Welcome to Litsy!

I miss Hild. I miss her like a friend who went away.

In case you were wondering, I‘m still working my way through this one.

It‘s great. But not fast.

First #chunkster of 2023.

Or is it #chunker?

Welcome to my home, large stack of library books. I hope you have a pleasant stay.

Loved this! A meaty saga from 7th Century Britain. It‘s sumptuous, imagined and detailed. A complete page turner that is suspenseful and intriguing, telling the story of Hild from the age of 3 to her marriage. A princess of the Deira dynasty, she was also the King‘s Seer. Royal intrigue, war, plotting, every day life whether that be human, royal or animal. Hild, as a character, is mighty and magnificent. This is going on my keep shelf. 5/5

#momreviews @Doll8455

#7days7covers #covercrush -day 5 post a favourite cover each day for 7 days and tag someone new each time. @Sarah83 interested in playing?

I have complicated feelings about HILD. Sometimes I loved it. Sometimes I was so damned tired of reading it I wanted to cry. It‘s a Pick because I swung back around to love over the last forty pages or so, but that Pick is absolutely a qualified one.

My biggest issue with it is unfixable: Hild is a seer who relies not on supernatural visions but on careful, detailed observation that lets her identify patterns and predict outcomes. ⬇️

I‘ve done something to my back, and somehow that means sitting on the back step is way more comfortable than being in a chair. Okay, then.

I‘m 70 pages from the end of HILD and to be honest, I‘m more than ready to be over. Sigh. This really felt like a book I‘d fall in love with, way back in the beginning.

Gotta read fifty more pages if I want to stay on track to finish HILD tomorrow. Luckily, the book‘s a great fit with the autumnal feel in the air today. That‘s lit a bit of a fire under me.

Supper was curried tuna salad with raisins and chard stalks. I don‘t think I‘d repeat the chard experiment. It mostly added crunch and that‘s not something I need in a tuna salad.

Still plugging away through HILD. I can‘t imagine abandoning it, but I also can‘t imagine going back in if I take a break now. As long as I can manage 125 pages a day, I‘ll finish it tomorrow.

I read a bit more while I ate a use-it-up breakfast: cereal box leavings, the last of this weird vanilla tea I can only drink with something in it, and the dregs of the cream left over from a recipe.

Had some camomile tea in my favourite mug while I read more of HILD. I‘m at page 300 now and I think I might need to take a break and read something else before I go any further. It‘s really good but really slow. I‘ll see how I feel tomorrow.

Outdoor reading with cherries.

I‘m in an odd place with HILD. I find I‘m enjoying it not for the characters or the plot but for the feel—and I love it enough that I definitely won‘t abandon it, but not so much that I don‘t resent the sheer amount of time it‘s gonna take me to finish it. Hmm.

There is a lot to like about this book: Griffith has thought so carefully about this character and her world and the people who inhabit it with her. I loved Hild‘s connection to the natural world, the atmosphere, and most of her relationships. I didn‘t realize that the book was part of a series when I picked it up and that was a bit of a problem. Interesting to see one of the characters from Credo in a totally different book.

I started HILD last night, and even though the content isn‘t similar I‘m getting a strong Elizabeth Knox meets Robin Hobb from the overall package.

That‘s a VERY good vibe, y‘all. I‘m hopeful.

#TBRBingo update for June. There‘s a slim chance I could finish Hild today as well but I kind of doubt it.

Well, the long weekend is here at last. I won‘t be doing much relaxing because it‘s also the second last weekend before my sister‘s wedding and somehow I seem to have a ton of stuff left to do (#procrastination). Treating myself to a bit of a rest this evening though.

🙄 I am such a procrastinator. I knew this prompt was coming up, I knew there was rain in the forecast, I knew that I wouldn‘t be home until after 9 pm tonight... and yet I still waited until the last minute for my #flowersplusbooks photo. #riotgrams

(Can someone please explain what “clinch covers” means? I am too old or nerdy or offline to get it. @bookriot )

#bedsidetablebooks

Every time I pick up Hild it‘s late and I start falling asleep. Hopefully I can make some progress this morning.

I‘m having kind of a tough time lately: work is crazy and I‘m feeling really unmotivated, there‘s tons to do at home, and I haven‘t gone swimming in over three weeks due to recovery.

On the bright side, I rode my bike to and from work today for the first time ever in my life.

Now I‘m going to bed early to spend some time with these books. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Finally picked this up after making it a book club pick. I'm enjoying all the sensory details, but I lost track of the politics completely reading it last night!

Look what I got from @jenniferw88, @TheBookKeepers! #JustABookSwap I've actually been meaning to read this for ages, and love Nicola Griffith's writing, so it was a great pick! :)

Historical fiction based on the life of the real woman who became St. Hilda of Whitby in 7th-century Britain. Set in the time when Christianity was making its way into the region, often with violent results. I enjoyed it for most of the book, but then my attention started to flag about 75 pages from the end. I think it was too long and could have been helped by a good edit. 3/5 stars

This weekend has been rough, mentally and just plain busy. While everything got solved and/or done, I‘m not ready to start the week. 😩
Here‘s to a few hours of some quality reading time before Monday morning.

This is really dense and it‘s taken me months to get through it, but it‘s really good. Definitely for people who LOVE historical fiction.

Finally reading this after starting it like 5 years ago! #wheelhouse

Hild is a bright spark, all right! I liked that her seer-craft is predominantly a matter of paying close attention to the minutiae of the world around her. And I loved how Griffith made that world vivid with abundant sensory detail. I enjoyed seeing how the women, important to the broad sweep of history only as (potential) wives, crafted lives of meaning, and how hard they worked at it! I loved ancient Britain as a multi-culti, multi-lingual land.

The sound of spoken (Old) English: "words drumming like apples spilt over wooden boards". I love that Hild is multi-lingual, too.

Here it is! The haul from the Strand in NYC I had shipped home during vacation. See any you loved?

Hi everybody!! Long time, no see! I had a bit of a rough winter, and wasn‘t reading much, but now that things have settled down again, I finally feel like reading again (hurray!!) I‘m starting off with something I‘m pretty positive I‘m going to love. Baby steps after major depressive episodes 😉 puppies help depression too 🐶

I've been waiting for this one. #historicalfiction

Been thinking a lot about this great historical novel and wondering if the follow up is ever coming out. I'm tempted to do a reread, but I'd rather hold off until I know how long I have to wait for the rest of Hild's story. #TBT

Library card and book! My colleagues at the bookstore raved about this novel so I‘m glad DCPL had a copy. #riotgrams

I enjoyed reading Hild. I didn't know much about her going in, but I don't really feel like I know that much more about her now. There is suppose to be a sequel to this book but so far on Goodreads it doesn't have a title or a tentative date for publication.
I found that the narration of the book made it really easy to forget that Hild was a child through most of it and that was the books biggest shortfall.

I haven't read a lot of this since my 24 hour readathon and I'm a bit disappointed in myself. I hope the pace picks up soon.

#LGBTQ+authors #junebookbugs

#onewordtitle #sparklingmaybookishdreams such a beautiful cover and I'm looking for something to replace GOT. ( because when is he going to finish the last book 🤷‍♀️)

For the life of me, I couldn't find a book that I didn't remember the where and/or why of buying. That's a good thing, I guess? #AprilBookShowers #DontRememberBuyingThis #Shelfie

Really loving this book so far. Like I said a couple days ago, I've tried Hild several times before and not been able to get into it, but now I see that Hild is uncanny and clever, an excellent female protagonist. I love that her "prophecies" as the king's seer are usually at least 75% astute observations. Just gotta read 300 more pages before midnight! ? #countdown

#TopReadsOf2016 ⭐️Historical Fiction ⭐️ #SeasonsReadings2016

The last book of the year has been chosen from the Pile Of Fate! I've tried this novel twice before and never been able to get into it, despite the fact that it ?s all my ?s: set in old England, kickass lady protagonist, blurbed as "resonat[ing] to many of the same chords as Beowulf (my favorite), the legends of King Arthur (favorite FAVORITE), [and] The Lord of the Rings (absolute total favorite)...." I'm gonna fall in love this time, dammit!

I'm sure it's probably an interesting story, but it was just taking me too long to get into. I might pick it back up again sometime, but for now I'm bailing.

If I'm being completely honest, I was kind of disappointed. I had seen so many people talk about how much they loved it, and I just couldn't connect to it the way I wanted to. I kept feeling like the mundane things in the book were very descriptive and beautifully written, but then any "action" was kind of just glazed over quickly, or took place completely out of scene. I wish I could say I liked it more.

Found out this morning that I won 30 books in a contest! Can't wait until they come in. Looks like my next couple months' reading is booked up. #forgivethepun #cantwait #harpercollinscanada

In the meantime, I'm going to keep trying to finish this one. Haven't gotten a lot of time to read lately. About halfway through. #sofarsogood #christmasmug

I'm going to combine my #BlueBook with my #BookAndBrew. Also, I'm not actually drinking this because my roommate and I cannot for the life of us remember how long this beer has been in our fridge. #PhotoADayNov16 #Novemberland

I've been going back and forth about whether or not to read this one. Finally decided to bite the bullet and get it from the library. #wishmeluck #itsonthelongside #brokemyreadingslump #readingbuddy

A fictionalization of the life of Hilda of Whitby. This book is impeccably researched, occasionally heart-breaking, and full of adventure and danger. At a very young age, Hild becomes the advisor to her uncle Edwin, who wants to be overking of the Angles. She navigates religious and political conflicts, is fiercely clever, and struggles to protect the people she loves. Amazing book.

#booktober #fullofadventure #queerbooks

Was given this by a friend who read it for a medieval studies class. As a hard-core nerd for all things Anglo-ecclesial-historical, I ate it up with a spoon. The characters and details were so engrossing I didn't even care that it seemed to lack a dramatic climax. The author's working on a sequel and it can't come fast enough!

Finally getting back to this one after a longgg day. I'm enjoying it but just haven't had a lot of reading time the past couple of days. Tonight after work, I took my grandma to our tribe's elder's dinner (as part of our Annual Sovereigns Day celebration) and they had prize bingo. Not only did it last super long but man do those older adults take their bingo seriously! I thought people were going to end up duking it out over a wind chime! 😂