Welcome to Litsy!

I can't believe it's nearly time for the next #bookspin draw! Super excited to see what will be picked. New to the list this month are the tagged and Sunshine. I've been trying to list books that are on other challenges and I've hit the limit of physical books meeting both criteria so I've added my first ebook to the list this month. Should be interesting.

Anton is with the Night Watch, an organization of magically gifted beings who fight on the side of the Light; although there's only so much they're allowed to do, due to the treaty that maintains a balance with the forces of Darkness. I enjoyed this book until I googled the author, who's been virulently anti-Ukraine since at least the Euromaidan days. Very disappointing and surprising, given the book's humanity. At least I bought it at Goodwill.

Nightwatch has a great concept, but it doesn't have enough real tension. It's a lot of Anton wandering around Moscow with a repetitive internal monologue about the space between the Light and the Dark. I made it about 2/3 of the way through but don't feel compelled to read any more.

Lukayenko is a pioneer of Russian paranormal crime fiction.

If you like the idea of "gray Jedi," you will like The Nightwatch. A detente between good and evil means that beings with supernatural powers called Others patrol Moscow enforcing the treaty. It's a kind of bureaucratic take on light vs darkness, but there's plenty of action and suspense. It may be the translation, but the prose is a little flat.

One of the characters is trapped as an owl and it's giving me serious Animorphs flashbacks

Urban fantasy featuring wizards, vampires and shapeshifters, among others. There's not a lot of preamble, he kind of just throws you right into the world. But you pick it up as you go. I kind wish it was a bit darker though, but that's just my taste. #Screamathon @4thhouseontheleft

"It's life against death, love against hate...and power against power, because power has no moral categories."

"What's more important for maintaining the balance?" I asked anyway. "Giving me some operational experience or saving the lives of three innocent people?"

Been thinking about The Night Watch a lot lately. Loved the movie but apparently I DNF'ed the book way back in 2008. 😅 Maybe it's about time to give it another go? 🤔

Also, there are now six books in this series. 😯

This has a cool premise that ticks many of my fave boxes but somehow I was let down by it. I think it was a bit too dark for my taste. But the world building was very interesting! And the translation was good which is always a plus #translatedbooks Book 9 for #ReadingEurope2020 #Russia @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 203 #bookstoread #tbrpile #bookstagram

I finally reached my goal of getting my currently reading pile down to just five books!! Not that I expect this to last long😂But it feels good to finally reach this goal as I usually have around 10 books going at the same time and I‘ve really made an effort this year to lower that number📚

When your friend asks you how many books you own and you decide to go all in 😁

I use GR for my read books and my TBR shelfes, so I have a good overview over all the books I've read and those I want to read. But I do not have a single clue of how many books I actually stuffed into my real life bookshelf.

So, here we go. These are the top and part of the first board... I've got a long way to go...

#bookshelf

Good: Super inventive! Characters, plot, ideas— all were unlike any other paranormal fantasy novel I‘ve ever read. Loved the philosophical discussion of are good acts truly good and are evil acts truly evil; the balance of good of evil.

Bad: The ending wasn‘t as weird as I had hoped it would be based on the rest of it.

Overall: This book was quirky and so fun. Such an interesting read—I‘ll read the sequel.

Truth‘s always two-faced. The only thing we have is the right to reject the lie we find most repugnant.

One of the quirks of people who‘ve managed to find their place in life is that they believe that‘s the way things are to be. Everything simply works out the way it ought to. And if someone feels shortchanged by life, then he has only himself to blame. He must be either lazy and stupid. Or else he thought too much of himself and tried to “get above himself.”

Dewey‘s #readathon final update: I spent about 7 hours reading and finished The Haunting of Hill House. I also got partway through Night Watch, a Russian urban fantasy story featuring vampires.

Thanks to the readathon organizers! It was so nice to finally have a day to devote to reading and other book-related activities!

#russia #augustisatrip

Had this fantasy book on the tbr for a while - Rowling Russian style 😁

Turns out I don‘t own a lot of books in translation - I‘ve made an effort to read more of it in the past year or so, but mostly through the library. I did find this Russian urban fantasy series, which I read before I minored in Russian in college. Always meant to go back and read them in the original, never got around to it. #foreignreads #readingresolutions

"Er trug nur leichte Kleidung, einen Anzug und eine kleine Pelzkappe, dazu aber - warum auch immer - einen Schal."
Entweder habe ich falsche Vorstellungen bezüglich der Pelzkappe oder Russen haben eine andere Art von Schal. Aber ich trage ja auch drinnen einen Schal. Typischer Fall von "Vampire und Hexen? Kein Problem. Komische Realität? Wtf?!?" ?

This #kindledailydeal is so on point! Night Watch is one of my fav weird vampire reads. Perfect for this time of year! 🦇⚰️🖤 Also this cover is great!

Ok, it's not Soviet era, but it's Russian vampires, and lots of good vs evil, so, yeah... 😎 Good fantasy series, with lots of interesting asides about modern Russian culture #backintheussr #rockinmay @Cinfhen

I thought I'd be able to get some reading done during the Super Bowl. Boy was I wrong! On the edge of my seat. Go New England Patriots! 🏈

#allisnotlost

#24in48 And we're off!

The book starts off and it seems a bit choppy/stilted but about 1/3 of the way in it flows much better. It has an interesting format, so don't let that throw you, the whole story is told as three separate stories. Good versus Evil, and how the Watches balance that in Moscow. And there's plenty of grey area in that fight. Standard supernaturals exist but they aren't a focus of the story. Good character development of Anton., and others.

I was sucked in! It's way past my bedtime and it's storming so a review will have to come later. I can't wait to read the second in the series.

I'm finding a lot of passages in this weekend's reading that resonate with me.

When @LectricSheep posted that this was on sale ad an ebook I bought it because it sounded like a good read. Littens, I have fallen off the #LitsyAtoZ quest that I was so diligently following. I won't be putting this down until it's done. Oh boy!

Russian urban fantasy set in Moscow for $1.99 on Kindle? Said to be Master & Margarita meets Philip Pullman?☝🏻Yes please! Heard about this one on the @bookriot Get Booked podcast! Sounds like a crazy, fun ride.

I haven't read this yet, but it's Russian and appears to be #setineasterneurope. #photoadaynov16

It's interesting to see the perspective that another culture brings to a topic that everyone, at some level, knows so intimately.

Lukyanenko offers the Russian perspective on life, death and the supernatural. The story, masterfully told, builds characters with enough grit to be compelling and realistic.

If you believe you know the vampire, werewolf, wizard genres, do yourself a favor and read this book. If only for a new perspective.

Lunch break. Outside reading and warming up. I need more hours in the day for reading.

That cover? That blurb? It's storming?!? I know what I'm doing tonight.

I'm going to come back to it!! It's got so many great social observations, but it's been a bear to get in to (one of those lovely Russian ones with the tiny vest and hat). I'm not feeling it right now so I'm going to temporarily bail.

"How did it feel to be an outcast? To be punished, not for committing a crime, but for the potential ability to commit it? And how did it feel for them to live...well, not live, some other word was required here...alongside their own guard?" (40)

So far a little strange. It is a book in translation, so I'm not sure how much of that is just me not being familiar with the rhythms and diction of Russian. Either way, someone wishes I would stop using her as a bookrest.

"It would have to be the Black Sea, not some faraway island in a warm foreign ocean: I like to hear the sound of my own native language around me..." (9) Not having to worry about losing the sound of your native language when you travel is a sure sign of privilege.