It’s time to select my Book of the Month Club pick for May. I’m excited because this will be my 12th box, and I want the tote bag! I’m also excited about having a full year of books stamped with their months. Next month is also my birthday month. I’m really interested in The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry. I wish that was a main pick!
[Read More]-
-
How I Choose my Book of the Month Pick
- Scan the genres
- Look at the covers and titles
- Read the descriptions and recommendations blurbs
- Look up books of interest on Goodreads and Storygraph
- Check the number of pages (I don’t want my hard cover to be too heavy)
- Check the Book of the Month Club Reddit group to see what other people are picking
- Read the sample excerpt in the Book of the Month app
- Don’t “vibe” with any of the sample excerpts so far? Start over.
-
Finished: Persepolis, The Story of a Childhood
I finally finished this graphic novel. I’d had to stop reading with less than 50 pages until the end and finally got the chance to sit down and finish it. This is the second graphic novel memoir that I’ve read. The other was George Takei’s They Called Us Enemy.
[Read More] -
Rainy Day Reading
Rainy days are perfect for reading with a cup of coffee! I’m currently reading A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers. Cozy Sci-Fi? Serving tea on some moon? The promised robot hasn’t shown up yet, but it’s lovely so far.
[Read More] -
Finished: Chain of Thorns
I’ve finished Chain of Thorns, and The Last Hours series of Shadowhunter books has concluded for me.
[Read More] -
New Mug
I got this new mug, and I love it so much!
[Read More] -
The Strike at Putney
Last night, I read a short story by Lucy Maud Montgomery(author of Anne of Green Gables) from 1903 called The Strike at Putney. It’s about a group of church ladies who are told by their church elders and minister that a missionary woman cannot speak in the church, because a woman cannot preach from the pulpit.
[Read More] -
Other Birds at the Beach
Earlier this week, I celebrated my anniversary(with my husband) at a beautiful beach resort. One of the wonderfully relaxing things I got to do was read on the patio of our ocean view room. Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen was a perfect book for spending the last days of summer next to the ocean. I’m only about halfway through, but it has a wonderful late summer/early fall vibe. And yes, I made that coffee with my travel aeropress and hand grinder that I brought with me.
[Read More] -
New Bookcase
I got my new bookcase assembled and started lining up my Book of the Month books in month order.
[Read More] -
People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry
I loved all the different locations. I had also recently been to Palm Springs in July(for my daughter’s dance competition) and really enjoyed all the jokes about how hot and ridiculous it is. A fun summery “rom-com”.
[Read More] -
Finished: Tomorrow x3
It was nostalgic, with depth. I appreciate the themes of video games and theatre, and the friendship love story.
[Read More] -
The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
Wonderful! Different than what I expected from the description. This book felt modern and relevant to the times, but was also fantastic with sci-fi and fantasy elements. Fun and weird, but dealt with serious issues as well.
[Read More] -
July Book of the Month
I’ve read a quarter of my July Book of the Month. I married a game developer, so I was excited to try a book about game developers, and I love the different time periods and locations so far.
[Read More] -
Finished: Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Book and coffee pairing! Book Lovers was an ideal summer read.
[Read More] -
June
I’m delighted by the embossing on my Book of the Month. It’s the last day of June! Where did the month go? 📖📖📖
[Read More] -
Finished: The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle
The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle was a lovely book. It was told from the point of view of three different women in England during World War II. I loved getting to know each character and easing into the village. This book was filled with women helping each other, and included some sweet romance. I also enjoyed the detail about clothes rationing, “make do and mend”, and wartime “utility” design for clothes.
[Read More] -
Reading Paper
I’m really enjoying The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle, my Book of the Month book for June! It’s been a while since I’ve read a first-time book in paper format that wasn’t for my kids, and it’s been really fun.
[Read More] -
June Book of the Month
My birthday was earlier this month, and as part of my celebration I finally ordered a Book of the Month box. I selected The Wedding Dress Sewing Circle as my book of the month. I added on The Sound of Stars as well, a book which I’ve already read and enjoyed in ebook format.
[Read More] -
Saturday
I was planning to space out my re-read of Chain of Gold and Chain of Iron when I was expecting a November release of the final book in The Last Hours trilogy. Since the release date for Chain of Thorns has been moved to January 2023, I decided to just read the first two books now and enjoy them!
[Read More] -
Read: They Called Us Enemy
This was a wonderfully presented graphic novel that told George Takei’s personal story of his experiences at Japanese internment camps during WWII. It was also a memoir of George Takei’s life after the war. The story from young George’s perspective was really affective. As a parent with young children, it was especially impactful to read about how the children viewed the experiences with innocence, many times thinking things were fun adventures. And how much the parents worked to keep it that way.
[Read More] -
Finished: The No-Show by Beth O’Leary
The No-Show was different and wonderful. The book is told from the perspectives of three different women; Siobhan, Miranda, and Jane. At the beginning of the The No-Show, I was most interested in the stories and backgrounds of the three women. Even when I wasn’t sure what to think about each woman’s interactions with “No-Show” Joseph Carter, I was invested in finding out more about the female characters.
[Read More] -
Coffee and Clockwork Angel
Coffee pictured with my gorgeous 10th Anniversary edition of Clockwork Angel. Unfortunately, I’ve completed my chronological-ish reread of shadow hunter books and I’m trying not to start re-reading The Last Hours yet, since the final book in that series is not coming out until
[Read More]NovemberJanuary. -
Rainy Day Reading
Rainy day reading and coffee! It doesn’t rain much here, so when it does rain I’m excited. Until I have to go somewhere. I’m now reading Queen of Air and Darkness as part of my chronological-ish Shadowhunter reread. 🌧🌧🌧
[Read More] -
Anne Books
I’m in the mood for classics. These editions of the Anne books are some of my favorite volumes. I feel like the designs genuinely reflect the books!
[Read More] -
My Contrary Mary (Review)
This was before coffee, dear readers. Although our research did reveal that in the ninth century, an Ethiopian goatherd named Kaldi noticed how excited his goats became after eating the beans from a coffee plant. So, really, it was before coffee was available in France, which we think is inhumane.
-
New Kindle
I finished reading My Contrary Mary today, and it did not disappoint. More of a review of the book will be coming soon. Life and kids got in the way of my finishing it sooner, but I was excited to finish reading My Contrary Mary on my new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition.
[Read More] -
Finished: The Ex Hex
This was a fun, fast book that felt like an adult Sabrina the Teenage Witch plus Halloweentown(yes, the Disney Channel movie). I enjoyed this modern witch romantic comedy with a tiny bit of light mystery. I liked that it had chapters in the perspective of both main characters, so I really felt that I got to know them.
[Read More] -
Chronological-ish Shadowhunter Reread
Earlier this year (March 2021), I read the most recent Shadowhunter book, Chain of Iron from The Last Hours series by Cassandra Clare. I loved it! I thought it might be my favorite Shadowhunter series so far. But there were some details from other books that I just wasn’t remembering. I’ve been reading Shadowhunter books since 2010, and in that time a lot has happened, including having three children. I’ve pretty much just been reading each book as it comes out. Some of them were read when I had tiny babies and my brain was fuzzy.
[Read More]