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Micki

@neverwithoutmybook

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📍Michigan
🌽Iowa Native 💛🖤💛
📖: Contrapposto
🔲:
🎧: The Lying Game
📚: 95/100

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I love a grumpy old lady story. Yes, you heard me Olive Kitteridge and Britt-Marie! I can now consider Sybil Van Antwerp another one of my favorite ladies. The Correspondent is an epistolary novel, which I haven’t enjoyed in the past but was willing to take another chance on and I am so glad I did. This gentle story was paced so well and I was amazed at how well the characters were developed through just letters and emails and notes. The author wrote Sybil in such an authentic way, I feel like I know her. (Maybe I am her!) I loved Sybil’s growth and development over the course of the book, she becomes so much more vulnerable by the end through the influence of friends, family, and even strangers. What a touching story about the connections we make through the written word. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Does anyone else out there still write letters? I do and I love it!

#TheCorrespondent #epistolary #PenPals #BookReview by @neverwithoutmybook

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21 days ago

I do this thing where I take all the pictures and write all the captions…and then just don’t post anything. Like all my energy was used to do the reading and writing and I have nothing left to hit “post”. Maybe I get distracted. Maybe it feels like work. Maybe it’s my estrogen…or lack thereof. But I have a lot of pretty books to talk about, all ready to go, so maybe you will see a lot from me in the near future. But also, maybe not and my posts will forever live in my Drafts.

I can’t be the only one. Anyone else struggle to actually post your thoughts?

#TheStruggleIsReal #PostingSlump #BookishThoughts #OldAndTired by @neverwithoutmybook

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24 days ago

There are not many mystery/suspense/thrillers that earn five stars from me. And when they do it’s because the plot and twists really blow me away. But Mad Mabel earned her five stars due to the characters and the emotional journey the author takes us on. I love me a curmudgeonly character. Think Ove, Britt Marie, and Olive Kitteridge. But add in a friendship between that grumpy old character and a child, and I’m hooked! Mad Mabel gives us unlikely friendships, chosen family, and the importance of community. It also gives us trauma and heartbreak. I loved it so much more that I thought I would. I couldn’t put it down! Thank you @stmartinspress and @sallyhepworth for this gifted copy. by @neverwithoutmybook

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3 months ago

Ah! Katherine Center! She has yet to let me down! The Shippers was a delightful rom com with the characteristic Center banter that I love. The dialogue is perfect (equal parts sarcasm, humor, and wit) and the spiciness is implied (just the way I like it!). Friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes because I think it is so realistic and relatable.

Poor Jojo really just can’t get out of her own way and is pining for a childhood crush that may or may not know she exists. From the minute her childhood best friend, Cooper, arrives, you know he is desperately in love with her and that he is the perfect match for her. But obviously Jojo doesn’t see it. Jojo and Cooper are delightful! Lucky you if you have a Cooper in your life! All of the characters were so likeable, even the unlikeable ones…well except for Pork Pie, he was atrocious. Another home run for @katherinecenter ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this gifted digital copy.

This may be my favorite Katherine Center book. What is your favorite?

#theshippers #romcom #fivestars #autobuyauthor #pubday by @neverwithoutmybook

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4 months ago

Have you ever wished for a do-over? That’s what author, Rebecca Serle, imagines in Once and Again. We get the perspective of three women in a family where the women have the power of deciding a do over with a magic ticket. Would you use your do-over for a devastating event or something more personal. Serle explores what the impacts of a do-over would be and the thought process that gets one to a decision like that. While I did enjoy this story, I expected to like it more. I did not connect well with the main characters and did not like them much, if I’m being honest. It all kind of fell a little flat for me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @atriabooks for this gifted digital copy.

What event would you do-over? High school! Definitely high school for me.

#DoOver #BookishThoughts #BookReview by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

I was so looking forward to this one, since it was inspired by one of my favorite classic novels, The Great Gatsby. All of the genders are flipped, intriguing, which was a fun challenge when trying to match up the characters with their original counterparts. But that’s where the fun ended for me. The first 200 pages were very slow, with many unlikeable characters. I also felt like the author didn’t give her readers enough credit, by too obviously spelling out the themes and commentary on wealth and society. The story picked up in the last 100 pages, but by then it was too late to be saved and ended abruptly. I did really like Julianna and would have read an entire book about her. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @netgalley and @williammorrowbooks for a gifted copy.

I’m buddy reading more classics this year. What’s your favorite?

#Reimagining #GreatGatsby #BookReview by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

Nobody can warm my cold, cold heart and bring me to tears like TJ Klune. Who’d have thought he would do it again with a queer apocalyptic novel? Oh, everyone? Yeah, you’re right.

The main characters, Rodney and Don, are an elder gay couple on a cross country road trip as a black hole is approaching Earth. Along the way they meet a multitude of people who are all just trying to make sense of the end of the world. Amelia’s story was heartbreaking. The hippies gave me hope. And Becca & Amy’s history lesson was maddening.

We are left pondering: How does one respond to impending doom? Is it more important to live well or live long? How does a shared history shape how you respond to the end of days? What does one’s love look like? How does humanity shape our experiences and opinions? And what if your best isn’t good enough?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“In the grand scheme of things, we’re a grain of sand on an infinite beach. But we mattered. All of us. For better or worse, we mattered.”

How would you spend your final days if you knew the galaxy was about to be swallowed by a black hole?

#tjklune #apocalyptic #blackhole #weburnedsobright by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

This one is everywhere! And I see everyone describing it as a commentary on social media and influencers. Yes, Natalie is a “trad wife” influencer and yes, she wakes up one day in the 1800s version of the life she portrays online. But it is so much more than that! The premise is unique, a bit dystopian, kind of Black Mirror-esque. However, beyond the suspense of it all, is a commentary on so many things: social media, motherhood, the role of women in society, the patriarchy, religion, politics… I particularly loved how the author masterfully wove in an overarching theme of performance throughout the book, not only Natalie performing for her audience, but for God, her children, her husband, her father-in-law. It is clear how the author feels about the evangelical or fundamental Christianity Natalie and her family subscribe to. And I can see readers of a similar faith and belief system (or even political bent) being offended by how Christianity is portrayed in the book. As a progressive liberal, I do believe it is a timely commentary on religion and politics in today’s society. If you are looking for likeable characters, you won’t find them. If you are looking for all the questions to be answered, you won’t find that either. If you are looking for a book that gives you those “What did I just read?” vibes, this is the one. Read it, feel unsettled, let the story breath, and it will all come together. Happy reading!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you have read it, I know you have opinions! Let me know what you think!

#yesteryear #thoughtprovoking #bookreview #socialcommentary by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

I love Gillian McAllister and this one did not disappoint! Such an engrossing page turner. Not only a kidnapping, drug trafficking thriller, but an exploration and commentary on a mother’s love and the lengths a mother will go to to protect their child. The pacing was perfect and had me reading “just one more chapter” into the wee hours! Such a fun read with a surprising twist or two! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Get ready! This one comes out tomorrow! Thanks to @williammorrowbooks & @netgalley for this early copy.

Would you pick up the phone for an unknown caller? Me: Definitely not!😆😳

#motherdaughter #thriller #favoriteauthor by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

My April reading was full of hits and misses.

Here’s the good: If you like historical fiction, go read Kin right now! If you also like YA, Ruta Sepetys has yet to disappoint. White Fragility should be required reading.

Here’s the bad: Virginia Woolf, I’m looking at you. Also, what Kool-Aid are all you Theo fans drinking?! And Mr. Penumbra, I may need to be in an altered state to make sense of your bookstore.

📚Kin ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚Theo of Golden ⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚My Husband’s Wife ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚Mrs. Dalloway ⭐️
📚Out of the Easy ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📚White Fragility ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Cover Story ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Famesick ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Solito ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧It Starts with Us ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Forever, Interrupted ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life… ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Black Cake ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧Mr Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore ⭐️⭐️

What did you read in April that should be on my TBR?

#AprilReadingWrapUp #BookStack #BookReviews by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

My goodness! My infusion nurse recommended this one to me. (I can’t be the only one who gets book recommendations in unexpected places.) I didn’t read it right away and that was a big mistake! Another book during which I held my breath for the last 100 pages and just had to sit in silence after closing the back cover. Salama volunteers at a hospital (as essentially a surgeon) during the Syrian Revolution, after having to abandon her pharmacy classes. She is desperate to leave but also desperately devoted to Syria and its people. The author gives us trauma, but also hope, and love, and possibility in such a beautifully written way. “With the military deliberately targeting doctors, they became as scarce as laughter.” “I can see his real face behind the fragments he’s had to glue back together over and over again.” “Bury me before I bury you,” will break you! And then there is “As long as lemon trees grow, hope will never die.” Highly recommend you read this with a friend, like @beverly_msw.

Where do you get most of your book recommendations?

#aslongasthelemontreesgrow #zoulfakatouh #ya #syria #syrianrevolution by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago

What did I just read… by @neverwithoutmybook

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5 months ago