Witchmark | 
Such a great package! Thanks so much @Avanders !!
I can‘t wait to read both of these books! I also love the mug and can‘t wait to drink some tea out of it! Everything is great!
#AllHallowsReadSwap
bailedI am so glad to be one of those people who can DNF a book. In the middle of two I am struggling with and this one is not worth the struggle.
I love the cover though 😍
pickA charming and delightful story of mystery, familial struggles & tension, LGBT romance, and magic. It went along at a good clip, and is clearly part of a longer series. I‘m not sure if I‘ll read the next book because I‘m not so driven by the intrigue, but I had a lot of fun with the characters and their world.
so-soI read this between Sept 9 & 12th and gave it 3.5 ⭐️on Good Reads. I liked it well enough to want to read the next book but I didn‘t like the pacing at times. It felt like it took forever to learn more about Miles‘ world and 50 pages for everything to happen. I did like the characters, which is what made it very enjoyable to read.
01. Currently my Good Reads is set for 125 books and I am at 108 books. If I get to about 115 before the end of this month, I may go back to my original goal of 150. (I ended up changing it to the lower # due to a bad reading slump.)
02. I work from home & have done so for a year now. I'd like to get my home office arranged so it's more user friendly. Right now it's not very friendly.
#two4Tuesday from @TheSpineView
1.) Yellow, Teal, Indigo, and dark purple
2.) The Moon and Ace of Cups
3.) Tigers Eye and Moonstone
4.) Little Women and Sky in the Deep
5.) Flower: Sunflower Herb: Lavender
6.) Gummy Bears/worms and Peanut M&Ms
7.) Lavender and Mint
#basicwitchswap @sprainedbrain @Meaw_catlady
pickOmg i loved this book. Miles and Tristan are adorable, the magic system is interesting and the bad guys are deplorable. Loved it.
Getting some rooftop reading done!!
#artdamnit_reads #CurrentlyReading #Witchmark
Starting this today!! 🎉
#artdamnit_reads #CurrentlyReading #Witchmark #CLPolk
June spending log. I‘ve always dreamed of a reality where I read books as soon as I buy them, and last month I finally made it happen! Hurray!
I did acquire a LOT, though—5 purchased books, 5 freebies, 2 ARCs, and about a million library books—and as a result La TBR only saw a net loss of 4 titles. Blah. This month, I‘m gonna stay away from freebies and buy sparingly, and I‘ve suspended most of my library holds. Gotta do a TBR push.
A couple months back the Tor.com Ebook Club offered WITCHMARK for free. I try really, really hard not to snap up freebies I can get from the library so I passed on the offer.
Then I borrowed it from the library and fell desperately in love with it. Damn.
Now it‘s on for $2.99 and I snatched it right up. You should, too, if you like Edwardian-inspired queer fantasy about siblings and magical bonds and suchlike.
Found the ~ donate $2 to the schools, pick up an arc ~ shelf at Turtle's in Nisswa. There was nothing from 2019, but I think I found a gem.
See anything I should go back for? 🤔
pickVery quick read and interesting! There‘s an LGBTQ+ undertone with the main protagonists and the story is about magic and the power of those who wield it. There‘s a war, possession....I‘ll leave it there. Moves quickly and has a mystery you want to uncover. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#currentlyreading
It‘s almost summer for me, and I decided to kick start with this one 🙂 #countdowntosummer #threedaysleft #apugnamedDunkin‘ #pugsoflitsy #dogsoflitsy
pickIf you want a perfectly polished and sterile story, do not read this book. If you want to story full of brilliantly flawed characters in a complex political/hierarchical world where one witch, who has escaped enslavement by joining the army to become a doctor, returns from the horrors of war to find a mystery of corrupted souls in soldiers, read this delightful book.
so-soFirst lie in of the holidays, and I spent it in bed with a cuppa and this cute little historical fantasy. The world-building is a little skinny, and the mystery took ages to get anywhere, but I enjoyed Witchmark even though it didn't get me hooked. The romance is sweet, if a little instalovey, and I really liked the chapters that explored Miles' complicated relationship with his family.
so-soI finished this one about 2 weeks ago. Not bad for a free book.
Reading and riding...Happy St. Patrick‘s Day!!
Helpful cat helping me update my #sfftbrchallenge... Thank you, helpful cat. #catsoflitsy
25/50 prompts done! Tagged book was for the lgbtq prompt and I loved it. A great fantasy with intriguing worldbuilding and a cute m/m romance. It's a Lambda finalist too - well deserved.
pickEnjoyed this one.
Edwardian-esque alternative-reality magical mystery. Witches and mages and war and m/m romance.
The ending was a bit confusing, but I just let it carry me along. Not my usual genre, but the pacing was good and the story quite original.
"A competence of nurses"
I do love a good collective noun! Seems very appropriate.
pickI liked WITCHMARK from the get-go. Then I really liked it. Then I loved it. Then I started swearing at it because my emotions TOTALLY SWEPT ME AWAY.
It's a pseudo-Edwardian fantasy with a complicated sibling relationship, magical medicine, a maddening magical bonding system, power dynamics up the wazoo, and a gay protagonist.
Basically, I need 4000 words to tell you all the ways it was made for me. It's my second 5-star read of 2018.
I'll be SO GLAD when I don't have to swathe myself in layers of protective gear that interfere with my earbuds; ie, when I can #audiowalk again. It's been tough for me to squeeze audiobooks in these last few days, so yesterday I bought a bunch of puzzles small enough to do at my upstairs desk and tonight I did three of them while I listened to WITCHMARK.
It's seriously good, y'all. I kept #audiopuzzling an hour longer than I intended.
This was my Use Stuff Up meal: ground beef, tofu, kohlrabi, and zucchini simmered in adobo sauce and served over rice.
It was pretty good. I'll make it again if I ever end up with these exact ingredients in need of swift consumption. #audiocooking
I remembered to give more heads up this time! Tor.com eBook Club's newest offering, up until 11:59 PM, Friday night. Available as a .mobi and an .epub! #torbookclub
https://ebookclub.tor.com
Can't wait to read and review this! #tor.com
https://ebookclub.tor.com/?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_term...
Free ebook if you sign up for the Tor.com newsletter! 🥳💜 #fantasy #romantsy #lgbt https://lnk.bio/a/36JI
#LitsyPSA This is free until February 16 through Tor.com‘s eBook of the Month Club. I enjoyed this one and, while there‘s at least one more book planned, it‘s stand-alone enough to enjoy. Also, it‘s free if you join the club!
Saw on review on Goodreads:
Historical fantasy 👍
Magical 🦹♂️
Edwardian 🥂
Gay 💕
Murder Mystery ☠️
Free today on Tor.com! Looks great! And that cover! 🤩
Downloadable for free from Tor‘s E-book Club for next couple of days.
pickA breath of fresh air!!! I'm loving every page of this one.
pickSuper fun gaslamp fantasy. Miles Singer goes to war, fakes his death, & returns home vowing to make a difference for returning soldiers even as he hides from his powerful family. When a stranger arrives at the hospital where Singer works with a man who says he was poisoned just before he dies, Singer‘s past catches up with him. Together he & the (very attractive) stranger have a mystery to solve. Sherlock Holmes in a fantasy world + danger!
Next up is a book that has appeared on a number of year end “best of” lists.
so-soThere's some really interesting themes threading through this debut novel (the first in a series) - nationalism, freedom, individual liberty, love, romance & social class - skilfully played out in a fast paced adventure / mystery in an Edwardianesque setting, with gentlemen in tweed riding bicycles, performing magic and aligning supernatural forces to save the country. It has everything! Hopefully book 2 develops the female characters a bit more.
pickSuch a good read! A genre-busting steampunk/mystery/queer romance/magic/political story. Loved it!
#bookmail
I‘ve got to stop listening to Get Booked!
so-soIt sounded interesting, a male doctor is a witch and has to hide in this kind-of Edwardian era fantasy novel. There are plenty of interesting ideas, but none are explored in depth. It would have been better if the author concentrated on one or two instead of cramming it all in. I didn't care that much for the protagonist. For the #SFFTBRChallenge prompt Includes LGBTQ+ relationship.
@DuckOfDoom
pickThis was quite a different kind of fantasy than any I‘ve read before. I loved the Edwardian feel but enjoyed that the alternative world it is set in allowed freedom for the characters and technologies. I don‘t want to reveal spoilers, so I‘ll just say I liked the main character‘s dual positions.
Last but certainly not least, @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego sent me this fabulous #witchpleaseswap package! I'm in love with everything, but especially the moon phase necklace. The books are PERFECT: a spectrum of witchy tales that I'm so happy to own. Plus: Canadian candy!!! I confess that I was really looking forward to that when I realized I was paired with you. :) Thank you so much, Danielle! @monalyisha 🧙🧙🧙
Thank you so much @FantasyChick for my #witchpleaseswap goodies! I absolutely love everything. Thank you!😊
My #WitchPleaseSwap arrived! Thank you @2BR02B
Still waiting on my #AllHallowsReadSwap box. Fingers crossed it comes tomorrow!
pickMaybe kind of slow start with mixed success at world building. The magical system isn‘t as well-explained as maybe it could be, other than people who are “lesser” are bound to someone “better”. It does have more development later on, and the Fae make an appearance. But....there‘s a Steampunk feel with the aether and bicycles - very much an alternate universe. Oh, and the slow burn m|m relationship that had me silently screaming kiss already!
Finished it! Ahhhhhh....I will have to review later because as much as I‘d like to stay up and read the night away I have a long day tomorrow.
OMG! I‘m in Chicago for work and on the plane ride here I started this and I‘m soooooo close to being finished and you‘d better believe that I‘m not happy that thenplane landed. I only needed maybe 20 more minutes. If only this Lyft could go faster...
pickA new fantasy world that feels both and new at once. Steampunk-esq. A m/m relationship that leave you 😍. It wasn‘t perfect but I honestly struggled to put it down after months of being on a fantasy break.
