Welcome to Litsy!

My second to last #Roll100 for 2026. I get the appeal and normally I love character driven SFF with political intrigue, but there was something that didn‘t work for me.

Baru‘s homeland is assimilated by the Falcrest Empire. She is sent as a child to a boarding school to be groomed as a civil servant to the Empire. But secretly Baru has plans for revenge on the usurping empire that destroyed her family. Will she have the nerve to see it through?

#weekendreads

📙The tagged and the Irving are for #Roll100

📘 The Crime at Black Dudley is for #HashtagBrigade

📗 The Qinncunx is for #10beforetheend

One of my favourite GR reviewers said this was good… so I bought it immediately and will read it one day!

Finally giving this one a try after owning it for years!

I didn't love this book but it was enjoyable, even if it could have been a little shorter. The ending surprised me, but I also took a break from reading it half way through. I read this a while ago and finally can post it!

It took me quite a while to finish this book. It started great and as it turns out it also had a great and unexpected ending but in the middle it was too much intrigue and politics for my taste. I kept going though because I really liked the writing. If I understood correctly, this is Seth Dickinson's first novel and a great debut it is. A pick for me!

Starships by Nicki Minaj

Science Fiction book(s)

Science Fiction is a genera I don‘t really read but I‘m interested in trying it more.

This one The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson is one that I put on my want to read shelf on Good Reads but I can‘t tell you anything about it or why I put it there. 🙈

#beatthebacklist #beatthebacklist2020 #btbaugust20

#WyrdAndWonder day 11: Take the world by storm

A character determined to bring down a repressive colonial regime from within. A staggeringly good debut. Baru Cormorant and Seth Dickinson get a joint nod today. I am still not okay (and I‘m about to start book two. Help).

April‘s selection for Tor.com‘s eBook of the month Club is available! Make sure to download an ePub or mobi copy before 11:59 PM ET, April 30th.

Available only in the US and Canada.

https://ebookclub.tor.com #torbookclub

Tor.com has this as the ebook of the month.
Grab it before 11.59pm ET 30th April 2020
#bookclub #tor

Let's finish this audiobook off while I work this afternoon. It's been a slog. Started off great, but when Baru Cormorant hits the “traitor“ part, the whole thing becomes a giant cross of Risk and palace intrigue, and boring as hell.

A little audiobooking while folding laundry tonight. I'm not really enjoying this one any more, but I'm close to the end so finish it I will.

I wanted to like this because it had an interesting plot and lots of political intrigues, but it was a struggle to get through. The writing style didn‘t work for me, and I often felt lost or that I was missing something important. Characters felt hollow (which is symbolic, but didn‘t help me connect). Not sure if I‘ll pick up the next one.

Bus arriving soon. Headphones in. Baru Cormorant queued up.

Audiobook for while I work.

There's about to be some pirate action, if I remember where I left off correctly.

Finished my reread and am ready for the second book! Except I am totally not, because this book destroys me. Gaaaaah.

I can only hope that in the second book we get to see some revenge.

#WyrdandWonder

It took me a few chapters to get accustomed to the unique language and names for this world, but once I did this was an epic journey. The world building was great, the characters were complex, and moral dilemmas and political scheming made me think of GoT.

I can't wait to read the next in this series. 💚

Rereading this, and even though it's a reread and I know what's going to happen, I nearly missed a meeting reading “just a few pages“ and getting sucked in... #WyrdandWonder

Oh, so much to like about this book—a compelling protagonist, a finely crafted plot in which accounting, yes accounting, plays an important & even exciting role, & an intriguing world—but it all adds up, unfortunately to a good but not great read for me. Lots of potential but somehow, it just didn‘t quite come together. That being said, it is well-written & has some good twists. In fairness, this might well be an “it‘s me not the book” situation.

Going with science fiction for my next book.

This is hands down one of the best fantasies I‘ve ever read (and I don‘t say that lightly). It‘s outrageously accomplished for a debut - I don‘t begrudge Dickinson the three years it‘s taken to craft a sequel! - with a devastatingly good plot and gorgeous, elegant prose. I can‘t believe this didn‘t win loads of awards. I‘ll be on a mission to recommend it to everyone!

Blanket nest day with Baru Cormorant. I have such a crush on Tain Hu 😍

I really should‘ve read this years ago!

Why yes, I do have an unhealthy fascination with seeing professional services and bureaucracies depicted in fantasy worlds, why do you ask?

This is not a nice book. But it is an excellent one. Intricate and stark, The Traitor Baru Cormorant has a fascinating protagonist in its title character. Witnessing her development was thrilling. Brilliant and cunning, she uses the weapon of economics to try to manipulate the Empire that stole her home from within. But ooh boy, the Masquerade Empire is a bad, bad terrifying villain. Highly recommend this dark, compelling book.

The only perk of being sick is the reading time. Starting this one now.

A very well written book where til the end you're not sure how everything will wrap up. Squidapus found the political maneuvering and mind games very entertaining to read; Baru's perfectly calculated indoctrination by the Empire clashes with her desire to attain power to free her homeland. He's still thinking about the ending and how he feels about it as the pieces for it were right in your face all along. A very entertaining and tense read.

Well, suffice to say Squidapus and I are enjoying this book way more than our last one. This book is very good at portraying it's complicated political machinations which is something Squidapus never really saw as interesting. Essentially the book is about a girl who's home is taken over by an Empire, who trains in their school to gain power to save her home and becomes accountant of a land the Empire is trying to conquer to sniff out a rebellion.

Oh man this holiday season was so busy for Squidapus and me, we barely had any time to read (or post and like people's posts!) but maybe this next book will draw him in and get him back in the reading mood!

Some very interesting plot details, but so unnecessarily dry and long. Probably not going to bother reading the next ones.

Oh man! A lot of people have started following Squidapus lately and so I figured I'd thank the whole lot of them and get a post up here since we haven't been posting a ton lately. Gosh life has been busy, and finding time to read has been a lot of work. But that hasn't stopped me from buying more books! Hahaha...aw man...

To be fair I've been meaning to get Baru Cormorant for a while and finally found a used Bennett book.

Currently reading: just started this last night but I was so tired after work I only made it through 7 pages. However, so far it seems really well written and Baru seems like a very interesting character.

Time to reread my favourite sad gay fantasy novel

Forgot to post my completed prompts for July-September #booked2018!
Blame It on Litsy- Sky in the Deep⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Diverse Nonfiction- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Set at School- A School for Unusual Girls⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
LGBTQIA+MC- The Traitor Baru Cormorant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Japanese Thriller- The Thief⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beach Read- The Book of Essie⭐️⭐️⭐️

A great month! The Traitor Baru Cormorant was one of the best books I‘ve ever read!

“I am a part of this, but I do not have to love it. I only have to play my role. Survive long enough to gather power. Gather enough power to make a difference.”

Getting some major GoT vibes with this read!
#currentlyreading

This book was gifted to me by my longest term friend, with the comment that he figured I had time to read during my surgery recovery.
Some of the turns here were unexpected. I found it a stark example of what power and control does to society in general and people in particular.

Can't recommend this book enough, and it's on sale TODAY ONLY so if you've been thinking about buy it now is the time!

wow, I know I'm way late to the party when it comes to this book, but just: wow

My library #bookhaul today. The last 4-5 weeks have been rough for a number of reasons and I haven‘t really been reading anything. So I brought these home to make my decision. Any recommendations?

#readingslump

I wish, Baru thought, that they would all just shut up and do as I say.

Just set up my far-from-perfect little tree—on top of a bookshelf, of course.

Today I learned that the sequel to The Traitor Baru Cormorant (coming in 2018) will be called The Monster Baru Cormorant.

"She stood, so that she could move her voce lower. 'Cattlson told me that they needed the dukes afraid of the people, and the people afraid of the Masquerade. But now you are afraid of me, and the people are tired of fear.'"
I have a lot of feelings/opinions about this book, anyone else?

Some train reading today on the way back from visiting a school friend. Just a few weeks before I'm back on campus!

I'm a mood reader, so I'm expecting my #AugustTBR to mutate a bit over the course of the month. Nonetheless, I'm really looking forward to reading everything in this stack. I'm discussing the tagged book with my book club next week, so I'll be starting it tonight.

#mostanticipated #backtoreading @JoeStalksBeck @Tiffy_Reads

Started this at lunch today. I'm really enjoying it already and there was a great map in the front