Space Station Mir

It was a solid although not spectacular reading month. I fell in love with J. Penner's cozy fantasy series, reading all three that are out now. I also read a couple books that have been on my TBR for years, including one by a woman in translation. I even read a more traditional classic, which I don't do a lot these days! Books Read in April 2025 Well Met by Jen DeLuca--A less famous Maryland renaissance faire gets off to a slow start but loins will burn. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa--An aging math professor's memory lasts only 80 minutes, but he makes a lasting impression on his housekeeper and her son. I Was Told It Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman (Book club read)--A mom and daughter take a curated East Coast college tour. Honestly, skippable. A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J. Penner (Adenashire #1)--Fantasy British Bake Off. Have I said enough? A Fellowship of Librarians & Dragons by J. Penner (Adenashire #2)--Baked goods, tea, and an adorabl...

 What a great Top Ten Tuesday topic! I'm proud to be a Marylander, and we have some excellent authors, past and present. Here's a collection of mostly living authors from my state, including some I actually know! Authors Who Live(d) in Maryland Anne Tyler--The author of The Accidental Tourist  and other quintessential Baltimore novels is one of the first authors I think of. I loved The Accidental Tourist; some of her other books less so, but she's definitely an institution. Edgar Allen Poe--He's so associated with Baltimore that the football team is named after his most famous poem. Probably our most famous local legend. Adrienne Rich--Not as famous as Poe, but definitely well known and one of my favorite poets; I think it's so cool that she's also from Maryland. Ta-Nehisi Coates--I didn't realize he was from Maryland, but he shows up high on a lot of lists; I haven't read him yet, but he's pretty famous. Frederick Douglass--Shamefully, he was ensla...

 My Shakespeare professor once asked us to open our "Complete Works of" tomes and put our finger down randomly on a word. Then, we would write an essay on how that word functioned in a play of our choice. My word was "wish," and it has remained a special word to me ever since. What is the power of a wish? Some characters seem to always succeed in making their wishes come true, while some never do, and some are in between. I've added books that I wish to read someday--we'll see how much of that comes true. So, thank you for letting us choose the word for this Top Ten Tuesday topic over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Books With the Word "Wish" In the Title (That I Wish To Someday Read) The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski, trans. Danusia Stok (The Witcher #0.5)--Ok, this one I have already read, but I couldn't leave it off! The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories #1) by Chris Colfer--I was interested in this even before I realized it was written by the ...

I've actually read a few books more recently that have surprised me, mostly in either good or neutral ways. I think I've been jumping into a lot of books (ebooks) based on title and the first page rather than a description, so that's also ended up giving me some surprise about even what genre I'm in!  Books That Surprised Me Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer--I thought this was going to be satirical fantasy, but it turned out to be a full-blown romance, just set in a fantasy world. A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic by J.  Penner--In the vein of much cozy fantasy, I thought this was going to be about a fantasy baking competition (which it was!) and a romance, which...it wasn't really. The romance bit started out sweet but then became very rote--BUT the friendship/fellowship part turned out to be probably the most important of all, in a surprising way, and I loved that, which brought the book up from 4 to 5 out of 5 stars for me. Jane Buehler's Sy...

  Happy Top Ten Tuesday  over at That Artsy Reader Girl! Unpopular bookish opinions--I feel like we've been down this road before ! Do I have any unpopular bookish opinions I haven't already shared? Hi, I'm Miriam, and I hate Mr. Darcy  ( really.  hate . him. ) 😛. Let's see if I can conjure up some unpopular bookish opinions for the 2020s. My Unpopular Bookish Opinions for the 2020s (So Far) I'm not a big fan of enemies to lovers --in fact, it makes me NOT want to read a book (I do anyway sometimes because there are so dang many of them, but fortunately, a lot are mislabeled). I AM a big fan of friends to lovers --these don't seem to be as popular, but I love seeing friendships deepen into relationships, and I think these are a lot more realistic anyway! I'm not a Sarah J. Maas/ACOTAR fan *gasp*--To be fair, ACOTAR is the only one of her books that I've read, so I wouldn't write her off entirely and would maybe try Throne of Glass  or something else...

 Happy Top Ten Tuesday over at That Artsy Reader Girl!  I've included some books I've read recently as well as some books that are on my TBR with covers reminiscent of spring, whether that's pastel colors or a sylvan setting. Something about green trees just says spring to me. We've definitely slipped back into a brief winter here after some lovely springlike days, (and a number of blossoming trees) but hopefully they will return soon. Top Ten Books With Spring-y Covers The Sapling Cage by Margaret Killjoy Under Loch and Key by Lana Ferguson Who Loves You Best by Marilyn Simon Rothstein The Gargoyle and the Songbird by Cora Crane Party of One by Meghan Keane Song of the Six Realms by Judy I. Lin The Secret Country by Pamela Dean Better Living Through Birding by Christian Cooper Stay Awhile by Chrissa Rose The Forest Bride by Jane Buehler

For whatever reason, March has been a busy month for me the past several years (except 2020-2021 for obvious reasons). I finished the first two books on a trip I took at the beginning of the month. The rest are all quick or book-club reads crowded in on nights and weekends. This is what's getting me through. Books Read in March 2025  The Fire Apprentice by Jane Buehler (Sylvania #5)-Read my review here . TL: DR; Highly recommend to readers of romance and cozy fantasy! UnSweetined by Jodie Sweetin (Book club read)--Interesting celebrity memoir as someone who grew up watching Full House --this is really more of a confession that Sweetin wrote to keep her honest and accountable about her addiction problems, but I'd recommend it if you similarly are interested in her and Full House.  The Forest Bride by Jane Buehler (Sylvania #1)--Decided to finally read the first book in the cozy fantasy Sylvania series! Just as delightful as all the other ones, with an endearing mix of fantasy ...