Where Is Your Bookmark? (I'd Rather Be Reading / July's Spine Poetry / Reading & Music)

A weekly meme where readers share the first sentence of the book they are reading and say what they think. Hosted by the amazing Gillion Dumas of Rose City Reader.

"Can you recommend a great book?" [from the introduction of I'd Rather Be Reading]

★                          ★                          ★

In David Lodge's campus novel Changing Places, two college professors--one American, one British--swap teaching roles for a year. [Opening of chapter one, "Confess Your Literary Sins" from I'd Rather Be Reading]

With just that one question I am hooked.  The opening is a question I both love and hate. Too often my mind goes blank for a few minutes, but when I finally am able to think clearly again, I sometimes cannot stop thinking of recommendations. Though I hate to recommend books without knowing what a person likes to read. 

The first sentence of the first chapter tells me a story is coming. It's not a particularly strong hook, but it's enough to have me settling in to hear where the author is going with it.

A weekly meme in which readers share a random sentence or two from page 56 or 56% of the book they are reading. Hosted by the wonderful Freda of Freda's Voice.

1. For beautifully styled bookshelves, follow this decorator's rule of thumb: each bookshelf should hold one-third books, one-third accessories, and one third empty space.

2. You're a book lover; you don't have enough shelves to begin with, Ignore the decorator. [excerpt from page 56 of I'd Rather Be Reading]

As I began reading tip one, I immediately began shaking my head. Yeah. My shelves look nothing like that. I may have an accessory on a shelf, but it's in front of or on top of the books. My books take up almost every inch of shelf space and then some. When I got to tip one, there was much relief. 

I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel

For so many people, reading isn't just a hobby or a way to pass the time--it's a lifestyle. Our books shape us, define us, enchant us, and even sometimes infuriate us. Our books are a part of who we are as people, and we can't imagine life without them.

I'd Rather Be Reading is the perfect literary companion for everyone who feels that way. In this collection of charming and relatable reflections on the reading life, beloved blogger and author Anne Bogel leads readers to remember the book that first hooked them, the place where they first fell in love with reading, and all of the moments afterward that helped make them the reader they are today. Known as a reading tastemaker through her popular podcast What Should I Read Next?, Bogel invites book lovers into a community of like-minded people to discover new ways to approach literature, learn fascinating new things about books and publishing, and reflect on the role reading plays in their lives. [ Goodreads Summary]

While considering books to use for this week's Connect Five, I came across I'd Rather Be Reading on my bookshelf and decided I didn't want to put it back until I read it. It is a quick read and I am enjoying it so far.

Have you read I'd Rather Be Reading? If so, what did you think? Does this sound like a book you would enjoy or could relate to?

Connect Five Friday is a weekly meme where readers share a list of five books, 

read or unread, or bookish things, that share a common theme. 

Hosted by the  Kathryn of of Book Date.

It is time for Spine Poetry (I love this concept)! It's kind of another depressing one. I complained to my husband that I keep putting together sad poems. He says it is because I own a lot of sad books. There is some truth to that, I suppose, but not completely. At least the poem ends on a positive note . . .

A Storm in the Blood by Jon Stephen Fink

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters

I'd Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel

A Breath of Fresh Air by Amulya Malladi

I have actually only read two of these (A Breath of Fresh Air and World of Trouble--I recommend both), am reading one, and the other two are sitting on my TBR shelf behind me. 

Can you build a spine poem using books lying around your home or office? Please share! 

Every Friday Coffee Addicted Writer from Coffee Addicted Writer poses a question which participants respond on their own blogs within the week (Friday through Thursday). They then share their links at the main site and visit other participants blogs.

Have you ever searched out theme songs for your favorite books? (submitted by Julie @ JadeSky)

While I have not come up with my own ideas of theme songs for my favorite books, I sometimes will seek out songs on an author's playlist if they include one at the back of their book. It's always fun to see what music authors associate with their own characters and books. 

Once--okay, three or four times--I bought CD's (or were they cassettes? It was a long time ago) of music recorded specifically for a series of books by Mercedes Lackey. I fell in love with her Valdemar fantasy series and maybe became a little obsessed. When I heard about the CD's and that that author had written many of the songs, I could not help myself. It was my introduction to filk music (music with a science fiction or fantasy theme and often a kind of folksy sound). Some of the songs even became songs I would sing to my daughter during her younger years. You can sometimes find me still singing parts of the songs now and then. [edited to add: My husband came downstairs last night and caught my daughter and I listening to a couple of the songs I had found on You Tube. Oh, the memories!]

What about you? Have you ever searched out theme songs or music for books you read?

 I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Be sure and tell me what you are reading and are up to!

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© 2021 Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Waiting to Read Wednesday: Death at the Crystal Palace / Incense and Sensibility / The Art of Drowning

The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Death at the Crystal Palace (Kat Holloway Mysteries #5) by Jennifer Ashley
Release Date: July 6, 2021 by Berkley

Intrepid cook Kat Holloway puts aside her apron to delve into Victorian London’s high society and catch a killer in this thrilling new mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Murder in the East End.

While attending an exhibition at the Crystal Palace, young cook Kat Holloway is approached by a woman in distress. Lady Covington is a wealthy widow convinced that her entire family is trying to kill her. Kat feels compelled to help, and she escorts the lady home to discover whether she is delusional or in true danger.

It is quickly apparent that the threat is all too real, and Kat promises aid. Her charming confidant Daniel McAdam is busy infiltrating a plot against the Crown, and she worries he will not have time to lend his sleuthing expertise. This might be for the best, as Kat fears her growing emotional entanglement with Daniel can only lead to disaster. But soon, Kat faces a more serious threat when her involvement in both investigations plunges her into peril. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: Of course I want to read this one! It's one of my favorite historical mystery series. I cannot wait!!!

Incense and Sensibility (The Rajes #3) by Sonali Dev
Release Date: July 6, 2021 by William Morrow

The author of Recipe for Persuasion—“not only one of the best but one of the bravest romance novelists working today” (Shelf Awareness)—adds an Indian American twist to Jane Austen's classic Sense and Sensibility in this delightful retelling that is a feast for the senses.

Yash Raje, California’s first serious Indian gubernatorial candidate, has always known exactly what he wants—and how to use his privileged background to get it. He attributes his success to a simple mantra: control your feelings and you can control the world.

But when a hate-fueled incident at a rally critically injures his friend, Yash’s easy life suddenly feels like a lie, his control an illusion. When he tries to get back on the campaign trail, he blacks out with panic.

Desperate to keep Yash’s condition from leaking to the media, his family turns to the one person they trust—his sister’s best friend, India Dashwood, California’s foremost stress management coach. Raised by a family of yoga teachers, India has helped San Francisco’s high strung overachievers for a decade without so much as altering her breath. But this man—with his boundless ambition, simmering intensity, and absolute faith in his political beliefs—is like no other. Yash has spent a lifetime repressing everything to succeed. 

Including their one magical night ten years ago—a too brief, too bright passion that if rekindled threatens the life he’s crafted for himself. Exposing the secrets might be the only way to save him but it’s also guaranteed to destroy the dream he’s willingly shouldered for his family and community . . . until now. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: I really enjoyed the first book in the Rajes series, Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors. I have Recipe for Persuasion on my TBR shelf. I do not think I will be able to resist this one either. 

Does either of these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

★                          ★                          ★

The Old(er) 

I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

The Art of Drowning by Frances Fyfield (Witness Impulse, 2013, originally published in 2006 by Little Brown)

Rachel Doe is a shy accountant at a low ebb in life when she meets charismatic Ivy Schneider, nee Wiseman, at her evening class and her life changes for the better. Ivy is her polar opposite: strong, six years her senior and the romantic survivor of drug addiction, homelessness and the death of her child. Ivy does menial shift work, beholden to no one, and she inspires life; as do her farming parents, with their ramshackle house and its swan- filled lake, the lake where Ivy's daughter drowned. As Rachel grows closer to them all she learns how Ivy came to be married to Carl, the son of a WWII prisoner, as well as the true nature of that marriage to a bullying and ambitious lawyer who has become a judge and who denies her access to her surviving child. Rachel wants justice for Ivy, but Ivy has another agenda and Rachel's naïve sense of fair play is no match for the manipulative qualities in the Wisemen women. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: I came across this one in 2013 and added it to my TBR shelf and rediscovered it recently when looking through my e-reader. I cannot help but wonder about the Wiseme

n women.  

Have you read The Art of Drowning?  Does this book sound like something you would like to read? 

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© 2021, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.t permission.

Waiting to Read Wednesday: Island Queen / Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead / Dying Is My Business

The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

Island Queen by Vanessa Riley
Release Date: July 6, 2021 by William Morrow

A remarkable, sweeping historical novel based on the incredible true life story of Dorothy Kirwan Thomas, a free woman of color who rose from slavery to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful landowners in the colonial West Indies.

Born into slavery on the tiny Caribbean island of Montserrat, Doll bought her freedom—and that of her sister and her mother—from her Irish planter father and built a legacy of wealth and power as an entrepreneur, merchant, hotelier, and planter that extended from the marketplaces and sugar plantations of Dominica and Barbados to a glittering luxury hotel in Demerara on the South American continent.

Vanessa Riley’s novel brings Doll to vivid life as she rises above the harsh realities of slavery and colonialism by working the system and leveraging the competing attentions of the men in her life: a restless shipping merchant, Joseph Thomas; a wealthy planter hiding a secret, John Coseveldt Cells; and a roguish naval captain who will later become King William IV of England.

From the bustling port cities of the West Indies to the forbidding drawing rooms of London’s elite, Island Queen is a sweeping epic of an adventurer and a survivor who answered to no one but herself as she rose to power and autonomy against all odds, defying rigid eighteenth-century morality and the oppression of women as well as people of color. It is an unforgettable portrait of a true larger-than-life woman who made her mark on history. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: How can I not want to read Island Queen after reading that synopsis? Dorothy Kirwan Thomas sounds like an amazing person. 

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin
Release Date: July 6, 2021 by Atria Books

This hilarious and profound debut for fans of Mostly Dead Things and Goodbye, Vitamin follows a morbidly anxious young woman who stumbles into a job as a receptionist at a Catholic church and becomes obsessed with her predecessor’s mysterious death.

Gilda, a twenty-something, atheist, animal-loving lesbian, cannot stop ruminating about death. Desperate for relief from her panicky mind and alienated from her repressive family, she responds to a flyer for free therapy at a local Catholic church, and finds herself being greeted by Father Jeff, who assumes she’s there for a job interview. Too embarrassed to correct him, Gilda is abruptly hired to replace the recently deceased receptionist Grace.

In between trying to memorize the lines to Catholic mass, hiding the fact that she has a new girlfriend, and erecting a dirty dish tower in her crumbling apartment, Gilda strikes up an email correspondence with Grace’s old friend. She can’t bear to ignore the kindly old woman, who has been trying to reach her friend through the church inbox, but she also can’t bring herself to break the bad news. Desperate, she begins impersonating Grace via email. But when the police discover suspicious circumstances surrounding Grace’s death, Gilda may have to finally reveal the truth of her mortifying existence.

A delightful blend of warmth, deadpan humor, and pitch-perfect observations about the human condition, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead is a crackling exploration of what it takes to stay afloat in a world where your expiration—and the expiration of those you love—is the only certainty.  [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: The title of this one first caught my attention and after reading the synopsis, well, I really want to read it!

Does either of these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

★                          ★                          ★

The Old(er) 

I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

Dying Is My Business (#1) Nicholas Kaufmann (St. Martin's Griffin, 2013)

Given his line of work in the employ of a psychotic Brooklyn crime boss, Trent finds himself on the wrong end of too many bullets. Yet each time he’s killed, he wakes a few minutes later completely healed of his wounds but with no memory of his past identity. What’s worse, each time he cheats death someone else dies in his place.

Sent to steal an antique box from some squatters in an abandoned warehouse near the West Side Highway, Trent soon finds himself stumbling into an age-old struggle between the forces of good and evil, revealing a secret world where dangerous magic turns people into inhuman monstrosities, where impossible creatures hide in plain sight, and where the line between the living and the dead is never quite clear. And when the mysterious box is opened, he discovers he has only twenty-four hours to save New York City from certain destruction. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: I seem to have a lot of books on my Kindle that have been hiding there since 2013. This is one of them. It sounds like it will be a good one.  

Have you read Dying Is My Business?  Does this book sound like something you would like to read? 

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© 2021, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Waiting to Read Wednesday: In Royal Service to the Queen / The Return of the Sorceress / Skinner

The New

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by the marvelous Tressa at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss upcoming release we are excited about that we have yet to read.

In Royal Service to the Queen: A Novel of the Queen's Governess Tessa Arlen
Release Date: June 29, 2021 by Berkley

The revealing story of Queen Elizabeth II's beloved governess, Marion Crawford, who spent more than sixteen years of her life in loyal service to the royal family and was later shunned by those she has loved and served.

Marion Crawford can remember each of the wonderful years when she was governess to the little Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose: included in their lives, confided in, needed, trusted, and loved. These memories will never dim, ever. In Marion's mind, she will always be their Crawfie.

But things become increasingly complicated as the young royals navigate adulthood. It is May 1945 and Princess Elizabeth--the heiress presumptive to the British throne--has fallen in love, and the only member of her family who is happy for her is her governess. No one in the young princess's life thinks that Prince Philip of Greece would be a suitable husband for the future Queen of England. No one that is, except for Marion Crawford.

Crawfie wholeheartedly supports Elizabeth in her determination to marry Philip. She too has fallen in love--and has convinced her fiance, George, that they must wait for Elizabeth and Philip to receive the King's blessing before she can leave her service to the Crown.

Over the next two years Crawfie is caught between loyalty to Princess Elizabeth; running the risk of alienating her royal employer, Queen Elizabeth; and losing the man she loves. But as Crawfie prevails to marry George and stands with him in Westminster Abbey on Elizabeth and Philip's wedding day, she is unaware that her troubled relationship with Queen Elizabeth is far from over. And just around the corner is a betrayal that will sever her bond with the royal family forever. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: I have enjoyed Tessa Arlen's historical mysteries and would like to give her historical fiction about Elizabeth and Margaret's nanny a try. The royal family, betrayal, and love . . . It sounds very promising.

The Return of the Sorceress by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

Release Date: June 30, 2021 by Subterranean Press

From the bestselling author of Mexican Gothic comes a magical journey of revenge and redemption.

Yalxi, the deposed Supreme Mistress of the Guild of Sorcerers, is on a desperate mission. Her lover and confidant seized her throne and stole the precious diamond heart, the jewel that is the engine of her power. Yalxi sets out to regain her magic and find a weapon capable of destroying the usurper. But this will mean turning to unlikely allies and opening herself up to unpleasant memories that have been suppressed for many years. For Yalxi is no great hero, but a cunning sorceress who once forged her path in blood – and must reckon with the consequences.

Set in a fantastical land where jewels and blood provide symbiotic magical powers to their wearers, The Return of the Sorceress evokes the energy of classic sword and sorcery, while building a thoroughly fresh and exciting adventure ripe for our era. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: Another novel in which the author alone was enough to make me stop and take a closer look at this one. And doesn't it sound good? I can't wait to read this one.  

Does either of these books interest you? What upcoming releases are you looking forward to reading?

★                          ★                          ★

The Old(er) 

I have an embarrassing number of unread books sitting on the shelves in my personal library. Carole of Carole's Random Life in Books has given me the perfect excuse to spotlight and discuss those neglected books in her Books from the Backlog feature. After all, even those older books need a bit of love! Not to mention it is reminding me what great books I have waiting for me under my own roof still to read!

Skinner by Charlie Huston (Mulholland Books, 2013)

Skinner founded his career in "asset protection" on fear. To touch anyone under his protection was to invite destruction. A savagely effective methodology, until Skinner's CIA handlers began to fear him as much as his enemies did and banished him to the hinterlands of the intelligence community.

Now, an ornate and evolving cyber-terrorist attack is about to end that long exile. His asset is Jae, a roboticist with a gift for seeing the underlying systems violently shaping a new era of global guerrilla warfare.

At the root of it all is a young boy, the innocent seed of a plot grown in the slums of Mumbai. Brought to flower, that plot will tip the balance of world power in a perilous new direction.

A combination of Le Carre spycraft with Stephenson techno-philosophy from the novelist hailed by the Washington Post as "the voice of twenty-first century crime fiction," Skinner is Charlie Huston's masterpiece -- a new kind of thriller for a new kind of world. [Goodreads Summary]

Why I want to read this: It has been a long while since I read a novel like this, but, boy, does it sound like a page turner, doesn't it? I added this one to my TBR shelf in 2013. 

Have you read Skinner?  Does this book sound like something you would like to read? 

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© 2021, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Weekly Mews: Making Way For Summer Heat and Good Books to Read

I am linking up to the Sunday Post hosted by Kim of Caffeinated Book Reviewer and The Sunday Salon (TSS) hosted by Deb Nance of Readerbuzz  where participants recap our week, talk about what we are reading, share any new books that have come our way, and whatever else we want to talk about. I am also linking It's Monday! What Are you Reading? hosted by Kathryn of Book Date and a children's/middle grade version hosted by Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers where readers talk about what they have been, are and will be reading.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend. Summer is definitely making her presence known in my sliver of the world. The temperatures are rising, and it's supposed to reach 107F by Tuesday. If my coworker was here, he would brag that it will get up to 120 where he lives in Palm Springs next week. I might have to suggest he work out of the office then--it will be a little cooler. 😉

In reading . . . 

Then

I seem to have been able to keep my reading dip from turning into a full blown slump, thank goodness. Kim Harrison's The Good, the Bad, and the Undead (The Hollows #2) helped with that. I am hoping not to wait so long to read the third book, Every Witch Way But Dead, as I did between the first two books.  I love the detail the author put into her world building of this urban fantasy series. 

Now

Currently, I am reading Colleen Oakley's The Invisible Husband of Frick Island and also working my way through my first issue of Oh Reader. I am not a big magazine reader, to be honest (they tend to pile up and sit unread), but I could not resist when I heard it was a magazine written by and for readers--not about books specifically (although there is plenty of book talk), but about reading and readers themselves.

Next

Next up on my TBR pile is this month's TBR List poll winner. Thank  you to all who voted! I am also eying Murder in the East End (Kat Holloway Below Stairs Mysteries #4) by Jennifer Ashley, which is calling my name and I hope to start soon.

Mouse and I finished reading Just Add Magic by Cindy Callaghan earlier in the week. I think I mentioned before how different the book is from the TV series. The focus in both is on three best friends who discover a magic cookbook in one of the girl's attics. As they begin trying out recipes, they quickly learn that each spell they cast with the recipes has consequences beyond what was intended--the law of returns. The book and TV series diverge significantly from there. I think both Mouse and I agree we like the show more, but we did see it first so that may be part of the reason. Mouse has seen it multiple times actually. That isn't to say we did not enjoy the book--because we liked it too. The series is a bit darker and aimed at a wider audience age-wise, I think, than the book. And the magic is more subtle in the book. My daughter and I agree the highlight of the book for us was the friendship between the three girls. 

Although Mouse and I were reading Magic Misfits (#1) by Neil Patrick Harris separately, we did finish it around the same time and had a nice bedtime discussion about it last night. As I expect from anything Neil Patrick Harris does, the novel is a bit quirky with a large dose of wit. I could hear Mouse laughing out loud as she was reading. She loved that the narrator was writing directly to her, the reader, offering funny sidebars as well as directions on how to do magic tricks. It's a cute book about an orphan boy who runs away from his con-artist uncle and winds up in a town where a visiting carnival has set up shop. He meets three friends who share his love for magic tricks. The friends come to realize the  carnival boss and his crew are up to no good and they put their talents together to thwart him. I love that Leila's adoptive parents are a gay couple, something I wish we would see more of in middle grade fiction. Magic Misfits was funny and cute. There was a bit of mystery and action mixed in. For those willing to do the work, there is even a secret message for the reader to decode.  I bet the novel would be even better in audio format with Neil Patrick Harris narrating. 

Mouse and I are now reading Tales from a Not-So-Happy Birthday (Dork Diaries #13) by Rachel Renée Russell together. This continues to be one of Mouse's favorite series. On her own, Mouse just started Magic Misfits: The Second Story by Neil Patrick Harris. She is excited about this installment of the series because it features her favorite character, Leila, the escape artist. And, of course, the entire misfits gang play prominent roles as well. 

What I Have Been Watching . . . 

My family and I finished off season 5 of Lucifer--which had quite the ending, I have to say. We are all curious what direction the show will go in its final season. After a recent High School Musical movie marathon (at my daughter's request), we were curious about The High School Musical: The Musical series, which is a mockumentary musical drama about a high school theater department putting on a version of the original movie musical. We liked the first episode enough (especially my husband) to continue, and so we have put a couple of episodes on (each being a half hour long) in the evenings. Except for on Loki night, of course. Now our Wednesday TV time is dedicated entirely to Loki. The show has gotten off to a very promising start. Tom Hiddleston does such a good job in the role.

Off the Blog . . . 

It was quite the week! It started with my husband's birthday. We stretched it out over two days--a quiet family celebration one day and then a visit to California Adventure and Disneyland the next. We had received passes as a gift the Christmas before last and decided to take advantage of the lower capacity requirement in the parks while it was still in place (and before the passes expired). During our visit, only California residents were being allowed in the parks and masks were required at all times (except for when eating in designated areas--no indoor dining) along with social distancing. We had a great time although we were exhausted when we got home. You can bet we slept well that night! 

Other than that, our week was rather ordinary. Mouse had dance and rehearsal and attended a day of the summer camp program. She is determined to earn her en pointe letter and has been working hard in her ballet and pre-pointe classes. Her favorite dance class this year though is jazz, followed by musical theatre. Both classes have been working on their dance routines for the Summer Showcase, which she will be taking part in alongside the musical. 

It was another busy week at work for both my husband and me. My managers announced the proposed schedule for my office as things continue to open up throughout the county and state. California is lifting most of its COVID restrictions this next week on the 15th, although some will remain in place. It looks like I will continue to work a hybrid schedule, only working a couple days in the office than I am now, but still mostly from home. If approved, the new schedule will start in July. 

Tell me what you have been up to! What are you reading, listening to and watching? How was your week? 

Thank you for helping me decide what book from my TBR collection I should read next: 

My TBR List is hosted by the awesome Michelle at Because Reading. It’s a fun way to choose a book from your TBR pile to read. The 1st Saturday of every month, I will list 3 books I am considering reading and take a poll as to which you think I should read. I will read the winner that month. My review will follow (unfortunately, not likely in the same month, but eventually--that's all I can promise). 

This is the first time I think I have had a poll where one book received no votes! Poor Kate Atkinson and Life After Life. In the end it came down to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab and The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue came away with 10 votes and The Midnight Library won with 14. Thank you again to all who voted! I look forward to reading The Midnight Library this month. So many people I know have enjoyed it! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week! Happy Reading!

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© 2021, Musings of a Bookish Kitty. All Rights Reserved. If you're reading this on a site other than Musings of a Bookish Kitty or Wendy's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.