Welcome to Litsy!

Here are my options for #Roll100 with @PuddleJumper.

I never got to #49 in Jan, and I am hoping to get to all three of these in April.

Stressed as hell, listening to a gorgeous book as my way through.

3 ⭐

I only got two hours of reading in yesterday for the first day of #24b4monday - I have quite a bit to make up today and tomorrow!

But I did finally get this one finished. It's a weird book, like it doesn't know what it wants to be. Some parts were super interesting, but then parts dragged. I liked the ending, but it felt rushed. Between a pick and a so-so for me.

@Andrew65 @TheReadingMermaid @jb72

The 1st problem with this book is that I cannot remember the title! I can look at it and 2.5 seconds later, I blank on it🙄. I liked the main characters, but the story jumped around a bit (a lot), and was unnecessarily gruesome at times. It was an impulse purchase when shopping with @Kelican17 Since it is a so-so for me, she‘ll probably love it. We are generally polar-book-opposites. 1/5🦖s

Here‘s a Pic of what I call my “dinosaur” hostas.

40 pages in and I think this will be a binge read. So good. Shoes is not impressed.

A round up of my book themed coffee mugs.

#6 I love my Parks ands Rec book mug.

#mugsoflitsy

Starting this one on this blustery Michigan afternoon

My last book of 2018. Not my best reading year. 😬

Intriguing but slow going. This was one of those books where I appreciated, even savored at times, the writing but the trajectory of the story felt like a missed opportunity.

Very unique story! I liked it a lot

Y'all. I'm reading more now than I have in mooooonths. It feels great. 🤓

We're having a grey rainy day here in the Pacific Northwest. All the better for snuggling.

Could this be the one that gets me back into the reading groove? 🤔

Starting this book tonight. And attempting to crochet a mermaid tail blanket for my niece for Christmas. After a few hiccups at the beginning, I think I'm getting the hang of it. It's pretty cozy. I'll post another pic in a few weeks when the tail part is finished!

Well, sure. What a way to get started 😮

I never not finish a book club selection, but I guess there‘s a first for everything. Started on audio, then continued on my Nook, but am just not into it. I have too many other books calling my name to be bogged down with something I‘m not enjoying, so......Onward and (hopefully) upward...!

There is a girl, a cursed girl. She lives next to the woods, a cursed woods. For centuries her family has had girls disappear into the woods never to be seen again. The book flashes back to some of these women while Maisie goes on an adventure to find something she has lost.

I just couldn‘t get into this one.

My airport go to, Starbucks and reading. I also downloaded a bunch of audiobooks and still have to go check the magazines #psl #airportreads #fallreading

This book took me months to finish. I finally switched over to the audio from the physical book and powered through. I found that the story was confusing and needlessly violent. I had so looked forward to this novel but it did not work for me.

Really enjoyed the overall concept & story the author wove, especially loved the family saga aspect. The portions w/the ancestral Blakely women were super intriguing, gave me some Anne Rice Mayfair Witches vibes. Pacing was a bit off tho, & I wish the last maybe 50 pages had been given more space. And the ending...confused me? Seemed like we‘d get some big wild ending & then it just...wasn‘t. But still liked it & will read more from her! 3/5 ⭐️

I read books so I could have some understanding of the world outside my door, so that I might, upon reshelving them, gaze proudly at the empire I‘d conquered.

I knew that when I reached the cottage the true loss of her would hit me; the fist of my sore heart would unfurl and stretch its fingers into the empty spaces her passing had left.

The readalikes mentioned on this one include The Snow Child (one of my all time faves) and The Tiger‘s Wife (another fave and OMG when is she going to put out another book??!!), so fuck yeah. #nowreading

Up next

I absolutely loved this book, beautiful story about family and love and loss and history and magic.

Reading on the porch during a thunderstorm is the best!! Hour 8 of #24in48.

I honestly couldn't put this down until I finished it. I'm not usually into dark fairytale type books but Fine' s novel is so so so good. And it's about so much more than the stories that make it up.

Fine uses science, logic, magic, art, and ancient ritual to weave an incredibly complex story of colonialism, feminism, love, and the thin boundary between life and death.

This may not be for everyone, but I adored it.

Gotta focus on this guy as it‘s due back at the library Monday.

I tried all the way to page 120 but could not force myself to read this any longer. It fell flat, and for a story that had the potential to be mesmerizing, lacked passion as if the author was playing an out of tune piano. I felt no suspense or need to know what happened next. It seemed to not make sense and not go anywhere. This will earn a spot on my "Try again...maybe" list.

I‘ve read a string of books lately that I‘ve liked, which have all had aspects that I‘ve admired, but which haven‘t left me feeling satisfied. This is one of those.

It‘s like a (much) darker “Pushing Daisies” or a (slightly) lighter expansion of “Rappuccuni‘s Daughter.” I liked the setting (old manse; ominous, beckoning wood). I liked the theme of women & wanting - though I have some doubts about how this theme played out.

*Cont‘d below👇🏻

“[The] heart pumped on oblivious to its master‘s intentions, its beat a force of beauty. [My father] had not raised me with religion, but he‘d taught me that much.”

*Artist: Catherine Holcombe

Reading this as my husband plays a game with epic battle music & completes a sub-plot called “Death to Bandits”:

“Led...by a brother & a sister, one of the stronger forest cults would not submit. They used guerrilla tactics & crude weaponry in an attempt to hold back their would-be-oppressors. They caused enough of a to-do to be remembered in their conqueror‘s books but could not halt the tide of what those books called progress.”

Synchronicity!

It finally, finally feels like summer in The Ocean State. 💙📖🌊

And this concludes my epic weekend of fairy tales—dark, dangerous & creepy as all get out, every last one of them. This one, which I enjoyed & would say is really well written for a debut, was no exception. Maisie is cursed—anything she touches dies. Her father keeps her at home & away from others & warns her never ever to venture into the woods behind the house. Then one day he disappears...Great writing, ok characters, creepy fantastic plot.

Picked up some library holds. I don‘t know why I wasn‘t expecting War Storm to be that thick but with a busy month coming up hopefully I can get it read amidst all the other stuff I have to get read.

I don‘t want to say I picked my next read solely by its cover...but it is a really great cover!

While at some points the story was a bit convoluted, this was a good fantasy read overall.

Gothic modern day fairy tale about Maisie, a girl whose touch can end life or restore it. I loved the way the timeline wove back and forth in this.

GUYS!! If this isn‘t already on your TBR... check it out!

I went into the reading blind, and was shocked into intrigue. Debut author Julia Fine wrote MC Maisie with a “special” power— she can end the life of any living being & give it back at will, with just a touch. Julie Buntin moderated a fun & engaging evening! Can‘t wait to read it.

Gift or curse? A young girl with a dark power is raised in isolation in the woods but uncovers a secret concerning her abilities with ties to pagan folklore. Told with beautiful prose, I couldn't put it down.

Stopped at B&N for a little shopping trip even though I told the fiancé I didn‘t need anymore books (which was obviously a lie). #bookhaul

This book completely swept me away! It's gently unpredictable, yet all my questions were answered, no stone left unturned. Great tension-building and impeccable pacing from the first to very last page, and an actual, solid ending. This dark, magical fairy tale-like novel is right up there with Aimee Bender-level perfection, but Julia Fine's style is all her own. Love, love, love!

The concept for this book was really interesting, but I felt the author didn‘t do enough with it. Maisie can kill or reanimate with a touch due to a very old family curse. The story builds on dark fairy tales and feminist themes, but it is hard to connect with the characters. 3⭐️ Audiobook is available on Hoopla.

Could not resist buying this from my independent bookseller today!!

I‘m starting this with high hopes tonight. I need something dark and compelling... Anyone read it yet?

Predinner reading on the deck. Ahhhhhh love warm weather

I'm running a #giveaway of WHAT SHOULD BE WILD over on my Instagram (@lovelybookshelf) for anyone interested. Contest runs through Sunday, May 20. "In this darkly funny, striking debut, a highly unusual young woman must venture into the woods at the edge of her home to remove a curse that has plagued the women in her family for millennia—an utterly original novel with all the mesmerizing power of The Tiger‘s Wife, The Snow Child, and Swamplandia!"

Well hello weekend! This book *feels* downright luxurious. I kinda love these new dust jackets. Heading to northern NY for the weekend - land of no cell service or wifi. Can‘t wait!