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Diverse genres & stories that shape us 📚 | Reviews, bookish questions, & fun | Book blogger | Turn the page with me!
📚: Atmosphere

“Astronomy was history, because space was time… The space between you and the star is time.” — Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid

When I read this line, it stopped me. Not just because it’s poetic, but because it explained something I’d been wondering for years: Where did my time go?

Joan’s words made me see that maybe my question isn’t about busyness or motherhood at all. Maybe it’s about space. About how far I have to travel—physically, culturally, emotionally—just to live my life each day. And how space always demands time.

This post is part book-inspired reflection, part personal truth about time perception, life pace, and the space between where we are and where we want to be.

✨ Read the full reflection on the blog — [link in bio]

💬 Do you feel like life where you live pushes you to rush—or allows you to slow down?

#bookblogger #atmospherebook #taylorjenkinsreid #timereflection #slowdownmovement #lifepace #blogpromo #reflectivewriting #timemanagement #bookthoughts #dawnunchained

My Two for Tuesday is quite different😁. 2 books

My Two for Tuesday is quite different😁. 2 books for 2$ purchased at the public library. The librarian I met there raved about Looking for Jane and said there are mixed reviews about The Paper Palace. I love books with mixed reviews so I'll see what I think about that one.

Have you read any of these two? How long is your TBR? 😂😂I don't think I need to ask this question! At this point, my TBR is part of my legacy🤣.

#lookingforjane #heathermarshall #thepaperpalace #reesesbookclub #twofortuesday #publiclibrary #locallibrary #bookhaul #bookpurchase

📚⚖️ Case #2 is in session! Presided by the

📚⚖️ Case #2 is in session!
Presided by the ever-dramatic Judge Plot-Twist

Charge: Annotating in pen.
Prosecution says: It’s literary vandalism—akin to carving your name into the Mona Lisa.
Defense says: It’s a sacred ritual, a love letter to the words themselves.

💥 The courtroom demands answers:

Are you Team Pen = Passionate Reader?

Or Team Pen = Permanent Crime Scene?

Drop your verdict in the comments: GUILTY 😤 or FREE TO GO 😇
📢 Bonus points if you present “Exhibit A” from your own bookshelves.😂😂
📌 Courtroom doors close at midnight. Next week… we try a case so divisive, even Judge Plot-Twist is scared. 👀🔥

#ACourtOfReadersAndRagingOpinions
#JudgePlotTwist #BookishCourt
#BookishHumor #BookCommunity
#BookDebates #FictionalCrimes #ReaderRights #BookishOpinions
#ReadingLife #BookwormProblems
#LiteraryDebate

I’ve been at the hospital with my 2 kiddos (4yrs

I’ve been at the hospital with my 2 kiddos (4yrs and 2yrs) since mid-July — not to say too much, but they’re okay. Don't you worry💛. They just need some rehabilitation, so we’ll be here for the whole summer.

Luckily, there’s a book cart, "a Lending Library" close to our room where you can leave a book and take a book! Yay! Of course, I couldn’t resist swapping a Stephen King for a Stephen King. Isn't it a fair trade? 😏📚 Swipe to see the swap I made.

Between my own reads and the treasures I can find here, I think my summer TBR just got an unexpected twist.

What’s the best (or most unexpected) book you’ve ever found in a book swap? Do you ever swap books when you travel or visit new places? Or are you more of a “pack the whole library” type?

✨ What if a thriller could entertain and quietly

✨ What if a thriller could entertain and quietly call out everything wrong with the system?

That’s what Two Nights in Lisbon did for me.

Sure, there’s suspense. But beneath the twists?
A quiet storm of questions:
➤ Is education still a right—or just a luxury with a price tag?
➤ Do we really have freedom, or just the illusion of it?
➤ Can generosity exist when it benefits us too?

I didn’t expect to reflect on capitalism, access, and the American Dream while flipping pages. But here I am, entertained and low-key shook.
If you love fiction that makes you pause mid-page to think, you’ll want to read this.

📚 Full piece is on the blog → dawnunchained.com
Also saved under my "Blog Posts" highlight!

💬 Let’s talk in the comments:
🔸 What’s one “normal” part of society you’ve started to question lately?
🔸 Have you ever read a book that made you rethink what freedom really means?

📚 Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5/5)

This is one of those books where I finished it and thought, Why isn’t this rated higher? (It sits at 3.7 on Goodreads, but to me it deserves more recognition.)

The setup: Ariel wakes up in a Lisbon hotel and her husband is gone. No note. No phone. No trace. But as she starts searching, we realize — maybe she doesn’t know who he is at all.

Ariel is not to be underestimated. She’s quiet, but every move she makes is calculated. Smart. Intentional. I really appreciated how Chris Pavone built her character with such precision.

What stood out most for me was how the book isn’t just a thriller. It weaves in sharp commentary on American culture, how lies are embedded in everyday life, and the power dynamics between men and women. There’s also a strong thread of politics, media, privilege, and identity — all threaded through naturally, never "preachy".

If I had to nitpick, the middle slows down a bit. And some readers on Goodreads found it too “lecture-y.” But honestly? That was one of the highlights for me. I liked the added depth. I like when thrillers (or genres that are known to be highly fictional like fantasy), make me think. And the ending? I had theories, but it still surprised me.

📖 Fav quote:
“A Christmas present to herself, for the future: her past.”
I love how this line brings past, present, and future into one sentence — each word holding layered meaning.

What about you?
🔍 Do you prefer thrillers that stick to the plot — just action and suspense —
or do you enjoy stories that pause to explore deeper ideas and hidden truths?

💬 Have you ever read a thriller that made you rethink something about society or politics?

#TwoNightsInLisbon #ChrisPavone
#ThrillerReads. #PoliticalThriller #UnderratedReads #SmartThriller
#BookReview #BookstagramReviews
#BooksThatMakeYouThink #FictionWithDepth
#GoodreadsUnderrated

At first glance, they couldn’t be more different

At first glance, they couldn’t be more different.
Different genres. Different vibes. Different stakes.

🧐 But there is a subtle thread tying them together...

It’s not a character.
Not a setting.
Not even a theme.

It’s something… higher.
(That’s all I’m saying 😏)

👀 Hint: the answer might be hiding in plain sight...
(Yes, I’m looking at those titles) 😉

➡️ Swipe to see the covers. Then take a wild guess in the comments:
What do All the Glimmering Stars and Atmosphere have in common?

#Bookstore #BookishGames #GuessTheBookConnection #AllTheGlimmeringStars #MarkSullivan
#AtmosphereBook #TaylorJenkinsReid
#tjrbooks #BookishPost #BookNerd
#ReadMoreBooks #BookishThoughts
#BookObsessed
#BookstagramCanada

📚 All The Glimmering Stars by Mark Sullivan Boo

📚 All The Glimmering Stars by Mark Sullivan Book review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Be careful—this book will wreck you, in the best possible way.

It’s fiction, yes. But it’s based on the true story of Anthony and Florence Opoka—and man, their story shattered me. I had to put the book down at one point just to ask: Is there any hope left for them?

From the first chapter, you already know you’re in for a gut-wrenching ride. The violence is immediate. The grief is real. It’s like the book is saying: Sit down, get comfortable, and hold on—this won’t be easy.

Uganda. 1987 to the early 2000s (not even that long ago!). Anthony (14) and Florence (11) are kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to fight in a war they never chose. Children becoming soldiers. Girls being forced into “marriage” with commanders. It’s devastating. And it really happened.

And yet—through all the horror, their minds stayed intact. That’s what the author captured so beautifully: their thoughts, their laughter, their moments of resistance. They never lost who they were. That alone feels like a miracle. It's admirable!

This should be required reading. There are so many themes to unpack: resilience, trauma, forgiveness, war, survival, hope. And don't skip the afterword—Anthony and Florence wrote it themselves.

Easily 5⭐. I’m still thinking about it. It’s wild how one man—Kony—inflicted so much pain and built a cult of terror. I’d love a psychiatrist to break that down! What did he experience in his life to be inhumane like this? The author did a great job writing this story. Truly. I wish I could have a discussion with him about this book.

Anyway… read this if you can handle emotional destruction 😂
You won’t regret it.

📌 Now tell me...
➡️ Have you ever read a book that wrecked you emotionally—but left you in awe?
➡️ What’s a story you think should be taught in schools, but isn’t?

#BookReview #Bookstagram #ReadersOfInstagram #EmotionalReads #MustReadBook #FictionBasedOnTrueStory #HistoricalFiction #AllTheGlimmeringStars #MarkSullivan #UgandanHistory #ChildSoldiers #ResilienceInBooks #StorytellingThatMatters #UnforgettableBooks

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Everything bookish | Dawn