Top 21 of 2021! Intimacies was my favorite. I read 371 books/125k+ pages total. #top21of2021 #booksoftheyear #yearinreview

Yesterday's #bookhaul from my local indie book store! Have you read any of these? I'm so excited to check them out. Been dying to read Ghost Wall and Go Tell It On the Mountain, the other two were whim purchases that were new to me (The Seed Keeper was so new it wasn't properly in the system yet!). #catsoflitsy #indiebooks #bookstore

February 2021 reads! 33 books total. A few are not pictured because it wouldn't let me add more images (including The Actor's Life by Jenna Fischer and Recitatif by Toni Morrison). 5 ⭐ Faves: Black Futures, Binti trilogy, Telephone, Transcendent Kingdom, The Body is Not an Apology, Honey Girl, Recitatif, The Actor's Life.
Honey Girl was my #botm pick this month and it was fabulous. I also read for my Toni Morrison and Dickens readathons. #feb2021

I love Anderson and Wonder Woman, so this mashup is right up my alley. Anderson does a nice job setting teenage Diana in our world and allowing us to see the injustices encountered by everyday people and also refugees and immigrants through new eyes by using Diana's outside-looking-in perspective. There's less rough and tumble action than you may expect, but it's a timely book and celebratory of the human spirit. NetGalley sent an ARC for review.

I was sad when Bourdain passed. His food writing, travel expertise, and general irreverence are always delightful. However, this book left me hungry. It does a little bit of a lot of things - some episode pull quotes, some eulogies, some travel information with pricing/addresses/telephone info. It isn't comprehensive enough to be a standalone travel guide anywhere, just a jump off.
Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Delightful, beautiful compilation of Greek hero stories written in jovial, accessible modern language. It's as if Fry is sitting and telling you the stories himself as you sip on something tasty. The art, maps, and pictures of antiquities scattered through it make it a more immersive experience as well. This is a followup to his Mythology book but can be read as standalone. 4 stars for me!
NetGalley and Chronicle Books gave me a review copy.

#summerfun #roadtripbook bingo spot! @4thhouseontheleft

Pride was a super fun modern-day YA retelling of Pride and Prejudice featuring Afro-Latinx characters in Brooklyn. It has romance and all the important beats of the original, but also deals with themes about gentrification and identity and belonging. I loved it! Ibi Zoboi is one of my new fave YA authors, have loved every book of hers so far! 4.5 stars.

#summerfun #beachselfie - from last year, take me back! Not sure if I'll get much beach time this year due to COVID.
This is also my review for #pridemonthbook bingo space.

Exciting Times gets compared to Sally Rooney's books and that is a spot on comparison. I am a sucker for moody Irish books that contemplate relationships. This one was unique because it was set in Hong Kong (the MC teaches English) and featured a same sex relationship. 4🌟

#summerfun #parkselfie with my friend on our socially distanced park walk! This is also my
#bookaboutantiracism bingo spot review.

We went walking on Juneteenth. I started the tagged book later that night and finished it today. Channing powerfully conveys what racism looks like for Black bodies in polite, majority white spaces and had great examples of how white folks can interact and change the space in more anti-racist ways. 5🌟 #hellosunshine

Here is my #summerfun #safeselfie - I was at a local landmark - a nature preserve! My first time there.

This is ALSO my review for #readinwater bingo spot - I read this in my bathtub! I love The Bachelor, but this book disappointed. It was very issue based and not very romancey, the guys were unappealing (red flags). It felt more plus-sized torture porn than anything else. It felt like the MC settled for less than her worth. 2 stars. #botm

Participating in a Juneteenth readathon today, this is part of my stack of potential options (MOOD READERS NEED CHOICE OKAY?). I hope everyone finds a way to mark this day in a way that feels restorative to them. I am trying to honor Black stories, esp. ones featuring Black joy, and support Black businesses.
(Btw Libro.fm is donating all audiobook sale profits to Black-owned bookstores today!) #juneteenthreadathon #juneteenth #blackauthors

#bookhaul - my local bookstore finally reopened! I think they sold the Lyla Lee book to me one day early though...that's okay I'm super excited! 😻📚🎉

#readyoursign Sagittarius - sophisticated book, ruling number in pub date: 9-->November 2019)

Interesting nonfiction about the psychiatric pseudopatient study in the 1970s and tracking down the anonymous patients years later to corroborate the paper that came out of it. Readable enough but probably more interesting if you are interested in mental health. 4 stars.

#readyoursign Sagittarius ruling number 9

I know the title says November but this book was perfect for warm weather #audiowalks - romantic, funny, dramatic, tragic, happy, everything. The narrators were perfect once I found a good listening speed (slightly faster). It was like a good old romantic movie like Sleepless in Seattle or An Affair to Remember. I was captivated, it was just what I needed but didn't know that I needed!

#readyoursign Sagittarius Love Match (Aries prompt: red color cover)

This was a fun thriller, it was engrossing and lively enough to keep me engaged. It handled the dance of suspense and motivation well, though the ending was resolved more quickly than I thought it would be. However, I found it believable despite the improbable premise, so 4 stars it is! Would read another Clark book.

Light blue book for #readyoursign Sagittarius

This is a mix of pick and so-so for me, probably 3.5 stars. There are moments of fun dialogue and the topics touched on are important but it felt slightly heavy handed/after school special-explainy at times rather than letting the action and characters speak more for themselves - that was jarring for me since Albertalli books and collaborations are usually so seamless feeling. The characters are cute!

Did a #resiststack for a fundraiser, decided to do it solely of books by black American authors (no repeats allowed). What books would you put in your stack? I had the hardest time finding books for E, even if I didn't limit my selection criteria I don't know how many I own besides Emma 🤣
#weneeddiversebooks

Excited to join in #summerfun hosted by @4thhouseontheleft and @staycurious - check our their posts for the signup form, it runs through summer but starts June 15! There's also a junior challenge for anyone who has kids who want to play too.

I am in a Stamped from the Beginning readalong this month. It is being hosted by www.instagram.com/melanatedreader and I'm letting the Litsy community know with her permission. It starts Juneteenth and goes til end of July and you can either read this book and/or Stamped by Jason Reynolds (the shorter, reimagined version of this). I plan to start sooner. I am working to unlearn my privilege. Anyone want to join? #blacklivesmatter #stampedreadalong

#audiowalk for #readyoursign (9 is the ruling number for Sagittarius folks)
This one is adorable so far. Two people meet and connect romantically right before one moves away - they agree to meet once a year for 5 years to hold each other accountable on their goals.

#audiobook #romantsy

1. Ann M Martin! Can't wait for the new BSC show releasing July 3rd. They are updating it to have queer and Latinx representation too! And Mark Evan Jackson is playing Mr Spier which is so perfect!
2. Cerulean (blue)
3. Building my counseling private practice
4. @Schlinkles and @TsundokuAleax !💙

Thanks @lindy for the tag 😊

#friyayintro

My sleepstack prompt from IG:
🌌A book that has your DREAM bookish crush: THE PRINCESS DIARIES by Meg Cabot
🌌A book that you've been SLEEPING on: CUTTING FOR STONE by Abraham Verghese
🌌A book that you're DREAMING of being adapted: A LITTLE LIFE by Hanya Yanigihara
🌌A book that has you SLEEPLESS because you can't stop thinking about it: SHANTARAM by Gregory David Roberts.
🌌A book that put you to sleep: NINE PERFECT STRANGERS by Liane Moriarty.

I got a little bored today and it's almost June/pride month, so figured I'd do some rearranging...

#shelfie #rainbowshelves #bookshelves

1. A Little Life by Hanya Yanigihara
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J K Rowling
3. Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher

#favs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

🌈 Rainbow stack with Xavier the cat.😸 These are all women writers and all TBR (except for Gertrude Stein which I have read before. But I'd read again!). Do any catch your fancy? I will be reading the Irby next for a book club in June! (The Babysitter's Club Club Club for Books - yes, a book club made up of podcast fans🤪)

#womenwriters #catsoflitsy #rainbow #rainbowstack

Sagittarius in the house!
I'm going to do a few books for #readyoursign - anyone else joining?
Thanks @Clwojick and @Meaw_catlady for hosting!!

My May 2020 so far! 23 books, 8,731 pages read. (Well, of books I've finished.) I do Reading Rivalry on FB and their game period wraps up today, so I am checking in on my stats before May is done.

5⭐ reads: The Knockout Queen, Evvie Drake Starts Over, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Court of Mist and Fury, The Name of the Wind, Monday's Not Coming, A Good Marriage

Any that you've read or want to read? #may2020 #may20

WELL! I finished the tagged book just before midnight when the #bookoffimreading #readathon ended! Huge accomplishment, I really wanted to get it done. This one was 4 stars!

Here are my stats! (I read 2,183 pages total so far this #mdw weekend.)

(For a more complete wrap-up with ratings I have a longer post on my bookstagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAmM9QJgVse/?igshid=hgyfh7t79km0 )

5 🌟 alert!!! Kimberly McCreight's best - I think my favorite crime novel this year - twisty, soapy, scandalous, with some courtroom drama thrown in. I didn't guess the twists. Shonda Rhimes and Liane Moriarty fans will drool over this. I DEVOURED it. #thriller #crime #mystery #bookreview

Y'all I got a new shirt and it's PERFECT for me 🤣
📖🐱💤
(Teeturtle had a sale and I couldn't resist)
#bookish #bookandcat

#BookOffImReading page count updates! One more day to go and I think I will definitely break 1000 pages across 3 days total 😊
Both finished books were 4 🌟 from me! Hoping the others will stay good; I'm enjoying Priory and the tagged book a lot so far.
This is an IG #readathon but next month I hope to do the Litsy one: #CYOreadathon hosted by @Sace on June 5-7!

Onto #bookoffimreading #readathon book 3. I gotta finish this one for a buddy read by end of May, but preferably by end of day Monday for a reading challenge (but it's a huge book, yikes!). It's still very rainy. Neville keeps hoping for something better "on the tv" but nobody is out walking.
#catsoflitsy #ebook #fantasy

Continuing reading for #bookoffimreading #readathon. Dreary day but cozy to read with a cup of tea. I'm really enjoying this series and the 4 Londons in it. It's so...magical swashbuckling-y. #fantasy #londonbaby

I'm participating in a casual #readathon this Memorial Day weekend on Instagram called #bookoffimreading (🤣) and I have *already* broken my planned TBR (mostly buddy reads I'm due to finish, whoops) to hop to the tagged book by Rachel Cusk. This is the sequel to her book Outline that I ADORED. Has anyone read the trilogy?? Or loved Outline as much as me?!??? 💙
This is the perfect weekend for a readathon because it is SO rainy out right now.🌧️

Your attention please - The Anomaly had a sequel published a few months ago! I had no idea! It was a super fun Indiana Jones meets History Channel conspiracy shows scifi thriller #botm pick a few years ago. I can't believe I missed the news that the sequel was released! They did some hardcore rebranding of the books (to...horror?? 🤷). So hopefully this isn't too scary for me! 😬🤣 Has anyone read either book?

#catsoflitsy

Yesssss #bookhaul today! Rodham (tagged) is an alternate history - what if Hillary never married Bill? - written by Curtis Sittenfeld (it has a great new book smell). Lovely War is WWII historical fiction romance Greek mythology and a Modern Mrs Darcy #summerreading pick. Girl Crushed is a #YA #queerromance by one of my favorite authors Katie Heaney. #lgbtq #ownvoices #mmd
I posted the jacket flap summaries on my bookstagram (link in comments).

"BECAUSE I'M JESUS!" -Aslan, probably

Thanks R. E. Parrish!

Relevant:
https://youtu.be/f7Tjs6lqIBo

This could be the book of the year. I stayed up WAY too late reading this. Full review on my bookstagram because I could not cut down my gushing enough to fit it here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CANy-8IAbeP/?igshid=1jh58g3ukktc7

Been reading a LOT of SJM - read House of Earth and Fire last month and the whole ACOTAR series this month (previously I had only read book 1). I've read Assassin's Blade before but think I will have to tackle the Throne of Glass series yet.
I ended up LOVING Crescent City book 1 and ACOMAF most, do you have a favorite?

Anyone listening to the Julie's Library podcast? It's like Reading Rainbow but with Julie Andrews 💙 so soothing
#podcast #julieandrews #readaloud

Fun #readyoursign challenge upcoming in June with @Clwojick and @Meaw_catlady ! No minimum reading requirement, whatever you want!

I am a Sagittarius and I'm signing up to read at least 2 books! Too bad I read the ACOTAR series this month (feature an Archer)!🤣

Sign up via info on their pages or through this link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfoKXiHqajTgfJtZynP_XXyqhH9U94IrXP36Tt0...

#readingchallenge

#boutofbooks started today. For day 1, we introduce ourselves #insixwords -
Ravenclaw Hermione/Belle, singer gamer therapist.

(My sister sent me the tagged book, it's all about the enneagram and it's great. I'm an enneagram 2w1! What are you?)

#litsygamer #videogames #animalcrossing #harrypotter #hp #funko #therapist #enneagram

Some of my #currentlyreading pile, my #botm box finally arrived today after being lost for a week! I'm reading Evvie Drake for the inaugural Babysitters Club Club Book Club (yes, there's a podcast about the BSC, and now there's a spinoff book club). Bout of Books started today as well!
#bookofthemonth #bookclub

Read for #MayBeNow in time! Yay!
This #comingofage story in the 1980s during the AIDS epidemic is incredibly powerful and lovely. Told from the point of view of a young teen girl who has just lost her uncle to AIDS, the story follows her secretly befriending her uncle's bereaved partner who was shunned by the family while also navigating grief and a changing relationship with her older sister. I soaked this up like the sunshine I read it in. 5 🌟

Another edition of bathtime reads! Finally finished this great mystery (given to me by another person on Litsy). Victorian-era Scotland setting. Fantastic heroine. The murder they were solving made me the slightest bit squeamish (main character used to draw for the dissections her anatomist husband did, so she knows what to look for on dead bodies) but the rest of the book was well done and enjoyable. I want to read the rest of the series! 4🌟

@deweysreadathon book 11.
Oh, oh, oh, my heart. Incredibly moving, beautiful book. 💙 5 🌟 easily.

And with that, I think I am going to head to bed. Will do a wrap-up post but this will likely be the last completed book I will have this #readathon - it's been lovely!
#deweyapril #deweysreadathon

Doo doo doo! @deweysreadathon book 10 done! Love the Alias prequel series, so fun! In this one Sydney is undercover as a sorority pledge at a bash in Hawaii! 4 🌟
#deweyapril #deweysreadathon #readathon #alias #sydneybristow

Book 9 of @deweysreadathon finished! This book follows a woman who lands an amazing gig to apartment sit in a landmark NYC apartment building. But is it too good to be true? (Of course it is, this is a Sager book!) The pace of this races along, and I enjoyed it, but I like Sager's other books much better. (The ending of this vaguely reminded me of a Charlie the Unicorn video. Long story 🤣). 3 🌟

#thriller #deweysreadathon #readathon #deweyapril

@DeweysReadathon book 8 complete! I read Vol 4 of Saga. 5 🌟. I love this series so much - some of the most creative and emotionally impactful books I've ever read. #deweysreadathon #readathon #deweyapril #comic #comics #saga #24hourreadathon

Book 7 of @deweysreadathon is complete! I read a Baby-sitter's Club book. The series is an old favorite of mine (I have every book, including spinoffs). I can't wait for the new Netflix reboot! This book is a fun one (4 🌟) - Dawn is in California and takes on a long time companionship gig for a 12 year old girl named Whitney who had Down Syndrome.

#bsc #deweysreadathon #deweyapril #readathon