Welcome to Litsy!

Hi. My name is Sharni and I have more prints than I do wall space (also more books than shelf space).

(Print reads : Don‘t tell me - just intend to)

I'm really bummed about this book because the premise was so good, the execution just didn't hold up. I made it about 3/4 in before setting it aside. The dialog is disjointed and everyone sounds the same. The characters are not fully developed and the main ones do things that make zero sense. The biggest complaint is that you start to think it's your lapse in attention or your failure to keep up with the story but that's not the case.

#BookMail at 8.34am. 🎉🎉🎉🎉 Perfect timing, I was going to meet a friend at 9.30am.

One for my signed editions shelf, one for said friend. Said friend just couldn't make today's coffee date, her child has a cold and couldn't go to school. So she'll get the book another time.

#GhostCat insisted on being in the shot. She nearly sat on the book at one time.

I mean - what‘s not to love???

“It was much better to think that anything could happen, even if it couldn‘t.”

Featuring half of my (lockdown) purchase from LittleStarsStories 🐙

I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it. Some will be old, some will be new - don't judge me, I have a lot of books.

Day 56th

Join the fun if you want!

#tbrpile

#CuriousCovers
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

Something that looks like #circles 😂

Day 8

Today I finished moving back home... couldn't resist grabbing a final few books before the rest of my stuff went into storage.

Anyone read these? Did I make the right choice?

Reading this as an ebook. I'm not used to reading on my phone but my library doesn't have it physically so I'm using overdrive.

One book starts with a little breaking and entering - nothing is taken but the dirty dishes are carefully washed and put away and a most unusual watch is left behind... and in the other - an unexpected encounter in a hat shop completely changes the life path of Sophie Hatter. HOW LUCKY!!!

I don't think I've ever been as attached to a book as I am to Watchmaker. Sometimes I open it up just to read a few paragraphs and bask in the language and ambiance.
I mean, look at how much you learn about Thaniel in that paragraph.

Thaniel receives a watch anonymously that ends up saving his life so he seeks out the watchmaker. Mori is like no one he has ever met before, incredibly talented and seemingly able to answer questions before they are even asked. Is he simply a good watchmaker or is there more to his story? I thoroughly enjoyed this book even if it didn‘t completely work for me. I really want a mechanical octopus now and would willingly sacrifice my socks to one.

I really enjoyed this. I feel like some things maybe didn't quite add up, or maybe I just didn't quite catch everything. Even so, I liked the setting and story.

Some of my favourite 2020 reads - these books got me through lockdown... I leaned back into fantasy books - in all it‘s different, glorious sub-genres (for me it was mostly a mix of historical fantasy and urban fantasy)

I thought that the book started strong and I couldn't put it down, but then it all kind of fell apart. I also really disliked how the only female character of importance was written. Since it's the author's first book, I will give her another chance and hope for the best.

How many stars can you give? This book gets all the stars. It was both magical and so very human. Loved the characters, the premise and the writing. Made me laugh, made me cry. Going off to buy her second book. #LMPBC round 10 pick @thegreensofa @LapReader can't wait for you to read it.

2020 has gifted me with great insight into my reading loves... I really enjoy historical fantasy...

Sometimes the fantasy element is very light or more of an everyday magic...

I haven‘t read The Devil and The Dark Water yet because it‘s a big book and I‘m very behind on my GR challenge but soon!

You‘ve come home from a long day at the Home Office (Telegraphy Department) to find that your flat has been broken into... nothing has been taken but your dishes have been washed and a velvet box tied with ribbon has been left next to your bed...

Do you have a favourite book set in the past? This book starts in 1883 and I ❤️ it!

#3Books that I've gifted to others.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

What‘s the last book that kept you up?

I loved these so much that I‘m still thinking about them more than a month later...

I‘ve been low key obsessing over this book since I read it... so I got myself a copy... it‘s a hardback without a dust jacket but it has deckled edges - so it‘s kind of fancy - maybe it‘s business casual? idk.

I think I need to just get the reread happening...

Thank you for the tag @PickwickPlockPlock

Here are my #top6reads of the year so far (I tried to pick more recent releases rather than old favourites)

What are your favourites @runswithscissors007 and @Flingogal

Gosh, what an intricate and planned plot which seemed so randomly drawn out!

I liked the style, and the characters were both likeable and believable. Added to that the magical elements and it's a winner!👍👍🥉😊

What a cover!
Looking forward to reading this.
Plus the author is local to me 😊😊😊

This was only going to be a so-so until about two thirds of the way through when it really picked up momentum and you started to see some of the story lines weave together. I devoured the last third in more or less one go.
Also, it mentions LMH, so yay!

This is so very true. It‘s a bloody long walk from LMH to anywhere in Oxford.

Ever been so obsessed that you buy postcards via redbubble of your new favourite book and have to work out where the nearest post box is to your home?

#BookBrag @SumisBooks

📘 I have some Michener books published in the 1960s.
📘 The last book I received is an Axiom's End. Just a few weeks old.
📘 I have no idea. I would guess it is one of my signed books.
📘 This is so subjective. My favorite is The Watchmaker of Filigree Street.

@Crazeedi @wanderinglynn @4thhouseontheleft @EadieB

This book is like the mechanism of a clock : precise to the second, extremely complicated, each fear connected to another.... And if you take one off... Skip everything!

#readingchallenge2020 #litsy #litsybook #book #bookly #goodreads #stayathome #lettura #bookworms #toread #iorestoacasa #ioleggoacasa #ioleggo #Iread #natashapulley #thewatchmakeroffiligreestreet

May was quite the month for reading! 18 books! I nearly destroyed my living room taking this photo but am pleased to report I didn‘t drop any books (there was several tense moments)

I loved discovering Natasha Pulley in May. I think a reread is in my immediate future... my inner fangirl, long dormant resurfaced in May for these books - and stayed for Uprooted, Alanna, Sophie and Howl and Nick and Charlie...

How was your month?

Every once in awhile you find a book that just sings to you. I‘m so glad that I read this and I‘m also pretty psyched that my favourite local bookshop delivered the sequel today so I don‘t have to relinquish these characters just yet...

Sone elements of this book really appealed to me but ultimately I found it a confusing and unsatisfying read 😔

I'm back! I took a mini-hiatus because things have been crazy lately. Yesterday I hosted the #readathon on Instagram and I seem to be coming out of my funk!

1 - The tagged book on audio and Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix.
2 - The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and a few other books in an Audible sale.
3 - I was in a reading slump, but probably Steelheart and Firefight by Brandon Sanderson.

#weekendreads

Your science can save a man‘s life, but imagination makes it worth living.

Following the cogs and gears of this book boggled my mind as I happily followed this adventure through to the end. I am amazed by the mind that put this together.

Rereading Watchmaker to rid my brain of the taste of Pepperharrow

A third of the way through and enjoying it! #steampunk #octopus

Bk3 of my #JanuaryBookHaul is this beautiful edition of the 1st book in a new series. 1883 London, Thaniel Steepleton comes home to find a pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, it saves his life by drawing him away before Scotland Yard is blown up. He goes in search of it‘s maker, a lonely immigrant from Japan called Keita Mori who seems harmless but is soon proven to have a lot of secrets. Can‘t wait for the next book due next month!⏱

I‘ve had this on my shelf for years, and finally read it last night. It was DELIGHTFUL and I can‘t wait for the sequel next month.

Thaniel, a telegraph clerk, finds a watch on this pillow that forecasts a bomb blast six months in the future. After this proves be accurate, he makes the acquaintance of watchmaker Mori, along with his whimsical creations, which include a mechanical octopus. Set in Victorian London and Meiji-era Japan, the story is full of humor, quirky characters, and twisty plots. The writing is engaging, with many colorful turns of phrase. Highly recommended.

#adventrecommends

It's quite a good story.

I stayed up way too late reading last night and I greatly resent work for keeping me from this book.

There are actually threeish cats in the picture. Panda's tail is between Ginger and the book.

Next up!

Want this paperback? I found this extra copy. Let me know and I'll figure out a way to get it to you. It's one of my favorite pieces of fiction ever.

"The Home Office telegraphy department always smelled of tea. The source was one packet of Lipton‘s at the back of Nathaniel Steepleton‘s desk drawer. Before the widespread use of the electric telegraph, the office had been a broom cupboard..."

Thaniel receives an anonymous gift of a beautiful pocket watch, or maybe someone left it by mistake. The watch ends up saving his life, so he goes on a search to find out who left it for him. The answer changes everything for the better.

The story is unexpected, sweet, mysterious, scientific, and ultimately romantic. There were parts that were too technical for me, which led to my lower rating, but the ending saved the story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5