Welcome to Litsy!

I picked this up based on @Aimeesue ‘s review, and I‘m glad I did! Originally published in #1981 , this YA historical fiction covers quite a lot of heavy topics. Russian displacement, eugenics (yikes!), and war are a few of the big ones. There are some very horrible characters, but the MC Anna‘s outlook on life is so grownup and inspiring. And yes, at its core, this is a romance; it‘s fun to watch things unfold! #192025

I am not one for romances, but this one popped up on my book radar twice in the past week, so I gave it a whirl.
Friends, this book is STELLAR, and is one of the best books I‘ve read all year. Absolutely delightful, in the best way. Anna is a Russian aristocrat who, fleeing the revolution, winds up as a penniless maid at a manor house in England.
Warm, witty, with a cast of wonderful characters, and hilarious, it‘s fabulous. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Gonna do #manicmonday early in the day, for a change.

Book: The Secret Countess by Eva Ibbotson

Author: Vivek Shraya

Media: Star Wars. Which Star Wars? ALL THE STAR WARS! Some of its bits are, shall we say, less good, but I‘m here for the wider picture.

Band: Streetlight Manifesto

Song: don‘t make me choose between Seven Nation Army (White Stripes), Saint Teresa (Joan Osborne), Snow [Hey Oh] (RHCP), and Soul To Squeeze (also RHCP)

I HIT MY TBR REDUCTION GOAL IN SEPTEMBER!!!!! Hello, glorious freedom from readerly pressure.

I didn‘t find any new-to-me 5-star reads last month (or any 4.5ers, even), but I celebrated said freedom by rereading four of my faves: the tagged book, plus, MÉLUSINE, THE VIRTU, and THE MIRADOR by Sarah Monette. They all kept their 5-star ratings and provoked the usual weeping fits, so that‘s nice.

Friends, I hit my TBR reduction goal! I only own 19 unread books!

I‘m gonna reread five faves to celebrate, starting with THE SECRET COUNTESS by Eva Ibbotson. I dove in before bed last night and I‘m already 110 pages deep.

The McGriddle‘s kind of celebratory, too, but I‘d have eaten it with a happier heart if my phone hadn‘t totally crashed & lost 90% of its charge when I went to pick breakfast up. I‘m not loving iOS 15, I‘ll tell you.

#QuotsyJun21 Day 24: #Outdoor

In the beginning I felt like there were far too many characters but they all eventually made sense with the plot. I‘m not 100% sold on the romance between the two main characters, they don‘t have a whole lot of interaction and don‘t seem to have much chemistry. There‘s a lot of telling rather than showing with the female lead also.
Fun story about the servants and upper crust in post-WWI England, can take or leave the love story.

This is my third attempt to read Ibbotson, and I think she just isn't for me. This was the best of the three by far, but Anna was SO good and Muriel was SO dreadful that Rupert's actions made no sense. He was honestly the reason this book annoyed me, because he definitely needed to man up and tell Muriel where to get off in order to protect his loved ones, and he just never did.

The Children‘s Hospital Book Market started today! I cleared my schedule, as per usual, and had a great time poking through everything on offer. $7 later, I came away with:

• a backup copy of my favourite book
• a Mary Stewart the library doesn‘t own
• the second-to-last Vlad Taltos novel I need
• a Neverwhere story I haven‘t read

Then I ate bibimbap, visited my LCS, and took a long, windy walk. It was a good day.

I love this book! It is a bit young and has such large print, but it still gets me every time!

Today's choice for #theunreadshelfproject2018! I only decided to join the project on Friday so I haven't gotten to pick books all week. I read Journey to the Riversea by Eva Ibbotson a few years ago and completely loved it, so since then I've been collecting her other books. Have I read any of them? 🙈

Anna, her career abandoned, was now ready to converse. ‘In La Fille Mal Gardée, which is a most beautiful ballet, she hangs exactly in this way from the shoulder of the hero, very soft and . . . limp, you know, like a cloth and at the same time she does little battements with her feet. It is in Act Three and very moving; you will like it very much.‘ ‘Shall I, my love?‘ said Rupert, dabbing gently at her eyes and nose.

I can't express how much I adored these books as a teen. @Kimberlone and I devoured them all. I was always upset that Ibbotson hadn't written a million more. They are still often on my rainy day reading lists. #riotgrams #day8 #booksilovedasateen

The best bookish event ever, @DeweysReadathon , celebrates its 10th anniversary this year! The team's running a daily #30daysofreadathon challenge to mark the occasion, and I'm gonna try to join in even though I'm crap at daily prompts.

Today's is Favourite Book. I'm gonna be divaish and show y'all my Top 16, minus THE SECRET COUNTESS which I only own digitally these days. (I bought the ebook & pressed my print copy on a friend.)

1. Manitoba
2. THE SECRET COUNTESS by Eva Ibbotson
3. Prose: Doctrine of Labyrinths; The Raven Cycle; Realm of the Elderlings; Original Sinners
Comics: Skip Beat!; Saga; Sandman; Hawkeye; Yotsuba&!; all X-Men
4. idk, Star Wars?
5. Current: JANE THE VIRGIN
Overall: BTVS
6. Billy Talent; Loreena McKennitt; RHCP; Led Zeppelin
7. Red
8. Fantasy
9. Writer, pet sitter, and dogsbody
10. Not since my sweet Murchie-poodle died in January :( #meetthelittens

Rereading this old favourite from my school days nearly 10 years ago! (Hopefully it's as good as I remember)

#currently #reading #currentlyreading #reread #historical #ya #youngadult #romance

2.5/5⭐️ - I read this a couple of years ago, eager for a Cinderella twist. The book plot itself was fine but I could just not get into the characters. The ex-countess was just too perfect to be believable or even likable in my mind, no matter how awful something was she just took it with a pleasant smile on her face and not a hint of disgruntlement.
Likewise the antagonist was unreasonably wicked in was that felt detrimental to her end goals.

Decent read, but I didn't absolutely love it. Required a lot of concentration due to all of the Old English in it, so not for bedtime reading.