Welcome to Litsy!

In the last room of the Cats & Dogs exhibition there was a room with no gallery cards, which I find deeply annoying HOWEVER since I just finished Sabriel, I was like - is that ??? and it is!!!

Formally titled Girl with sword and white cat by Gregory Rogers, this was the cover illustration for Sabriel by Garth Nix, when it was published in 1995 by Harper Collins.

And tbh, if I can sneak Garth Nix into a conversation - I will.

Sabriel has been languishing on my “books I want to reread” stack ever since I bought the 25th anniversary edition during lockdown (so just the standard 3-5 business years on my shelf 🫣)

The beginning was a lot slower than I remembered but this is proper, detail heavy high fantasy and I‘m a little out of practice.

I switched to Tim Curry‘s audiobook version for the second half and that was a great life choice.

The Abhorsen reread is back on!

I‘m not a big audiobook fan but I loved this! I think it‘s a combination of the fact that I‘ve already read this book a few times and Tim Curry‘s masterful narration. I especially enjoyed his drawling Mogget voice!

I feel this in my soul

Went to see the Scottish play last night at the Botanic Gardens. Took my book because my friends are incapable of arriving on time.

After reading this (taken from Garth Nix‘s website) I have no idea how I pronounce Sabriel… and it‘s freaking me out a little bit 🫣😬

My not a real bookclub chose Sabriel for February and I‘m having the best time rereading!

Has anyone else read this book??? The magic system is very interesting but also not the most in depth description on how it really works… I think the story is really original and a very cool premise. HOWEVER. It took me over a month to read this 300 page book. Which I can generally finish in a couple of days and now that I have finished it I still feel so meh about it…

Two weeks of #bookreport but not much to show. I'm making steady progress on audio, but reading with my eyes has been slow going. That's ok.

My #weeklyforecast is more just a bunch of possibilities. Who knows what I'll actually get to.

Most of the book is set in the Old Kingdom, with medieval-type magic, but parts take place over the Wall in Ancelstierre, which seems to have WWII era technology (cars, b&w films, tanks, guns, planes).

1. Yes!!! Many!!! I am so fortunate to have met many authors & illustrators of children‘s books (perk of being a school librarian) but also have met Orson Scott Card, Deborah Harkness, and Garth Nix.

2. *so* many times

3. Tough question! Probably The Old Kingdom…or Hogwarts…or Middle Earth

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

This wound up being a low pick for me. Delicious world-building, fascinating magic and setting, and I loved the way the setting was introduced-we learn more as it's important to the main character. Unfortunately, the character work wasn't as compelling as I wanted it to be. Sabriel's highs and lows fell flat as I read. It was saved by a solid plot that kept things moving around in a world I wanted to know more about.

Reading Sabriel by candlelight (and regular old electric light, but that's less fun to photograph). I've been told by several friends, including @BarbaraJean that I should really read this book, even though I bounced off the Left-Handed Booksellers of London. I've been dragging my feet - very silly of me. Started last night, and enjoying it tremendously!

🎧 I watched the Bald BookTuber‘s Top Ten Fantasy books with Christopher Ruocchio, author of the Sun Eater series.

He (Christopher) recommended this book as MG/YA. Tim Curry reads it.

I LOVED IT! GREAT NARRATION!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@Yuki_Onna a much delayed response 😅 Sabriel was my favorite. I admit mostly because of nostalgia but also because magical zombies 🧟‍♀️ @TheSpineView #two4tuesday

Read the whole series again except the last one. Had a family trip today to cape may so no dice getting to the library 🙃⛴ hope to get Goldenhand soon so I can speed read! ⏱🐌Busy summer & I‘m ready for autumn 🍂🎃🧙🏻‍♀️

Sabriel appreciation post

My first Garth Nix and I REALLY enjoyed it. The narration was fabulous. Sarah j Maas gives this book 5 stars and if you‘re a fan of her early work I highly recommend checking this out. I got like PG throne of glass vibes from parts of it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spring = cherry trees + necromancy

The reminder post is up and now my list for May is too. New to the list this month are In the Night Garden and the tagged. I‘ve kind of gotten stuck in a mood reading phase so I‘m behind on the last two months of #BookSpin. Here‘s to hoping I can catch up in May!

It's been a few years since I last read Sabriel and it was nice revisiting the world. I liked the world building more than the characters, though.

Except Mogget. Supernatural beings of cosmic power trapped in the form of a cat are like, well, catnip to me 🤷‍♂️

Avoiding the people at home with a bit of outside reading 😎

Managed to get the whole old kingdom series on kindle a while ago when they were 99p each. I‘ve not had much time for reading recently but have enjoyed working through a chapter or two a night of this. It‘s just such amazing world building.

#littensdressedinblood #TBR
#September 7 #dontfearthereaper
Aren‘t those covers BEAUTIFUL? 😍😍😍 I confess I bought Sabriel because of the cover. It was kind of an instalove kind of crush. 😂🤣 Now that I finally completed the series, I‘m ready to read Sabriel. The downfall is after the third book, he changed the covers. 😭 Don‘t you hate when that happens?
#series #fantasy #garthnix #sabriel

Me : we can buy the special 25th anniversary hardback and put this one in the little free library pile

Also me : ok, I‘d forgotten that I‘d had this signed *puts it in the keep pile and buys the new edition*

@Chrissyreadit I got the #LMPBC book today!

Can‘t wait to start this one!

#GroupD

Absolutely loved this book. I enjoyed the characters, story and setting. Fantasy that includes evil dead, sorcery and modern contraptions. I will be sending it on Tuesday #lmpbc

Excuse me but WHY are there two versions of the 25th anniversary edition? It‘s bad enough that Victoria is back in lockdown (although the Mambo #5 tiktoks have been quite entertaining)- I can‘t also be expected to make difficult decisions like this!

I‘m not a huge fantasy book reader. I enjoy Tolkien & Martin, but have found very little else in the genre to hold my attention. Until Garth Nix. I took a chance on this one since the audiobook is narrated by none other than Tim Curry. It‘s really unlike much else that I have dabbled with in the fantasy genre. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5.

#lmpbc some options for round 12. I have a mix of su genres in fantasy- are there any you absolutely would love or absolutely do not want to read? Group D

Let‘s try this again. 😃

Apparently I have had other things on my mind — what with the move, my mother-in-law‘s decline, and now career opportunities — and my book expired on Libby through the NYPL. So once it‘s available, I‘ll try again.

I‘d heard a lot of good things about this. They were all true. A strong & capable main character, with just enough self-doubt & inexperience to make her believable & thoroughly likable. The magic system—using bells—was fascinating & I also enjoyed the intrigue of the Old Kingdom‘s history. ALSO, it was refreshing how this mid-90s YA fantasy didn‘t put romance or a love triangle center stage. A wonderful start to a series I‘m excited to continue.

I checked this out from NYPL after seeing it on a list of great audiobooks read by celebrities — Tim Curry, ppl, Tim effing Curry.

I absolutely love this series. Listened this time round to the audiobook and whilst I enjoyed I think I prefer to experience print rather than audio.

I love this unique world and magic system that Nix has created, where magic exists beyond the wall and the dead return to life. The only way to return the dead back is with a set of bells that often have a mind of the their own.

I somehow never heard of this book while growing up so I'm giving it a shot now

I give this book a solid 3 stars. It‘s very slow going, or maybe it was the audiobook that made it feel like that. The ending was fantastic and made me feel like getting there was worth the boring start. It also made me want to continue the series!! Definitely give this a go, just maybe not the audiobook.

Oh my god, I feel so unobservant.

For years, I have read and loved the Old Kingdom series by Garth Nix.

And I studied Shakespeare in college. A lot.

And how old was I when I realized that the Abhorsen is named after the executioner in Measure for Measure?

Today. I was today years old.

1. Mogget from Sabriel; he is the perfect amount of snarky
2. Yes, but not every year (and rarely more than a few days of it)
#Two4Tuesday

Not too late to the party, am I? 😅

One good thing about this year is that I finally got to start reading Garth Nix's works. 👀

"Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?"

I've been seeing more of this book around lately, and finally ordered a copy today. I hope I'll enjoy it as much as I'm wishing to. My first Garth Nix book was Angel Mage, and I loved his storytelling skills there. This is an older work, and it'd be interesting to compare his work then and his most recent ones.

Currently reading. I‘ve owned this book for over 10 years and never got around to it. It‘s about time.

Well worth the wait! This book was lovely.

Finally! This ones been on hold since mid November!

i‘ve heard great things about this series, can‘t wait to start, what a beautiful cover ❤️🌙

S is for Sabriel

And is another example of yet another series that I‘ve been meaning to reread and finish for quite some time! Eep! At least I have finally crossed Frogkisser off my tbr 😂😬

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚 #boleybooks

#chillingphotochallenge #blackcat

So, I picked this one because every time I pick up any of the five in this series I picture Mogget as a black cat until he‘s described again. 😂 But no, he‘s a white cat. [NAME REDACTED] is the black cat.

BUT STILL! EVERY TIME! 🤣

#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon @Clwojick 1 point (10 total)

I‘ve just started this because it‘s been recommended to me so many times #fantasy

#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 3

7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.

Anyone else interested, consider yourself tagged as well!

@emilyrose_x