1. Going by original publication date, The Odyssey was written c 8th century bc & pub. in English 1614. If it‘s Edition pub. I have a 1st edition of the tagged book from 1945 that I‘ve read.
2. The more the better! DCI Banks has 28 bks(RIP Peter Robinson)Inspector Lynley series by Elizabeth George has 21, Wheel Of Time has 14 plus prequels. All faves.
3. DCI Banks for sure, Becky Chamber‘s Wayfarers, TOG by Maas are a few.

#WondrousWednesday

7 years! I can‘t believe it‘s been that long. I‘ve been so blessed to meet y‘all, the support I‘ve gotten over those 7yrs, the swaps, the books sent & received, the many many recommendations that have swelled my library to ridiculous proportions have all been treasured by me. Thank you to each and every Litten that has made these years so much richer. 💛❤️💙 #LittensRule #BookPeopleAreStillTheBestPeople

My #20in4 #readathon went brilliantly this weekend! Amazing how much reading you can do when you‘re awake for 2 days straight coz of pain. Plus it‘s distracting, so win-win. Finally finished the Wayward Children series(so far)& got to Cerulean Sea after over 2yrs on my #MountTBRShelvesOfDoom Thanks again to our wonderful leader @Andrew65

My #Bookspin #Doublespin & #BookspinBingo list for June is done. I can‘t believe we‘re already at the halfway point of 2023! Hopefully the next six months will be much better reading for me. Fingers crossed🤞

EDIT: I‘m changing 9. The Drift to the above book. I was hoping to have read it by now but haven‘t had a chance. So June‘s #BookBingo list it is!

Bk7 of #20in4 #readathon & Bk12 of May is done! Wow, have I caught up on my reading or what. Helps that I haven‘t been sleeping much this weekend, pain sux. I loved this book so much. Every character was brilliant(except for DiCOMY & some villagers), the setting was perfect & the romance so sweet. It was the happy ending I needed after the Wayward Children books. Highly recommend.🩵🩵 #FourFoursIn23 #NoBuy2023Bingo #TBRTarot #Roll100 #ReadySetRead

Next book up is the 1st T.J.Klune book I bought. Would you believe I‘ve bought most of the books he‘s released so far(I think)but haven‘t actually read any of them yet? I‘m about 4 chapters in and loving it so far, I did try to read it previously but I guess it just wasn‘t the right time for it. Once I‘ve finished this I‘ll move onto Under The Whispering Door, then Wolfsong then In The Lives Of Puppets. #20in4 #readathon

Bk6 of #20in4 #readathon & Bk11 of May is done. The last so far of the Wayward Children series & the darkest. The first few chapters had me feeling sick, big TW for child grooming. The authors foreword & dedication made me cry, it‘s very apparent why most of her books are so dark. Antsy father dies & she‘s left with a stepfather that makes her skin crawl. So she runs & goes thru a door into the Shop of Lost Things. #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023

Bk5 of #20in4 #readathon & Bk10 of May is done!🙌 The 7th in the Wayward Children series is a lot darker than some of the others with a lot heavier themes. This is Cora‘s story of wanting to escape the Drowned Gods so much she asks to be transferred to the Whitethorn Institute, where children with lost doors go to forget. But things aren‘t what they seem & life gets a lot harder for the mermaid-in-waiting🧜🏼‍♀️ #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023

Bk4 of #20in4 #readathon & Bk9 of May is done! It‘s after 4am here but the next bk is calling me. This is the 6th Wayward Children book in the series. It‘s Regan‘s story, a girl whose soul belongs to anything with hooves. So of course her door leads to the Hooflands, where she‘s taken in by a family of unicorn herding Centaurs, where she lives blissfully until it all goes wrong. Of course. #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023 #Pantone2023

Bk3 of the #20in4 #readathon & bk8 of May is done! I‘m powering through these novellas now, and enjoying it immensely. Especially another Jack & Jill story, which gives them an ending just not a very nice one. Though you have the wrong author if you‘re looking for happy ever after. I feel sad for the child she must‘ve been, reading between the lines it must‘ve been a horror story. She writes them too well. #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023

Bk2 of #20in4 #readathon & bk7 of May is done. The 4th book of the series, this tells Lundy‘s tale of door hopping into the Goblin Market & learning the consequence of her actions. While again, not one of my faves, it does give you a really good idea of the rules that govern the “alternate worlds” the doors lead to. I don‘t think the author had a great childhood, she writes about being an outcast too well for that! #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023

Bk1 of my #20in4 #readathon is done! The 3rd book in the Wayward Children series, this one‘s a strange ride. It‘s a portal plus time bending journey through a few worlds looking for Sumi so she can be resurrected & save her future daughter & her world of Confection(which is totally made of sugar foods!)Not my fave of the series but still a good story. #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023 #Pantone2023

So, I kinda have a few books to choose from for this weekends #20in4 #readathon! And there‘s another stack behind these. Plus the #MountTBRShelvesOfDoom in the other room. My goals are:
📚Read at least 2 books
⏱️Read for the 20hrs
🤓Get my reading mojo back for good!

Who else is joining me?

Bk5 of May is also done. Novellas are great if you have a few of them to read quickly! The 2nd in the Wayward Children series, this is Jack & Jill‘s story, of their trip through their door to The Moors, a place of beauty & horror. One twin is in the vampires castle as his daughter, the other in the windmill as the mad scientist‘s apprentice. Brilliant story🖤🩶 #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023 #Pantone2023 #ReadySetRead

Bk4 of May is done. I started to read the 7th in this series & realised I couldn‘t remember the previous books! Stupid Covid brain fog. So I‘m rereading all of them, thank god they‘re novellas! This was just as wonderful as the first time I read it in 2016. A unique take on the portal fantasy, it‘s about the children who return & are cut adrift from both worlds. Eleanor West‘s school is their haven, until the bodies are found. #BookspinBingo 👇

Bk3 of May is done. Loved the conclusion to this mythology/earth magic duology so much! I need to include more BIPOC fantasy into my reading coz this was fabulous. For a YA story there‘s a lot of very heavy themes here including grief & the burdens of duty but there‘s also snark & the power of love. Highly recommend. #BookspinBingo #FourFoursIn23 #Pantone2023 #ReadySetRead

Bk2 of May is done. I‘m really hoping this means my mojo is coming back, but I‘ve prob just jinxed it! The 1st in a YA duology by a BIPOC author, it features an LGBTQ+ & BIPOC cast in a mythology/magical retelling of the Medea story involving poison gardens & earth magic. I loved it so much I‘m already halfway through the sequel. #BookspinBingo #Doublespin #FourFoursIn23 #NoBuy2023Bingo #ReadingTheUSA #NewYork #Pantone2023 #ReadySetRead

My first book of May is done! What a crap month it‘s been. Thank god Hubbys home & ok, though he was bloody lucky. Finally got my mind settled enough to read a book & it was amazing! Such a beautiful “found family” story, I really hope she writes a sequel like she did with Garden Spells, these characters are too lovely to let go🩵 #BookspinBingo #Bookspin #Booked2023 #FeaturingNeighbours #ReadingTheUSA #SouthCarolina #ReadySetRead #52BookClubRC

Hey everyone, sorry for being gone again. Things just keep getting better here, the hubby is now in the cardiac ward with atrial fibrillation(his heart was at 190 last night!)and will be getting shocked tomorrow coz the drugs they‘re giving him aren‘t working. This year is just going great so far👍I don‘t know what to do🤦🏻‍♀️

Bk6 of my recent #BookHaul is another SciFi novel. Though it seems to be a cross with a western too! Annabelle is 14 when all communications between Earth & her new home world of Mars is cut. After being robbed at gun point closing up their diner, her father is devastated when their only recording of her mothers voice is taken. So Annie & her loyal robot travel through mining towns overtaken by a mineral called The Strange to take it back.

I promise I wrote out my #Bookspin #Doublespin & #BookspinBingo list a few days ago! There‘s a lot of my recent #BookHaul books on there with just a few repeat performers along with my usual additional FREE SPACEs. According to the numbers my #Bookspin is a FREE SPACE and, oh, my #Doublespin is also a FREE SPACE! There you go. Guess I‘ll be reading both this month.😂

Bk5 of my #BookHaul is the new book from Ward. Set on the Maine coast, it‘s about an author & his memories. In a cottage overlooking the sea, Wilder Harlow begins writing his last book, the story of a sunny vacation when he was young & the tragedy that united him & his friends Nat & Harper when a killer stalked the streets of the New England town they spent their summers. Now he‘s returned to write about that time, but is he remembering the truth?

Bk4 of my most recent #BookHaul ( I really have a problem don‘t I🤦🏻‍♀️)is a debut SciFi novel. Nia is the captain of a transport ship, losing decades as she travels through space in cryo sleep. Living only to get paid until she meets a boy that‘s literally fallen from the sky. Born with the gift to instantly travel anywhere in the universe, he‘s hunted by the corps that have a stranglehold on space travel. Sounds intriguing.

Bk3 of my #BookHaul & the last Dame Agatha is another SE. An anthology of stories set around the festive season, mostly Poirot with an appearance by the fluffy old lady of crime, Miss Marple. Believe it or not, I don‘t think I‘ve actually read this one before, one of the few Dame Agatha‘s I have not. There‘s 4 more of the SE coming out by the end of the year, Autumn Chills, Dead Man‘s Folly & 2 of my faves Hallowe‘en Party & Five Little Pigs.

Bk2 of my #BookHaul is another Dame Agatha special edition, this one is one of her most famous novels & arguably the one that made her famous. It has a locked room mystery, an unreliable narrator & a great lineup of dodgy people. And Poirot of course. If you only read a few Christie‘s in your life, this should definitely be one of them. #ChristiesCrimeClub

Haven‘t been reading much unfortunately, it‘s been hectic here for lots of reasons, but I wanted to post my recent #BookMail for you guys. 1st up is this Special edition of the original Poirot novel. After the Great War, Captain Hastings recuperates at the country estate of Styles, until a murder happens. But Hastings knows a retired Belgian police officer who is a refugee living nearby & is thrilled to use his “little grey cells”.

More Ruby Tuesday pictures for you! It‘s the derpy look in the 1st pic that totally sums her up. Plus the co dependence on display with the hubby. Trying to organise the hubs hoarding of building supplies(and he complains about my books!🙄)is sooo much harder when you have a big brown limpet attached.😋 #DogsOfLitsy #PetsOfLitsy #DerpyDogsRUs

Bk2 from this mini #BookHaul is this very pretty signed edition of the tagged book. This doesn‘t really do it justice, the lighting wasn‘t great, it looks much better in person. A dystopian story, there‘s librarians, horse thieves & a space born vagrant who‘s the planets 1st visitor in 300yrs. She‘s armed & scared and looking for her lover. This one sounds very intriguing with shades of Becky Chambers & Vermilion.

Finally got a decent shot of the dopey dog! Here‘s Ruby Tuesday Parker, the child the hubby loves the most. First time I managed to get her to sit still long enough! I didn‘t know boxers had THIS much energy when we got her! #DogsOfLitsy #PetsOfLitsy #DoDogsGetADHD?

This weekends #BookMail starts with a book by an author that @Andrew65 has raved about for years! This is a standalone,thought I‘d start with that instead of her series, and coz it was on special at Waterstones A thriller set in the Scottish highlands during the pandemic, locals are outraged when the “party house”, a luxury airbnb, is reopened to tourists. When vandalism at the house occurs, the body of missing young girl is found in the wreckage.

Next up is this thriller in translation set in Madrid. I‘m almost 100pgs in and loving it so far! It‘s giving me Red Dragon/Dragon Tattoo vibes so far & im hoping the next two in the series are translated to English very soon!

For this #ThingsInCommon both authors last name starts with M!

I couldn‘t help starting this one yesterday, then I‘m up till 8am this morning finishing it! It was intense, intriguing & obviously, very addicting. But I did have some issues with it, which I‘ll be explaining in Spoiler comments below👇👇👇 #Booked2023 #Featuring3Generations #FourFoursIn23 #WombatCombat #ChunksterChallenge #Pantone2023 #GreyedJade #ReadySetRead #52BookClubRC #BookspinBingo

Next in the Pern novels is one of my favourites from the series.It introduces the fire lizards, a miniature species of dragon from which the original colonists bio engineered the dragons. Menolly is the youngest daughter of a SeaHolder with very parochial views who refuses to let her make music. While running away she comes across a queen Fire lizard & helps her save her eggs from Thread, impressing 9 in the process. #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023

#ThingsInCommon First time I‘ve remembered to post for this challenge! My last two books have lots in common, same author, dragon in the title🐲& set in the same world. And they were both nostalgic and brilliant👍

The 2nd Pern book starts where the 1st left us, but there‘s dissent brewing over the Oldtimer dragon riders that Lessa brought forward to help fight Thread. F‘lars left trying to fix the damage they cause but everyone‘s angry, distrustful & upset. I love this series & world, as you can see, I‘ve reread them many times over. Highly recommend. #BookspinBingo #SeriesLove2023 #Pop23

Bk6 & the last from my recent #BookHaul is this brilliant,HUGE,hardcover of the classic Neil Gaiman book. It‘s got a foreword by Neil! It‘s illustrated! It‘s got pics from the tv series! It‘s annotated! It was only $6.80! Yep. This gorgeous big book was less than a coffee from Starbucks. Not complaining mind you, send me more Special editions for under $10! Please?!?

Bk5 of my #BookHaul (Booktopia had a sale🤷🏻‍♀️)is a classic SciFi I‘ve been wanting to read for years.It‘s highly recommended profusely. Hopefully it lives up to the hype! On a world called Hyperion, on the edges of the Hegemony of Man, waits the Shrike. Some worship it, Some fear it & others want to destroy it. When Armageddon beckons & the whole galaxy at war, 7 pilgrims search out answers to their lives, one may be the saviour of us all.

Bk4 from my #BookHaul is the new autobiography from one of my favourite New Zealanders(though we aussies claim him too!). I‘ve heard great things about this, I‘m old enough to catch most of the references he makes & also from the same part of the world which helps. From his childhood on the South Island of NZ to his breakout role in My Brilliant Career to Jurassic Park & The Piano then to Rick & Morty, he‘s become a treasured Australasian.

Bk3 from my #BookHaul is one I came across on IG on a list of 10 most wanted reads of 2023. Translated from Spanish, I think it may be the 3rd in the series. Does anyone know if the other 2, White King & Black Wolf have been translated yet? Antonia Scott is not a policewoman or lawyer. But she has solved dozens of crimes, but never leaves her attic in Madrid & doesn‘t have visitors. Which is why the footsteps coming up the stairs are worrying her…

Bk2 from my #BookHaul I was looking forward to so much I ordered it twice! This is the trade paperback with the flowering gum & blue fairy wren, plus there‘s a signed hardcover coming from Waterstones I forgot about. Whoops!🫣1959: the town of Tambilla in South Australia is stunned by the discovery of the bodies of the Turner family. 2018:Jess comes back to Sydney from London to look after her seriously ill Nan & discovers a link to the murders.

These are my six selections for #CampLitsy23! Valkyrie by Kate Heartfield, House of Whispers by Anna Mazzola, Homecoming by Kate Morton, Birman Wood by Eleanor Catton, Day Of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon & Godkiller by Hannah Kaner. Looking forward to it this June. What are your selections? For more details see either of the 3 tagged Littens original posts.

Got some more #BookMail the past week! I know,I‘m totally without self control. It‘s the only thing giving me a bit of happiness right now.The 1st is this historical suspense/ghost story set in the Rome of the late 1930s,with a backdrop of fascism, Hitler & WWII. Talented pianist Eva becomes the new wife of Dante Cavallera & moves into his manor with him & his young daughter. But there‘s something whispering in the walls & leaving marks on Chiara.

2023 may be even worse than last year!Sorry I disappeared again, first Dad(who is finally out of hospital as of this weekend🙌)then my daughter(that‘s living here!)gets Covid & has to leave us looking after her 18month old coz his father is an asshole! It‘s been a tough week. But I have read! I finished this audiobook a few days ago & bubs finally at daycare so I can post it. I love Anne McCaffrey, she blends SciFi & fantasy like no one else.5⭐️👇

Couldn‘t sleep(again!🥱)so I‘ve managed to listen to 20 chapters of the tagged book & 42 lines of this dragon scale chunky shawl. I love the color combo & I think that 2 cream stripes is enough to put on each end. Once I‘ve finished, washed it in wool softener & blocked it out, it‘ll be much bigger. Plenty big enough to keep me warm on cold winter nights sitting up reading(or #audioknitting more projects!) #AwesomeApril #readathon #LitsyCrafters

I‘m #audioknitting a dragon scale chunky shawl for the coming winter, to the 1st Dragons of Pern book. I thought it fitting. It‘s knitted using Fiddlesticks Superb Big in Teal & Cream. So far I‘ve done two of the cream stripes& am tossing up a 3rd or leave it at two each end. F‘lar, bronze dragon rider is on Search for new riders when the Red Star forewarns the coming of Thread once more. #KnittersOfLitsy #LitsyCrafters #AwesomeApril #readathon

1. I love Wednesday, Sandman, The Expanse, Three Pines, Foundation & I‘m planning on watching Daisy Jones & the Six. NF I‘m watching The Problem with Jon Stewart, Emergency NYC, Homicide with Ron Iddles(Aussie true crime with the best detective we‘ve ever produced)& Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.
2. Anita Blake would be interesting! MurderBot, Nevernight, A Darker Shade Of Magic, The Lost Man & Killers Of A Certain Age.
#WondrousWednesday

Bk3 from my recent #BookMail is the 16th book in the Anita Blake series & the only book in the series that I didn‘t have in print form. I couldn‘t stand not having all of them!🤷🏻‍♀️Anita has gone home with Jason, werewolf & Jean-Claude‘s pomme de sang, to hold his hand while he visits his dying bully of a father. But it‘s never that easy for her, Marmee Noir chooses that weekend to attempt to call all the weretigers & take over Anita‘s body.

Bk2 from my #BookMail is the first in a new series by the author of the Anita Blake books. I‘ve heard this is like the original Anita books which were more crime thriller than the 2nd half are. Zaniel(?!?)Havelock is a detective & an Angel talker. He devoted his life to the celestial beings but a betrayal made him leave it behind & become a cop.But when he‘s called to a scene that involves demonic possession he‘s forced to work with them again.🕊️

I‘ve had some more #BookMail in the last few weeks so thought I‘d catch you up! The 1st is the last ever DI Banks novel by the late and lamented Peter Robinson. The 28th book in the series, this is a dual timeline story. 1980, student Nick Hartley comes home to find police searching his flat after his ex girlfriend is murdered & her new boyfriend is missing. 2019, a body is unearthed at a Roman dig that‘s a lot more recent & Banks is called in.