Welcome to Litsy!

I got this book as an ARC and just thought it sounded interesting, but I wouldn't have guessed I would love it that much as I did. What a great new take on time travelling! What a world building and what a thoroughly planned plot! Not easy to follow and sure even better when read a second time. Wow!❤️

#TitlesandTunes #IslandVibe
@Cinfhen @BarbaraBB

Just came across this lovely challenge and decided to join in at the last moment 😅
That's because when I read the topic of this month is #IslandVibes I couldn't keep Surfin' USA out of my head. So here we go. The book on my pile to fit the prompt would be The Kingdoms. I don't think it will fit the song, but you might can surf there, too? 😎

#TitlesAndTunes

@Cinfhen @BarbaraBB

With the last book of 2022 done, I can list my Top 10. Lots of great nonfiction & three titles make the list. Some great YA too—great covers, even better stories. No Country for Old Men was my first McCarthy, it won‘t be my last. Even bad guys need to work & Hench turns the superhero story on its head. Once Upon a River was perfect from the first word to the last. And my absolute fav—The Kingdoms. I finished it & wanted to immediately start over.

April was a stellar month for reading with several ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ books. If I have to pick a favorite, it‘s the tagged book which hooked me on the first page & didn‘t let me up for air until the end. A man steps off a train in London with no idea who he is & why he‘s there. The only clue is a century old postcard. The truth will be discovered only thru a remarkable journey that I won‘t spoil by saying more. Others get honorable mention.

@Andrew65

I thoroughly enjoyed this take on "history" and the dynamic between the two main characters. The author is quite good at writing the delicate relationship between two traumatised men who pine for each other. I am a little sad that, despite the 5 books in this specific niche genre she has written, not one of them has the female support characters survive or reach their own happy ending. I wish they weren't used as plot devices for convenience.

First off, I loved this book!
It's kept me thinking since i finished it. The first part of the book felt a little slow and it took me some time to get into. The plot/writing were great, but the MC did not feel like he had a unique voice (similar to Watchmaker etc). Great side characters, though. The plottwist was unecessary and i feel it mightve had more heart-wrenching if Joe's identity had been clear earlier on. The ending felt somewhat rushed.

Natasha Pulley's books (can't wait to read the new one!) are hard to describe. This one has alternate realities, time-slip, lots of adventure, a little romance...I thoroughly enjoyed it. #Alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#unpopularopinion For me, this was unnecessarily convoluted and tedious. I liked the concept and the alternate histories, but the story often dragged and I detested Kite. I don‘t feel like he was ever redeemed and I hated his mood swings. It probably would have been easier to follow all the time jumps in print, but the pacing was so slow, filled with extraneous detail, I know I would have bailed before the 1/4 mark. #moremehthanyay

Tumblr is constantly reminding me of all the books I‘m procrastinating on 🫠

Fan art via spittin-watches on tumblr

April was a great reading month—38 books. These are easily my three favorite. They are very different but are all incredibly interesting and well written stories. I can‘t say much about The Kingdoms without the risk of spoilers but as soon as I finished it, I wanted to read it again. Children of Time is a fascinating evolutionary story with so much to think about and Sunshine is the smartest, most interesting take on vampires I‘ve read in ages.

Wow… I. Love. This. Book. From the first paragraph, which hooks you with its awesome opening, to the very end, which leaves you guessing (and gasping for reasons) until the very last page, and in all the between moments which are filled with people just trying to survive, mystery, war, family, danger, love & the possibility everything or nothing will ever be right. I suspect this would be a love it or hate it book for many. Count me a huge fan! 👇

This book is soooo good. The kind of good when it‘s hitting all the right notes, when it reads as if the author was plugged right into your brain & knew exactly what you wanted to read (even though you yourself likely didn‘t know), when you can put it down but only for the minute or two needed to tell everyone—hi Littens!!!—that it is really good and you can‘t get enough of it. Whew. Okay, having said all that, I‘m diving back in!

Tonight‘s book

I've been posting aome #shelfies on Instagram, today I realized I should share them with you, too. Trying to be more active here, with some success! Will join the #readathon this weekend!

So, which book would you pick? Once again, I am overwhelmed by the TBR, and can't decide what to read

I enjoyed this story but I did get quite confused at times. It needs some concentration as it took quite a bit of working out. Nevertheless I found it quite gripping and thought it was cleverly written. There were some great characters and there were also some surprises along the way. I loved how it all came together at the end. It definitely takes you on a magical mystery tour even if it does leave you with a headache. 😵‍💫 #Pigeonhole

This is a fairly long, complicated book, as a good time-traveling book should be - if you‘re looking for a quick, easy read, this isn‘t the book for you. The pace felt a bit slow at times and I definitely felt Joe‘s frustration as he tried to figure out who he was, but I did enjoy watching things come together. It didn‘t grab me the way Natasha Pulley‘s previous books did (I loved her previous three), but it was still an exceptional read.

#Pigeonhole

Bit disappointed with this for my first read of 2022.

Too many characters, too many timelines, and nothing made any sense til literally the last few chapters.

I liked Kite and Agatha, about the only redeeming features of this confusing and never ending book 😬

#12Booksof2021

Read the #ARC in January and loved it.

@Andrew65

I came for the amnesia (it's my jam) but this lyrical take on a Napoleonic War multiverse was fascinating. The kind of story where the what happens to the other people after folks keep mucking with the timeline gets answered. Not an easy read, there's war, enslavement, torture, abuse, and murder. But for me, I want to read it again to watch it unfold again.

When your nails and your sweater kinda match your book (and my phone and my bra and my shower curtain… I feel like my life is honestly mostly this color family 😆)
First day at my new job after NINE (!!) years at my previous company so comfy sweater and some chill reading time first is a must (so nervous, had nightmares)

Important note: THIS is how time travel should be written. Complicated, complex, often disorientation but ultimately very fulfilling. I haven't liked Pulley's last two books, and while I don't love it AS much as Watchmaker, it's still delightful. The unfolding of the plot is just right to keep the reader on their toes. Pulley even finally created a female character I genuinely like in Agatha. It's not flawless, but I like it A LOT.

My work laptop broke down Friday afternoon and I had to take it in this morning. I basically had to spend three hours entertaining myself at my desk while waiting for IT, and fortunately I brought a book. Speculations in the comment.

The good news is that both The Kingdoms, which I got from the bookstore, and the book I ordered from the library have arrived. The bad new is that I counted on Kingdoms taking at least a week, the library was closed, and absolutely don't feel like reading fiction right now. I'm probably just going to read Sakhalin Island on my phone.

Fiiiinally starting this tonight! My last reads were all… meh. I hope for this one to finally be a real highlight again 🙏🏼 but my expectations might be too high as I LOVED all the other Pulley books! Let‘s hope for the best!

I'd need lots more words to describe this book (fantasy, alternate universe, time slip, maritime war, slooow burn romance), its plot (see alternate history + time slip above), & my feelings about it. The different timelines were occasionally a bit confusing & I wish we'd been given a little bit more of the romance; otherwise I loved it & didn't want it to end. In fact the end was a bit rushed. I wish we'd been given more info about the time at ⬇️

#CurrentRead
1- I just love her books and I already feel sucked into this story.
2- This is my second book this weekend "about" the lighthouse at Eilean Mór and the mystery of the disappearing lighthouse keepers. Which, given I'd never heard of this mystery before yesterday, seems like a weird coincidence.

Daisy inspecting my charity shop finds. The Kingdoms I remembered you really liked it @julesG so I couldn't pass it up.

So far, Chaplin and I are really loving this book! I'm about 100 pages in and totally hooked! It's mysterious and just a tiny bit creepy, and the writing is beautiful and engaging! My first Natasha Pulley book but it won't be my last! 💕📚 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #chaplin

I‘m still in *thinking about reading this* mode - I know I should get on with it but then I‘ll have read all of her books…

My snack matches my current read! 😉📚🍦 Roxas is much more interested in my ice cream than my book! 😹 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #roxas

These library holds all came for me this week. Thankfully a perk of working there is I have no late fees. Many of these will be in my #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo list for July. @TheAromaofBooks

(and Pixel knocked the stack down immediately after this was taken)

I did not want this to end.

#BookMail signed edition 😁

found out that I missed a new Natasha Pulley. As you can see, not much of a chance getting it from library within reasonable time. So now I have a dilemma. on the one hand, Watchmaker was one of my favourite books in the whole world. on the other, I wasn't super into The Bedlam Stacks and actively disliked 85% of Pepperharrow. Not sure if I'm buying it or not.

Fantastic read! Time travel & alternate history with great atmosphere. A difficult plot device to pull off, but this book does it well. Wonderful fantastical world with hints of dystopia. Well executed plot & logic. Great, complex characters with some intense tension & turmoil. Some moments of lagging pace, but overall a stellar/mind-bending read. Slightly cerebral read that will likely be even better on a second perusal.

Small but mighty book haul this week. Read a great review of it in the NYT and decided to give it a go.

‘Tis the season to preorder and then act surprised when books just start turning up in the mail... like gosh - who did that?!

Last day of #12Booksof2020 @Andrew65

I'm using this to shamelessly gush about this book.

Britain lost the Napoleonic Wars. Joe lost his memories. When Joe has to check on a lighthouse in Scotland, he finds a way into the previous century. Will this help him recover his memories, or will he lose the new life he built in London?

Full review: https://sceptre.sktc.hamburg/2021/01/just-imagine-london-was-french/

Pub Day May 27

#NetGalley #ARC

#DashingDecember @Andrew65

Finished:
Miss Bensons Reise (🇩🇪 ARC)
The Governess Gambit (Beta-Read)

In Progress:
The Bone Shard Daughter
The Kingdoms (ARC)
The Starless Sea (re-read)

Oh look! It‘s me sending a postcard to the friend that recommended Natasha Pulley to me but hasn‘t read Pepperharrow yet... to let her know that 2021 will bring a new Natasha Pulley book 😇

I was very lucky today.

#NetGalley #ARCs for #MountARC