Welcome to Litsy!

#doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

DeLint's short stories are always a welcome escape. Love Newford so so much.

So excited to return to Newford ❤️

A few days behind so catching up. #Booktober day 10: tree in the title.

Caspian was so passed out he didn't even realize I used him as a book stand.

@Pogue Thank you so much for the #myfavoritebookswap loot! I can‘t wait to read the books and try the snacks! I‘ve only read 1 de Lint book before (The Blue Girl) but I loved it, and I‘m a sucker for things set in the Pacific Northwest so I‘m looking forward to Mink River as well! Thanks to @JoeStalksBeck for hosting! Also-I still don‘t know who my match is but I‘ve got some stuff ready to send out, so just let me know, ok?

Charles DeLint is an autobuy author for me - and I sure wish I could book a ticket to Newford!
He is urban fantasy at it's best. And his stories are always amazing.
Plus, he has an insane autograph to boot!
Yes - that scribbly blotch is it! I love that he always dates it too. This one is from '03 ✨✨
#signedsunday #signedsundays

Bonus points for #booklove17 The pup is Cosmo Brown, named after Gene Kelly's sidekick in Singin' in the Rain. The story is from the collection I just finished about a comic book writer and her blind date with a gentlemanly werewolf. How's that for #puppylove

This is the 9th book I've read set in Charles de Lint's fictional city of Newford. I know its streets, neighborhoods, shops, bars, and clubs. I know the recurring characters, Jilly, Christy, Geordie, Sophie, Sue, Holly and the rest. I know the magic, dark and light, large and small, that fills every avenue and alley. I stayed away for many years, but it was so nice to go back. (Don't start here! Start with Dreams Underfoot!)

Was going to get all my Doctor Who books together to show my #geeklove for #booklove17 but, due to the massive thunderstorm, I am holed up in the bedroom reading with Cosmo, to ensure that the door he scratches on to display his panic is not my sleeping son's. #dogsoflitsy

Look, Charles de Lint is a master of urban fantasy. Filling city streets with wild magic comes effortlessly to him. Writing about technology... not so much. A couple paragraphs later he mentions AskJeeves.com. Welcome to 2002, folks.

My #currentread has been Tapping the Dream Tree on my Kindle, but today I realized I had a copy in one of the storage boxes under the bed! #riotgrams

This quote is from a story called #SecondChances in the collection that I'm reading so I guess that counts for #booklove17

So one of my favorite short stories of all time is Charles de Lint's "Pal o' Mine" from his collection The Ivory and the Horn. I probably haven't read it in 10 years or more, but I think of it often and almost every time I still tear up a little. Imagine the emotional gut punch when I read the first sentence of this story and realized it was a direct sequel.

Most of Charles de Lint's books and stories take place in the fictional city of Newford and many of his characters weave in and out of the books and collections, in the background or taking the lead. This story was like his Avengers. Lots of his big names show up together. The Crow Girls! Cerin and Meran Kelledy! Prof. Dapple! Jilly Coppercorn is obviously de Lint's Captain America.

How I feel when I wear a necktie. Not a bow tie though. Bow ties are cool.

This from a story with the lovely title "Many Worlds Are Born Tonight" about a former mob lackey running from his old bosses and ending up on a magical dark eternal Ferris wheel. As one does.

There's a LOT going on in the first story in this collection, "Ten for the Devil". There's a girl who lives in a trailer in the woods and plays on her grandma's magic blue fiddle. There's an immortal blues musician and a pair of dueling magicians pulled into our reality by music. And no less than the Devil himself wanting to play a little guitar and make a wager. It is to de Lint's credit that it all feels fun, earthy, and of a piece.

Looks like the Devil met his match.

That guy with the "easygoing lilt" that's charming Staley? That would be the Devil himself, carrying his guitar and wearing cowboy boots.

It's not a true Charles de Lint story without some kind of exhortation to live life to the fullest.

Between my sophomore year in high school and my sophomore year in college I read 16 Charles de Lint novels. Then I just stopped reading his books. I'm still not entirely sure why. But I'm picking up right where I left off with the first de Lint book I did not finish, trying to recapture the old magic. Wish me luck.