Welcome to Litsy!

It had been about ten years since I last read this book, and I was surprised at how many details/scenes had slipped my mind. While there are things about this book that I don't like, the writing somehow grips me every time, despite a third of it being the unnamed narrator's imagination instead of things that are actually happening. Creepy, suspenseful, twisty - this one is just SO good.

This was fairly typical “horse fare“ from the era, and which I have always collected because something about the semi-predictability of these simple stories draws me in. Hastings's book is a bit more about teaching readers about various aspects of ranching life than it is about an actual storyline, but it was still an interesting (although not thrilling) read.

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I had SO MUCH FUN rereading this and am not sure I want to stick to only one book per month 😂 I remember now how I found Trixie to be a much more relatable heroine than Nancy Drew (although I love Nancy very much) - closer to my age when I was reading these, a big family with lots of brothers, parents who make her do chores, her yearning for a horse, her enjoyment in being outside, etc. Trixie's adventures always felt more like something that ⬇

Pratchett has been on my radar for quite some time, but I've never actually jumped in. So when @julesg said that the #OokBookClub was starting over, this seemed like a great time to give his writing a whirl. I enjoyed but wasn't mind-blown by this one, but the consensus seems to be that it isn't his best, and this was still an easy pick. I'm looking forward to working through some of these, as I found the characters, world-building, and humor ⬇

This one has been on my want-to-reread list forever, so having it be a #Roll100 pick this month gave me that final nudge! While some parts of this story feel a little cluttered, overall it's just such a fun little story with some delightfully memorable characters. Feiffer's illustrations really add so much.

I've been wanting to reread this series for quite some time, so I was pleased when the first book was chosen as this month's read for the #BakerStreetIrregulars, giving me an excuse to kick off the series reread!! This book was just as funny and entertaining as I remember, with just delightful characters and a romp of a mystery. I remember reading that Peters wasn't intending this to be a series originally, so this one ends with a HEA epilogue ⬇

The conclusion to The Hoboken Chicken Emergency is just as ridiculous and fun as the first two. Nick and his two friends are bored in the summer heat and decide to try creating art. They make new friends, participate in an art contest, and visit a museum under the chaperonage of a giant chicken dressed as a nun. 😂 Somehow Pinkwater makes it work.

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Either you find Pinkwater's snarky, offbeat humor to be hilarious, or you find it to be completely bizarre and not particularly funny. I'm in the pro-Pinkwater camp and while this isn't as funny as The Snark-Out Boys and the Avocado of Death, it's still great fun.

I think I'm in the minority here, but this one just wasn't for me, despite having really enjoyed some of Harper's other books. This story was just relentlessly depressing. With a strong focus on abuse and how that reverberates through a family even when the abuser is gone, plus some bonus content regarding rape, divorce, community ostracizing, depression, suicide, isolation, etc. I was just honestly sad the entire time I was reading this. ⬇

This book gets full marks for being absolutely lovely, with tons of beautiful photographs. However, while the theme was good, the material was very repetitive. They gave the steps for planning a garden (found in virtually any gardening book: hardscape, focal points, anchor plants, filler plants, groundcover), then said, “you can replace any of your regular plants with edible plants!!“ and then covered the same steps for your front yard, back yard⬇