Welcome to Litsy!

I found the ideal tree hollow to nestle my book in. I had to pull over to the side of the road, put my hazards on, & cross the street for this shot. It was just a rambly little back road leading to the beach. So, not a high traffic area. But still! That‘s commitment!

I want you to know that it would‘ve been the perfect photo…if only I were 3 feet taller! 😅

Many of us are looking for ways to feel more rooted to our homes: to our communities, our landscapes, and to nature. This yearning is what makes Novik‘s homespun magic feel so sweet (though her characters battle great darkness); it‘s what we wish for ourselves, and what we might even believe (on our best days) is possible, if we keep fighting. Novik doesn‘t shy away from describing how exhausting the fight is, either.

Speaking of fighting…👇🏻

Novik keeps using “mustaches” to refer to one man‘s mustache, e.g. “his mustaches.” It‘s such a small detail but I finally caved and looked it up. This is why I‘ll never be a fast reader. 😅

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/is-it-mustache-or-moustache-mustaches-d...

I had today off in exchange for marching with the library in the town‘s tricentennial parade this past Saturday. So, I took myself to the beach. It was the right choice.

Capped it off with a pistachio ice cream with rainbow sprinkles in a waffle cone, which was also the right choice.

I‘m liking this book just fine so far…but I wish I loved it. If that were the case, I‘d be tempted to have this letter “A” (the first letter of my name) tattooed in scarlet over my heart.

Such flourishes!

1. New drinks at local coffee shop
2. Enjoying a long-awaited read of Uprooted
3. Snow (And my crazy son lying in it!)
4. Just downloaded Happy Color this week and am obsessed!
5. My son committed to run track and field at Taylor University (Trojans) this fall- A huge decision!!!!!

#5joysfriday
@debinhawaii

One more #jolabokaflodswap2024 post with my gifts (plural!!!) from @Julsmarshall who was so sweet to send extra goodies my way! I love it all- books, chocolate, and earrings! Thank you so much! And thanks to @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing!

I wanted to like it. It started off strong, (FMC is taken by the Dragon, no one knows why the girls are taken from the village, but it turns out less nefarious than she guessed, subverts so tropes when the ‘handsome prince‘ arrives) but it got …confusing? Or maybe it just didn‘t hold my attention. But suddenly there were a lot of characters & battles built up to end in mere pages… +forced love story…

This book felt like 10 different side quests. Although I did enjoy it, it never really sucked me into the story. I liked Kasia, I liked the role of Baba Yaga, I disliked the romance. The final story about the queen felt a bit forced and random. All in all not bad, just all over the place.

(audiobook)

#AboutABook @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#FairyTaleRetell

4.5/5 ?????

"If you don't want a man dead, don't bludgeon him over the head repeatedly."

#fantasy

Toppingsa book 📖 shop in beautiful Bath have a blind date with a book 📖 section ; my lovely 🥰 surprise was uprooted I‘d marked it to read on goodreads in 2015!!😀wish Waterstones would do this too

#TLT #ThreeListThursday

Most of my rereads come in the form of me being delusional about my ability to finish series by rereading so as to be able to “catch up” to where I was and then (in theory) finish the series.

Favourite standalone rereads :
1. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
2. The Island & The Ring by Laura C Stevenson
3. Howls Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

🎧I like Naomi Novik‘s writing so this was a little disappointing. It started out strong! A Beauty & the Beast retelling that totally had its own spin!

Our Beauty is full of strong magic.

The Beast is named Dragon & boy did that throw me because I went in blind.

The woods are wrong & creeping into the town. It‘s the woods.

Such an awesome premise. Sadly, I didn‘t like the characters & the story went off in an unexpected tangent.

⭐️⭐️⭐️3/4

I really enjoyed this book that made me think about things in nature and humanity in a slightly different way.

1. Mérida. I love her hair!
2. Tagged book. Except maybe leave out that sexy times section. ?
#two4tuesday

Okay last post for now haha I got my AMAZING mystery candles by FromthePage yesterday and LOVE them!! They smell fantastic. Do not order candles from this person!! They're addictive and your budget will NOT recover! 😂
@wanderinglynn

#UnpopularOpinion. Decided to finally listen to this after hearing so much love for this author. Sadly, I wasn‘t engrossed, found it repetitive and too long. The romance not believable, and not necessary. Just ok. 3⭐️ max.

#Audio || #Audible

Flying home to Denver and left my copy of the aforementioned.book on the plane. Shoot.... Now to replace the physical copy or get a ebook or listen to it as an audiobook... Thoughts?

📔Uprooted
🖊️Thrity Umrigar
🎥Up
🎤U2
🎶Unforgettable (Nat King Cole & Natalie Cole)
#manicmonday #letterU

@BookwormAHN set me this book as part of my #BWS and I picked it up yesterday and inhaled it! This is the second time I‘ve read this author and I‘m sold and will be hunting down or downloading the rest of her titles! Smart, emotion and totally absorbing. I‘m a total fan! 💜

For today‘s #ominousoctober, it‘s a flashback to a camping trip in 2018. Had a lovely little fire pit to sit and read next to in Petoskey, Michigan. #campfire

Finished Uprooted by Naomi Novik. What a storyteller she is! This audiobook was pretty long. There were lots of battles and lots of magic! I could see it playing out in my head. I love when that happens. #87 #BookSpin #AlmostAChunksterChallenge #BFC22 #2022AUTHORAMONTH

I‘m having a bit of a book hangover after The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. I watched the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club Author Chat. It was really interesting. So, now I have to get back to Uprooted by Naomi Novik and start The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. Weekend isn‘t over yet!

Just. So. Good.

Loved the character, loved her growth, and LOVED the ending.

#LetterU #alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I loved this and Spinning Silver. She needs to write a standalone with a copper cover! #alphabetgame #letterU

Books 90-92 of the year.

I‘ve got just a little more of the audiobook to get through, and I wish I could say I liked this book more than I do. I‘m not sure if the narrator is impacting my enjoyment of the story, but it feels a bit like a boring rollercoaster - just when things are getting interesting, we slow down to a bore.

No worries, though. Every book isn‘t for every reader!

#AuthorAMonth

This book is a light pick for me. Overall I enjoyed the story, the world building, and the magic. Kasia & Agnieszka were great characters who grew through the story. However, it took a long time for me to become invested, and I did not like development of the relationship between the Dragon & Agnieszka. He needed growth and change that was never fully realized.

#LitsyBookClub #AuthorAMonth #audiobook

This wasn‘t for me. It could have been the audiobook narrator but for a fantasy novel, this was painfully slow and uninspired. #AuthorAMonth

#doublespin for August! I don‘t know if I‘m being unkind with this one… I was really into it at first, but for me I just lost interest in the plot and it became a bit of a slog. I was more interested in the characters development and I felt like that was lacking a bit at the expense of a lacklustre (and confusing!) plot.

August #bookspin and #doublespin list! Mostly challenges on the list for this month… I‘ve already read a number of this month‘s #aam pick‘s books, but thought a reread via audiobook sounded like a nice start for August 🥰
Good luck, fellow players!

"There was a song in this forest, too, but it was a savage song, whispering of madness and tearing and rage." - Naomi Novik

I loved this. It's a purrfect, complete story in and of itself. Agnieszka is a great heroine - she's unapologetically herself, whether that's afraid and uncertain or firm and sure.
I've seen some people say it should've been split into two books, and I would say there are at least two distinct stories - Agnieszka being taken to the tower and learning to accept her power, and her and the Dragon's fight against the Wood.

I'm about half way through and loving it. It's quick but deep. Poor thing got wet when I was traveling but it's still readable.

⭐️⭐️💫

This was creative and atmospheric, but a few things bothered me and impacted my reading experience. It‘s creepy for a 17-year-old to fall for her who-knows-how-actually-old wizard captor, especially when he‘s a dick (routinely telling her things like she‘s useless and horse-faced). The romance came out of nowhere, much like Agnieszka‘s sudden incredible natural magical ability. I found myself wanting to skim through a lot of the middle.

I spent the majority of this book not sure what I thought of it. It took me a lot longer to read than I'm used to, I just never really felt like I was fully immersed in the world. At the end of the book I found I did actually quite enjoy the story.

Thanks for the tag @Cupcake12
#wonderouswednesday @Eggs

🦋 I'd say a 3.5 as the story is intriguing but it os still hard to know where exactly its going
🦋 I really enjoyed Gilded but to be honest my memory is terrible lol so it's the recent best I can remember
🦋 I am grateful for the support I get from @TheWolfbehindTheEyes whilst ill.

Would you like to play? @Yuki_Onna @TheWolfbehindTheEyes @BethM @Buechersuechtling

Well she's already got the idea of being a book cat lol. She's coming along nicely bless her. #catsoflitsy #readingbuddy

Thanks for the tag lovely @Yuki_Onna
#thoughtfulthursday @MoonWitch94

📚 physical
📖 I'm only on chapter 5 so..... erm..... 3 at random
📚 nope if there is a special quote or something I like I write it in my journal

Want to play? @Cupcake12 @TheWolfbehindTheEyes @BethM @DuckOfDoom

Physical and e-book (when I'm suppose to be sleeping and need the lights out for my husband to sleep I read on my phone)
I'd give it 2-3 stars so far, I'm thinking I'll like it
I do not mark my books in anyway (I stress if I crease the spine)

I dont know anyones tags yet but ill work on it for next Thursday! Play along if you want.

@MoonWitch94

On to the next... can't wait to sink my teeth into this one.

I love a heroine that grows and learns and who doesn‘t do stupid shit for the love of some dude she barely knows. Great story, great characters, good world building.
Agnieszka is chosen by the Wizard that rules her valley because she has magic-but a magic the wizard doesn‘t understand. They work together to fight the Wood, and to save their kingdom. Agnieszka learns how and why the Wood came to be.
5/5 stars, read if you want kind of teenage mage

Next book to read. I quite liked Briar Rose. Excited for this read as love my Fairy Tales. How's everyone's weekend going? Happy reading 📚❤️📖 #magic #fairytale #sorcery

Moving to the other side of my library with part 2/3 of shelf 9/21

Fav is tagged 🥰

#BookshelfTour #NaomiNovik #MelissaDeLaCruz #VictoriaAveyard #BrigidKemmerer #BetsySchow

#BookNerd 🤓💙📚

I absolutely LOVED this book! ? It's rare for me to find a book that actually lives up to the claim of being a modern fairy tale, but this book certainly did!

Also, @TheAromaofBooks , I completely understand what you meant when said this was a "warm" story! I think I'll wait a bit to read Spinning Silver because right now, I can't imagine loving it as much as I did this ?

That's 4 squares filled for #bookspinbingo so far!

I'm going to be laid up for a few days, and this is my bookish stockpile to see me through. I'm almost 80 pages into Uprooted and enjoying it a lot 📚

I'm very late to the party, but I'm finally reading this one!

#BookCoverChallenge
Day 208.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.