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Books On My Spring 2024 TBR

I'm on a great roll with the books I'm reading for book clubs and review--looking forward to all of these, and at least the first one feels somewhat spring-like. Happy Top Ten Tuesday!  Books On My Spring 2024 TBR Elephants in Bloom by Cécile Cristofari (LibraryThing Early Reviewers)--Started this collection of SFF short stories--the first one had more of a surrealist feel, like a Karen Russell story. I know I'm going to savor these! People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn (Book club read)--I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get through this but although the content is upsetting, it's also thoughtful and sometimes empowering, so I'm going to slowly push through. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (Other book club read)--One of my book clubs is reading this, so I'll finally get to see what all the hype is about! The Mostly True Story of Tanner and Louise (Yet another book club read) The Bloodstained Key by Charity Rau (LibraryThing Early Reviewers)--Bluebe
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Books I'm Worried I Might Not Love As Much the Second Time Around

Usually, I don't reread a lot of books because I'm focused on what's next, or, these days, usually reading for multiple book clubs. There are some books that were very much of a place and time and I don't reread not because I'm afraid of not loving them as much but because I know I won't, because I've discovered upsetting things about the authors that damper my enjoyment of the books. I'm not going to mention those books, because that would be a different post. All of my most favorite books ( LOTR, Dune ) I've read more times than I can count, although I don't do annual rereads like I once did. So, I'd have to think of books I've both only read once and would at least theoretically be interested in reading again. However, I'll try to think of a few.   Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Books I'm Worried I Might Not Love As Much the Second Time Around Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin--I remember really loving this but it has been many, many years s

Weird or Funny Things I've Googled Thanks to a Book

Oh wow, I love this week's Top Ten Tuesday topic from  Astilbe @  Long and Short Reviews . This is  probably a long list for me! I haven't exactly been keeping track though, so I had to check my search history to jog my memory. I also really appreciate that it's easy to look this up when you're reading an ebook--you don't even have to leave the book! I remember when my first grade teacher told me that her mother-in-law used to read with a dictionary and an atlas within convenient reach, and I always think of that when I highlight a phrase on my Kindle or reach over my paperback to grab my phone and type into Google. Weird or Funny Things I've Googled Thanks to a Book  Fire Island--I was reading Bad Summer People which takes place on Fire Island. I thought it was in Maine, but based on events in the book, I looked up to discover is, in fact, in New York. Mulcted--Phrase Richard Burton used in one of his letters that was shared in River of the Gods... it means to

Books Read in February 2024

Since I was still waiting on my laptop being repaired, I did a lot of reading this month. I also finished some books that I'd been savoring since 2023, and they were worth every minute. But, I got my laptop back just in time to make this post, so I can have pictures and descriptions, whooo! That said, I hope I can hold on to making more time to read as the year goes on.  Books Finished This Month Promises Stronger Than Darkness (Unstoppable #3) by Charlie Jane Anders--I'd been reading this since November, putting it down and picking it back up again because I didn't want it to end. Like the rest of the trilogy and everything by Anders, it's brilliant, thoughtful, and creative. My favorite character was Wyndgonk, and I'm so glad that we got fire's point of view in this book, and I also loved the bit with translating the Grattna's language--I wish we'd gotten that for Wyndgonk's language as well. But of course my biggest complaint is that this trilogy

Top Ten Bookish Superpowers I Wish I Had

 Writing this on my phone so bear with me. I just read Jana's list over at That Artsy Reader Girl (sorry can't link) and she had so many amazing  ideas. I'll try to think of a few.  Bookish Superpowers  Immediately pulling out all my favorite quotes from a book I've read, what character said them, the page number, etc.--Ereaders and quotable flags help with this, but it's not as good as Magic! Producing movies or shows for any book I want--It would be so great not to have to wait or rely on certain levels of popularity! Also, they would obviously have to not have stupid differences from the book! Being able to read any book I want when I want--i.e. not having to wait for the publisher or the library! (I would still wait for the author generally, though in certain cases, I'd accept a different author's version!) Probably falls under 3, but specifically,  be able to access any unknown, forgotten, misplaced, or unpublished manuscripts from authors I'd be in

Authors That Were New-to-Me in 2023

I wanted to post this several weeks ago, but then my laptop broke, so here goes: There were more authors than I thought that I enjoyed and were new to me in 2023, including a number of the ARCs I reviewed. It's cool to be back to a place where I'm enjoying more ARCs than not--it helps to be picky and know what I like, especially imprints as well as authors I tend to like.  Best New-to-Me Authors in 2023 Brendan Slocumb-- The Violin Conspiracy was fascinating and well-written, looking forward to the next one! Nathan Harris- The Sweetness of Water was well-written and some of the best historical fiction I've read in a while.  Kathryn Troy-Read and loved 2 of her ARCs in 2023; looking forward to more! Shaunna J. Edwards/Alyson Richman-Another historical fiction duo I thought was top-notch and would read again.  Cathy Yardley-I loved the cozy romance in Role Playing and her snarky humor; would read more. Renée Gendron--Read her book for review and would continue the series; so

Books Read in January 2024

January was a great reading month, as usual! It's always good to get ahead on my goals for the year. This month, I also had time to read books for what ended up being 4 different book clubs (one of the books was the same), and I'm continuing with all of them for now since I'm interested in the next book they're reading, respectively, but it's also ok if I have to drop off one or two temporarily or permanently down the road.    Books I Read This Month Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi-It's been a few years since I read the first book, which I enjoyed, but felt relatively YA/traditional epic fantasy except that it was African-inspired. I  liked this second book much better--it's more complex and grey, and does a haunting job of portraying the dynamic between groups that have been struggling against each other for generations, with different levels of power and oppression. The third book, Children of Anguish and Anarchy , is coming out this year,

Books I Meant to Read in 2023 But Didn't Get To

 When I saw this TTT topic, I wasn't sure how many of these there would be since I don't worry too much about focusing on hot new reads each year. However, if I look back at my seasonal TBR lists from 2023 (excluding winter 2023-2024, since that's technically still not over!), there are some reads I haven't gotten to yet, as well as a lot that I did, or that I've already finished in 2024, like My Goodbye Girl. Happy Top Ten Tuesday! Books I Meant to Read in 2023 But Didn't Get To What You Are Looking For Is In the Library by Michiko Aoyama--I started it, but had to return it to the library before I finished, so waiting to get it again! Deacon King Kong by James McBride--Still listening to the audiobook; two more discs to go! Twelve Past Midnight by Tiffany Alexanderson (Fall 2023 TBR)-This one's a review book from LibraryThing. The premise, an ensemble timeloop in a fantasy world sounded interesting, but I didn't get pulled in right away, so I put it asi