I‘d forgotten how much I love Patrick‘s writing. It‘s just a taste rather than the many course meal I would like, yet it was still enjoyable.
From the endnotes it seems that he has frustrations or anxieties about his writing as well. I‘ll wait.

Informative. Funny. Improbable. Exciting. This was a blast to read.
If you are interested in the theft of the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci, Lisa Gherardini (the woman who posed), woman‘s rights, conspiracy theories, famous art thefts. Picasso, the invention of fingerprints, the Medcis, Gainsborough, the Borgias, monkeys, famous detectives, and fun illustrations…there is something for everyone in this Junior book. So fun.

One more.

The illustrations are so beautiful. I think the story isn‘t new; a lonely child meets an unusual friend but those visuals — totally amazing. ❤️

It always amuses me when an innocuous library barcode changes the ominous 😧 Stalking Ground 😮 into the more light and breezy 🎶 Talking Ground 🎶 . 🤭

Enjoying this mystery series which shows how smart service (and non service) animals are. 🐕

New comic for me. So far so good. 😊 👍 😆

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1) Night will find you by Julia Heaberlin
2) I‘m always intrigued when a psychic tries to help the police try to solve a case
3) Anywhere if I like the book. Just read one in space 👍❤️, one in MN 👍❤️, now I‘m in a retelling of Cinderella that is really good (Thief Liar Lady) 👍❤️. I‘ll go anywhere if it‘s a good book.

After bullying at school, Charlie and Eva opt for homeschooling, and go on the road exploring America. The first picture they post goes viral, making them unintentional influencers, providing a nice income. Finally settling at home, Eva goes missing. The police suspect Charlie. I read a lot of mysteries, thinking this was about a runaway, or an abduction…and then, it took a turn I did NOT see coming. I love it when a book surprises me. 👍🙂

The word unputdownable always makes me think of misadventure with super glue … ..
that being said, I read this in one day. When I woke up at 4 (cuz cats) rather than returning to sleep, I wondered: what‘s happening underwater now? And I had to continue. 😝 #catsoflitsy
Joe is blissfully ignorant of the drama unfolding just behind him. 🤣

Is it wrong to want “Starter Villain” just because of the cover? 😂 😊 😸
(Liberty Hardy Instagram preview)

A gentleman from Penguin used to come to our library and give the best book talks. He always humorously regretted they didn‘t become Random Penguin (instead of Penguin Random House) so I think of Penguin/Random with affection. And think of random penguins. 🤣🐧🐧🐧

@ozma.of.oz #Sundayfunday

Short review:
Just read this book Or Else. 😅😂🤣

(I really liked it.)

The author started this in a grocery store parking lot, by the time she was checking out she had a short story called “Godmother” which had things in common with but was very different from the book.
Readers online wanted to know about the woman with the bone dog…..and years later she wrote Nettle & Bone.
So satisfying. So inventive. I loved this book. 🦴 🐕

Litsy, Library Reads, Indie Next, Bookpage, She Reads, Crimereads, Pop Sugar, Book Riot…so many places. 😊

“A hidden passage inside a library?
Have you been reading my childhood diary and discovered all my favorite things?”

I found it to be a fun, light, magical read. 🪄 ✨

I started and finished on page one. Rayne looks out the window of her twentieth floor condo…focusing on the sway of palm trees outside the windows, catching a glimpse of coconuts at her eye level… I read it again. Huh?!
How tall were those freaking trees? 😳🤔😂
So I looked up palm trees and 20 story buildings…palms are 32-50 feet, buildings = 200. I scanned further but it just wasn‘t for me.
Yes, I was lured in by the Irish Setter.

Funny and dark and thoughtful.
Funny: weaponizing Bob, the rogue sourdough starter amused me to no end. Dark: a select group of people (wizards) were alienated, ostracized, and preyed on. Thoughtful: 🎶 War, huh. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing 🎶 This was such a surprise, so enjoyable, continually funny while making its points.
I think i might have to buy it now. 🥐🍞🥖

“Stories tell of children stolen away by faeries, replaced by look-a likes.
These look-a likes they say, could be identified by their strange speech or silence. They cried without reason or never showed any emotion at all, … Folklorists theorize that these stories were early descriptions of autistic children—proof that autistic people have always been here.
But once, they called us changelings.”

The virus was clever.
Blood, fluids, air. It constantly found new ways to travel.
The Elon f—king Musk of infection.
Reading this during a snowstorm in a pandemic probably influenced how I felt about this. Others will enjoy it. Just not me right now. 🫣

Hmmmm. 😆

😂 I enjoyed this.

The job interview questions (to work in the Royal Library) include: how quickly can she run, and, whether she strongly valued keeping all ten fingers. 😆
Having worked in libraries filled with grimoires that have various skills and are fraught with danger, Elisabeth joins forces with Nathaniel and his demon, Silas, to battle evil.
This was a bunch of fun. I can‘t wait to read the new novella to see what happens next. 📚📖😬📕 #catsoflitsy

This thing takes off and. Does. Not. Quit. Alaska. A hand and foot have washed ashore.
The story is told through three women: a detective, a teenager, and the woman with the moose. The city is accessed by a single lane road through a 2 mile tunnel and is basically a city in one building. The claustrophobia ratchets up when a blizzard blows in and blocks the tunnel.
Everyone has a secret. Everyone. (Not the moose, but he has a backstory.) 👍

The Sinister siblings solve a mystery at a gothic waterpark.

Sinister fun ensues.

This was so much fun to read. I‘m all ready for Vampiric Vacation (Book 2)

Who knew I would love a story about the adventures of a bunch of vegetables?
This was adorable. The story is amusing and I love the illustrations.
Guess that means I might need my own copy. 🤔🤣

If you‘ve never been stuck under the bed while your lover has sex with his wife, I suggest you skip it.

🤣 Just started…it caught my attention. 😆
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

A dog that nobody wants. A boy who wants a dog. (Boy, I hope they meet! 😉)
Forever Home is a love story in a lovely, wordless picture book.

I loved the story, I loved the illustrations, so I just put holds on more of Cole‘s work, including “Unspoken” which is about the Underground Railroad.

Not knowing what to expect, this was a fun surprise. It wasn‘t as dark as I expected, the main character was fun to follow and it got a bit twisty too.

#catsoflitsy Joey taking a break the minute I put the book down, like: ‘I‘m sittin‘ here!‘

“The Lowes did not tell their children monster stories so that they could slay them.
The Lowes told them so their children would become monsters themselves.”

Rereading the first book since the sequel is coming this week…and enjoying it again. 📖❤️😊

I really enjoy the Mercy Carr and Elvis series.
Although we just herd cats here at home, I‘m always fascinated by dogs, and how incredible they are.
Elvis is no exception and, as usual, he plays a big part in the mystery.
I‘d recommend reading these in order so you can meet everyone at the beginning.
The problem with racing to read the next in a series … is the wait til the next one. 🫤

I‘ve been a Rob Harrell fan since I read “ Monster on the Hill.”
This one is silly and fun and appealed to my (sometimes) adolescent sense of humor.

The kids are stranded in math class by Time Guy (when asked about his lame villain name, he said that Timekeeper was taken already) 😝
At one point, Carl‘s greatest fears are used against him and everyone says: that‘s adorable…. I won‘t spoil it but it really is.

Joey could care less about The Woman in the Library but I really enjoyed this book within a book.
I always think reading is like eating (both are necessary 😆) and sometimes experimenting with something totally different is fun. #catsoflitsy

A little bit Agatha Christie, with a dash of Scoobie-Doo…this was a fun read. It felt like it was open to a sequel; there was room for these characters to progress, especially the gang that backs up the leads. (I‘m a little tired of the divisions in the cafeteria trope but that might just be me. )
#catsoflitsy Pictured: Our little Molly

Granted, I started this way too late last night, but I hit this line and started to tilt my head, wondering…is he upside down? 🤣

I bailed because the direction of the characters made me pause to read some reviews. I learned a character I have previously liked wasn‘t much involved, along with some other things. Although I have really liked the Alice Vega books this one just isn‘t for me right now.

“I am the world and the world is me” and she was happy.
“She imagined other worlds exactly like her own.”
“What if we are all stuck inside walls, all scared of one another, never knowing we are just the same.”
I kind of loved the simplicity of this little book about a chick inside her shell wondering about the outside world.
#catsoflitsy. Molly (not blurry in real life)

I liked how the author played with ambiguity: Is the island a self-help getaway or a cult? Are characters actions altruistic or devious? Which parenting style is worse: controlling or checked out absentee? The story sucked me right in and had plenty of twists and turns.

Here‘s Joey when he stops moving. #catsoflitsy

“Watch out for ticks,” she called out. As they ignored her, she muttered, “Or get sucked dry of all your blood. Whatever.” A frustrated, suburban, very pregnant (once almost FBI profiler) mother of four gets involved in a murder. It had moments of funny, snarky humor and addressed issues of racism, privilege, and entrenched government, but I didn‘t love it. I thought there were plot holes and I just wished it was more. Might wow
someone else.

Hermes / Mercury was my favorite. God of communication, he was fast and clever, also involved with luck and thievery.

Last book I read was Giants of the Frost...a scientist goes to an isolated island and gets involved with monsters, hags, and some exiled members of Asgard.

I really enjoyed following Greer, a librarian who turns detective when a body falls at her feet (more like Trixie Belden than Nancy Drew) Hilliard drops book titles and authors, as well as quotes, among the clues which made it a lot of fun. When she talked about Friday closings when patrons are running in at the last moment for DVDs or how spooky it is when you are in the building alone when it‘s dark after closing, I could relate. 👍

“You don‘t know how badly I want to kiss you right now,” he finally says.
“You don‘t know how badly I want you to,” I say.
This wording always puzzles me ... do we assume they are longing for each other? Or do they want to miss each other‘s mouths and do a dog slurp thing? 🤣😝😂. Maybe overthinking it. 😆 #catsoflitsy Dexter, trying to nap...badly.

Quote: Clinton has said that, in the aftermath of the 2016 election, she found solace in reading Penny‘s novels (also Chardonnay). The two have been friends for several years.

I‘m in. 👍🙂

I‘m a third of the way in. People are missing. A storm is coming. One character suggests: we should leave, they‘re predicting 6 feet of snow.
Yes. Please go now! What are you waiting for? Jack Nicholson showing up proclaiming: Here‘s Johnny? Run. Leave. Flee!
Okay, they aren‘t leaving. I‘m going back in. 😳😬

In Those Who Wish Me Dead (movie coming out 2021) I thought I had never read such cold blooded, scary villains. Still thinking of the Blackwell brothers is chilling. Bloody. In If She Wakes Koryta introduced another Blackwell: Dax who also shows up in Never Far Away. I see what you‘re doing, Michael Koryta. 🤔 Darn you! 🤭 You are expanding the family business. 😬 Okay. 😐 Keep scaring me. 😲😝

#Whatif @Mavey

Fred Weasley. (Harry Potter). One twin makes me sad. 😢
Heathcliff and Catherine (Wuthering Heights) (even knowing that it was dark and dysfunctional)

Thanks for the tag!

Maybe getting flowers for Valentines Day isn‘t a surprise for some ... but when they come from your local grocery store with a thank you for being a customer on a sub zero freezing day... you bet we were surprised!
It‘s a pandemic and nice things still happen. 😊
Strange Love was a surprise too. It‘s a romance, it‘s science fiction, it‘s erotic, it‘s laugh out loud funny. 😆 Having a talking dog as a character was genius. 👍

1. Carefully place the book next to a sleeping cat. 🤞
2. Accidentally wake up the cat. 😳
3. Try to salvage the situation by quickly taking a picture. 📸
4. Realize Dexter yawning looks like he‘s taking a bite of the book. 🤣
5. Watch Dex wander away. 😯
6. Abandon photo op. 😂
7. If you want a fast paced thriller, Shiver was fun. 📖
#catsoflitsy

1930s Hollywood. Kate goes to live with her silent picture star Grandfather who she doesn‘t know, and is suddenly also thrown in with his assorted eccentric boarders. Teri Bailey Black name drops celebrities, references dance teams like Astaire and Rogers, and wraps everything around a mystery making this a joy to read for me. I loved the time period, the characters were well developed, and I can‘t wait to see what she writes next. 🥰

A poet‘s reflections (see what I did there?) on how his father would take him to the river when he had a “bad speech day” and tell him: “You see how that water moves, son? That‘s how you speak.”
And then he would watch the water bubbling, churning, whirling, and crashing. His father took him to the river so he would feel less alone, so he would connect his way of speaking with the natural world.
This is a beautiful book.

Happy Saturday 💙

RIP Rachel Caine (Roxanne Conrad). I loved your books. 😥