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#IHaveQuestions
Paging all Littens, @RaeLovesToRead has questions!

1. Tagged! It takes a story from Russian mythology and weaves it into a historical fiction with high fantasy elements threaded in. 🤩

2. I‘ve read cyberpunk and steampunk, but has a book ever combined both genres? Cybersteampunk should be a thing! 🤔

3. Nonfiction romance… wait, that makes it sound like I‘m opposed to real-life love! Now I have questions about myself! 😳

“Life consumes everything and Death never sleeps, and between them the world moves. Winter becomes spring. And every once in a while, they act out a strange, sad little pantomime, just to see if anyone has won yet. If the world still moves as it used to.”

When you pickup library holds and stop by your local indie bookstore in the same day... where to start 🙄

Where do I even begin with this book? Valente is brilliant. The book is about 350 pages and she doesn't waste a page. She brings in the history, the culture, the relentless fairy tales that seem to change and remain stagnant all at once. This is a book I'll be mulling over for quite some time...

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
Square 18

Good book. Like her fairyland series, but for adults.

I'm realizing that I don't really enjoy books about Russia or with Russian elements. I'm not sure why. There were many times I thought of not finishing this book, but I pressed on. I do enjoy Catherynne Valente's writing--that's what made me stick with it.

As I tried to take a pic with Isadora (top right), Inara (bottom left) came to investigate, so this #DoubleSpin gets both my girls! 😸😸

@TheAromaofBooks

#TBRPile Day 11 - I have never read anything by Catherynne Valence but her name always pops up in fantasy lists. I also have Palimpsest lurking somewhere on my kindle.

I have so many feelings. I wanted to love this book and I did at first. A story that melds Russian revolutionary history and folklore seemed new and fresh. I loved the premise.
BUT
The story seemed disjointed and some fairy tale tropes (repeating things 3 times) are irritating to read and the story focused on some aspects I didn't care as much about as the main characters journey from curious child to the person Marya becomes in Koschei's kingdom.

When I started this book I loved it right away. Russian folklore set in the early days of Soviet Russia? What‘s not to love?
I‘m a little over halfway through and now I‘m on the fence. I want to know about Marya‘s transformation, her struggles to adapt. They are hinted at but fast forwarded through. I love it so much but there‘s so much I want from it that it‘s missing. We‘ll see how it ends!

“I will see him with his skin off before I agree to fall in love.”

Trying to wait to start this until I get some work done. It‘s been on my list for a very long time.

Need help. What to start next?? Votes please!

I loved the blend of myth and history in this book and I thought the writing was beautiful.
#ReadingEurope2020 #Russia
@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

This. 💖

It snowed here so that must mean its time to read. #koschei #russia #folklore #snowday

Rereading this for my #bookclub #Russia #folklore #WWII

A beautiful reimagining of folklore and Russian history. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy dramatic and tumultuous fairytale romances mixed in with extremely human and relatable characters. The vivid imagery and the homage to folklore is also alluring.

top 10 favorite books I read in 2019! I found some great new faves this year 🎉

I really liked this! It‘s deeply rooted in both Russian folklore and history and coiled them together beautifully

Just got back from a week camping out in Trent Lakes. Only got a little reading done. Finished the tagged book and absolutely loved it. And started reading Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. It's okay so far.

It's kind of rainy today so instead of setting the tent back up and cleaning it out I'm taking my daughter over to the book store.

The imagery was vivid, the setting was great, but something prevented me from connecting with the characters or caring about what happened to them. Overall, it is worth the read for the interesting concept of Russian folklore set in the early twentieth century.

For Day 13‘s prompt for the #30JuneBooks challenge, #MadeYouCry, I thought of this beautiful yet haunting retelling of the Russian fairy tale about Marya Morevna and Koshchei the Deathless. This book explores both the wonderful and the terrible aspects of live and asks the question, how do you trust your heart once you‘ve completely given it to another? 😢

Chapter 23 was so soul-crushing, I cried real tears... and then I read it all over again!

Reading Deathless, but feeling a little anxious because I just got Six of Crows duology in the mail

I couldn't be more mistaken when waited for a mere old Russian #fairytaleretelling. Valente deconstructs fairy world, throws its inhabitants into bolshevik Russia, drags them (with the reader) through delirious, possessive love, death and gore of war and bitter disappointment of the last haven been torn apart. The book seemed excessive and gross at times, but it's emotionally powerful.#booked2019 @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Lush, fanciful, and so, so Russian. Evocative of The Master and Margarita. 4⭐️s

I‘d be Alice but in a Russian wonderland @Chrissyreadit #happilyeverafterswap

#quotsyjan19 #ice

Where to even begin? There are a couple of books we come across that change our lives, and this is one of them. The prose is so rich and raw you will feel e v e r y t h i n g; that said, don‘t read this when you‘re cold or hungry.

Her descriptions are like secrets. She makes you feel like a coconspirator, as poor Ivan stumbles around clueless.

I am IN for this #readingwomenchallenge!

Capitalists. Definitely capitalists.

Her descriptions are silky, but full of teeth.

#BabaYaga is really, really creepy in this beautifully written book. She‘s a nasty Stalinist who has a penchant for jumping on the shoulders of our main character. 😱

#WitchyReads

Book: Deathless
Author: John Douglas
Movie: Dogma
Food: Dark chocolate!

#ManicMonday

I have been playing with some of my new fountain pens by posting book quotes elsewhere. One of my favorites from this book.

#CoverLove - gold edition 💛🧡💛🧡 I have so many pretty covers, it was hard to choose, so I gave myself a theme to narrow it down 😄

#ReadingResolutions

"You will always fall in love, and it will always be like having your throat cut, just that fast."

Can I just say how jealous I am of Catherynne Valente's writing style? And I'm not even a writer. It's gorgeous. I read her Fairyland books before any of her adult works and I'm glad I read this one first because it had the same kind of magical feel. I liked the story and I'm very curious to see what the second book is like.

Just started this book last night, but I already love it.

#bookmail
This is my first ever order from Book Outlet!

Starting this one tonight to stave off my craving for more Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy. So far, loving the prose!

#AllTheBooksOf2017

The best #bookwithamagicalsetting that I read this year was Deathless. Magical, lush, complicated and smart, it's a gorgeous book to sink into.

According to Goodreads, the companion book (not exactly a sequel) is due out in October 2018. Not sure how firm that date is, but here's hoping 🤞🏻

Beautifully written, and I love the way the author mixed folklore otherworldliness with the Soviet Union from the early 1900s through WWII and beyond. I found the main character hard to love, and some of the characters are not well developed. I think I would have enjoyed this book more if I was familiar with the Russian mythology behind it, but I can still appreciate a well-told story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Finally starting this one tonight! It was recommended to me a loooooong time ago when @Liberty graciously handed out book recs here on Litsy. My tbr is ridiculously long. 😂

Yup, already sold. #firstparagraph

Starting the next pick for my spec fic book club this morning. All the other CMV books I've read have knocked it out of the park. Here's hoping this one continues the trend! 🤞

These books #YouOughtaKnow about. They are all utterly beautiful and so, so, so good 👌

#Rocktober