Welcome to Litsy!

I have not read this author‘s first book, but i absolutely fell in love with this one. Magical and historical and so, so interesting to read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just the laugh I needed this morning

This passes the vibe check.

Before the events of The Watchmaker of Filigree Street (*****), Merrick Tremayne is sent to Peru to attempt to smuggle cuttings that produce quinine out of the country, to break their stranglehold on this life-saving drug. Among the remains of the Incan culture and the Spanish conquest, Merrick finds old legends, stone men, and an impossibly old priest with a secret that involves generations of Merrick's own family.

I was enjoying this so much while also feeling anxious about what was ahead for Merrick that I found I read rather slowly... this one will be living rent free in my mind for quite awhile!

Optimistic TBR for August

I say optimistic because my ability to read books during a set time frame is sketchy at best 🤔

This is still sitting on my tbr but this tumblr account is giving me life...

#stunningcover #jamminjune On TBR but I loved the watchmaker of Filigree street. In uncharted Peru, Bedlam stands at the edge of a mysterious forest. Within are trees whose bark yields the only known treatment for malaria. Merrick Tremayne, under orders to return with cuttings, meets Raphael, an enigmatic priest who is the key to a secret which will prove more valuable than they could have ever imagined.

I came to love this book, despite its slow start. I was in a slump and initially put this down. When I did get back to reading it more vigorously I absolutely loved it. The platonic friendship between characters, the magical realism and the little touches of the setting just made me feel at home, as if I was living through it. I can safely say that I'll read anything Natasha Pulley writes and will continue to recommend her to everyone I know.

There was a real family, the Tremaines, who spent decades creating a vast and fantastic garden on their estate which ended up in ruins and lost. Link: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Gardens_of_Heligan Merrick is the fictional member of the family who works for the East India Company. He has a bad leg but is sent out to Peru to obtain cuttings for a quinine plantation. In the Andes, the world as he knows it slips into magic and warped time..

This is definitely my “flavour” of book - a genre mash of historical/magical/fantasy. It‘s picturesque but a slow moving, character driven plot that isn‘t for everyone. A wounded 19th century explorer is brought out of retirement for a seemingly impossible expedition to smuggle plants out of Peru. His path will lead him to confront an ancient culture and upend many of his assumptions about the world.

#7Days7Covers #Covercrush Day1
Post a cover you love each day for 7 days. No explanation needed.
Thanks @QuietlyLaura

Day 2
#7covers7days
#CoverCrush

I‘m not tagging anyone because I think everyone and their brother has been tagged twice already. 😆

A beautiful and immersive book, perfect for escaping a busy week. The world building was masterfully done, making fantastic inventive concepts feel so natural.

Your pen pal may be great, but I‘m positive mine is better. After a truly terrible day, I came home to this surprise from the incomparable @Mitch complete with a card that made me cry. You are amazing, my friend, and I am so grateful for you. (Also, thank you to @mellissimo for the lovely #LitsyLove card that also arrived today😘).

I had to stop myself from reading this in one setting. The magical athmosphere of the book made me completely forget my own surroundings.

Listened to the audiobook. I liked this. Couldn‘t quite work out whether it was magical realism or a ‘Lost World‘ scenario (bit of both?). Weird, but good.

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

📙 Yes, a long time ago when my son was young.
📙 I quit working so much!
📙 Mars
📙 Tagged book has the most unique cover. Very pretty and has a cutout.
📙 @lovely.murrell Hi!🤗

I really enjoyed this .. not what I would usually pick up but recommended at a book club. It drew me in and I found myself really trying to envisage the village and markayuq. The exploding and floating wood fascinating. The characters developed through the book, especially Raphael. Definitely a tick for an unusual and mysterious story with a ending that made me smile.

#septinbooks18 @bookisglee

Prompt: Book with gorgeous cover

The hardcover of this book has a cutout for the lantern. In addition, I loved reading it. 💙

I enjoyed the heck out of this fantastical steam punk- esque tale. Set in the 1850s, this book follows three English explorers on an expedition to Peru for the East India Company. The writing is dense, lush, descriptive and surreal in parts. I found shades of the Dark Materials trilogy in Pulley‘s writing, but found myself flashing back to reading “The Vorrh” as the novel progressed. Not everyone‘s cup of tea but I loved it. 5/5

📗 The Bedlam Stacks
🍔 Burger
👨‍💻 David Benioff
🖥 Bones
#manicmonday @JoScho

Ok kids, it‘s a wrap for me! My eyes are glazing over, I‘m no longer absorbing what I‘m reading and I ultimately lost too much time yesterday to make up on the last day. A massive, huge international high five to all you badasses out there that hit #24in48 this time around! 🙌🏻 @24in48 thanks for another fun event!!

I've really struggled to get through this. Whilst the writing sets the scenes well for the characters and story to take place - neither captivated me. I struggled to understand the characters motivations and actions, and the storyline felt very sluggish and at time stagnated. Its been billed as "Indian Jones as a nineteenth century horticulturalist" but I just wasn't feeling it.

Just can‘t seem to get into this - can‘t work out if it‘s me? The hot weather? Or the book? Any thoughts on this one.....

I enjoyed The Watchmaker of Filigree Street quite a lot and this writer‘s writing style was fun, so I pre-ordered the paperback version of her book without even checking out the summary! I only know it‘s again historical sort of fantasy. Hope it‘s as lovely... (tho not quite sure when I‘ll get to read it, my pile keeps getting bigger! 😅)

Reallt enjoyed the atmosphere.

Next up on #kidspickingbooks month. Daughter choice - so I can learn about the geography in Peru 😁
An absolutely gorgeous looking book- reason enough to have on the shelf. Somewhere between a pick and a so-so- some sections where fantastic and some fell a bit flat or I lost the plot! Good ending. I haven‘t read the authors other book - but probably will.

Gorgeous cover. I'm on p27 and sucked into the story, shouldn't have started a new one so close to bedtime!

1. 67
2. I‘ve already surpassed my original goal for the year. New goal is 75 but I might need to re-evaluate. It would be nice to hit 100.
3. Ugh, really? If I must choose one, The Immortalists.
4. Natasha Pulley, Pepperharrow. It‘s the sequel to Watchmaker. Read it! And Bedlam Stacks as well. Loved both.
#2018checkin

#manicmonday @JoScho
Art edition

1) I like several, for different reasons. Bedlam Stacks, Daughter of Smoke and Bone UK Edition...
2) I'm quite taken by the Renaissance artists. Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli. And then there's the Romantic period, and later Pollock...
3) Kreidefelsen auf Rügen by C. D. Friedrich, 1818 (top left)
4) National Portrait Gallery in London, UK

Choosing #Peru reads was fun. I was tempted to go with Cindy Gerard's thriller set in Andes, With No Remorse. Then I got to know Adan's The Cardboard House, a PICK for me.

The Green House wasn't my 1st choice for MVL & the beginning was not appealing. Will check his other books soon. Meanwhile Lost City Radio has been promising.
When I came across Natasha Pulley's book, the blurb hooked me instantly! #readaroundtheworld
Greece books soon!

Reading this book was like being in a fever dream. I never really “got” it, and I‘m not sure why I kept reading it, to be honest. The characters were unique. I dunno. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Absolutely loved her first book. I was super excited for this one. And while it was a great story with a lot of depth to it, I did find it stalled at points which I didn't noticed in her first book. That said, the subject matter was fascinating and I was thrilled with how the author connected it to the first book. It can be a bit slow at points but still a very enjoyable and unique read.

I love this cover so much! Natasha Pulley‘s other book, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, is done in the same style, and it‘s just as pretty. Plus, Victorian historical fantasy is one of my favorite things. #coverlover #readingresolutions

I'd found this at a bookstore while on vacation, read the first few pages in the aisle there, and was so charmed by the narrator that I thought, "Sure, I'll follow you to Peru." I'm so glad I did. This story was refreshing and original, written in prose that glows softly like the clockwork lamps that illuninate the village of Bedlam. Appreciated the easter egg at the end, as well. I'll certainly keep my eye on this author. ????❤

"...they were almost still here. Someone must have been proud to live in those mad houses. There weren't ghosts - I don't believe in ghosts - but standing there I wished I did because ghosts would have meant they were less lost." ???

#LitsyPSA - This is also on sale as a Kindle ebook. Apparently it‘s been on sale before because I already bought it. I think I have a problem...

I haven't read a good historical fiction with such interesting characters and hilarious banter in a long time. Just started this evening but might just finish over the weekend. 💰🌱🌳💚

What's gone before you, and what will come after,' I said instead.
'Beg pardon?'
'The past ahead. Time is like a river and you float with the current. Your ancestors set off before you did, so they're far ahead. Your descendants will sail it after.

Natasha Pulley, The Bedlam Stacks

Snowy morning, which calls for coffee and some new books. ❄️❄️❄️
The only question is what to start first. 🤔

#FriYayIntro @jesshowbooks

1) The Bedlam Stacks - saw quite a lot "so-so" reviews that I was really surprised at how much I liked it
2) don't follow any
3) Jamie Fraser oder Nathaniel Steepleton (Watchmaker of Filigree St)
4) anything read by Neil Gaiman himself
5) ☁☔?❄⛄

My husband went into the office after work tonight and said: "Enough with these stacks of books everywhere." Bhaha!
#blameitonlitsy

Yeah, it's #Avocadotoastday and #Humpday!!!

#HumpdayPost @MinDea

1) + 2) box of tissues, I caught a cold
3) have only ever seen The Office, the UK Office that is
4) ???
5) so many good books, but The Bedlam Stacks - mainly because I expected to be disappointed/fooled by the cover and then I really enjoyed it.

I found this book to be a bit of a struggle to get into but by the time I finished it I was sorry it was over. It was a really lovely story it just moved slower then what I'm used to.

And here we have what appears to be an insurmountable TBR mountain for December. Most of these are hold overs I picked up to read in November but did not get to because the universe decided to throw some chaos my way. Here's to hoping for a quiet December.