A romp set in a gothic mansion: Zeb, who is super kind, visits his horrible family's estate & learns several cruel plots are afoot + maybe it's haunted? He & Gideon (his ex, now the butler) must solve the mystery. Themes; ADHD, second chance romance, murder. Spicy, frothy fun. #books #booksky

I learned something today

"A traditional American woman, a beautiful wife and mother who sells her pioneer lifestyle of raw milk and farm-fresh eggs to her millions of social media followers, suddenly awakens cold, filthy, and terrified in the brutal reality of 1855" - currently "Read Now" on NetGalley #books #booksky

"Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. " - Rebecca Solnit

Like everyone, when I visit a museum, I ask myself: what would I steal? To be mine (not to sell). At the RISD Museum in Providence, I would take this 1553 owl-shaped beaker made of a coconut. The head also functions as a cup!

Like most Americans, pretend hockey is my whole personality right now.

I'm sharing my notes from The Shared Pulpit: A Sermon Seminar for Lay Leaders by Erika Hewitt. Guidelines, how to structure a story, and what to never do. Aimed squarely at #UU lay leaders without any sermon writing experience. With gratitude to the author & the New England UUA for this workshop.

A Scottish gothic horror dripping with dread, mystery & fungus imagery. In the 1950s, Lichen Hall is a "home for unwed mothers". We read the stories of 2 heavily pregnant women, 6 years apart, who each come to realize something is very wrong. Atmospheric, menacing, supernatural. #books #booksky

A Marquis has to find help for his injured driver, and stumbles onto a lovely young woman's home. He is unfazed to learn that she's blind. This is the start of a delightful 1774 London society romance. Witty, tender, immersive. Lots of good characters. Chaste. Best on audio. #books #booksky

I just opened up facebook. In a mom group I'm in, so many of the replies are "You should ask ChatGPT!" It's wild to me.

A novella about a drifter who gets a job as a PA on a show that fakes hauntings. Mostly about that existential phase you hit around age 25. I liked the lived-in oddness of her whittling, fiddling family, and the behind the scenes TV details. Paranormal, but not horror / scary. #books #booksky

Why did reading the thoughts of a novelist I've never read about short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol become one of my favorite books of the year? This writing seminar in book form was DELIGHTFUL: witty, compassionate, insightful, odd, full of glinting truths. #books #booksky

Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.

The most emotional book I've read this year is this Western novella. Robert is a day laborer in the early 20th century. He doesn't reflect much. Thoughts come as dreams, or flashes, or in his rare conversations. Immersive, haunting, compassionate. I can't stop thinking about it. #books #booksky

Weird Girl Winter is upon us! Spread the word

A fun holiday romance + locked room murder. Two rival mystery writers are mysteriously invited to Christmas party at a huge manor. Then: Crime! And they're snowed in! Can they use their sleuthing expertise to figure it which oddball attendee did it? A sweet "he falls first" book. #books #booksky

Police procedurals have to be exceptional to keep my interest. This first book in the Washington Poe series worked for me due to well done prose, pacing & plotting. Poe, an ex-cop who now lives like a monk, partners with Tilly Bradshaw, a clever autistic-coded data analyst. MACABRE. #books #booksky

Fun mix of moods and genres. Some melancholy, some funny, some dark, some straight up just good storytelling. My favorites were the entries by Ace Atkins, Rob Hart and David Gordon. #books #booksky

A comprehensive compendium of Best-of list, without commentary (or paywalls) #books #booksky www.yearendlists.com/category/books

Regency Romance meets The Count of Monte Cristo. This swashbuckling tale has duels, secrets & chases. So satisfying. Rich Maggie, 26, is still waiting for the runaway stableboy she loved at 12 to come back. Then she meets the the dashing Viscount St. Clare, who looks familiar.... #books #Booksky

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #13 #Booksky #bookchallenge

One Battle of Wits After Another: Vis was a prince, trained in words & war. His nation conquered & family killed, he hides out, until he’s swept into a labyrinth of intrigue. Sharp turns, secret plots, tests of character. Every scene tightens the vise. A jaw dropping novel. #books #booksky

My Spotify Wrapped thinks I'm 79. I also have no memory of listening to Taylor Swift? Otherwise, fair enough.

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #13 #Booksky #bookchallenge

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #12 #Booksky #bookchallenge

Wake Up Dead Man is a gothic tribute to locked room mysteries - occasionally campy, cheerfully clever. It's the most fun I had in the theater in ages. Glad I got to see it with a crowd on the big screen.

Consider watching Frankenstein this weekend, it's gorgeous and provocative. Lots of changes from the book, but I respected the choices. And keeping the arctic section in the opening?? Stunning #horror

Unspectacular beautiful New England November

If you are reading The Will of the Many, this woman is your hero. She is recapping it in sequence so you can stop where you are in the book (I'm only on ch 10). It's not a confusing book, but her detail / lore / simplification is really really adding to my experience. #books #booksky

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #11 #Booksky #bookchallenge

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #10 #Booksky #bookchallenge

Instant order for me

lmao

Cynthia Doll, America loves you

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #9 #Booksky #bookchallenge

Academic slow burn mystery debut. Cady's mentally ill brother took his own life at Harvard. She shows up for her freshman year still grieving, and starts hearing voices - but they are having real conversations. Ghosts? There's a paranomal element, but sadly, this is not horror. #books #booksky

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #8 #Booksky #bookchallenge

A modern detective wakes up in the body of a teenaged maid in 1860s Scotland -and soon finds herself helping the local surgeon solve a murder. Can she wake up before 5 to tend the chamberpots, solve the crime, and hardest of all, fake being demur? Breezy, funny, well-paced. #books #booksky

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #7 #Booksky #bookchallenge

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #6 #Booksky #bookchallenge

Love it when a great artist talks in detail about why he appreciates another artist's work. Here the director of Apocalypse Now and The Godfather talks about Sinners.

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #5 #Booksky #bookchallenge

It's giving Midsommer. What's remarkable about this is that I, who read the book once, can name almost every single character that we see. (Oh, Ampert). I read that the screenplay and novel were written concurrently. But the book was still A-tier. High hopes for the film. #books #booksky

Romance + horror set in 1700s Mexico at a silver mine. High drama, lush prose, atmospheric, full of yearning, but also creepy, gothic, bloody... "possession" is refers to Alba's dread of losing her bodily freedom by marriage as a business deal. And also, the demonic kind too. #books #booksky

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #4 #Booksky #bookchallenge

Update from a #UU church.... our food pantry has been so overwhelmed with donations and food drives following the shutdown that we had to throw out a large bookshelf of mildewed old Bibles to make more storage space. (I think Jesus would be OK with this).

Now you know

#uucwf #unitarian #uuchurch #oregoncity #pdxunitarian

#20TBRbookchallenge 💙📚 Choose 20 books on your current TBR shelf. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. Book #3 #Booksky #bookchallenge #readingchallenge #readersky #dnd

If Wuthering Heights is The Greatest Love Story of All Time, is A Clockwork Orange The Most Uplifting Coming-of-Age Story in Literary History? #books #booksky