Update: I still don't love Dickens.
Update the second: Tim Curry can do no wrong.

⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for the story
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ for the performance

Got this as an Audible freebie years ago & never listened to it. Since I'm preparing to play Mrs. Fezziwig & Mrs. Cratchit opposite my husband in a community theater in a few weeks, thought this was as good a time as any to listen. And, hello, it's Tim Curry! 😍

Now up to date with Enola! ☺ Really hoping Millie Bobby Brown makes more of these movies!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I adore Enola Holmes & didn't realize I was two books behind! 😁 What a nice surprise!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept."

Can't explain why I love that quote as much as I do.

I meant to open a different book on my Kindle. 10 pages in, I realized my mistake, but I couldn't put it down. Gotta love books that make you laugh *and* cry out loud.

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Yay! My favorite swap of the year!

Head to @MaleficentBookDragon 's page to sign up for #jolobokaflodswap!

October was busy, and as a result small in number, but BIG in quality! Pleased to say that Addie LaRue lived up to the hype. ☺

2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨
1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

REALLY gonna try this one, since we have a fairly non-busy weekend. Work has been eating away at my reading time lately! How dare it! 😂

#Halloween #20in4 #readathon @Andrew65

I'm terrible at setting goals during readathons - just gonna try to get as much reading done as possible! Will be out of pocket for a good bit of next weekend, as we're traveling to see our daughter for her university's Parents Weekend - but I'll have the time on the plane! 😁

Thanks, @Andrew65! #OutstandingOctober

Forgot to review this one after I read it! It was strange to read about life after the pandemic that we are currently living through (though it wasn't mentioned by name), but it was fantastic, as always. And what a cover!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

TJR has yet to disappoint me. ☺ I'm a sucker for dysfunctional family stories.

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Drama Book Shop is a requirement for any NYC trip for my to-be musical theatre major! Such a wonderful store.

If you don't take a picture in The Strand, did you even go? 😉 Weekend in NYC with my 16yo, & this was on the must-do list. As was my next post...

Just started the newest Louise Penny. Here's the first page. This is my first time reading a book that references COVID. What new books have you read that have done the same? I'm sure this will be par for the course soon, just like 9/11 is.

This is sure to disappoint many of you, but this is a bail for me. 😔 I don't enjoy any of the characters - at all - and that's required for me to stick with a book. Don't take this to mean that the characters have to be likeable - I love a good dysfunctional family story. But I just didn't enjoy spending time with any of these characters. Sorry, Ms. Hoffman. Just not for me. #Authoramonth @Soubhiville

Still working my way through this book, but just had to share a behind-the-scenes picture of my 16yo before dress rehearsal as she plays Kathryn Schaub in her high school's production of Radium Girls! (This is a wig; her hair is straight & she wears bangs, so this is quite a different look for those who know her.) What an amazing story of such resilient young ladies! Their story has really touched the teens in the cast - yay for book adaptations!

I'm a sucker for an epistolary novel. (This one wasn't letters, but transcripts of fictional interviews, so same vibe.) Add in historical fiction, & I'm hooked. Like Daisy Jones, I had to make sure that this band was fictional. The comparisons are inevitable, & this one holds up.

Foe those who have read it, how much did you love Virgil? Far & away my fave character - one of my all-time fave "sidekicks".

⭐⭐⭐⭐✨/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⬇️

I'm still wrapping my head around this book. I don't want to say much, because I don't want to spoil it. Its such a fantastic, unique premise. It's slim - less than two hours on audio... and it's wonderful on audio. At first, I found myself wishing that the author had used different voices for the different characters. Then I realized that this is a novel in verse, which is why he was reading it the way he read it. ⬇️

"Always, always, always be skeptical of someone who answers a question with a question. Usually, usually, usually it's a set-up."

(Unless you're a professor who often, often, often answers a question with "what do YOU think?" ?)

Good grief, I love Charlotte Holmes. ☺

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fell behind on #Pemberlittens chapter a day reading, but finished today & caught up on everyone's summaries/posts.

This was a new Austen for me! It was a solid 4⭐ until... The Letter™. #iykyk

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

@sprainedbrain Thank you, Jenni! This has been a fabulous ride through Jane's novels. Mercy, if only she had lived longer.

*whew* Classes started two weeks ago, & it's been a whirlwind. But I'm SO thankful to be back in the classroom full-time with "live" students. My reading suffered this month, but the books I did read were good!

1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
2 DNF

And I never posted that I finished about 12 hours in #20in4, which was good for me, since two of those days were work days! @Andrew65

Mercy. D'Aprix Sweeney did NOT disappoint. This was a solid 4🌟 for me all the way through... Until the final few chapters, where it swung to a 5. Beautifully written, wonderful characters, highly recommend.

Also took me to 7:20 for #20in4. @Andrew65

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Not much reading this week because it was the first week of the fall semester & my husband & older daughter headed to Boston today to move her into BU for her sophomore year. But I did manage to squeeze in 1:54 today to start #20in4. This book is not disappointing.

Hubby will be gone, moving our daughter back to Boston University (1000 miles away 😭), so I'll need a distraction! Perfect! 👌 Join us!

#20in4 @Andrew65

"Flora wasn't looking for the ring when she found it."

So far, so good!

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I can only handle so much of Radium Girls at a time, so starting this much-anticipated novel - I LOVED The Nest! Hoping this lives up to expectations!

And now on to the book (read the play on Wednesday) since my daughter was cast in the role of Kathryn Schaub. What a horrible, fascinating story.

My initials are highlighted in the title. My daughter claims this is not a coincidence. 😉

Have I mentioned that I love Bess Crawford? I love Bess Crawford.

And I really hope there's another one planned, because that was a bit of a cliffhanger!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sounds like a good day to stay inside & read here in The Deep South™. #crazytennesseeweather

When your daughter gets cast as one of the leads in her high school play, you change your reading plans to read the script! Can't wait to see this bright to life. And, hey, it satisfies a #Booked2021 prompt: fewer than 150 pgs. 😁

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (though I have difficulty rating scripts, as they are nothing but dialogue & the occasional stage direction)

@cinfen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

Littens - would love suggestions for #Booked2021 prompt Appalachian Noir. I abandoned Winter's Bone... is there such a thing as a story in this genre that's not quite so dark? I like thrillers, but Winter's Bone was just too disturbing for me. TIA!

Fun, cozy mystery. Loved the main character & will likely read more!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#Booked2021 - baked goods on cover
@cinfen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

Teaching summer school & Olympic viewing has significantly cut into my recent reading time, but both come to an end today! Have a few anticipated library holds that just came in... but first - catching up with my #Pemberlittens! ☺

It's been such a busy day that I haven't checked Litsy at all, so my weather report for day 2 of Camp Coffee will have to be the overnight forecast! 😂 Last week was brutally hot & humid (typical summer in The Deep South™, but this week is supposed to be quite pleasant, with highs in the high 80's/low 90's. 🌞#litsysummercamp @ImperfectCJ

1️⃣ Ummmm... I don't. ? Definitely hotel for me!
2️⃣ Camp Coffee. ☕
3️⃣ The Hunger Games trilogy takes place mostly "outside" - if the done is considered outside.
4️⃣ Not really. Just read as much as I can! It's my last week teaching a summer course, so it will be a bit busy, but 'thons keep me motivated!

#litsysummercampreadathon @ImperfectCJ

Caught wind of this just in time! I'm terrible at setting my own goals for a 'thon, but I'll think about it & post later! Thanks for hosting, @ImperfectCJ ! This sounds like a lot of fun. #litsysummercamp

Hadn't read this one since high school (which was 35 years ago) & we're going to a community theatre production of it tonight, so I wanted to revisit it. I didn't appreciate this book as a teenager, which makes sense. Easy to see why this is a classic.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What does a theatre kid who loves to read buy as souvenirs when visiting NYC for the first time? You guessed it! 😁 (Not pictured: a William Shakespeare bobble head which is pretty fantastic.)

Is any trip to NYC complete without a visit to the Strand?

Littens! I've missed you! It's been a crazy two weeks - flying Nashville ➡ NYC & back twice in six days! Younger daughter had a Broadway intensive camp that was AMAZING, & of course we visited from bookshops while there. Forgive the upcoming spam!

The Drama Book Shop just reopened in a new location & is amazing. Ashleigh plans to pursue theatre as a career, so this was a must-see: nothing but plays & books about plays!

Took a flight today, & this was in the seat pocket in front of me. ☺ Left on purpose after finishing, or on accident & is being missed? We'll never know.

Joshilyn Jackson is an auto-read author for me. Her stories/mysteries/thrillers have become more dark lately - that isn't a problem for me, but fair warning. TW: children in danger. My only complaint was the bit of "preaching" at the very end which was a bit on the nose for me, but still very solid.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Congrats, @RamsFan1963! Thanks for the #K100Kgiveaway!

I wanted to like this. I did. I'm not a prude, but too much language just isn't my thing. But I was determined to finish it for #Authoramonth. However, as much as I appreciate Mr. Baldwin's contributions to literature, I won't be reading any more.

⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

June was low in quantity, high in quality!

1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My daughter turned 19 today. Today, we finished a month-long binge of 15 (!) seasons of Supernatural, her favorite TV show (my first viewing). As a result, my June reading suffered. But you know what I gained? 230+ hours of quality time with my girl who lives 1000 miles from home when at college. Sometimes, reading isn't the most important thing. ☺

(Supernatural fans will recognize that she is channeling Castiel, her favorite, in this photo.)

Yep. Lived up to my memory upon a re-read. I don't even mind the epilogue that so many hate. ☺ What a beautiful book.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ #Authoramonth

#sundayfunday on Monday. ??‍♀️ @ozma.of.oz

1️⃣ "The Cat Who..." cozy mysteries by Lilian Jackson Braun = 29
2️⃣ No. And then I get to the last published book & wish I had. ?
3️⃣ Following one, but I love when an author publishes novellas/short stories from another character's POV. Or a retelling from another POV.