Welcome to Litsy!

I figured it was a good time to do my big, complicated Hallowe‘en puzzle, and to finish the Malazan Book of the Fallen. It seems like all of us who‘re listening to the series this year did the penultimate book said, “Yeah, I need a break.” It‘s remained available to borrow for the last month, and no one‘s requested it in the couple days since I got it. Since there‘s no run on the grand finale, I‘ll probably intersperse other books every 25% or so.

A friend recently gave me a bunch of his mom‘s costume jewelry. She had a huge, loud collection that I‘ve started to transform into suncatchers and wrist tethers for phones.

I‘m so, so close to the end of DUST OF DREAMS. While the series has featured rape from the get-go, this instalment feels ESPECIALLY rapey, with plenty of misogynistic overtones even when people aren‘t violating each other. That‘s soured me on the whole thing. #audiocrafting

I took a break from manual labour to make apple cheddar scones. They‘re not so photogenic, but they sure do taste good. #audiobaking

I‘ve done so much manual labour this weekend that I‘m 36% into DUST OF DREAMS, a 44-hour audiobook, after only two days. Even at 3x, that‘s a LOT.

Also, all my muscles are sore. Like, really, ALL of them.

When I wasn‘t manually labouring, I also managed to finish this book nook I lucked into at the local Amazon returns store. It was only $10, instead of $50-70! Good times. #audiocrafting

I‘ve been reluctant to try #audiocycling in case my earbuds pop out due to bumpy roads and/or extreme sweat, but I had a 70-minute ride home tonight and I really want to finish TOLL THE HOUNDS, so I gave it a go. My earbuds stayed in and I‘m now at 83% with the book. The end is in sight!

Got through 14% of TOLL THE HOUNDS while I installed my tiny loft‘s tree, connected the lights, baked Ted Lasso‘s iconic shortbread biscuits, and threw a batch of apple cheddar scones in the oven to boot because hey, it was already warm.

I felt very much like diving into this book at the start of the month, but someone borrowed it just when I was ready, then kept it out a full 21 days. I‘m no longer in quite the right mood, but I persevere.

These are the books I collected while on the Oregon coast this week … I‘m already reading Shroud and The 6:20 Man good so far … my bank account is hurting but it‘s worth it 🤣📚📚

I hit 26% with REAPER‘S GALE while I assembled a tiny train that‘ll fit into a book nook. I found the last book kind of tedious, so I‘m glad this one returns to the characters and settings from my favourite volume. (The place sounds like Letheri, but I probably spelled it wrong. The enduring issue with audio.) Still, I won‘t emerge from this series a Malazan superfan. I like it enough to continue but not enough to rave about it all. #audiocrafting

Today‘s #audiobaking on my mother‘s behalf involved banana cupcakes and the ganache to fill ‘em with. I did them gluten free this time because my aunt‘s coming to visit and she was recently diagnosed with celiac disease. Hopefully they turned out well. I‘ll find out when they cool off.

My new book art from Jason Dement “Coltaine” from Deadhouse Gates 🥰