@AmyG I used to think I was a good shopper, but I bow down to you and your gifting prowess. You nailed it!!! I am so thoroughly delighted with everything I received. If all you had sent me was that Stand bookmark, I would have been over the moon. But I got so much more! Thank you @teebe for coordinating. I had never done one of these before and it was great fun. #creepychristmas

I love a book about messy women, the unusual relationships they cultivate, and the discoveries they make along the way. Although the storyline meandered some, Luster checked all those boxes for me.

This is a great collection of short horror Manga. I love the twists and turns of a great Junji Ito story. Of course, the artwork is fantastic, too. The dust jacket is on the right, the book without jacket is on the left.

Balance = Dark Story + Cute Kitten

True Grit-ty

My Christmas #bookhaul - it‘s all Rock and horror which means it‘s pretty much perfect! 🎄

Trying to decide- stick with it or bail? I LOVED Good Lord Bird so much but I have only spent 20 minutes or so on this one and boobs have already been mentioned three times. The first mention was funny but the second and third times weren‘t so much. I get that this is all supposed to be humorous and lighthearted but it feels so frenetic and unfunny to me so far.

Listening to Joy Harjo‘s voice and words is a pure delight. Our nation‘s first Native American Poet Laureate delivers a beautiful memoir that is unique but also feels somewhat representative. Spending an evening in fear because the family matriarch‘s enemy is sitting outside the house in the shape of a bird? I have lived that experience too but never read anyone else recall something like it before. A gorgeous, important tale of a Native life.

Put together this charcuterie board while I listened to My Dark Vanessa and the snow fell outside. I enjoyed myself immensely 😸

This short collection of pandemic-era essays was my introduction to Zadie Smith and probably wasn‘t the best place to start. Even as she mocked her own pretentiousness during one essay, there was still a cold feeling to the writing and almost a lack of understanding of the situations of people around her. I was expecting to land at a higher level of consciousness by the end and see things through a new lens but that didn‘t happen for me.

This #audiobook filled me with dread while I was listening to it and really made me think after I was done with it. I rarely want to revisit a book once I‘ve finished it but I feel compelled to check out the print version of this one now. #TOB

Two sisters live very different lives in an opioid-afflicted Philadelphia. I hadn‘t heard much buzz about this book but it is my favorite of the nine #TOB long list books I have read so far. I related to main character Mickey in a way I haven‘t with any fictional character in a long time. #feastmode @Hestapleton

I can‘t believe I am just now delving into the work of Junji Ito. This horror manga started from a crazy place (a fish with legs emerges from the ocean) and continued to get way crazier from there. I also really loved the bonus short stories at the end and appreciated the absence of typical horror tropes throughout. #feastmode @Hestapleton

I‘m four hours in and I feel the need to come up for air a little more often but I simultaneously don‘t want to pause. #feastmode @Hestapleton #tob

I read this for the premise of a barnyard heist & because it‘s on the #tob long list. There were parts that read like Ocean‘s Eleven but with the target of the robbery being chickens instead of whatever it was they stole in Ocean‘s Eleven. There were parts that read like a multi-generational Thelma & Louise. All of this was good. But there were parts that weren‘t so engaging & I longed to settle into the parts that were. #feastmode @Hestapleton

Made a total nostalgic impulse purchase at Wal-Mart tonight. I used to live for my next pack of Garbage Pail Kids.

Gonna get into #feastmode now. My reading goal is modest and realistic- I want to finish 3 books. @Hestapleton

Scored a nice little #bookhaul (plus an AOC figurine) this weekend. Just when I think I‘m going to take a break from the Tournament of Books, they put some books on the long list (like Pizza Girl and Clap When You Land) that I can‘t resist. #tob

#CreepyChristmas @teebe 2. I listened to it on audiobook, including on one early morning run in the dark. I will never forget hearing the voice of the demon alone in the near dark. 3. I never wanted to see the Scream franchise. ⬇️

#Scarathlon went by too quickly. I finished up with 267 points this week and 1,928 points total for #TeamHarkness Thanks @StayCurious for keeping it all organized for our team!

As the Red Death ravages everyone else, the Prince and his elite friends keep themselves buffeted, live like it‘s not a thing, and party it up. Isn‘t it truly frightening when reality begins to so closely mirror Poe? #Scarathlon #TeamHarkness

I read lots of cool stuff this week (like the first issue of The Dollhouse Family) and I finally watched Midsommar! I love how #Scarathlon is keeping my entertainment consumption so focused. #TeamHarkness @StayCurious

This book started out so strong but it lost its steam for me well before the ending. Plus I had a hard time keeping the Doyles of the story straight. Virgil and Francis, Florence and Ruth ... for some reason all those names felt too similar to me. I may have had an easier time following in print versus this audio version. #Scarathlon #TeamHarkness @StayCurious

Those first lines 👆🏽really pulled me in right away. How I Became a Ghost takes a supernatural spin on the Choctaw Trail of Tears for young readers. The Trail of Tears is a painful, horrific chapter of Native and American history and it‘s a tough subject matter but, as a Cherokee, I am grateful to read a telling of the story at a more personal level.

188 points this week for #TeamHarkness #Scarathlon @StayCurious

What a lovely graphic novel about loss, love, and family. Isabel and Jane are conjoined twins making a living in a sideshow until the desire for normalcy disrupts their lives. If you love stories of outsiders and the bonds that bring them together, this one is perfect for you. #Scarathlon #TeamHarkness @StayCurious

A reminder on this #IndigenousPeoplesDay

The premise is super interesting (zombies developed as weapons of terror) but the execution left me a little cold. I think a little more suspense and less spelling out of the plot would have helped. #Scarathlon #TeamHarkness @StayCurious

I *think* I have 346 pts for #TeamHarkness through the first 10 days of #Scarathlon. Not sure about the accuracy of my totals but I‘m enjoying myself! My favorite read so far has been the buddy read, Carpe Demon. @StayCurious

Ending the first week of #Scarathlon2020 in the middle of a really good Buddy Read #TeamHarkness Week 1 Total- 141 points (Books read - 45 pts / Hours read- 80 pts / Movies watched- 5 pts / Posts- 11 pts) @StayCurious

Cute, quick little read about a vampire-werewolf love affair. Perfect for grabbing some points for #TeamHarkness #Scarathlon2020 @StayCurious

This flyover bitch isn‘t enjoying her time with these one-dimensional characters yet.

I did not expect this to be the best thing I have read this year but it is. Brazen is a collection of graphic short retellings of the lives of 29 inspirational women (including Lozen as seen above). I loved Bagieu‘s artistic style but this book also really engaged my mind, leading me to seek out more information about these subjects and create playlists of the featured musical artists (Josephine Baker, Betty Davis, Sonita Alizadeh, The Shaggs).

I can‘t remember the last time I launched into a book without reading any blurbs or descriptions of it first. It‘s kind of refreshing to have no idea of what‘s to come.

I just finished Jojo‘s Bizarre Adventure which was so soaked with masculinity and testosterone that I‘m moving on to Brazen to give me the balance of female energy needed to propel me forth in this #readathon

Moving from audio to print for hour 2 of #deweysreadathon I was lucky enough to meet Alison Arngrim back in February before the world turned upside down. She was as friendly, funny, and #genuine as her alter ego Nellie was ornery and selfish. #readathonhourlyphoto #deweyapril

#FirstUp for me in @DeweysReadathon is an #audiorun #readathonhourlyphoto #deweyapril

Listening to family drama on a rainy #audiowalk .... Wynonna Judd to Naomi Judd: “I never asked to be born.” Naomi to Wynonna: “If you had, the answer would have been ‘No‘” 😲

“‘Jayhawks are really hard to deal with when they get upset.‘” Especially true this past March! 🤣

“Pink fur. Red scare.” I never expected a Snagglepuss comic to be an enlightened take on McCartheyism nor to tell such a touching story about friendship and being your authentic self regardless of the repercussions.

Did a little #comic book shopping on my road trip to Dallas. Red Pegasus Comics is a pretty cool little store.

This book spoke to me like no other guide to leadership before. The message I took from it is that it is not enough to want to lead and attain a position of authority. It is necessary to understand your motivation and lead with intent. And it‘s okay to admit that you have those ambitions while you‘re at it. Beyond being incredibly motivating, Abrams gives real, practical advice.

All I really need from a #comic to please me is a three-eyed cat

I didn‘t intend for today‘s bookstore purchases to be so matchy-matchy ...

Finally made my first donation ever to a #LittleFreeLibrary

#49 in Paste magazine‘s list of the 50 best #horror novels of all-time. I listened to part of it in the dark during a bout of insomnia and it really creeped me out. The horror is subtle but memorable.

Wise leaders know how to be wrong, and they take comfort in the fact that they cannot know everything.

A 1988 #horror novel with a totally 80‘s premise- entertainment journalist marries a rock star after a whirlwind courtship and is whisked off to a mysterious lake lodge for the summer. I appreciated the uniqueness. #48 on Paste magazine‘s list of the 50 best horror novels of all time.

Ask for what you need. You are intimately involved in your daily life and aware of the complexity of your situation. No one else has that insight... Do not drop hints- they‘ll lie on the ground forever.