HI FRIENDS, IT‘S BEEN A WHILE. 7 months of... 1) me trying to buy a house, 2) breaking out in chronic hand eczema, 3) buying a fixer upper, 4) then trying to recover from it all and too scared to open Litsy. Life is hard! Change is exciting! I‘m finally reading again after all that crap. I got a promotion! I love my house! This is only, like, the 8th book I‘ve read all year but THAT‘S OKAY. Tell me how YOU‘VE been these last 7 months!

Sick again not a week later and my car had bad troubles today :( So here's me relaxing while the husband cooks dinner and Gil enjoys my new wine-themed blanket I got from my sister-in-law... and I am going to try to read AT LEAST 5 PAGES of this book (it is taking me FOREVER). I'm ready for 2017 to be DONE, LET ME TELL YOU 🤧

@heylaurenmack here's Gil sniffing out his gift before we even started opening it. Pond was less interested but only because Gil really wouldn't let her have her moment haha so I hid a few of the mousies to bring out again later. 😹 #secretsantagoespostal

@heylaurenmack thank you so so much for the lovely secret santa package!! What fabulous choices! I wish I could post a video on here of Gil's reaction to his mousies (maybe one of the videos is still on my Instagram story from yesterday? I have the same handle as here). He got the crazy eyes and ran around with the cardboard and the toys still attached and wouldn't let me cut them off 😂😂 I love everything, thanks again!! And thank Mika too! 😽

I also forgot to post my package the other day... it should get there by tomorrow!! I've been super sick for a week and a half so I was late to the game on this one :( #secretsantagoespostal #wintersolsticebookexchange

It's here! A little battered but hopefully everything inside is fine! #secretsantagoespostal #wintersolsticebookexchange @BookBabe @Avanders @MrBook

SORRY IVE BEEN MIA! Job transitions are hard even 3 months in, I really miss being a bookseller and so am just kinda dealing w guilt over not reading galleys/pushing new books, life is financially CRAZY, and my cat is sick again and may need surgery. So I haven't been reading much bc I am uber distracted!! Does anyone else have this problem? I think I need to find new books to read but the GUILT so I gotta finish what I started!

Today on my lunch break I'm consuming much-needed coffee in the form of a Fireside Chat (clove-something Americano) to finish Patrick Nathan's SOME HELL in anticipation of his reading with Alex Dimitrov tomorrow at Magers & Quinn, 7pm! This beautiful book had had me THINKING, y'all. Twin Cities Littens, if you're not busy tomorrow, you know where you should be ;)

I LOVED this book! Heck yes. Reminded me of Trainwreck... super encouraging and thoughtful look at the double standards the patriarchy has for women in society. I may return to this one some day, so I better buy it! 5 stars.

Y'all, I've just gotten the MOST EXCITING #BOOKMAIL. Local author Patrick Nathan's incredible novel from @Graywolfpress is finally in my hands after waiting for over a year to finally read and my favorite poet has a new volume coming out!!! If you haven't heard me gush about THE FOUR LEGGED GIRL, then I'm due for a post 😍😍😍 #poetry #galleybrag #galley

About halfway through this Coffee House collection of creepy stories and LOVING it. Lots of sewing, tinned food, and doll imagery, which normally would freak me out and send me running, but the way Grudova writes just pulls me in. This is out this week so visit your local indie 🖤 #Octoberreads #spookyreads

Appropriate haul for Friday the 13th in October, I must say 🖤

Bookish Halloween decor?? CHECK. I just HAD to have this even though I've never really decorated for a holiday in my life. Now can I just have this up all year please? Hahaha 🎃💀👻🕸

Today after work I decided to learn how to adult i. e. ACTUALLY FRAME AND HANG ART. Anyone else out there like me who just grew up taping posters all over her walls and also doesn't know how to nail holes? Hahaha. Also kudos to my friend who painted this gorgeous cat.

Just finished this thin Two Dollar Radio volume last night! A woman is given a series of tapes and told to transcribe them but not to share them with anyone, which of course she does -- and then she disappears. What follows is those transcriptions plus her notes about a journalist in the search for the "City of Dreams." SO. TRIPPY. It captured my attention from the first moment and this has to be one of my favorite reads all year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Columbus Day"? F#^* that shit. It's Indigenous People's Day. Here's what I am choosing to read today in solidarity of Indigenous peoples in history across the United States who suffered terrible injustices at the hands of white colonizers. It makes me uncomfortable to be white and complicit in this country, especially on days like today, so I gotta use that feeling to educate and amplify voices of color.

Sooooo I finally started this and I know I'm very late to the game 🙈🙈🙈 And I normally wouldn't have started it amongst my spooky October reads but my husband and I had a deal and I had to fulfill my end. So only reading snippets until November. Also - PUMPKIN MUFFIN 😍😍😍

Started this one yesterday! Don't know how I feel about it after I learned the author is cis straight and white while writing about gay black men, but I'm already committed to reviewing it.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF FALL FROM MINNESOTA, BITCHES

My plants all died bc Minnesota cannot make up her mind about the weather but at least it makes for better creepy reading vibes this morning!

Here's Pond enjoying my bookshelves. I cleared her a spot on one and hung a blanket over it and she snubbed me! And Gil is honestly no better. I've created an instagram account just for them @ pond_and_gil if you want to see just cat photos haha #catsoflitsy #littenkitten

Such an important read, especially given what's going on with tearing down the Confederate statues - we really need to rethink the history of the United States and do the work to change the white supremacist mindsets many have here. I realize I am complicit in it but am doing my best to read, learn, and amplify voices of color ✊🏿✊🏻✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼This is an excellent read so far and gonna be one I digest for the rest of this year.

EEEEEE! Y'all my review is #1 on trending BookPage reviews right now!! Hollaaaaaa #holyshit #published #bookreviewer

Today's another bittersweet day, as I'm normally at the studio for my letterpress internship but it's over already :( I feel sorta lost, as my new job isn't giving me a lot of hours and I'm trying to figure out how to still be a printmaker! Life changes are hard, but at least this quiet season is happening during my favorite real season haha. So I'm at the library learning about techniques to keep my mind busy.

I tried picking this back up at a coffee shop the other day (I finished part one back in February!) but I was dismayed that I have to basically start over with brand new characters -- so confusing! Now i feel like I'm in a slight reading slump. Should I just take another break and start on a new horror novel?

The other day I had a revelation that pretty much my new fave holiday/season is approaching and I'm so not ready to give you spooky book recs yet so here I am preparing! 🎃I read the first story in bed last night and it had me SHOOK. So good. Featuring classic and modern stories from E. Nesbit, Edith Wharton, Ruth Rendell, Rudyard Kipling, and many more. Also THIS COVER 💀🎃🖤 #spookyreads #halloween

Exploring Stillwater, MN again but this time with books in hand and no real agenda. Andy is obsessed with the Wise Man's Fear right now so he's actually the one pushing me to stop and read. And I'm in a mini reading slump right now so working my way through this Dillard collection ❤️

From the recent WHAT WE DO NOW and feeling more timely than ever :( Practice self care but don't forget to contact your reps about DACA! This book is also a great read.

yesterday was #readabook day but because that's every day for me I was just busy getting ink on my hands all day instead of photographing these beautiful new backlist arrivals. You can't see it, but there is NO room on the shelves for these babies, but I don't see that stopping me any time soon💁🏻#tbr #tbrstack #shelfie

Been a bad day but I'm gonna fix it with this.

Weekend at the cabin and I FINALLY got to some action in this book 📖

Reading this as part of the Read Harder Challenge. Haven't done YA in a LONG time. Hope I can stick with it!! I like it so far.

This was an indie gem from DoppelHouse Press that I'm reviewing for the Riveter Mag next month! Minnie Panis is a conceptual artist in Amsterdam who feels stuck in the cycles of life... but she finds out there might be a good, mysterious reason why. Very beautiful prose! #ARC #Galley #Galleybrag

Taking a break from cleaning/organizing the apartment to check out this library find!

This road trip is so long I've already skimmed this whole thing! There was NOT much about doom and gloom and the myths and legends I wanted to read about the eclipses of ancient days, but I did learn a lot of science and about eclipse tourism! Maybe I'll become an eclipse tourist haha. We're about an hour away from Lincoln and stuck in traffic now, but at least the excitement is REAL Y'ALL 🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕 #eclipse

Heading to Nebraska for the eclipse with @OutlandishLit 🙌 Anyone else road tripping to see it?? #eclipse

Throwback to last weekend! I have an extreme weakness for ghost story anthologies, especially if they're local to the area I'm visiting or live in and no matter how cheesy or bad they are! I should find a pic of all my anthologies... in the meantime, enjoy Lake Superior w Duluth in the background 😍

Got another #bookhaul today! Excited for these and three of them I got on the sale wall! #booksellerproblems

My weekend up at the North Shore of MN was way too short! I want this reading view back 😭

Today's the Uptown Art Festival and here I am hiding in the breakroom balcony eating cheese curds I snagged right outside. Win! #booksellerproblems #indiebookstore

This is what I was attempting to do for self care... if my cat wasn't yelling at the top of his lungs for food one hour early. Someone's hungry!!

When in doubt about book shelving dilemmas, read! Wish this could be the model at the bookstore bc right now we have sooooo many books that need to be shelved. Slowing working at it tho #booksellerproblems #bookwormproblems

Decided to alphabetize the shelves and now there's not enough room on the last (ARC) shelf for everything! Trying to cull and even that is not helping 😂We wanted to wait until we move to get another shelf but I'll have to come up with something...

I wanted to give you a close up of this gorgeous old book I found. Can't decide if I want to use the pages for art projects or just have it be beautiful on a shelf. 😍😍😍 #oldbooks

Alright alright. Onto more positive things and no. more. crying. (This month has been REAL, ya'll, excuse me for not holding back at times on here). This is a stack of all the dollar books I've brought home in the past week or so! #TBR #TBRstack #sale #whysalesaredangerous

Gil is seemingly better but his stress condition makes him more neurotic than ever, lashing out at someone one minute and being an angel the next. Is this what parenthood is like? It's what my parenthood feels like: unconditional love that is not always easy. Life is definitely not easy w this guy. Good thing he's so cute! #catsofLitsy #littenkitten #catmom #catconfession

#24in48 was an epic fail for me. Had too many parties I had to be at and also felt pretty sick all weekend, which hampered my reading. I'm not gonna even tell you a number because it's embarrassing! Haha. I'm reading now though! @24in48

Had a rather long interruption from reading today in the form of a housewarming party at my sister's, but I'm back at it and onto Vol 4! #24in48 #24in48readathon @24in48

And the #24in48readathon has begun! I made strange choices last night and was up until 2:30am NOT reading so here I am just getting started with Meddling Kids (not pictured) and a brush up on Saga before I continue the series! #24in48 #readathon @24in48

Diving in on the eve of #24in48 Readathon! @24in48 #24in48readathon