Welcome to Litsy!

3.5🌟 #seasonalcozies @julieclair August 2024
The title and the cover art made me think of back to school and all the books.
Great characters, but I was disappointed in the setting. I just didn't feel enough of the Scottish vibes.

#StoryGraph: fiction mystery lighthearted mysterious
304 pages • first pub 2016

A cozy mystery, about book, set in Scotland — How could I not love it? 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

“Never an adventurer, no one was more surprised than Delaney Nichols when she packed her bags and moved halfway across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland to start a job at The Cracked Spine, a bookshop located in the heart of the city.” ~ Publisher

It just won‘t get started and I don‘t think I‘m interested enough to try again later. DNF.

Keep your expectations low for this cozy mystery. Read my brief thoughts here: https://debbybrauer.org/#the-cracked-spine

Moving right along…

I quite enjoyed this cozy mystery set in a Scottish bookshop. Delaney leaves her midwestern roots in search of an adventure, after loosing her job. She arrives but suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation amongst a colorful array of characters. 4/5 ⭐️

Good day for a cozy mystery with my cuddly guy 🖤🐾
#catsoflitsy

The closest used bookstore to me extended their hours for June -only on Mondays- which means I can visit after work now! This was my haul from today. 🤩❤📚

I‘ve enjoyed Shelton‘s Wild Alaska series and saw she had a Scottish Bookshop series as well, which seemed like a no-brainer. I love Scotland and bookshops, after all! But this is a dud. It takes forever to get going, can‘t seem to find a good tone, and just has some silly things in it. I‘m disappointed.

When all your library holds come in along with the March @BookPage , you read on a cold and rainy day.

I have to share my joy with people who understand. I started a new job and realized there's a library not 10 mins away! Guess who spent their lunch break there and brought home (maybe) too many books! ☝️☝️😂 #bookhaul #imighthavegonecrazy

This was on audio through Scribd. It was a 3.0 for me. I finished it, but wouldn‘t have had I been reading it. It was an ok.

An audio book. 3 stars. It was very cute but not sure I‘ll continue the series. Cozies aren‘t always my thing but I needed something to listen to during my commute. I cared enough to finish it!

This was a solid start to a new (for me) series. The setting is a bookshop in Edinburgh, and I can never pass up a good bookshop mystery. The characters were a bit confusing at times and there were some very predictable developments, but it was enjoyable and a quick read.
⛄️ ⛄️⛄️ of five. Another book read for #BookSpinBingo!

The Scottish atmosphere permeates this cozy mystery and the characters could step off the page. The mystery was a little meh but it was still worth a read.

Book #4 for #cozyinthesun . As an audiobook this didn't work for me as the narrator was a bit of a let down. I have a pet peeve when narrators can't do the local accents “correctly“ especially when it is set primarily in a particular place - in this case Scotland.
@ferskner @librarybelle

Lunch break. Enjoying this book so far!

Listened to this and it was ok, but I don‘t think I will be getting the next one.

An audiobook and crochet a good way to end the weekend.

1. Ulysses by James Joyce
2. The Harry Potter series
3. Too many, all the books...
4. Unbelievable-My Front Row seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katie Tur . 4
5 #annkuch13 , # BookishGirl06 #stillsearchingforCarmenSanDiego
#wondrouswednesday

Time to read a book THAT ISN‘T A COURSE BOOK. Final grades tomorrow. Breathing in to paper bag tonight. Apparently, my elbow is a good chin rest. #dogsoflitsy

Back at it!

@24in48 #24in48 #readathon #breakfast&book

Calling it a night. @24in48 #24in48 #readathon

8 hours
3.5 books read

1. Just started The Cracked Spine #book2
2. Ravenclaw
3. New Amsterdam
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain
#24in48 @24in48

I absolutely adored this book! The characters, the setting, the story...🥰. Delaney is a perfect main character for this book. I love the mystery, romance, history, and the books! I recommend this book to anyone and everyone who likes a mystery. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My reading buddies as I enjoy this mystery about books.📚🥰

Finished book one of the new year and starting on book two, tagged.

This cozy mystery had all the elements to interest me, a mystery, a bookstore, an amateur sleuth and Scotland, but just fell short. While I enjoyed the quirky characters, much of the story was too far fetched, not at all believable. I believe this is the authors debut so for that I give credit. I am not sure I will read the others in this series, at least not now. Overall 2.5 stars from me

Meh. Not entirely sure why I finished this, I didn‘t particularly enjoy the way the author portrayed Edinburgh or its residents. But I‘ve now got one book under my belt for #24in48 with nearly 5 hours of reading done.

9/13 for #13books13weeks

Why yes, I will sit outside with dinner and my book, thank you.

This book was a mixed bag for me... it was a definite first book in a series but it has the potential to get better and better as the series continues. I loved the setting and all of the secondary characters (I mean who doesn‘t love a Scot in a kilt!). Overall, a cute cozy!

We are celebrating our anniversary a week early, and had a fun weekend! This is how we ended our day today and all of these were bargain priced except the mystery. ❤️ (Books-A-Million)

My mom and are spending some quality time reading while waiting to go to a school event!!!

Ok, but I didn't like it enough to be a pick. I found the characters endearing, and the situation shaping up to be interesting as the series goes on. My main issue was with the MC. Likable, but too pushy and probing - going places and asking questions that were really none of her business - to the point it was rude and unreasonable.
The reader did well, but as @drokka commented, a speaker with a native Scottish accent would have been preferable.

#allthebooksof2017
#firstreadoftheyear
I forgot about this book! I didn‘t really enjoy it so it was an inauspicious bookish beginning to the year (but things got better).

This was a light and fluffy (well, as fluffy as a murder mystery can be) cozy mystery - perfect setting of a Scottish bookstore. The characters just weren‘t very well-developed - apparently it‘s the first of a series so maybe they get better?

Next up on #labsoundtrack - a cozy mystery!

#spinepoetry for #24in48

Simple little silly mystery with books and kilts. Perfectly wonderful.

And #bookhaul number 2! 😬 Two cozies, two classics, and one by Anne Lamott.

All I need from a good cozy is some endearing characters, and a smile on my face when I finish. This one delivered on both accounts. Who wouldn't want to run off to Scotland for an adventure? Delaney was a little flaky, but that didn't bother me. I really did finish this with a big smile on my face, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

The store book group meets tonight, so I get to sit in a corner and read while they discuss their selections. And I'm wearing my @outofprint HP shirt.

If there was ever a Job Ad like this I would jump on it so fast! Loving this book!

Finished this morning and I was glad to be done with it. I liked the feeling of evoked - sort of a Nancy Drew nostalgia, but the bumbling heroine being repeatedly rescued and also how annoying she was just didn't work for me. Plus it was just so pat - everything fell into place perfectly for her, she just happened to solve the mystery.. Finally, "whodunnit" was just lame ?.

So this isn't getting me closer to my "read non-fiction" goal, but I'm almost done with book 1 of my ? ? 2017 goal. ?

Not even fond memories of Edinburgh bookstores could keep me reading. Too twee! I bailed almost before the body.

Starting this cozy bookstore mystery tonight. I haven't read any of that genre in a while!

The story had potential, but the only characters I enjoyed were the taxi driver and his wife. Everyone else seemed to be their against their will. Now for a list of pet peeves:
American characters and their dread of 'driving on the other side of the road'. Seriously? It's no different, just a mirror image. Narrations set in Scotland should be done by a Scot, especially when only one major and one very minor characters are the only non-Scots.