Welcome to Litsy!

What a delight! This has been on my shelf for two years and I finally read it (mostly on a plane). The prose gently calls back to fairytale language while remaining eminently readable. I love a puzzle story. Love the characters, especially Calcifer. So glad I finally picked it up.

1. Sophie Hatter. She keeps a tidy home, no messy bathroom cabinets or spider webs here. We‘d be able to hype each other up and spill all the tea.

2. If you squint, this book contains roommates - in that Sophie just moves in, tells Howl she‘s staying and that‘s that. Best thing that ever happened to Howl, Calcifer and Michael tbh. Heck of a first meeting.

#two4tuesday

Very mixed feelings about HMC getting the fairy loot treatment…

It‘s not a pastel book, this makes it look like a fairytale romance…

https://community.fairyloot.com/howls-moving-castle-by-diana-wynne-jones/

I have the feeling that younger me would have read a copy of this to death if she‘d had it back then. Current me liked this a great deal. I would pick up a copy if I stumbled across a nice edition.

I really wanted to like this more, and maybe that‘s why it sat for most of a year on the shelf after I finally bought it. I liked the premise, I liked Sophie and her sisters…I just didn‘t love it. One of the problems I had will go under a spoiler tag, but overall I just really wanted more. It just always felt like it was on the brink of something great, but we never got there.

Took my old lady on a quick very cold walk. Listening to howl's moving castle finally. That sun went down fast so it became icey and cold fast.

I adored Sophie, she really was something :D I loved how fun she was and how she didn't let tiny things - like being suddenly in 90-yo body - disturb or slow her somehow. Howl & Calcifer were amazing characters too.

I loved this magical world too. It was super intriguing and I loved to read about it.

I have to say there was one thing I was disappointed: plot. All the action was dumped in the last pages and it was suddenly much.

#SeriesLove23

It's Diana Wynne's Jones birthday today, and therefore the perfect excuse for posting another photo of a Miyazaki tapestry!

A huge tapestry of Howl's Moving Castle hanging in the lobby of the Cité internationale de la tapisserie in Aubusson. There are half a dozen Miyazaki tapestries on show at the moment.

I was about 1/3 of the way through Jones book when I realized that it was essentially a fantasy version of Black Books. Tamsin Greig's Fran as Sophie Hatter, Bill Bailey's Manny as Michael Fisher & Dylan Moran's Bernard Black as Howell Jenkins. I watched the Miyazaki movie ages ago & thought, “Meh,“ & was struggling a bit at the beginning as it felt like a bit of an imitation of Pratchett. However, when I came up with my own cast for it, I (cont)

I picked this one up the other day as I'm now working in the kids department every once in awhile and realized I couldn't recommend many books as I hadn't read them. This one is not only cute but had great world building and characters. Highly recommend.

My husband just realized Calcifer's saucepan song is a real song and he's literally bouncing around the kitchen delighting in his discovery.

IYKYK

After almost two decades of loving the film, I finally made my way to this novel. Absolutely what I was hoping for. Love the way Miyazaki and Jones use the same bones of story to work through similar and very different themes.

Standing on it's own though, the book is still a delight. Magic, fairy tales, courage, and true love - it's all there.

I absolutely adored this book! I only watched the Studio Ghibli movie about a month ago, but as soon as I found out it was based on a book I knew I had to read it. I liked the differences and similarities between the two, and I especially loved Sophie, even more so her interactions with Howl. Calcifer the fire demon was great, and I loved the plot and magic of the story. It was fast paced and easy to read, and overall a great book!

Read this caption on a gorgeous fanart of Howl dancing with a youthful Witch of the Waste and it absolutely wrinkled my brain.

Most age appropriate love interest 🤯🤔

While the book was very different from the movie, it was also very similar in all the ways that matter! It still has a cozy fantasy feeling with a lovable cast and the snark from Sophie and Howl. While the plots were fairly different, there were a lot of similarities. As a huge fan of the movie, I really did love reading the book it was based on. 4/5

Thank you very much, Becky! I love it! I very much look forward to reading Howl's Moving Castle and enjoying these delicious-looking chocolates. Of all the cards I've received this season, this card is my favorite. I dearly love candy canes, especially the classic red and white. Happy Jolabokaflod and Merry Christmas!

Posting this early because I will be sleeping tomorrow morning!

The comfort and convenience of home plus the ability to travel and explore new places? Yes please! ❤️

#SundayFunday Hope everyone has a good Sunday and don‘t forget to tag me in your answers!

We haven't been camping yet this season but here's a pic from an outing last year with a favorite reread 🔥
#Campfire #OminousOctober @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

It‘s time for #LetterH !

📗 Howl‘s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
🖋️ Drew Hayes
🎥 Holes
📺 Hannibal
🎤 Hozier
🎶 Hell‘s Coming With Me by Poor Man‘s Poison

Hope everyone‘s had a good #ManicMonday ! @CBee

We read this for bookclub recently. It was ok, but I thought I'd like it more. I like the movie better! 🤫 We had a good conversation about it though which is what bookclubs are about, anyway.
@Blueberry

I absolutely loved reading this one the first time that I went out of my way to go get my own copy.

Howl is just sooooo and then Sophie is just enough of her own person so be able to just deal with him that they work together. Even when they're arguing, there's this undertone of appreciation and respect for the other that I missed the first time but noticed on the re-read.

I‘ve been meaning to watch this movie for nigh on a decade now but had to read the book first, of course! What a delightfully zany fantasy with a wonderfully dramatic titular character, a charming cast of supporting characters (with a show stealing Calcifer!), and an even more beautifully and cleverly written main character in Sophie. The witchcraft, yammering skull, and ambulatory scarecrow make this a particularly fun read for Autumn too!

I also wanted to show off this awesome cover art design piece I found randomly on behance.net! It‘s posted by Ewa Baran and it‘s amazing 😍 the character designs on the behance page are also awesome. #FanArt

https://www.behance.net/gallery/77768843/Howls-Moving-Castle-Book-Cover

I loved the anime adaptation as a teen, and read and loved the book as well. I decided to make my husband listen to the book with me because he loves the movie, and he loves the book just as much! I also got more out of it this time around. My reading comprehension could be pretty low when I was a teen (due to forgetting to synthesize and focusing on translating letters to words). Definitely didn‘t remember the parallele worlds! #magic #Classic

Aquamarina and me currently listening to it love studio ghibli

I can‘t remember what the cover was like on what was probably a library copy the first time I read HMC… but I‘m the proud owner of the cover on the top left.

FABIO COULD NEVER.

This was an entertaining middle grade story about a moving castle.

What a delightfully light fantasy story about a young girl turned elderly and an eccentric wizard. While I have seen the Miyazaki film, I enjoyed the novel just as much.

According to goodreads I originally read this eleven years ago. It‘s my book club pick this month so I felt a reread was in order and I loved it just as much as the first time. Sophie is probably one of my top five heroines because she just goes with it and carries on the best she can.

A couple of teenagers I know convinced me that I really should read this book. I liked the humour and found the story fun. I can see why kids love it. But I felt the writing could have been better.

There are no words for the cover of this edition. I‘m so happy I decided to check out the library‘s copy instead of hunting for the one I know I have around here somewhere. Started this today as it‘s the monthly pick for SFFBC.

Today‘s BN #bookhaul - top is for the kiddo and the rest are mine. I‘ve been looking for the tagged for years! But I screwed up, forgetting the summer reading program doesn‘t actually start until 1 July, so kiddo couldn‘t get the book she picked. After working there for years, twice, and doing it as a parent for years now, you‘d think I‘d remember. Of course, it‘s 100 degrees and feels like the height of summer, so there‘s my excuse.

Comfort reread, and will have a comfort rewatch of the movie soon. I really love this book, and I love that it is so different from the movie that I can heartily enjoy both.

After years of loving the movie, I finally checked out the book and found that I love it just as much!

Always fun, and an interesting use of John Donne's Song (which I confess I remember not actually liking).

Love how cross Sophie is about having fallen in love with Howl.

Huh! Remember my post earlier with the pic of Leigh Halfpenny? That was kind of apt, because it turns out that in the book Howl *did* play rugby, and played on the wing -- a position that Halfpenny does play (or used to, at least; I've only ever seen him play at full-back in the last few years). I'd forgotten this detail! That does make me happy.

Another reread, because my brain's been needing the cosy familiar. I love that Howl's Welsh, and that we get a hint of how very accented his voice must be (“there's a welcome in the valleys!“, ack, I know exactly how he'd say it, lilting up and down). And his Welsh Rugby jersey! Wonder which region he'd support... He's probably too pretty to play rugby, but we do have chaps like Leigh Halfpenny (pictured), Dan Biggar, etc...

This turned up in the post today 🥰

Another pin for the “no one is going to get the reference” collection…

Inspired to read by my favorite movie, this book is one of the few that I can say makes a movie even better after reading. Having just as many similarities as differences, the story itself explains more of the movie as you read, while only making you love your favorite characters more. I still prefer the movie, but this was a nice little read.

?July 2021
The book is REALLY close to the Ghibli movie, BUT I think that this is one of the cases where I the movie is better than the book!
The story feels a little bit "old", and some passages are not really clear (like the ending!), but it also goes deeper on some other aspects that the movie does not mention…
I would say that the books and movie complement each other!

From talking to hats to invisibility cloaks…to the land of Ingary before I hit the bed. ✨
This book makes me want to pretend tomorrow is Sunday.

#currentlyreading #bookstomovies

Spent yesterday in front of the fire, finishing up this blast from the past. I haven't read this since middle school and it was just as fun and magical as I remembered ✨

I also made a bunch of progress on some other reads, reaching 9 hours after Day 1 of the #20in4 readathon 👍🏻
@Andrew65

My reading has been very sporadic throughout 2020 and 2021 so this relaxed #readathon is right up my street.
My Goals are:
📖 Finish Howl's Moving Castle
📖 Finish my audio book Chatter
📖 Make a sizeable dent in my next read (tbc)

#novelnovember @Andrew65