Welcome to Litsy!

I had six five-star reads in May 2025, so it was hard to pick the top one. Definitely honourable mentions to Sylvie Cathrall's A Letter from the Lonesome Shore and Sau Fong Chan's Chinese Dress in Detail! But Hemlock & Silver was a lot of fun, very characteristically a Kingfisher book with a really fascinating interpretation/retelling of the Snow White story.

#12BooksOf2025 @TheEllieMo

Loved it, as expected. A delightful Snow White rewrite where Snow is an ancillary character to an adult lady poison expert. Light romance, creepy mirror world, on-its-head fairytale retelling? Yes, please. And I stand by my comp to Robin McKinley for this book, too.

@Readergrrl thank you so much!! I‘ve been dying to have this poison book in my wicked plants collection. She‘s beautiful beyond measure. From the candle to the amethyst infuser, everything was done so well. Have a happy and blessed winter solstice 💙✨ @BookwormAHN #WinterWitchSwap

Loving the new T. Kingfisher! It‘s giving me McKinley vibes but with a creepy sheen - maybe it‘s the desert setting making me think of Damar? Her inner dialogue writing of the reluctant hero is similar too.

I‘m really excited about my #AuldLangSpine list from @julesG ! There was just one book I had already read & loved (AWGTMI ⭐️) & a few on my TBR but several new to me titles, which I always love!

Pictured are are the first 6 I‘m starting with, beginning with the tagged book I was already planning on reading in January for #AuthorAMonth & I Know How This Ends because I loved Cassandra in Reverse.

Mahalo @monalyisha for another great match!

Loving this one so far! Is Mrs (So-Called) Christie actually Mrs Christie come back from the great beyond to solve a (murder) mystery or two? Stay tuned

I really enjoyed this mystery. I liked the character of Flavia, she‘s unique and quirky. There‘s a sense of humour running through this story and it‘s all jolly good fun! There‘s a good sense of time and place, a great feel for the 1950s. I found the mystery itself quite gripping and the whole book a page turner. I can‘t wait to join the delightful and daring Flavia again in book two, The Weed That Strings the Hangman‘s Bag. Love the titles!

Another swing and a miss for me. I‘ve been so in love with T Kingfisher this year, so no one was more shocked by this than me. I was just very bored, and things from the blurb didn‘t start happening until like 60% in? Also just not a fan of this main character, idk. She felt like a watered down version of Grace from the first Saint of Steel book. And don‘t get me started on the romance that came out of NOWHERE…

3 stars | #fantasy

The first in the Flavia de Luce Mysteries, it‘s a book I‘m reading with my online reading group, https://thereadingloft.groups.io/g/main/topics. The theme is a children‘s or YA book. This one is a YA book, I believe.

I love #FairyTaleRetelllings & I love Kingfisher‘s writing, so I was thrilled to dive into her reimagining of #SnowWhite. Anja is a healer specializing in poisons & antidotes— a passion started in childhood. Now 35, her king calls on her to cure Snow, his daughter. With its unique desert setting & more of a magical mystery, Grayling steals every scene in this tale with humor, adventure & even a dash of romance! I couldn‘t put it down! Fantastic!