I started this today with the #PemberLittens #hashtagbrigade and before I knew it I was finishing Chapter 2! I‘m quite enjoying glimpses of these old friends.

Got it in under the wire! June‘s #BookSpin #BookSpinBingo list, featuring quite a few familiar titles. Maybe with finishing school next week and kiddo doing some summer dance I‘ll actually have reading time again?

From the team that brought us Allergic, Squished portrays a large Korean American family through the eyes of kid 2/7, Avery. She‘s transitioning from elementary to middle school, friends are growing apart, and she feels overwhelmed at home. A lot is expected of her in home help, and she yearns for privacy that seems out of reach. On top of everything, it looks like they‘ll have to move cross-country, too. How will Avery handle it all?

Tough to read, tougher to review. Multiple narrators (at least 10, one of whom is not named at the top of her passages, and only one in first-person) in this multi-generational family story of surviving both specific and general trauma; lots of sentence fragments; present-tense writing (except when it‘s not) - it‘s a lot to track. It‘s good, but tough. Vermette is an indigenous Canadian writer, and very promising. TWs below.

What a great graphic novel, showing what it‘s like to be a kid with (non-food) allergies that affect daily life. Maggie desperately wants a dog but turns out to be severely allergic to anything with fur or feathers. Maggie just wants something to love her best, as her brothers have each other and her parents have a new baby on the way. There‘s a lot of growing up to be done and Maggie becomes a better sister and friend.

While good, it wasn‘t on par with Sister, Outsider. The first essay, about S&M in the lesbian community, seemed an odd starting point. The latter part of the book is diary excerpts from when she was diagnosed with liver cancer metastasized from her earlier breast cancer. It was hard to read, as my mom has spent the last three years fighting metastasized BC from 24 years earlier 😡. She‘s good, but it makes it hard to read about.

The first book I‘ve finished in two weeks! I have had almost no time to read recently, and every time I try somebody needs something that only I can manage. Ugh!

This book is fantastic. If you‘ve ever looked around at the current state of US politics and wondered how the hell we ended up here, read this book. Some of it is also in Richardson‘s Letters from an American posts, but she does a great job of weaving the threads together. Just read it!

@dabbe as for your question, I have kind of an Odyssey problem! I love it so much I‘ve collected several translations over the years. I first studied the Fitzgerald in college, which is great but uses Ks instead of Cs (Kirke not Circe) and can be confusing. I think I read the Fagles the next time I studied it but I‘m not sure. I loved the Wilson translation because it gives a different perspective, and it‘s beautiful. Not sure I can pick just one!

Well, lookie here - publishing in September, Emily Wilson‘s translation of The Iliad! Now the difficult question: to wait forever for the paperback to match my Odyssey, or dive in as soon as there‘s a decent price on the hardcover? Decisions, decisions.

This really speaks to me. I never read these books as a kid, but my MIL loves them and gave me the set early in my marriage. I tried the first book and quit at the inflated pig bladder. I tried them again with kiddo and just can‘t get over how shiftless Pa is, how awful his decision-making and family management are. I‘ve never understood the appeal, other than pure nostalgia.

I‘m finally carving out time to read again, after a crazy week. My mom arrived last Wednesday, then kiddo had her recital on Saturday (rehearsal on Friday), and my mom departed Tuesday. We‘re trying to press through the last couple weeks of school (local schools let out last week, and we‘d planned to end by Memorial Day before the medical emergency set us back). All told, that meant I read less than 10 pages of anything over the previous 10 days.

Kiddo‘s recently acquired goodies. The Max Meow books are all signed and personalized—kiddo got to meet John Gallagher at the local literacy festival. She heard his presentation and was the first in line at his booth. They talked about drawing comics and he gave her a Cat Crusader keychain. I was playing for a graduation elsewhere, but Daddy got to (was strongly encouraged to) take her and help her buy the books.

I actually met my goals for #MagnificentMay readathon! I finished both Tall, Dark, & Wicked and Murder with Macaroni and Cheese; plus I started and finished Tweet Cute, Friends Forever, and A Burst of Light. That‘s one more than I set for my goals. Four of the five were really good. Thanks @Andrew65 for another good boost to my reading focus.

I need a safe place for a minute. Mother‘s Day isn‘t a huge deal to me, but it is a little deal. Last week hubby and kiddo asked me what I wanted. Two things, I said: for either a bathroom or the kitchen to get a serious cleaning that I don‘t have to do; and for kiddo to practice her violin without being reminded a million times. I thought those were reasonable requests. They agreed. Done deal, right? 👇🏻

Racism. Cancer. In both cases, to win the aggressor must conquer, but the resisters need only survive.

A great conclusion to this trilogy. We find Shannon navigating middle school friendship weirdness: how to be friends with boys, feeling jealous of friends, friends who don‘t like each other, and more. She‘s also still working through anxiety and OCD (undiagnosed, with a great endnote about it). I really understood Shannon‘s struggles, and I think a lot of people would. Recommend. #52Books23 #timeintitle

I just couldn‘t put it down! Such a fun, kind of ridiculous book, with banter that won‘t quit and some real family drama (Pepper‘s mom is the absolute worst, though Jack‘s dad doesn‘t rate very high with me either). I haven‘t read much YA for a while now, but this was great. Next up is some Audre Lorde - looks short but probably devastating.

I started this yesterday during kiddo‘s dance classes and am really enjoying it. I‘m 1/3 in already (partly courtesy of an early dental appointment) and hate having to put it down to do necessary life things. Darn adult responsibilities - just let me read my YA in peace!

Surprisingly enjoyable. I liked the first in the trilogy well enough, and this was better. Aside from the expected love story, there‘s a plot involving counterfeiting that was pleasantly well-developed with a strong resolution. Add in cameos from the first couple and it was good fun. #52Books23 #secondhandbook

#Bookmail My first order from Book Depository was also my last, I guess. The top three are for upcoming #PemberLittens reads, and the bottom two just because. RIP Book Depository. They‘re still sending me emails that my orders may arrive late, none of which were sent until after I received them. Weird.

Also, this cutesy thing happened at least twice. Emojis don‘t belong here! It was very distracting.

Oh boy. All right, first, I saw almost all the twists coming, so that was frustrating. The story was middling. Here‘s the BIG problem, though: A.L. Herbert is a pseudonym for a writer who is neither Black nor female, yet presents as such. I don‘t believe that every writer writing from a different perspective is guilty of cultural appropriation (it depends on how they do so and how they present themselves in the attempt) BUT 👇🏻

Taking a swing at #MagnificentMay readathon with @Andrew65 - I would like to read, even a little bit, every day. I would like to finish Tall, Dark, & Wicked; read Murder with Macaroni and Cheese (which I started today at kiddo‘s dance rehearsal), and read two other books from my #BookSpin list.

An interesting story told in a disjointed way. The interview transcriptions, testimony or whatever they are, didn‘t seem to fit so early in the book and therefore became distracting. Then they disappeared in the latter portions, where they might have fit better. The “women who pursued him” part of the subtitle is misleading, too, as it mostly refers to Mabel Walker Willebrandt, the assistant US attorney general in charge of Prohibition violations.

The wording of this reminds me of Colonel Mustard and Wadsworth in Clue arguing about whether or not anyone else was in the house.

Well, despite a surprisingly good reading month, with 17 total books/3270 pages (including 5 picture books and 6 NF, 4 non-white authors), and reading 11 of my #BookSpin list, I STILL didn‘t manage to get a bingo! How annoying.

With just hours left in April, here‘s my May #BookSpin list. Featuring some of the greatest hits of lists past, but once more with feeling! #4-6 are this month‘s #Roll100 picks, but there are about 11 total from that list, plus about six that will help with #52Books23 and more (hopefully) for #ReadySetRead plus a selection of non-white authors because I‘ve been slacking on that front. Phew! Now I just need the time to read them!

Wow. My first Wagamese, bought last summer on my trip to Canada - definitely not my last. At first I thought these snippets would be hard to read, as they come from social media posts and excerpts from both published and unfinished works, but the beauty, truth, and wisdom here is astounding. The book itself is gorgeous, shades of blue throughout the pages and pops of orange in the endpapers. The introduction warns to go slowly and savor this. Do.

The whole passage is great, and ends with: So inhabit what you read. Allow it to fill you. Let the intent of the spirit of the story take you where it will. Stories and books are tools of understanding on the journey of coming to know. Pick them up. Carry them. This is what I carrier away. This is the message I brought to my own storytelling to here, to this page, stark in its blankness, waiting like me to be imagined, to be filled.

This was a pleasant read, for the most part, though I agree with other reviews that the first death is just really weird and doesn‘t seem to fit with much. The second death had me bawling. I found the ending unsatisfying but probably realistic. My mom read this as a kid and loved it, now I‘ve read it, and kiddo has, too. I love passing books down through the generations. This reminded me of All-of-a-Kind Family in the setting and friendships.

Well, I was hoping to love this, or at least like it, because Anne is my favorite (least disliked?) Brontë sister, based on reading The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. That didn‘t happen. I found Agnes obnoxious in her malaise. She just sits around all the time, wishing her charges would be less awful but never doing anything about anything. The ending saved this from a pan. Thanks to @BarkingMadRead for the hashtags that saved the day! #PemberLittens

In the end, that‘s the most warrior-like thing you can do, she told me: to care for the people around you, to place their needs ahead of your own.

I just finished this great book by kiddo‘s violin teacher. It‘s a very good guide for young musicians to set up a practice routine that works, with valuable tips about preparing for performance and playing in an ensemble. Specific to violin, it‘s also good for other strings and has a lot worth reading for other instrumentalists, too. As a musician myself there‘s a lot to help me, and as a parent I see a lot to help kiddo. Highly recommend!

A dense, informative look at the fumbles of passing the crown of England from the 1420s to the turn of the century. I knew nothing about any of it so it was all interesting to me, but I found it odd at the end to have read 300 pages of fascinating analysis only to have Jones sum it all up as James VI was worthless and doomed the Plantagenet line and the English people to decades of bloody unrest.
#DannyBoy is tired of my coughing disturbing him.

This wasn‘t at all what I expected: it‘s largely a criticism of the state of the world that led to university uprisings/rebellions around the world in the 1960s. There‘s a lot of referring to works by other writers, both seminal (Engels) and contemporary (lots of late-1960s magazine/journal articles) without context or actual quotes (many of the quotes given aren‘t translated). This was my first Arendt and it was not a good starting point.

Soft pick for this YA nonfiction. Parallel tales of the Amundsen/Scott expeditions to the South Pole and the 2018 Rudd/O‘Brady race to complete the first solo/unaided/unsupported crossing of the Antarctic landmass (there‘s a section at the end on the controversy over their claims and the verbiage used). I can‘t imagine why anyone would want to go through what they did, so that part was hard to understand. I was looking more for the historical 👇🏻

HCR just announced the mid-September release of her new book! I‘ve had her previous book for…um, a while…and will definitely get to it one of these days, but I‘m even more excited about this one. She says it is about how the last years have made her reconceive the meaning of history.

I admit I‘m not following much of this so far, but this statement seems wildly prescient, especially given a publication date of 1970:
“…Western representative democracy(which is about to lose even its merely representative function to the huge party machines that ‘represent‘ not the party membership but its functionaries).”

I quite enjoyed this romantic romp through NYC. Reid took a while to really like, but the build-up was good. I don‘t plan to hunt out Clayborn‘s backlist, but I would read her again if the book was right. #52Books23 #scriptfontonthespine #BlameitonLitsy

Now I can catch up on Agnes, who‘s been giving me the side-eye. Hey, I‘ve been sick and not able to read as much as I‘d like, and Agnes takes some willpower! #PemberLittens

I got hit with a nasty cold late yesterday. While I wallow in misery and enjoy the hot toddy hubby just made me I‘m starting this #blameitonLitsy pick. I think it‘s a good sign that Guillory, whose work I enjoy and just recently finished, is the cover blurb.

I don‘t read a lot of poetry, but I found this one pretty enjoyable. Some travel involved (Walcott was from Saint Lucia, and these poems feature the Caribbean, Italy, Spain, and the U.S, among others), nothing wild or crazy. They‘re deceptively short and simple, but it was nice to linger on some of them. #52Books23 #byaCaribbeanauthor

Meh, I think P&P retellings just don‘t work for me. They can‘t compare to the original, and at least this one was only ok on its own. It felt like too many threads all at once - lots of family drama on all sides, the romances with its ups and downs and knots, workplace discrimination, a makeover, career questions, friend drama, a villain getting comeuppance - it was a lot to tie together. #PemberLittens

This may be my favorite of Guillory‘s romances: the leads were likable and mostly made reasonable choices, the conflict was believable (mostly), and the resolution felt real. The cameo of friends from previous books was nice but not enough! I expect to see the brother‘s story sometime, too.

I‘ve fallen behind on reading and reviewing - and, well, everything. This was a thought-provoking, challenging read that frequently went over my head. I preferred the clear nonfiction sections to most of the fictionalized parts (though the advice column part was great). Thanks to @GingerAntics for leading the #deadphilosopherssociety through it!

This was also my March #bookspin

Um, I‘m not Muslim and don‘t follow halal restrictions, but I am 99% certain that Twinkies (really, Hostess products at all) are not halal. Hostess uses tallow/animal fat in their cream fillings, and while it‘s from cows or sheep it‘s not prepared according to any religious rules. Other products (cupcakes, for one) also contain gelatin from pork. (I say this as a vegetarian, by the way)
#PemberLittens @StayCurious

Well, I am so far behind - completely forgot to post my goals for the #AwesomeApril #Readathon in the busy rush of the past few days (Easter service gig, and scrambling to help the bunny surprise the kiddo). I need to catch up on Agnes Grey and Ayesha at Last for #PemberLittens and then stay up; finish The Wars of the Roses and start at least one more #BookSpin and/or #Roll100 pick. Hopefully this week brings more reading time than of late.

Wow - Charlotte Brontë, master of the backhanded compliment. I know a little about the Brontë family, just enough to feel a little recognition from reading the chronology, but it sure seems Charlotte had no respect for or interest in Anne‘s work.

Things are settling down a little after kiddo‘s big ballet weekend, so I‘m diving into this one before I get too far behind. #PemberLittens

Kinda hard to #respectyourcatday when he looks like this, but #DannyBoy is a very social, lovable kitty who absolutely loves my feet. #dailychallenge #marchmadness I despise cherries but love schwarzwalderkirschtorte, which I make once every year or so, so happy #NationalBlackForestCakeDay (don‘t tell hubby or he‘ll want one and I have neither the time nor the ingredients!). Fave cake, hmm, sachertorte or other good chocolate cake. It‘s a theme!

As I read this book, I‘m learning a lot. Like, for instance, Henry VI was an…ineffective king, shall we say.