Welcome to Litsy!

I‘ve read most of the ‘Harwood Spellbook‘ series because of LibraryThing book bullets and loved them. I borrowed ‘Masks and Shadows‘ by Stephanie Burgis because I couldn‘t find the series initially. I‘m less than a quarter way in but it‘s not scratching my itch. So far it‘s looking like a historical fiction with developing elements of paranormal fantasy.
I shall persevere for now. Let‘s see how it works out ...

Haydn‘s a character in MASKS AND SHADOWS, so I dug through my massive Webster Library album, found some of his work, and listened to it while I read after supper.

Tonight‘s supper involved a new book and a bowl of red curry noodles.

I wish I‘d gotten to MASKS AND SHADOWS a lot sooner than this. The first forty pages set up one of those gorgeous historical fantasies with lots of players whose stories layer atop one another in all sorts of great ways. It feels kind of like Ellen Kushner in 18th century Hungary; ie, like a very good thing indeed.

Made my last library haul for a while. All branches are officially closed as of tomorrow, so there was a HUGE run on the place soon as it opened today. The parents all grabbed dozens of kids‘ books. I went for two manga series I want to catch up on, one random omnibus, some Buddhism, and one novel. I actually have an ancient ARC of MASKS AND SHADOWS, but it‘s a PDF and those are annoying so I decided to grab the paperback while I could.

#Masked for #AprilBookShowers - one of the titles that I've had in my Kindle for a while but haven't had a chance to read it yet.

#BookandDessert (baklava and other Mediterranean desserts)

Excellent book that's title would make a great band name. #marchintoreading

This book has a lot of things that are literary kryptonite to me: historical setting, opera, masquerades, and people dying in strange ways. Sadly it lacks focus. If some of the plots had been cut out and the whole thing tightened it'd be AMAZING.

Full review here: http://wp.me/p21txV-tJ

"Not the sort of fun...that doesn't care whom it hurts." No, very much not the kind of fun I like to have, having been the butt end of it at various points in my life.

As true in the 21st century as it was in the 18th. Some things, sadly, never change.

And that right there is the problem with the Enlightenment movement: its major proponents tend to stop short of implementing policies that'd reduce the nobility's power.

Now that I'm in the review phase for HEX, I decided to pick this up so I could distance myself from all the creepiness of my last read. Also who can say no to a masquerade ball? Or an opera, for that matter? I certainly can't!

Very enjoyable period piece about an era and part and time of the world I knew nothing about, plus a dash of romance, a side dish of intrigue, and sprinkling of dark magic. Plus: opera! Castrati!

What a gloriously fun read! I loved this fast-paced, swooningly romantic historical fantasy. Can't wait to read the next!

So excited to have time for this one!

I loved this book! Stephanie does an amazing job of capturing the feel of an era with so many social constraints and inequality both between the sexes and the classes. Then she weaves magic and music into the story until you feel like you're in the middle of a glittering opera.

While I feel like this is a very well-constructed story, it unfortunately just didn't wind up being truly impressive. I liked the setting, and thought the plot and characters were okay.