Welcome to Litsy!

I think I finally figured out my June #BookSpinBingo list. Of course I‘m still working on April but we won‘t focus on that. Looking forward to many warm sunsets on the patio with Not My Cat. I‘ll tag my 20 in the comments. @TheAromaofBooks

Now that I'm down to only a handful of years to read to complete the #192025 challenge, I've turned to my shelves to see if I can fill any gaps. This slim story by Grace Livingston Hill checked of 1946, plus got an unread book off my shelf!! It's a perfect pleasant little story - Aunt Marilla is adorable - but too short to really build any kind of tension or actual romance between the two main characters. A soft pick, but one I won't reread.

This book had all the ingredients that I should enjoy, but somehow they just didn't work here. Miss Carter is a middle-aged woman, never married, who lives by herself in a small flat in London and works for the censor's office during WWII. Through a series of events, she finds herself in possession of an ifrit (i.e. genie). Part of the reason this book didn't quite work for me was that the ifrit's magic never really made sense to me. Apparently ⬇

A fun little novella about a woman who suddenly turns into a fox, and how her husband manages. Author was part of the Bloomsbury Group.
Although very different in style and tone, reminded me a bit of the recent memoir Raising Hare.
Both suggest humans can learn a lot from wild animals.
Another prompt complete for #192025!

I haven't changed this stack for a few days, so this is it, this is my stack for #14Books14Weeks!

A few for pride month, a few for Women in Translation month, half are #1001Books and more than half are for #192025

This is one of my all-time favorite books and I have read it probably 25-30 times over my lifetime. The characters, the setting, the fact that a few of the moments in this book still make me choke up even after all these rereads - this book is close to perfect to me.

SO IT WAS A COMPLETE SHOCK to find out that in the 1940s random sentences/paragraphs were edited out!!! The edition I grew up reading, despite clearly saying it was “unabridged“ ⬇

I‘m so conflicted about this one. I really liked the mystery and its twists and turns. I enjoyed the intrigue on the boat. I really liked Anne, Suzanne, and Colonel Race. But I hated Sir Eustace and I wasn‘t a fan of Harry. The colonialism and casual racism of the South African backdrop + the overt sexism/objectification of women really bothered me. I had a really hard time setting aside those latter elements with excuses of it being ⤵️

I read these for the #192025 challenge, and they were both a quick & delightful way to bang out two years. Mrs Harris and the supporting characters were likeable, though I do think New York was a little less charming than the first. In Paris, we see Mrs Harris really impacting the various lives she encounters, where some of NY was swift mentions of people. Ultimately, I recommend both of you need something light & uplifting these days.

#BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for May! I‘m really excited about The Library at Night. It‘s been on my TBR for years, and my husband bought me a copy maybe a year ago at Christmas. It‘s on my #50x50 list and its time has come! My DoubleSpin landed on the same category as April‘s BookSpin (1950s—70s for #192025), which I still haven‘t read—I think it‘s a sign 😆 So I‘ll pick two of those three above, and one will be for April and one for May!