#BookspinBingo

Sticking with the same plan as April.

@TheAromaofBooks

1) Coffee
2j Great Thai food/dinner with a friend
3) While I don‘t agree with all their choices, I am thrilled I only have 1 to read before the winner is announced.
4) The trip down memory lane that #TuesdayTunes has started me on
5) A quiet house but the anticipation of seeing my husband back tomorrow.

Bonus: Really loving the time #5JoysFriday is giving me to reflect on my week.

@DebinHawaii

#TLT #ThreeListThursday

Never Tear Us Apart- INXS
The Boys of Summer - Don Henley
Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics

@dabbe

I am a definite thalassophile. #WeirdWordWedesday

Not the weirdest of words but new to me.

@CBee

1) My Grandmas Hazel and my Aunt Linda (my dad‘s mom and sister)
2) My son and daughter
3) Little Women

Thanks for the tag @Eggs

#WondrousWednesday

#TuesdayTunes

Last week I started thinking about when music made an impression and my first strong music memory. This is the song that jumped out. I don‘t recall music in my home until later but my best friend‘s mother had the best records and we would sing along and dance.

https://youtu.be/SSbM_Zmx9kA?si=sASu647Lg2N3Pc6x

@TieDyeDude

#WomensPrizeShortlist

Here are my picks in anticipation of tomorrow‘s shortlist announcement. I just started The Maiden and haven‘t read The Wren, The Wren or A Trace of Sun. I chose not to read Hangman and The Blue, Beautiful World.

This book was 18 years in the making and it‘s obvious that the author put her heart and soul into it. The way war creeps in and disrupts, the way sides are chosen, how violence erupts, the way people try to maintain a normal existence when chaos is all around. I think this book is extraordinary. 5 🌟. Vying for the top spot on my Women‘s Prize short list.

#MotivationalMonday

1) I have a whole week to myself with no set plans. I think this is a first since my kids were born.
2) This is Dahlia. My husband is her person. She will miss him and tolerate me.
3) I would like to fly and not anything small enough to be someone‘s dinner.
4) Finishing the tagged today.

Tagging everyone

@Cupcake12

Back from taking hubby to the airport. A great day for peace and quiet to peruse the #CampLitsy longlist.

@BarbaraBB @Megabooks @squirrelbrain

Finished this last night for #NunLit. Look forward to the discussion because I think I missed something big somehow. I really liked the first half or so and then it lagged a bit for me. 4 🌟

#WeeklyFavorite

Zorrie was a lovely read. Highly recommend.

@Read4life

#WeekendReads

Will finish The Nun today and hopefully Brotherless Night tomorrow.

@rachelsbrittain

Dolly was indeed restless as she forged a life for herself and family within the constraints of her time. She was hard working, quite often fueled by anger. In many ways she reminded me of my mother so I unexpectedly connected to her story. 4 🌟

Zorrie loses her parents at a young age and so begins the story of her life. I couldn‘t stop reading after finishing this week‘s section. #SundayBuddyRead I loved this short novel. 5 🌟

@TheBookHippie

#5JoysFriday

1) Tax season is over
2) I finished a project
3) My lilacs are blooming and my Japanese Willow is flourishing
4) Drum Tao was an awesome show
5) A long chat with my dad

Happy Friday everyone! Come play @Lesliereadsalot @Reggie @Ddzmini

@DebinHawaii

“The tender morning sunshine sifted down through the skylight, filling the room below and highlighting the pink marble of the Baroque staircase.”

I am loving our April #NunLit book so far.

#FirstLineFridays

@ShyBookOwl

#TLT #ThreeListThursday

1) Katherine Hepburn
2) Helena Bonham Carter
3) Emma Thompson

Come play!

@dabbe

A huge thank you to @Suet624 for her review and the discussion that arose around it. At the time I felt like I would be wasting time and was a bit dismissive. That is always a wake up call because there is always something to learn. I listened to this slowly over the last few months. It fleshed out so much of what I believe to be wrong but also left me hopeful that others are fighting against those wrongs with the right message. Maybe we ⬇️

Two new to me words from the tagged book. I guessed fribble but had to look up nipcheese.

On a side note, my daughter and I decided to listen to GPS with a British accent yesterday. When we were told to take the “interchange” it was unclear if we were to go left or right. Now I know interchange was left to the freeway and expressway would have been used to go right into town.

The more you know…

#WeirdWordWednesday

@CBee

#WondrousWednesday

1) Exercise, Travel
2) Insomnia, sugar
3) My kids, both hard working, decent human beings but especially my hell on wheels ADHD son. That was a ride!

Tagging everyone! Loved today‘s question and the time to think about how to work towards 1 and 2.

@Eggs

#Two4Tuesday

1) Change is Hard or It Isn‘t Quite What I Thought it Would Be

2) Tagged. Although I read it years and years ago it is what popped in my head.

Want to play @Gissy @Librarybelle @TheLudicReader

@TheSpineView

#TuesdayTunes

I love this video (a little creepy vibe) and cover of one of my favorite Queen songs featuring Lindsey Stirling who I also love.

https://youtu.be/IbYG30ucL7Q?si=6HON5rFcXC5tBGqY

@TieDyeDude

Another finish from the Women‘s Prize longlist. I started in print and switched to audio when it was due back to the library. It was probably not the best choice as the non chronological telling of the Trickster‘s story was harder to follow and I found my mind wandering quite a bit. Another low pick.

#MotivationalMonday

1) Work today, start a quilt for a grandnephew, read The Nun, write #LitsyLove letters
2) grey sky above flowering bushes that separates us from our neighbors
3) Willamette Valley, Oregon it‘s cool and cloudy today
4) Started the tagged on audio last night

Want to play @dabbe @PageShifter @UwannaPublishme

@Cupcake12

So excited to be thinking about #CampLitsy24. I have seen so many great nominations posted today. I tried to stay away from those already nominated.

A big thank you to our camp hosts. @squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB

#5JoysFriday

1. Sourdough: tasty but needs improvement
2. A day with my daughter is always a joy
3. Anytime I can be out on my patio in the sun is lovely
4. Today‘s 3 hour coffee, stitch and gabfest with my bestie
5. My first NetGalley approval. I was about to delete my profile.

It‘s been a great week and the earlier frustration has passed.

@DebinHawaii

#TLT #ThreeListThursday

🌗 Moonstruck
🎶 Amadeus
👑👰🏼‍♀️ The Princess Bride

@dabbe

On Sunday I went to the Oregon Symphony with my daughter to hear Mozart‘s Requiem. But the most riveting piece was Remnants for Poet and Orchestra, composed by James Wilson, inspired by this photo taken at a BLM rally in the UK. While Sunday‘s performance was amazing this link is for a performance with the poet, Yomi Sode, reading his own words that is far more powerful.

https://youtu.be/u1YG-o8rSHA?si=yZGWwa404ZullhD3

The Spanish film Mad Love was not based on this particular book but it is about Juana de Loca the last Queen of Castile so I‘m going with it. This is also my #BookSpin book for April.

@CBee @TheAromaofBooks

Things have been a little frustrating lately and when i need to let it out it‘s through music and singing at the top of my lungs. This song literally tells us to do that.

https://open.spotify.com/track/0jWgAnTrNZmOGmqgvHhZEm?si=wibtUv9TRq63XxQUxy19Qw&...

#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude

#BookedinTime #SpanishInquistion

Juana was not raised to be a monarch but the untimely deaths of her elder sister and her nephew made her next in line to the throne upon her mother Queen Isabella‘s death. Gortner portrays a passionate woman who wants to do right by her country but kept in place as “mad” by her husband until his death and then her father. The Spanish Inquisition is mentioned but is not a main feature of this novel. 4 🌟

1) Today I‘m going to make my second ever loaf of sourdough. My first wasn‘t a complete failure but was too dense. And I‘ll be in and out of work as we wrap up tax season.
2) After my 2 cups of coffee in the AM I always have water beside me. Trying not to snack.
3) Bookmark
4) Will finish the tagged today and then finish 8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster.

#MotivationalMonday

Tagging everyone…

@Cupcake12

I feel like I‘m 100% back in my normal reading groove so it‘s time to make plans. The tagged book is for #BookedinTime. I‘m actually going to finish it in the right month. 8 Lives is feeling lighter than the other WP books although I think the subject matter will be hard….so far they‘ve all been hard. Zorrie is for #SundayBuddyRead and I‘ll let my mood decide my next audio book.

Progress report on the Women‘s Prize longlist. I‘ve read 7 with In Defence of the Act my favorite so far. I won‘t read Hangman based on other reviews and The Blue, Beautiful World since it is part of a series. I might even get the remaining 7 read before the shortlist announcement on the 24th. It would be a first for me.

#WomensPrize

My favorite of the week is the book I just finished. Ultimately a story about trying to find where you belong and the struggles you experience when you try to make the wrong thing fit. As I was reading I realized this may be the first contemporary fiction book I‘ve read set in China. 4 🌟

#WomensPrize #52Bookclub24 #IncludesaWedding

@wanderinglynn is hosting a giveaway of the tagged book. Go check out her post for the details.

#AuthorAMonth This was a very short memoir read by Ruth. She sits uncomfortably in front of a mirror for 3 hours and records her thoughts. Starting with the lines and blemishes she sees but leading to memories and tangents about her parents and growing up half Asian and half white. It sounds like an interesting exercise but one I‘m not likely to try.

@Soubhiville

#WomensPrize #Longlist #52Bookclub24 #IndigenousCulture

I will be thinking about this for a bit today. Part Native Mohawk culture, part postpartum depression/mental illness, it made a chaotic story that was hard to latch on to.

@Kristy_K @LaraReads @KarenUK @Hooked_on_books @BarkingMadRead @brittanyreads @Magpiegem @BookBelle84 @Larkken @jenniferw88 @julesG @MidnightBookGirl @Librarybelle @triplem80 @Tove_Reads @gracious @Read4life @Bluebird

Alice never seemed to hear the microwave beeping—not even when she was three feet away from it, feet propped on the kitchen table as she painted her toenails neon green.

#FirstLineFridays

@ShyBookOwl

Congrats Deb on reaching 500K! 🎉🎉🎉. My top 5 things that bring me joy:

1) Litsy 📚💌
2) My family & friends 💜
3) The Sun ☀️
4) Flowers 🌷🌸🪻🌻🪷🌹
5) Travel ✈️
6) Music 🎶. I couldn‘t pick just 5 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thank you for the opportunity with your #500KGIVEAWAY and for all you do to make Litsy the awesome place it is.

@DebinHawaii

Tagging everyone to join in. See Deb‘s original post for details.

The wheel has spoken. Looking forward to all of these. I‘ve read all 8 of the previous months‘ numbers so this is proving to be a great way to address my kindle backlog. #ReadYourKindle

@CBee

#192025 #1990 #SeriesLove24 #52Bookclub24 #TitleinSongLyrics

A short mystery set in an Order of the Daughters of Compassion convent. Sister Joan is sent to investigate when her Prioress receives a cryptic message from another convent.

Here‘s the link for the song from a band called Lemon Demon who I did not know

https://open.spotify.com/track/29Pj4JiHwsQm6d7g5ne5Aw?si=Smq41b8BR9aH34acG-PdNw&...

All of these play a role in my reading life but these are the major players with the others in the minor league.

Want to play @jlhammar @BarkingMadRead @Gissy

Thanks for the tag @Eggs 💜🌸💜

#WondrousWednesday

1) The tagged book for #NunLit, All Over Creation for #AuthorAMonth and Zorrie for #SundayBuddyRead

2) sort of a pre order of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo from BOTM

Come and play everyone!

@TheSpineView

#WomensPrize

Cousins Akorfa and Selasi are the best of friends but the relationship is strained and then broken as they grow up. This is a low pick for me. I appreciated the picture of life in Ghana but something in how it was told didn‘t sit well with me. I rooted for Selasi who found and used her voice putting her livelihood in jeopardy. The others were not my favorite.

#MotivationalMonday

1) The sunny weather is lasting through tomorrow so I‘ll be outside as much as possible. Work on Wednesday and Thursday. Sunday symphony matinee of Mozart‘s Requiem with my daughter.

2) Print ~500 Kindle ~700 Audio ~100

3) Horror I, too, am a big wimp.

@Cupcake12 Tagging everyone to come and play.

#MarchWrapUp

Audio is really working for me right now. I read some fantastic books this month all mentioned in my earlier best of March post. Still finding it hard to settle into a kindle or print book…not sure what that‘s about. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I am sure this too shall pass…hope it does soon….

I do not think I can express on here the joy this gave me. @Gissy tagged every item with a note why she chose it for me. Disney, sloths, HP, coffee…all things I 💜. The candle smells amazing, the snow globe is adorable, the Belle cup and Cinderella measuring cups so cute, the books look great and the most perfect bookmarks. Thank you! Your choices couldn‘t be more perfect. #ListyFoundFamilySwap Thanks for hosting @KateReadsYA

I‘m posting early because what I‘m currently reading will not bump Enter Ghost from the top spot for this week. I think my reading mojo is coming back and it‘s partly due to these fantastic books and the #WomensPrize longlist.

Love your graphics and the ease of choosing a favorite over a whole weekly book report. @Read4life I won‘t post them but have gone back and made January and February so I will have a great reference for 2024.