Please all enjoy this photo of my friend's cat, Bramble.

#catsoflitsy

Bookspinnnnnnn

https://youtu.be/etBXEVlax5s?si=VxUubwjnetfwPxnb

And here is part 2!

ONE HUNDRED BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS! Boom! 😊

Well, now I'm bummed out.

Istvan's story is one that holds the reader at a distance, while also giving us a visceral impression of his world.

I've never really read prose like it. It's so basic and pared back, but still manages to say everything that it needs to say. Imagine the absolute opposite of Charles Dickens' prose, but with some synergy with his story arcs!

This book felt intentionally directionless, which may frustrate some readers.

Hated this.

The main character is an insufferable misogynist with no redeeming features, and since he doesn't seem to care what's going on, there's no reason why we should either.

Read as an example of the Hardboiled subgenre, and suitably unimpressed.

⭐️⭐️

This one won me over by the end. The last few chapters are explosive, and I loved the devotion of the love interest 😋

Having said that, I don't disagree with the criticism either. Fourth Wing isn't perfect. It's clichéd, the MC is annoying, and the world-building is sloppy and jars with the modern language.

Still, there is a reason why it is resonating with so many readers, and I'm invested now.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://youtu.be/4u0ApQUG8II?si=QSHhDG-ly5UFQ8Qi

My 100th video special!

Part 1 😁

ONE HUNDRED BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS!!!!!!!

Grab a pen 😋

Reading this for HRCYED subgenres prompt and I'm not sure I can weather the sexist writing to enjoy the story.

"She was a blonde woman of a few more years than thirty. Her facial prettiness was perhaps five years past its best moment."

Feminist rage piqued.

I woke up with Vodka Cranberry by Conan Gray in my head this morning and it's been popping up in my brain all day.

I AM NOT OKAY 😭😭😭😭

Oh my days, this song is destroying me 💔💔

But you should all go and listen to it.

I'd never even heard of him until yesterday.

#Tuesdaytunes @TieDyeDude

https://youtu.be/RsFSyBiBxeA?si=NlJe9v2pXoz4lRy_

@ChaoticMissAdventures #10beforetheend

I made a TBR video for 10 before the end (with bonus Xmas Crime TBR) if anybody fancies it

Cannot cope with how cute my tiny robot paperweight is 😭💕

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wish I hadn't known who did this one because it was ingenious. I'm such a fan of the TV series that I know most of the stories...

Regardless, this was splendidly enjoyable and intricately plotted.

Probably my favourite Poirot. Maybe even my favourite Christie. Up there with Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Were None, with the added bonus that it feels like you're floating down the Nile.

Love love loved it.

10 before the end of the year?

How about these hardbacks staring accusingly at me from beside my sofa?

Or maybe just the 10 or more books I'm reading at the moment 😅😅

#10beforetheend @ChaoticMissAdventures

If you've read any Patricia Lockwood before, you'll know she has a unique way of expressing herself. She's a singular, irreverent, poetic voice, and I respect her work.

Some of her latest writing is pure fire. Some of it is so abstract that it lacks clarity and I found it a struggle to extract meaning.

This book explores how the pandemic left her feeling detached from reality both mentally and physically.

Varies from chapter to chapter!

A very pretty red oak ❤️🌳

Reading over Reality 📚📚

This one has some great characters that made for some genuinely entertaining moments.

A memorable episode of the TV series, and as far as I recall, significant changes were made to adapt it.

Enjoyable despite some dodgy behaviour from Poirot!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one had me slumping hard for the first 40%. There just wasn't anything to draw me into the story. It would have been a DNF... but I don't usually DNF.

And I'm glad I didn't because the second half of this book was good. I started to care.

I don't feel as positively about AI, robotics and automation as the author, but by the end I was invested.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you thought The Honjin Murders had an unnecessarily convoluted solution, wait till you read this one!

I enjoyed this historical murder mystery immensely, although the background events were sobering (it is set in 1940s Osaka). Although written by a modern author, it was interesting to read a Japanese perspective from this time.

The author evidently loves the mystery genre because they've lovingly thrown in all the best elements.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

10th Anniversary edition arrived today.

I have read (but not finished) a lot of books this weekend #turnthepage @Bookwormjillk

It's been a wonderful retreat with the #gladstonerds

@Leniverse @julesG @Oryx @jenniferw88 @squirrelbrain @scripturient @rockpools @TrishB @MicheleinPhilly @BarbaraBB

Books:

Endling
Murder in the House of Omari
Dumb Witness
The Will of the Many
Will there ever be another you

Wish I could stay here another week 🥲💕

Endling was an incredible, multi-faceted read.

Yeva is a conservationist trying to save populations of rare snails from dying out. Nastia and Sol are trying to lure their activist mother out of hiding by staging a kidnapping of marriage-industry bachelors.

Their plans are swiftly derailed by the Russian invasion.

I found the storytelling so compelling that even the unsubtle metafictional elements managed to win me over.

A writer to watch.

#turnthepage @Bookwormjillk

So far this readathon I have finished Endling (rtc), and been reading Dumb Witness, Murder in the House of Omari and the new Patricia Lockwood: will there ever be another you!

Not sure of page counts but I think I'm doing pretty well!!! 🩷

When you're not sure which books to take on the retreat so you get a bit carried away...
#gladstonerds

@Leniverse @julesG @Oryx @scripturient @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB @rockpools @TrishB @jenniferw88 @MicheleinPhilly

Time for some serious reading and sticky toffee pudding 🩷 #gladstonerds

@Leniverse @julesG @Oryx @scripturient @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB @rockpools @TrishB @jenniferw88 @MicheleinPhilly

https://youtube.com/shorts/WF6QbSucLQA?feature=shared

Booker Shortlist reaction in under 3 minutes ^

Who is your winner?

I would guess I'm going to be team Audition, but the others have chance to win me over yet!

Yeah, I'm kidding myself with this one. This is clearly not the book I should be reading right now.

Not a DNF! Just... on hiatus!

I will rejoin the narrative when I feel more inclined to take a philosophical journey up my own 🍑

This book isn't bad, but it is sombre, creepy, scratchy, parasitic, windy, and dense.

If you're after some existential dread, this will be your jam!

Spiralling this week. Full of regret and confusion and sadness.

Going to submerge myself in the surreal, experimental narrative that Cărtărescu has created here.

Also, music.

I wanted to post this on #TuesdayTunes that @TieDyeDude hosts, but for some reason I got a bit shy about posting my Playlists. (In fact, I'm still not going to link it ?)

At the moment, I have an eclectic mix of songs on repeat. Top right is a song that found me on Insta. Amazing track.

The Flood by Aurora is another that I'm overplaying.

"Maybe there was never a daemon... maybe it was just me dreaming..."

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Poetry. Something I throw myself into when I'm in pain and struggling to cope.

This is a new collection from Bad Betty Press, an anthology of poetry on the subject of mental health.

May we continue to find solace in words when things chronically suck.

Sending hugs to anyone who needs one: 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

I can't cope 😭😭😭

Illumicrate Farseer trilogy editions are beautiful 🩵

I also read this.

There wasn't really much to it.

I don't really feel like I got enough of a sample to be able to deem this bad or good. Every time a story almost got going it ended.

Maybe it worked better as the radio series for which I understand it was initially written?

ARC read on behalf of Station Books.

Another funny, twisty, epistolary mystery from Janice Hallett - this one revolving around a local pub quiz.

Great fun as always. Parodies the eccentricities of British life in a very amusing way. I was more invested in the quiz drama than I was in the actual mystery!

Could have done with losing 100 pages or so, and the plot was completely ridiculous, but still a raucous and entertaining read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not a lot is going well this month (year), but on the plus side... please admire my crystals 🩵

#shelfie

Who had "3" in the sweepstake for how many copies of Katabasis would turn up unannounced? ??‍♀️??‍♀️

STANDING OVATION 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Amazing book 💕💕💕💕

ARC read on behalf of Station Books.

You had me at genre mashup, Japanese, time-loop murder mystery ❤️

Hisataro is trying to stop his grandfather from being murdered, and no matter what he does it just seems to make things worse!

It was entertaining, and actually pretty funny. Lots of drama and secrets to uncover.

My only complaint is that the ending that I thought up (and was convinced would play out) was better than the actual ending 😄

Good Girl was a beautifully written reflection on poverty, identity, xenophobia, youth, shame, and abuse of power.

I'd struggle to name many characters I've hated as vitriolically as Marlowe. He is emblematic of the way people exploit the vulnerability of others.

The romanticisation of recreational drug use is tedious, but makes contextual sense.

This book was poetic and brilliant, but also miserable and devoid of much hope.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

https://youtu.be/FPZFbMk_jOE?feature=shared

Book review and discussion
Spoilers / more indepth discussion from 11:28

Started Endling yesterday.

First chapter was so good that I almost don't want to read the rest in case it disappoints.

Brilliant opening ❤️🐌

https://youtu.be/VkCshsgZS_Q?feature=shared

Made a little Hugo reaction video.

This one is short 😄

Such a good book!

If you like your memoirs gritty, edgy, full of irreverence, and brought to life by unusually explicit detail, both emotionally and technically - I recommend you check out Myriam Gurba.

She writes like an artist, but with a startling self-awareness that stops her from being insufferable.

Mean is problematic and provocative, but Gurba almost definitely revels in this.

CONTINUED in comments...

https://youtu.be/qzAH0aNOiDk?feature=shared

Also, if you want to spend 43 minutes with me chatting about books this evening, a new video just landed 🥰🥰

This moon-based-murder-mystery might have been OK (albeit ridiculous) if it wasn't wasn't the egregious racism.

It was so badly handled by both the author and characters that I found it distracting and enraging.

The characters were mostly stereotypes and hard to root for, which was a shame because the hotel itself was an intriguing setting.

I love sci fi murder mysteries, but this one didn't really deliver.

⭐️⭐️

Bookshop.org.uk haul (Station Books)

I want to read all the books but I'm feeling rather ill today so am not really good for much except lying around complaining.

This is an excellent conversation starter and a compelling read. I did feel that a lot of problematic ideas were left unchallenged (which is fine if you are aware of the counterarguments already) and that it could have done with a bit more meat.

Still, it's a provocative, shape shifting narrative that spirals out in an exploration of the zeitgeist and capitalist system. Worth reading if you like social commentary in your contemporary fiction.

https://youtu.be/irRbCL-8Jw4?feature=shared

I've started my series of book reviews and discussions on my channel.

This is the first one for Audition 🩷

First part is spoiler-free, then I flag up when I'm going to get into the nitty gritty.

Even though, frustratingly, I confidently predicted the main twist, I still love Ruth Ware's thrillers and can't wait to read absolutely all of them. There was plenty of atmosphere here, but the predictability and unnecessary jumping back and forth in time made me lean towards a 3⭐️ rather than a 4⭐️ rating.

Decent, but not as good as the Woman in Cabin 10.

I love the Indonesian cover (pictured)

Hannah Setzer has so much more zest for life than I do.

Not only is she running her business, leading community projects, bringing up 4 foster sons and influencing folks to work out and move their bodies in an intentional way, but on top of all that, she has put together this book on what it's like to do all this while being constantly challenged by a world that isn't great at accommodating difference.

Fab perspective. Well worth reading.

Too many tabs open in my brain. I'm already reading most of these 😅

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks