Welcome to Litsy!

Many might not know his name, but may have heard his voice! Simon Vance has narrated many an #audiobook from the Temeraire series to the Aubrey/Maturin series to the Dune series! His voice is grand in style, comfortable in both male and female voices and dialects. When I listen to his stories I‘m transported inside the narrative thanks to his voice.

His in-house recording studio burned along with his house in the Eaton, California fires. ⬇️

HAPPY #BOOKSPIN DAY TO ALL WHO CELEBRATE!

It is my favorite day of the month and I am excited at what the draw has picked for me. It's nice that this month there's fantasy and scifi rather than just one or the other. My selections are the tagged and Red Mars. We'll see how far I get with my backlog this month as well.

Starting this series again as I stopped 2 books in the last time. Enjoyed this as much as I did the last time.

This was the first book I got for kindle, back in 2009. It was free & languished on my TBR list until the Napoleonic prompt from #bookedintime. FINALLY read this. The Napoleonic Wars with dragons. Great world building and I‘m totally invested in finding out what‘s next for Temeraire. I‘m on a roll reading books with great dragon characters. Next up is Yarros‘s Iron Flame.

I hope #serieslove2023 goes to 2024. I keep adding new series! 🤦‍♀️

2.5/5⭐ I liked the bond between Laurence and Temeraire, and the humor at the expense of Laurence's propriety. However, I could not get into the main plot of the war. #roll100

@BarbaraBB Here's my ATY progress! Screenshots are of prompts I've got left to do, with ideas.

I have a really short attention span until a book hooks me, truly i do, but when i say following this book (and the rest!) i will never hear 'I have an Idea' the same. Perhaps the most accurate short i can give without spoiling the entire series is that that phrase and draconic independence and pride are the motivations for everything not done by their exasperated and loving caretakers. Read/listen with no one nearby to hear random cackles.

Definitely a good sick day read! This is a fun fantasy adventure, the Napoleonic Wars with dragons and a big helping of comedy of manners. Actually, something I notice in a lot of Novik‘s books is one or more characters totally missing the social rules and the main character seemingly helpless to explain them—it annoyed me in Laurence more than in El. But I certainly loved Temeraire and I‘m looking forward to the rest of the series!

#bookspin#12 His Majesty‘s Dragon
#bookspinbingo 3 #April2023

I lived her writing in the Scholomance Trilogy and want to give this series a shot!

Naomi Novik does it again. I laughed, I cried, I jumped for joy. I've never been particularly interested in the Napoleonic wars, but now I might have to put in a little research, even knowing Temeraire might not be mentioned... ;)

Do you ever read a book that you actually enjoy, but then want to spend time whining about? 😂 This is one of those books for me. It's definitely a pick and I will definitely be reading the next book, but at the same time it had several things that irritated me. The biggest one was the lack of relevant dragon-related information. The little “excerpt“ from a book in the back was not enough to help me sort through literally at least 20 kinds of ⬇️

Is the #WeeklyForecast looking unrealistically optimistic? Of course it is! I love having the windowsill stuffed! 😂 October books are IN and that tiny bit of extra space I had is now but a memory. The post-it notes that you can't really read are my Kindle books on the left, and then three sheets that are my #Scarathlon #BookSpinBingo books that I'll be mixing in with my other stuff, but since I do actually want to be able to kind of see out this⬇

I've done quite a poor job posting my goals for readathons lately, so I'm going to try to do better this month!! Hoping to hit 1000 pages for this readathon, but we'll see what happens!! Work continues to be crazy, my sister is moving, and Grandma is still in rehab... however, I'm going to get my oil changed on Monday, so that should be some nice uninterrupted reading time. *fingers crossed they're running behind* 😂

@Andrew65

Binge-read all 9 books in this series-mashed up Richard Sharpe, Hornblower, with dragons! Not just action adventures but also points made/ questions raised and integrated on colonialism, white privilege, racism, misogyny, sentience.

#SeriesRead2022 @TheSpineView #AuthorAMonth2022 @Soubhiville

Dragons were apparently just what I needed this weekend. 😁 I really loved this one. I'll admit, some sections got a little repetitive, but the connections between the dragons and their Captains kept me engaged.

There's also lots of action and battle scenes. I'd love to learn more about the history of the dragons, so I'm excited to continue the series and see what develops.

#AlphabetGame #LetterT
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The Temeraire series features DRAGONS! 🐉❤️ And look how cool of a picture it makes when you line up the spines! 😍

Nope! I‘ve been looking forward to getting into bed with a book all day & I just can‘t read any more. Disappointing!!! I loved the beginning. Dragons, the Napoleonic war, beautiful writing! Then the doldrums hit! How can dragon school be boring? When you spend too much time banging on about the dragon bathing, eating and having his harness on and off again! Arghhh! I kept waiting for something to happen?! #authoramonth

I wasn‘t sure how I‘d feel about His Majesty‘s Dragon since I‘ve had mixed feelings about Novik‘s past books.

I really liked this though! My favorite part was the bonds between the dragons and their human Captains.

I‘m glad I found this used volume that has the first three books in it, and I‘ll continue with the series.

Good call voting in Naomi Novik #authoramonth readers! (The Scholomance series is still my fave though.)

Early morning cuddle-reading with Igor 💜.
#AuthorAMonth I‘m really glad I picked this up and that Novik was voted in as an author this year! I am about halfway through and totally in love with Temeraire and Captain Will Laurence. If the whole series is like this I‘ll read it all. 🐉🐲🖤

I can‘t believe it‘s already that time of the month again. @TheAromaofBooks has posted the #BookSpin reminder so here‘s my list. New to the list this month are the tagged and Ship of Magic. I‘m excited to see what the draw will be.

This was my #doublespin pick for January. I also used it for my Legacy prompt for Orilium: Gear Up.

I‘m at least intrigued enough to continue but it wasn‘t the best book I‘ve read recently.

#bookspindoublespin #orilium #oriliumgearup

@TheAromaofBooks

I loved this book. Captain Laurence captures a French ship during the Napoleonic Wars. On board is a dragon egg that is ready to hatch. And when it does the dragon, Temeraire bonds to him and thus enlists them into His Majesty's Aerial Corps.
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#BBRC #YeahBaby #DragonFantasy @LibrarianRyan
#WickedWords #Luck @AsYouWish
#TheSupernaturalYear #Moose/Squirrel @AkashaVampie
#Pantone2022 #Poinciana @Clwojick

This was a delightful fantasy adventure story. A naval officer becomes linked to a newborn dragon and their military adventures. I think this is YA? It is very sweet and would be a great first fantasy read if you want to try the genre. 4⭐️
#ReadHarder - Recommended by a friend
#PopSugar - Book by author I read in 2021
#19822022 - 2006

#WeekendReading

My current reads:
🎧His Majesty‘s Dragon 80%
📖Amari & the Night Brothers - just starting
📖The Worst Guy - 63%

I didn‘t post my list this month but here‘s what I‘ll be reading for January‘s #bookspindoublespin

Bookspin: Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery

Doublespin: His Majesty‘s Dragon by Naomi Novik

@TheAromaofBooks

Really cool covers with an amazing flowing spine design!

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Dragonheart

A book loving dragon! What's not to love about that, I ask you. Yet there is so much more to love in this story. Great prose and awesome characters, action and of course dragons. Enjoyed it all and look forward to seeing where the next book will take Laurence and Temeraire. 4⭐

#sundayfunday in Monday because I forgot yesterday. 🤦‍♀️@ozma.of.oz

🐉Tagged. This book has been on my TBR list for a long time.
🐉 What if Christopher Columbus found South America.
🐉I prefer a positive outcome.

Now this was a hoot! Imagine the Napoleonic War … with dragons! Add in Novik‘s prodigious writing talent, and you‘ve got a great read.

In a naval battle, the HMS Reliant captures a dragon egg. When it hatches, the young creature chooses Captain Laurence as his caretaker and handler. Together, they join the Aerial Corps, learning combat skills, and fighting battles with other dragons protect Britain.

I‘m hooked and will now read the series.

March #doublespin done! (I'm slowly catching up...)

I loved this! Napoleonic war + dragons = right in my wheelhouse. And I knew that all along, so why did I leave it sitting on my shelves for years?! Ah well, happy I've gotten to it now.

#seriesread2021
@TheAromaofBooks @TheSpineView

🎧 An alternate reality where there‘s an “Air Force” of talking dragons fighting during the Napoleonic war … YESSS!

I‘ve only read a few dragon books & found them to be boring. This one is sweet.

Captain Laurence accidentally bonds with a newly hatched dragon liberated from a captured French war ship. He can no longer be a captain, he‘s now responsible for a dragon. A dragon that talks within days of being born. A special dragon.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 👇🏻

I was on a long trip & this series turned into my beach read. I first I thought it was YA but even tho there are dragons the issues & conflicts are not simple or unsophisticated. I had not read fantasy lit since high school, so there...

July #bookspin

#WyrdAndWonder (belated) day 21 | fantasy in translation

Embarrassingly, I don‘t seem to have any fantasy translated into English on my shelf (SF? Sure. But it‘s not SciFiMonth)

Erm, have two fantasy books translated into Dutch that I bought to brush up my rusty language skills, and I‘ll go update my wishlist…

Sigh, I didn‘t like this one. Maybe because it‘s so different from her other stuff. I just found this one really boring and dry. I keep trying to read dragon books and I keep not liking them.

#MarvelousMarch
Definitely won‘t be continuing this series.

Oh my gosh @Avanders everything is awesome!!! Thank you so much for these happy books & goodies - I'm especially excited about the tagged book & am in love with these coasters! Also LOSING IT because we both swapped coasters & candles! 😂 Thanks for hosting this super fun #HappilyEverAfter swap @Chrissyreadit !!

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

My next audio book.

#fantasy #dragons #book1ofseries #alternatehistory #teremaire

Loving this book, but I love dragons so it helps

I know next to nothing about this stack.

Any suggestions on where I should start?

#unreadandontheshelf

Day 8 #20days20series
Set during the Napoleonic wars, but with dragons!

The Napoleonic Wars WITH DRAGONS; it's also much more. A navy man well established in his career has to give it all up when he bonds w/ a newly hatched dragon & is forced into the British Aerial Corps. He must contend w/ many of society's rules being upended. (Some of the dragon riders are WOMEN! 😱 And that's not even the worst of it!) It's funny & thrilling & touching because most of all it's about a man & his dragon.
#20series20days @Andrew65

An enjoyable read. Was disappointed at the start because it just wasn't what i expected. Temeraire is a great character. Will eventually get around to the other books.

#jubilantjuly @Andrew65
Book 3 ✔️
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks
Square 17 ✔️

The short of it: talking dragons—yay!

The long(er) of it: There was a lot of scene building, relationship forming, character building, etc. I suppose this is reasonable for the first in a series. I don't know if it was enticing enough for me to continue reading the series. There is some appealing humor.

There‘s a lot to like in Novik‘s debut (way back in the day). The worldbuilding—Napoleonic Wars WITH dragons—is fantastic, the dragons themselves are equally wonderful, & the writing is really very good, particularly in a debut. It is also true, however that really very little happens. This book, the first in a series, takes its time introducing the world, & the characters before launching into the first real action. A good start. I‘ll read more.

If 2020 was going according to plan—😂😂😬😂😂—my son & I would be in transit (at this very moment) to Israel to spend the summer excavating a Roman period village. Of course, nothing is going to plan right now...In the spirit of reading only what I already have or can carry with me as I do when I excavate, I‘m going to focus on working my way through my TBR stack—starting with the tagged book. No new books except for preorders & comics. (Ha!)

Now I want my own sweet clever dragon friend! The friendship b/t Laurence & Temeraire is one of the loveliest I‘ve ever read. Really liked how they came to rely on & care deeply for each other. Temeraire was done quite well too. Glad he spoke like a regular person rather than baby talk or Scooby-Do “rut roh” talk. And he has a personality! Or a dragonality! Battle scenes were less interesting but I‘m super eager to continue the series! 4/5 ⭐️

Temeraire has seemed in most respects mature straight out of the shell, and ever since hatching he had been drinking up knowledge of the world with such enthusiasm that the gaps in his understanding were vanishing with astonishing speed. Laurence no longer thought of him as a creature for whom he was responsible, but rather as an intimate friend, already the dearest in his life, and one to be depended upon without question.

💗💗💗💗💗