iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Finished The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric Jay Dolin. I got it as an ARC before publication, but it came out in June. I read non-fiction slowly. This is a good book though. Very interesting and about a piece of history I was unfamiliar with. #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading #nonfiction

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Read another review of this book yesterday and it looks so, so good. I'm thinking about reading it. Kingsolver is usually a bit much/violent these days for me, but I'm thinking this one looks too good to pass up

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Finished Snow This Is Love, a collection of 5 novellas from Disney-Hyperion. Release date October 2026. These were sweet, and made me smile. Guaranteed happy endings! #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Finished The Stars Look Like Home by TJ Klune. Release date January 2027. I cried for almost this whole book, but it is so, so, so good. Burke is such a good boy! Almost anything else I would say about it would be a spoiler. Read this book!!! #booksky #readersky #microreview #queerbooksky #dogs

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Reread (and finished) Star Shipped by Cat Sebastian. Just as good on the 2nd time through as the 1st! I love Simon and Charlie, and every time I think about what Charlie's perspective must be like (not seen in the book), I melt a little. Love this book! #booksky #AmReading #readersky #microreview 🌈

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Finished Back for Seconds by Betty Corrello early this morning. Release date October 6, 2026. Cute book about June and Joey finding love again with each other after being dumped by their not-so-great exes. Also a Christmas story. #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading #cosmoreads

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Finished Once in a Timeline by Iman Hariri-Kia. Release date Oct 13, 2026. Wow. I wasn't sure where this was going at first, but I like where it ended up. Laia is stuck inside her last 'Perfect Day' vlog and Noah wants to help her out. #cosmoreads #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Finished The Hot Zone by Jayne Castle. Another one I've been looking for that ties up a lot of loose threads on Harmony, esp on Rainshadow Island. Sedona Snow (familiar last name, anyone?) has a problem and Cyrus Jones (same) wants to solve it for her #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Finished Audrey Lane Stirs The Pot by Alexis Hall. Oh wow. Hall has definitely upped his writing game with this book. Reading it was like thinking you're watching a second-rate magician and it turns out you're actually watching Houdini. #queerbooksky #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Finished Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall. First book in the Winner Bakes All series (I'm reading them out of order). Book is great but I liked the 2nd one better. This one has more plot twists than a (small) marble run. Impatient for book 3 #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading 🌈

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Finished Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer yesterday. Definitely should have read the 1st book in the series first. Oh well. It was sweet and fun especially for such a violent book. Not sure I want to read the others, but enjoyed this one. #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Finished Paris Daillencourt is about to Crumble by Alexis Hall. Paris is on a British baking show and his anxiety is through the roof. Fabulous Tariq keeps flirting with him but does Paris even notice through the anxiety that fills his brain? #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading #queerbooksky

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Finished Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R Alban Not bad for a first novel, and definitely picks up in the 2nd half. Beth & Gwen are in love, but can't marry so they scheme to get their parents together. Will their mad plan succeed? #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading #queerbooksky

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Finished Alchemy and a Cup of Tea by Rebecca Thorne. It was good, and very suspenseful at times, and definitely answers the questions we had about magic. A satisfying ending to the series and Reyna and Kianthe live happily every after #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading #queerbooksky 🌈

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Finished The Ancient Witch's Guide to Modern Dating by Cecilia Edward. It was sweet, but I hate secondhand embarrassment from my books, so it was a slow read for me. #booksky #readersky #AmReading #microreview

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Finished The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick. Caleb Jones and Lucinda Bromley must find the thief who stole her prized fern, while not falling victim to the psychic killers. Many connections here to the early days of Jones & Jones plus Arcane matchmaking #booksky #readersky #AmReading #microreview

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Finished Midnight Crystal by Jayne Castle (Krentz). Another one I've been looking for a long time. This is the end of the Dreamlight Trilogy that stretched across space and time. #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Finished Zinnia by Jayne Castle (Krentz). I've been looking for this one for ages, read Amaryllis & Orchid but couldn't find it. It does not disappoint! Nick Chastain and Zinnia Spring are a talent & a prism on the alien world of St Helens where everyone is psychic #booksky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Finished Stay for a Spell by Amy Coombe. Lovely, cozy romantasy with a good dose of growing up and learning to set boundaries with your mom. Cursed princess can't leave the bookshop, and the 7 princes of the realm must come to her to give her a kiss. #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Finished Autumn at the Cat Café by Kathleen Fuller last night. It was sweet & good with a caveat. #Spoiler: I didn't actually read all of it. The MCs have a major fight & break up right before the end. I skipped that part and picked up w their happy ending #booksky #readersky #AmReading #microreview

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Two hundred followers!!! Thank you everyone! ❤️❤️❤️

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Read and finished tonight What Happened at Midnight by Franklin W. Dixon. Mr Hardy has been called to California but Frank & Joe run afoul of the gang of dangerous smugglers anyway. Notable for the role Aunt Gertrude plays in accidentally discovering several clues #microreview #AmReading #readersky

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Finished Tea You At The Altar by Rebecca Thorne, 3rd in Tea & Treason series. Oh my god I need the next book now! I have to wait until Mon morning when my favorite bookstore opens again. Ends on a total cliff-hanger. Loved it! What else has she written? #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading 🌈

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Not finishing Rules of Surrender by Christina Dodd. An older romance I found at a used book sale, it seemed outdated but acceptable but I forgot that I don't like how consent is usually handled in older romances. Oh well. It would play much better as a sapphic novel. #booksky #readersky #microreview

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Read & finished The Memory of Borrowed Books by Meg Anderson yesterday (well technically I finished very early this morning) Release date Oct 2026. Made me cry. The library is weeks away from demolition when Librarian Claire finds a hidden room of memories #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Finished The Witching Moon Manor by Stacy Sibinski, 2nd in the Crescent Moon Teashop series. Lovely little book -- intense at times but always a cozy. Anne, Beatrix, and Violet have been drawn back together again & new challenges await as they move forward #booksky #readersky #microreview #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Finished Sea of Charms by Sarah Beth Durst. Oh wow, I loved it. Really satisfying 3rd book in the Spellshop series. Ties together with the 1st 2 books in a way that is lovely but also still is a stand alone story. Marin and Dax's relationship is just so lovely #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I'm not going to finish The Missed Connection by Tia Williams. I tried, I really did, but I don't like weirdly intense books with a twist every few pages. The last straw was yet another story twist in a subplot, not even the main plot. Like, just leave the poor characters alone. #AmReading #booksky

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Finished Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser today. It's a retelling of Cinderella from the point of view of the stepmother, and no magic. The central question is always why would the prince want to marry a girl he just met? In this version, you won't like the answer #readersky #booksky #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

And the end felt completely unfinished -- I need to know what happens next to Bonnie, Hilly, Celia, and even Roxy! Don't leave me hanging like this! The Florabama Ladies Auxiliary & Sewing Circle by Lois Battle is about what happens after the local mill closes #booksky #readersky #AmReading 2/2

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Finally finished The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary & Sewing Circle by Lois Battle. Not quite what I was expecting, in both good and bad ways. Kind of like a knock-off Fannie Flagg. It also felt kind of rushed. None of the story lines were as well developed as I would have liked #readersky #booksky 1/2

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Finished Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee today. It was a reread, but just as good on 2nd reading. Harriet (Harry) and Emily start out as rivals for the same duke, but finish by falling in love. #booksky #readersky #AmReading #queerbooksky 🌈

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Reading The Florabama Ladies' Auxiliary Sewing Circle by Lois Battle today and my god it is slow! Trying not to have any more unfinished books right now so trying to stick with it -- wish me luck! #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Started and not finishing Annie Freeman's Fabulous Traveling Funeral by Kris Radish. This is not the right book for me now. I am not in a place to appreciate it. I'm going to hang on to it. Someday, it will be the book I need then and that's when I will read it. #death #readersky #AmReading #booksky

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Reposted by Bess

The Whimsical Muse @whimsicalmuse.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

The world would be a better place with more bookstores, bakeries, greenhouses, libraries, gargoyles, cat rescues, museums, and Oxford commas.

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Read and finished Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man by Fannie Flagg yesterday. Daisy Fay makes the best of her difficult home life with an alcoholic father but reading as an adult is rough. The ending, though! Organized labor gives Daisy a true miracle. #booksky #readersky #AmReading love the 🌈 glimpses

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Read and finished The Case of the Spellbound Child today by Mercedes Lackey. Another Elemental Masters novel featuring Nan & Sarah, I've been looking for this book for a while. So happy I found it at the library today! I love books that are scary without being scary. #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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Reposted by Bess

Micah @rincewind.run · 21/07/2026

Going Postal is one of the most purely fun Discworld books but it also has some of the very most moving passages in the entire series, which obviously took on an even stronger meaning after the Embuggerance a man is not dead while his name is still spoken GNU Terry Pratchett

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Finished With This Ring by Amanda Quick yesterday. Another mystery with a complicated plot -- who is the villain? Are you sure? The pathos of "You can't save everyone. The important thing is you save some." Wow. And the spicy scene is something. A fave, for sure! #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

A Pirate's Life for Tea was definitely inspired by 'The Last Saskatchewan Pirate' by The Arrogant Worms www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuGG... and The Princess Bride but I won't tell you how. Absolutely looking forward to book 3, the epilogue is nothing but a teaser #booksky #readersky #AmReading 🌈

youtube.com

The Arrogant Worms - The Last Saskatchewan Pirate

YouTube video by daviddowns81

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Finished A Pirate's Life for Tea by Rebecca Thorne. Reyna and Kianthe are traveling, following leads on the dragon eggs when they encounter a river pirate and the constable who pursues her. #booksky #readersky #AmReading #queerbooksky 1/2

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Finished One & Only by Maurene Goo. Will Cassia choose her fated, Daniel, or the adorable young man she had a meet-cute with, Ellis? And Daniel just happens to be Ellis' boss. I'm still thinking about the absolutely lovely & unexpected ending. Family, fate, and love ❤️ #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Read and finished Otherwise Engaged by Amanda Quick yesterday. Miss Amity Doncaster saves the life of Benedict Stanbridge as the plot twists and turns and the villains multiply. Clever. Can you keep track of who is a hero and who is a villain? #booksky #readersky #AmReading #mysterybooks

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Reposted by Bess

Dex Anderson @dexanderson.com · 10/07/2026

it looks like the recount is final in the Sioux Falls Mayoral election. Democrat Jamie Smith lost by FOUR VOTES. VOTE YOUR LOCAL ELECTIONS, PEOPLE.

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Read and finished The Last Lady B. by Eloisa James today. Wow. Romance, Gothic novel (complete with a ghost or two), and mystery all rolled into one. Beware the woman who says 'there can only be one wife here.' Delightful story as always from James. #booksky #readersky #AmReading #mysterybooks

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Finished Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray. Wow. Reminiscent of an Agatha Christie novel: Christie at her best and yes I know that's saying something. I wondered if it was going to play out the way it did but Murray misdirected me every time. Masterful. #booksky #readersky #AmReading #mysterybooks

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Finished The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty. Did not realize going in that this is the first in a trilogy. Got taken by surprise by one hell of a cliffhanger 11 pages before the end -- the book actually ends with a bonus scene(s). Good book, though very hard to read in one spot. #booksky

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Finished Enter the Nightmare by Jayne Castle. Another good one from Krentz. Dust bunnies for the win! I love those tiny guys! The fast-paced timeline did have me reeling a little -- 72 hours from start to finish of book & I did not see the final twist coming. #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Also, many of Krentz's books have a relationship between women and/or trans men among the side characters. I wish she had the courage to write a book about women or trans men as the main love story.

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Bess @strawberrygarden.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Finished Seduction by Amanda Quick. Starts out a little problematic but finds its footing as the mystery begins to play out. I definitely prefer her books with a mystery and the woman is on truly equal footing with the man as they solve the mystery. #booksky #readersky #AmReading

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