A creepy collection of short stories. They were all around 20 pages, perfect for my lunch break. There was a fair amount of Spanish, but enough context clues that I could get the gist. Themes of family and community and retribution. It is considered YA, so teen, especially female, MCs. Lots of abuelas 😋
Enjoyed with Brutalitea Peachy Scream. The company names all their read after horror movies and metal bands 😆

TW: Rape

Maybe I missed this story because it is out of France, or maybe I heard about it and shut it out because how much awful stuff can you handle?
5 years ago, Gisele Pelicot's world was shattered when she learned about the horrors that her husband subjected her to.
Today, France adopts a bill changing the definition of rape from “penetration or oral sex using 'violence, coercion, threat or surprise'“ to “any non-consensual sexual act.“

#bookspin #bookspinbingo @thearomaofbooks

I've padded my list with several books for #nonfictionnovember , thought I still have to finish Batman Resurrection and to read Lucky Day to get caught up on my October selections.

#yuleseasonswap tip thread: This or That

@thebacklistbook

Today is the last day to vote in our contest! Vote at this link: https://pollunit.com/polls/ldmi5grh2pesptbtsvuhmw
This is our first experience with PollUnit, and the voting system is a bit odd: select the number of stars you want to give your favorite pumpkin in each category. You can only vote for one pumpkin in each category. We have five entries in two categories; not bad for the first year! #TheGreatPumpkinFaceOff @WildAlaskaBibliophile

#tuesdaytunes

Put a damn woman in charge! (I mean, obviously not someone like Boebert or MTG, but you know what I mean 😉)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FciQeRGYFlw

A fun follow-up to the first book. In the afterword, the author explains that he didn't want to repeat the story of brains over brawn, so he decide to explore when someone intelligent gets a little too cocky. Great illustrations and a meaningful story.

I don't know that I would have read this in physical form, but after listening to the audio, there are definitely passages I would have liked to have been able to capture. This is a brilliant meditation on the Israel/Palatine conflict, the way language is manipulated to justify atrocities, and the other-ing of whomever those in power need to diminish to maintain power. Goddamn, humans suck!

#bookmail from Archiecomics.com

I've been wanting Archie Meets Batman '66 for a while, and they had some fun Halloween items as well. I also got the Jughead comic where he is explicitly labeled asexual, though future writers tried to retcon it because they didn't want it to affect the Riverdale show 🙄

#tuesdaytunes

Spotify keeps trying to push the new Geese album on me, but I've been grooving to Olivia Dean recently. At 26, she is definitely a talent to keep an eye on. I love her breezy R&B sound, and she was just announced as an upcoming musical guest on SNL.

https://youtu.be/oIv_Y2RPQ_A

That‘s a wrap on pumpkin submissions for the first annual Great Pumpkin Face-Off! A huge thanks to everyone who joined the fun—your creativity is gourd-geous! 🍂 Voting begins tomorrow and runs through October 28th, so hop over here and pick your favorite pumpkins! https://pollunit.com/en/polls/ldmi5grh2pesptbtsvuhmw?option_category=5995692
#TheGreatPumpkinFaceOff @WildAlaskaBibliophile

I will be going through my comic book collection over the next year or so to do some rereads and see what I can part with. I do a majority of my comic reading on Hoopla these days, because we don't have access to a comic book shop. The owner of the store I want to in Colorado told me, when I lamented picking up the newest issue of a series I hadn't even started reading yet, “That's why we are called comic COLLECTORS.“

Classic. Gets a little bogged down at times by the exploration of the minutia of daily life (I remember, in previous readings, trying to pay attention to the poems that the students recite, but I'm never quite able to muster the interest 😋).

Is Stephen King actually going to step back from writing?! He states that he has two novels lined up: the third Talisman book, which will potentially wrap up the worlds of both the Dark Tower and the Talisman, and a final Holly Gibney tale. Regardless of his future output, the legend has earned whatever rest he takes.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2025/10/15/stephen-king-books...

#constantreader #losersclub

It was an interesting experiment at the time: a new issue each week for a year. With multiple writers and artists working to to achieve the goal, it succeeded in telling a cohesive story, drawn out the same way the story stretched over months; however, it lacked a cohesive look and voice. And while the penultimate reveal was actually clever and strong, the final reveal immediately undermined it. Interesting, but not an essential bat-story.

Thanks for the tag @matchlessmarie
I forgot to post about my donation yesterday! I got this excellent new shirt 😁
#litsybloodrive 🩸🅰

Get out those butcher knives! 🔪 🎃 The deadline is approaching for Litsy‘s first annual pumpkin carving contest, #TheGreatPumpkinFaceOff

Carvings can be entered into one of three categories: Funniest, Scariest, or Most Creative. Post your photos at this link by October 19th: https://pollunit.com/polls/ldmi5grh2pesptbtsvuhmw

We'll open the poll to all Littens for voting from October 21–28. Prizes for the top voted!

#tuesdaytunes

Before YouTube or even the trailers at the beginning of VHS tapes, movie posters were sometimes the only source of information a viewer had about the movie before going to see it. And perhaps no one understood this quite like Drew Struzan, who died yesterday. His name deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Lucas, Spielberg, and Williams for his part in Indiana Jones, Star Wars, E.T, and more.

https://youtu.be/HuxdSeQexVY

R.I.P. Drew Struzan. The man practically illustrated my childhood, creating some of the most iconic posters for some of the most iconic (and not so iconic) movies of the 80s and 90s. But his talent was such that even knowing something like Masters of the Universe is not a good movie, his poster still makes you want to see it.
Pictured is a poster for the Dark Tower he created as an easter egg for the movie The Fog.

A young girl at an orphanage finds out that she has family that has been looking for her. But the estate she comes home to is shrouded in shadows and secrets, especially the stone wall beyond the garden with the iron gate.
The main beats of the story were pretty predictable, but there were enough fresh elements to keep it interesting, and I enjoyed having a main character that was non-verbal.

@wildalaskabibliophile and I visited the Alaska Botanical Garden last weekend. We are already dropping into the 30ºs overnight, so it wasn't prime time to visit, but there was still a lot of life in the gardens, and they had their Boo-tanical celebration going on. We found Audrey II and Bunnicula. They also have a Little Free Library at the entrance full of gardening books.

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

I was a late bloomer for horror. I didn't watch much until college.

Saw was the movie that got me into the genre. It's not as graphic as people remember/assume, and the mystery is well done.

John Carpenter's The Thing is peak, edge-of-your-seat, sci-fi chills (and a legendary Drew Struzan poster)

The Descent is creepy and claustrophobic, with a strong female cast that smashes the Bechdel test.

Via @thebacklistbook - Sign-ups are live for #yuleseasonswap:

https://forms.gle/gxyBhRtFFWMNKLDD6

Form will begin accepting responses on October 1st. Open internationally.

Sign ups run from Oct 1st to 25th, matches will be sent out by Halloween night. Mail by date is Dec 1st. Opening day Jan 1st.

“Friends don't let friends buy books on Amazon.“ 😉

Bookshop.org is running an anti-Prime sale, ending today. Purchases on Bookshop.org benefit independent bookstores, and you can even name the store you want proceeds to go towards!

If you have never shopped on Bookshop, and want to take advantage, you can use this link for 20% off: https://refer.bookshop.org/andrew64

#bookmail #bannedbookweek

My signed copy of Gender Queer arrived today, just in time for Banned Book Week! I've read it several times, but put off buying a copy for myself. A few months ago, pre-orders were offered with a portion of proceeds going to Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Florida Freedom to Read Project. I got a signed deluxe edition and a “Fight Censorship, Read Comics“ pin.

As readers, we love our stories. Fortunately for us, the story of humanity is not limited to the written word but spread across multiple mediums. That's why we often see TV and movie posts on Litsy, and why I started #tuesdaytunes about a year and a half ago. Whether the story is in the lyrics of a song, the rhythm of the beat, or the chapter in your life when you heard it, join me in sharing some music every Tuesday!

#tuesdaytunes

One of my favorite artists released her new album on Friday. I've been following Rachael Yamagata for about 20 years, and it's been 6 years since any new music. While certainly not her best album, it is comforting to hear new songs, and there are a few highlights. “Somebody Like Me“ explores the feeling of hoping you're not alone in your thoughts.

https://youtu.be/8HZwgHrFFE8

It‘s time! 🎃 Join us for Litsy‘s first annual Jack-o‘-Lantern photo contest, #TheGreatPumpkinFaceOff

Carvings can be entered into one of three categories: Funniest, Scariest, or Most Creative. Post your photos at this link by October 19th: https://pollunit.com/polls/ldmi5grh2pesptbtsvuhmw

We'll open the poll to all Littens for voting from October 21–28. Prizes for the top voted!

Tag @wildalaskabibliophile or @TieDyeDude with any questions

I picked it up because I've never read a horror story set in the desert, and I was pleasantly surprised. This was a pretty effective, tight thriller. 270 pages flew by! I thought I guessed the twist pretty early, but started to doubt myself as the story continued, which matches the mentality of the characters, and that's pretty impressive. TR: Discussion of rape, though the event is not described.

#TLT #ThreeListThursday @dabbe

Graphic novel: Locke & Key series 😱 😱 😱
Novella: The Ballad of Black Tom 😱 😱 😱 😱
Novel: Mexican Gothic 😱 😱 😱 😱

I can't wait to see what others share!

#bookspin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

BookSpin: Gallant
DoubleBookSpin: Lucky Day

These are both appropriate selections for October 😁 and I am only one book behind in my BookSpin list for the year, so I should be able to catch up this month.

Happy Bat Appreciation Month! (Sorry @TheLudicReader @DebLovestoRead 😉)
Researcher recently identified the 1500th unique bat species! The latest addition is the Bioko pipistrelle (𝘗𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢) found on Bioko Island in Africa‘s Equatorial New Guinea, published by former BCI Student Scholar Dr. Laura Torrent and her colleagues. Scientific discovery is still happening! #batappreciationmonth

I read several excellent books this month; Kent State is a brilliant graphic novel. Bright Young Women was much different and much better than I expected. Fairy Tale was a great fantasy turn for King, and Shadow of the Sith is an essential Star Wars novel. I also ventured outside my norms with a beautiful LGBT YA book and a collection from a local poet. #thestorygraph

#tuesdaytunes

Babatunde is hip hopera singer and influencer. What is hip hopera? You'll have to give it a listen. He is also super entertaining, and his social media videos are a mix of lifestyle, music history, and current affairs.

https://youtu.be/7w60IudRSV8

#bookspin #bookspinbingo @thearomaofbooks

I'm pretty happy with my BookSpin progress. I've knocked quite a few books off my TBR that have been lingering. I've already planned a few reading goals for the rest of the year; we'll see if the bingo picks align 😜

Photo credit @wildalaskabibliophile from a drive we took a couple weeks ago

I find it pretty surprising that there hasn't been more Lando content, since he was the best part of Solo, and this proves that he has layers to be a solid lead character. Telling the story hinted at in ROS, Lando teams up with Luke to try to save Rey and her family (though they don't know the family's identity or significance). I'm really glad Wookiepedia exists, too, because I referenced it several times 😜

I only read the first book, and it was alright, but I've been a big fan of the Dexter TV series. I just finished the new series Resurrection, and it was excellent! New Blood is also well worth watching.

9 years with this beautiful little corner of the internet. Thanks to everyone for being your nerdy, compassionate, friendly selves, and for sharing your lives and your love of reading. @HappyLitsyversary #litsyversary

This book sounds perfect for these times. Great interview with Jordan Klepper.

https://youtu.be/tj3OcfMS4AU

#tuesdaytunes

I've been reconnecting with Serj Tankian's music recently. Unapologetically political, his work with System of a Down and his solo offerings are often anti-establishment, speak out against genocide and war, and he is deeply pro-Armenia, his grandparents being survivors of the Armenian genocide in WWI. I am sharing the symphonic version of “Empty Walls“ from his first solo album.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEkQR9Wzock

FDT. FRFK. The dumbest presidential address yet?

I got the first two issues (signed!) at ALA 2025, and I was able to read issues 3&4 from a PDF ARC from Skybound (also from ALA). I love Hicks art, but she does a lot of YA stuff, so it was cool to see her tackle something a little more adult and creepy. Great adaptation. I love the original Universal Monsters and I can't wait to read the rest of the recent graphic novels!

Not my favorite volume so far. The lives of three characters told from three different POVs.

A very unique, dynamic comic. Lots of heavy themes and gruesome art. Not always easy to follow, but an interesting, post-apocalyptic world of religious oppression and the struggle to survive.

I know we are all exhausted with our country at the moment, and most of the Littens who need to hear this have already unfollowed me, because, while I've tried to keep political stuff to a minimum on my feed, I refuse to ignore people posting lies and fear mongering. However, in the wake of ABC's pathetic suspension of Jimmy Kimmel, I feel the need to state the obvious, though logic and decorum feel increasing futile. Good luck out there, citizens

Great concept, strange execution. Each artist was given four pages, with a short bio, a highlighted book, and publication history of that book. Some of the text took up three of the four pages. Some were a few short paragraphs. Some of the art was full page spreads. Some were collections of drafts and one small finished image. Some had captions, some didn't. It was very inconsistent and limited in scope.

This was one of my earliest cassette tapes. It came about after the success of his recording of The Itsy Bitsy Spider for an AIDS benefit album. This collection is not readily available these days, but I was able to find a copy to download, and what a blast from the past! 😆
https://youtu.be/smBYs5U055g
#tuesdaytunes

National Constitution Center just released their interactive Declaration of Independence, to match their interactive US Constitution. So many people are claiming these documents, but few people take the time to read and understand them. These free educational resources are brilliant, and, if you ever find yourself in Philadelphia, be sure to visit the museum. It is a truly inspiring space. https://constitutioncenter.org/declaration

Shannon Chakraborty has announced the next adventure for Amina al-Sirafi! The first book was a blast, and book 2 sounds great, with the author saying she is “attempting to write a book about a medieval mother‘s attempt at work-life balance.“ 😋 Due May 2026

What happens when the president has an agenda against "radical liberals" and uses bad policy, armed forces and loyal politicians to push people to their breaking point? Well, you can read the news, or you can check out this excellent graphic novel about the Kent State protests in 1970. The creator of My Friend Dahmer delivers a brilliant book that is both nuanced and respectful. ⤵️