Welcome to Litsy!

#JuneWrapup #bookspinbingo
No bingo, but I'm happy with this month. I finished 6 books, and caught up with my bookspins (although my June bookspin is still in progress).
@TheAromaofBooks

The plot is a bit predictable after a while, but it's a thought-provoking story with a fascinating psychopath, lots of macabre, and very atmospheric descriptions. It was a great read.

This was my August #bookspin selection & it was quite the read. Imagine if you were a young, reasonably intelligent, high spirited teen girl in the 1700s whose father made you quit school to marry an old guy that was a business associate? How crazy would you go? That seems to be the premise of this novel, and the author's conclusion is....very crazy.

@TheAromaofBooks

I read three and finished them all.

My Calamity Jane - audiobook - this series gets better and better. So much fun.
The Year of Magical Thinking - audiobook - Vanessa Redgrave's narration really made this one for me.
The Butcher's Hook - fiction - this novel has...one of the most memorable protagonists I've read in a while. Wow.

#bookreport @Cinfhen

#weeklyforcast

I will definitely finish My Calamity Jane this week - maybe even today. I think this Audible adaptation of The Year of Magical Thinking will be my next listen.

I've just started The Butcher's Hook, which is my #bookspin selection for August - it is shaping up to be an interesting read. Also hoping to get some reading done on The Prettiest Star.

@Cinfhen

My #bookspin and #doublespin selections for the month. They look so pretty together! 😍

@TheAromaofBooks

Here's my June #bookspin shelf. I'm feeling like my reading slump is starting to lift. Will June be the month that I finally finish my book on time? Stay tuned...😆

@TheAromaofBooks

I am using the tagged book for May's prompt for this challenge.

#readwithmrbook
@MrBook

Good. Gritty and atmospheric. I did find the main character really childish and a bit spoiled and there was no need to react the way she did and do the things she did. There could have been a better way to drive her story along.

#lockdownlist
#TwoRoads
#JohnMurrayPress

Thankyou Rachel, the book arrived this morning, with your lovely card & words & gift. You are very good. 👍🏻♥️ There‘s no panic with the Sarah Winman ... take all the time you want , sure we‘ve all read it now 👍🏻 XXX Cathy. #LMPBC

Finally on its way to you @Cathythoughts . I really enjoyed this - v dark and unusual. And I‘ve finally got over it being written by Janet Ellis! Great pick @jenniferw88

And thanks for sending on the next #lmpbc book @jhod - looking forward to it!

#Stack #closeup No1 This chunk ranges from historical/gothic slasher(The Butchers Hook, The Corset, See What I Have Done)to modern thrillers(The Innocent Wife, Sawkill Girls, The Girls)& Crime/mystery(The Rip, The ABC Murders) plus one of the #ScaryScavengerHunt books(Speaking In Bones). See anything you like? #Scareathlon🎃 #TeamSlaughter

@jhod Thank yoh so much for the wonderful #lmpbc parcel that just arrived! That bookmark‘s amazing 😊. And I haven‘t read any AC in ages! Good luck with the move 🤞🤞🤞 Let us know!
@jenniferw88 What a beautiful copy - not sure I want to write in this one. Really looking forward to it. Enjoy your holiday!
@Cathythoughts Your next book went in the post yesterday, so will probably reach you early next week. It‘s a good‘un 😉

Fub knows that he & Anne are playing a #foolishgame of love until she marries Onions & he marries Margaret. #lilithjuly @Cinfhen @KarenUK

#lmpbc #groupy Somewhere between a pick and a so-so, but going with pick as Anne will stay with me for some time. 4 🌟

@jhod will send later next week or early the following week.

@RachelO @Cathythoughts

Hi #LMPBC #groupy friends! Just wondering what colours you're all using to mark-up the books? @jhod @RachelO @Cathythoughts

Was Anne a #basketcase, or just your run of the mill psychopath. 🤷🏼‍♀️😆 #lilithjuly

#julytbr Some carried over from May and June!

OK Group Y here's my initial selection. If you don't fancy any of these I'll think again. I'll tag the rest in comments. #LMPBC #round6

@jhod @RachelO @Cathythoughts

Cat in lap and reading.

Just opened an amazing package put together by @Laughterhp for winning her #50kbookrecgiveaway. I received two books from my #TBR list. Can‘t wait to get into these. Thank you so much!

What a good read this is. Beautifully written with a brilliant and unexpected ending, unless you've read reviews already - don't! Her first novel too, I look forward to the next.

I think I'm going to enjoy this. My kind of happy.

Look what finally arrived @Kalalalatja! The perfect antidote to a dramatically crappy week. Thank you ❤️❤️

Well - that cover is very misleading isn‘t it!? I was expecting a bit of a romance/slightly misguided girl book.
It‘s a lot more than that. Really enjoyed this dark read 👍🏻 thanks Cindy (though I think you didn‘t like it?)

Wandering through the fiction shelves, I spotted this book and liked the first pages I read. Had to put it back though as I have too many library ebooks to read. Have you read this? Would you recommend it?

This took me by surprise! A glance at the pretty cover says sweet period drama...don‘t be fooled; this is not that! Rather, this is dark and when it goes dark, it goes very dark and keeps on going. Beautifully written, twisted and macabre. It is a slow burn, but that added to it rather than being a frustration. I loved Anne‘s contradictions, and how well drawn and real the peripheral characters were. Another #blameitonlitsy, another good one!

Camping reading in the woods in the Lake District ⛺️ (look at that grey sky rolling in...) I only picked this because it‘s written by Janet Ellis, THE Janet Ellis of my childhood TV viewing memories. Another review said of Blue Peter “...the presenters of that iconic programme stood for a generation as the last bastions of wholesomeness and incorruptibility” - but I get the feeling she might be surprising me with some darkness here!

I use this book a lot, but Anne Jacobs is the poster child for being #CrazyinLove. Her love for the Butcher makes her do very stupid, and very crazy things. But I do love her anyway 🤷‍♀️😄

#HeatofJuly

For @LibrarianRyan ‘s #RoadtripGiveaway I would recommend Can‘t Buy Me Love by The Beatles (https://youtu.be/srwxJUXPHvE), and The Butcher‘s Hook. The song always makes me move along with it, which makes it a good roadtrip song imo. The MC of the book says you #cantbuymelove to the man her father wishes her to marry, and instead she follows her heart. The books is darker and weirder than the song, but both song and book are really great!

#HeyJune

It was really dark - I love a psychotic main character! The book was really slow at times, often gruesome- but totally worth reading.

A little stack of books with #singleladies MCs with dark and twisted fates and actions 👯‍♀️👯‍♀️

#Aprella

This book is a rather twisted tale, but I felt that the portrayal of the protagonist was lacking in some depth. I just didn‘t feel what was driving her to the actions she took. Maybe she was just a psychopath, but I didn‘t get that from the text either. Otherwise, this was well written and entertaining. 3.5 ⭐️

Working on this book while enjoying some Victorian London fog tea. The tea fits both the book and the weather outside my house this morning.

Anne Jacobs doesn‘t have any wish to be a #polyesterbride. She wants to go her own way, and marry for “love” and not status and money. However, being a woman in Victorian England makes that harder than she would like it to be. And from there things take a dark turn

#FierceFeb

#readingresolutions #darkness

I've posted about this book before but if you like dark books, this is a #mustread

Hour 42 challenge for the #24in48 readathon: Favourite and least favourite cover from your shelves.

Do I need to tell you which is which? 😂😂

#shesgotclaws - both Anne Jacob, this amazing book‘s narrator, and Willa (pictured 😻). This made my favorites list of 2017 and if you haven‘t read it yet- do!!
#nuyear

Bookish gift #3: for my mum who enjoys historical fiction, then passes them to me when she‘s finished - bonus! These are both #blameitonlitsy choices, plus she‘ll remember me watching Janet Ellis presenting TV show Blue Peter when I was little 🎄

This book was very original, I‘ll give her that. Like a bad car wreck I had to see how it ended. Everyone in this book was terribly unlikeable. Interesting but I can‘t quite recommend.

#EyeCandyGiveaway Firstly, Happy Birthday lovely! I‘m so glad that there are so many Littens willing to #payitforward its fantastic. I‘ve acquired so many beautiful books lately it was really hard to choose. There‘s the Bloomsbury Modern Classics (gorgeous) The folio Edition Of The Remains Of The Day (fabulous) but I‘ve gone with the 10th Anniversary Edition Of The Name Of The Wind & the Goldsboro First Edition Of The Butchers Hook (signed too!)

#FridayFlowers #BookMail #BookDepository 💝💝My weekend is off to a great start 😃

#uncannyoctober #bestofoctober

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Started off as a bit of a slow burn but rapidly progressed into a dark twisted story with the most unlikely heroine. Enjoyed every minute of this macabre tale.

More pictures of this glorious piece of #BookMail The sprayed edges look fantastic against that turquoise/teal and just look at those endpapers! Plus it's No152 of 250 numbered First Editions. Books just don't get better than this, especially at this price! I'm seriously tempted to join their Book Of The Month club where they send you a signed first edition of a new release book they think will become collectible. Sign me up! #shutupandtakemymoney

#BookMail has been glorious today! First up from Goldsboro books (they have gorgeous signed first editions of some amazing books) is this so so pretty edition of The Butchers Hook by Janet Ellis. Honestly, I would have bought it just for the cover alone, but the story itself has also come highly recommended by @SavidgeReads & a few other booktubers & Littens. Such a happy camper right now. #droolworthybooks

This #firstsentence from The Butcher's Hook gave me the feeling I were in for a strange, weird and kind of dark read. It intriqued me and I just had to know more!

Thanks for the tag @BarbaraBB and @Cinfhen 💜💜 if any littens have a great first line the want to show, consider yourself tagged by me 👍

I love discovering great debut authors, and these debut novels all have me craving more from these authors! 📚

Great idea @Cinfhen and if anybody else feels like showing their #5towatch debut authors, consider yourself tagged by me! 👏

@Reviewsbylola #LookwhatYouMadeMeDo your recent review of the Butcher's Hook sent me right to BookDepository 🙈🙊#ZeroSelfControl and these other books were already in my cart 🛒 so #WhyNot I'm definitely going to have a #PissedOffHubby 🤷🏼‍♀️😬I wouldn't splurge for the nicer Butcher's Hook cover though....it was a $6.00 difference 🤑

It's rare for me to finish a book and not know what to say, but here we are. This book is just so well done, that I can't really put it into words. The first few chapters had me nervous, and I wasn't sure where Ellis was going with her protagonist, but as the story developed, it got creepier and more grotesque. I was uncomfortable by the end, but in a good way. We become desensitized to violence in books after awhile, but this was so raw.

My #bookhaul for today. My tbr pile just keeps growing and growing. . .