Welcome to Litsy!

This is one of my favorites so far! #sundayfunday

@AmyG thank you so much for this fabulous #fallingforfallswap ! I love all of it! I waited until u had a moment to myself, Wes is going to be absolutely thrilled to have been included. Thank you!

God this book was so good. Y‘all I loved this fun little adventure (plus bonus story!) so very very much. It‘s just fun

If you're on Bluesky, John Scalzi is a great follow! And if you like witty, irreverent sci-fi, he's always a good choice for books, too!

4 Stars • Charlie Fitzer, a down-on-his-luck divorcee, inherits his uncle‘s supervillain empire—volcano lair, talking cats, and all. Thrust into a world of assassination attempts and rival villains, he scrambles to run the show with help from his uncle‘s sharp assistant and sassy felines. Scalzi‘s sci-fi comedy delivers a hilarious, chaotic ride, poking fun at power trips and corporate absurdity.

#StarterVillain #JohnScalzi #Bookish

Wow, this was fun! A nice break from the bleak non fiction I‘m reading! Charlie‘s life is kind of a mess , then he inherits a Super Villain business from his estranged Uncle . With typing spy cats and talking dolphins plotting to go on strike, Charlie is being surprised at every turn .How can he possibly outwit his enemies even with help in this totally new to him game? My first Scalzi , won‘t be my last , fun and sarcastic! 😂👏

“‘So,‘ Morrison said. ‘You want in, Desmondo?‘”

Well so far, this is delightful 🐈

I‘m thinking I need to read something lighter ! Gonna give this one a try , I heard good things about it.

June turned out to be a reasonably good month for reading after all. I had my doubts a few times! Starter Villain was my favorite, though there were some other contenders.

I finished Cocaine Blues in the wee hours of the morning and enjoyed it. Entertaining and compelling, while also addressing some serious issues that unfortunately persist today.

#wrapup

I almost skipped this month because this seemed way outside what I typically enjoy. But I decided to give it a try and found it to be a lot of fun. It's a quick, lighthearted, quirky read that gave me Megamind and Despicable Me vibes. Genius cats, foul-mouthed dolphins demanding unionization, and a secret volcanic island lair all make for a bizarre and clever adventure. #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

Charlie is in a really shitty place in life when he hears his super wealthy, estranged uncle died. Then, his uncle‘s assistant shows up on his doorstep to ask him to host the funeral.
This sets off a series of events that Charlie could never imagine including spy cats, guard dolphins in the middle of a labor dispute, and a secret society of villains who all know his name.

Audiobooks narrated by Wil Wheaton are always a yes for me.

This was fun! #authoramonth @Soubhiville

I haven't read a Scalzi that didn't make me cackle with laughter and this was no exception! I really love the character of the bumbling new manager who's in over his head. The cats and the dolphins were of course wonderful but I loved the mystery and spy novel of it all as well.
I'm glad #AuthorAMonth made me finally listen to this one, I've had it for a while. Plus Wil Wheaton's narration was the cherry on top! #AAM @Soubhiville

4.5/5 ⭐️
I loved this! I was especially grateful for the Hera story at the end. I also adored the dolphins, despite their salty personalities 🤣

Another #authoramonth success story.

I haven't laughed so much at a book for the longest time. I'm really enjoying it so much. It's a bit scary as it's playing out like one of my many bizarre dreams. The cats are ace!!
This is why I love #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville ❤️📚❤️ I would not have picked this author as a priority tbr, but I'm so glad to be introduced to his work.

In a world where so many serious things are happening it was perfectly timed that #AuthorAMonth brought me this book where very weird things are taken completely seriously. I loved the cats. I loved the dolphins. I loved the audiobook narration too.

#Read2025

I‘m so behind on my reviews—I finished this a couple of weeks ago for #AuthorAMonth June & I really enjoyed it. The pace, the humor, the cats & really the whole fantastical & fun story. This is my first John Scalzi & I would definitely read more. I‘d love another one set in this world that continues on with some of the secondary characters.

I started this yesterday for #authoramonth. So far I‘m loving it!

I loved this. Funny and sarcastic and the plot flew. I didn‘t want it to end. I can totally see this being a hilarious TV show. 🐈🐬 #AuthorAMonth

Real Talk: I chose this Scalzi for my #AuthorAMonth bc the cover made me giggle. So far, it‘s a solid choice.

First of all, that cover! The librarian who checked out my book haul went 😻and said she was looking forward to reading it too.

It reminds me of the movie RED for the novice thrown into a crazy situation vibe, with a strong side of H2G2 for the (foul mouthed) dolphins. Fast paced, very readable, and not subtle commentary on extreme wealth. The author is also a good follow on social media.

“In a dog eat dog world…be a cat.”

#authoramonth

1. Give everyone as much grace as you can, including yourself.
2. 😎💃🏽🩵
3. The tagged book is hilarious!
#wondrouswednesday

1. I don‘t know yet!
2. Tagged!
#two4tuesday

I wasn‘t sure what to expect from Starter Villain, which was my first book by John Scalzi. It was a quick, entertaining read. Loved the cats and dolphins. Makes me wish I had an uncle like Jake… well, maybe. All in all, I think Charlie rolled through the various twists and turns quite well.

Eddie was kind enough to wake from his nap to pose with the book. Then, he promptly curled up and went back to sleep.

A fun and social/political commentary packed book. Also, the author is from the town next to mine, which is very cool.
Charles is more than surprised when his wealthy Uncle names him as heir, but a talking cat and dolphins looking to unionize are just the beginning of his adventures in villainy - aka the development of disruptive technologies for world order.
5/5 read for a fun look at the probably true nature of the rich and powerful

Absolutely loved this, just ridiculously fun. And fantastic audio reading by Wil Wheaton, as usual. Hyper intelligent cats, unionizing dolphins, bumbling villainous henchmen, what‘s not to love? Mad that I waited so long to read it.

Absolutely loved this in audio. Wil Wheaton performed it and was perfection. A book I never would have imagined to pick up and did so on a whim. It‘s been the best boost to my otherwise pretty dull reading year so far. I highly recommend the audio. Lots of fun and laugh out loud moments with an on-point message for today‘s current affairs too.

Needed something light and would make me laugh. Saw someone say this was a lot of fun and it was narrated by Wil Wheaton so I grabbed it. I‘m enjoying this very much

How can you not read a book with this cover?

Charlie's uncle dies and leaves Charlie his estate: billions of dollars and his supervillain lair. And cats and dolphins.

This is not my typical kind of book but I loved it. It's fun and there are cats!

Another fun read by this author, and made my dry January more fun!

@wanderinglynn happiest of birthdays! The tagged book has been on my tbr wishlist for awhile! #49bdaygiveaway

This novel about a guy who inherits his uncle‘s villain business is already so fun!

This is so much fun. I loved almost everything about this. I will say having followed Mary Robinette Kowal‘s journey with her cat Elsie that Hera in this book is based on Hera doesn‘t quite have Elsie‘s same sass. But overall loved the talking cats and dolphins.

5.0 ⭐️

This brought me so much joy and had the weird quirkiness that I was hoping from books like HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy. The dolphins were freaking hilarious and honestly were a highlight for me in the book. I loved the weird turn of events with the ending and even shed a tear on the last page. I‘m becoming more and more impressed with this author and look forward to exploring more of their work.

#librarybook

Charlie finds himself in dire need of a miracle on his last $100 and aspirations to buy a pub. Little does he know he is about to be thrust into the playground of trillionaires with villainous tendencies after his uncle leaves him heir to his companies. With a volcanic lair and spy cats this book throws ya for a loop! I really enjoyed the second half of the book however the first half felt a bit draggy. Loved Hera the spy cat!

#bookhaul one today from a Spooky Book Fair in Falls Church, Virginia.
The cover alone of the tagged book made me buy it.
I could have bought at least 4 more but I tried to have some restraint.

This was really fun, although a bit rushed—I would‘ve loved at least 100 pages more!

Fast and somewhat funny read without much character development, very predictable plot and the characters I cannot like. #bookclub

For the sake of laughing out load, just read this! 😂😻

This was a bit out there for me. Talking cats, dolphins, secret villain lairs and all that, it was funny and lightheaded, a soft pick it definitely could not have been any longer so I liked that he wrapped it all up in 260. The characters were diverse and interesting and I appreciated all the misogyny call outs.

There is a lot of humor in this! One thing I found particularly funny is the island has a Jenny Bay so Uncle has named his boats after famous Jenny's 😂
Lopez
Tilly
Laurence

Nice dedications are just lovely 😍

This book is dedicated to:
Everyone who could have made someone's day worse, but tries to make it better instead

If Douglas Adams wrote a book about villains, this would be it. It has serious Hitchhiker vibes, everything from the bumbling protagonist to the talking dolphins. If you love that sense of humor (like me), this one should be a fit for you. It took me a minute to feel like this got going, but once it did I couldn't help laughing out loud. I particularly loved Hera and Til, such excellent supporting characters. I'd love to read more from the author.

I decided to go to the SciFi panel at the Columbus Book Festival today since it's #SciFiSummer. I didn't even look at who would be on the panel, so when John Scalzi walked in I couldn't believe it!

All 3 authors on the panel were wonderful and I wrote a bit about them and my time at the festival on my blog: https://fortifiedbybooks.com/columbus-book-festival-2024/

I enjoyed the story. It was funny, crazy, quick & easy! Charlie‘s estranged uncle Jake dies and soon he‘s thrown into the super villain business. There‘s super intelligent cats, unionized dolphins & whales that can shoot spy satellites out of the sky.

Wil Wheaton narrates & Scalzi‘s sarcastic tone is delivered perfectly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It‘s my orange reading buddy‘s gotcha day!! He‘s officially been helping me read for 5 years. 😻 Also this book is EXCELLENT!! #huey #catsoflitsy

Finally off the mark in June's #WickedWords @AsYouWish #luau

I'm quite enjoying Starter Villain so far. It's a quick easy read like most of the Scalzi I've read.

Here‘s Hazel making her Litsy debut! It looks like she and Hera got caught plotting something.

This is a fun James Bond-style spoof about a hapless guy who gets caught up in the world of supervillains when his estranged Uncle, a supervillain himself, suddenly dies. Lots of fun set-pieces, sentient creatures and clever nods to spy thrillers.

4/5

Charlie's billionaire uncle has left him with an inheritance that turns out not to be a parking garage empire, but instead a villain operation complete with a volcanic island as the headquarters. Charlie's thrown into the deep end dealing with his new employees and the other villains of the world.

This was a super fun read. I especially loved the hyper-intelligent cats and dolphins.