Welcome to Litsy!

I haven't been doing great on my #10BeforeTheEnd challenge. I am reading this longer Donna Tartt book, I am loving it but it is taking some precious time to get through. I am picking up The Space Between Worlds on audio to get me moving a bit this week.

So far I have love The Safekeep, thought She Would Be King was excellent - I wish more people talked about this one it deserves hype! And was disappointed in The Empusium.

I was a little intimidated by this but was immediately engrossed. Might help that it was inspired by one of my favorite books (though not a retelling, I don't think.)

#10BeforeTheEnd #BookSpin

I‘m ever so slowly making my way through my #10BeforetheEnd stack.

This was a dense and thought provoking read. Translated from the Turkish and set in the 16th century during the Ottoman Empire, this reflects a culture which is largely unknown to me. It does have a murder mystery as its overarching plot, but that‘s just a framework used to delve into larger philosophical questions about art and religion.

Most of this anthology didn‘t hold my attention. Loved the first short story where there‘s a book store that literally straddles the border btwn the divided states of America. Loved the final Groundhog Day type story. Liked 2 others out of 25 total.

Book 3 for #10BeforeTheEnd checked off, though.

#10BeforeTheEnd

Halfway there!

#10BeforeTheEnd I have been wanting to read this for so long, and I think I did the book a disservice by reading it now. It is pretty grim (focusing on the founding of Liberia, involving a lot of slavery talk). But it is also magical, the characters are vivid and the writing is crisp and the storytelling well done. It just didn't land well with me in my state of mind, I still recommend it.
On another note isn't the table runner I got beautiful?

Another down for #10BeforeTheEnd ! Gee, that only leaves 8. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I previously bailed on this but for some reason was really interested in trying the sequel, so gave it another go. I still found the narrator on the irritating/immature side, particularly her views on romance novels -- which I *love*, but don't over-idealize. But the love interest is super sweet and the scavenger hunt throughout Seattle is a lot of fun.

Almost as long as there has been a Batman and a Robin, there has been a Batgirl.

I haven't been into comics since my college years, but I remember loving Batgirl & her various stories. This in depth look at all the iterations of such a powerful icon makes me want to return to the comics I loved. Yes, there were some bad runs. There were writers & artists who only saw her as a prop to Batman and Robin's stories, but she perseveres. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

Didn‘t make a #36by36 update yesterday, so here‘s a twofer. I finished The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows on Monday. Nick Allen would love this book. 🖊️ I am glad I read it and am actually surprised that these are not “actual” words because I have found myself relating to so many of these, some frighteningly specific to my own experience. I hope to own it at some point in print because a lot of these concepts deserve further introspection. ⬇️