Welcome to Litsy!

This book had been on my shelves for years and I now finally picked it up. It‘s set in Amsterdam, where I live, in the 17th century, when we sailed the oceans and colonized countries and were a very wealthy trading country. That background is interesting to me, more interesting than the plot to be honest. But all in all a fairly good read and a light pick.

That was...underwhelming. So little was actually revealed that I might even pick up the sequel in hope of getting some closure. The ending feels extremely open and after 400 pages I'd like something with more substance to it. On the bright side, there was a lot of Dutch history, food and culture depicted.

Have been eating Vla pudding all of last week since they come in 1l packs😂

#foodandlit
@Catsandbooks @Texreader

J'ai commencé ma lecture sur le balcon, entourée de bruit, et je pense que ce n'est pas la bonne ambiance pour bien entrer dans le récit. Ma prochaine séance de lecture se fera au calme, sans distraction, pour que je puisse bien ressentir les émotions et la solitude du personnage principal. Cela dit, ma lecture reste plaisante et j'ai presque l'impression de sentir l'odeur trop présente du lys quand Nella se trouve dans sa chambre.

Went to the used book shop last weekend with a friend. Found these great little finds.

Book Tok made me do it!! No regrets! 10/10, would buy again!!

A re-read before reading The House of Fortune. I very rarely re-read, but enjoyed this much more second time around. I seem to recall being underwhelmed previously (Goodreads tells me it was 2015). Nicely sinister, a bit creepy, a great historical setting and some strong women sorting things out. It‘s also really quite sad. However I‘m left with the slight annoyance that the “who is the Miniaturist?” question is not satisfactorily resolved.

Growing older does not seem to make you more certain. It simply presents you with more reasons for doubt.

This took a long time to get to the point. Not a lot of answers by the end. Pretty well written otherwise, I think the character development and anticipation of something big happening kept me from putting it down

I read this years ago, but there a ‘sequel‘ out so I wanted to re-familiarize myself with it. So glad I did. It‘s 1680‘s Amsterdam, about a young wife learning the secrets of her new family & a mysterious miniaturist. I hope I get to learn more about the miniaturist in the sequel!

This one took me a long while to get into. I didn't find there was enough magic to be magical realism. There were some character developments that kept me going to find out what was next, and the ending chapters brought this up from a pan to a so-so.

There were a lot of things i liked about this book... the while premise was cool and the characters all grew on me. But i felt like i got no closure on so many aspects of the story. I don't even know what to think about it...

This novel has a lot going for it but it took 132 pages for it to finally make its appearance. Some events were interesting and engaging and other parts were not believable or needed. It‘s a good airport or beach read, but missed the mark for more.

I was unsure of this book at first. It Seemed to take a little while to get going but once it did I LOVED it! There were so many twists that I did not see coming!! I also liked how historically accurate it was, all the references to medieval Amsterdam are really interesting and I became so invested in the lives of the characters! #pick #theminiaturist

Alabama nights ❤️ oddly comfortable, temperature-wise for August. And I am enjoying the tagged

I finished my #bookspin book from June this month and really enjoyed it! I‘m glad I ended up getting to it this month. It‘s a bit of magical realism set in old time London and I enjoyed the dynamics of the characters and the story.

@TheAromaofBooks

I liked the look at life in 17th century Amsterdam. There are a lot of restrictions on women at the time. Also, you can be executed for crimes like homosexuality. 18 year old Nella travels to the city to begin a new life with her husband Johannes. It soon becomes clear to her that they have an unconventional family and the book details her struggles to adapt. The book is beautifully written and entertaining.

#MayCharacters
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

The young Nella is married to Johanne, a cold man that she doesn't know at all.
As wedding gift he gaves her a cabinet-sized replica of their home. It is to be furnished by a #misterious and elusive miniaturist, whose tiny creations mirror their real-life counterparts in unexpected ways...

Day 30

I appreciate the reminder from @TheAromaofBooks that the #bookspin challenge should be fun and that I‘m not a horrible person for missing the mark on my first attempt. Did you know she counts #bookspin books read after the selected month? A chance at redemption!

Have you found your #bookspin survey for May yet?

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter. I ate too many tiny Turkish Delight filled chocolate eggs but they were GOOD.

This book was good too. Really evocative imagery of 17th century Amsterdam, plucky protagonist and a mysterious family - and then the even more mysterious miniaturist whose tiny creations are too perfect and realistic. Great for those who love historic fiction, a solid 3 stars for me, ⬇️

Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, this novel is about choosing what to do when given the opportunity to know ourselves. Some characters turn away from themselves, some live their truth either out loud or in secret, and others are able to grow between the two. The PBS miniseries adaptation is mostly true to the novel, with some details and motivations modified, possibly for the sake of drama. It's all good, but I prefer how it is in the novel.

"Time has melted; the hours mean nothing when you can't keep hold of them."

I find this relatable.

Two new masks for each member of my household. It took almost a week to finish them for various reasons, but they're done and ready for adventures.

The Miniaturist wasn't next on my TBR, but it was available on Libby when I went to sew today. I really liked the PBS Masterpiece version, and I'm enjoying the book, but I kind of wish I didn't have the miniseries influencing how I picture everything.

This was SO GOOD. Loved the story, but did feel like the pacing was a little wonky. Really enjoyed it though! 4/5 ⭐

First read of 2021! I finished off 2020 reading 2 graphic novels (Nimona and Coraline) and then took a bit of a reading break. Didn't get as much reading done over the holidays as I had hoped, but I got a full set of new knitting needles that have been keeping me busy 🧶

Moving on to book two from the Book Barn haul. #readingeurope2020

Update: loved it! 👍🏻

⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3/5 stars) Not bad, but couldn‘t really connect emotionally with any of the characters. Also was disappointed not to find out more about the miniaturist in the end.

#bookmail #bookclub

It looks as if this got mixed reviews. This was this month‘s bookclub pick.

I originally picked this for #ReadingEurope2020 since it's set in Amsterdam, then I found out it was a #DebutNovel. It's a dark tale filled with interesting characters and their secrets. I listened to it from Hoopla and though the narrator was very good.
#ReadWithMrBook
 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @MrBook

Have watched the bbc adaption of this book and enjoyed it lots so hoping that i will enjoy the book just as much.

Weird yet wonderful! Not sure what I expected but this was definitely something different...

One of the books on my Reading Rush TBR for the stay at home readathon.
I bought this one only because the cover is so pretty like more than five years ago. I need to read it.

Also, I need a good recommendation for a funny book since that is the only prompt that I don't have a book for. Please recommend something short and funny; it can be a short stories collection, regular novel, graphic novel... Anything.

#aprilTBR #readathon

What an excellent, well-written debut novel! I‘ve had this book on kindle for ages but read so many mixed reviews, I just kept putting it off. I decided to read it for my Netherlands book for #ReadingEurope2020, but chose to listen to the audio from the library because it‘s read by DAVINA PORTER. 😍

It‘s fascinating to me that the author was inspired by a real dollhouse on display at Rijksmuseum, and Burton clearly did her research.

⬇️⬇️

Next read, after The picture of Dorian Gray which was good. Bought it at The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam where these amazing dollhouses were. Dollhouses also play a part in this story.

My aunt used to make miniatures and stopped a number of years ago. Or so we thought. Look what arrived in the mail for me last night. The whole thing could fit in a shoebox.

It‘s day four of #24b42020, and my mini reading slump is finally broken! Thanks to this audiobook and the readathon, I‘ve finally finished a book after weeks of trying various novels.

I felt this book was ok. I got sucked into the world and writing, and I think the author did a great job transporting the reader to the intended time and place, but the story wasn‘t as engaging. Usually I love magical realism, but it didn‘t work well for me here. I‘m not sure why.

Amazon has some great Black Friday Kindle deals going on! I picked up the top three all on sale today.

I am a sucker for history and historical fiction. This fit both. Beautiful and rich story. Great read.

#miniature #quotsysept19

I felt a little deflated after reading this... It felt like a very "Negative Nancy" kind of story line and then got worse! It held my attention rather well, but it didn't leave me feeling anything but sad.

It has a very unique plot, and well formed characters. It's also very thoroughly researched for the time period. I just wish there were more cause for joy. A happier finish... It seemed, to me anyway, that in the end everyone loses.

I found all of this, in the street, in side a rustic basket... It's great collection but sure I won't read all of them...
I wondering just the three firsts...
👄
Did you read some of them, in what, language? Tag me if you made a review...
#spanishreading #giveaway #readinggoals
Si estás en BCN-ES y quieres alguno de ellos, comentame en mi Instagram y quedamos para que te lo pase...

Not at all what I expected but rather enticing!

So my previous read was Signature of All Things.
This has some definite similarities... not at all what I was expecting.

Giving this a try...

Okay, so on the way to the bank I passed the charity shop. Only I didn't pass. I went in and this book insisted on coming home with me. I explained that I already had a huge pile of books that hadn't been read yet but it still insisted on coming home with me. After paying 99p here I am with this beautiful hardback book 😊

This book is set in #amsterdam and is a rather creepy tale... I enjoyed it but I‘m not sure it lived up to the hype and I didn‘t like the ending....

Thank you for a wonderful month of #wanderingjune Barbara and Cindy - it‘s been such fun! 😁