Passing

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Passing by Nella Larsen is enjoying a renewed interest as there have been a few other books about colorism lately. I picked this one up from an used online bookshop bc I was dying to read it.

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Irene and Clare grew up together in a small town but as teenagers, their lives took a very different turn. Now, so many years later, they have reunited, but has anything really changed?

I have been really excited to learn about and read more from the Harlem Renaissance movement of the 19teens and twenties. I read this for the 1900 - 1950 Readathon and you can see more thoughts about it in this video. I had been hearing about Passing for months and it sounded like something I would like. Short, modern classic, set in NYC. Other than that and theme of passing as white, I really had no idea what to expect. I loved this book and it is in contention to be one of my most favorite of the year. Although I don’t usually vibe with books about female friendship, I found the complex feeling and emotions of the relationship between these woman really fascinating. There is a lot about the theme of doing what is right and what is best and what that means to different people and at different times. Told in 3 parts, this book’s writing style reflects the various parts atmosphere, culminating in a unexpected ending. This book deals with intense racism and has very triggering language and events. Although it is hard to read in some parts, I loved this book and can see myself reading this one fairly regularly. I would highly recommend this book to those interested in this time period of art and writing and growth, those who like books set in NYC, stories about female friendship or animosity, and readers interested in themes of colorism and racism.

Have you read this book or any of Nella Larsen’s other works?

This book can be seen in my May Wrap Up.

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Weekly Video Round Up #38

10/27 - Little Free Library Tour | 11 LFL in New Jersey | Halloween Themed Libraries | LFL Tour #3

10/29 - Plan with Me | New Bujo in November | Yearly Planner for Booktube? | Cognitive Surplus Unboxing

10/31 - Lofi Storytime ASMR | Soft Spoken, Whispers, Tapping, Rubbing, Hand Lotion, Natural Long Nails

11/1 - November 2021 Plan with Me | Part Two | Setups and Spreads | Yearly, monthly, new booktube planner

October in Review

October went by so fast! We travelled a bit, going to some of our favorite seasonal events. We saw friends and family. We generally soaked in the end of the warm months and lingering summer pleasures.

Although I felt that there were many things to share, and many photos taken this month, I only had a few insta posts to collage here. But I think this sums up our month pretty well. As usual Oct was dominated by spooky season, plants, the last of the summer flowers and the last of our garden prizes, reading (of course), and, not pictured, every fun adventure.

Also not pictured was working hard at the end of the season.

November is here, and it’s a fun one, so let’s go.

The Private Patient

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

The Private Patient is the last in PD James’ Adam Dalgliesh detective series.

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A well known investigative journalist, some might say a gossip, checks herself in to have a procedure that will change her life and career. It doesn’t hurt that the remote hospital might have some secrets to spill. Unfortuneately she never has the chance to spill those secrets, and Adam Dalgiesh must find out why.

As I say above, this is the last of the Adam Dalgiesh series, and for that reason I put it off for a while. I have been reading my way thru the series over the last few years, but not in order. Although this is the last book James wrote in the series, I have not read all those that lead up to it, so I have more to read! I was wondering if it would be obvious that this was his last appearance and would round out or wrap up the series. This book didn’t really do that and so I think James didn’t know that this would be her last go with Dalgiesh. There is some reference to what our main character wil do after his time as an inspector detective. He does ruminate on how the job he does so well has become a burden for him in many ways. He looks forward to his time getting married and living with his new bride. The mystery he must solve is like many in the other book, but the twist for the reader is that we get a little more insight into the victims thoughts before the murder than usual. Over all, this was one in a long string of great, fun, murder mysteries written by one of the queens of crime. I would recommend this book mostly to readers who already like PD James, have been reading this series, or who want to start this series. Although this is the last in the series, you can really start anywhere.

Do you love coming to the end of a series, or dread it?

This book can be seen in my May Wrap Up.

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Weekly Video Round Up #37 - BookTube Bday!!

10/12 - 1 More Month of Zero Waste | October 2021 | Trash Walk Challenge Free and Easy Zero Waste

10/13 - The BookTube Birthday Tag | 1 Year on BookTube!! | Happy Birthday to Me! | 100 Subs Thank You

10/20 - 100 Subscribers Q&A | Thank You!! | Answering YOUR Questions - NJ, Fave Coffee, How'd I Get My Name?

10/22 - Novella November Possibilities | I Love Short Books | All the books 176 pages or less on my TBR

World War One British Poets

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I found World War One British Poets by various poets compiled by Candace Ward in a little free library.

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This slim Dover edition contains several poems from 16 different poets. The poems range from pro war and anti war to family of those at war. This is an interesting view on the first world war, seen through the eyes of artists.

I remember that just before I picked this up I had a conversation with someone (probably my husband) about a poem (no clue who it was by) written about a war (I can’t remember which). It was an interesting conversation. And I was thinking about it when I saw World War One British Poets in a little free library. I thought, well, that is interesting! What DO poets think about during war time? This collection, I think, tries to show several perspectives. There are those who are pro war, those who are anti war, those who were in the thick of it, and those who were on the periphery. Some of the poets are famous, some not. Some are known only for 1 or 2 war poems, some are known for all their other work. Reading this was definitely interesting and I’m glad I read it. I read this for the 1900 - 1950 Readathon and it fit in perfectly. You can watch that video here. Although, I was glad to have read this, it was quite hard to get through. It is violent, dated, and obviously, all about war which is a hard subject. I’m also not really a poetry person. I find it hard to read and usually not engaging. I really struggled to get through this book. I love that Dover has such a huge range of books that are accessible to many readers. I would recommend this book to those who are interested in seeing the first world war through poetry, those interested in this history, people who love poetry, or fans of some of the more famous authors represented here.

Do you read poetry? Do you enjoy it?

This book can be seen in my May Wrap Up.

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Tri Weekly Video Round Up #35

9/15 - The Bookish Super Hero Tag | What is my Super Power? | Who is my Bookish Nemesis?

9/17 - Little Free Library Tour | 9 LFL in New Jersey | No Talking | Little Library Project

9/22 - All The Series I'm Currently Reading | 8 Series, 1 Genre | Can you guess what it is?

9/24 - Day In The Life: Unexpected Day Off | DITL | Reading, Chores, Cleaning, Thrifting, Fancy Pizza

9/28 - Five Sci Fi Favorites | Science Fiction for Every Reader | Slight Chaotic Energy Recommendations

9/30 - Plan with Me | TBR Organization and BookTube Spin List Creation | September 2021 | 20 Books List

10/3 - TBR ASMR 13 | Natural nails, Tapping, Scratching, Page Turning, Gentle breathing | BookTube ASMR

The Loved One

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

The Loved One is the first Evelyn Waugh book I have read and I can’t wait to read more! I found this at my lacal book shop, and picked it up solely for the cover.

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A satirical look at life, death and movie making in this semi dystopian look at near future California through the eyes of a British Poet, The Loved One is a must read black comedy and a modern classic.

I really had no idea what to expect when I picked up The Loved One at The Asbury Park Book Cooperative. I just knew that I kept hearing about Evelyn Waugh but had no idea what kind of writer he was. It’s also true that I loved the cover enough to not need to know anything more about the book. I read this book quickly after picking it up, and you can see a lot of my thoughts in a video that I did for the 1900-1950 readathon. I loved this book. It was dry, witty, satirical, and dark. It’s follows a British poet who originally came to LA to work for the movie studios. He quickly becomes disillusioned with the studio attutudes and mentalities, especially after his mentor commits suicide. But Dennis Barlow, the poet, finds more pleasure and inspiration from his lowly job at a pet mortuary. He aspires for his career to move into as opulent and sacred grounds as the premier person mortuary, Whispering Glades. When he gets to actually visit the Glades, he falls in love with the grounds, and one of the lovely cosmeticians. I would highly recommend those who read modern classics, readers who like light dystopian, satires, and books about death.

Have you read any Evelyn Waugh? Who is a modern classic writer you have never read but want to?

This book can be seen in my May Wrap Up.

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Weekly Video Round Up #34

9/6 - August Vlog Style Reading Wrap up | August 2021 | 9 books I read in August | Women in Translation

9/9 - 1 Month of Zero Waste | September 2021 | Education | Free and Easy Zero Waste | Beginners ZW

9/10 - August Readathon Recap | 4 Readathons, 10 books | 1000 Doors | BookTube Spin | HIBearNation | WIT

9/12 - Recently Acquired Books | Many Great Books from Local Books Sales | Modern Classics, Mystery Series

They Do It With Mirrors

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

They Do It with Mirrors is the 6th book in Agatha’s Christie’s Miss Marple series.

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When Miss Marple is visiting a girlhood friend in from America, Marple is unexpectedly requested and implored to make a visit to her friends sister, who lives in England. Upon arrival, Miss Marple quickly sees that there is more that meets the eye.

I’ve been working my way thru all of Christie’s Miss Marple series on audio book. I was happily surprised when Miss Marple is in this book prominently and from the very beginning. This is pretty rare for her books as they never follow a set formula in each story. Each book has a mystery of course, usually a closed cast of characters, in a finite location. But sometimes Miss Marple is a prominent character, sometimes she is on the sidelines, sometimes the police are investigating, occasionally it’s another amateur sleuth. Also, Miss Marple tends to be an outside observer to these mysteries, an old biddy, a gossip, but not a friend or family of those directly impacted. In They Do it With Mirrors, Jane Marple is reunited with a family that she was close to as a girl. There are many new players here, as well, but for the most part, Jane has a real stake in the goings on bc she wants the best for her fiend. I liked the police detective in this one, as he knows the value that Marple offers and that is a rare opinion for the local PD. There were also quite a few interesting side stories, some of which are our red herrings. I like when Marple’s involvement effects more than the outcome of the crime. She is a observer on all aspects of human nature, both the good and bad. I would recommend this book to those who like satisfying endings, mystery lovers, and of course Agatha Christie fans.

Are you reading any series? Do you read them all in a row? Or do you just fit them in when you are in the mood?

This book can be seen in my April Wrap Up.

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The Daughters of Cain

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

The Daughters of Cain is the third to last book in the Inspector Morse series by Colin Dexter.

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Morse is lead down a twisted path when he stumbles on a murder that has the local police stumped.

I have to be honest, this was one of the more forgettable of the Inspectory Mosrse novels that I read aound this time. I was reading them pretty close together and I have blurred them together. I do know and remember that this murder involves a scholar and mysterious artifact. And a bunch of ladies and how they come together to solve a problem. Morse is invariably smitten with at least one of them, and inevitably disappointed. Being the third to last Morse novel, there is little foreshadowing to what the end of the series will be. I like that although these novels can hit fairly predictable beats, each one does have an interesting crime and solution. I am glad that I have all the Morse novels on audio so that I can go back and reread the ones that were less stand out in my memory. I would recommend The Daughter’s of Cain to those who are working their way thru the Morse books.

Have you read this far in the series? What are your thoughts on the later books?

This book can be seen in my April Wrap Up.

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(Bi) Weekly Video Round Up #31

8/11 - 1 More Month of Zero Waste | August 2021 | Zero Waste Kit | Carry Reusables | Easy Zero Waste

8/13 - Recently Acquired Books and Little Free Library Tour | Used Books | NJ Libraries Book Haul

8/15 - Books and Life Tag | Am I a Book Weirdo? | Mini Bookshelf Tour | Reading Tag

8/20 - BookTube Spin 2021 | Spin 3 Reading Vlog | Part 1 | Two Books, One Author | The Old Man and the Sea

8/23 - September Plan with Me | Monthly Reading and Videos | Minimalist Bullet Journal | Sci Fi September

New Orleans Beat

One of my goals in 2021 is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

I got New Orleans Beat for .25 cents at one of my favorite local used books shop. I chose this Julie Smith book bc it takes place in New Orleans.

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Skip Langdon has had to fight for her place in the New Orleans Police Department but she is good at her job and gets results. When she is called to an accidental death of the computer savvy son of an unconventional family, Skip doesn’t believe it is an accident. When she starts to delve into the mysterious world of online communities, Skip finds far more than meets the eye.

This book is seemingly a simple cop mystery book. But it tackled a lot of interesting themes, including interracial dating/relationships, woman in careers usually reserved for men, gay rights and gay parenting, navigating long distance relationships, online communities and relationships of people revolving around online communities. This book is also very dated in a lot of those ideas. Especially revolving around the online communities, this book shows it’s age right away. The mystery was pretty cozy and I really liked that we see other aspects of Skip’s life. She has complex relationships with her on again off again long distance boyfriend, her community, her coworkers, and her best friend who has recently adopted his sister’s children. Skip becomes a defacto aunt to these kids and this responsibility informs some of her life choices. I feel that this book, although outlandish is some story aspects (as you would assume from a cozy mystery), has a lot of emotions and conversations surrounding these relationships that feel very genuine. In my quest to read books about New Orleans, I’m always looking for books that feel like NOLA to me and this book really fit the bill. I really enjoyed how the city is a big part of the story and you get a good feel for the geography and the atmosphere. I do want to back and read the rest of this series, hopefully more in order. I don’t think you can’t read these out of order, tho. New Orleans Beat worked fine as a stand alone. I would recommend this book to readers who like cop mysteries, and especially those with strong female cop characters, those who want to read books set in New Orleans and people who are interested in reading early internet books.

Have you started a mystery series lately? What is your favorite cozy mystery?

This book can be seen in my April Wrap Up.

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