Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m rereading PROPER SCOUNDRELS in preparation for VISCOUNTS & VILLAINY, with help from the cutest little scoundrel I know.

What a lovely story. And very unique, despite its homage to The Secret Garden, and not just in place and character. Positioned with teens rather than children opens the door for romance, and Mary and Sophie are so sweet as they discover first love. Despite the horror and pain of the Craven storyline (no spoilers!) this book is largely a pretty picture of Ontario‘s North, with beautiful gardens, of course. I liked it quite a bit more than expected!

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“Mary Craven didn‘t think about death until the day it knocked politely on her bedroom door and invited itself in.”

Next up! This all-female retelling of The Secret Garden with and Indigenous perspective has been on my TBR for too long. There‘s a queer element too, making it the perfect June read.

Saffron is back dealing w/ high school bullies, Gwen is drawn deeper into political intrigues & world ending magic, & Yena is learning that not everything is as it seems. It will take everyone working together to save the world.

This blew away all my expectations for this sequel! Much more expansive world building, & a thoroughly satisfying resolution! Threads enough for more, & some sweet romances that don‘t overpower the rest of the story.

I'm not quite sure what all this #Steampunk story was about, but I liked it.

Piccadilly is a thief. He runs, is shot and ends up on an aether ship that's manned by a very diverse crew. The ship is harvesting phlogiston.

There is some romance. There's some spice. There are monstrous sky-kraken.

The #audiobook was great, especially since most of the story is in Piccadilly's pidgin.

I‘m heartsick today, so I‘m looking for small joys to place opposite the horrible hatred I see around me. I hung the photograph I bought last week, and I‘m in the homestretch with this lovely book about queer teenagers who suffer but also have a great adventure together in NYC. #AuldLangSpine

This was my August #bookspin pick that I finished in September. Great historical queer romance. Miles & Charlie's romance starts as purely physical yet morphs into more. Miles is hesitant to catch feelings, terrified of being caught because of a past relationship. Charlie is in an engagement set up by his parents that he's desperate to escape. There is a great queer community that works together to get these two their happy ending
@TheAromaofBooks

I finished my awesome puzzle yesterday afternoon, and Cherie Dimaline and I are back on track with her Secret Garden remix! The original is one of those books Tiny Me drifted away from so I can‘t claim to know the source material well, but from a pure storytelling perspective I love everything Dimaline‘s doing here. #audiopuzzling

Loved this one! It's a perfect fall book, cozy and romantic. And also queer. Both, Abby and Leo got close to my heart, but I just really wanted to hug Abby so bad. The parts from Leo's view were very well written and we learn a lot about what it means to be trans. Since it's a m/f romance I hope a lot of people will read this book, while not usually being interested in queer books. I think this would help people learn about trans identities.