How awesome to have another Charmaine Wilkerson! I did get confused a few times about the timeline but overall, really enjoyed this. Wilkerson writes beautiful characters and moving stories.

Has Jasmine Guillory gotten too successful for a hard edit? As usual, her characters and general storyline are fantastic. But this felt so uneven! Some of the dialogue felt awkward & unnecessary, the lessons got repetitive and there were too many one-dimensional friends. And since this is nearly 400 pages, it didn‘t need filler. The best bits were the more unique bits and the more flushed-out friendships.

OMG, I read next to nothing in May. So I‘ve pull all my library holds on pause and I‘m hellbent on reading my June #Roll100 books IN JUNE. Wish me luck.

Instagram kept feeding this up to me as an ad and I bit the bullet, expecting it would be a bit of a disaster IF it ever arrived. But it did and it‘s gorgeous! I‘ve only been to a few, including this library in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. This is the perfect book to curl up with and daydream ❤️

What a page turner… you never really know what‘s going on and it just makes you want to keep reading. I think it broke my brain in a few places - but in a good way!

I had a hard time seeing the Nora we meet on the page as a nun for 30 years. But I really liked the dynamic she had with the Inspector and the mystery was well plotted. I‘ll likely pick up the next, if the series continues.

Thank you, @Liz_M for bringing back #14books14weeks! It turns out, I have a couple of authors with more than one of their books on my TBR so I‘ve got 2 books each from 7 authors for my list. Looking forward to so many of these titles!

Perfect long weekend reading! I loved Henry‘s take on the “older famous woman who has left the limelight has ulterior motives when she tells her story to journalist for tell-all book” trope.

Remember how about two weeks ago I was chastising myself for not sticking to my 2-out-1-in rule? I continue to throw the rules in my own face.

I love Beth O‘Leary. She always finds such an interesting way of introducing conflict without relying on old, tired - and frankly, dumb - tropes. And she just excels at character development!

I love an epistolary novel - and this was a really lovely one about a friendship blossoming between two young women. I loved where each woman started and where they ended up. And the descriptions of food made me salivate.

Really great ideas on how to make really big changes when things feel totally broken!

Better than the first in the series and I really loved the cliffhanger ending. I still struggled with the balance between what happened to Russ and everyone‘s love lives. And I had a really hard time with Rosie‘s diaries - she knew Russ was married and I‘m finding it hard to find sympathy for her. The list for book 3 is super long at my library, I hope it moves quickly!

#ElinHProject

Until I got close to the end, I really struggled with what I felt was a totally unbalanced narrative. But it came together in a really satisfying way!

Roll 88 for #Roll100

What an interesting little book… I love anything that flips a narrative partway through and tells you the same story in a different way. And this one was a very intriguing approach to that!

This was a nice wrap-up to the trilogy but much less about the mystery than the previous instalments. Prose did a really nice job of bringing everything together and giving us Gran‘s story. It is hard to call it a mystery, though.

Super slow on getting my #BookSpin list posted but I am desperately trying to keep up with my library books before they are due!

2025 was supposed to be the year I finally stuck to my 2-out-1-in rule. I‘m currently 28 books behind on the out side of that equation - and that doesn‘t include my BOTM and Aardvark picks that should be showing up soon. Oops.

Don‘t read this book while hungry. I really want dumplings now. This is funny and heartwarming but has a very dark resolution to the mystery.

My mom is so cute… it wasn‘t enough to just buy me the P&P vase, she filled it with beautiful flowers, too.

This has been on my shelf for far too long - so long, all I could remember about it was that I wanted to read it! I really enjoyed it, it was quirky and sweet and a little mysterious. I will need to pick up more Annie Hartnett

Roll 24 for #Roll100

If I had been able to sit and read all day, this would have been a 1-day read for me. Durham struck the exact right balance between the world of ballet and focusing on characters. I really enjoyed how the story unfolded, it went in directions I didn‘t expect but thought was so well done.

I keep going back and forth on this one. Somehow, I had trouble connecting the characters between the two timelines, they just felt like a completely different cast of characters. I liked both timelines but maybe not together.

Roll 36 for #Roll100

So if I can get through the stacks of library books in my house right now, I have a shot at getting through all 6 possibilities for #Roll100 in May!

The pacing felt totally off to me. There was such focus on what happened to Russ and then it just disappeared before rearing its head again. The characters were the most enjoyable part of the book for me, I particularly liked Irene and Huck - I hope we see more of them together in the rest of the series. I just hope that the next book integrates the "mystery" with the relationship side of the story better.

#ElinHProject

I feel like the title of this one is super misleading - the phrase "beach read" conjures up images of sand and beach umbrellas and playing in the water... And this doesn't have any of that! But it was a delight. The premise of writing in different genres was a fun one and I thought the supporting cast was great. When is the next Emily Henry coming out?

Ready for April‘s #BookSpin! Can we all cross our fingers that 10 gets drawn? I get on a plane this month and I‘d really like to be reading “Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies” on my flight. Does that make me a bad person?!

I only listen to Gladwell for the stories now - they are always interesting. But I haven‘t really gotten much other than entertainment from his books for a while.

We don‘t actually have this snow anymore - I‘m just terribly behind on posting reviews.

A re-read to jump back in to #AgathaChristieClubR3 aka #ChristiesCapers. It was enjoyable to revisit!

Generally enjoyable but I had a hard time distinguishing the voices - Harry and Martha were hard to keep straight.

Roll 62 for #Roll100

What a riot! I loved being reunited with these fabulous ladies and getting to know them even better. Perfect light reading full of informative tips and life hacks for if you ever need to assassinate someone yourself.

My first five star read of the year! I could have read another 470 pages of this one. I loved the ending, I loved everything leading up to it and I loved every single character - even the despicable ones.

My #DoubleSpin for March

This is one of those books that you have a hard time saying you enjoyed because it's a bit like watching a car crash is slow motion. Hazell did a beautiful job of making me feel everything Piglet was feeling, I couldn't stop turning the pages on this one and it made me so hungry!

Roll 42 for #Roll100

Ooh, good picks this month for #Roll100!

No bingo for me in Feb but my optimism remains high for #bookspin in March!

I love that Victoria Christopher Murray is writing historical fiction now! This did drag in a couple of spots but I loved getting to know Fauset and so many other important historical Black literary figures. Murray brought them to such excellent light and I can‘t wait for her next historical fiction.

Packed it in on page 7 when “The bellowing meat locomotive throws its weight into the wall of constables, with as much blood as possible its only politics” was a sentence my brain had to take in.

The pacing of this book felt really off. Some parts seemed to really be drawn out while others felt more rushed. Aside from that, it's well written and has a very intriguing plot but I don't think I'll continue with the series.

Roll 82 for #Roll100

Better than the first! I really liked Georgina and her relationship with Ffion. Kinda frustrated with Leo & Ffion. But the supporting characters were great and Macintosh does a great job making the setting come to life.

Mummy-Daughter Book Club time with delicious waffles!

Predictable but still an enjoyable read. There were a few things that were hard to believe (Cecily's secret not naturally coming out for 60+ years, for one) but I really liked the characters and diving into 3 generations (sorry, I don't think Caden counts!)

This was on track to be Feeney‘s best yet. And then she just destroyed it with a lazy ending. I have no patience for a plot that wraps up the way this one did.

Not my favourite Kate Quinn but no one does historical fiction as well as she does. Mila was understandably prickly and her backstory was captivating but ultimately, the amount of violence was a bit above my threshold.

A 2024 read

This one took me a long time to get into. I liked how Fanny was a bit of a sidekick in this one but I miss Lord Harold. But Barron does an excellent job writing Jane and her wit, it's what keeps me coming back.

Maybe my favourite Alice Feeney that I've read so far? I thought she did a really nice job of planting clues on just about everyone you meet, keeping all the doors open. The resolution was satisfying, the back & forth in perspectives with the killer's stream of consciousness all worked really well for me.

I love a complicated family story and this one was great. I wanted to reach into the book and smack a few people and I wanted to reach into the book and hug other people. I can't wait for the next one from May.

A really nice end to the series. I‘ll miss these characters, especially Ava and Jennifer.

#ElinHProject

Who knows when I‘ll get to my reading wrap up in my #AlwaysFullyBooked planner and since the StoryGraph graphics are so fun….

Jan was my best #BookSpin month in AGES so I‘m running into Feb with high hopes!

Ooh, it‘s taken all my self-control not to jump right into Piglet. I am trying to finish my Jan #Roll100 books first but my resolve is waning. How did it get to be Feb so fast?!?

Meh. Magical realism just isn't my cup of tea. But I really enjoyed the characters Hart created, I liked getting to know them and liked how their stories came together.