A masterpiece! This is not only a love letter to DC Comics history, but a stark reflection of our current political times. Catwoman is released from prison 10 years after the death of Batman. Can she adjust to the new world order? Can she rely on old friends? Can she save her city?
Writer/artist/colorist/letterer Cliff Chiang (of Wonder Woman and Paper Girls) makes quite the statement with this project!

A steamboat captain saves an injured mermaid, but her situation isn't as innocent as it seems, and the boat's owner's promiscuity is hiding a complex secret.
What a wasted set-up!
Aside from this beautiful imprint under the dust jacket, I didn't like much about this book. The art was mostly bad, the main character looked like a muppet, and the story kinda sucked until around Page 300, but then it totally flubbed the ending. Very disappointing.

April #bookspin #bookspinbingo @Thearomaofbooks

#Bookspin selections are This is Paradise and Calamity Jane

RIP Val Kilmer

@TheBookHippie, spreading the joy! View her original post here - https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2852357

For the movie buffs:
My brother and I were watching some action movie and there was a huge gun fight with dust and gun powder everywhere, and we were wondering why no one was sneezing. I said that would be a great scene for the next Boondock Saints. My brother says, without missing a beat, says “Boondock Saints 3: God Bless You“

Began the month with a strong start, but the last few reads have been a little disappointing. We'll see what April and BookSpin brings 😁

My main thought after finishing this book was: Why? This is a fictional story, written as a true-crime novel, with the author as the main character and incorporating parts of his hometown and youth into the book. But there are so many real true-crime books, and this didn't do anything extraordinary with the story. It is a neat concept, and the writing is solid and captivating, but I would have rather read about real people than these fake ones 🫤

The War and Treaty are an American husband and wife duo. Michael served in the United States Army. During his deployment, while encamped in one of Saddam Hussein's private palaces, Michael learned how to play a piano found there when his company commander encouraged him to toy around with the piano knowing he had a passion for singing.
Don't go dismissing Tanya, though. Here is just a taste of her vocals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc0ADXvbeAY

Halle Berry is using her platform as a Hollywood A-lister to start the conversation about the lack of awareness and knowledge surrounding menopause.

I watched this excellent interview with Hasan Minhaj (https://youtu.be/wcgN_X-GWR0) and she posted about this just-released book on her social media.

54 of 100 · 54%

#tlt #threelistthursday @dabbe

Congrats to @Kerrbearlib, winner of the (Completely random & unannounced) #TuesdayTunes 500 Post Giveaway 😋

We reached 500 posts this week, so I ran a random number generator of 1 to 500. The number was 200, and the 200th post was about Kerry's favorite radio station.

Congrats Kerry! I'll send you a $25 gift card for your favorite record store or VISA gift card for an online music shop. Send me an email (akkline106@gmail.com) to connect.

I've been on a hip-hop kick lately. Nas is an undeniable legend, and this biographical single was one of my early introductions to him. Featuring his father Olu Dara, it doesn't even make his "This is..." Spotify playlist, which is a damn shame because it is a great song.

"Bridging The Gap from the blues, to jazz, to rap
The history of music on this track"

https://youtu.be/hq7z3JBKCTE

Enjoy! #tuesdaytunes

While any abridged adaptation is necessarily going to come with its share of deviations, I think the team at Marvel did an excellent job at adapting this epic story. They even included a cheeky King cameo, with “Rich Bachman“, drawn to resemble King, as one of Flagg's lieutenants. #constantreader #losersclub
Having read both the original edit and this adaptation, it'll be interesting to one day read the “complete and uncut“ version.

Creator Joe Benitez only illustrated the prologue for each chapter in this series, while main art duties were delegated to guest artist Brian Ching. It was an interesting change-up; it wasn't bad, just felt a little... lesser. Solid story. Lady Mechanika is flying solo, going up against vampires as she again crosses paths with La Dama de la Muerta.

An interesting story. There are four different storylines in 100 pages. While they all converged and concluded well, it felt like too much. Just when I got invested in one story, it switched to another. I don't think it would have benefitted from being longer (it told the story it wanted to), but it would have been better if it was more focused on fewer characters or connected the characters more directly.

Is the known universe 99.9999999999999999999958% empty? Or is it 0.0000000000000000000042% full?

NOT BOOK RELATED: This beautiful site maps our solar system if the moon was the size of one pixel. Sometimes humanity needs a reminder of how insignificant we are and how stupid it is to destroy the planet and your fellow humans in the name of country, religion, or money.

https://joshworth.com/dev/pixelspace/pixelspace_solarsystem.html

Litsy server issues are fixed! (Post on the Litsy Facebook group by Kate from LibraryThing)

I don't have anything special for #tuesdaytunes this week, but I had the urge to blast some Eminem this afternoon after all the patients had checked out of the clinic. It was funny hearing him railing against George W. Simpler times...

Another day, another attack on knowledge and education.

“Libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits.“

https://www.ala.org/news/2025/03/ala-statement-white-house-assault-institute-mus...

The groups start to arrive in Boulder and Las Vegas. New relationships form as old bonds strain. I am reminded of a bit from comedian Lee Camp: Evil people have plans. Good people don't have plans. They want to live their lives in peace and enjoy themselves. Well, the evil people here are crucifying rule breakers and gathering weapons while the good guys are trying to build a coalition by committee.
#losersclub #constantreader

Meta sued to prevent the author of a tell-all book from promoting her work. So Sarah Wynn-Williams can't go on talk shows or be interviewed about her new book Careless People, which was released March 11 and is available now whenever books are sold. What a shame that she can't get the word out about what is being called an "explosive dispatch" covering "seven critical years" at Facebook. How ever will people learn about this book now? ?

I did a mash-up of the last three #threelistthursday #tlt polls 😁 @dabbe

Best Picture:
Casablanca
In The Heat of the Night
The Silence of the Lambs

1929-1941:
The Thin Man
Top Hat
The Great Dictator

1941-1962:
Double Indemnity
The Bishop's Wife
High Noon

Work has been slow this week, so I started my re-read of Murderbot Diaries on audio this time. The narrator is solid, but I think I got more enjoyment reading the physical books. I'll finish Artificial Condition, but then I think I'll switch back to paper. Built this Hubble telescope Metal Earth model while listening to the audio this evening.

Hey folks, the world is shit, and it is okay to say it. I was listening to the World Cafe Friday, and the DJ played this song, in which she said she has found some measure of validation. It is cheeky and has a light-hearted melody, but acknowledges the garbage we are experiencing. Your feelings are valid ❤️🦅🍁

https://youtu.be/FbECS7Ie57I

#tuesdaytunes

I've been going back and listening to the audiobooks of Batman movie novelizations. Unfortunately, Batman '89 was easily the best, maybe the only good one so far. I was not a fan of the narrator here, especially his Riddler voice. There are some “deleted scenes“ that were interesting, but, maybe due to the narrator, I just wasn't too invested in listening closely and sussing out the differences.

@WildAlaskaBibliophile and I shared a homemade afternoon tea this weekend, with lavender Earl grey cookies, egg bites, scones, and chocolates from Xocolatl, raspberry green tea, and strawberry rossinis. After the food was enjoyed and the dishes cleaned, we relaxed with some reading, and started watching The Substance this evening. The rest of this week will be leftovers and take out because I'm done with the kitchen for a while 🤪

Super cute read with wonderful illustrations.

Thanks @BethM for this book from a past swap

For a book that was not on my radar at all, I thoroughly enjoyed this dark sci-fi about using memory to time travel. The concept is brilliantly executed and solidly consistent. The perspective changes are not overwhelming and the characters are easy to root for. I'm just so impressed at how readable this was, considering how easily it could have become convoluted and unnecessarily complex.

I saw @WeAreLegion review volume 1, and, while I don't love the art and I don't love the characters, the plot is so intriguing and relevant, so I decided to continue the series and read the prequel-ish volume 5. Series plot: if enough people believe in a story, it can alter reality (i.e. Bigfoot footage is originally fake, but enough people believe that Bigfoot materializes in the real world). ⬇

As you may have seen from @WildAlaskaBibliophile , we have a new cat. Sawyer came home with us last weekend from the Kenai Animal Shelter and has been acclimating quickly to his new home and canine roommate. Pictured here contemplating the purpose of my book and its effect on my hands in regards to his head being pet. #catsoflitsy

@WildAlaskaBibliophile and I enjoyed a much-needed night of laughs with Chris Kattan. Lots of fun stories from his days with SNL.

I'm really digging the song "Magnetic" from the upcoming solo debut album of Tunde Adebimpe, founding member of TV on the Radio. The single was released a few months ago, a new single just dropped yesterday, and the album comes out next month.

https://youtu.be/WWiGeU1WPW8

#tuesdaytunes

Volume 1&2 of the graphic novel adaptation of The Stand.
I'm actually impressed at how well the story is paced so far. For example, they don't waste a lot of pages on Nick's time as deputy, but they leave space for scenes like Lloyd's prison time and the Lincoln Tunnel to breathe. The artist is the same that recently underwhelmed me with heavy lines and thick shadows in The Bat-Man First Knight, and he's still not my favorite, but it happens.

I don't think I made a #bookspinbingo board for January or February 😬 But here we are for March!
#BookSpin is Chasing the Boogeyman
#DoubleBookSpin is The Empire Strikes Back From a Certain Point of View

Thanks to @thearomaofbooks for keeping things going in the middle of a move!

A bloody trans horror book that was "written in a fit of rage." Benji is a trans male who escapes a religious cult where he is injected with a virus that will transform him into a seraph that will bring about end times. He finds a teen LGBT center that accepts and protects him as he and his new friend try to survive in the post-apocalyptic world.

Very powerful symbolism. VERY bloody/gory. I can see it being an affirming book for queer teens.

A pretty average month for me. Two books were mostly read in January (The Shining and Make-Up Effects), so I read two books, three comics, and two audiobooks. I'm hoping to finish my current read this weekend 😁

#bookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Since I read The Stand fairly recently, I'm going to read the comic adaptation for @BarkingMadRead #losersclub this month. I'm also going to try to re-read the Murderbot Diaries, or at least the first four books, before the show starts.

This was a pretty decent early adventure for Batman, in the style of the original 1939 comic debut, with increased violence, gory, and profanity, as implied by the Black Label designation. I felt the “adult“ aspects weren't really necessary, and the story seemed to struggle to fill all three issues. There were some excellent panels, but overall the art was overly dark and not very appealing.

Most of the stories in this collection were good. I found an old copy of the audio version with John Glover narrating. He was enthusiastic and talented but had a limited number of voices. Several cautionary tales about signing deals, a couple Salem's Lot stories, several rats, and more. A fun sampling of early King.

#tuesdaytunes

I've been finding comfort this week in revisiting 80s/90s country: Doug Stone, Collin Raye, Lonestar, Sawyer Brown, Mary Chapin Carpenter.
Clint Black's D'lectrified was a childhood favorite, and, listening this morning, I couldn't remember for sure whether The Galaxy Song was from Monty Python (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkjzmuEBbo) or Animaniacs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BphgKX-DZE), and that made me smile 😊

This may have been my favorite volume yet. More tantalizing clues to Mechanika's past, but the investigation is interrupted by a personal matter.

Looks like I'll have AppleTV for at least a month or two come May (depending on the quality of the show 😋)

Fun, quirky fantasy stories with some deep and unique world building

People change
But you know some people never do
You know, when people change
They gain a peace, but they lose one too
...
As it breaks, the summer will wake
But the winter will wash what is left, of the taste
As it breaks, the summer will warm
But the winter will crave what has gone

-Future Islands “Seasons (Waiting on You)“
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upPl9mZW_zw

Do you welcome the peace gained in change, or mourn the peace that is lost?

I've read a couple Criminal stories here and there, but this will be my first proper read through, in anticipation of the upcoming TV series. Leo has a reputation of being an expert thief, but the first to hit the bricks at a sign of trouble. When someone from his past reemerges, he takes a job he knows he shouldn't, and, predictably, it doesn't go well, but modern master Brubaker keeps things interesting.

Finished this Metal Earth AT-ST model while listening to the Batman Returns novelization. Pretty disappointing. The narrator was all over the place with his voices, Max Shreck being particularly rough. There was a lot more misogyny from the Penguin in this adaptation, which was weird. Stick with the movie.

Somehow, O'Meara is able to condense a global history of alcohol into an easy-to-read book infused with plenty of her own personality. She highlights some amazing women and tells some mind-boggling stories. She also avoids the woe-is-woman tone by focusing on the empowering nature of the histories.

A few of the movies discussed in this book that features photos and interviews about the world of Hollywood effects. I devoured this; I love reading about behind-the-scenes of movies and TV, and Face Off is one of the few reality competition shows I've ever enjoyed. This profession requires so much skill and love, and, if done right, the audience won't even think about all the work involved in creating convincing characters.

It is ironic that I would come across this passage in my book today.

Trans history will not be erased. This isn't the 1800s; you can't just burn a document and pretend it never existed. Trump's administration cannot delete history and it will not define our culture. #ThisIsNotAmerica