It‘s my birthday! 🥳🎂 I‘ll be spending part of it participating in a buddy read of “The Eye of the World” with my wonderful friends @Branwen and @RaeLovesToRead This is my second time reading this book, and I‘m finding that when you know what happens down the line, some of the early chapters really hit differently… as you can probably tell by my reaction here! 😱

@RaeLovesToRead has questions, y‘all! #IHaveQuestions

Spring - “The Eye of the World” by Robert Jordan. There is even a theme of rebirth throughout. @Branwen approves of this choice! 😁

Summer - “The Golem and The Jinni” by Helene Wecker. A perfect summer story of two strangers finding each other… except that an evil magician is hunting them!

Fall - “Clown in a Cornfield” by Adam Cesare.

Winter - “Winter Witch” by Elaine Cunningham.

@HappyLitsyversary informed me that it‘s my 6-year anniversary here! 🥳🎉📚 I am so grateful to be a part of Litsy and to interact with so many wonderful people on here! 😊 And a special thank you to @Branwen for convincing me to join Litsy! I‘m at work, but I just took an anniversary selfie with the book I‘m currently reading. Hopefully no one here thinks I‘m just reading at work all day… if so, I may find myself with a lot more reading time! 😳

“Come on in”, the building seemed to say with its blue and yellow neon cheeriness. “Get some sleep. Take it easy until the sun comes up again. And if you see someone sitting at the end of your bed, pay them no mind. That‘s just one of my secrets. And I‘m not going to tell.”

On the surface, walking into a room and seeing a ghost sounds terrifying, but if all it does is appear here and there, I guess that‘s not so bad! 🤷🏻‍♂️👻

Thank you for this #WondrousWednesday @Eggs 😀

🌹 I love a good space opera, so I‘ve been meaning to read Lois McMaster Bujold. Other authors who I have yet to read include Grady Hendrix, Riley Sager, and Samantha Shannon.

🌼 “The Black Echo” by Michael Connelly. I know people who swear by this series, but I found myself bored and thinking about other books I could be reading instead.

🌺 Tagged! The book that made me a bibliophile for life!

In honor of #Pride #LoveIsLove for today‘s #tuesdaytunes , I pick “Fever” by Judas Priest. Rob Halford, the singer for JP, officially came out as gay during an interview in 1998, and has since been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ rights. While Judas Priest is best known for “Breaking The Law”, the tender song “Fever” addresses Rob‘s journey, from feeling trapped in a false identity:
“Like I was in a cell, a captured heart as well”

(More in comments)

I must confess I‘m not too familiar with the book, but after seeing the Bridgerton portrait link so kindly provided by @CrowCAH I decided to join in the fun! 😁 If only my hair was really that lustrous! 😂💇🏻‍♂️

Awww! @Branwen is so thoughtful, she sent me an early birthday present! 😊 I love the bookish puzzle and the Funkos (the Joker one reminds me of seeing Batman ‘89 in the theaters when it first came out)! The tagged book has been getting a lot of love on Litsy, so that will probably be the first one I read, but all these books look so good! 🤩📚 Thank you, Branwen, you are one of the kindest people I‘ve ever known! 🤗

@TieDyeDude #TuesdayTunes

As a child of the 80‘s, I grew up on hair metal. But there was one song that 14-year-old David Green found so offensive, he would fast forward past it whenever listening to his Poison cassette. That song was “I Want Action”. It‘s not the bland guitars or ripped off vocal harmonies I hate so much, I refuse to listen to this song because of one lyric:
“If I can‘t have her, I‘ll take her and make her.”

That‘s messed up! 😳

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView and thanks for the tag @MaGoose

1. Multiple people have declared I‘m a dog whisperer. Even dogs that are normally standoffish are comfortable around me, and I‘ve been to parties where a dog decides I‘m their new best friend! 🐶

2. Tagged. The main heroine is a hypochondriac who discovers she can project her fears into others and uses this ability to stop crimes. It‘s a bizarre book but entertaining!

“Most of those old businesses are gone but the Sun Down is still there.”
“They say it‘s haunted,” Heather said.
“Really?” I asked in surprise.
“Well, sure,” Heather said. “Isn‘t every hotel haunted since The Shining? People have probably died there, I bet.”

While I certainly appreciate the Shining reference, I can‘t help but worry that Heather is being a little too casual about the possibility of the Sun Down being haunted! 😳👻

“The street I was on passed straight through town, as if a lot of people got to Fell and simply kept driving without making the turnoff into the rest of the town. The ‘WELCOME TO FELL‘ sign I‘d passed last night had been vandalized by a wit who had used spray paint to add the words ‘TURN BACK‘.”

Turn back? That‘s not a good sign! 😳

Litsy has spoken! When I recently showed off a picture of my “Bookshelf of Terror”, many of you suggested my next read should be “The Sun Down Motel”, so I‘m starting that now. Since I believe this is a ghost story, I even wore my spoooky Halloween tie to mark the occasion. 👻 Although if it turns out there aren‘t really any ghosts in this story, I may end up feeling silly…but only if it‘s possible to feel any more silly while wearing a Taz tie!

4 out of 5 scary carnivals for “Tastes Like Candy” by Ivy Tholen 🎡🎡🎡🎡

Reading “Tastes Like Candy” is a lot like actually eating candy… it‘s not the most nutritious thing you can feed your mind, but it sure is a lot of fun! A group of friends sneak into the Poison Apple Carnival on a scavenger hunt, only to be hunted themselves by a masked killer. A standard setup, but enhanced by the cast getting deeper characterization and witty dialogue.

4 out of 5 murder clowns for “Clown in a Cornfield”! 🤡🤡🤡🤡

I wanted a fun cheesy horror novel, and that‘s exactly what I got. Creepy atmosphere, amusing characters, and enough twists to surprise me even when I thought I figured it all out.

The story is not the deepest and the attempts at social commentary are a little too clunky to be taken seriously, but even if the story itself won‘t stick with me afterwards, the fun I had reading it will!

I managed to avoid it for almost four years now, but Captain Tripps finally caught up with me today! 😩😷 Fortunately I‘ve felt up to reading at times today! 🤓

I recently reorganized my bookshelves to sort them mostly by genre. The shelf on the top in this photo is mostly dedicated to horror and thrillers. I‘ve been on a real horror novel kick lately, so I just finished Clown in a Cornfield (which I really enjoyed), and am now reading the tagged book. They‘re predicting up to 12 inches of snow in my area tomorrow, so it‘s possible I‘ll have a lot of time to read through this shelf this weekend! 😱🌨️❄️

@RaeLovesToRead has questions, y‘all! ❓
#IHaveQuestions

1. Tagged! It‘s my current read and the only book I‘ve read this year with mystery elements so far. 😳 I‘m about 2/3rds of the way through, and already the book has thrown a twist at me I didn‘t see coming.

2. My vote for next book I‘m going to read changes almost daily, but I‘ve been eyeing my copy of “The Sun Down Motel”.

3. I do especially love mysteries with supernatural elements. 👻

One of the best things about being a book lover is meeting wonderful people who are also book lovers! 🤗 @Branwen thank you so much for this generous early Christmas present, all these books look so good, I don‘t know which to read first! And I love the Carol Danvers Funko (don‘t believe the haters, “The Marvels” is a lot of fun), and the figurine from “Bioshock”, one of my favorite video games! Becky you are a true bright light in peoples lives!

@RaeLovesToRead has questions, y‘all!

🌒 It‘s hard to pick a scariest, but the first book that freaked me out was the graphic novel “Batman: Gothic” by Grant Morrison. It features a serial killer with no shadow, a haunted monastery, and even a jump scare when a ghost showed up on one page! 👻

🌒 I love horror! Not a big gorehound, but I like anything haunting and creepy! 😱

🌒 Tagged! A fun gothic dark fantasy! 🥀

#IHaveQuestions

Thank you for this #WondrousWednesday @Eggs 😊

1. Toss up between “Airplane” and “The Naked Gun” by the same filmmakers. The madcap 20-jokes-a-minute pace always makes me laugh and they still hold up decades later.

2. “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”. Overall I really liked it. It was a little too somber for me at times, but Phoebe Waller-Bridge brought some much needed levity to it!

3. I often pray for help for anyone who needs help!

Ummm… is anyone else unable to see pictures on Litsy right now? This is literally what my entire feed looks like. 😢 (I‘m using this post by @Branwen as an example since the book title of “The Invisible Hour” was just so perfect for this! 😂)

“My knees buckled out from under me as I struggled to position his body over the opening of the well.”

Arika Wolly certainly knows how to hook the reader in with the very first sentence! 😱😱😱

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“Oh, hey, here is a key piece of information that I‘m just mentioning now. Come to think of it, a whole lot of conflict and misunderstanding could have been prevented if I had told you this sooner. Wish I could say I had a reason for waiting so long, but really I just didn‘t feel like it. Lucky for the author I didn‘t tell you earlier, though, otherwise this book would have only been about 5 pages long!” 🤦🏻‍♂️

#SundayFunday @ozma.of.oz

Wishing all the Moms in LitsyLand a very wonderful Mother‘s Day today! 😊

@RaeLovesToRead #IHaveQuestions
For 10 books to save I decided no cheating, I can‘t save my Kindle, only books I own in physical format. “Good Omens”, “Mistborn”, Talisman” and “Killing Moon” are favorites; “Storm Front”, “Eye of the World”, and “Magic Bites” are the start of some favorite series. “Priory” and “Green Rider” I need to read and will now have more time. And “Sojourn” I‘m keeping for sentimental reasons… @Branwen knows what I mean!😁

@RaeLovesToRead has questions!!!

In this scenario, the world is ending, and one of my biggest regrets is… oh, no, I can only save 10 books! Sounds about right! 😂 I‘m sharing this for anyone who wants to play. My 10 books are about to be revealed in photographic fashion! 😁

#IHaveQuestions #BelovedBooks

#IHaveQuestions

@RaeLovesToRead has questions, y‘all! 🤔

Even at an early age I loved Sherlock Holmes mysteries, so I‘d go with Sherlock, Dr. Watson, and Irene Adler. For the entertainment, I would leave a bunch of fake clues around so every time Holmes used one to make a deduction about me, I could tell him, “That‘s not even close! You were way off!” Holmes wouldn‘t be amused, but I‘m sure Watson and Adler will enjoy watching Holmes suffer!😂

#IHaveQuestions
Paging all Littens, @RaeLovesToRead has questions!

1. Tagged! It takes a story from Russian mythology and weaves it into a historical fiction with high fantasy elements threaded in. 🤩

2. I‘ve read cyberpunk and steampunk, but has a book ever combined both genres? Cybersteampunk should be a thing! 🤔

3. Nonfiction romance… wait, that makes it sound like I‘m opposed to real-life love! Now I have questions about myself! 😳

#IHaveQuestions
@RaeLovesToRead coming at us with the tough questions today! 🤔

1. Tagged! This book committed one of the worst sins for me… it was boring! Loooooong stretches of nothing interesting happening. Add to that shock value just for the sake of shock value, and a terrible ending.
2. As beloved as it is, I can‘t bring myself to read “A Storm of Swords” by GRRM. I don‘t want to continue a series that I suspect will never be completed! 😔

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😁

1️⃣ Ummm… let‘s put it this way, at least 99% of my wishlist is made up of books! 😬🤓📚

2️⃣ Yes! I‘ve already bought books as Christmas presents for some of my bibliophile friends. Plus, my work does a Secret Santa, and I usually buy books for mine since it‘s a safe guess! 🎅🎁

I‘ve said it before but it bears repeating… Having friends is great, having a love of reading is great, but having friends who share your love of reading is the best! 😊 Thank you so much @Branwen for this generous early Christmas present! I‘m so grateful for all these great books and the Mighty Thor figure, but I‘m especially grateful to have a wonderful friend like you in my life! 😀

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😊

1️⃣ Our only real family tradition is to get together at my sister‘s house for the holiday… we‘re the kind of family that typically only sees each other twice a year even though most of us live in the same town! 😳

2️⃣ I know this is about as basic as you can get, but… ME LOVE PUMPKIN PIE!!! 😋 🥧 (I just said that in my best Cookie Monster voice for some reason!)

Me: “Never judge a book by its cover!”
Also me: *buys an entire book series because I love the covers* 😳

In my defense, look how amazing these covers are (in a bizarre steampunk kinda way)! 🤩

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1️⃣ Shallan from “The Stormlight Archives”. Shallan started as a con artist, so she‘s experienced in pretending to be other people. And now that she can cast illusions, she could even bring her own CGI effects to Hollywood!

2️⃣ “Orphan Black”. Shallan could play an entire Clone Club almost as well as Tatiana Maslany did! Sorry, Shallan, but NO ONE could be better at playing clones than Tatiana was!

Thank you for this #LittensWantToKnow @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 😁

I would love to see Brandon Sanderson‘s “Stormlight Archive” on either the big or small screen. With weapons and armor made of glowing metal, magic giving people the ability to fly or craft illusions, and fairy-like spren manifesting for all sorts of emotions and elements, this would be breathtaking to see in a visual medium! 🤩 Something tells me @Branwen will back me up on this!

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😁

1️⃣ Tagged! Although between recovering from surgery and preparing for a major audit at work next month, I haven‘t had much reading time lately, so it‘s the ONLY book I‘ve been reading this month! 😳 Fortunately I‘ve been enjoying it.

2️⃣ It‘s so different than I expected. Hollywood often portrays the monster as a mindless brute, but Shelly‘s original creation is more intelligent and dangerous! 😱

“I perceived in the gloom a figure which stole from behind a clump of trees near me; I stood fixed, gazing intently: I could not be mistaken. A flash of lightning illuminated the object, and discovered its shape plainly to me; its gigantic stature, and the deformity of its aspect, more hideous than belongs to humanity, instantly informed me that it was the wretch, the filthy dæmon, to whom I had given life.”

The monster trying to be stealthy ?

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😀

1️⃣ Books that make me laugh. “Good Omens” by Gaiman and Pratchett, “The Palace Job” by Patrick Weekes, Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich, and “Mind Games” by Carolyn Crane are good for cheering me up when I have a bad day! 😁

2️⃣ Victor Frankenstein is an egomaniac! 😳

I haven‘t been very active on Litsy lately as I‘ve been in the process of moving into a new condo, but I‘m pleased to announce that the move is complete! 😀🏠 I‘ve unpacked all my books (which took longer to unpack than everything else combined). 😳 I ordered new bookshelves, but only one was in stock, so until the others arrive, here is my one lonely bookshelf. Not pictured: many books stuffed into cabinets waiting patiently for their shelves! 😂

Thanks for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView and thank you for the tag @RaeLovesToRead 😀

1. Lying Cat from the “Saga” series. Who knew a cat that only says one word could add so much poignancy to a story?! 🙀

2. I appreciate a strong supporting character, but sometimes they can hurt a story if they overshadow the lead. In the tagged book I was more interested in supporting character Snow and didn‘t enjoy the parts when she wasn‘t around as much.

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😀

1️⃣ I‘m in the process of selling a house and finding another, so I‘ve been too exhausted to read much lately. 😮‍💨 A graphic novel might be easier to read, so I‘ll try the tagged book that the brilliant @Meaw_catlady gave me! 😊

2️⃣ I love playing symphonic metal while reading. Bands like Nightwish and Epica with their soaring vocals and dramatic compositions are the perfect soundtrack! 🎶

Since the wonderful @hannah-leeloo actually posted about this literary shirt today, that seemed a perfect excuse for me to show off my own version of the shirt! I suspect everyone on Litsy can relate to what it says! 😂📚

“Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world. A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent natures would owe their being to me. No father could claim the gratitude of his child so completely as I should deserve theirs.”

YIKES! I knew going into this that Dr. Frankenstein had a God complex, but I didn‘t realize to what extent! 😱

4 out of five wind sprites! 🧚🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️🧚🏻‍♀️

It‘s a few days since I finished this buddy read with the wonderful @Branwen and I‘m still processing my feelings. While I enjoyed the book, it is my least favorite of the series so far, as I felt the heroes stories went in unsatisfying directions. But while the protagonists got short-changed, the villains shined brighter than ever, thanks to the introduction of the fascinating Raboniel!

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😀

I just realized I still haven‘t posted a review of this book! 😳

1. Raboniel. She‘s everything a book villain should be: charismatic, clever, formidable, and usually at least three steps ahead of the heroes. She‘s so good at being bad, I almost started rooting for her!

2. I‘d like to see the main characters all get happy endings, but since it will be a Sanderson book, that ain‘t happening! 😭

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView 😌

1️⃣ Tagged! It can put a lot of pressure on a character to have the whole book named after her, but fortunately Moroda was up to the task!

2️⃣ Hmmm… good question! 🤔 I think usually longer book titles catch my eye more, but there is something admirable about a book that can grab your attention with just one word, like “It” or “Deathless”!

Thank you for this #WondrousWednesday @Eggs 😊

1. Multiple POVs. I love getting different characters perspectives on things, especially if their points of view on events in the book are different from one another.

2. I can only read in English.

3. I‘m a mood reader… but that doesn‘t stop me from making numerous reading lists that I never adhere to! 😂🤣

Thank you for this #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1. I‘m hoping to finish both the tagged book and “Frankenstein” this month! I only have 50 pages left in Rhythm of War!

2. As someone who reads a lot of fantasy, I am so sick of everything being described as smelling of “jasmine”! C‘mon, fantasy authors, there are other scents out there! Also, like many readers, I‘m so sick of characters releasing breaths they didn‘t know they were holding! 🤦🏻‍♂️

It‘s so sad when we have to say goodbye to a member of our Litsy family. 😢 @sharread was such a sweetheart and she will be missed dearly.

Thank you to @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Professional_Book_Dragon @Bookwormjillk for organizing this #SharreadsReadathon Sharing for anyone who‘d like to participate

To honor Sharon, I‘ll be reading Frankenstein, a book she had listed as one of her Fall Favorites. Rest In Peace and fly with the angels, Sharon!