Vanished Birds | 
My #readingbracket2025 as of March 2025. Still battling a reading slump, so this post is very late.
I really liked the worldbuilding in The Vanished Birds. The prose was evocative and immersive. Not perfect, but a story I was quickly invested in. The ending may not be up to everyone's liking; it's kinda bittersweet.
“Any idiot can squeeze the trigger. Smart one knows most of the time they don't need to."
𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵,
𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.
𝘍𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘸,
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶
𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.
𝘐 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱.
𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.
𝘙𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘺.
The moment was done. It was already a quaint snapshot, ready to be discarded for more useful memory, stronger regrets.
…this is the history of our species, and the best we can do is win the tiny battles and hope for some sea change. The more I see, the more difficult it is to disagree with them. But a part of me still revolts against the notion that this is our basic nature; that we are, in essence, self-serving creatures. That love is an explainable construct and souls are a pretty feint to distract ourselves from our own cruel emptiness.
Sustainability is great in theory, where there are no humans involved.
Though [she] felt no particular affection for this woman, she did feel a responsibility to make some gesture of farewell now that the time had come. She kissed her mother on the cheek, the skin soft, tender, whiskered with fine hairs. [𝙎𝙝𝙚] 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙥𝙩.
It was a month like none other. Some mornings [she] could barely breathe because she felt so lucky. Her heart smiled with teeth. Skin electric and giggly when their hands met and their fingers twined. Stomach cradled in a basket of feathers.
“Yell loud enough and no one cares what you're actually saying; you're always right."
"They once called me cursed. Best not to listen to what they say. There's no end to the stories that cowards tell."
So, yep, finally reading my first Simon Jimenez. I‘ve heard great things about The Spear That Cuts Through Water, but I‘d be remiss if I didn‘t start with their first novel, The Vanished Birds.
Lots of good books this month 😊😊
#monthlywrapup
Just started a new book ☺️☺️
#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl
so-so🎧 Not for me?
I liked the publishers summary better than the book. It had such a great premise & the prose was engaging. I just didn‘t connect. The prolog was disappointing … this was recommended to me so that‘s a let down.
It felt mid 🤷🏼♀️ Again, just not for me today.
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Bk4 of my most recent #BookHaul ( I really have a problem don‘t I🤦🏻♀️)is a debut SciFi novel. Nia is the captain of a transport ship, losing decades as she travels through space in cryo sleep. Living only to get paid until she meets a boy that‘s literally fallen from the sky. Born with the gift to instantly travel anywhere in the universe, he‘s hunted by the corps that have a stranglehold on space travel. Sounds intriguing.
pickI think my favorite part of this is that you go deep into the characters and their relationships before the plot gets going. By the time things get going action wise I was very much invested into finding out more about the principle cast and the sort of whole they were developing.
#BookReport
Not my best reading week but I got through it and hopefully next week will be better.
#WeeklyForecast
My goal this week is to push through and finish at least two books to get back on my goals targets.
Thought I would do an update on my BookSpin Backlog quest. I fell behind so now my daily average is up to 175 pages a day. I am trying to send all my vibes for December‘s picks to be waaaaaaay less than the 1k total I budgeted them for.
pickFinished this a while back. Downloaded the audio based on a friend‘s recommendation. It‘s a good one! Reminded me of the show Firefly in all the best ways. Inventive, fast-paced, lovely characters. All good.
pickIt's hard to word right now, that's how much I loved this story. Beautiful, beautiful writing. Brilliant weaving of themes, people, emotions, politics, and the devastation that is colonialism. I'm a David Mitchell (Cloud Atlas) fan and within a few paragraphs, I felt like I'd stumbled into his successor. I really can't praise this book enough.
so-soI stuck with this book even though I wasn‘t always comprehending it. Sci Fi is not my go to genre and this book is not going to have me looking for more in a big hurry. All in all, it wasn‘t an awful book, the issue was most likely me. I read somewhere this is a book to eye-read and I did audio, I often drifted.
pickMaybe it's the secret romantic in me that loves these kinds of stories. Strong characters with Unseen threads that connect them. Unexpected unbreakable bonds both romantic and platonic. As frustrating as it feels in the moment, I enjoy the anticipation of when all the pieces connect and snap into place.
In other words, please read this book. It's kind of amazing.
Wow. I can't believe it's almost June and half the year is almost over! 😲 I wanted to showcase my favorite fantasy and scifi books of the year so far! I've loved pretty much everything in these genres that I have read so far, but these are my absolute favorites! 😀💕📚 The tagged book is also included in this selection but I don't own a copy of that one!
pickHands down one of the best scifi books I have ever read! It's a beautiful and emotional tale about found families and the importance of caring for other people. If you read one scifi book this year let it be this one! 💕📚 Despite the craziness of our current world this lovely book brought me a measure of peace and calmness. 🤗 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #roxas #keeplitsypositive
Really loving this new sci fi book! The story is compelling and intriguing. Also my cats are really loving all this extra time they get to spend with me, now that the library is closed! 😻📚💕 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #roxas
My Tailored Book Recommendations are ready! 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 This is the first one and it sounds fantastic!
Lots of housework today so I have a feeling my astronaut socks & I will be calling it an early night. I am finally starting to get somewhere in this book. I can't decide yet if I am enjoying it or not.
* ps If you look closely my favorite snuggle buddy decided to make a cameo** 😜
pickExcellent SciFi story. Layers of narrative interweave and echo each other: humanity, choices, time, music, corporations, research, societies, and the cost of progress. But mostly, about love. So so good, and I'm not a huge science fiction fan. Would be a great book club pick. 👥📚
pickVanished Birds is a beautiful, dreamlike, beguiling, bizarre, and otherworldly story. Nia is a fascinating character, hard and strangely soft. The first 80% of the book is a slow meander, where you‘re waiting for something to happen and then the story takes an incredibly dark and horrible turn. It was both fascinating and really awful all at once. Not sure why I‘m surprised but also, ow owwie ouch.
The Vanished Birds keeps drawing me in more and more. What a fascinating adventure this book is. I‘m not entirely sure where this story is going but I‘m here for the ride. Nia is a fascinating character.
Really interesting book so far, slow going but intriguing.
pickOut of this world amazing. Take your time and savor the beautiful writing in the sci fi space opera. I'm not normally a sci fi reader but this hooked me from page 1. Set in the future and among the stars one rag tag crew of a space ship receives orders to care for a special boy and keep him safe from the greedy space corporation. Complex storyline. The writer does an amazing job of keeping it easy to follow and moving forward. Easy 5 🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀 .
I wanted to read 1 chapter of my new hold that just came in. I have 2 other books im so close to finishing but I can't put this one down ❤ my reading buddy thinks it looks good too 🐶
pick🎉Happy book birthday to THE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon Jimenez.🎉
A beautifully written debut novel.
#bookreview #sciencefiction #scifibooks #NetGalley #reading
Full review at: https://lostnagoodbook.wordpress.com/2020/01/14/the-vanished-birds-simon-jimenez...
The Vanished Birds!! Released today and I already read a chapter. I'm hooked. I can't contain my excitement - It's already so good and well written! So much heart to this book!! And geeze there's so many good books coming out this year. My TBR is shaking 😅
#scifi #fantasy #sciencefiction #space #timetravel #sciencefantasy #thevanishedbirds #2020
pickAbsolutely beautiful and lyrical in it's writing, a story unlike any other I've ever read or heard. It begins in a farming village and takes you throughout space and time. Knowing it was classified as science fiction didn't prepare me for the overall vastness of this book. The depth of character and emotion was at times heartwrenching but relatable. The setting unfolds through the immersive and intricate storytelling. Highly recommended to all.
