A successful #roll100 month! It‘s interesting at both at 17 were about fascism. My favorite was The Stone Angel, but I also enjoyed What She Ate, too. Woman was a bail, and I didn‘t attempt Arsonists‘.

Six bingos just under the wire! No 5⭐️ books this month, but Chrysalis by Anna Metcalfe and It Won‘t Always Be Like This by Malaka Gharib both got 4.75⭐️.

I prioritized more print reading in May and managed 5,511 pages along with 231 audiobook hours! #BookspinBingo

I came across both of these in the past couple of weeks and thought they were cool! The author (of course I can‘t remember who) used suzerainty in regards to a person, so I was really surprised when I looked it up.

Also amanuensis sounds so much better than assistant on a résumé! #WeirdWords

This background reminded me of our “Save the Drama for Your Mama Llama” unofficial mascot in vet school! ?

That calla lilies didn‘t disappoint this year!! (And this is after my mom‘s bestie took more than a dozen.)

I‘m skipping bingo in June because it‘s going to be a crazy month (and I want to mood read as much as possible 😂), but I can‘t miss regular #bookspin!

We‘ve got some beautiful EARLY lilies in this week‘s #BookReport thanks to the warm weather in February!

The tagged graphic memoir was my favorite book this week. Malaka looks back on her childhood visits to her dad and stepmom in Egypt and how their relationship evolved. Fancy Bear was an incredibly interesting look into the world of 5 noteworthy hacking incidents that show their evolution. Stone Angel was lovely @vivastory ! Thanks for ⬇️

I might‘ve gone a little crazy at the library yesterday looking for some holiday weekend reading material! I have the tagged and Homebodies from the #CampLitsy23 longlist, a couple of graphic memoirs, a Le Guin for June #AuthorAMonth, and three others just because!

Can anyone tell me why it is that I always forget my tote on days I checkout more than 4 books?? 🤣

Sometimes you find a book at the used bookstore and want to start it right away! This book has a copyright of 1990, and I think it‘s Orlean‘s debut. It should be very nostalgic to read about what people were doing on Saturday nights in the late 80s. I‘m sure the book would be really different now. There‘s a polka dance chapter but no TikTok dances! 🙃

I lost a friend this week and just got back from the funeral. It was a beautiful service but also sad.

Hostile was funny and refreshing! Love Sam! Sorry was a great story about siblings and parents and love and codependency. Mother is relatable to any daughter who didn‘t appreciate her mom enough growing up. Weyward was a challenging but heartwarming witchy read about the bonds of women in families and how we protect each other. ⬇️ #BookReport

Small #bookhaul this week! BQ and YF for #CampLitsy23 then some literature in translation (tagged) from my favorite publisher @RiverheadBooks 👍🏻🙌🏻

And Molly has been so naughty! She backed out of her harness and ran into some hostas earlier today and then chased a baby bunny and has been whining for an hour because I didn‘t let her grab it. When she whines too much, I sing Somebody I Used to know off key to add to her sorrow! 😂😂

A beautiful weekend day! Molly on the long leash, Weyward in my hands, and some Greek yogurt and coffee!

This #roll100 month is brought to you by F for forget because I‘ve forgotten that I even owned three of these books or what they‘re about! (New One, Mistakes, and Brides) 🤞🏻 my taste was on when I bought them. 😂 Burnt, Smart One, and Lies are all books I‘ve picked up and put down without finishing, so maybe June will be the month I don‘t bail. 🤔🤔

Molly has been so well behaved since she turned 2, I got her a 30ft leash so she can explore the yard while I lounge on the deck. I wish we had an easily fencable yard, but I think this is the next best thing. 💜🐶

The book is mediocre and boring, so I‘m mainly skimming, but it‘s my #bookspin, so I‘m trying not to bail! Really disappointed because I loved Ask Again Yes.

Someone was kind enough to write my memoir, and I‘ve included it in this #BookReport! 😂 Maybe it‘s yours too? 😏

Love Songs was fantastic. Reviewed and great if you love stories about families! Devil is my favorite of the three I‘ve read for #AuthorAMonth, but the two stories were a bit disjointed. Paved: wow! A revelation! I had no idea that parking shaped so much of the post-WWII building in America! Why we don‘t have ⬇️

This week‘s #bookhaul! I had to pick up the UK Lessons before BD shut down. Such a better cover! I also picked up Sorry (another great cover) and I‘m a Fan, too. #BuyBuyBD I‘ll miss you! 😢

Had to go back to the NYRBs at the library. V picked over, but I got the tagged book. 👍🏻😁

I can‘t wait to read Hijab with everyone at #CampLitsy23, and I picked up Ascension from the longlist at the library!

This week in bails! Reading this week has been a struggle, so it may be me and not them. Take with a grain of 🧂

Mercies…I hate when an author goes on with a person doing something and various other characters telling them not to do it. I just got tired of Mary asking about her daughter and the goons saying stop asking questions. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Passage…really don‘t need another gun story now. Overwhelming these days.

Chain ⬇️

The irises are in full bloom in our backyard!! 🤩🤩

Another week another late #BookReport! 😂 Chrysalis: review posted - loved it! Oak Flat had beautiful art! The landscapes looked organic and alive and just leapt off the page. Homegrown: Toobin does it again! One of the best narrative nonfictions this year. It‘s about McVeigh, the OKC bombing and the legacy it holds in the alt right and even mainstream right today.

Traffic: interesting about Buzzfeed and Gawker‘s strategies for going viral and ⬇️

Just finished and still have tears in my eyes! This book takes you on a journey from Motown and the ‘67 riots in Detroit to 1990s Alabama and NYC. She writes beautifully about love, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Deborah hopes to get a Motown recording contract when she meets Ozro, a recent transplant from Alabama. They fall in love and have a daughter until he disappears one day. The book follows their stories from before and after Oz vanishes.

Crazy #bookhaul day y‘all! I‘ve got two official #CampLitsy23 choices, Romantic and Birnam; two from the longlist, Chain (#aardvark pick) plus Unfortunates nominated by @MicheleinPhilly , who steered me right with Chrysalis; and Moon from #botm, another nominee!

Excited for Link‘s new short story collection. PLUS they had someone‘s lifetime #nyrb collection pristine as used books at the library!! I didn‘t have long but chose 4! 99 cents each! 🤯

So this is the #BookReport I would‘ve posted last week had I not been in the hospital. 😂 Three #BookspinBingos in April! 👍🏻

The Wager was a great adventure narrative nonfiction pick and one I‘ll relisten to with my dad. Unsettled was haunting and makes me excited for Fuller‘s latest at Camp Litsy in August! Liars blended science, nature and sociology well and linked human behavior with evolutionary tactics. ⬇️

Thank you to @JenReadsAlot for finding this US kindle deal on our July #CampLitsy23 pick! I hope this helps if your library doesn‘t have a copy.

Tonight‘s pic of moon through clouds. It was a beautiful night!

#CampLitsy23 longlist gem!! Thank to the Litten who nominated. 🤩 Now, please someone else read this because there is so much to discuss!!

Elliott, a misfit loner at the gym, notices a new woman. She seems self-possessed and strong in a way that is intriguing. He continues to get to know her as she transforms. Through him, her mother, and her friend, you get to know different facets of this enigmatic woman.

I probably should‘ve stayed away from this for #AuthorAMonth because 18 hours is a bit much for a subject I‘m not already interested in, but Larson changed my mind before (Dead Wake about the Lusitania). However, even his insightful writing couldn‘t make me interested in the tedious details of Churchill‘s first year as Prime Minister. Eh. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I just don‘t get this book! Majella is a young woman living in the Catholic enclave of a small town in Northern Ireland. She likes a few things and hates a lot. The people in her town are funny, but not having heard much of that dialect, making it and the slang out in writing was difficult. Also, Majella‘s grandmother was recently murdered, and despite her being M‘s fave person, she seems really strangely unconcerned about it! Bailed at 60%.

Hello campers! I‘m your main discussion leader for July. We‘ll start the month with the overall top vote-getter, Yellowface, and finish it with our first nonfiction title, the memoir Hijab Butch Blues. Very excited! 😁🏕️ #CampLitsy23

Important housekeeping note‼️‼️ We will be taking the first weekend off (July 1-2). July has 5 weekends, and many Americans travel then for the national holiday later that week.

Here are my #bookspin and #doublespin as well as my living shelf! I‘m excited to start Chrysalis soon, but I‘ll have to wait for my #botm box to arrive for Half Moon. It‘s cool that people nominated both for #CampLitsy23, especially since I hadn‘t heard of Chrysalis until it was nominated!

Here‘s my #BookspinBingo board. It‘s been working out well having the #bookspin and #doublespin in the same line lately!

I just finished Oak Flat this morning, and I started Big Girl Small Town in the hospital, and they‘re in line too. 👍🏻👍🏻

Well, I was halfway there finishing my #roll100 choices. All were good, none were great. I guess my favorite was the tagged, which is some interesting nonfiction about corporate takeover, corruption and coups associated with the banana industry and its one-time king. I bailed on The Birth of the Pill, a mood-reader moment.

Hey y‘all! I spent 36 hours in the hospital this weekend between ER and the observation floor. A lot of scary things ruled out but no answers. So I‘m going to try to get a few catch up posts done tonight. Thank you to my fellow #CampLitsy23 counselors for keeping things running on socials media!! 😘😘 @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain

Without further ado…here is my #bookspinbingo list! The Half Moon was my #botm pick and Chain Gang was my #aardvark one!

Attention campers! This weekend is the last chance to vote for the books we'll be reading at #CampLitsy23 this summer! You do not have to have nominated books to vote, and you don't have to vote to read with us this summer. Please let us know if you want to be added to our tag list!

Before you vote, check out the full longlist here: bit.ly/41VFK5X

And here is the voting form: https://forms.gle/9JQ3j35AtC5STjXt9

@barbarabb @squirrelbrain

A bit of a late #BookReport because I was very sick Sun-Tues. These are just what I read through Sun.

Old Flame was exceptional! It took on adoption, friendship, creativity, and motherhood just beautifully! I wanted it for #CampLitsy23, but there isn‘t a UK pub date. ☹️ JBLAH took on disability in the gay community with humor and heart. Pathogenesis is a must read for medical history and anthropology nerds. 🙋🏻‍♀️ more ⬇️

I had a morning to myself so I went to the library because duh and got a smoothie too! 😁 #SelfCareSaturday

The tagged book is the short story collection you can‘t see due to glare. Excited to read Ferris‘ short stories, too, though he is hit or miss for me. Glad to dive into Fuller‘s backlist! Living Forever and Hotel I hope will be delightfully weird. I am most excited for the nonfiction graphic novel Oak Flat.

I‘m going to be real…this book is a little raunchy, but here is the first line. I couldn‘t not share. #FirstLineFridays

“My boyfriend Gus has a beautiful penis. It‘s big and thick without being too big or too thick.”

Thanks to @Reviewsbylola for putting this on my #ReadersRadar because it is really fun!

May‘s #roll100 is brought to you by #ALSpine partner recs. The tagged was on @vivastory ‘s list last year (miss you!) and Azadi was not on @Emilymdxn ‘s list, but her review a couple of years ago made me pick it up. Red Pill was a #tob pick I never read. May should be an exciting month!

ICYMI! We are pleased to announce #CampLitsy23! We‘re opening nominations for the longlist. We invite folks to suggest 6 books for campers to read this summer. Post your choices on Litsy with #CampLitsy23 and tag me, @BarbaraBB and @squirrelbrain . The nominated books need to be published in 2023 and by 15 June, so campers can procure the final choices.

Nominations are open until 25 April. Then we will publish the longlist for voting. Details ⬇️

It seems Yellowface is really a popular choice in the #CampLitsy23 nominations, but I think some of these others are new. I have really enjoyed seeing everyone‘s nominees today! My wallet is going to hurt this Spring, but at least I saved some gift cards and audiobook credits. 😁

Endpapers is tagged above, and the others are tagged below. I‘m so glad to see many new and old faces at camp this year!

Another week with a #BookReport and no reviews! 🤦🏻‍♀️ However I hope to make it up by posting about #CampLitsy later this week. Stay tuned!

A lot of #LikeNotLove books this week, so no hierarchy. I finished another for #AuthorAMonth, and it was a so-so. I read two books about the medical profession and was really moved by both. Chin-Quee did an excellent job of expressing the depression I felt during my training and how isolating it was. ⬇️

Just wanted to share this beautiful tree on this beautiful day!! Happy Spring! 🌷💕

I‘m getting books in about 3x as fast as I‘m reading them! 😂 Behind these books is a mystery bulb that my mom planted in the fall. Any guesses?

My #botm and #aardvark boxes have arrived, so I‘m very excited for those. Thank you to #HachetteBooks for the hardcover copy of Long Illness. As soon as I can get a breath to focus on my own issues, it‘s at the top of my list!! And I couldn‘t resist End of the World House from the library.

#HBSocialClub

Happy Easter y‘all! It is dogwood/azalea time in my neighborhood, and hopefully I can share some gorgeous pictures next week!

I‘ve seen several people review Biography of X, and for me, it was a 5⭐️ brilliant book!! The new T. Egan history/true crime and Chung memoir were fantastic too.

Comedy and Community were both very cute! Adelaide did not work for me, but I think it‘s more to do with the character than the writing. #BookReport More ⬇️

First #botm box plus library trip! The bookmark is perfect! Community Board sounds like my life before Dad‘s stroke. 🤣🤣

Yay Spring! Great on top, good in the middle, so-so on bottom. Ari‘s memoir was sensational! Thank you @squirrelbrain for the rec of Marriage and the credit I used to by Lobster! I enjoyed both. I preferred Out There (speculative) to Cursed Bunny (MR/horror), but glad I read both. Henry Clay my dog was named for the 19th c politician from KY, so I had to read the bio. Lapidarium is a must read if you enjoy geology or gemology! #BookReport

Here is my #BookspinBingo board in one of my favorite colors for Spring. 💜🌷 Thanks for taking the time to helm this each month, Sarah!

Here are my #bookspin and #doublespin: a #botm pick from this month and an old BOTM pick that is for #AuthorAMonth!

Also, here is my #BookspinBingo shelf minus my book club picks and my current read, The Turning of the Key, also by Ware. 🤞🏻 I can get to a lot of these!

Another walk with Molly and another cool photo!

Monthly book clubs: #BOTM was a mess! Originally I had gone with Adelaide to close out my second account. But I forgot that I set my bday month to April on my bff account, so I ended up with a second box with Advika and Weyward.

I like TV show within a book as a plot device, so I had to go with Ruthy Ramirez as my #aardvark pick, but I was tempted by A Likely Story, too.

Here‘s my #bookspin #bookspinbingo list!

Sorry I‘ve been quiet on here recently. I‘m just exhausted from taking care of my parents and my own chronically ill self too. (Physical exhaustion leads to mental exhaustion for me.) I appreciate everyone being so supportive here!! I‘m hoping I can be back to writing reviews later this month because I‘ve read some really great books! 💜💜

Not a great #BookspinBingo board, but I did finish two more unplanned books beyond my free spaces. Thanks library! Lots of really incredible books here like Hello Beautiful, Bliss Montage, Ducks (🇨🇦 reads), Singer‘s Gun, High 🏔️, and Big Swiss.

I managed to read 4/6 #roll100 books in April! My favorite was Love Marriage, which I‘ll hopefully review this weekend. Thanks for the rec on that one @squirrelbrain ! 💜👍🏻

I probably won‘t write a full review of Fear and Loathing because I‘m really far behind, and it was just okay. Glad to knock it off the TBR though!

I didn‘t get to either on 36. Maybe next time!

I just happened to catch this cool photo tonight while Molly was sniffing for bunnies!