I'm having some pretty major reader's block due to brain fog and general blahs - can anyone give me a recommendation to get me out of my slump? I've been reading a lot of meta-fiction lately, like Grady Hendrix and Seanan McGuire, but I'm up for anything so long as it isn't overly realistic. Don't mind depressing so long as it's in a sf/f context, but some humor might be nice too. Free kitty picture as my tax.

My ever-increasing ill health has me going through a lot more audiobooks (vs print) compared to what I used to. What can people tell me about audible vs scribd vs chirp or wherever you get your audiobooks from? The six a month I can get from hoopla is just not cutting it! Thanks all!

Hello, fellow Littens! This post is intended to gauge if there would be any interest in a #bookclub that focused on cozy mysteries! This is inspired both by my deep love of the genre and the fact that I am hard at work writing my first cozy, and would find it really helpful to figure out which aspects of other cozies people do or don't like. Let me know if you might be interested!

Read more like a thriller, in a good way. The viewpoint changes between five different characters who have just received their "Match", a person genetically determined soulmate. While the chapters are short, the suspense of each story drives you to keep reading on. Every single chapter past the first few comes with a major or minor twist of some sort, which I enjoyed. 4.5/5

This is just like me today with my audiobook! Ruby and I are all comfy cozy! #dogsoflitsy

For anyone with a resolution, I wanted to recommend this app I use, Habitica. It basically uses CBT principles packaged as a text-based rpg. You can set a task (say, finish a book) and it gives you rewards to spend on in-game upgrades, or rewards you set up for yourself (a coffee from Starbucks, a bubble bath, etc) Anyway, I thought it might be helpful!

This is the kind of thing that drives me up the wall! Why does Libby have only book three of a five book series? What am I meant to do with this? 😂 I swear that like, at least 90% of series that I look at don't have all the books in a series and a truly surprising amount that don't have the first book, so then how am I supposed to even start? 🤦

I've been offline for a long time (a year-ish 😳) due to my ongoing health issues, but a few weeks ago I finally got a feeding tube and I'm feeling so much stronger and more like a functioning human, so I'm back! This is my feeding backpack, Mr. Bluebirowl. I got Jasper Fforde's new book, The Constant Rabbit, for Christmas, so you can expect a review very soon!

Continuing the adventures of the demigods, the two groups from the first two books are united, and I found the combination very satisfying. Annabeth gets to shine, which I appreciated. All in all, a nice chapter in the saga.

Of course, since I chose not to read this until now, I was unable to avoid spoilers and knew the twist, but it was still interesting looking at the psychology of the characters. Thrillers are always a good choice for the hospital, as they keep your interest but aren‘t too deep for the most part.

Continuing my post-hospital catch-up. Like the other one in this series I reviewed, I felt that the author‘s lack of real baking knowledge made Hannah‘s character unbelievable. She tries to pepper the book with baking facts and recipes but they are at best rudimentary and at worst downright incorrect.

I was in the hospital for about two weeks without my phone, but I did have books, so I‘m going to put out my reviews over the next few days spaced out a bit, every few hours. Gastroparesis is a bitch, man. That said: I though Cream Puff Murder was a fairly nice cozy, but the recipes were atrocious and the ending came out of left field. There is no world in which this character is a professional baker.

Filled with truly crazy characters. It reminds me of my brother, who went to a top college, and had a friend who got a helicopter for his birthday.

Look what I woke up to! (after a sleep of only an hour and a half, thank you, The Testaments)

Back cover, because what happens if you start a new Margaret Atwood book right before bed? You do not sleep.

I just reread what has to be my all-time favorite book. It just feels so real, so true, in a way that most writers can‘t capture. Every word of it feels like something I‘ve thought but didn‘t know how to put into words. Very excited to start The Testaments!

It came a day earlier than they said it would! Getting down to reading!

In this one we catch back up with Percy, who meets up with some new friends. I liked the tension created by Percy‘s lost memories.

I‘m so jealous of everyone who already has their copy of The Testaments. I pre-ordered, but it still won‘t be here til Thursday. I should‘ve bought it in person, but I got excited and wanted to order it right away! My impatience is my downfall!

This was a satisfying continuation of the Percy Jackson books, although Percy himself does not make an appearance in this one. The new characters are delightful and sympathetic and it still delivers on being a roaring good adventure!

I believe it was this book cover which so delighted my new boyfriend this weekend at the bookstore. He mainly reads nonfiction and had never heard of a cozy mystery! We spent ages just going through cozy titles and giggling at the puns.

This was a solid example of YA dystopian fantasy. It has that good rebellious spirit that such books often invoke. The subject matter is, however, very sad and a little bit triggering. Not for the faint of heart.

I did this one a little out of order; it‘s #3.5 and I read it after #4. It doesn‘t suffer from that, however. It was interesting to hear Levana‘s perspective. In this, she is still every bit a monster, but she is also a sad and lonely little girl.

I really enjoyed the off kilter Winter and her sweet relationship with Jacin. This was a very satisfying conclusion to the series.

I found the new character, Cress, in this this third installment of the Lunar Chronicles utterly charming. She is just the right combination of odd and endearing and her influence on the roguish Thorne humanizes him. Another book that, while by no means high literature, is an excellent read.

Boggle, Gnossienne, Jasper, and Anaphase wish you a very happy #internationalcatday They ask that I please read less and pet more.
#catsoflitsy

An excellent second installment. It took me a while to get through because I was doing it on audio and I had limited listening time, but I really enjoyed it. The new characters added quite a bit to the narrative.

I stayed up late to finish this for book club, only to realize that book club is NEXT week! 🤦‍♀️

The kitten prefers audiobooks because there‘s nothing stopping me from petting her or getting in her way when she snuggles! #catsoflitsy

My family always called me Maleficent when I was being particularly evil (Molly: Maleficent; get it?) and she is just the best. Such an overreaction to not being invited to a party. I love it. #theworldneedsavillain

I finished Cinder, and I‘m due for a dose of dilaudid, so I‘m going to call my #24in48 there. It‘s been a trying one. As I may have mentioned once or twice, I was doing this one from a hospital bed and it is TOUGH to read when you‘re medicated, your blood sugar is too high or, worse, too low, and nurses keep interrupting you. I‘m quite proud that I managed twelve hours!

I finished Cinder, and I‘m due for a dose of dilaudid, so I‘m going to call my #24in48 there. It‘s been a trying one. As I may have mentioned once or twice, I was doing this one from a hospital bed and it is TOUGH to read when you‘re medicated, your blood sugar is too high or, worse, too low, and nurses keep interrupting you. I‘m quite proud that I managed twelve hours!

I made my twelve hour goal for #24in48
Not bad, given all my hiccups!

I haven‘t actually FINISHED a book during 24in48, but of the two that I‘ve started, I think this one is the most intriguing. It has a really interesting kind of magical realism that I enjoy. #24in48

As of the end of breakfast, this is where I stand. Clearly not doing 24 hours, but hoping for 12. That wouldn‘t be bad, with so many interruptions! #24in48

I‘m really bad at picking favorites, but I‘m working on a ya book right now, so I‘m going with that one! It‘s slow-going because I‘m listening instead of reading, so a book that might take me two hours is taking me ten. #24in48

The above is the first romance novel I‘d read in quite a while. As for how my love life is going, I chose not to schedule a first date for today because of #24in48
I ended up being in the hospital anyway, but that‘s where my head is at. Hahahahaha

I‘ve switched to an audiobook, having caved to my pounding head. Due to headache, dilaudid, and Benadryl, I‘ve only done about 2 hours and 15 minutes so far. #24in48

Hour twelve challenge:
I actually just did audiobooks for the first time ever in the last couple weeks due to a crazy migraine. I‘m enjoying them, but I still prefer print. #24in48

Cinder, the second book in my tbr, is perfect for the first #24in48 challenge. Excuse the photo quality, my hands are shaky cause I‘m sick and the lighting is bad in the hospital.

I brought a bunch of books with me to the hospital in case I get the gumption to do #24in48
I doubt I‘ll do the full 24, and I certainly won‘t finish my books, but I might as well try!

1. It‘s so hot out that it made me think of this one Dehydration, people!
2. Cheetos may literally be my favorite food and I love them in all their forms.Most recently I ate jalapeño ones, which are crunchy.
3. Sunset. If I see sunrise, it‘s because I stayed up.
4. Books, jewelry, clothes, kitchen appliances
5. I liked all of them but fourth when I had a true monster of a teacher who I still talk about to my therapist.
#friyayintro @howjessreads

I very much liked this one. High school was awful and this captured that intense desperation for me. The detective was very likable. The bit of supernatural weirdness was odd, and for me it was never properly defined whether that was real or not, but maybe that was ok? Any A+

Another audiobook, cause I can‘t shake this migraine. I read the first book in this series awhile back and this delivered more of the same simple pleasures. The only problem I had with it was that, having watched True Blood, there were enough things that were almost familiar but quite different to be a little confusing. Like Tara being a white boutique owner. But that‘s a minor issue.

1. I lost five pounds
2. Rhode Island beaches
3. That‘s Sophie‘s choice.
4. In the summer, weekends and weekdays are the same for me!
5. Will do!
#friyayintro

I tried to do this on audio, and I couldn‘t focus on the narrator‘s accent. I may try to read it as a physical book when my headache goes away.

My first ever audiobook that I finished! I‘m not normally drawn to audiobooks but I have had a killer migraine for about five days and today it has included a pretty good aura, so I couldn‘t see to read or even watch tv. I don‘t normally do romance either, but it‘s very well written and an interesting premise. I dated someone on the autism spectrum and I can attest that it‘s difficult, though of course less melodramatic than in the book!

This was an interesting one, because I found the main character so unlikeable, and I think I was supposed to. Also, it took me a long time to get a grasp on what was going on with the crime. I didn‘t guess the details of the ending until a few pages before it was revealed. Also, it has some interesting things to say about mental health.

I really enjoy the way Tana French takes a minor character from the previous book in the series and turns them into a major character in the next book, so they feel familiar but also new. This book explores how family can be toxic and whether those connections are worth maintaining, and what we owe to people based solely on blood relations.

This was a re-read; I first read this several years ago. One of my favorites. The premise is deeply absurd; a detective goes undercover as a murdered woman, which she is able to do because she is her exact doppelgänger. But French takes this ridiculous thread and weaves it into a beautiful, rich tapestry that is somehow believable and wholly lovely. Utterly captivating.