Hello, again. I basically couldn't read anything at all during the pandemic, words just sliding right off a stressed out brain. But, I'm taking baby steps towards fixing that and recreating some kind of reading habit.

This week's impulse buy came in (◕ᴗ◕✿)

Reorganized the books on the shelf above my bed. They're the comfy books I like reaching for just to reread a line or paragraph I love.

Look idk what's going on with my tbr pile choices either. Anyway, this was a DELIGHT. Too sensational to be published in Alcott's time there's passion! murder! love! cruelty! Our heroine flees from Italy to France to Germany to England on the hunt for freedom from her dastardly former lover (who might like... Literally be the devil??) Anyway I read this like it was candy.

I picked this up on a whim after reading a Tweet mentioning it and omg. Omg. I'm so glad I did. I devoured this on my metro commute in the course of two days and couldn't actually put it down on the walk from the train station home as I reached the end. It's a gorgeous revisit of Aurthurian legend and the characters are so complex and absolutely beautiful.

This is my first go at the Vorkosigan saga and I really enjoyed this one. It's refreshing to see a sci-fi heroine protagonist in her thirties?? I enjoyed her and Aral's relationship very much. This was written in the 60s I believe and in places it shows it, both in tone and terminology.

C/w: The threat of sexual violence comes up more than once in this book but never occurs on page.

My concession to the virus has been the purchase of a paperback copy of Tales from the Decameron and a St. Sebastian medal. We comfort ourself with stories when everything falls the pieces. #Pandemic

I wanted to like this book more than I did. All of its elements are things I love: Post-War Britain, Quirky Country Villages, Romance, Spies(!!)... But it just never coalesced into the story I was looking for. It was sweet but disjointed and I found myself frustrated in trying to follow the actual murder mystery.

This book is a marvel of world building, I can see why it's so influential. The main character is deeply flawed. Misogynistic in a way that I have a hard time bearing even though I know that trait is being used to highlight the lessons he still has to learn about gender. This is a fascinating story but there's an emotional distance in it that I had a hard time traversing. I'm glad I read it but probably wouldn't choose to read again.

It's not really a secret that I love space operas and I love books that examine and grapple with the concept of empire and civilization so honestly I'm shocked it took me this long to read Ancillary Justice. It took me a second to get accustomed to the diffused nature of the narrator but I dig it so much. Definitely going to pick up the next novel.

I loved this! Super quick read, perfect for the train ride I went on today. Murderbot is a funny, and surprisingly relatable protagonist considering they're a... well, a murder bot. It looks at the question of what does one do when all prescribed meaning for your life suddenly gets stripped back?

"We were all terrified, and the silence was total as the Victory rolled slowly forward, her stone wings trembling slightly. Monsieur Michon sank down on the stone steps murmuring, "I will not see her return.""

I love vignettes. I love writers who can pack the aesthetic and feeling of a suspended world into a series of single scenes. This is delivering beautifully so far.

My cat passed away yesterday. We had 18 years together. I had him for longer than I didn't. My best friend sent me this poem by Jack Gilbert in solace and I think it bears sharing. Grief makes the heart apparent as much as sudden happiness can.

Reading Rebecca and our young heroine literally fleeing into another part of the house and contemplating escaping out a window when guests arrived unexpectedly early is honestly SUCH a mood.

This whole scene still makes me laugh, genuinely.

Look I know I'm late to this party but this has honestly been the book I've been needing for months. It's sweet, romantic, and a lovely escapist palate cleanser if your political heart was broken back in 2016. Complete with an enemies to friends to lovers romance, election politics, and classics references. Absolutely recommend it.

This is a meditation on the seduction/destruction that comes at the hand of an empire as well as a political drama that turns on poetry and poisonous flowers of both the literal and figurative variety. I want to fall into this book and swim in it forever.

There is something endlessly intriguing about a fragment of a poem, devoid of context but applicable to so many things.

The illustrations in this book are gorgeous.

Love is ancient delirium, a desire older than civilization, with taproots stretching deep into dark and mysterious days.

I‘m only just getting into reading Isaac Asimov (which feels like I‘ve failed to like be baptized or something considering how much I love Sci-Fi and how much of a giant he is in the genre) And don‘t get me wrong, I love this book so far BUT HOLY COW I AM 50% THROUGH AND NOT A SINGLE WOMAN HAS ENTERED A SCENE. NOT ONE. Like. Not even one named in passing. Yikes.

This was fun with a fantastic cast of characters. I‘ll probably be checking out the next one in the series. Shaw has a great knack for affectionate sarcasm when it comes to dialogue.

I‘m roughly 40% through this book and haven‘t quite found the plot yet. The characters are all quite interesting but none of them have really grabbed me. There are some really lovely turns of phrase but I‘m considering moving on to something else.

FINALLY getting around to reading The Essex Serpent which has a terribly lovely cover and I‘m just a sucker for those.

“I had been old and stern for so long, carved with regrets and years like a monolith. But that was only a shape I had been poured into. I did not have to keep it.”

My pre-order came in and I‘m already hooked. Also look at that gorgeous foil cover!

“Beauty has a hold on us. We are drawn to it. We go to great lengths to get it. We immerse ourselves in it. Beauty delights us. It inspires us. It makes us ache. It sends us into despair. If myths are to be believed, it can launch a thousand ships to war. But what exactly is this thing called beauty?”

Well. This unstitched me and now I‘m walking around with a wound in my heart. Knowing how the story goes doesn‘t make this any less lovely or heartbreaking.

Oof. Valente is hypnotic in this story about a hotel stuck like a pin through the world where the underworld lives in the subbasement and the Volstead Act is a fairy thing. Read it if you‘d like high octane aesthetic injected directly into your veins.

Excited to get started on this! I love historical books on the unexpected roles of women during wartime.

The Boyfriend's Christmas Book Haul. I think he's pretty pleased with it.

Excellent! I'm so, so pleased to be back in the world again. This trilogy is shaping up to be just as adventurous as the first.

Just picked up Women of Will. Really pleased with it so far. Some great quotes and a really interesting look at the development of Shakespeare as he developed his female characters. I think this painting of Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth features on the cover of the hardcover version, but tbh I'm adding it here because I'm just super in love with 'the beetle dress' she wears in it.

'"He thinks he's in love!" She said tragically.
Lord Ravenscar was unmoved.'

That's it. That's the summary of all Georgette Heyer books. (I kid, I love the predictability of her ouevre.) in other news I'm ill and need some regency romances to make me feel better.

History🏺
In Bed 🛌
Cider🍺
Autumn⛅️
Fiction🎬
Paperback📜
Paper Bookmark🗳
Notes 📓
Fairytales🔮
#GettingToKnowYou #QuizzesOfLitsy

It seems like it's trying to do a lot at once but I think the book pulls it off. The interwoven stories of Psyche, Echo, Persephone and more, written in verse and starting out with young Psyche as an actress, it plays with the nature of relationships.

Gorgeous. If you like Shakespeare, Murder Mysteries, and pretentious college aged thespians this is right up your alley. The main characters speak this fascinating sort of pidgin English where they consistently pull lines from Shakespeare's work as they talk.

I'm lowkey mourning #Cassini and it's sublimation into Saturn so I've turned to some excellent essays to soothe my sadness.

I've been in a heck of a reading slump for the past few days but this book has reawakened my drive. I love it so far, practically lyrical.

Got this on a whim this weekend and it's really engaging! The magic system is interesting and the characters are entertaining. I have high hopes for this.

"The labyrinth is thoroughly known...
we have only to follow the thread of the hero path.
And where we had thought to find an abomination
we shall find a God.
And where we had thought to slay another
we shall slay ourselves.
Where we had thought to travel outwards
we shall come to the center of our own existence.
And where we had thought to be alone
we shall be with all the world.”

It's a lot more about jung and psychology than I was really expecting. That being said, I'm all about that archetypal critical theory so I'm still enjoying it immensely.

My evening has been a cup of Lapsang Souchong & and indulging in some more mythology themed comics.

'"All neurotics," writes Dr. Freud "are either Oedipus or Hamlet."'

So I did some traveling this week and brought Fragile Things along with me. My favorite bit of traveling is fancy breakfasts I think. While I loved some of the introductory stories about halfway through I ran into a short story that I viscerally Did Not Like. I had to put it down for a while and haven't picked it back up yet.

In the process of reading through Fragile Things. A Study in Emerald is my favorite story so far and I desperately want to see that short story expanded into a novel. The perfect combination of Sherlock and Eldritch Horror.

Holy cow, you guys. This is wonderful. I picked it up on a whim since it's on sale today on Amazon for 3.99. The art is on pointe, the story is engaging, and the mystery of it keeps you wanting to know more. Go pick it up while it's on sale!

An excellent book for a lovely day. Gaiman's love of the mythology and the personae is clear and his lyrical treatment of the myths are a delight. Definitely worth a read.

Okay, I'm in love. Have you ever found a book series that fits so neatly into your aesthetic that it seems like it was written for you? This series may not be for everyone but it is absolutely for me. A soft, beautiful story with fairies and dragons and as much magic and wonder as you could want. A sort of grown up Ghibli-esque tale. Definitely would recommend.