Welcome to Litsy!

"Another unforgettable tale of monsters, magic, and family" indeed. The protagonists are very likeable and I found myself rooting for them. I don't read a lot of fantasy/speculative fiction and sometimes struggle with world building but I found the switching between Earth and the Reflective World fairly easy to follow. As with Elatsoe, the pace and action ramps up towards the end and it's pretty gripping. Really enjoyed this.

After how much I enjoyed Elatsoe, I was excited to read this by the same author. I was not disappointed! A Snake Falls to Earth is a dual POV book between Nina (human - on Earth) and Oli (cottonmouth snake person - not on Earth). Darcie Little Badger weaves a world with roots in oral storytelling, mixing the familiar and magical with skill. The story is a little bit mystery, a little bit drama, a lot of family (born and found) love. (1/2)

#Bookmail from the last couple of weeks!

📖Lydia‘s book was from my Mom for Christmas 😍
📖 The Once & Future Witches is for #AuldLangSpine & #LGBTbookclub January read
📖 Spare is “Just Because” and also DUH! It‘s H! 😉
📖The tagged book is from @Bookgoil for contributing to the #LitsyLove fund in November! Great choice, thank you so much! 😘

2023 is shaping up to be a year of good reading (and cooking!)

#ReadHarder challenge 7: a YA book by an Indigenous author.

I cannot put into words how much I loved this book. I'm not usually into reading Young Adult much, but because it was part of the big library read I gave it a go. The writing is beautiful, the characters had wonderful growth. It's honestly everything you'd want in a book.

I'm having a hard time with my thoughts on this book. It started out slow for me and was difficult to really invest in. While it did get better as the storylines came together, and I truly loved the folklore and mythology of the story, I just wish the beginning had been as strong.

It's still a pick for me because I feel it's a book that deserves to be read and appreciated for all it represents.

Stopped reading 33% in. Chapters with Nina‘s POV are better than Oil‘s POV but that‘s not saying much. So boring 😩😩 I didn‘t care about any of the characters.

A beautifully woven story of two distinct yet linked realities and the dangers and joys in each. #skodenreadathon2022. Thanks to the Big Library Read for the opportunity to share in this ode to storytelling.

They say the path to anywhere-you-please is not concerned with the rules of space or time. It slithers snakelike through forests—mostly in the world of spirits and monsters, but occasionally on Earth—fleeing from the people who want to catch it. That‘s why no map leads to the path, just like no map can lead to a roaming pack of wolves. Guess that‘s also why most people who walk the path do so unwittingly.

Not really a book blurb, but I've been so bad about updating because work has been crazy and I've had zero time to read.

Taking advantage of this being the big library read on Libby. I adored Elatsoe and am looking forward to reading another Darcie Little Badger book.

#audiocooking Sometimes you just need stuffed shells and nothing else will do, amirite?
I really like YA audiobooks because the storylines tend to be easy to follow while I'm doing stuff, and this time of year I got a lotta things to do, starting the holiday gifts and whatnot.
This book reminds me a little of The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina in that both matriarchs are tied fiercely to the land around their homes.

#Audiobook for dog walking. This is the #biglibraryread via Libby right now.
I live for titles that have zero wait list.

Started reading this for the Big Library Read and even though it is considered to be YA, it is so beautiful so far.

At first the audio book for my current #bookspin was too slow for me. I've only started enjoying it, when I put it on 1.5x. And when Rain and Risk appeared. After that I was totally hooked.

The characters all grew dear to me and I love the combination of folk tales and modern world. And of course how the author mixes it all together. She also manages it to give depth and meaning to her story, without overdoing it.

I so wish for a sequel now.

Here are my #bookspin and my #doublespin for September. Got them both as audio books, so I'll be busy during my walks to work and entertained while doing the chores 😄

@TheAromaOfBooks

It's honestly difficult to separate my feelings for Oli and Ami from a more objective look at this book's pros and cons, which I guess in itself says the author did a good job of creating loveable characters. Incredible world building, essential environmental message, but I am alone in feeling the pacing was a bit spotty? I could see this as a 150 page novella or a 600 page saga.

In the category of 'phrases that start or sustain an adventure': "I know a guy," ranks pretty high. ?

GOALS: "My new life was composed of a few simple but cherished pleasures: warm NAPS, BOOKS about the absurd dramas of Earth, conversations with AMI and-finally-satisfying MEALS."

Tiny high-five! 🥰 Ami is my favourite. 🐸♥️

Just wanted to say hi, and little reassuring pat? 🥹 So SOFT. 🐸🐍♥️

#newberyhonor #buddyread

I loved the way this felt like an ancient Indigenous tale with animal people and all of the stories within the story. The characters were fun and quirky. I want to visit the animal world!

There are 2 main narrators, and at first, it is hard to see how the diverging stories are at all related. That changes as the stories progress and converge. At one point, I was struck with some similarities with A Wrinkle In Time, and the Narnia cycle. It helped connect me to this story, but this based in Lipan Apache folk tales. There is so much contained within these pages. I highly recommend giving it a read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great writing & world building, though this novel does fall more into the middle grade category. Creates a world around myth & legend fused with the modern world. The character inclusion is seamlessly done & feels so beautifully natural. The story itself was a little bumpy, but overall the dual POV works well. Interesting & fun, but things seem a little lower stakes & a bit cartoonish. Worth the read, but didn't have me as riveted as Elatsoe.

I really enjoyed reading Elatsoe last year and this was a bit more challenging for me, a lot of world building to maintain two storylines in two worlds - one is our world but with ever increasing climate change based disaster looming; the other is a world where animals easily shift into human form and occasionally can travel to our world.

#20in4 wrap up post!
Somewhere around 12 hours read... Just a guess since my timer reset partway through and I didn't bother starting it again. That's ok, I didn't set a time goal anyway.
3 books finished, and lots of #audiostitching progress to the tagged book.
A fun readathon weekend, thanks as always @Andrew65!

Up to 4 hours for #20in4 and finished one ebook!

I'm starting this audiobook with some #audiostitching. This little ornament is taking me ages... It's my first time doing an 18 ct one and it feels so much slower than 14 ct. Glad to learn this on a small kit though 😅

Hyped it up more then I should have, but was still a nice smooth book. Really liking the books without the high files stress middle conflict. This book is about working together. The Reflecting World and our Earth used to be connected, hence these animal people. I‘ve always loved Native American stories, this gives a new look into those stories. At how our worlds are still connected. How we should all help each other in our darkest moments

“A place where the water binds two world; where coyotes confide in monsters; where hawks and mockingbirds discern revelations from ancient trees; where my best friend basks in the sun beside me; and where I can spend long days in the company of new family, as I search for the family I left behind.” (p. 373)

A charming, wonderful, timely story. Ms Little Badger is enormously talented. Very highly recommended!

This is an impulse read for #WinterGames2021 #TeamGameSleighers @StayCurious

#WrapItUpReadathon @keys_on_fire

Next up on my year end reading list. Heard the author do an interview on NPR‘s Book of the Day podcast and immediately went out to get this.

Selfishly, I wish Nina, Oli, and the gang were guaranteed a reunion, but I really loved this story all the same! The two converging plotlines were great, and I loved the near-future setting. I'd take another book about them all! #yalit

Two storylines: one is from the viewpoint of a cottonmouth in another world, where animals can take human form; the other is here on earth, perhaps a little in the future, where an asexual young woman is collecting the stories of her Lipan Apache foremothers. The two worlds are connected, of course, so Oli the snake & Nina the human are able to help each other when the need arises. A charming YA adventure tale. #Indigenous #LGBTQ

It wasn‘t that the sisters were coyotes. I‘m not the kind of small-minded fellow to buy into stereotypes like: “all coyotes are tricksters.”

#Audiowalk: Got my booster shot today. I bundled up before heading out into a windchill of -26 C, with my headphones under the layers and my phone in an inner pocket to keep it protected from the weather.

I always love seeing what my fellow TBR bibliologists are reading in this weekly roundup over on Instagram 😍

Another great YA novel from the author of Elatsoe about a Lipan Apache girl in Texas and a Cotton Mouth spirit animal in the mirror world searching for some way to save his toad friend whose species is going extinct. The two storyline take a minute to come together and really get going but once they do it's really fun! And like Elatsoe, this story features an ace protagonist though that's only mentioned very much in passing.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain
1. Just started Cemetery Boys (I was saving it for book club and I‘m really excited to be finally starting it!)
2. It doesn‘t have to be HEA, but I hate an open-ended or abrupt ending. Give it a stopping point!
3. 🐍🌎