Welcome to Litsy!

Good start to the weekend. Really liked this one - writing was lovely, poetic, and it felt like a really original story. Can't claim to understand all the details of the world they inhabit, but I kind of get the feeling that we aren't meant to understand, but just go along with the ride.

In position for the weekend #gladstonerds @julesG @squirrelbrain @trishb @Leniverse @scripturient @CGainor3 @jenniferw88

4.75🌟 I absolutely loved this book. It is very poetic, and definitely requires a reader to just enjoy the ride and not try to figure everything out, but I found it to be quite lovely and fascinating. So much so, that I'm going to find a copy to add to my own library, since I borrowed this from my local library to read.

I have a lot of work to do today, but first I'm going to enjoy this crisp fall morning by watching the day wake up and enjoying a good breakfast, a steaming cup of coffee, and a good book. Mornings like this are why fall is my favorite time if year.

I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new - don‘t judge me I have a lot of books.
Join the fun if you want. This is day 285.
#bookstoread
#tbrpile
#bookstagram

Unpopular opinion but I really disliked this. I felt nothing for the characters, the prose was purple as hell, there wasn‘t a great sense of world-building or even plot TBH, and I didn‘t understand why these characters fell in love in the first place. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A wonderful story wrapped in poetry and I loved every minute of it. I will be getting a physical copy of this.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I CHANGE MY MIND from a 4 star to a 5 star I can‘t stop thinking about it !!! I want this book in my hands I will have a copy soon.

"You asked me to tell truths. I have. What do I want? Understanding. Exchange. Victory. A game—hiding and discovery. You‘re a swift opponent, Blue. You play long odds. You run the table. If we‘re to be at war, we might as well entertain one another."

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I might now understand the whole message but I can understand it was a love story & I love the letters. I love that it was 2 female characters. I also love the writing. I will buy this book so I can reread it just like I watch that movie shutter island 3-4 times until I understood it. But this book getting 4 stars because it was beautiful to me

When the whole book club don‘t understand the book 🙄. I can‘t tell you how many times I started over because I can‘t  comprehend what‘s going on🤦‍♀️.

The book might actually win & I might just give up. 🙄

Nah imma read it & try to understand it. 🤦‍♀️

August reads 📚
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and A Cowboy to Remember were good but not faves 🌃
Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night came out of nowhere and was just what I needed 🧙🏽‍♂️
Cemetery Boys was everything I hoped yet totally different than I expected 👨‍❤️‍👨
Finishing This is How You Lose the Time War was worth the $8 library overdue fine ⏳
Quite a solid reading month, even as the whole world continues to be on fire 🔥

This feels aesthetic today, and I can listen to the whole thing while running errands. #HurricaneHenri

Time travel, lyrical writing, weirdness, & a heavy emotional undercurrent. I loved this. The time travel is a bit confusing, so don't overthink it & just enjoy the ride. The epistolary setup with a vague dual POV was a near perfect approach. It was something different & so well done. I loved the twisty, shadowy narrative. I loved the creativeness of the world & the composition. I just finished & already miss it. Beautiful. Argh. My heart.

To soothe my disappointed heart, I decided on a shorter book. This book is definitely one of those books you need to read again because you just can‘t catch everything the first time. I read it purely to feel it the first time and I plan to read it again for the structure of it. It‘s written quite brilliantly and I quite enjoyed it. (42)

This is science fiction of the heart.

"This letter is a knife at my neck, if cutting's what you want."

4.5⭐️

A world of two warring futuristic companies send their agents through history and over multiple timelines to try and come out on top. The encounter of each company‘s leading agent causes the beginning of a rivalry and interesting line of unique letters.

This is something I read earlier this year and absolutely loved. It‘s stuck with me for such a long time and I find myself constantly coming back to it.

Beautifully written sci-fi adventure about two rival agents in a war that fall in love with eachother. Excellent imagery and storyline.

my may wrap up :) hated crown of gilded bones but ADORED the other ones, especially That Way Madness Lies which was the first anthology i‘ve read and was so pleasantly surprised by

I really wanted to love this book because it‘s got time travel, is epistolary, has lots of nature references, and is a romance. But it just didn‘t do it for me. It‘s beautiful and I think people should read it if they like any of the above things, but it wasn‘t the book I wanted it to be.

Enemies flirting across a time war. Beautiful.

This book was a surprise. I didn't plan to read it. I didn't know what it was about. It was on my TBR, it fitted a challenge, I read it. And found it great. Loved the Dr Who vibes, loved the letters - what a combination! And a love story absolutely to my taste, since it's so different. Yes, it's a short book, but to me it is perfect that way. Otherwise it might would've been to much and would've gotten boring.

#TBRPile 📚 Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more...

"We make so much of lettercraft literal, don't we? Whacked seals aside. Letters as time travel, time-traveling letters. Hidden meanings. I wonder what you see me saying here."

Thanks @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick for the tag!
🐣It is way too hard to pick just one favorite even only 3 months into the year but the tagged book was very good and very different than most things I've read
🐣I like to read outdoors in spring. We have 2 cozy rocking chairs on the front porch that are perfect for reading
🐣This month I am doing #bookspinbingo for sure. I might do a readathon or two. I usually decide at the last minute
@MoonWitch94

Two agents on opposite sides in the time war start corresponding and eventually fall in love. Now all they have to do is to find a way they can be together.

It took me a while to get my bearings but once I had, I skipped and skimmed my way through the rest of it. It doesn't deserve a Pan but it's not really my cup of tea. And not a Dalek or Time Lord in sight.

#coffeeandabook

I enjoyed this immensely. Would've read it in one sitting if it wasn't for the pesky need to sleep last night. I will probably seek out TRAVEL LIGHT, the book mentioned in this one, and will definitely seek out more of El-Mohtar's work.

DNF‘d at 47%

This book was fantastic!!!! Beautiful and well written! One of the most romantic books I have ever read! The audiobook was short and I wanted more and more! Red and blues romance had me swooning and crying at most times. Definitely highly recommended!

AMAZING! There's so much I want to say about this book and I don't even know where to start. From the first page you step into a world so complex, with no background knowledge, and things are slowly revealed to you piece by piece. It is an intricate puzzle. The imagery is so detailed and descriptions so beautiful. And the story itself is unique and keeps you guessing. I loved everything about this book. It made me think, laugh, and want to cry.

I've been told I have to read this by a friend!! Also apparently it was a sci fi book club pick last month (this month is Binti)...

TFW a hold you were told would be a 10 week wait is available so much quicker 🤩

Well this was super fun but I‘m not sure how much of it I understood. Two time travelers on opposite sides of a battle to control multiple timelines across a multiverse start writing each other letters. And... fall in love? Or maybe betray their causes? Or just lure the other onto the dark side? It all gets a little vague and I don‘t want to spoil anything, but I loved their communications and letters. ❤️💙❤️💙

How many boards would the Mongols hoard if the Mongol horde got bored? 😆😆

#2020Favorites #FictionEdition #Part2

This is How You Lose...- best time-travel sci-fi romance I've ever read.

My Calamity Jane - this series is nothing but a frolic and I am HERE FOR IT.

Transcendent Kingdom - I could not stop reading this story of a girl trying to use science to figure out her family.

The Prettiest Star - so beautiful and so heartbreaking.

“To paraphrase a prophet: Letters are structures, not events. Yours give me a place to live inside.”

Finished the audio and immediately bought a hard copy to reread. Haven‘t stopped thinking about this one since I started it the first time.

Breakfast reading took me about 40% into THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR. It‘s beautiful and I‘m definitely intrigued, but I haven‘t become emotionally invested yet. Hopefully that‘s coming in the back half.

Mini bookstore haul. I listened to the audio book of This is how you lose the time war a while ago but I really needed a physical copy to re-read. And that puzzle was just too cute not to get 😻.

Hard to follow at times, definitely a book you have to accept you‘re not going to get every detail (at least I didn‘t, maybe folks smarter than me can). The cornball in me loved how romantic it was.

I didn‘t know it til the end, but I loved this book!!

A dreamy, indistinct sci-fi time travel lesbian romance where two enemy agents in the time war fall in love as they slide through different timelines, this didn‘t have enough beyond poetic language and imaginative ways to leave each other letters to be a good read. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2020/10/review-this-is-how-you-lose-time-war-by...

I think Gatsby and Ozzie might be on opposite sides in the time war too! I‘m just starting this one and am not sure I understand it yet.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The beginning was a bit slow and hard to get into but the beautiful writing carried me through to the second half that was fantastic. This book obviously focused on the main characters relationship and that bloomed beautifully, if a little rushed, but I do wish it would‘ve had a bit more backstory on the time war. Still, the writing is as beautiful as Blue and Red‘s love story.

🎧 I‘m 1/2 THIS IS CRAP & 1/2 I liked the wordy flowery poetry masquerading as prose. If you‘ve got time to analyze it then you might enjoy this predictable romance.

Red & Blue are female agents on opposite sides. They are equals. The book is them writing letters back & forth & in time with increasingly brilliant ways to hide them cuz if they‘re caught they‘re dead.

Good ending. It didn‘t say much but it said it prettily. Not my cup of tea. ⭐️

More 2020 reads

The weirdest book I've read in a very long while. Sort of grasped the plot...then didn't...then did. 🤔

My pick for our remote book club. Really good so far! Love the writing style. I worried it‘d be a bit info dumpy as some time travel books are, but it‘s unfolding very naturally.