You know things are bad when I start posting emotional song lyrics over unrelated background images (this one's a laser garden.)

Really struggling this week - several bad things happening at once - so not managing to read much (although I have started Fool's errand.)

Send hugs and strength and cups of tea please ๐Ÿ’”

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
Thanks for the tag @JenReadsAlot ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿ’•

1) Miss Marple. She's smart, unassuming, and she takes no prisoners!

2) Joyce (The Thursday Murder Club). For her positive mental attitude and hilarious commentary.

3) Brienne of Tarth. For her general bad ass-ery and for almost making Jamie Lannister a redeemable character.

You're all tagged!

Absolutely loved this!

This is basically an episode of Midsomer Murders wrapped in an episode of Poirot. MY TWO FAVOURITE MURDER THINGS!!!!!

It's a clever and entertaining love letter to detective fiction. Very meta. Some great moments.

I just wish we could read the whole Atticus Pรผnd series ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ’•

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I think any lover of murder mysteries will agree with this page ๐Ÿ’•

The whodunnit is a uniquely satisfying format.

#bookwormproblems

House of Leaves, or When Houses Attack!

Thank God that's over.

The Pan relates to my reading experience. I do have respect for this book's originality, complexity, and creepiness, but boy did the whole thing give me a headache.

I hated most of this, and yet it is something of a creation.

Esoteric, unconventional, genre-defying, masturbatory, sanity-draining - this is a book that will truly divide opinion.

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So, after 3 years of fortunately avoiding COVID, I've finally been infected ๐Ÿ˜ญ Feeling very sorry for myself.

I can't do anything useful, so it's reading time.

Considered starting something new to cheer myself up, but no... back to my old nemesis ๐Ÿ˜ต

I ADORED priory, so it gets an automatic 5 stars from me.

Much less gritty than the worlds of Robin Hobb & GRRM, we are nonetheless plunged into a fully formed, colourful fantasy world.

There's a fair bit of infodumping at the start & several political obstacles work themselves out a bit too conveniently, but I'm rating this one with my heart.

Fierce, feminist, bad-ass, diverse, vivid characters... this is a fantasy must-read ๐Ÿ’•

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#wondrouswednesday @Eggs
Thanks for the tag @JenReadsAlot ๐Ÿ’•

1) Indifferent

2) MAPS!!
Sprayed edges
Shiny gold on the cover
Good quality paper
Anything gothic, art deco, art nouveau

3) Can't get better than Gladstone's Library #gladstonerds

Tagging my queue buddy from Samantha Shannon yesterday @graciemay_says_hey ๐Ÿ˜„

She is new to Litsy so give her a welcome!

I'm not going on a book binge I'm SUPPORTING LOCAL INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES!!! ๐Ÿ˜Š๐Ÿฅณ๐Ÿ’ƒ

@MicheleinPhilly I can explain!

I was visiting a couple of friends in Manchester, & it was suggested that we go to Cocoa Cabana.

COCOA CABANA!!!!

I'd already bent the No Sweet Stuff rule at breakfast the day before (pancakes with maple syrup... dessert or brunch?) & with dodgily-named cocktails at this hidden BDSM-themed bar (not my idea!)

So it wasn't really a surprise I went rogue.

Biscoff rocky road & Kinder bueno white hot choc ๐Ÿ’•

And this is me with Francesca May.

1920s. Gothic. Sapphic. Witches. Sold and SOLD!!!

Today I went to see Samantha Shannon in conversation with Francesca May and it was AMAZING!!!!!

This is a truly unflattering picture of me, but I'm posting it anyway ๐Ÿ˜„

She was so interesting and smart and funny and it was great to hear about her inspirations for Roots of Chaos! Can't wait to finish Priory and read the prequel! ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ’•

Didn't quite manage to get to the end of Priory (p678) before the event tonight, but I can squeeze in a few more pages while waiting for my Dad.

With a creme egg deluxe tea latte at the Bird and Blend ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿซ–

Bunnies for PopSugar! #pop23

@Megabooks @squirrelbrain @jenniferw88 @Cinfhen @alisiakae @BarbaraBB @KarenUK @Laughterhp @Cortg @IndoorDame @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick @MissHel @AshleyHoss820 @Ruthiella @OriginalCyn620 @BookBelle84 @jlhammar

It's official.

I've overdone it on the books!

I came home from Manchester with bags of them and these beauties were waiting for me when I got home too ๐Ÿ˜‡

I now need to re-establish order and control in my life ๐Ÿง˜๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So the two mystery books were Ship of Theseus, and The Pisces ๐Ÿ˜Š

Well done @Soubhiville for guessing The Pisces!

These were ordered to my table with a cup of tea and a ginger beer. Literally all cafรฉs should have books to order...

Thanks for guessing @Meshell1313 @DaveGreen7777 @Ruthiella

Chilling at Chapter One! Bookshop cafรฉ ๐Ÿ’• I need to come back to Manchester more often.

Now, let's see what I did with my enigmatic book parcels...

ACTUALLY... does anyone want to play Guess-what-book-lies-in-these-mysterious-parcels??

I'll give you clues...

- A story within a story, and rather a chunkster!

- An astrological-sounding debut novel, with sea creatures

Answer in the comments and I'll let you know later if you're right ๐Ÿ˜‰

No prizes, but you have my permission to be smug ๐Ÿ˜˜

Don't you all wish you were this cosy?? ๐Ÿ˜Š
Snuggly Bramble ๐Ÿ’•
#catsoflitsy

Another excellent day for literature ๐Ÿ’•

Will post my adventures tomorrow when I'm back home, but for now here are two enigmatically wrapped books I got from Chapter One in Manchester.

There's something immensely satisfying about paying for books and a cup of tea in a single transaction!

And finally (sorry for all the spam!) here is my friend Kirsty's book haul ๐Ÿ˜

You can definitely see the Rae influence here ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ’•

Today's book haul. OK... book hauls.

New book buying ban to be implemented soon ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

HOW AWESOME ARE ALL THESE NEW BOOKS THOUGH?!?!??!

Just a little teaser for you all... ๐Ÿ’•

When you're out having sushi and your friend pulls out a book ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿคฃ

Pancakes, sushi & cocktails with very cheeky names ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿ’•

House of books and friends, Manchester ๐Ÿ’•

And this is Bramble who gets 10 out of 10 automatically for being adorable! #catsoflitsy

Staying with a friend. This is her bookshelf... how many out of 10 shall we give her? ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿ˜„

I found a sprayed edges version of The City We Became on ebay to replace the one I lost / gave away. Balance restored ๐Ÿง˜๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

Picklefloof ๐Ÿฅฐ

#catsoflitsy #picklescat

Four more exclusive hardback editions arrived today! Two of which have beautiful edges too ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐ

Me: I need to be really careful with money until I'm sure I've got some work lined up... this is going to mean that I can only make purchases that are absolutely necessary...

LEGO: ๐ŸŽ‰๐ŸŽ‰๐ŸŽ‰ LEGO RIVENDELL!!!!! ๐ŸŽ‰๐ŸŽ‰๐ŸŽ‰

Me: oh crap...

I think one of the best things about reading fantasy fiction is that it gives you new worlds to dream in.

I do, however, have beef with Shannon about something that happened on page 236 ๐Ÿ˜ 

Non-fiction additions to my library!

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks ๐Ÿ’•

Here's my Bookspin card for March. My TBRtarot pick was already on the list so I substituted Legends & Lattes.

Looks good to me! ๐Ÿฅฐ

This book was grim, but also brilliant.

It's an excruciating portrait of a lonely, unattractive (we are told), middle aged woman who bores her only "friends" to death each Sunday. She's not got any money, but at least she has her faith, right?.... right?

Well-written, believable characters, vivid, tragic, poignant. This is a highly effective piece of storytelling; just be prepared for 250 pages of joyless misery!

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#TBRtarot @CBee

If I'm going for the bookshelf nearest to me, I guess I'll be reading The Love Hypothesis.

This also works for #pop23 - a book that started out as fan fiction, I believe.

I don't usually read romance because I'm a cranky curmudgeon (or maybe because my own love life is so perpetually depressing ๐Ÿคฃ๐Ÿ˜ถโ€๐ŸŒซ๏ธ) Let's see if you can melt my Scroogy heart, Hazelwood.

How many Steinbecks do you reckon this counts as for #AuthorAMonth ??

1 or 6?? ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜

It has nice Deluxe rumply edges ๐Ÿ’•

Two more new arrivals. I saw that @Branwen was enjoying I have some questions for you, and the Jennifer Egan quote had me intrigued.

I bought Thursday Night Widows after reading (and liking) Elena Knows, and finding out that the author was known for writing crime. This will be my first Argentinian murder mystery!

Is this book any good? No idea!
Has it got good reviews? *shrug* Not sure.
Has anyone you know read it? Didn't check.

Did you buy it because of the edges, Rae? ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜ถโ€๐ŸŒซ๏ธ

Thanks for the tag @JenReadsAlot ๐Ÿ’•
#wondrouswednesdsy @Eggs

1) Expands my mind - knowledge, imagination, empathy. Sometimes I even enjoy it ๐Ÿ˜‹

2) I'm looking forward to reading my current reads:- The Priory of the Orange Tree & Magpie Murders.

3) Stuart Turton (mystery with a difference), and even more recently, I've been impressed by Tom Hindle, David Olusoga, Kiley Reid, Masako Togawa, Dave Eggers, and Emily St John Mandel.

As yet unread sprayed edge beauties ๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ’•

I thought I had more than this in my collection ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค”

Mum let me have my books early ๐Ÿ’• I am so addicted to Waterstones Exclusive Editions!!! Aren't they beautiful? ๐Ÿฅฐ

#endpapers

Pickles wants to know where everybody went?! Now it's just me, she's wholly unimpressed with the Customer Service experience.

Also, it's cold outside, so naturally that is also my fault ๐Ÿ˜…๐Ÿ˜…

#picklescat #catsoflitsy

#ihavequestions

OK, so I'm organising a Murder Mystery Evening. Let's have two teams:

Team One (Detectives): Poirot, Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Myron Bolitar

Team Two (Quick-witted): Tyrion, Elizabeth Bennett, Gandalf, Hermione Granger

I predict Team Two will be victorious after Sherlock & Poirot waste time fighting over who is the greatest detective of all time.

Also, there will be vol-au-vents & a roller disco. Maybe.

Just the two of us this weekend ๐Ÿ’• (you could at least pretend to be happy about it, Pickles!)

#picklescat #catsoflitsy

Way to evade actually creating anything #13: buy books on creativity ๐Ÿ˜‰

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Here is my March list. A couple of book club books. An author I'm going to see speak. Some cheerful mysteries. A couple of graphic novels. #tbrtarot (whatever that may be!) My #roll100 picks. Some popsugaring. The DeVallance completionist back catalogue (๐Ÿ˜‰ @The_Penniless_Author ) aaaaaaand the shortest book about art that I own.

It's going to be a good month! ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป๐Ÿคž๐Ÿป

What I love most about this book is how Shon Faye sets her own terms. Explosive, uncompromising, and very, very timely, this is a sharp and comprehensive manifesto for trans equality.

Some of Faye's rhetoric relied too heavily on the reader agreeing with principles such as anti-capitalism. Human rights should be championed regardless of where one sits on the political spectrum.

Still, essential reading! Very important and well argued.

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