I thoroughly enjoyed the #shakespearereadalong of yore, even though life got in the way and I drifted away a few plays in. I‘m taking my kids to see their first Shakespeare this year (in Stratford-upon-Avon, at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, I‘m so excited, haven‘t been for years!) and feel a reignited passion! I‘ve decided to set myself a year of Shakespeare, following the old format of an act or two a week. Starting here- let‘s see how it goes!

I‘ve recently moved back home to the UK after going away and giving away most of my books and other possessions! I‘m rebuilding my collection and feeling utterly delighted by these shelves. Just need to read them now!

I really wanted to love this book, but the early phrase, “strawberries as red as my lips” set the tone and it was a slog from there. I love the representation and quite liked some of the broader world-building ideas, but it just dragged for me. I‘ll probably read the trilogy because I am interested in where the characters will go, especially Hiro, who I loved.

I‘m returning to Litsy after a 3yr absence. I‘m not sure what happened. I was overwhelmed by a toxic job & juggling family life. Now I‘ve jacked it in & moved halfway around the world! I struggled with reading at times in 2020, but am back and started the year with this awesome book by Temi Oh.

Space jargon that wasn‘t too much, believable teens & an excellent display of white privilege without ever mentioning the words. I loved this book.

Just finished this last week. It‘s maybe the oldest Marvel arc I‘ve read and I‘m used to the more modern writers and characters. I was absolutely creased at Scarlet Witch‘s outfit. Why, oh why, would she go to battle in bikini?! Silly patriarchy 🙄😂. I felt a bit bad for Thanos- seems he‘s forever going on doomed intergalactic scavenger hunts. He‘s very good at all the clues, bless him. Think I‘ll stick the newer runs from now on though!

One I finished a couple of weeks back and didn‘t post- again! I wanted to love this, but never felt fully satisfied by it. I get really frustrated by characters who don‘t speak up/ out (no doubt reflecting frustration with my own lack of confidence, but that‘s by the bye) & there was a lot of that. I know it was based on fact , but I‘d have loved it to have been subverted. Let them have been powerful witches & hexed the hell out of him! 🧙🏻‍♀️😄

@readinginthedark #ShakespeareReadalong

At the start of this play, I was right behind Othello and I was really rooting for him & for Desdemona and for their marriage. I wanted them to succeed in the face of adversity on many fronts. I knew Shakespeare tragedies end with many deaths, but I kept hope for a couple of Acts. Soon, I wanted pretty much all the men dead. The ending didn‘t give me what I wanted... (Image: cover Bookbyte Digital)

Still catching up on posting my recent reads and I‘m doing pretty badly at it! 🤦🏻‍♀️ I finished this a few weeks back after doing an excellent buddy read with @miralunasbooknook This was an excellent YA fantasy novel with layers of meaning. The characters grew and developed and the story was riveting. I‘m excited for further instalments! Another excellent book by a brilliant woman of colour, with some absolute badass female protagonists. 👌

#ShakespeareReadalong

I‘m about on time this week! This play is so far apart from AYLI & is taking more energy to read, but I‘m getting more from it. So many feelings! I‘m so frustrated! This image represents my feelings for Iago. He‘s such a vile character and I‘m so distressed to see his machinations paying off and all the characters moving into place for him. I‘m both excited and terrified for the final act!

I‘m afraid we don‘t have any pets, much to my & my daughters‘ dismay, but I let my kids choose a new pillow each today & the 4yo chose this one. I love it! I hope it cheers you as it has me! xx

I‘ve read some great books over the last couple of weeks, but forgot to post! Of the 3 most recent reads, Swing Time was the easiest emotionally, but it was a beautiful read. It felt ruminative and philosophical, with the unnamed protagonist considering belonging, identity, culture & loyalty. I learned a lot as she tried to find her place and observed how others navigated this world we share but experience in totally different ways...

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#Shakespearereadalong #Othello

I‘m behind on posting this week, even though I‘d done my reading 🤦🏻‍♀️. My first impression of Othello is that I‘m going to be totally invested in this play. I already have a lot of feelings. Iago made me furious and indignant, as did Brabantio, but to a lesser extent. I already feel a helpless inevitability and also angry and frustrated that we‘re still battling racism centuries on. I‘m eager to read more!

#ShakespeareReadAlong

Far happier this week! Act IV was short and sweet, and is it just me, but this play is all about the horns?! 🤟🏻 I‘m still not convinced by the dynamic between Silvius, Phebe/ Phoebe (my 2 editions can‘t agree which) & Ganymede, but Celia & Jacques were on good form & Orlando is redeeming himself somewhat in scene III. Seems everyone takes it for granted a woman will cuckold her man. Wish I‘d known! 😂

This news has made me so excited! I loved the BBC series, but confess I‘ve only read the first book.

The first thing I thought when I saw this? #Gormenghastbuddyread!😄🎉 Would there be any interest? I‘ve never hosted a buddy read so if anyone was interested in taking it on, that would be awesome, but if not, I might see if I can drum something up for May/ June? I‘m finding BR‘s a great way to get through my TBR & this is high on the list!

Last month was the first time I made a TBR list for the month. I posted it to Litsy, hoping it would help me achieve my goal- and it worked! I haven‘t finished the audiobook I wanted to read, largely because I only listen to it when I‘m doing housework, and being a tremendous slattern, that isn‘t very often! However, I did read everything else on my list & enjoyed it- Litsy is definitely making me a better reader. Making an April list now! 😄📚

#ShakespeareReadalong

My AYLI review this week is brought to you by this awesome Veronica Dearly pin badge as my message to the characters in this act is, ‘Stop being dicks!‘

Orlando wasn‘t awful, but his poetry was. Touchstone seems depressed, but that doesn‘t excuse his behaviour to his ‘fiancée‘. As for that shower of a scene with Silvius, Phoebe & Ganymede? ?? So much dickish behaviour! Lots of clever wordplay, but the content was rank...

Absolutely loved this! 😍🙌🏻 I‘m completely bewitched by Oyeyemi. It‘s so hard to describe, but she creates these damaged, beautiful women that are brittle and dangerous and compelling and I love them. We‘re maybe supposed to hate them though? I guess both, because these are tales of incredible nuance and depth. This is a Snow White story which examines motherhood and identity and ethnicity, with magic (or madness?) throughout.

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(Image by John Manders)

#ShakespeareReadalong Act II

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my favourite scene in this Act was the one where Rosalind, Celia & Touchstone decided to be farmers. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was so tickled by Touchstone‘s take on wooing. I‘ve seen AYLI performed by the RSC, but it was a long while ago. I remembered the forest being delightful, but I found the majority of this Act quite slow. Too much pontificating from Jacques! 👇🏻

I‘m out and about with my 2 & 4 year old daughters. We‘ve had a delightful, busy morning and they‘ve exhausted me! 😂 Thankfully, there‘s a cafe in town with kid‘s food &, most importantly, a lovely play area. I‘m sitting beside it while they play, and I can keep an eye on them while thoroughly enjoying a rest! Queue reading & coffee- win!

Totally loved this! We‘re a massive MCU household and every movie that comes out, I just love more and more. I‘ve read a few of the graphic novels, but am somewhat overwhelmed by the sheer volume of them. So pleased I went for this one though. I loved that Captain Marvel wasn‘t a token female, but that women were the majority of the characters. I love her upgraded suit. I love learning more Marvel lore. Can‘t wait to smash through Vol 2 tomorrow!

Margaret Atwood is one of my absolute favourites and Oryx and Crake was as brilliant as I expected.

I read The Year of the Flood a while ago and I really enjoyed finding out more about the origin of the crisis. I love a non-linear timeline and the evolution of Jimmy/ Snowman was fascinating. I would have liked to get inside Crake‘s head a bit more, but hopefully that‘ll come further into the trilogy? I can‘t remember YotF so will reread! 😂

#ShakespeareReadAlong @Jess_Read_This @readinginthedark

Got a 2nd copy of AYLI from my library, plus some bookmarks we have to celebrate National Shakespeare Week! 🎉💝 I much prefer this version 👍

I very much enjoyed Act 1; it was a great introduction to the cast and the razor wit was a huge pleasure. Already some interesting thoughts on gender too. I don‘t think women are less favoured by fortune, only by the patriarchy! Can‘t wait for more!

I‘m so excited to join in with the #ShakespeareReadalong! 😄 I got an annotated ebook version of #AsYouLikeIt, but didn‘t read the description thoroughly and I was disappointed to see they‘d modernised some of the language. I want apricocks, not apricots! 😂

I may use these, my dad‘s edition of the collected works. He gave me them when I went to uni to study English Lit & where I took every Shakespeare module going. These have been well loved!

Just finished this & loved it!

It was exciting, frustrating, funny and fast paced. A fairly quick and easy read, but it was thought provoking and emotive. It highlighted, for me, the absurdity of many of our social constructs. We all need to be better!

And I totally want a skein! 😂⚡️

1. Fantasy/ satire. Discworld! Anything I can get lost in really, but it does help if it‘s funny.
2. Sales assistant in a fancy glass shop. All hand blown on site. The shop was dead so I read all day!
3. Librarian.
4. Librarian with much better funding! 😩 Or author.
5. Black coffee ❤️☕️

#manicmonday @JoScho

It‘s Mother‘s Day here in the UK & I got my first couple of books for the #ookbookclub! 😄 I already have 3 of these gorgeous editions and am excited to have an excuse to collect them all. Also got the illustrated edition of Chamber of Secrets to go with HP&tPS & build that collection. Possibly most excited about my Shuri #BlackPanther Funko Pop. I have a collection of badass female pops & Shuri‘s such an awesome addition. All the collections! 😂

I finally located and finished Saga Vol. 1 and I f*@#ing loved it! As a (former) breastfeeding mammy, any book with a woman feeding her baby, on the very cover no less(!) is a huge winner for me. As it is, I loved the story too, and will definitely be investing in the rest of the series.

Yey Saga! ❤️❤️

(How do we feel about swearing here, btw? I‘m partial myself but don‘t want to offend! 😬)

I‘ve finished the Mortal Instruments! I feel like I‘ve been reading them for ages 😂, but I enjoyed this last one. Lots of setting up other series so I‘ll have to read them too at some point!

As far as supernatural YA goes, these were pretty good- compelling and with some great characters. Some annoying characters too though! Some bittersweet moments in this one, but I do feel 6 books may have been excessive for the arc. 4/5 stars!

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#MagicalMarch has given me another opportunity to shout out to #InternationalWomensDay

I share my initials with a literary queen, Jane Austen. An honour! My favourites are Northanger Abbey and Sense & Sensibility. Jane Austen‘s wit is legendary and I‘m always delighted by NA‘s satire and Austen‘s general acerbic commentary on her world. ❤️

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @vkois88

Tying my #ReadingResolutions in with #InternationalWomensDay - Hell yeah!

One of my TBR for the month, #orange cover & plenty of badass women. I‘ve read a bit already and I‘m loving the Banshee Squadron so far! 😍💪🏻

@Jess7

March TBR!

I struggle to read as much since having kids, but @miralunasbooknook promised Litsy would encourage me, and she was right! I let TMI distract me in Feb so hoping that posting my TBR will motivate me:

•Finish The Mortal Instruments
•Finish Oryx & Crake
•Finish Saga Vol 1
•Boy, Snow, Bird
•The Power
•The Blind Assassin (audio)
•Captain Marvel Vol 1 & 2

Not a huge list, so 🤞! Tips on making reading time with kids (2&4) would be 👌

@bookriot #riotgrams #fairytales

I‘m sure this will be a popular pick today, and rightly so. There is so much right about this beautiful reimagining. The artwork is gorgeous and the story is just perfect. Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell are one of my favourite author/ illustrator pairings and this might be my favourite of their works. I don‘t want to spoil it but- eek! That kiss! 😍😍😍 It‘s all so utterly divine!

Just starting this after finishing book 4 on my way home from work. It‘s starting to feel like a bit of a slog, mostly because of these two characters. Open communication, people! Make all our lives easier! It‘s like being irritating is becoming a major plot device 🙄😂. If I‘d only just let myself bail. I have permanent book FOMO though and never can 🤦🏻‍♀️. Fingers crossed that it picks up! 🤞🏻

@bookriot #riotgrams #selfhelp

I absolutely loved this book. It‘s such an awesome guide, primarily for teenage girls, but even as a supposed-grownup, I got a lot from it and was very inspired. Teenage boys could learn some valuable things from it too. Everyone could!

@bookriot #RiotGrams #music

I absolutely love Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld novels and this one is probably my favourite. These books make me laugh out loud whenever I read them. Also, Death is one of my favourite characters- so endearing! I love this so very much 😍😍. I have a few of these beautiful hardcover editions, but not this one. It‘s very high on my wish list!

New arrivals! #bookmail arrived today. Looking forward to both of these. Love the Boy, Snow, Bird cover. 😍 May have to read that one first 😄

Today‘s Book Riot #riotgrams photo prompt made me chuckle. In my experience, library workers are amongst the worst for having #AnUnreturnedBook or two lying around. Here‘s a small sample of mine 😬😂. All TBR, all too tempting to put back on the library shelves. I‘m particularly excited to read the tagged book. I just blinking love books! 😍📚❤️

#heartsandhardcovers #red @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I love Carol Ann Duffy! ❤️ Her poems are can be witty and cutting and laugh out loud hilarious, but she also writes beautiful love poems. Some of these make my heart ache. And the cover is just to die for!

How gorgeous is this cover?! Just stolen this from Waterstones‘ Instagram. I must read this! Their blurb:
‘Tomi Adeyemi conjures a stunning world of dark magic and danger in her West African-inspired fantasy novel, Children of Blood and Bone.‘ Sign me up!

#riotgrams #hearts

I really enjoyed this book. The opening few chapters were a bit tough to get through, but it was thoroughly gripping. I read this with a book group who universally struggled with the opening and were almost all determined to dislike the book, but were all won over. I‘d definitely recommend. An unusual and beautiful love story. ❤️

#MyBloodyValentine @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I used to think that Heathcliff was The Most Romantic Man Ever and I used to read this over & over and swoon everywhere and declare that this was, ‘exactly how I feel!!!‘ And then I grew up a bit and realised that Heathcliff is not romantic, he‘s a psychopath and, thankfully, my beloved is not 😂. Not a hardcover, I‘m sorry, but a very well-loved, well thumbed edition. Need a beautiful hardcover!

#FierceFeb @Cinfhen @batsy

One of my absolute favourite books- one of the protagonists is a punk librarian, need I say anymore?! 😄😍 This books raises questions about the nature of love. It made me think about choice and free will and what it means to be chosen by someone else. And it‘s certainly #NoOrdinaryLove when one of the lovers in question is hurtled repeatedly through time. It‘s been a while and now I must re-read this!

Finished this a couple of days ago but haven‘t had a chance to post. I‘d say it was a bit predictable and the protagonist was, at times, ignorant to the point of being unbelievable. Teenagers aren‘t that dim 😂. Overall though, I‘d say it was a pick because, faults aside, it was one of those rollicking adventures that totally picks you up and flies you away. I‘ve already started the 2nd & am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out.

#riotgrams #belovedseries @bookriot

I briefly considered choosing something else, but to do so would be to dramatically misrepresent myself. This series is my most beloved. My heart belongs at Hogwarts. I will die a Potterhead, even if that means ferociously ignoring any and all new additions to the canon, as I see fit! 😂😂 Also, I must drop more hints about getting the rest of the illustrated editions! 😁👍🏻

#FierceFeb #TooManyCreeps @Cinfhen @batsy

This wasn‘t an easy or satisfying read, but I think that‘s appropriate, given the content. It made me angry and distressed, as it should. I liked that the protagonist wasn‘t a ‘good‘ or even particularly likeable character. I appreciated that the wrongdoers weren‘t overtly evil, but recognisable, ‘good boys who got carried away‘. We have so much work to do. I look forward to more by Louise O‘Neill.

I‘m stuck home with flu this week 😭. Felt too rotten to read at the start of the week but feeling up to some YA now and have been reading this for a couple of days now. I wasn‘t sure how I‘d like it after reading mixed reviews, but I‘m hooked! I feel like I‘m going to race through this series 👍🏻😄.

I‘m going to say it, this was... under-well-ming! 🤦🏻‍♀️😂 Sorry! Couldn‘t help myself. This was alright and kept me mostly interested, but was a fairly basic whodunnit. I felt the author chose the easiest option in the end and the most interesting part- the drought- wasn‘t explored in a satisfying way. Some interesting concepts and some irredeemably flawed characters. A decent debut. (Image by Curepi on DeviantArt)

Listened to this on audio &, whilst usually an audiobook fan, I wish I‘d just read this. I think the satire didn‘t come across, which is a shame, because on consideration, it could have been very funny. Think the narrator gave the characters too much dignity! 😂 Some were hilariously absurd, some too unpleasant to be funny. I‘d probably give the author another go, but this was only OK.

We‘re having a much needed week away, just the four of us. It‘s going to be fairly action packed, but I‘m hoping to get some decent reading time. I‘ve wanted to read Saga for ages and seeing it raved about on here prompted me to buy it as a holiday read. Can‘t wait to get started!

1. Anything chocolate- I‘ll take it all 👌🏻.
2. Netflix binge was Stranger Things, or Spooky Monsters with the kids, which is actually pretty cool. Currently re-watching Parks & Rec, my favourite, but that‘s on Prime.
3. The latest to stress me out was Double Fault by Lionel Shriver, and not in a fun way. I had to bail on the building marital tension 😬.
4. About 24 hours! 😄
5. I will when I figure out how to identify fellow newbies!