Beer & a book after a day of running, hiking, & boating :) Vacation mode: ON

Family went for a walk & challenged me to read this before they got back! Easy, funny read about the Cape—102 pages with big font & illustrations. Got to page 75 before they returned, but I also dealt with some laundry & made a phone call. Finished soon after they got back! #24in48

Started this one at the beach. Also an O.W.L. for Magical Readathon! Read just over an hour and forty-five minutes at the beach but unfortunately have been busy with family things since then. Aiming for at least another half hour before bed! #24in48

Been slowly reading this over the past half-hour-ish. It‘s an ARC copy with lotssss of typos, and it‘s always funny to see the in progress bits (one color instead of two color, 000 instead of pages numbers). Really liked the introduction by Malinda Lo! #24in48 #OWLsJuly2019

Read another 50ish minutes to finish the last 30ish pages of Dunbar. People kept talking to me & I also had to look up quite a few words so took me longer than I had hoped! #24in48

My first chunk of #24in48! Done while running this morning.

I find audiobooks really helpful on long runs, to distract me from any discomfort & to give my brain something to focus on. This wasn‘t a super long long run, but it is extremely humid & got quite hot as my run when on.

Hag-Seed was the first book I had heard of from these series, although at the time I just knew it was a retelling of The Tempest by Margaret Atwood, not that it was part of a Shakespeare-retelling series.

Stumbled across an ARC of this one at work a year or so ago—a retelling of King Lear. Love the cover! So far really enjoying the writing style & identifying the similarities/differences to the source material.

I‘m very far from a linguist & haven‘t even taken a class in it, but I find language study so fascinating!

Took me waaay too long to realize that the people on the cover are answering the question posed by the title...😬 Didn‘t realize this book was a) a companion book to a PBS TV show or b) a sequel to a TV/book from the 1980s (The Story of English).

Trying to finish this one before #24in48 begins this weekend! Also reading for OWLsJuly2019.

I don‘t think I‘ve seen anything like this in dialogue before! 😂 For the record, it was the only curse in the book.

Enjoying the story but the two authors are clearly not writers. Lots of repetition of words/phrases, some overly-obvious analysis or unnecessary explanations, & the dialogue is really stiff/unnatural. But the lesson to live in the moment is good, & I find the discussion of end-of-life care really interesting & fresh.

1. Reading more! Lately I‘ve been in a slump & work is very busy/stressful, so it‘s a nice change.
2. Lake Champlain, Vermont
3. Apple pie! My dad makes a delicious one
4. I am! Tonight I have lunch & dinner plans, Saturday I have plans to go for a run & then a cookout, & on Sunday I‘m hiking. Hoping to read, do chores, watch Stranger Things, & help my partner bottle his latest home brew as well!
5. Will do ^_^

#friyayintro @howjessreads

I took this out to read with my lunch...& then ended up talking to coworkers the whole time xD But I did read this on my commute to & from the office!

I rarely buy lunch & try to treat the days I do as a special treat—even though I usually have to buy because I‘ve neglected grocery shopping, like today! Eggplant with goat cheese & tomato sauce, yum.

Every time I pick this up I get Landslide stuck in my head... #catsoflitsy

I learned about the magical readathon yesterday. I know I missed the O.W.L.s in April but reaaaally want to do the whole challenge...should I start with N.E.W.T.s in August & O.W.L.s later, or O.W.L.s in August & N.E.W.T.s later on?

I lost some steam on this one toward the end. I‘ve read books with a similar “what makes a person” theme (Ancillary Justice, A Closed and Common Orbit) that were better & I kept thinking about them as I read! Enjoyed my read though, especially with a friend‘s elderly pup, Ava, to keep me company. #dogsoflitsy

I‘ve impulsively decided to do #24in48 next weekend even though I‘m busy. Anyone else?

Getting Battlestar Galactica vibes from this one—which is making me want to rewatch the series! I‘ve only seen it all the way through once, & it took me about two years.

I own two copies of this—the audiobook (free from Libro.fm for the 2018 Independent Bookstore Day) and the hardcover (I can‘t remember from where or when or how I got this copy but I know was after I got the audio). I‘m loving the audiobook—great narrator! great writing!—but it‘s a lot. It‘s long, and complex, and I feel like I‘m missing small things. I think I‘ll need to reread the (physical) book before I want to start Muse of Nightmares!

Some of my July TBR! I pulled a handful of books that have been floating around my shelves for a while. Mostly ARCs and all on the shorter side. Also have Strange the Dreamer going on audio and a book I started in February (!!!) that needs reading. Fingers crossed for a good reading month :) All of these will count for #theunreadshelfproject2019

It‘s July 1st & I‘ve already acquired my first book of the month. I didn‘t pay for it but still! Help! This is bad for #theunreadshelfproject2019 😬

Isn‘t this cover gorgeous though?

Recent #BTAF18 reads & my #BTAFbingo board! I already have a few squares I can fill but so many more to go! If you might go to the Boston Teen Author Festival this year you should definitely go get your own board from the website :)

I am such a bad Millennial! I can‘t consistently post on social media to save my life 😂 It‘s been 3 weeks since my last post here!

This is my #currentread. Really enjoying it so far—intense, beautiful, & skillfully reflects parts of our world through fantasy. It‘s inspiring me to learn more about Yoruba culture. I also swear I saw a name drop of Ember In the Ashes...

#kobo

I can not recommend this book enough! Currently my favorite book of the year. Intersectional feminism, non-traditional family structures, black main characters...plus people with earthquake powers. Epic mix of sci fi, fantasy, and the real world.

Post-glass blowing class chillaxing. We didn‘t do any actual blown shapes today—that‘s tomorrow—but I‘m still exhausted! Book is okay so far—kind of bland but not bad, has some good lines.

Putting this down at page 107. Very slow story line and I‘m not loving the representation of the character called “Dumb Willie” (although it could shift later in the book). I‘m also really not into books with a heavy religious focus—but it is well-written overall, so those who like Christian fiction will probably like this!

Had the opportunity to see Tamora Pierce in conversation this weekend! She was amazing, inspiring, & made me want to start writing again ❤️ I bailed on the signing after four hours of waiting, at 11pm, because I had a long trek home and work in the morning. My friend who stayed saw her at 12:30, & rumor has it the last person got to her at 2am 😶

Mini #bookhaul from a local warehouse sale ❤️

#riotgrams Day 18: music

Music, specifically a song, is a recurring element of this book 🎶

#riotgrams Day 17: an unreturned book

My little stack of unreturned books. Most are read & I just haven‘t seen their owners in a while. I do need to return some—running out of room on this section of shelf!

#riotgrams Day 16: black history

This children‘s book has beautiful illustrations by Ekua Holmes. It also is very honest about the reality of Fannie Lou Hammer‘s life—it doesn‘t gloss over anything—but is still inspiring & hopeful.

#riotgrams Day 15: hot books

Going literal on this one. Fire-related titles 🔥

#riotgrams Day 14: hearts

Three very different “heart” books ❤️ Hat made by my aunt years ago ❤️

#riotgrams Day 13: pink, red, & white

Finding a pink was such a struggle! I only have a handful, & some are hot pink (which I think looks blech with red & white). True red was only a little easier—so many of my reds are orange-ish!

#riotgrams Day 12: favorite leading ladies

Lizzy, Jane, & Alanna ❤️

#riotgrams Day 11: punctuation

This prompt was so difficult! Most of the punctuation in my shelf is apostrophes—was glad to also find a hyphen, an exclamation mark, a comma, & an ampersand. Eats, Shoots & Leaves is one of my favorite books :D

Highly recommended—& short! Lots of thought-provoking, inspiring ideas, both in regards to raising children & living/challenging your own life. Also—my first by this author :)

#riotgrams Day 10: book & beverage

Book & tea & mini stroopwafels ❤️

Haven‘t read this yet, but hope to soon! My mother got me the mini stroops because I constantly miss the Netherlands, which I loved when I visited.

#riotgrams Day 9: beloved series

A quartet is a series, right? The Circle of Magic is an all-time favorite & one I return to again & again. Tris is my favorite of the four, but I do love them all 🤗

This isn‘t an easy book to read. I was torn between “pick” and “so-so” but realized the book had left a strong impression on me, even if I didn‘t fully grasp all the implications and references. I would have benefited from reading Jean Toomer first. Unique format, short, & leaves you with a sense that you read something important.

#riotgrams Day 8: spine poetry

This is very bad & makes no sense. Make of it what you will 😂

#riotgrams Day 7: #blackwriters

Still haven't read a few of these, but aiming to read three (The Fifth Season, As Lie Is to Grin, Akata Witch) this month!

Nearly 100 pages in and unsure how I feel about this. The writing is good, but otherwise not loving anything...and definitely *not* liking some other parts (like not realizing until now that this is Christian fiction). The cover also reminds me of a cliché Instagram post. Not sure when to call it quits ??‍♀️

#riotgrams Day 6: short stories

I have more short stories collections than I realized! These two I haven't read yet but really should.

I've been MIA & so very behind on my #riotgrams--took the photos but never posted! Apologies in advance for my catch-up spam...

Day 5: royalty

Did anyone else read/love the Royal Diaries series? For real royals, I'm quite fascinated by Nicholas II.

1. Any of the alpine ski races :)
2. Tamora Pierce! You'd be shocked how many people don't know about her
3. February! I'll be 25 on the 12th 😶
4. The Shape of Water--so good!
5. 🎉

#friyayintro

#riotgrams Day 4: purple

Book you can't see title of is tagged. The naked cover looks much more purple in person!

#riotgrams Day 3: naked hardcovers

I love books with something fun under the (dust) covers 😜

#riotgrams Day 2: current read

Featuring today's first cup of coffee & egg in a basket.

Only about 40 pages in so far. Well-written but not feeling super invested in the characters or story.

There were a lot of things that bothered me in this book, but I thought it was well-written & I found myself really enjoying it despite the issues I have with it. Very much The Bachelor mixed with a toned-down Hunger Games. Listened to this on audiobook & the narration was overall quite good.

I did enjoy this, but I feel it's partially because I love the TV show. And since I've already seen the TV show, I automatically compared plot & envisioned the book characters as their TV counterparts. I was not a fan of the book's endless focus on romance plot lines.

#riotgrams Day 1: Shelfie

This is most of my largest shelf. I recently started stacking for the sake of fitting more 📚
#shelfie

1. Yes! At a neighbor's. Go Pats!
2. Mid 30s (windchill was cooooold though)
3. Tagged--As Lie Is to Grin, about 20 pages in
4. Currently, Antarctica--but everywhere/anywhere!
5. Will do ^_^

#friyayintro

#HumpDayPost
1. I will be starting The Fifth Season tomorrow for a buddy read in February! Here's a terrible synopsis: sci fi, intersectional feminism, lovely cover
2. Very dark chocolate!
3. Millennial (I'm almost 25--is that the middle or end?)
4. Edible Arrangement 😂
5. Not really! But I am going to a concert tomorrow
#CatsofLitsy