Welcome to Litsy!

This novel about a guy who inherits his uncle‘s villain business is already so fun!

This is so much fun. I loved almost everything about this. I will say having followed Mary Robinette Kowal‘s journey with her cat Elsie that Hera in this book is based on Hera doesn‘t quite have Elsie‘s same sass. But overall loved the talking cats and dolphins.

5.0 ⭐️

This brought me so much joy and had the weird quirkiness that I was hoping from books like HitchHikers Guide to the Galaxy. The dolphins were freaking hilarious and honestly were a highlight for me in the book. I loved the weird turn of events with the ending and even shed a tear on the last page. I‘m becoming more and more impressed with this author and look forward to exploring more of their work.

#librarybook

Charlie finds himself in dire need of a miracle on his last $100 and aspirations to buy a pub. Little does he know he is about to be thrust into the playground of trillionaires with villainous tendencies after his uncle leaves him heir to his companies. With a volcanic lair and spy cats this book throws ya for a loop! I really enjoyed the second half of the book however the first half felt a bit draggy. Loved Hera the spy cat!

#bookhaul one today from a Spooky Book Fair in Falls Church, Virginia.
The cover alone of the tagged book made me buy it.
I could have bought at least 4 more but I tried to have some restraint.

This was really fun, although a bit rushed—I would‘ve loved at least 100 pages more!

Fast and somewhat funny read without much character development, very predictable plot and the characters I cannot like. #bookclub

For the sake of laughing out load, just read this! 😂😻

This was a bit out there for me. Talking cats, dolphins, secret villain lairs and all that, it was funny and lightheaded, a soft pick it definitely could not have been any longer so I liked that he wrapped it all up in 260. The characters were diverse and interesting and I appreciated all the misogyny call outs.

There is a lot of humor in this! One thing I found particularly funny is the island has a Jenny Bay so Uncle has named his boats after famous Jenny's 😂
Lopez
Tilly
Laurence

Nice dedications are just lovely 😍

This book is dedicated to:
Everyone who could have made someone's day worse, but tries to make it better instead

If Douglas Adams wrote a book about villains, this would be it. It has serious Hitchhiker vibes, everything from the bumbling protagonist to the talking dolphins. If you love that sense of humor (like me), this one should be a fit for you. It took me a minute to feel like this got going, but once it did I couldn't help laughing out loud. I particularly loved Hera and Til, such excellent supporting characters. I'd love to read more from the author.

I decided to go to the SciFi panel at the Columbus Book Festival today since it's #SciFiSummer. I didn't even look at who would be on the panel, so when John Scalzi walked in I couldn't believe it!

All 3 authors on the panel were wonderful and I wrote a bit about them and my time at the festival on my blog: https://fortifiedbybooks.com/columbus-book-festival-2024/

I enjoyed the story. It was funny, crazy, quick & easy! Charlie‘s estranged uncle Jake dies and soon he‘s thrown into the super villain business. There‘s super intelligent cats, unionized dolphins & whales that can shoot spy satellites out of the sky.

Wil Wheaton narrates & Scalzi‘s sarcastic tone is delivered perfectly.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It‘s my orange reading buddy‘s gotcha day!! He‘s officially been helping me read for 5 years. 😻 Also this book is EXCELLENT!! #huey #catsoflitsy

Finally off the mark in June's #WickedWords @AsYouWish #luau

I'm quite enjoying Starter Villain so far. It's a quick easy read like most of the Scalzi I've read.

Here‘s Hazel making her Litsy debut! It looks like she and Hera got caught plotting something.

This is a fun James Bond-style spoof about a hapless guy who gets caught up in the world of supervillains when his estranged Uncle, a supervillain himself, suddenly dies. Lots of fun set-pieces, sentient creatures and clever nods to spy thrillers.

4/5

Charlie's billionaire uncle has left him with an inheritance that turns out not to be a parking garage empire, but instead a villain operation complete with a volcanic island as the headquarters. Charlie's thrown into the deep end dealing with his new employees and the other villains of the world.

This was a super fun read. I especially loved the hyper-intelligent cats and dolphins.

A quick fun read featuring a mysterious dead uncle , a surprising legacy, spy cats 🐈‍⬛ and a volcano 🌋 lair. All you could ever want in a Scalzi story ( I think this is my third or fourth of his novels), escapism with a bit of a message . 👍💚🐉 ( it‘s tulip 🌷 season so took myself out for a steak and Bellini)

Current read. Or listen! I got the audiobook, too.

Turns out I miss you all. Who's still here? How are you?

The Hugo nominees were announced yesterday and these are the Best Novel nominees. The full list of nominees can be found at https://locusmag.com/2024/03/2024-hugo-astounding-and-lodestar-awards-finalists/.

I've read Starter Villain and Some Desperate Glory and liked both very much. Is anyone else planning to read the Hugo nominees?

#hugoawards #hugo2024

“How are you so smart?“ I asked, suddenly confronting myself with the fact that a cat was typing and understood theories of class and labor. “No offense, but your brain is the size of a walnut.“

HOW ARE SO MANY HUMANS SO UNINTELLIGENT? Hera typed back. THEY HAVE BRAINS THE SIZE OF SEVERAL WALNUTS.

This was such a good book!! I'm so glad I let Litsy posts influence me to move this one to the top of my TBR stack!

Charlie unexpectedly becomes the heir to his uncle's businesses, both legal and not-so-legal, and unwittingly finds himself in the middle of the criminal organization his uncle was a member of.
#LitsyLoveReads
#ReadAway2024 @Andrew65

This was on some list somewhere and my library had it so here we are! What an absolute unexpected delight of a crazy book!!! I loved every minute of it

Saturday morning #coffeeandabook. I started this the other day and I'm absolutely loving it!!

Saw this on here and I loved the cover and the title! Ending the night with a hot toddy and my next read. I am on the mend, I might have to do something beyond reading in bed tomorrow

My first Scalzi read and what a treat! A quick, funny, full of adventure ride that includes cats in management and dolphins fighting to unionize (I related with this aspect as we are in the same boat at work.) Greedy, wealthy villains and Charlie, an ex-journalist now substitute teacher caught in the middle after his uncle‘s death. Looking forward to rehashing the amusement of the story at book club this week!

Fun and crazy ride about an heir to a super villain and his exploits with sentient cats and dolphins. Plenty of gunfire and adventure, with a heavy does of humor. Loved it!

That's in the running for favourite of the year. Sometimes I forget how important it is to read books that make you laugh, especially those that also have thought and warmth behind them. So grateful for Scalzi putting this kind of energy into the world these days. I recommend knowing as little as possible going in, I didn't know anything and enjoyed all the surprises that resulted.

It's the little things. 🍶

This was a fun read, my first Scalzi. The only reason it‘s not fully a pick for me is my own mood. Normally, I would have enjoyed the snark, the Hitchhiker‘s Guide-ness of it. However, I just haven‘t been in the mood for the light tone that this delivers. Also, I‘m miffed that my own cats haven‘t delivered the way Hera does for Charlie. They haven‘t made it past the plotting stage as far as I‘m aware. Pictured-Jack, mid-plot. #catsoflitsy

Have I mentioned lately, how much I love John Scalzi's writing?

This was a fun little book that took me way too long to finish. I never wanted to give up on it, but it was easy to just read a chapter then put it down. Not a lot happened, but the cast of characters were charming and there were several very funny scenes. 4⭐️

This is also my very belated #bookspin from January. 😏

Wacky, in easy-breezy prose. Potty-mouthed, class-conscious dolphins, typing cats, silly villains. Tension doesn‘t build consistently, established stakes left behind, but fun underdog (undercat?) story. Villains as “professional disrupters: the people who looked at systems and processes; found the weak spots, loopholes, and unintended consequences of each of them; and then exploited them” (P86). 2022

My current view while I wait for a tow truck. My car just lost power as I was driving to work because I think I ran out of gas 😣. Fortunately, I have John Scalzi to entertain me! Thankfully, it is FRIDAY!!! #tgif

Just saw that Paramount has options to turn Starter Villain into a movie! Talking dolphins, controlling cats! I hope they follow through!

Sweet (other than all the murders), clever, and funny. Middle aged man‘s uncle dies leaving him heir to his villain business. I am not entirely sure what to make of this book, but if you have a rainy afternoon free, it‘s might be just the thing to curl up with.

This one was a lot of fun!

This is definitely the earliest I‘ve ever done my #readingwrapup! I had a really strong start with January for my reading but it kinda tapered off. I want my early Jan momentum back for February!

Yardy definitely feels like he is the new boss of the house and has decided that all books should be chew toys!!! Him and I have very different opinions on that! Kittens are so naughty!!!

“We have cats because they amuse us and because otherwise our clothes would lack the texture only cat hair could provide.“

No idea what I‘m getting into with this book, but I like the dedication.

What a wacky, wonderful, bonkers ride of a book! I enjoyed this one from start to finish and want everyone to read it so we can discuss. The story of an average guy, down on his luck, whose distant millionaire relative dies and leaves him something. Great news, right? But what if your relative was an international villain? Hilarity ensues with animals who can communicate, spies, bomb, and the best cats ever. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This is really fucking funny.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This is a true #blameitonlitsy - you made me to it! 😄
I had quite a nice time with this audio book. The dolphins made me laugh so hard, I think I enjoyed them even more than the cats. But now I wonder what yours are up to 😉 The story was nice but not a highlight. Still, the audio book was a perfect companion for some hours of working alone.

I LOVED this book! It might be the first book I‘ve finished by John Scalzi. I loved the cats and the animals. It was kind of funny and I was engaged the whole time. This was already on my TBR because someone reviewed it on a podcast, but thanks to @wanderinglynn to give me the push to read it!

#auldlangspine

When I checked this out, the librarian commented and asked why the cat was in a suit. I told her I didn‘t know yet but I‘d find out. I did

I‘m rating this a soft pick, mostly because I felt like the middle part could have been shortened. It wasn‘t quite as good for me as Kaiju Preservation Society. I did enjoy and appreciate the parts others have mentioned- spy cats, dolphins who want to form a union, and a volcano villain lair.

This book was the best way possible to spend January 1. Hard-on-his-luck laid off business journalist is almost homeless when his rich uncle dies, leaving him the heir of a supervillain empire (managed mostly by cats). From his volcanic lair, Charlie must face down his supervillain compatriots, relying on his disgruntled dolphins to act as security of his island. Taking on the powerful enemies, handling dolphin-labor disputes, and surviving an ⬇️

My first read of 2024 and damn, it was good! What a hysterical romp. The potty-mouthed dolphins? The Zoom call? Pretty much everything from start to finish? What a great way to kick off my reading year.