Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m glad I read this all the way through even though I wasn‘t that into it, because the ending was the best part. Very creative and unusual. I just never really connected to Maire, and I felt like the world should have either been a straightforward, conventional fantasy world or a lot more wild. I never got a sense of the “surprising yet inevitable” (until the epilogue, which I would have been mad without)—just surprising.

I love when Google photos sends me memories of myself reading random books. I always try to remember what book I was reading based on the one page. Pretty sure this one is the tagged book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

What a unique spin on some old fairy tales! I love how this book tied in some of my favorite childhood stories.

I recommend this book to anyone looking to get into the Fall season. The ending was absolutely beautiful.

📚📖 Happy Reading! 📖📚

I honestly just couldn‘t get into this one.

About to start this one. It was on my tbr last year but I just didn‘t get it done

To start tomorow.

What a waste. These are hours I can‘t get back. I wish I‘d bailed. So disappointing—misogynistic baloney. Gah. I feel like I need to rinse out my brain.

For the Littens looking for a food related book for this week‘s #LitsyATXReadersSociety meeting, this might be an option for you. It was an ok book and a reasonably fast read. I don‘t find Holmberg‘s books to the kind that stick with you but, in the middle of a pandemic, I‘m not sure that‘s a bad thing. It‘s also available as an ebook either on KU or for 99 cents if you really want to buy it.

This pandemic situation is awful, but I sure am grateful for my sunny backyard. Loving this book!

Workday finally over... time to get lost in a fairy tale 😌

A very sweet start to my day 😏

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1) all four. I keep the favourites, donate some books, sell especially children's books, lend books to friends (sometimes permanently)
2) depends on the book - even with a good reading speed, some books are slow and I take breaks often, meaning I read other books in between
3) tagged. Writing and character development

I loved this! It started off confusing but I feel like I was just more in tune with the MC and added to the atmosphere of the story. I have yet to come across a Holmberg novel I haven‘t given 5 stars to! I think I‘m going to start her Paper Magician series next.

Day 4 #7days7covers #covercrush

Post a book cover you love every day for 7 days, no explanation required. Try to tag a litten to join in too.

@hes7 if you're interested in playing 😊

I got this book on Audible & truly enjoyed it. The story held my interest but the real selling point for me was the narrator. Very light but believable & captivating. I followed this book immediately by The Paper Magician (from the same author) & I had to force myself to finish it. I'll look for more from Ms. Holmberg, after I see what else the narrator has done.

Ugh - I had to force myself to finish this dull fantasy. The premise was cool and there were moments when I thought the plot might be going somewhere interesting...but it never did. It simply plodded from one unlikely coincidence to another. The world-building was gossamer thin, the whole tone of the book was sugary sweet, and the main character was bland and passive. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, fantasy fan or otherwise.

There were a bunch of free books in front of Sprouts, so of course I grabbed a couple. 🤗
#freebooks #score

So, I read and really enjoyed the Paper Magician series, so when I saw this one on sale I jumped on it. It has a little Like Water for Chocolate vibe, but more completely magical than magical realism, and it was just meh. I never really got invested in the characters, though the premise was interesting and the last two chapters were really good!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️OMG!! This was my 2nd read by Holmberg, and I am hooked!! This woman is an AMAZING story teller, blending the mundane & magical to create worlds that feel even more real than the one the reader occupies! Her characters are beautifully flawed, raw, & open! I fell in love with all of them, and want to have coffee with them and chat with them and live with them! I did NOT want this book to end!!

1. Current reads: Magic Bitter Magic Sweet & Howl‘s Moving Castle
2. Both of my parents were readers, even when I was very young & we were poor there ALWAYS books in the house. I think I was born with a book in my hand!
3. Any time I‘m awake!
4. Winnie the Pooh & his crew. So much more than a child‘s book; so much deeper & more profound than many characters in adult books. The secret to happiness lies in those 100 Acre Woods!
#manicmonday

Now up on Audio. I LOVED The Fifth Doll, so thought I would try another by Ms. Holmberg!

back at work and severely missing being curled up in a ball with the animals. fingers crossed I make it through my shift today. 😷🤒

Thank you sweet friend!!! @elkeo

I bake inspiration into specific flavors to make it easy for those who frequent my little bake shop to find what they need. Those with a taste for the olive oil cake crave strength, while those who come back for the berry tarts are, unknowingly, seeking wisdom. #bookquotes

Story with an interesting premise (similar to Like Water For Chocolate). Maire has a unique ability to infuse her baked goods with emotions and abilities. She has complete amnesia though, and figuring out who she is and where she came from forms the bulk of the book. The story gets dark really fast, and is annoyingly slow to develop. Ending felt a little rushed, and not well thought out.

Well, better late than never? This ARC had been sitting on my virtual shelf for over a year, sad to say - because I loved it! LOADS of love for cake, and just as much love for fairytales. But if you have trouble following mysterious storylines and tolerating amnesia suffering characters, then you might have trouble. HOWEVER! I truly loved it.

Get Shorty, Ghost Story, and Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet are recent #blue additions to my ebook hoard. Two were on sale and I‘m reading Ghost Story for a #lengthylit readalong (I should probably get started!). #30daysofreadathon

Pass. This book was super boring and inauthentic. I had no idea what was going on. I don't recommend.

Day 14 of #riotgrams. Boks that feature food. The magic in this book uses food!! It's so good. Pick it up!

Though the book is not boring at all, it is rather brutal and dark. Not that much of a fun read, but still an interesting story. Only the epilogue seems hasty and rather unexplained though in its events to be expected.

Sometimes a book is a quick, fun read. Sometimes that book makes you want to eat cake. I'm not talking like a dainty Weight Watchers slice of cake. I'm talking a Dwayne 'The Cake' Johnson size piece of cake. So tasty.....wait, what was I talking about again? (WHICH IS PERFECT BECAUSE MAIRE LOST HER MEMORIES...not about the Rock...he's not in the book....but if he was you best believe it would be called Magic Bitter, Magic dem Bulges)

I'm giving it a 3.5. I love the fact that it kept me guessing and that's why I finished it so quickly. It wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. Meh. I need to think about this some more...

Around a bend and over a bridge where all the people sleep and eat.

Hmm...this is starting out a bit darker than I expected from a book about magical baked goods... #mommyreads #audiobook #fantasy

Sadly, I'm with many others that this is not my favorite of Charlie's works. Paper Magician and Frost are comfort reading for me; they are great for when I don't want something challenging, and I want a happy ending. This one... just kept breaking my heart. Even once you started seeing how it was going to turn out well, it still stinks because other people had to hurt for that to happen.

i'm actually a fan of ms. holmberg, but this book came out as mediocre for me.

it started out with a really good premise: maire, the talented baker who can infuse her food with magic, doesn't remember her past. i love how the book revolves around maire discovering her past, but the story just felt too grand to be told in one volume.

on sale today on Amazon!

This one has a certain fairy tale quality to it that's helped along with references to actual fairy tales. Baking cakes with various qualities reminded me of some of the paranormal cozy mysteries I've read, as well as the Practical Magic movie. Midnight margaritas anyone? I was drawn in by the slight intrigue of a main character not knowing her identity and fairy tale magic component so it was a quick, enjoyable read.

I have always adored Charlie Holmberg's books. Every. Single. One. I always think, each time I read her newest book, "There's no way this could better than the last one. It's just not possible." And each time, I am wrong. This is, without a doubt, her best book yet. I could write an essay explaining how I feel, but I'll try to keep this as brief as possible, without spoilers since that's not...*Read more on my blog - www.ladywithaquill.com*

This is what my July looked like... Also, Australia won the 2016 Qudditch World Cup 🇦🇺🐨 (also rather happy with having read 12 books)

Does anyone else do the Reading Challenge on GoodReads?

I had to bail on this one. Not enough detail. Too YA for me. Continual use of "indescribable" as a description. Authors are supposed to describe the indescribable! That's their job and how we enter the world of the book. Here's my GR review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1670229992

My #TBRTuesday is a question. My TBR is hundreds of books long. (You get me Litsies, right?) I want to DNF on this because there are so many other books out there. It's just not detailed or interesting enough for me. Got it on NetGalley. What do you think?

I was a little disappointed by this one. The writing is solid and it's an enjoyable journey, just don't read too much depth into it. Full review at doddyaboutbooks.wordpress.com

I just love Charlie Holmberg's writing. This was a wonderful book, filled with magic and baking and mystery. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

From sneaky references to other stories that contain small moments of baking (like a certain gingerbread house in the woods) to the mystery of an amnesiac regaining her memory - and to characters that were able to be kind, in a world that often wasn't. One for lovers of fairytales! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spent my 4th of July drinking tea and reading Magic Bitter Magic Sweet 🇺🇸