and read it together.

We'll start the Complete Journals on May 1 - which is next week!! 😱 I'll post a weekly check-in/discussion post on Saturdays.

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMJournals #LMMAdjacent #LMMReread

#5JoysFriday

💇‍♀️ A much-overdue haircut on Wednesday (it‘s ~8 in. shorter!)
📚 Seeing a family walking in my neighborhood & noticing one of the kids lagging behind the rest… because she was reading a book while walking.💜
🥗 Dinner with one of my best friends (pictured is the amazing salad I had!)
🗣️ Encouraging conversations as I‘m gathering info on becoming a spiritual director
🍽️ Looking forward to lunch tomorrow with another close friend

I‘m starting this month‘s IRL book club pick and felt the need to show off my new bookmark, which was a birthday gift from my husband a couple of weeks ago!

Just a reminder: May 1 begins the next #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead iteration! We‘ll read the Complete Journals interspersed with LMM-adjacent books & LMM rereads. The pace is ~100 pages per week, with Saturday check-ins to chat about the week's reading.

I‘ve tagged those who were interested, but all are welcome! Comment if you'd like to join—for some or all! Re-reads will pop up in Vol. 2 of the journals. #LMMJournals #LMMAdjacent #LMMRereads

Here are my nominations for #CampLitsy24! All from authors I‘ve read & loved. I‘ve tagged my top pick on this post & the others in the comments.

📚I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger—I 💜 everything I‘ve read by Enger!
📚The God of the Woods by Liz Moore—this is either a perfect or a terrible book for me to pick: a girl named Barbara goes missing from summer camp 😬
📚The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
📚 Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

The oldest physical book I own is, I think, this edition of Tennyson‘s poems. As far as I can tell, it‘s from the 1880s. It‘s not in great condition—I picked it up at a library book sale for a couple of dollars!—but I love it. That cover! The illustrations! And the print is so TINY!

The oldest book in my collection that I can definitely date is from 1908, and is also a Tennyson—an edition of Lancelot and Elaine.

“Whether you apologize or not is irrelevant… When you apologize, however, you may begin healing *yourself.* It is not for us. It is for you. I recommend it.”

“Some of us choose love over power. Indeed, most of us do.”

I‘ve heard so many people say that Gaudy Night is the best of the Lord Peter Wimsey books. And now I see why.

When Harriet Vane returns to Oxford for a reunion, she is drawn into a poison-pen mystery at her alma mater. That‘s the essence of the plot, but the mystery and the Oxfordian context ends up serving as a vehicle for Harriet‘s own growth as she confronts her own avoidance of the past. ⬇️

This was a perfect rainy-day, lazing-on-the-couch read. Sweet and cozy, with just a touch of magic, it explores two young adults navigating a relationship and questions about their futures. And it made me crave tea and baked goods. 💜

Goodness, this was excellent. And what a gorgeous cover! The summer after she graduates high school, Daunis is grieving her uncle‘s death and her grandmother‘s recent stroke, when she is drawn into an investigation of a meth ring in her community. Daunis embodies so many aspects of between-ness: in the transition from high school to adulthood, she is caught between the world of her mother‘s wealth & privilege and her Ojibwe heritage ⬇️

I had planned a little personal readathon on Friday/Saturday last week, since I had no plans, rainy weather, and a stack of library books. Then I came down with a cold on Sunday. So for the past few days I‘ve continued the readathon for different reasons! From Friday through Tuesday I finished a book every day. Maybe today I‘ll have enough energy to get some reviews posted…

Today I discovered three checkouts and two holds in my Libby app that I did not check out or place. I‘m assuming/hoping it was some kind of glitch. Has anyone else ever had this happen—random books appearing in your account as on hold or checked out?

I canceled the holds and returned the checkouts so they would be free for someone who actually meant to have them! Someone who really likes the “Fred, the Vampire Accountant” series…

I‘m in the middle of two very appropriate titles for today‘s eclipse and #MiddleGradeMonday (although Lunar New Year Love Story is YA rather than MG). The bottom left photo is on my porch: the peak of the eclipse here in Southern California, seen via shadows through our rose trellis. The bottom right photo was taken by my nephew, in the path of totality in southeastern Indiana!

This had been on my radar for a while, but I didn‘t read it until it showed up on my Education for Ministry reading list this year. Cone explores the parallels between the cross and the lynching tree, and the way the cross provided a radical identification with Jesus for the black community during the era of lynching in the United States. It‘s a measure of my own privilege that this is a parallel I‘d never considered. Never had to consider. ⬇️

Unintentionally matched my mug to my book this morning. 😁

One of my favorite Littens going way back is @DebinHawaii —and she‘s celebrating a whopping 500K Litfluence!! As a thank you for all the Litsy joy over the years, she‘s doing a #500KGiveaway. 😊📚💜 To enter, check out her post and share 5 things that give you joy! My five things are pictured above, clockwise starting with my adorable baby grand-niece, then my Education for Ministry group, my husband, finishing a good book, and RAIN. 😁

This was…odd but fascinating. It follows the planet Sask-E‘s development over three “generations” (lifespans have been greatly increased, so each generation spans hundreds of years). I loved the world-building: there are persons from a number of different species (moose! cats! naked mole rats! bots! a cyborg cow!), powerful corporations gunning for profit, a utopian underground society…and that‘s just scratching the surface. (Cont‘d) ⬇️

#LibraryHaul from today—because obviously I don‘t have enough books at home already. 😆

Everyone in My Family… is my IRL book club‘s pick for April. I have Firekeeper‘s Daughter borrowed digitally, but it‘s about to expire and there are people in line, so I can‘t renew it. I have no excuse for the other two. My rationalization: it‘s gloomy today, it‘s supposed to rain tomorrow, I have no plans—maybe I‘ll have a spontaneous personal readathon? 😁

I finished this short book early in March and have been thinking about it ever since. It‘s by no means a traditional narrative—it feels more like a mood than a story—but still, it‘s packed full of so many ideas and so many layers. The premise: what if the children of enslaved pregnant women thrown overboard during the Middle Passage survived and adapted to live underwater? The story centers on Yetu, the Historian of that underwater society. ⬇️

I forgot to post this over the weekend—my mother-in-law made these for me for my birthday! Harry Potter House-themed “book” pillows. She used white corduroy for the “pages” and HP House fabric for the front and back covers.

I‘m not a fan of J.K. Rowling herself, and I see a lot more issues with the books now than when I first read them, but my love for the world & the characters persists. And I‘m definitely in favor of clever homemade merch. 😊

“Religion and politics are natural enemies; both provide a sense of belonging and self-actualization to the masses. Tension between the two is healthy and necessary. When one appropriates the other, history shows that oppression—leading to death and human suffering at a woeful scale—is the inevitable result.”

“Today‘s evangelicalism preaches bitterness toward unbelievers and bottomless grace for churchgoing Christians, yet the New Testament model is exactly the opposite, stressing strict accountability for those inside the Church and abounding charity to those outside it.”

“This is the gospel we are to proclaim both in word and in deed: To be a Christian is to sacrifice not for the benefit of those we already have around our table but for the betterment of those we have never considered to invite.”

“The notion that God was ‘calling‘ on Christians to ‘take back‘ their country—especially by force—is laughably incompatible with the teachings of Christ. It was Jesus who subverted the authorities with teachings of obedience and edicts of nonviolence; it was Jesus who mocked His captors for brandishing weapons as they arrested Him.”

This was excellent but challenging, because the content is so troubling. Alberta offers a detailed, nuanced look at the rise of Christian nationalism in the US, going back to Jerry Falwell & the “Moral Majority” of the 80s, & exploring the current political landscape from the Trump years through COVID, BLM, & beyond. Woven throughout are interviews with pastors & Christian leaders (both Christian nationalists & those troubled by the movement). ⬇️

I finished this Lord Peter Wimsey mystery at the beginning of March, and it has now been thoroughly eclipsed by Gaudy Night, but I‘ll try to review it on its own merits.😆 Lord Peter & the faithful Bunter get stranded on New Year‘s Eve in Fenchurch St. Paul‘s, a village in the East Anglian fens (the setting immediately endeared me to the book!). The bells of Fenchurch St. Paul‘s play a major role in the life of the village & in the story itself.⬇️

April #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin picks! Of course neither one is from my own shelves. 😆 I can #BlameLitsy for both: The Velvet Room has been on my radar because @TheAromaofBooks recommended it, and Saltus is from @monalyisha ‘s #AuldLangSpine list. I‘m really looking forward to both!

I don‘t think I‘ve read Heidi since I was a kid—I was amazed at how much I remembered! Idyllic days on the Alm with Peter & the goats, Heidi‘s bed in the hayloft, the way she hid away those soft rolls to take back to the grandmother, Klara‘s visit, Peter & the wheelchair—it all came back to me!! I didn‘t remember the strong (almost heavy-handed) Christian message, but even so, I loved seeing Heidi‘s growth & childlike faith. ⬇️

I finished my #FellowshipofTolkien re-read of this last week—it was as beautiful & tragic as ever. This time, I was struck by the themes of pride and jealousy, and sacrifice—the ruin caused by the first two, and the redemption found in the last. The world Tolkien created is so rich and deep—and I loved revisiting it for this buddy read. Thank you @Daisey and @JazzFeathers for hosting!