At times this was absolutely rage inducing but I still loved it overall. This is a story about collective trauma, coercive forgetting, and ultimately collective healing. Alex's story is tough and rage inducing but also one of hope and acceptance.

HAPPY #BOOKSPIN DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE!
I‘m excited by the draw but also my worst fear came true as both picks this month are the chonkiest on the list! It was the number one downside to organizing my list in order of page count lol. This month my bookspin is the tagged and my double is The Dragonbone Chair.

I use the #BookSpin list for titles from a long-term, ten-year plan challenge I'm doing. This month I had to kind of re-strategize the list because I'm running out of physical books to use and am having to switch to more digital titles. New to the list this month are three titles: the tagged, The Promise of Blood, and You Sexy Thing. I'm also still working on my backlog of this year's previous draws.

I did not expect to love this as much as I did. There's just something so special about watching found families form.

This is the second half of a duology and takes up right where the first book left off. It does not stand alone well. Some readers may feel that this ends in a cliffhanger if they focus on the political intrigue Prince Gevulin is involved in but this is for the most part Elen's story and her journey has a satisfying conclusion to her arc.

I was feeling sorry for myself because I‘m home sick but then I got notice I was approved for the tagged on NetGalley. Now I‘m trying a little outdoor therapy while I get started.

I had a lot of fun reading this. Perfect popcorn/summer read sci fi. I think the reason I love this sort of thing is that you don't have to read too closely to enjoy yourself and you feel like you've accomplished something when it's over.

I had a really good time with this romance in a fantasy world that has themes about second chances and loving your whole self not just the parts you think you should. The world and side characters added color to the narrative and I feel like Violet and Nathaniel together strengthen each other which is what I want most in a romance novel.

I had a really good time reading this. The Raven narration felt a little odd when it came in but overall I kind of enjoyed it after a while. I enjoyed the world building and magic system. My only complaint is that the main character read a little younger than in her 30s to me.

I really enjoyed this. The world was interesting to me because even though there is a sort of caste system it was also inclusive. I also like that the author is very thoughtful when it comes to issues of consent. This is the first half of a duology and while there is definitely set up for more to come the characters seem in a good place to pause without making the reader furious at an extreme cliffhanger.

This was a fun ending to the Ruinous Love Trilogy. I wasn't expecting it to be as long as it was narratively but it was still good. Although I could have done without the call back to how the author ruined ice cream in the epilogue lol

I missed #BookSpin Day yesterday because of work and other things but I'm super excited about the draw this month. BookSpin is the tagged and the Double is Nightwatch. Thankfully the draw was on the upper range because all my chonky boi books are towards the low teens/twenty.

I loved the magic system in this and the fact that it's a magic school tale told from an instructor's perspective not a chosen one student.

I can't believe we're almost to the July #BookSpin draw! New to the list this month are the tagged and The Dragonbone Chair. I have to keep my fingers crossed that the draws are closer to the single digit end of the list because the way mine's set up the chonky bois are towards the bottom.

Kendzior always writes beautiful prose that has a hint of melancholy for the future we no longer have. I loved this because it is a love letter to America and like she says, you love the good parts and tell the truth about the bad that way your love is honest.

Cute sapphic romance. I liked both of the main characters and found the introvert of the pair most relatable. Fun premise with good emotional growth on both sides of the pairing.

Super fun and great conclusion to the overarching narrative arc. Absolutely love Ada the chaos goblin and would love to see more of her adventures.

I almost liked this one better than the first because now we know how much of a chaos goblin Ada is we can just see how she does what she does best without all the setup. You almost have to feel bad for how unprepared Rian is for Ada's schemes.

As much as I enjoyed this novella and want to read more about the world and the characters I feel like the size was just right. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out it's a trilogy so I do get to read more without being weighed down by a filler arc.

Started the tagged on my break. It‘s so tiny for a hardcover. I normally get my books from work but we don‘t have this one. Past me put it on hold at my local but I have no recollection of doing so. I had to look up the book when the hold notice came in. I can definitely see why I did though.

Low pick because while this was fun and feel good it did have some flaws. Most notably, slightly inappropriate relationship with minors. The characters have the best of intentions but definitely boundary issues.

Rolo and I are enjoying the tagged before summer temps make it impossible to enjoy the outside. Kendzior is an amazing writer and it feels right to read this in the outdoors.

Welp I accidentally read the whole thing in one sitting and really enjoyed it. I liked that they communicated with each other for the most part and they built each other up. Win and Bo definitely became better people because they met each other.

Starting the tagged today while Rolo works out his post vet check up aggression.

I normally hate to double post but I also finished this in audio today. I enjoyed the characters but I don't know if it was the fact that it was supposed to be a character driven novel and just didn't have the oomph to really make up for the lack of plot action or what but was a little disappointing. The characters do grow and learn from each other but it felt a little too long and drawn out for any meaningful relationships to form.

I absolutely loved this! Even having lived through the proliferation of reality tv there was so much to learn even about shows I actively watch(ed). This mainly focuses on American tv so it would be interesting if someone wrote about international reality tv history.

This was fun. I've meant to read all the Newbery winners in order but I did this one out of order because I'm chasing those seasonal goodreads achieves. I was curious how the characters and situations would come together with all their quirks. If I had to choose favorites I would go with Turtle and Chris but it's very hard to choose because they all have their own charms.

I liked this one better than the first! Diana and Jeremy were so stubborn that it was interesting to see them fall for each other. I like that it wasn't just a miscommunication that kept them apart but the fact that they had certain perceptions of self that made it hard to connect.

I can't believe it's time for the June #BookSpin lists! I've been doing much better this year about keeping up with the selections and have read at least one of the draws for each month so far. The bad news is the books adding to the list are getting chonkier. New to the list this month are the tagged and Pushing Ice.

This was a fun and quick read typical of the genre. I liked seeing how they would prank each other within the strictures of society. Even though most of the characters behaved childishly it was good escapism. Although this is definitely a case of blown out of proportion miscommunication.

I‘ve finally emerged from a weeklong hyperfixation binge of books I don‘t keep track of and can now enjoy reading in the yard with Rolo again. Shoutout to the Libby app for saving me the expense of buying the books I binged.

It‘s almost Big Brother US season so I thought it would be fitting to start the tagged while Rolo and I get some vitamin D
#DogsOfLitsy

I enjoyed this because there's a lot to unpack about identity and truth of self. I will say though it's built on a similar framework as The First 15 Lives of Harry August so I wouldn't read them back to back.

This was a good book but I think it was just too literary for my tastes. I thought the Miri chapters wandered into the weeds a bit too much and the Leah chapters didn't quite cover enough of the story to make up for that.

This was a contemporary retelling of Persuasion but I didn't know that going in. I think in many ways it keeps the charm of the original with subtle changes to make it more modern. I liked learning more about Pakistani American culture and was really rooting for Asma and Farooq.

This is the follow up to Mickey7 and I kind of liked this one better. The emphasis is less on how Mickey is an expendable and more on his diplomatic efforts with the Creepers. We get to see more of the planet and the other life on it.

Popcorn sci-fi that only lightly touches on cloning and personhood.

I really enjoyed this and I'm sad the next installment isn't out yet. Very girl goes to magic school with dragons but done in an interesting way. Excellent take on fighting colonialism.

HAPPY #BOOKSPIN DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE!

I'm really looking forward to getting to these two selections. I've already acquired my BS, Touch, through Libby so I can read it when it's slow on desk at work. The tagged is my DS and I'm also curious about it because I've yet to read anything by this author.

This was interesting to me because the premise is that there is a species of people that live through eating books/ink that look human but are decidedly not. It's kind of a take on vampires but so different from other vampire variations that I've seen.

Rolo and I are enjoying the sun while I read the tagged. This book has been exceeding my expectations.

After the crazy OTT hijinks of the previous installment this felt like a nice lazy slice of life. There was still a mystery and a fair bit of hijinks but way more manageable. I also liked getting to know more about some side characters.

I can't believe it's almost time for the May #BookSpin draw! New to the list this month are the tagged and Red Mars. I'm still a little bit behind on my challenge reads but hopefully I'll make more progress soon.

Low pick because Tevari and Avra's relationship was very toxic and it was fairly off putting but the rest was fun. I think the strength of this was Julian and his mission of knowledge for the masses. This was at times funny, seriously weird, and a little bit uncomfortable. It absolutely does not take itself seriously which I think I needed.

Another fun installment of the series. I like how mismatched Wendell and Emily are because it's always entertaining. Emily is her scholarly self and can't help but research her way into more trouble.

I wasn't really aware of the case so this was an absolute ride of a book. Normally I have to slow down with non-fiction works but this read almost as smoothly as fiction and I tore through it in two days.

This was so melodramatic and normally I am here for that but idk. Out of the two POVs I would say Kaede's was more interesting than Takeo's. She goes from having no agency at all to discovering her inner strength.

Rolo and I are reading on the couch in between bouts of changing laundry from the washer to the dryer.

I found this helpful to add broader context to the works of Judy Blume than I had experiencing her work as a child of the 80s and 90s. It goes into what was happening at the time, both in her life and culturally, when she was writing some of her most popular works. It also does a nice parallel talk about censorship in the 80s and 90s versus today.

This exceeded my expectations. Although, I think claiming that it is loosely based on the Hades/Persephone myth takes away from what it actually is. Ododo is a fascinating character to watch as she slowly tries to reclaim her agency. I listened to the audio and it was fantastic.