Welcome to Litsy!

This was so, so hard. If I could choose two books for #BookOftheMonth I would've chosen The Bandit Queens as well. I had a sleepless night because of this #bookwormproblems

#botm

Thank you so much for tagging me, @The_Penniless_Author ❤

1. So far I think it's The Starless Sea. It might also be The Bandit Queens, but I first have to finish it.
2. Sweater weather! I love my comfy sweaters and prefer them over my summer clothes. Also, they have more pockets to put things in, which comes in handy while working 😆

Tag, you are! 😁

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

What else could I do when my bookish Bestie gifted me this stunning edition of The Starless Sea, than to reread it? I wanted to do this anyway, because it has been on of my favourite books ever since I've first read it. And it hasn't lost any of its magic. It felt like reading it for the first time over again, just with some bonus knowledge. What a beautifully crafted story. And crafting is the right word for what Erin Morgenstern did here ❤

1. Mainly staying inside in the A/C and drinking lots of water

2. Erin Morgenstern and Sabaa Tahir. I just really love their writing!

#Two4Tuesday

Wanna play? @CurvyCrochetGirl @Texreader @OriginalCyn620

#Weekly Forecast

Will likely finish both buddy reads today. Messy Lives I just want to be done and anxious to finish Lamya‘s memoir.

The Starless Sea is another book I‘ve waited forever to read but it‘s starting out good. Search is next up on audio. Thalia is for #192025 and still enjoying the Jane books.

Like others have said, I don‘t feel guilty rereading a favorite, and my happy-place book is The Starless Sea. I tend to read it every fall.

A song for the guilty pleasures playlist that stays stuck in my head forever: Call Me Al by Paul Simon. If you‘re my age and watched much MTV, you know how fun this music video was. My husband and I BELT this song when it comes up on our playlist. 😁

A nice hotel room with a méridienne, a kettle and quiet to read my book..I could stay here for a long time

Have you ever run your fingers through the pages of a book and just began crying? I haven‘t even finished reading it. I‘m even starting over because I just never finished. And it was an overwhelming feeling. Like my very soul needed the release. What the heck am I in for?

how beautiful is this vintage uk paperback edition 😍

I would give this book a 7/10. I thought it started ofd a bit slow; I actually liked the middle the best!

It started well enough, beautifully descriptive language, rich world building and an intriguing plot. And then after a while it was only language, and the plot became more and more diluted in interruptions and side stories. I struggled with a rather fractured narrative and unfinished tidbits. The final 20% of the book took me almost a month. More disappointing than not, I am sorry to say. I was excited for this one and wanted to like it, oh well.

There is just something about the way this author writes that's like a warm hug. She's a go-to writer for me when I'm feeling cranky or just need a read that I can lose myself in. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I loved slowly getting through this book. While reading, I was both living the story and simultaneously trying to put it together in my head, flipping back to previous pages to look for certain details or excerpts. Again, I loved the world it created in my mind and, though confusing at times, I enjoyed and appreciated the numerous stories in it and how they ended.. or began. mar2023

Ugh I love this one so much! It was the best comfort reread these last few weeks when I needed an escape and could just envelope myself in this magical journey.
#LGBTQ2023 mythology @Kenyazero
#2023ReadySetRead has foil on the cover / makes you feel comforted or cozy / insect on the cover @Clwojick

Oof. I really didn‘t like this book — l honestly felt like I wasted 19 hours of my life. The multitude of stories woven together just seemed superfluous and made the plot very confusing. The characters weren‘t relatable nor very engaging. And, the ending was very predictable… The only thing I enjoyed was the side character and the story of Kat.
My Review: ⭐️ (1/5)

#Intimacy #InQuotes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I finally finished. I‘m not sure what I think, tbh. A story about stories, inside another story, about a book. It‘s…complicated and disassociated and strange. Like someone writing down someone else‘s stream of consciousness. But the language and the characters are so beautiful that I have to give it a pick. I don‘t know if I recommend it or not either. If you‘re in the mood for something strange and new, I guess.

A marvelous, timeless fairy tale. As much about personal choice as the reverence for story telling. I think if you go in looking for only the A to B plot or main pairing you'll spend a lot of time frustrated, but if you let the story take you wherever it chooses to, you'll have a splendid time.

If the closet had been big enough, I have no doubt I would have! 😅

Ah, romanticizing the past, a common past time.
Writing your name on every book's card gets less fun after the first few.

Points will be deducted for all tired tropes concerning librarians. 😑

PAINFULLY relatable.

My MLIS is gibbering at me: but, but Library of Congress!
Okay, only MOST university libraries use LC and only MOST of public libraries use DDC...but I don't like it. 🙎🏼‍♂️

None of my current reads were holding my attention so I've decided to give into my impulse for a comfort reread
🐝🗝️🗡️
#catsoflisty #benthecat

Still working my way through this one — it‘s an oddly dissociative story, which makes it easy not to pick up again right away. Yet, I enjoy it very much when reading. Maybe just a January lull? I‘ve been rereading regency romances in between times lol.

I got a new job, and this is my gift to myself to celebrate ✨️
I feel like I spend so much time reading books that are just fine, books that don't light me up the way my favorite books--like the tagged Morgenstern gem--do, and I hope TBR can help me change that 📚

I chose this as my first #AuldLangSpine because I DNF‘d it once before but really wanted to read it, having adored Night Circus. I finished 50% this time, which is farther than I made it last time. I love the idea of nested stories and symbols in a hidden, magical library, and wanted to love the characters and solve a great puzzle. But the tedium of pointless wandering became claustrophobic. Maybe 3rd time‘s the charm. @IndoorDame @monalyisha

#FirstLineFridays #FridayReads Reading my first book for #AuldLangSpine

I don't remember who initially posted this reading bracket, but I've so enjoyed filling it out all year!

Omg! It was so hard to choose between Fevered Star and the Starless Sea. But overall, I think I liked Starless Sea more and the book takes you on such a journey.

I loved having this bracket to refer back to every month. Thanks so much to the person who created it!

I'm about 1/4 through this and it is narratively WAY more confusing than the night circus was. I'm enjoying it but I also have no idea what's going on 😂.

And with that, I‘m done with #pop22! This one fit the use a prompt for previous years. I chose #darkacademia to fit #booked2022.

I‘m not exactly sure how this is dark academia, but I loved this book. I loved the journey that the story took you on and all the fairytales and stories sprinkled in between.

I loved everything about this book and it‘s currently my favorite read of December.

#winterreadathon

This has sat on my tbr forever, and as I expected not for me. I just don‘t enjoy her writing style. DNF
#bookspinbingo
#Roll100 - off the tbr

#ReadingBracket2022 @chasjjlee

I have to admit that looking at this, it doesn‘t seem to me to represent my reading journey this year, BUT, I‘m truly terrible at picking favorites, so I do want to see what comes out on top at the end of next month.

The cover is gorgeous and the writing pulled me right in, it all felt like a dream. Unfortunately, the plot lost me in the last half.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

#ErinMorgenstern #TheStarlessSea #coverporn

The last book I finished is tagged

The only subscription boxes I‘ve ever been really tempted by are UK only, & I‘m in the US so no

Last year I read The Return of the Light: 12 Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice & loved it! I expect I‘ll come back to in subsequent years. & When I have a class of little ones I always read them Hershel & the Hanukkah Goblins

Thanks for the tag @Eggs #WondrousWednesday
@Chrissyreadit @Texreader

I‘ve watched this get very mixed reviews, which may have deterred me from picking it up before now, (this has been on my shelf since it came out and was my #bookspin in April, but it‘s somehow taken me until now to actually read it!) but I ended up loving it! It was a slow read for me. It‘s 500 pgs, all in short chapters of 2-3 pgs, and for the first half of the book I found I had to put it down and walk away every chapter or two. ⬇️

There is a pirate in the basement. (The pirate is a metaphor but also still a person.) #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

1.5/5⭐ All aesthetic, no substance. Far too rambling and stagnant for my tastes. #booked2022

A few of my favorites that have #black covers 📚🖤
#ScarathlonDailyPrompts #TeamMonsterMash @StayCurious

122/150 There is a lot to love about this book, the importance of storytelling, of myths and fairy tales, the joys of reading and the love of books. Unfortunately, I also found it's story to be a rambling, confusing mess at times. I'd stop and rewind the audio because I wasn't sure who was talking in the story, Dorian or Zachary or someone new.
Continued in the comments ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Yay! I finally finished my August #DoubleSpin book! It took me awhile to get into it but I did enjoy it.

I've been thinking about reading habits and favorite authors today... so I'm wondering, who are your favorite authors? Those authors you will read no matter what the book is about- you just automatically read them?
Here's mine! There may be a few others, but these are the three that most immediately come to mind.

“We are all stardust and stories” writes the author in this beautiful novel. You need to let the tales unspool in the way most meaningful to you, so … no synopsis. For me, I learned that power comes from throwing the star in the fire. In the final analysis we need to write our own story because Fate and Time are too involved in each other to craft our story arcs, and “endings are what give stories meaning.” I loved this book, maybe you will too.