Welcome to Litsy!

Skippy, the alien beer can, as usual, steals the show.

#Bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
#Roll100 @PuddleJumper

I wasn‘t too sure about this because magical realism usually just annoys me but there was so much more going on - the relationship between Monica and her grandparents, her friendship and blossoming romance with Louise, the relationship between Meng and Yun, the Chinese history… so much to take in, hard to believe it‘s a debut.

I didn‘t love the audio narration so give it a preview before committing.

My July #BookSpin

This is a follow up to The Night Ends with Fire. And I think there's another coming later. I'm here for it.

#BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

Pub date is 8/19/25
#ARC #Netgalley

A heartbreaking, harrowing memoir that often had me in tears. Abi Maxwell loves all the family history in her New Hampshire town, until she discovers that her “nice“ neighbors have no compunctions about denying the rights and needs of her transgender/autistic child.

The book piles on dramatic emphasis a bit too much, but the text never fails to respect the author's daughters identity, which I admire tremendously.

CW in comments.

So, I guess my Dune journey ends with this volume. The next book is more for hardcore fans, I think, and I am quite alright with the ending we're getting here. Sure, I'm not alright with some parts, just as I didn't agree with other things in the previous books. But the story held my interest for eight long novels, and that counts for something, right?

This was my #bookspin for July and finished it 7/31/25 @TheAromaOfBooks

Sorry to say, but I don't like this one bit.

I found every character to be utterly unlikable. The narrative failed to engage me for the majority of its duration. Furthermore, I felt completely detached from what I interpreted as mere gossip.

#OffTheShelf2025 @Librariana
#LitsyAtoZ #W @Texreader
#Pantone2025 #BronzeMist @Lauredhel
#BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks
#Classic

Apparently I never posted my #bookspin and #doublespin picks for August!

I really enjoyed this #bookspin pick.
The mysteries were engaging and even when I thought I had everything figured out, I didn‘t, but it all still made sense. The characters were engaging. And it was funny.
The only reason this is not a 5 ⭐️ was because of Joyce. To me she is the weakest character and her chapters were a slog to get through. And unfortunately her chapters were the longest (or at least they seemed that way to me).
#readingblanket

This was a moving family drama!

The book starts off strong. The story is about 3 sisters who reunite at their home on the Japanese coast. Immediately, I was invested in the story and the scandal involving the youngest sister. The ending was also very strong. It was touching and packed an emotional punch. However, the middle of the book was slow and dragged on.

Full review: https://oddandbookish.wordpress.com/2025/08/09/review-kakigori-summer/

I‘m happy I picked this up before I read The Fraud Squad because the writing in that one was so rough that I wouldn‘t have picked up another Zhao. But she‘s made MASSIVE strides in her writing, this was such an improvement. I really enjoyed it!

My second read for #14books14weeks
My June #BookSpin read in July