Welcome to Litsy!

We had glorious weather yesterday and I devoured this book. A feminist fantasy ( and I think to become a series) involving Immanuelle, a young girl marked by her mother‘s crime to love someone from ‘outside‘. Bethel is a puritanical land surrounded by the Darkwoods that call to Immanuelle. Such a great October read

Thanksgiving reading is a go ( getting some serious sister wives vibes to start 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️)

I may have entered a fugue state when I entered the mother of all used book stores, McKay‘s in Manassas VA. #BOOKHAUL

And I have said I would never buy or read a JoJo Moyes book, especially this one because of my great love of The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek.

All the fall vibes for October‘s #Bookspin list! Very excited for my favorite reading month, especially with #Dewey24readathon at the end of the month!

#bookhaul at my local new-and-used indie bookstore! I was also tempted to get Witch King by Martha Wells, but I just can‘t bring myself to pay new hardcover prices.

I can't believe I read this much this month! But they were all so amazing. My favorite read was definitely Alex Henderson's The Year of the witching.

I finally got to sit down and open my #modernwitchswap package!! Thank you sooo much @Pigpen_Reads!! I love everything!! I‘ve been wanting the tagged book for so long and I already started reading through Juliet Diaz‘s Witchery!! The trick or treat bags are so cute and perfect for my girls to use lol! I love how thick the bookmark is and I‘ve already started eating the cherry throat drops and fruit roll ups!! 😅 I‘m so happy!! #MWS

Killed yesterday but didn‘t bring my knife to Michigan with 799 word search points. This book was so fun!!!

Working on “The Bone Jar” now that I‘m back in Florida and not planning on moving from this couch 🛋️ #ReadathlonsnotSleepathons #OutstandingOctober #31by31 #Spookoween #ReadySetRead #Scarathlon #TeamMischiefandMayhem

I lovvveeedddd this book! Alexis Henderson is officially one of my new favorite authors. This book was packed with witches, religion, family, and a community struggling with right and wrong. I loved the dark atmosphere, make sure to check for trigger warnings if you're looking to read this one.

Alexis Henderson is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I'm starting this witchy book today. I loved Alexis Henderson's house of hunger so im hoping to love this one too. Also, I gave myself a manicure for Halloween. 💅👻📖🎃

Choice #4 of Prof. Stacey‘s TBR fable book club read is the tagged book. Join us for our October read. Just download the Fable book club app, and use the link below to sign up. Poll goes live tomorrow!

https://fable.co/club/prof-staceys-tbr-book-club-with-stacey-lettini-33812063356...

SPOOKY stack ready?!?! 👻🎃💀🩸🕷Check ✔️

My first book of June was The Year of the Witching. I went in with high hopes, but it let me down in a few places. It gave the right spooky vibes in the beginning but the romance became the main focus of the story early on. I just wish the spooky woods and the witches were explored a little further.

Full Review: https://wildwoodreads.com/2023/06/08/the-year-of-the-witching/

#manicmonday #lettery @CBee

📕 Tagged
🖊️ WB Yeats
📺 You
🎤 Year of the goat
🎵 You‘ve got another thing coming-Judas Priest

This book will stick with me for a while. I really felt this book, felt immersed completely. I'm sure my religious background had something to do with why I related to the main character so much. Very powerful.

"All this time she'd been busy chasing beasts and devils believing evil began and ended with them. True Evil wore the skin of good men. It uttered prayers, not curses. It feigned mercy where there was only malice. It studied Scriptures only to spit out lies."

My next audiobook on Libby. I've been waiting for it to be available for a couple of months. A young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society discovers dark powers within herself. I've heard it's dark and gory and spooky.

Playing a little catch up this morning because this past week was BRUTAL!

This was the first book I read this year and I flew through it. It just captivated me and kept me wanting to continue. I hope the year finishes on the same sort of high note!

#AdventRecommends #Day1
@emilyrose_x

This is a brilliant feminist fantasy horror novel. Rooting for witches to destroy an abusive patriarchal theocracy is exactly what you need in your life.

I was very disappointed with this book, the choices of the main character didn‘t make any sense given her background and experiences.
Immanuel is raised in a strict religious community, where women are barely allowed to read and there are multiple wives for religious leaders. Her mother was murdered as a witch and she is accused of following in her footsteps. Will she save her community?
1/5 stars, poorly plotted and bad character development

Dark and witchy, perfect for the season!
This is well written, a world similar to our Puritan 1600's but with magic. Immanuelle was a great character that you could root for. There were some small discrepancies in the writing (she looks at a man who is walking away from a group and then looks back at them all together, that sort of thing a couple of times), but overall a rich world built and characters that are likable.

My Halloween reads this year.

Thank you @OndinetheSea for this great #HHS box! The books look fun and perfect reads for the season, and I‘ve been meaning to read the tagged book for a few years now, so I‘m glad to finally have it on hand! I hope you have a great Haunted Hollow Swap day and Halloween!

I have seen so many great reviews for this book. I just could not get into it. This book just did not grab my attention. Maybe I have just been too distracted or thinking of other things, but I noticed myself having to reread sections of the book because I did not comprehend anything that happened. It has all the pieces that make up a great book, it just wasn't for me.

You should definitely read this if you‘re looking for a dark, bewitching, gruesome, atmospheric, and feminist read set in a puritanical society by and starring a woman of color. Personally, I felt like I should have LOVED this but it was more so-so for me because it turned out I was hoping for more religious deconversion/exvangelical depth, and this book is more interested in plot and world-building than that level of interiority.

I was completely immersed in the cultish, gothic, witchcraft filled world the author created. I didn't want to put it down and I also didn't want it to end. The underlying feminist stance of the book was perfect. With one novel Alexis Henderson has become an auto buy author for me. And a great start to a spooky October reading month.

I wish I could rate this higher. It has a wonderfully creepy atmosphere and is so ominous. Perfect vibes for spooky season. Where it fails is in the characterization and magic system. Our wonderful main character becomes a Mary Sue at the end which is so frustrating. I would still recommend if you are looking for a spooky witchy dark read. 3⭐️
#bookspinbingo #bodycountbingo #littenlistenbingo #scarathlonwordsearch +3630 points

My October TBR. Might be slightly ambitious as I have a stack of library books to get through, but I thought they made great October reads. King Arthur is for #childrensclassicread2022 #tbr #october

#ReadHarder challenge 20: a horror by a BIPOC author

#basicwitchswap

1. Navy blue, emerald, black
2. Floral tones, lemon, apple or pumpkin spice
3. I love histories of witches, magic, witch trials as well as gothic, scary stories
4. Idk, don't use them. More of a herbalist witch.
5. Ruby, emerald, rose quartz
6. Both 😊
7. Lavendar, clary sage, rose
8. The whole spooky shebang! Autumnal vibes with the Earth taking a rest, cosy nights that start at 4pm.

@sprainedbrain

Finished this one up for #LitsyLoveWritesNBooks Between a so-so and a pick but I always round up. It had some good witchy elements and was a fast read but I couldn't get into it like I hoped to. A few things didn't make sense to me. Probably a right book at the wrong time sort of thing. Looking forward to hearing what you all think of it.
@jessinikkip @iread2much @RinaBrahmbhattBarot @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Settling in for a late night with this one.
Book #5 for #trappedonanisland and book 1 for #litsylovewritesnbooks

#alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Witchcraft and feminism always make a great read for me!

A creepy walk in the woods and an unfortunate #dnf
I just couldn‘t get into and then got scared of being outside with the descriptions of the woods in the book 😂😂 #26

The Darkwood is off limits. It is said to be home to witches. When an outing goes away, Imanuelle is forced to venture into the woods and defy the Prophet. Will this leave her unfazed enough to continue in her life of submission and devotion to the Father? Or does this help her to realize just how wrong it is to be a woman in Bethel?

Finished up this amazing read. This book was everything I wanted the tv show Salem to be. I loved the eerie ambience. I originally thought that this was historical fiction, but loved the originality of recreating similar religions and cultures. I found this book kept building and building and really nailed the ending. It unfolded in a great manner and the pacing really worked.

Oh I definitely needed this book. Puritan, cultist, witchy, "Burn that shit to the ground" vibes. I couldn't put it down!

#bookspinbingo #aestheitcallymatched #jumpstart2022 #joyousjanuary @TheAromaofBooks @Lizpixie @Clwojick @Andrew65

It appears we are stuck in our house today and the storm continues. That means the slow cooker is on, Movies being watched and lots of reading and puttering around to do.

Tagged #audiobook on while I make up some waffles for breakfast 😊

#SnowDay

A brilliant, sinister tale of what happens when witch craft and religious fanaticism meet. I was hooked by the story and it had pace that kept you reading. It is dark, gory and a little horror but that made it a good read.

#Horror #Witches #Power #Feminism #Patriarchy #BookWitch #WitchyReads #BookNerd #Bookworm #InkDrinker #LibraryMouse #ReadersLiveAThousandLives #WeekendAllBooked

Excellent story! Grabbed my attention from the first page and I couldn‘t put it down. Wanted a little more from the ending but I‘m like that with some books. Especially the ones I like because I‘m not ready for the story to end.

First morning commute in a while but I get to get stuck into this thrilling horror or so the cover says. Happy Hump Day Littens. Have a great day 😀

#ReadingCommuter #TrainJourney #Reader #BookWitch #InkDrinker #LibraryMouse #BookNerd #BookGeek #Books

Here is my wrapup for October 2021. All in all it was a pretty good reading month, with pretty high reading marks on everything. Still some questioning regarding Soulless, but I‘ll have a better understanding of my feelings after the next book.

🦇 The perfect day to start this book 🕷

4/5
This was a fun read, especially for Halloween. It was engaging for a long time, then very exciting about 3/4 into the story. I would recommend this book. I don't think there was enough development around many of the characters, though. It was a great storyline and fun, but I think the author could have done better in that regard. I don't know. I'm also only just warming up to fantasy, so...? Send rec's if you have them!

Very creepy, witchy book that isn't my usual read. But I enjoyed it for this October spooky season. It has the whole ugly patriarchal theme that is horrible and women suffering. But the storyline of Immanuel was intriguing.

The pacing was a bit off for me on this book, but overall I enjoyed it - great witchy vibes for the season, perfect to curl up with under a blanket with a cup of tea! #screamathon #witchinthetitle

Artwork from:
https://www.deviantart.com/mimadeo/art/The-Old-Forest-756992372

A witchy read in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale, there was no way I wasn't going to love this book. Lots of creepy bits, and a strong female MC. #Screamathon @4thhouseontheleft