A bit of #audioknitting while I start a new audiobook. Enjoying it so far!

Can we take a minute to appreciate how pretty that twisted rib is? An absolutely menace to knit but my gosh it's so worth it in the end.

(also yes we still have the Christmas table cover on. Desperately holding on to the Vibes™ 🎄🎅😂)

Perfect narration! Titanic! A heist! And it's gay as heck! There's something vaguely frightening about knowing what's going to happen to the ship itself and not knowing if the characters you're getting all attached to are going to live, and I kinda loved it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Combine GBBO, a bi baker and her precocious 8-year old as well as bestie-cool-aunt-ex, knead and then stir in some raging idiots, precious electricians and mad opticians. Leave to prove for romance and bake for however long it takes you to read this. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

KJ Charles is pretty much an insta-buy for me at this point, and this was no different, despite it being from a series (Lilywhite Boys) that I haven't read yet (for shame!). Very much that KJ Charles-y Victorian queer vibes with characters you love and the fluffy feels we deserve. Convinced me that I need to read the other books in the series. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My last read of 2022 was... an experience.

The first 30% were slow, so slow I very nearly DNF'ed several times - doesn't help that I went in blind with no prior knowledge of the Mitfords, because that family is... a lot. It picked up, however, and I really enjoyed the last half. Spanning the years 1932-1941 and told from three perspectives (Nancy, Diana and Unity), these are just some very unlikeable characters doing very unlikeable things. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy New Year, Litsy! Here's to 2023 being much, much better to all of us ❤️

I kinda loved my Storygraph 2022 wrap-up, and I'm already excited to see what my 2023 wrap-up will look like. For now I'm doing all the challenges and setting lofty goals (60 books, 15K pages, 200 hours) 📚

Oh how I adored this! Viola is such a snarky darling, Gracewood was her perfect match and Mira? Mira, We protect. At all cost. Queer historical romance without too much of that "sad queer/can't have each other"-feel. Adore. Could've been about 100 pages shorter and not suffered but it was worth every single page.

I quite adore this series of cosy murders, the MC is an absolutely darling and her family is wonderfully dysfunctional (her mother's character development in this one was *chef's kiss*) and the veeeeery gentle sprinkle of romance is just right.

Phyllida Bright is back and better than ever in this second installment of cosy mysteries set at or near the residence of one Mrs Agatha Christie. I adore Phyllida and the way she's so very subtle yet not at all - and I especially love the kindness she shows her fellow household staff at every turn. No murder on page, but the mystery was thick as molasses with so many suspects and a lovely twist at the end. Perfect cosy autumn read!

This is such an important, well-crafted middlegrade novel about developing friendships, growing up, school- and family-life as well as the kind of harassment young students can face at the hands of their schoolmates. And the taking down of said harassers. Because that's what Hazel does. Along with her friends. Because they're hecking cool. Also!! Queer themes!! Loved this so much.

Earth worms are SO COOL and we should appreciate them more. This never felt like info-dumping, and I didn't zone out once while listening to this. That, it itself, is high praise.

I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped I would, unfortunately. One of the mains was just a truly messed up person who needed therapy more than she needed a girlfriend, and it felt like the book itself was trying to tackle too many things at once. Too many unfinished archs. The writing was A+ though, but not enough to save it imo.

I-cord neckline and audio of a book I've been so excited for. All is well. #audioknitting

Sense & Sensibility, but make it murder mystery. Really enjoyed this - the murder mystery aspect of it was really fun. It's maybe bit longer than it should've been, and the romance bits felt lackluster and unnecessary for the most part, but the ending made it worth it. Audiobook narrator was really good, too!

Took myself on an #audiowalk with the tagged book this morning. Can't tell in the picture, but it's been raining last night and the slugs were eeeeeverywhere 😩

Enjoying the book, though - not as much as I did Pride & Premeditation, but close! I'm struggling with keeping the characters separate, but I also got bored of Sense and Sensibility long before finishing, so I'm not at an advantage 😅

Greetings from me and my Mothman-mug, very ready to tackle this recent library-pickup that I've been very excited about! 🦇

I hope everybody's making the best of this new week.
I'm still reeling from the shooting in Copenhagen last night. Please hold your loved ones close, always. ❤️

Ah yes, once more I roll in several days late after being gone for... months. Hi ??

I injured my knee in early May and I'm just now coming back to regular heavy exercise, so getting back to running is my main focus right now. #BFC2022

1) Run 10K each week (lofty, but I am nothing if not optimistic)
2) Read 1000 pages (also very lofty, you know the drill)
3) Read 10 books
4) Eating "mindfully". Actually chewing my dang food. ??

Let's go! ?

This week's #weekendreading is a dash to finish an ARC (tagged) and a fun GN to motivate myself. Kind of very much not enjoying the ARC at this point, which is why I have employed the ancient method of the dangling carrot/graphic novel 😂

I hope you're all having a great weekend with plenty of reading-time ❤

I can't remember the last time I preordered a book, and especially not on *gag* amazon, but ya gal had to do it. I'm too excited for this one. Alexis Hall could rewrite the phonebook and I'd still be here for it. This promises fabulous Regency fun-times and I cannot WAIT.

*arrives late without Starbucks* yes hello hi I procrastinated on this for.. a week 😂

🏃 20+ mins of high heart-rate 4x a week
📚 6 books - at least one biography/historical nonfiction in Danish
🌈 actively seek out something funny to watch every day to beat the grumpies

#BFC2022 @wanderinglynn ❤

Hoping to make a dent in Under the Whispering Door. On the left is a biography that's taking a while to get through as I keep having to stop to google people (😂) and in the middle is a non-fiction about cooking under rationing during both World Wars. Quite fascinating.

#WeekendReading @Andrew65

Oh my gosh you guys. HI!! It's been a while! 2021 wasn't the best for me, reading wise, but 2022 came with a new spreadsheet and a renewed desire to read. Tonight it's cat snuggles and one of my 2022-goals: more books in Danish. I'm allowing myself to stick to nonfiction as I loathe Danish lit; this is a biography of a beloved actor from the 50s onwards. How have you guys been?? Can't wait to see what 2022 has in store for us 💃

Been in a heavy reading slump since April ish, but I can feel my reading mojo coming back now, finally!💃
Went for a walk while it was still damp and there was the occasional droplet on the air after a heavy downpour to avoid all the bugs so I could focus on my audio - really enjoying it about 30% in!

Super ready for today's #readathon. I'm usually really bad at actually reading during the 'thon, but this stack is full of good stuff so I'm counting on a good day. Honey Girl on audio when I need to rest my eyes. It's definitely the one I'm the most excited for!

Jenny Lawson's books have been my anti anxiety-reads for years, but I've never listened to them on audio. Stumbled upon the audio of this and lemme tell you, her books are funny to read, but on audio? Narrated by Jenny herself? Flawless. Perfect. Equal parts funny and heartbreaking, I cackled and cried my way through this.

Thoroughly enjoyed these two (and am now patiently awaiting the third book) for the "fun" 1920s mystery with a bit of murder and people trying to communicate in their relationship, but the narration is positively horrendous.

This was a really good middle grade about ice skating, racism, friendship and the expectations others have of you vs. those you have of yourself. Maxine had such a strong voice and I love how friendships were shown, both in the form of new ones forming and old ones falling apart as you grow up. The commentary on racism and how it can be very lonely was heartbreaking. Really enjoyed this short, sweet read, and the audiobook narrator was wonderful!

The joy brought to me by the Brown Sisters is extreme and I love them.
Also the narrator, Ione Butler, is just.. *chef's kiss* ❤️

I had such high hopes for this. All of them were dashed.
Incredibly wordy to tell the reader absolutely nothing. At 22% Caroline's /entire/ personality was that she had a really shitty husband. I have watched paint chips flicker in the wind that were more interesting than Nella. The constant allusions to pregnancy and babies were exhausting. Nope.

Sitting down for a spell of #audioknitting while I wait for the washing machine to finish. Covered in cat hair as always 🤷‍♂️ 😂

March:
5/4 books ✔️
1/1 nonfiction ✔️
10K steps a day ✔️

April:
6 books 📚
1 nonfiction 🌿
10K steps 🔥
Floss every other day 😬

Absolutely baffled that I actually managed those 10K every day. Got absolutely obsessed with WorldWalking and it /really/ helped. Pulled myself out of my slump towards the end of the month and actually wanted to read, helped along by my competitive streak and #20in4. Due to a mysterious spike in heartrate (cont.)

(I am so sorry the covers are not even, I promise I tried!)
Considering my attempt at #20in4 a resounding success - anything more than my previous “record“ of 7h53m would be acceptable, and look! 9 hours! Not pictured are the issues of Three Men in a Boat on Serial Reader I tried to get caught up on..

Made the mistake of picking this up at 11:30, fully knowing that we switched to summertime last night, and wasn't able to put it down until 1. I'm /tired/ today 😴 was it worth it, though? Absolutely. #20in4

Thoroughly enjoyed this exploration of grief and guilt and trauma. A modern AU of Peter Pan (which I don't remember much from and that might have shaped my experience of this?) told from Wendy's point of view, where children start disappearing five years after she and her brothers disappeared too - and only Wendy returned. Not quite as good as Cemetery Boys, but thoroughly enjoyable in itself!

Had a late start to #20in4 but am still hopeful to beat my record of 7h53m. Thoroughly enjoying this Peter Pan-retelling, but I think that might have a lot to do with not remembering much about the original story. And that the author /really/ knows how to tell a story. Aiming to finish this today! Hope you're all having a great start to the weekend ❤️

Shout out to the library for coming through for me for once. I'm so excited for this one 😍

A deeply fascinating dive into the objects that can be found along the foreshore of the Thames, with a heavy sprinkle of London history. Loved it.

Ooooh spooky scary skeletons. Maybe. Slight gothic vibes, magic systems, raging wars and found family all come together in a pile of goodness in this one. Wren was a great MC, at I loved her interactions with basically everyone (well-developed side-characters = joy!) but especially Hal - thought I didn't care much for the romantic side-plot. My favourite bit? Wren has /emotions/! And she's (mostly) not afraid to show them!

February:
4/8 books 💩
0/2 nonfiction titles 💩
150000-ish/175000 steps 💩

March:
4 books 📚
1 nonfiction title 🌱
10K steps a day 🔥

I did horribly with my Feb-goals; honestly spent most of the month being a Sad Sack of Shit™, but I've decided to do something utterly insane (10k steps a day) in March and I'm super motivated for that, so we're making progress. If only the dreaded reading slump would leave me alone ☀ #bfc21

A little cheaty to claim this as my first finish of #24in48, but I did just let my life be consumed by the last 25% of it just now. It was so good.

Read some Serial Reader-issues I'd gotten behind on while procrastinating on getting out of bed as well as some Flavia de Luce this morning. Time for a snack and then on to Mikki Kendall's Hood Feminism!

Based on real events, The Kew Gardens Girls follows some of the (in this book, fictional) women who took over working in London's Kew Gardens when WWI broke out and the men were sent to the Front. Heaps of suffragette-action and lots of friendships, we get to join them in the ups and downs of life during a part of the war.

Not my favourite writing-wise, but I really, really enjoyed the story. Also I think it may be on sale on #kindle currently?

Thoroughly enjoyed #20in4, but was a bit disappointed in my reading time. There was just too much sports I had to keep up with this weekend ? The two on the right are Serial Reader-titles (finally got caught up on tagged book, thanks to this 'thon!) and The Kew Gardens Girls Was my "i need something light"-read. Thanks for hosting - I'll be back next time to actually pass 8 hours, let alone 10 ? (20? Mostly convinced that's impossible! ?)

January:
2 ARCS ✔
1 non-fiction ✔
YWA 21/31 days: 30/31 ✔
150000 steps: 149709/150000 💥

February:
8 books 📚
2 nonfiction titles 🌱
175000 steps ⚡

Sticking to what I know I can do. I'm slowly coming to accept that the panoramic will be continuing to keep me from going back to work for the foreseeable future, so I'm upping my step goal to force more activity. Hopefully it works! #bfc21
@wanderinglynn

Sliding into day 2 of #20in4 with this gem of a historical fiction. I have little to no idea what the Kew Gardens is (will be doing some investigative googling asap) but at 17%-ish in I'm loving the characters. Those 3,5 hours were yesterday's “harvest“. Aiming for the 7h-mark today! Hope you're all having a wonderful Saturday ❤️❤️

I'm not entirely sure why this exists, but Becky donating all proceeds to the Trevor Project brings me joy and if that ending wasn't a setup for a new novel I didn't know I needed until now then idk what it was. (has she said anything about the mere possibility of a new novel? because I really need it now.) Anyway, it was fun. Good to be back with these characters for a spell.

Third DNF of the year. I'm starting to have thoughts about that. Anyway, at 25% I found it still packed direction (and plot, for that matter) and had just been a bumbling mess of introduction. Nope. 😕

I saw someone somewhere compare this to a high school paper, and I can only agree. It's not /bad/ per say, but it's not bringing any new or even remotely different content to the table, and based on how often it's quoted I might as well have read Not in Front of the Servants. Meh.

DNF at 21%. I had hoped that it would become more coherent and less info-dump-y at some point, but I have reached my limit. On to the next one.

I have well and truly joined the masses of people who absolutely love this book. Gosh it's good. A hug in a book for sure ❤️

Doing great on my bookish #BFC21 goals: read one of the two ARC's I wanted to get to in January, as well at a nonfiction title. Yay!

Have been doing the Yoga with Adrienne January challenge every day, too, and it feels SO GOOD. I feel sorry for those who are doing that /and/ a plank challenge, Adrienne is not being nice with all those planks.. 😂

A revision to original goals: I was too optimistic about my step goal. With (cont in comm.)