Welcome to Litsy!

I would be happy with almost any of these, and I have two full days of flying in April to pack books for. Excited! #bookspin

Even though this book isn't remotely vacation-y, I purchased it while on vacation back in 2003, and, for some reason, have taken it on almost every single other vacation I've gone on since then. July's trip to Colorado was no exception. I can't explain why I love this book so much, but I absolutely do and it's a complete comfort read for me. It's rambly and sometimes a bit ridiculous, so it's not for everyone, but it is one of my favorites, ⬇

2/5⭐ #roll100

Thanks for tagging me in #Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView !!

1. It kind of depends on the vacation, but roughly “a pile“ 😂 I tend to use vacation as a time to reread some old favorites, which I find relaxing.
2. Yes, I mostly read physical books in general, and I honestly love the way books seem to soak up the vibes from vacations. The tagged book has been taken on probably a dozen vacations. But I do take my Kindle for back up!!

I could be wrong, but I think this may have been the first book I reviewed on Litsy, back in May 2019, when I was on a different vacation! This is one of my favorite travel books & has come with me many places since I purchased it on vacation in Traverse City, MI in September 2003!

If you don't enjoy rambling, parenthetical asides, don't bother picking this one up. But I personally love the ebb & flow of this narrative & always enjoy revisiting⬇️

We are heading on vacation next Saturday and I have nothing packed but DO have a pile of probable books to accompany me! 😂 A combo of comfort rereads & a few new fluffy books I have been meaning to pick up. The tagged book was purchased on vacation in 2003 & has traveled with me ever since. Not sure why it's become a traditional holiday read for me, but it's definitely a fave.

On Mondays, I take pictures with an adoptable pet at our local animal shelter for #petsandpagesmonday! A retelling of the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, Spindle‘s End is by one of my favorite childhood authors, Robin McKinley, but this was my first time reading it! This comforting, gentle fantasy is a perfect read for Spring and for anyone who needs a little escape from the worries of our world. Read for March Bookland: Fantasy—green cover.

#TBRPile Day 5

Posting 1 unread (or book put into hibernation) per day for 31 days. No reason or explanation. Creating a priority TBR.

@StaceyKondla

Since May‘s #BookSpin is more like a try to accomplish as much as you can type of thing, I‘ve added to my list books in my audiobook “TBR” as well. 🥰

1. I love doing rereads of old favorites on vacation. It means I'm a lot more willing to set down my book and do the next vacation thing, & I also know that I'm not going to be disappointed in my choice! For some reason, the tagged book is one that has gone on a LOT of vacations with me ever since I bought it on vacation in 2003!
2. ALWAYS. Now that I have a Kindle, I load that up, too!

Thanks @TheSpineView for creating #Two4Tuesday !!!

Shout out also to the good/bad old days of the Canadian dollar being worth only 65 cents USD! 💸 lol

Here‘s the deal. This is 1 of the oldest books in my collection, bought for myself & read during my high school days in the early 00s. It‘s prob the only book I read during that time that I can distinctly remember having issues with, but I‘ve always wanted to give it another try bc I love Sleeping Beauty & the cover is gorgeous.

Today I finally tried again & got 27 pages in, having many of the same issues I did ~20 yrs ago.

Not doing this again.

If long, rambling, asides in parentheses irritate you, definitely avoid this one!! But this is an old favorite for me (as the book's condition indicates!!), and I thoroughly enjoyed the revisit.

I bought this copy on vacation in 2003, and it's become a book that travels with me on holiday almost every year. A bit battered, but the pages hold a lot of good memories - and a good story!

The magic in that country was so thick and tenacious that it settled over the land like chalk-dust and over floors like slightly sticky plaster-dust. (Housecleaners in that country earned unusually good wages.)

Pretty decent fairytale

I found some cool things at Goodwill tonight, including the mug! I already had Despereaux but not a nice hardcover version like this one.

I also found a book called The Sociopath Next Door but it just didn‘t look right in the picture. 🤷‍♀️😂

Only 18 pages in and already delighted!

Another couch day, between the snow and the kidney stone, and I'm still in the mood for fairy tales! At the beginning of the year, I opted into a challenge to read three books selected by a friend or relative, and this is the first of the three that I'm reading. 😁

I bought this used, the jacket was torn and had an old large unsightly sticker that wouldn‘t come off, so I did this. :P The metallic ink didn‘t photograph so well, but I can see it better in person. :)

It‘s a #riotgrams “freebie” day, so I chose a book that also fits #coolbooks “sleep” prompt! Love this retell of Sleeping Beauty! #fairytales #YAWednesday

April Bookstagram Day 21.
#StackSaturday •
These are books I‘ll feature more on tomorrow‘s challenges. Heehee. I put all these challenges on Google Sheets so I wouldn‘t miss out on the prompts but lo and behold, I forgot about this until yesterday! 😅
•
📚#aprilinbooks18 & #bookstagramreadsapril •
Can you find titles of your favorites in this stack? Tell me in the comments and I‘ll tell you if I‘ve read it. (I probably haven‘t but let‘s talk! 🤗)

In some ways, this is a charming take on Sleeping Beauty. The story concerns itself with the faeries as people, and with the princess's everyday life. I like how it ended, too.

But HOLY HELL, y'all. This is the LONGEST 350-PAGE BOOK EVER. It approaches the climax at a crawl, dickers around for a while, and draws things out a few dozen more pages before it finally ends. To be honest, I resent the time I spent with it.

And I'm back to drinking free coffee at McDonald's, thanks to my dad's breakfast combo addiction. (He wracks up a lot of free vouchers he can't use because coffee's always included, so he passes them along.) This time I tried an Americano.

I'm on the cusp of abandoning this book. I'm not disinterested, but I CANNOT read it quickly and I'm frustrated with how much time I've already spent on it. Sigh.

I tried my very first double-double while I read some more of SPINDLE'S END. It'll also be my last because I got yet another Please Play Again on Roll Up the Rim. I give up. 😭 One year I kept winning free drinks off of free drinks, but counting last year this is my ninth dud in a row. Nope. I'll go back to drinking free coffee at McDonald's.

Fantasy has been a #constantcraving for me lately. Normally I skew toward fantasy but mix in generous portions of literary fiction, poetry, and graphic novels. But for a while now it's been ALL FANTASY ALL THE TIME. And I've been ravenously racing through book after book. So here's a peek at my bookstore's sci-fi/fantasy section.

#augustgrrrl

Time for book two! #24in48

#feistyfeb Day 10: #flowersoncovers

@RealLifeReading

Not many flowers in my collection. I was contemplating getting rid of this Spindle's End completely because I didn't enjoy it much the first time through. Have since decided to try rereading it and see if I appreciate it more as an older reader.

"If you loved it, you loved coming over the last hill before your village one day in early autumn and hearing the corn field singing madrigals..."
On that note, I'm off to dream land-nighty night Litsy!

326 pages in just over six hours to complete Alien Emergencies (well, latter half). On to Spindle's End! I have had this book for 16 years, and there has not been a time I have read it that I do not find a new aspect. A perennial favorite for me. @24in48

Robin McKinley always weaves such a beautiful fairytale. She has something of an old fashioned storyteller to her writing style. I can just imagine hearing this tale of Sleeping Beauty around a fire or as a bedtime story. The only downside to this book was the lengthy chapters. It felt as though it moved slowly and then the climax didn't feel grand enough to suit the build. Still, the romantic ending had me itching to pick up another of her books!

I'm only 19 pages in and I'm already loving it! Robin McKinley can really spin a tale and weave a magical world!