A color-co-ordinated #camplitsy24 nomination for y'all:
⛺️Diavola - Jennifer Thorne
🏕️ The Morningside - Tea Obreht
🪵 Exordia - Seth Dickinson
🌲 Sociopath: A Memoir - Patric Gagne
Can't wait for the tbr explosion of the longlist!

I've been lurking and reading but haven't had the energy to post. So hello! Here's the list I've been reading off of this month. I'll be tentatively poking around at these challenges and buddy reads, as ever. 👋 #bookspin #roll100 #readyourebooks #naturalitsy #noplacelikeholmes #LitsySciFiBookClub

Newly transitioned, non-binary Sammie goes on a debauched bachelor‘s weekend for their best friend from before they transitioned. They contend with micro- and macro aggressions as they try to figure out if these relationships are worth saving - literally saving, as it turns out, since the weekend happens at the site of an apocalyptic cults‘ bid to awaken their eldritch god. So… lots going on. The part with the clones felt most thought-out. ⬇️

Princess Bride!
Also: Misery/the Shining, Hogfather, and Coraline.
I wonder if I can find Hogfather to buy on Amazon or if it still holds up 🤔

This is the second book I‘ve read this year that was supposed to be a spy novel but was really something else in spy clothing! I‘m giving the first a pass bc it was the first George Smiley and le Carre basically created the genre… but this book has no such excuse. This is a heist novel and it tries a little too hard to be Hollywood, even if it is a movie tie-in.

Photo is of a cow butt I saw in Denver for no good reason. Just thought it was fun…

Happy March #bookspin and # doublespin time! I'm in catch-up mode for #TOB and #LitsyToB and then I'll be looking into a few other rather-neglected challenges...

Making slow headway in February on many challenges, though I did enjoy the tagged book for #AuthorAMonth and downloaded a couple more Groffs to my ever-growing ebook backlog. She sure writes a lovely sentence, tho the book was brutal in parts.
Fav of the month: prob Rachel Incident?
I DNF'd my #bookspin (American Mermaid)
+ finished another of @vivastory #AuldLangSpine picks which was also fun (The Art Thief)
A good month!

I read it (how could I avoid it? It was fun, whatevs, will read the next...) but can now only think of Anne McCaffrey (rip), the O.G. of thirsty, violent people with psychic bonds to large flying reptiles. I dunno if all the Tairn/Andarna/Violet stans are aware? But they should go read The White Dragon immediately.
#popsugar24 about dragons
#52bookclub24 author everyone has read but me

This was a fun if silly Eldritch horror to listen to on a roadtrip. There were some clear Lovecraftian influences - my husband and I started counting the number of characters driven mad by existential dread - and the creatures were fun, even if the plot was predictable and the author was unable to reconcile the genius/everyman/tragic background tendencies of the MC. Could have used a good edit, and some checks on the underlying physics.

Today brings you a tale of 2 #toblonglist titles because for both I found the MC to be extremely relatable… but for the tagged, this meant the 20-something self-involvedness & resulting life implosion was cringe but i rooted for her; & yet the American Mermaid mc is making me want to hide in shared shame and bail... Weird how that shared characteristic is affecting me so differently. Does AM get more fun, all yall who've read it for #tob2024?

Last book read in Jan was for #authoramonth and it rounded out a solid month of reading! I liked the simplicity bordering on mockery and the thoughts on literature and reading. When you next meet a novel-hater, this book has a quote for you to deploy at them. #52bookclub24 bibliosmia #popsugar24 self-pub
Most enjoyed reads have arrows, & of them Friday Black was my fav. 1984 gets a mustache #iykyk & I appreciate more having read it than reading it

Read (late as per usual) for @Mitch #goldenageofcrime buddy read in December. I think i needed to be a scholar of UK politics to even guess the killer, but i enjoyed the ride 🙃 somehow, the fact that politics was so divisive in the past as well as today is oddly... Comforting?
#52bookclub24 book cover w/o people on it
#popsugar24 set in the snow

I‘ve decided to use the #readyourebooks challenge in tandem with #roll100 since my roll100 list is so very long that ebooks that I bought because I was truly excited about them, and not just because they were on sale, are a bit buried. It was nice to go back through the list and pick out those much-anticipated titles that I‘ve been hoarding, languished forgotten on my kindle, haha. Let‘s gooo!

New month, new list! I did NOT do great at #bookspin and #roll100 challenges in January, lol, and I‘d like to do better this time… We‘ll see how I do while I try to keep on track with the #ToB and #LitsyToB lists… maybe I should join more challenges instead? 🫣

I managed to read only two books off of the generous #AuldLangSpine list from @vivastory - the tagged and Call for the Dead - however, this anthology is my fav read this month and I wouldn‘t be surprised if it pops up on my best-of-2024… The stories are all great, but I really knew I was in love when I finished the stories in the retail cycle; the way it went from zombie story to end with making connections in the modern world was breathtaking.

I liked the meditative aspects of this book and found I was enjoying it “in the background.” It set a mood, rather than told a story. Some of the memoir-y parts came off a little bitter, maybe, which didn‘t seem like it worked with the vibe? But also seemed pretty true to May, so I dunno. Based on everyone‘s feedback from the #NaturaLitsy and #Midwintersolace buddyread, I may enjoy May‘s first book more than this one :) Thanks, Midwinter team!

At heart, this is a book about the hustle from a morally ambivalent working girl trying to leave the life but it has some interesting subtext about classism and multiple plays on “staying afloat” that was clever. More interesting than pure hot girl problems would be on their own, anyway. #tob2024
Photo is of the Hamptons, which is where internet peoples say it is set, though I assumed Long Island? Lol. Less posh there, I guess.

I… honestly don‘t know. There were too many threads going in this book. #butwhatofthepitcher? #justiceforjulie 😬
#sundaybuddyread was enjoyable as always, though! @TheBookHippie
#Popsugar2024 set in a travel destination on my bucket list (south of France - oh, the foooddd!)
#52books24 chapter headings have dates

For today's #hyggehour I realized my new bibbed ski pants are basically a more mobile version of a sleeping bag blanket... With pockets. 🤯 where were these two weeks ago?! They will be making a reappearance next week 😉
In other #hyggehug news, Northanger Abbey is snarky! Good cozy fun.
#midwintersolace

This was entertaining enough to listen to when it was super cold and I needed a cozy distraction; I listened to it while crocheting this toy T. rex and together they were the perfect recourse for cabin fever. #litsycrafters
#popsugar24 neurodivergent main character

I haven‘t found an immersive read yet for this weekend so I‘m bouncing between these whenever I need a break. I‘m particularly enjoying the tagged anthology (thanks to the #auldlangspine list from @vivastory for reminding me that short stories are a thing) but it can be pretty gutting & the stories are all so different that I‘m finding taking a bit of time in between each is nice so they can settle in my mind before starting the next #weekendreads

A low pick for me. Something about this book was just too heavy-handed, maybe? Dunno, but I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else thought of it for #LitsySciFiBookClub

I enjoyed all the music industry insiderness and refs in this squeaky-clean romance from one of the creators of The Bangles. Lots of great lyrics and etc. as Easter eggs (even the title refs a fav Beatles song).
The romance part was fine 🤷🏻‍♀️

Probably better as a podcast, with interviews from other people.
In reading this for #naturalitsy I found the author pedantic + repetitive. I liked what I did learn, but mostly feel I read padding and strident reiterations. My takeaways: avoid emulsifiers, avoid artificial flavors/smells, trust yourself to know when something's bad for you. Me? I will continue to eat my fav ketchup chips... But will also pay better attention to ingredient lists.

Leaving my little hygge nest for #hyggehour
Loving the reminder to slow down and be cozy every Sunday with #midwintersolace though I‘m beginning to run out of my stash of Christmas chocolate… i know I‘ve not posted about it much, but I may have to keep this time on Sundays to reset for the week even after the group ends 😘

There's a scene from Bones that I recently watched where she punches a men's rights activist after he says she should be muzzled, and it's super clunky, and so despite agreeing with the sentiment, I watched the scene fairly dispassionately. 1984 comes off much the same. I can agree with the warnings and find value in the message, but still come out of it without really caring what happens to Winston. Let's see if I feel the same about Julia.

I liked Bourdain. I liked him best when he was slightly uncomfortable in a new place, but still bringing his considerable charm to bear in making his hosts at ease & part of the joke (& never its butt). This book has much of his charm, and only a hint of the travellust. I don't agree with it all (I've done fine in a dif testosterone-poisoned career so doubt women can't make a kitchen their own too) but the charm kept me happily listening along.

I think this novella was a #blamelitsy pick after seeing it on a number of best-of-2023 lists on here. And it's lovely. Sparse prose where the love can shine clearly through. Love this cover, too.

Low pick on this #litsytob for me. While I appreciate the characters Kois has created and the way friendships are at the center of character-building, these people seemed to me to exist as a vehicle for Kois to show us Big Happenings of NYC in the 90s and early 2000s. However, It was a pleasant enough way to crochet my way through this T-Rex head and the boredom of a truly grossly cold weekend.

Ugh. I'm trying to reread this for Julia, but I just got to the misogyny chapter and my momentum is officially deflated. 😖 I mean, I /think/ it's part of the character and the commentary? But still.

My spy-kick from last year shows every sign of continuing into 2024. This 1st George Smiley novel started off strong but seemed to lose focus toward the end-It's a bit of a detective novel with spies in it,and could have used more spies lol-but I'm glad I read it and not just as a prelude to le carré's more famous novels. Smiley is an interesting character already, & I really liked Mendel and hope to see him in later books.
Read for #auldlangspine

Summary of Act 2 scene 1:
Ophelia: Dad, Hamlet is acting crazy.
Polonium: oh no, I must have given you some bad advice. Good thing I just finished giving parenting advice to Reynaldo so I can devote some time to telling the king what to do about Hamlet. Man, but i can be a blow-hard sometimes!
"By heaven, it is as proper to our age
To cast beyond ourselves in our opinions
As it is common for the younger sort
To lack discretion."

?

Finally put together January's #Bookspin and #BookspinBingo! It's been a long week, haha. I'm working my way through the tagged #AuldLangSpine pick, though, and enjoying it so far!

I found last year's ToB winner interesting, esp the way it made me think about talent thwarted by circumstance and outlets for frustration, the fact it was about two post-war French girls but was written by a woman who lived in China until she was 26, and written in English as a second language. It all made it feel very spare and deliberate. I'm glad #ToB2023 made me read it, though I don't think it was my favorite of that crop of novels.

After reading O‘Farrell‘s Hamnet last year I decided it was time to try re-reading Shakespeare, & Hamlet seemed the obv choice bc of 1) O‘s book, and 2) I've read it and enjoyed it in the past.
In any case, some of these more... throwaway? passages are resonating more with me this time, such as above. Maybe it's O‘s fault, but maybe there's some conflicted anguish-S railing against fate, telling himself to get over grief-that I didn't feel before?

In the hopes of charming you into overlooking my lateness on my points, @Clwojick here‘s a super fun knitting pattern. I accomplished 25,035 points for 2nd half #wintergames for #teamevergreen -I got a total of almost 53000 points over 20 books! Not too shabby.
Even though I'm terrible at posting I loved the inspiration to read lots of holiday books and lots of non-holiday books. Tagged was my last read of the year (bc Murderbot). Thanks, team!

Last minute #wintergames!
1. Tagged was my fav for December. Not the year, but I feel like I‘ve talked about that book elsewhere!
2. A Discovery of Witches
3. Haha, not this year. Covering my dogs ears when the fireworks go off?
4. Nah
5. There was snow! But only barely enough for my pup. He is a winter doggo, as you can see.

Both
Both
Champagne
Couch
Slippers

We usually hang with friends and watch a movie then one of the ball-drop shows. Or hang in pjs on our couch with our own bottle of champagne.

Happy new year, littens! #wintergames #teamevergreen

#12Booksof2023 Day 8: I guess I'm a sucker for an older lady pirate with a one-last-job trope and a wealth of Middle East history and mythology thrown in! My other top read for August was Chain Gang All Stars, but CGAS doesn't need me to put it on blast given all the end of year lists it's on.

#12Booksof2023 Day 7: I've been trying to lessen the overlap between this best of list and those for #auldlangspine and #Top23of23 but there's a couple that are on all three; this is one and August will be another. Vera Wong is just fun, and I feel like Sutanto really settled into a great balance of silliness, coziness, family, and meddling older women with her.

#authoramonth is a wrap for me! 🎉
I was not enjoying the first half of this one but decided to stick it out and I‘m glad I did. I liked the writing and feel of place, so think I may enjoy a different book by this author more than this one. Do any Morton fans have a particular fav I should try?
Thanks for organizing and hosting, as ever, @Soubhiville ! I love finding and trying new authors thru this challenge 💕

#12Booksof2023 Day 6: June was for comfort-binging Murderbot. Again. 😅

#12Booksof2023 Day 5: aha, i realised this morning I never posted this yesterday... And it's not because I didn't like it, but i guess i wasn't sure it was my favorite from this month? It is very sentimental, and VERY rooted in the 80s/90s NYC. However, it's a love letter from a daughter to her father, and given my own close relationship with my dad, and that I'm from the same decade as the author, I found it very moving. All the tears.

#12Booksof2023 Day 4: what a fun and low-key series. I probably liked the prequel more that L&L, but both were lovely.

Day 3 of #12Booksof2023 is for this audiobook, which was a hit for both me and my husband during a road-trip. It also sparked continued interest in Everest throughout the year, always a good sign!

#12Booksof2023 day 2: for 2023 I had intended to go through more classics and "classics" than I did, but I at least started diving into some classic mysteries thanks to @Mitch and the #goldenageofcrimeclub and I've really enjoyed the experience. I found this one to be particularly clever and funny, maybe esp for a debut, and look forward to reading the rest of the series.

January of #12Booksof2023 brought me this memoir of an abusive relationship. The way the author uses genre shifts really brought home for me the confusion and heartsickness of trying to figure out how something with such promise and which started with love could go so wrong. And so while the stats presented (much like in Chain Gang All-Stars, another great book read in 2023) made me feel sick, the prose and the craft of this book was sublime.

I enjoyed reading a story a day from this spooky anthology for #midwintersolace #naturalitsy 👻🎄
I think Lily Wilt was my favorite, it had a nice edge of dark humor, but in general I like the spirit of bringing ghosts back into the holiday season!

I keep finding new books to be excited about on your #auldlangspine list, @vivastory ! I have been on a spy kick lately and have never read le carre, so may take your lead to pick up a George Smiley book (but may indulge my idiosyncracies by reading Call for the Dead first). But the other covers pictured here are also speaking to me, so we'll see. I hope you also find something that speaks to you. A big thanks to @monalyisha for organizing 🥰

#midwintersolace cookbook pick: I‘m a sucker for any milk street recipe / pbs episode, but I‘ve had good success particularly using this book. I love the little tips and nothing is revolutionary but easy to replicate and delicious is nothing to sneeze at for me. And I almost always want to try them after seeing them made on tv! 📺👩‍🍳