Bye bye, Venice 🥲 I will be back to see you again someday!

Have just arrived in Brescia for phase 2 of Italian adventure.

Am way too excited that our flat has a TV so that we can have a Eurovision party.

My friends are unanimously less pleased.

You may recognise the top middle picture from my pic the other day! These pictures are near where we are staying.

Venice by Jiro Tanaguchi is a book of watercolours of Venice. It is billed as a "graphic novel" but I wouldn't really call it a story. It's more of an art book with narrative aspects.

Flipping through trying to work out which bits we'd seen was fun (e.g. my friend: "that's the bridge where you started complaining your feet hurt").

Doge's palace (top L and middle)

Venetian special black spaghetti (with cuttlefish ink) (top R)

Venetian antipasti seafood (bottom L)

Bridge of sighs (bottom middle)

View from Doge's palace (bottom R)

Venice adventures continue 💕

I think my feet may be about to fall off.

Also, how much is an acceptable amount to spend on notebooks in a single 48 hour period? Asking for a friend. (By which I mean a friend who has concerns about my notebook habit 😅)

From the horrified look on our waitresses face, I gather that 3 cannoli is too many cannoli to eat in one go 🤣🤣

I COULDN'T CHOOSE THOUGH!!!!! 😍😍

Buona sera from Venezia! 🥰 It is very beautiful here, and there are many stationers.

#two4tuesday @TheSpineView ?
Thanks for the tag @Yuki_Onna ?

1) I have the Platinum on Crash Bandicoot. Oh man, is this my crowning achievement? ?

2) I just finished a book about children with various gifts, who are known as "talents". Tagged!

Happy Weekend, fellow Bibliophiles 💕

Conquered this enormous mountain (gentle incline).

Unfortunately, this path did not take us where we thought it would and now I'm kinda scritched up by various spiky hedgeplants, but at least I was outside, right?

"We didn't have to drop everything to watch then, which was the usual expectation...

What bothers me now is those boys internalising GIRLS AS AUDIENCE, there only to act as mirrors, to make their accomplishments realer."

?????? 100%

This book 😭😭😭

Someone is enjoying the sunbeams this morning #catsoflitsy #picklescat

#pop22 - recommended by a librarian @Branwen my wonderful librarian buddy!!! 🫂💕

I am loving this so far. Wasn't sure what to expect, because I went in without reading anything about it, but am thrilled that it's looking like DARK ACADEMIA!!!!!!

@Megabooks @jenniferw88 @BarbaraBB @KarenUK @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick @MissHel @AshleyHoss820 @Ruthiella @OriginalCyn620 @BookBelle84 @graciouswarriorprincess @WJCintron @Branwen @BarkingMadRead

#readyourkindle

Here's my updated list @CBee 💕

https://youtu.be/a-5-6HqaOXs?feature=shared

Under 30 second reviews!!!!!!!

Jan-April books

Gahh, I don't know how to rate this one. It's a direct 3.5/5 and I usually like to round up or down.

Sprawling, sci fi Victoriana adventure novel. All the ingredients that are right up my street, but something was missing.

The structure is a complete shambles which knocks the pacing off kilter. And yet, I cared and am annoyed I have to wait for the sequel.

I'd probably have enjoyed it more on Kindle or in paperback because OW MY WRISTS.

"Still, as much as I take seriously the cooking of meals just for myself or to eat with others, every so often I think of peaceful meals between two people who are in love with an ache that seems perilously close to my skin..

I love to live alone, but I long to know I'm real beyond my own comprehension."

This book is full of a familiar longing for which I'm yet to find a sufficient balm. Still, it's probably not all it's cracked up to be, right?

#bookspinbingo for May @TheAromaofBooks 💕💕

This month I'm going to be focusing on my Victoriana and Gothic books (the ones I showed in recent YouTube vid) that I couldn't resist the covers of. Unfortunately, this abbreviates to #VAG 🤦🏼‍♀️🙈

Also on the list are book club books set in Italy (where I'm soon to visit, hopefully), my #roll100 picks, and a couple of Emily St. John Mandel's for #AuthorAMonth

#shelfie 💕

So excited for #camplitsy24

@squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB

This was an amusing but contrived cosy.

Maybe its cast of eccentric coastal characters would have won my heart if Astrid hadn't enacted toothbrush-revenge early on (a personal bugbear of mine. NOT COOL, ASTRID.)

Regardless, this was good fun. I sniggered many times. The mystery was secondary and didn't draw me in as much as Astrid's own story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ for enjoyment, but I've read more proficient cosies.

Left: when your new books match your shoes

Right: can confirm... this rocking horse my Gramps made many decades ago is STURDY!

Pleased with my dedication... it says "Happy I praised and insulted you in one answer!"

I'm struggling to explain it concisely, so I'll leave this here looking mysterious ?

(Also, he watched my YouTube review of his latest book ????)

If you haven't already, read all of his books. They are a delight. More authors need to genre-blend like this!

There is truth in this passage.

https://youtu.be/gxconqhlrJ0?feature=shared

April's Illumicrate box: Magic vs. Science

I really liked how much Lady Audley's Secret read like a detective novel (despite pre-dating the detective novel by a good few years).

It's the story of a mystery and a scandal, unfolding through the investigative eyes of the usually bone idle Robert Audley.

It's very Victorian, and you'll either love or hate the flowery language.

Plot twists, melodrama, much better serialised than Dickens! Dragged a bit at times, but still entertaining.

New bestie!!! 😁😁💕

My creative idol Stuart Turton was such an entertaining speaker - irreverent, smart, cynical, funny - and I even managed to say a few words to him.

US Littens might be pleased to know he's doing a US tour soon too 😊

Gahhhh, she's so soggy!!!!

@Soubhiville You mentioned following Pickles' adventures yesterday, but the adventures at the moment consist mainly of complaining about the menu and (presently) drying off her wet floofs on me 🙈🙈🙈

#picklescat #catsoflitsy

@squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB #CampLitsy24

Thanks for organising!!! 🥰 Can't wait!

Here are my nominations (if I'm not already too late). I've gone pretty cosy 💕

To all my Litsy friends,

I want you to know how much I love and appreciate you all. To have such a kind, supportive online community to share my book passion with has been invaluable to me.

You are all wonderful 💙

Procrastinating by making book videos...

If you wanna hear me ramble on about my favourite cover aesthetic and show you some tasty examples, click here:

https://youtu.be/L6LPG_GWJFg?feature=shared

If you wanna hear me review The Last Murder at the End of the World, click here:

https://youtu.be/97wsvd8JJsM?feature=shared

(I think I might drop Stuart Turton a message to let him know I'm tirelessly promoting him like a superfan 🤣)

I found Deborah James' book extremely inspiring.

If there is one message I will take away from reading it, it is to have rebellious hope.

What an amazing person. I only wish she could've had many more years of fulfilling and happy life.

Loved it. Locked-island, post-apocalyptic murder mystery madness.

Readable as heck. Probably full of plot holes I don't give a damn about. Twisty, turny, ambitious, and totally bananas.

I continue to be a huge Stuart Turton fan. I eat up everything he puts out and love that his books are original and different from each other.

He simply can't write fast enough for me 😊💕

I bought a load of keys from Litjoy a while back and gave them to Mum so that I could "earn" them by doing various things.

Although technically I didn't meet the goals I set, I did make a lot of effort, so Mum agreed to let me have this one based on Professor Umbridge's room ??

*looks shifty*

Turns out I actually AM living in the moment after all 😅

Now if only I can find out which supernatural forces are screwing me over...

(I kid.)

This book is inspiring even to a seasoned curmudgeon like myself. Chapters so far have talked about the importance of Hope (REBELLIOUS hope 💕), awareness of Time, and now Purpose.

No one has all the time in the world, and you don't need it to live a worthwhile life 💙

Started this book on my lunch break.

Anyone who has tried and failed to improve their mental outlook over a period of many years will know how victim-blamey being told to think positive is, but Deborah James focuses on HOPE 💙☀️

I might try cultivating hope because unlike general positivity it focuses on the unknowns of the future. It's easier to hope for the future than to alter thinking on the past and present.

What do I dare to hope for?

#two4tuesday @TheSpineView 😊
Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author 💕

Bit late on this one!

1) I was so excited about reading the tagged that I made a whole video fangirling over Stuey T

https://youtu.be/yZVgSUXkEqs?feature=shared

2) Does the Pope **** in the woods? 🤣🤣

I'VE GOT PRE-ORDERS COMING OUT THE WAZOO. They will probably continue arriving long after my death.

Happy Tuesday / Wednesday everyone 👍🏻

I'm late with my #bookspinbingo card for April @TheAromaofBooks but I promise I haven't peeped at the numbers or card yet 😋

Will sort out a grid soon!

Although there are some serious books here, I think I'm going to prioritise reading for pleasure over the next few months. I've been ruminating too much on heavy topics and I just want to sneak around a few Victorian or Gothic mansions and solve some murders.

This was an incredible book, but a total sausage fest.

It gets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for being an inspiring, colourful, accessible, engaging volume, and for giving me a grounding in art knowledge that I didn't think possible from one book.

Art is discussed from a Eurocentric position, only ONE female artist is featured and some of the language is culturally insensitive to the modern ear, but this remains an outstanding work.

Thirsty for more now!

Scratch that. A few pages later and he's blaming this state of affairs on... women!

"Let any man make a calculation of his existence, subtracting the hours in which he has been thoroughly happy...
Let him do this, and surely he will laugh in utter bitterness of soul when he sets down the sum of his felicity, and discovers the pitiful smallness of the amount.
He will have enjoyed himself for a week or ten days in thirty years perhaps."

I FIND THIS SO SOOTHING. Really takes the pressure off. Even I can manage 10 days in 30 years!

They have told me this before. Most of it anyway.

This may be the basics, but it's also the FUNDAMENTALS.

This is a really good summary of self care and simple therapeutic tools to manage symptoms of anxiety, depression, stress, grief, & emotional turbulence.

Later chapters on attachment and living within ones own values also provide invaluable information.

It won't cure your problems, but I would endorse this book as a good place to start.

LEGO D&D?!?!?!?!

I need dis.

It even has a gelatinous cube.

Considering that she's been getting premium DELUXE CUDDLES, you'd think Pickles would be looking less unimpressed 🤣🤣

#picklescat #catsoflitsy

This was a good short story / novella, but possibly suffers from being overhyped.

Claire Keegan creates an emotional impression with her writing, but sometimes there's a thin line between life affirming and clichéd, between heartwarming and twee. I think she mostly succeeds.

This is a quiet and moving tale about life, morals, charity, luck, priorities and responsibilities. Time will tell whether it leaves a lasting impression on me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

1/ The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters
2/ One Day
3/ Assassin's Apprentice

You're all tagged!
Including you @The_Penniless_Author

#threelistthursday @dabbe

And look what arrived today! It's the Goldsboro version! (See previous post) 💕

So which one do you all like best????

@Leniverse is encouraging us all to read crime this Easter as per Norwegian tradition so will get started right away 😜

#whoworeitbest #Eastercrime

STUART TURTON HAS A NEW BOOK OUT! And it sounds every bit as bananas as his other ones!

Can't wait to dive into this one...

If you wanna listen to why I love Stuart Turton so much, I've posted a #booktube vid. He's my number one autobuy at the moment.

https://youtu.be/yZVgSUXkEqs?feature=shared

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author 😊💕
#wondrouswednesday @Eggs 💕

1) Stuart Turton is the main author that can't write fast enough for me!

2) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd maybe? Mystery is my fave genre, although I also love fantasy and literary fiction.

3) Robin Hobb!!!! Working my way through Fitz and the Fool.....

When your Illumicrate gets requisitioned...

#catsoflitsy #picklescat

https://youtu.be/l33gmM4KWlg?feature=shared

My unboxing video this month is pretty rubbish because I'm exhausted and it's kinda showing 😅

On the plus side though NEW BOOK POT!!!!!!!!

And the book this month is very beautiful.

Those of you who have sharp eyes may also notice Pickles making a brief cameo 😸

Educating ourselves on the history of art.

Pickles says that whilst appreciating the vitality of Rubens' work, she finds it a bit grainy and aesthetically prefers the softness in the portraiture of Raphael...

Just kidding. She's a philistine.

#picklescat #catsoflitsy