Paranormal #HistoricalRomance M/M

Lucien has returned from exile in China as the new Lord Crane. Strangely, he seems to have inherited the title and a curse, for he keeps trying to kill himself. He needs magical help.

Stephen Day, magician, hates the Cranes for how they ruined his family, yet he comes to Lucien's aid. Soon the two of them battle not only the "curse" but also with their mutual attraction.

A Charm of Magpies book 1

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Finished "The Magpie Lord" yesterday. First in a paranormal M/M #HistoricalRomance trilogy, with some ?️

Today I'm oscillating between the third Emily Wilde #eARC and the #LitsySciFiBookClub pick for December.

#SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

Well, would you look at that. The first time I don't add all my reads to Goodreads and I make it into the Top 1% Readers and(!) Reviewers. 😂😂

Anyway, it's just stats and I'm not reading to outdo other people, I'm reading for fun.

I'm looking forward to my final tally from StoryGraph, which is where I tracked all of my reading this year.

Just wanted to catch up with #LittensLoveRomance but then got sucked in and read the whole story in one sitting.

Loved the banter. The mystery was well-crafted. Enough information to keep me turning the pages, but not too much so that I was bored by the foreshadowing. The snowed in manor would be a dream to visit, including the greenhouse.

After reading A Kilt for Christmas (https://litsy.com/p/T21oU0JLb3p2) I had to come back for more Ghost Coos (sadly missing in this book) and a bunch of Fairy Godmothers disguised as a book club of elderly women calling themselves the Book Bitches and wearing Christmas sweaters with puns.

There's a magical bookshop and the woman who just inherited it, a socially awkward man in a kilt with a hurt puffin, and lots of puffin puns.

#SeriesLove2024

Had the second of three MRIs this morning at 7am, which, incidentally, is the perfect time to whack up the schedule of the MRI practice when a 10-12min exam turns into a 40min exam. They found something minor but nobody told me about it at the moment and I spiraled a bit, until I read the results.

Anyway, I got myself some books, because an emotional roller-coaster is better with emotional support books.

Two audiobooks and one ebook.

#NetGalley #ARC #MountARC

Expected publication: 27 March 2025

I'm shamelessly quoting from the Afterword and Acknowledgements of the review copy I was generously granted: this is "a book about the moon turning to cheese, [...] each chapter represent[s] a day in the lunar cycle, each chapter with mostly different characters in mostly different places in the United States, reacting to it in ways specific [to] them alone"

⬇️

This was probably the worst book I've read this year.

You've heard of the "Saw" films? Yes? That's what this book was. A Christmas themed Saw film in book form with stereotypical characters and a predictable plot twist.

Ugh!!!

Christmas Cards from lovely Littens have arrived.

Thank you, @robinb @jenniferw88 @CarolynM @squirrelbrain!!!

by K. A. Merikan

Luke works at a burger joint when one evening the literal Lord of the Nocturne Court walks in telling Luke he's to marry him the next day under the full moon. Of course Luke thinks it's a prank, but soon he finds himself in a different realm about to face the altar.

Dark M/M romantasy, quite explicit 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Standalone

Mentioned this book to the #Gladstonerds and @Leniverse said she'd read the author and liked it.

#OokBOokClub

Just a friendly reminder that we'll be reading #GoingPostal next! Dig out your books, put in your library holds, or place your orders! The next Discworld adventure continues on January 8th! Woohoo!

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyRead

#OokBOokClub-ers, our Discworld adventure continues TODAY with #MonstrousRegiment!

Looking forward to our discussion next month!

Happy reading!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyRead

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Read "The Nightmare before Kissmas" yesterday.

Currently back in Tinsel with AJ Pine's "Not Another Christmas Rom-Com"

Hello friends! Open discussion is in the FOLLOWING POST marked as a spoiler. Find the The Truth post & tap "show me" on the spoiler tag to join in the discussion. Join in whenever you can! Today. Tomorrow. Next month! The post will always be up so just tag each other & we'll jump in to discuss with you. Feel free to chat about anything!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyRead

Thank you, @robinb for the first Christmas card this year and the bookmark. ?

My daughter brought it in and said "You have a letter from Birmingham." and my mind went through the rolodex of people I know in the UK and who might be from Birmingham. ? Well, it was soon sorted with my 14 year old declaring that the people should have called it New Birmingham, just like they called it New York. "It's just less confusing." ??

Here's the books from your #AuldLangSpine list, @sebrittainclark, that were on #MountTBR already.

I'm trying to decide which book to start with, Cascade Failure (most looking forward to) or Bride (Hazelwood's last few romances have been #MoreMehThanYeah for me).

Guess I can always add a tenth book from the list and roll a D10. 😉

@monalyisha

#AuldLangSpine 2025 List courtesy of @sebrittainclark

Thank you, Sarah. I've already read a few of them, but also saw a lot that are on the higher slopes of #MountTBR (I'll post separately).

Thanks for organising, @monalyisha

Clegg looks at the origins of the darker Christmas traditions still celebrated today. She looks at how Carnival traditions used to tie into Christmas, at Krampus and Santa Lucia, as well as the Winter Solstice at Stonehenge. And several more in between.

Short NF that's well worth a read at this time of year.

@Caroline2

"This is my account of a winter spent with monsters, but it's also an effort to understand their history, where and when they originated, and why they take the forms they do. It is an attempt as well to understand why we are so drawn to horrors at Christmastime."

This was just as good as Crazy Rich Asians.

Travelling the world one wedding at a time with the 1% crowd, who have problems I'll never have (thank F for that).

Pure escapism. 😁

#BookMail

Instead of an Advent Calendar I got myself a book. It's short. I might have to get another book for the second half of the Advent season. 😉

Ugh!!! I like a good first draft, this was not good, but read like a draft. Predictable. Very fanfiction-y.

She's not like the other girls. He can't stand her. But they are drawn together...

The banter was very YA (fae don't know what a ghost is, but know what Cliffs Notes are?). It's only NA or even adult Romantasy because swearing and 🌶️

I'm definitely not the target audience for this train wreck.

#WorstRead2024 @CSeydel

Another book filled month!!

#20in4 #readathon @Andrew65

Organising my materials for examining (bottom right)

Finished Shopping for a Highlander (re-read)

Started Quicksilver (recommended by a friend, not sure it's for me)

@Andrew65 is back and so is the #20in4 #readathon! 🎉🎉🎉

Unfortunately, I'm reading Cambridge Speaking Exam rubrics on Friday and Saturday. I'll readathon on Sunday and Monday hoping to finish at least one ebook.

Checked my daughter's books and shelves again, you might remember the damp situation from two weeks ago. All good. Then, inspired by @RaeLovesToRead's shelves I moved a few books from my trophy shelves.

#WhereAreYouMonday @Cupcake12

Top left: Scalzi - When the Moon hits your Eye (ARC) - current chapter is set in LV

Top right: Award - The Anaconda Downstairs

Bottom right: Hall - 10 Things That Never Happened (re-reading the audiobook, again), starts in Sheffield, but then mainly London with a short trip to Liverpool at the end

Bottom left: Robb - Prime Time Romance - starts in Toronto, but mainly set on a fictional island off MA

Two interesting Book Bundles currently available on www.humblebundle.com

19 books by Neal Shusterman, including the Scythe series

30 books by Ursula K LeGuin, including A Wirzard of Earthsea

Jumped ahead and read the book for December already.

The novella talks about what we don't get to see in Bella and Z's full novel, the few months that lead to the epilogue of Lover Awakened.

I'm looking forward to the discussion. There was one teeny tiny remark Z made that had me nearly growl at the book with fury.

#BlackDaggerBrotherhood #BDBBuddyRead #BDBBookClub #BDB

#SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

Bit hit and miss. I liked the one by Olivia Dade, "All by my Elf," best.

All in all five?️? #audiobook snacks perfect for some #audioknitting.

Weird day. No idea why. Couldn't concentrate on one book.

Better luck tomorrow. 😉

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1) when travelling, organising my week, food and grocery shopping, yes. Only tentative plans for most other things.

2) Nanao is the "unluckiest assassin in the world" - the plan was to get on the train and snatch one particular suitcase

"... I have a briefing with the president in exactly half an hour, and because we all know he doesn't bother to read the daily intelligence briefing, it will fall to me to explain what the hell is going on. So explain it to me. Use small words on me so I can use smaller words on him...."

Mr Scalzi, you scare me. This book is supposed to be published next spring. Means you wrote it last year(?).

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

eARC - Hotel Lucky Seven
🎧 - Gogmagog

I see this book reviewed here and noticed that either I didn't review it here or my review never "aired" back in September.

Anyway, I absolutely loved it. The translation and narration by Mary Robinette-Kowal are excellent.

It's creepy and atmospheric and I still wonder what the end was about.

Opened my #NetGalley account to check the pub day of a different #ARC and finding this new addition to #MountARC ???

"One day, suddenly and without explanation, the moon turns into a ball of cheese.
For some, it‘s an opportunity. For others, it‘s time to question their life choices. How can the world stay the same in the face of such absurdity and uncertainty?"

Pub Day for UK is 27 March 2025

Another book I have to thank/blame @RaeLovesToRead for introducing me to.
Rae, you mentioned it one evening over mead and bramble whisky. You mentioned another book, but that one I can't remember. We were talking about heist books similar to Locke Lamora.

Found the #audiobook and have just picked up this #audioknitting project out of my UFO basket. It'll either be leg warmers or socks when done. #LitsyCrafters

#NetGalley #ARC #MountARC

Bristol Keats is the ordinary middle child. Her parents used to travel all over the country with her and her two sisters. The family only settled down recently and then tragedy struck, first her mother died, then her father. To keep her family afloat, Bristol strikes a bargain with one of the fae kings. She follows the fae into their realm and becomes one of only a few new recruits training for one specific purpose,

#NetGalley #ARC #MountARC

Pub Day was 05 November

Tao travels the country in a mule-drawn wagon and tells fortunes. She is a teller of small fortunes, larger fortunes come with consequences and so she sticks to the small ones. On her journey she makes friends with a former mercenary and a reformed thief, who are looking for a lost child, as well as an apprentice baker and her slightly magical cat.

The story is like being on a low stakes ⬇️

#BookMail from yesterday

This story had been on my mind for quite a while, but I never knew what the title was until @Bookwomble posted about it.

The last three days were busy. I found damp behind my daughter's bookshelf on Monday. Took out all the books and knick knacks and sorted through what had to go because of mould and what was just damp.
Yesterday I moved the shelf and removed the wallpaper.

Today I filled the shelves.

Bottom right is the wall without wallpaper, just the insulation I put up ten years ago. Daughter is happy with her discoball wall.

All powered by audiobooks. 😜

It's that time of the year.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

1) stripes - love stripes

2) no, finished the last library book (audiobook) while preparing lunch today; tagged

@RaeLovesToRead mentioned the second book in the series some time ago and I thought I should check out the first.

I liked it, but it took me a long time to get into it and finish it. I had the impression that it took until past the halfway mark to introduce the many different characters, their backgrounds, and building this slightly alternate Victorian world.

I'll pick up the second book, somewhen 😉

#SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65

Hello #OokBOokClub-ers,

Here's the #BuddyRead reading plan for next year. We'll be reading the Moist von Lipwig subseries followed by the Watch novels and short stories.

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

Pictures from the tagged book.

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #EpicBuddyRead

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

I tend to re-read cosy, funny books during the darker months.

Top left: The Chronicles of St Mary's (🎄) short story collections and, of course, I've pre-ordered the next 🎄short story already
Bottom left: Spin-off from the Shopping for a Billionaire series, can be read without having read the whole series. Laugh out loud #RomCom ⬇️⬇️⬇️

#ARC #MountARC #NetGalley

Requested solely based on the cover and was approved 🤩🤩

UK pub day is in March 2025

#OokBOokClub

Just a friendly reminder that we'll be reading #MonstrousRegiment next! Dig out your books, put in your library holds, or place your orders! The next Discworld adventure continues on December 8th! Woohoo!

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

#OokBOokClub-ers, our Discworld adventure continues TODAY with #TheTruth!

Looking forward to our discussion next month!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyRead

Happy reading!