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xicanti

xicanti

Joined February 2016

I read a little bit of everything because genre snobbery ain't cool. 🇨🇦
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xicanti
Queen of Shadows | Sarah J Maas
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One of the most frustrating things about the early parts of this series is how often the young women dismiss each other as shallow, vapid bimbos who automatically qualify as The Enemy.

One of the best things about its later parts is how they realize this is bullshit and they team up to support each other and maybehopefully save the world.

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xicanti
Keetsahnak / Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters | Maria Campbell, Kim Anderson, Christi Belcourt
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Lunchtime nonfiction with Saki. Despite my little pal‘s glare, this is an important and insightful work that digs into the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls from academic, legal, and personal angles. (NB: it was published in 2017. More recent writing on the matter also includes two-spirit people.)

UwannaPublishme Aww! Great photo! Does Saki get along with Casey? 13h
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 11h
xicanti @UwannaPublishme he and Casey probably won‘t meet, but he lives with two Border Collies and they‘re all great friends! 10h
32 likes1 stack add3 comments
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xicanti
Queen of Shadows | Sarah J Maas
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I finally finished all the novels I had out from the library (and, sadly, bounced off a thriller I purchased a couple months back and really looked forward to), so it‘s on to QUEEN OF SHADOWS! Jade‘s sister, Ivy, is a solid reading buddy for this one, since she avoids household sunbeams at all costs. Give her a shadowy napping nook and she‘s a happy, happy girl.

dabbe #ivyshade 🖤🐾🖤 1d
35 likes1 comment
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xicanti
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Jade made use of her favourite sunbeam appreciation spot while I read another story from this lovely MG anthology. There really is a lot of joy here, just as the cover promises. More importantly, there‘s hope and joy even in hard times; a valuable reminder that we can find (or create) bright moments even in the midst of suffering.

dabbe #jadebeam 🖤🐾🖤 1d
Nutmegnc Just added this to my purchase list at my school library!! 1d
xicanti @Nutmegnc ❤️ 1d
42 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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xicanti
Bad Medicine | Christopher Twin
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This week‘s small but mighty library haul features another from this year‘s Canada Reads Longlist, two more volumes of Yona, and Thomas King‘s latest (I think?) Thumps Dreadfulwater mystery.

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xicanti
The Future | Catherine Leroux
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I‘ll bet the library staff got a kick out of processing as many books as possible on Leap Day.

For the first sixty pages or so, I thought THE FUTURE was gonna be The One. Since then, though, it‘s skewed too abstract for my tastes and my attention‘s wavered in a big way. I would‘ve bailed if the Canada Reads panelists hadn‘t specifically said it gets rough but it all pays off in the end. Now, with a hundred pages to go, I hope I agree with them.

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xicanti
The Sins on Their Bones | Laura R. Samotin
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I had to postpone my usual February plan to take the month off from American creators because I‘m still in the thick of my big X-Men catch-up and I didn‘t want to pause it for that long, but I‘m definitely going ahead with Gay May as scheduled! To that end, I‘ve started stockpiling queer books. WHAT A DESI GIRL WANTS showed up in a Little Free Library this morning and THE SINS ON THEIR BONES was too tempting on NetGalley. #gaymay

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xicanti
Denison Avenue | Christina Wong
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Sunday afternoon book & beer. I‘m halfway through the words part of DENISON AVENUE, and the thing that strikes me so far is that while Wong Cho Sum may be grieving her closest connection following her husband‘s death, she‘s still in community with so many kind people. It‘s beautiful.

The beer, a Great Scott! Cream Ale from Blackwheat Brewing Co out of Brandon, MB, is just what I feel like tonight. Crisp malt & slight biscuit finish, as promised.

KadaGul Great Combo, book 📖 + Beer 🍺 = LOVING 🥰 SUNDAY #DaylightSavingsErrrr (edited) 1w
xicanti @KadaGul yessss! 1w
39 likes2 comments
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xicanti
Junie | Chelene Knight
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JUNIE is one of those books that practically reads itself. I feel like I‘ve hardly spent any time with it, yet I‘m already a hundred pages in. Knight‘s prose is deep and evocative without being performative, and her dialogue gives each character a strong voice. I can‘t wait to read on.

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xicanti
Heir of Fire | Sarah J. Maas
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One thing I do always and unreservedly love about Sarah J. Maas‘s books: from HEIR OF FIRE onwards, she thanks her dog in every Acknowledgments.

Dogs are super important, y‘all.

In actual book news, I finished rereading it this morning and I‘m back to loving it. Hurray! Just gotta tackle some library materials (and maybe an unread purchase) and it‘s on to QUEEN OF SHADOWS.

dabbe Yay for dogs! 🤩🐾🤩 1w
xicanti @dabbe dogs forever! 1w
32 likes2 comments
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xicanti
Heir of Fire | Sarah J. Maas
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The great problem with ebook omnibi is that you have only a rough idea how far you are into each individual book. I know I‘m past the 2/3 mark going by the number of chapters, but I‘d have to do a lot of awkward bouncing around through the text to get a sense of what percentage of the book that translates to.

Anyways: I‘m really feeling HEIR OF FIRE now. This series is uneven, but when it‘s on, it‘s on. There‘ve been tears over here and all.

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1w
29 likes1 comment
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xicanti
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It‘s been ages since I did one of these.

1. HERE FOR IT by R. Eric Thomas
2. A GAME FOR SWALLOWS by Zeina Abirached
3. RUN TOWARDS THE DANGER by Sarah Polley

I was gonna do honourable mentions but there‘s like six books I could probably switch out with any of the three listed above, not even counting conversational cookbooks, soooo… 🤷‍♀️

#ThreeListThursday #TLT

monalyisha Oh, hey! We‘re book twins 👯‍♀️…at least a little. 😉 2w
xicanti @monalyisha SIGH, GONE is on my extended/maybe switch out list, so we‘re double twins! 2w
monalyisha I feel like this overlap might be #AuldLangSpine & @MeganAnn related somehow. 😉 2w
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xicanti @monalyisha y‘know, it very well might. 2w
MeganAnn @monalyisha yes! I believe @xicanti read it off my #auldlangspine list and I found it thanks to @JackOBotts #newyearwhodis list from the year before. It‘s still a favorite of mine. 😍 Your event continues to help me find the best books every year!! 2w
monalyisha @MeganAnn I definitely read it based on your review! I just saw that he has a picture book out about a cranky construction vehicle? 😅 My hopes aren‘t as high for that one (it looks wordy) but I‘m still tickled! 2w
willaful I really enjoyed Here For It too. Listened to the audiobook. 2w
MeganAnn @monalyisha a picture book? How interesting! I may have to check it out for the sake of curiosity. 😉 2w
JackOBotts @meganan & @monalyisha - I love that Sigh, Gone was a favorite, it‘s one of mine, as well. This is what makes @litsy so fun - discovering books with one another. 🤗 And - of course - adding to my mountain of TBR! 🤣📚📚📚📚📚📚📚📚 2w
dabbe @JackOBotts I couldn't agree more! 🤩😃🤩 2w
dabbe Honorable mentions are fine with me! 🤩🤩🤩 2w
JackOBotts @dabbe 🙌🏼 …And finding new folks to follow for even more recs! 😉💜📚 2w
dabbe @JackOBotts YES! 🤩😍😃 2w
xicanti @willaful the audiobook is so much fun. I recommended it to a friend who listened to it while she walked her dog, and she ended up laughing so hard everyone on the street gave her funny looks. 2w
xicanti @JackOBotts @MeganAnn @monalyisha @dabbe all the love for how easy Litsy makes it to find great books & people to discuss them with. 2w
dabbe @xicanti 💚💙💚 2w
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xicanti
Heir of Fire | Sarah J. Maas
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I almost always enjoy Maas‘s books, but I never enjoy them unreservedly, and one of my big issues with her stuff is all the ideas she recycles across series. (Yes, I know, multiverse, but she keeps her pet concepts too similar from book to book. I prefer authors to switch it up more between worlds.) I‘m especially tired of her whole mates obsession. Ditto “females” and “males” for non-human women and men. Calling women “females” is CREEPY, people.

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xicanti
Heir of Fire | Sarah J. Maas
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I finished rereading CROWN OF MIDNIGHT last night and was surprised to discover I wanted to keep right on going. One Kobo recharge later, here I am with HEIR OF FIRE. I loved it the first time but found it way less engaging the second. We‘ll see what Read #3 holds.

In beer news, Lake of the Woods Brewing Co hasn‘t convinced me peaches belong in pale ale. I did appreciate the tartness, though, so I‘m open to a peach sour down the line.

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xicanti
The Bone Mother | David Demchuk
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I only ever seem to get Tim Hortons during Roll Up the Rim. I used to win free food pretty consistently, but they switched to digital-only during the pandemic and I don‘t want to clutter up my life with another app, so I guess I‘ll never win again. Goodbye, all hope of a free car!

I came very close to the end of THE BONE MOTHER while I drank. It‘s packed with highly readable, unsettling stories with a lot to say about monstrousness.

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xicanti
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Friends, I‘m having SUCH a great time with 88-year-old Maud. She‘s a reverse Miss Marple; instead of using her extensive life experience (and society‘s tendency to underestimate her) as a crime-fighting tool, she‘s all about the crime-doing. Self-serving murders a specialty. I don‘t ever want to meet her but I sure wanna keep reading about her.

Darklunarose I LOVED this book! She is such a Cheeky old woman! 2w
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2w
xicanti @Darklunarose I‘ve already borrowed the next book so I won‘t have to take a break from her! 2w
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xicanti @dabbe Geo says hello! 2w
dabbe @xicanti 🤩🖤🐾🐾🖤🤩 2w
Darklunarose @xicanti I look forward to seeing how it goes! 2w
50 likes6 comments
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xicanti
Bookshops & Bonedust | Travis Baldree
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I wasn‘t sure I was in the right mood for BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST, but it quickly won me over with its community feel and love for the power of story. I‘m now a hundred pages deep.

It also cried out for a good beer, so I paired it with an Absent Landlord Kolsch Ale from Cowbell Brewing Co out of Blyth, ON. I had one a couple weeks back and liked it so much I bought another can right away. It was a great fit with this delightful read.

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xicanti
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Downward-facing Penny + slightly blurry historical mystery. THE BANGALORE DETECTIVE CLUB‘s shorter chapters make the narrative a little abrupt in places, but it‘s more than worth seeking out for the way it explores 1920s Bangalore. There‘s a lot here about shifting attitudes towards colonial rule, caste divisions, and women‘s rights, and the characters are great. I‘ll definitely read the next book in the series.

dabbe 🤩🖤🐾🖤🤩 2w
36 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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xicanti
Scattered Showers | Rainbow Rowell
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I finished my Greek street and installed it on my shelf! Hurray!

I also made some good progress through SCATTERED SHOWERS, which I love despite a couple of sameish stories. (Rainbow Rowell does like a bit of “best friends finally admit their attraction to one another.) The narrator uses too many emphatic undertones, though; an in-person storytelling technique that doesn‘t play well through earbuds and annoys the shit out of me. #audiocrafting

xicanti Here‘s the thing: in person, the listener can lean in, fostering intimacy with the storyteller. Through earbuds, the listener either has to strain their ears to catch everything or crank the volume up and pay for it when the narrator returns to their regular volume. I much prefer performers who adjust their tone to indicate they‘re whispering or shouting instead of actually fucking whispering or shouting. At least this one‘s not a screamer. 3w
tpixie Amazing crafting! 💙🩵💛 3w
xicanti @tpixie thanks! This one was really fun to work on, even with all the fiddly beaded elements. 3w
tpixie @xicanti yes! Love the bookstore and the lights! All the details! (edited) 3w
32 likes4 comments
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xicanti
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When I requested the tagged cookbook, I hoped I‘d find some of Sam‘s Nigerian recipes and the iconic Biscuits With the Boss. Alas, Jollof rice is the only Nigerian dish in here, but the biscuits are accounted for! They‘re delicious, too; a not-so-sweet, thick cut shortbread with ground almonds in place of some of the flour. You eat one and think, “Oh, okay, this exists.” Then the full effect hits you and you eat three more.

Ruthiella They look delicious 😋 3w
Texreader Hmmmm. I‘ve been wondering about trying these and you‘ve given the best description yet! I ❤️ Ted Lasso! 3w
Chelsea.Poole 🤤 I still haven‘t made these and I‘ve been craving them for years. Ted Lasso is my favorite show! ⚽️ 3w
44 likes3 comments
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xicanti
The Romance Recipe | Ruby Barrett
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I didn‘t make it very far into THE ROMANCE RECIPE before bed last night, but the opening gave me all the culinary drama vibes I could wish for. Hopefully I‘ll be able to get really stuck into it today.

Casey would like you to know these toys are all VERY IMPORTANT, which is why he needs all three of them spread out on his rug. Thank you.

dabbe Thanks for letting us know, Casey. You da man! 🤩🖤🐾🖤🤩 3w
37 likes1 comment
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xicanti
Kobo eReader For Dummies | Corey Sandler
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I visited my favourite bookstore this morning and came away with some cool non-bookish stuff, including a super-cute weatherproof sticker I was gonna use to cover a scratch on my bike but decided to stick on my Kobo case instead so I can enjoy it more often.

Casey approves.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Sweet Casey 🐶🐾❤️ 3w
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 3w
31 likes2 comments
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xicanti
Reuniting with Strangers | Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio
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REUNITING WITH STRANGERS is excellent so far. Each story offers a powerful, nuanced look at familial separation and reunification, all through a distinctly Filipinx-Canadian lens. It made the Canada Reads Longlist this year and I very much hope it jumps to the shortlist down the line, as several other longlist titles have.

dabbe #sleepcasey 🖤🐾🖤 3w
29 likes1 comment
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xicanti
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A friend started the tagged book a day ahead of me and had mostly bad things to say about it, but I like it a lot so far. I think it‘s gonna be a harrowing and insightful read.

In a less harrowing mode, here‘s a preview of my Greek street with the third wall attached and the lights hooked up! It‘s hard to tell in the photo, but the mirror against the back wall means you can see all the bookstore‘s angles. #audiocrafting

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks So cute 💙🤍 3w
tpixie I loved the book! An amazing woman and story. It is a hard read at times so I can see why not everyone would like it. I‘m amazed by your workmanship!!! 3w
dabbe Amazing! 🤩🤩🤩 3w
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Traci1 That is lovely. 3w
AlaMich I love that! (edited) 3w
xicanti @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @dabbe @Traci1 @AlaMich it makes me happy every time I peer into it! 3w
xicanti @tpixie my friend‘s big complaint is that she finds Elizabeth unbelievably naive about her situation, which isn‘t an issue for me because I think it makes sense that someone living in 1860 wouldn‘t be as informed about wrongful asylum incarcerations and patriarchal abuses as we are here in 2024. She says she does find the book interesting in general, though. 3w
tpixie @xicanti 👍🏻 they were so much more isolated then- no TV, internet, radio… (edited) 3w
41 likes8 comments
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xicanti
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CARTER BEATS THE DEVIL is the latest stop on my Early-2000s Rereads Tour. I loved the hell out of it back in 2009, and I‘m still enjoying it here in 2024, with the usual caveats about racist depictions in early 20th century stage magic. I can‘t seem to actually sit down and READ IT, though. Hopefully I can get some momentum with it this weekend.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Awwww Casey 🐾 🤎 4w
xicanti @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks he snuggled up to the book all on his own my heart melted. 3w
dabbe Sweet Sir Casey. 🖤🐾🖤 3w
36 likes3 comments
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xicanti
Fullmetal Alchemist 16 | Hiromu Arakawa
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Today also involved the next part of my long-delayed FMA reread. There‘s so much good stuff here, y‘all; so many characters who do the right thing even when it‘s the very hardest thing. It feels extremely topical, too.

BeeCurious A super cute co-reader, too! 🐕🐾 4w
dabbe Hello, Casey. 🖤🐾🖤 4w
UwannaPublishme Casey is so adorable! ❤️ 4w
xicanti @BeeCurious @dabbe @UwannaPublishme he has my very favourite face. 4w
dabbe @xicanti One that I would love to snuggle! 🤩🤩🤩 4w
35 likes5 comments
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xicanti
Reuniting with Strangers | Jennilee Austria-Bonifacio
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I had a whole bunch of stuff waiting for me at the library today, including two more from the Canada Reads Longlist, a cookbook, a couple of comics, and three fantasies. Good times.

mcctrish What a great library haul !!! 4w
xicanti @mcctrish right? I‘m so happy with it. 4w
37 likes2 comments
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xicanti
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And now, a tiny bookstore for my little Greek street; which, I‘ve realized, has all its signage in either Turkish or English, so maybe it‘s not Greek at all? Or maybe it‘s on an island that caters mostly to Turkish- or English-speaking tourists?

Anyways, I‘m still here for the tagged book‘s stories and still all *DRAMATIC SIGH* over the huge number of similes and metaphors. #audiocrafting

willaful oooooo! 4w
UwannaPublishme 😍📚🙌🏻 4w
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 4w
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Bookwormjillk 🤩🤩🤩 4w
Texreader Love this!!! 4w
tpixie Love the plaster and brick wall & plates! 3w
47 likes6 comments
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xicanti
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I‘m having one of those days when the world‘s bigotry weighs even heavier on me than it normally does, which means it‘s a good time to read Thomas King. A caramel latte won‘t hurt, either.

sarahbarnes 💙💙 1mo
46 likes1 comment
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xicanti
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I loved Zeyn Joukhadar‘s second novel very much, but their first is trying my patience with its purple prose. It‘s a good example of what I mean by performative purpleness; something that‘s less “how can I convey my characters‘ emotional reality?” and more “look at my ability to cram similes and metaphors into every nook and cranny.”

I‘ll stick with it because I do want the story. The historical bits are much less florid, too. #audiocrafting

Deblovestoread That is adorable! 💜 1mo
xicanti @Deblovestoread thanks! It‘s the first half of a little Greek street. Tomorrow, I start the other side. 1mo
CoffeeAndABook Great review!! And that little Greek street is delightful 👏🏼👏🏼 it makes me so happy to just look at it ☀️ is it a set? If so, where can it find it?? 1mo
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xicanti @CoffeeAndABook yes, it‘s a kit I found on Amazon! There are a whole bunch of them along the same lines, but with different themes. I‘ve already done the little French canal, and I hope to do the firefly forest and the undersea trolley someday. Litsy won‘t let me post the link, but if you search for “Spilay sea breeze book nook” it should come up. 1mo
BookmarkTavern That looks so cute! Looks like it‘s right off of Santorini! 💙 1mo
xicanti @BookmarkTavern I fell in love with that Santorini vibe the moment I saw it. 1mo
CoffeeAndABook @xicanti Thank you so much! I found it 😊😊😊 1mo
42 likes7 comments
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xicanti
The Justice of Kings | Richard Swan
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I don‘t buy a ton of books these days, so my seven 2024 purchases (so far) constitute pretty wild behaviour for me. There‘ve been some great sales lately, though, so I was happy to nab a friend‘s enthusiastic rec (tagged) plus its sequel, a time travel caper, a wishlisted romance, my own copy of my favourite Canada Reads 2023 title, V.E. Schwab‘s latest, and a random fantasy with a pretty cover and a good price point.

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Ken Liu‘s given me some durned good breakfast reading over the last couple weeks. THE HIDDEN GIRL AND OTHER STORIES is a strong collection for pure entertainment value, though the pieces do revisit a lot of the same ideas from only slightly different angles.

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xicanti
Winging It | Morgan James, Ashlyn Kane
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More hockey romance, with Jade assisting. This one‘s much more to my taste than the book I bounced off of yesterday. It‘s full of solid team dynamics and banter, and one lead calls the other out on his Americanized school language (they play for Quebec City). I‘ll happily gulp down another chunk of it later today.

CarolynM One of my favourites. I love Gabe and Dante. And Yorkie too. 1mo
xicanti @CarolynM I‘ve had a great time getting to know them. 1mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
36 likes1 stack add3 comments
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xicanti
Game Misconduct | Ari Baran
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I‘m pretty sure I‘ve drifted away from GAME MISCONDUCT at 28%. It‘s not awful or anything, but it‘s the sort of enemies-to-lovers story that involves a lot of pure physicality, much of it rooted in violence that feels like malice instead of two people finding their way together via a mutual kink. While I assume emotions enter into it later on, I don‘t think I care about either one of them enough to stick around for it. 😔

willaful I kinda love hate sex (in books!) so you actually piqued my interest. 😂 1mo
xicanti @willaful there‘s definitely an audience waiting for this book, even if I‘m not part of it! 1mo
CarolynM Agreed. I DNF‘d at about the same point☹️ 1mo
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xicanti @CarolynM I also bought Ari Baran‘s second book in a recent sale, and I still plan to try it. Hopefully it‘s more my thing than this one was. 1mo
CarolynM I‘ll look out for your posts about that one. I‘m always looking for more hockey romances, but I have a “once burned twice shy” policy with authors. 1mo
xicanti @CarolynM I doubt I‘d have bought it if I‘d already tried this one, but since it‘s already on my Kobo I figure I‘ll give it a go. 1mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
39 likes7 comments
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xicanti
Something Spectacular | Alexis Hall
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Lovely Jade helped me cook breakfast and read SOMETHING SPECTACULAR, which is delightful so far. I do love a book that mixes lots of funny bits with lots of deeper bits.

I should‘ve taken a picture of my breakfast, too. It was beautiful: a fried egg atop cubed hashbrowns strewn with crumbled thick bacon, cheese, and a generous, artful drizzle of sriracha mayonnaise. Alas, it has now left this world, soon to return in a less appealing form.

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xicanti
Throne of Glass | Sarah J. Maas
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I get to hang out with a cat this week! Saki‘s a real sweetie. Yesterday he sat on my lap for a whole thirty seconds. #blessed

That happened while I finished the back half of THRONE OF GLASS. My feelings for this book have slid all around the spectrum. I wasn‘t impressed with my ARC, then I rather liked it when I reread it after I did like CROWN OF MIDNIGHT, then I loved it when I reread it ahead of KINGDOM OF ASH, and now I rather like it again.

rubyslippersreads 😻😻😻 1mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
46 likes2 comments
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xicanti
Bad Cree: A Novel | Jessica Johns
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Well, I missed my target with BAD CREE and had to bring it with me when I said goodbye to Casey super early this morning. I should be able to finish it today, though! I‘m still enjoying it a lot, even though I haven‘t felt invested enough to binge-read. There‘re tons of solid Auntie/nibling/cousin connections here, with no Americanization or white peopleization.

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
CBee This is SUCH a great pic ♥️ 1mo
44 likes2 comments
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xicanti
Bad Cree: A Novel | Jessica Johns
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Every day I drink the tea and read the books. I‘d love to finish BAD CREE tomorrow so I can return it on my way to stay with some Border Collies on Saturday morning, but so far it‘s good without being propulsive. We‘ll see how it builds.

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xicanti
Pageboy: A Memoir | Elliot Page
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Pickpick

The things that have put others off PAGEBOY, like the nonlinear narrative and purple prose, were to me its great strengths. They never struck me as performative, like these approaches often do; instead, I got the sense Page sought to capture the feeling behind each experience, and to work his way through to an understanding of everything that‘s shaped him. It‘s honest, raw, and powerful, and I loved the hell out of it. 4.5 stars.

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xicanti
The Summer Skies | Jenny Colgan
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I headed back into Jenny Colgan yesterday, with the usual halfway-curious helper. This is an enjoyable one so far; maybe the first I‘ve read from her in first person, with lots of humour and a strong sense of the Scottish archipelago her characters inhabit. It‘s a bit odd, though, in that the jacket copy barely connects to the story. I dunno why the publisher decided this skewed precise would draw in more readers than the actual contents. 🤷‍♀️

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🤎 🐶 🐾 1mo
dabbe Hi there, sweet Casey! 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
UwannaPublishme Casey is the cutest! ❤️ 1mo
30 likes3 comments
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xicanti
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And here‘s one of the books I returned for someone else to read and enjoy. It‘s a fascinating collection of conversations between Questlove and chefs he admires, all shot through with photography to set the scene.

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
35 likes1 comment
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xicanti
The Bone Mother | David Demchuk
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Another Canada Reads title came in for me, and I couldn‘t resist the Blind Date With A Book display when I popped in to pick it up. I ended up with the tagged novel, which sounds right up my alley despite its low Litsy rating. (There are more positive reviews than so-so ones, so I guess a lot of people rated it but didn‘t post about it? I dunno how else that‘d work.)

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xicanti
Meet Me at the Lake | Carley Fortune
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I planned to finish MEET ME AT THE LAKE yesterday, but I ended up building a tiny railway station instead. As you do.

I‘m enjoying the book so far, despite a bit of Americanized school language (my nemesis). It‘s got a lot to say about grief, communal responsibility vs personal wishes, and love of place. That said, I expect it‘ll have an uphill battle in the Canada Reads debates, since so many people refuse to engage with romances on principle.

TheKidUpstairs There were a couple of frustrating editorial choices in this one (no one in Toronto would EVER say "Toronto Transit Commission") but I found the story enjoyable enough that I could brush those things off as minor irritations. But I agree it's going to have a hard time on Canada Reads (although I do think it's more thematically relevant than Shut Up, You're Pretty). 1mo
willaful Oh my goodness? Was that from a kit? It's amazing! 1mo
xicanti @TheKidUpstairs thematically, it‘s a great fit; lots of forward movement. I guess we‘ll see how its panelist handles it. 1mo
xicanti @willaful yes! I found it on Amazon while I was searching for my next miniature project and just fell in love with it. It flips around so you can peer into the railway station from the back, too, with the little trains and the shopping concourse and the high, vaulted ceiling. 1mo
willaful @xicanti oh wow! 1mo
37 likes5 comments
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xicanti
A Power Unbound | Freya Marske
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A confession: Freya Marske‘s worldbuilding and plots don‘t stick in my head well, so I had to relearn the ropes every time I picked up the next book in this trilogy, but her VIBES, y‘all. Her vibes stick with me so well I‘m pretty near addicted to them. They‘re what‘s got me hoping I‘ll have enough time to devour the last 130ish pages of A POWER UNBOUND later today, preferably in just a couple of sittings so I can really stay inside it.

julesG Cute reading buddy and your skirt(?) is glorious 1mo
xicanti @julesG it‘s a pillow! 1mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 1mo
44 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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xicanti
Sunshine Nails | Mai Nguyen
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Pickpick

In the end, I really enjoyed SUNSHINE NAILS and appreciated it as a look at how one family experiences gentrification and anti-Asian racism as they sort out their own shit. While it builds well, though, things don‘t really pick up until the second half. Before that, there‘s not enough pathos to make it an emotional experience or enough humour to make it a comedy. It sails right down the middle of General Fiction; something to read, not to relish.

dabbe Sir Casey! 🤩🐾🤩 2mo
AmyG That sweet face. ❤️ 2mo
25 likes2 comments
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xicanti
Meet Me at the Lake | Carley Fortune
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There‘s always that one title on the Canada Reads longlist with 100+ holds, and I always hope it doesn‘t make the shortlist, and it almost always does. Sigh. This year I haunted MEET ME AT THE LAKE‘s catalogue page in the hopes of an Express copy at a branch I could reasonably travel to. One went up on Saturday night so I made sure I was there first thing this morning.

I also grabbed an enticing cozy mystery because hey, I was there anyways.

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xicanti
The Goodbye Cat | Hiro Arikawa
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I totally wept over the title story while Casey slept on beside me, oblivious to my FEELINGS. Pets, man.

Ruthiella Well, it was about a cat…maybe Casey didn‘t quite empathize as a result. (edited) 2mo
xicanti @Ruthiella but Casey‘s normally such a big fan of cats. Mornings, on the other hand… 2mo
dabbe Those paws! 🤩🐾🤩 2mo
xicanti @dabbe they‘re growing out into little mops again! 2mo
40 likes4 comments
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xicanti
Daughter of the Blood | Anne Bishop
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The latest stop on my very slow early 2000s rereads tour. DAUGHTER OF THE BLOOD and its sequels completely entranced me back in 2009, but I didn‘t expect I‘d feel the same here in 2024 because of Bishop‘s squickier worldbuilding choices. Wrong. There‘s some questionable stuff, yeah (like the virginity thing; ICK), but the world‘s fascinating even if it‘s not always admirable, and I still love the characters. I‘m annoyed I can‘t just read all day.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Hey sweet Casey 🐶 🐾 ❤️ 2mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
37 likes1 stack add2 comments
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xicanti
The Goodbye Cat | Hiro Arikawa
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I came close to DISASTER yesterday when I realized at almost the last minute that I had to pick up my library holds by the 25th, not the 26th like I thought. Good thing they‘re open until 8pm on Thursdays.

I‘m especially excited for the tagged book. THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES was one of my faves a few years back and I can‘t wait to see what Arikawa does with short fiction.

42 likes1 stack add
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xicanti
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Yesterday I was very cold and very sad, so I pulled THE STORIED LIFE OF A.J. FIKRY off the shelf and found exactly what I needed. I‘ve got friends who‘re down on it for being twee, but I stand very much with the Washington Post, who found it “engaging and funny without being cloying or sentimental.” It‘s a great celebration of books and community (albeit one tempered by A.J.‘s often frustrating and rarely challenged genre snobbery.)

BookmarkTavern What a sweetheart! ❤️🐾❤️ 2mo
Crazeedi Such an adorable puppy 🐶 and I loved this book too 2mo
dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
Mimi28 Cute dog 🐕 I hope you feel better 💐 2mo
BkClubCare Movie was okay, too 😊 2mo
48 likes5 comments