I feel like TJ Klune needs to be a name in fantasy-lovers households. I wasn‘t expecting much out of this book - don‘t ask me why. I just wasn‘t. I‘ve been on a m/m romance kick, and while some are incredibly lovely, there are a lot of ...ahem, less well-written stories. Not this one. I cried, I laughed, I felt gut-punched. I love this story of a boy named Ox, who might seem slower than others, but gets right to the heart of things. Check it out!

I liked it, but it didn‘t fill me with wonderment. A Nightingale trained English nurse is called to a case in Ireland of a child who has fasted for four months. The nurse is to watch the child and find out whether it‘s truly a God-given miracle, or if there is some skullduggery about. It‘s twisted. #womenauthors

This isn‘t an easy book to read, but as I said in an earlier comment, the author‘s protagonist carries you through it. She‘s a futuristic Margaret-Sanger-turned-cowboy-avenger; she‘s a total badass. But, she‘s human, too. She makes mistakes, she has needs and hungers, and she gets terribly lonely and suffers a great deal of heartache.

Also, I‘ve gotta say: Planned Parenthood is my real life hero.
#dystopia #womenauthors #scifi #feminist

I‘m one third of the way through.

If rape or traumatic childbirth is difficult for you to handle, than this may not be the read for you. I‘m currently pregnant, and one scene had me repeating the mantra, “I‘m okay, and the baby is okay, I‘m okay, and the baby is okay...”
But here‘s the thing: the protagonist is so wonderful that she carries you through it. You get through it.

The unnamed midwife is my motherf-ing hero. #womenauthors

Truly excellent novel. A disease ravages the human population. How will civilization rebuild? Why do songs, stories, art, plays and museums matter? How does one dead man remain the link between seemingly disparate lives? I was pulled in from the very beginning. #womenauthors #readharder2017 #theatre

So far, so good. (50% in...)

#womenauthors #dystopia

After reading NK Jemisin's The Broken Earth trilogy, and Octavia Butler's Kindred, I needed a light romp with a middle grade novel. And what a delight! I've never seen the movie, but I assume the book is better. 😜 #womenauthors #middlegradenovels #sirensreadingchallenge

I now understand why I've heard this novel should be placed among literary classics. In a nutshell: A black woman finds herself mysteriously tied to her white slave-owning ancestor. She finds herself leaving her time period for his whenever his need is great. She not only witnesses history, but takes part in moving it along. A powerful and thought provoking story. #diverseauthors #scifi #fantasy #sirensreadingchallenge

I just finished the Broken Earth series by NK Jemisin (which was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ all the way!), and this was next in the pile. So glad to finally get to this classic.

Ohmygawd. What did I just read? It was so amazing and powerful and sad and I'm too stunned from its glory to even cry. Stunned, I say.

#sirensreadingchallenge #litsyreadingchallenge

Just finished the prologue. Dayyyuuuummm. 😳

#sirensreadingchallenge #rc14 #litsyreadingchallenge2017 #betterworldbookchallenge #fantasy

I really loved this graphic novel. Baba Yaga is a tremendous figure within mythology - a crone who terrifies children and lives in the wilds within a ramshackle house carried by two scaly chicken legs. This story centers around a teen/young woman who is feeling out of place, and decides to apply for the position of Baba Yaga's assistant. Great ending. #sirensreadingchallenge

Haven't been on in a while, but I have been reading! I'll have to make updates on the books I've read later. For now, starting on this one for the #sirensreadingchallenge!

1. 7-10, on average
2. I like both. Print feels comfortable, but digital allows me to instantly look up words.
3. Fantasy and memoir.
4. Romance and sports.
5. Misplacing my book!
6. I am transported.
7. I have been known to dogear pages. 🐶
#litsyquestions @GypsyKat

1. Outlander
2. I fail to think of one.
3. I don't think I am invested enough, love triangles can be fun, but mostly I read for the adventure
4. Romance
5. Mr. Darcy
6. Alice Hoffman
7. Love triangle
8. Anything by Cassandra Clare
9. Practical Magic

@Rachael5248 #unpopularopinionsbooktag

YAAASSSS.

🙌🏽👍🏾🤘🏽🖖🏻

Wow. Wow, wow, wow. This book is a beautifully written gothic tale about a boy and the strange mystery he uncovers about the author of his favorite book. While in pursuit of the truth, Daniel finds himself entangled in a story of tragedy, vengeance, redemption, and danger. #litsyreadingchallenge #rc15 #betterworldbookchallenge #translatedbook

1. 🍷
2. Cover!
3. Ooohhh...either, really!
4. Fantasy
5. Jane Eyre

#bookishwouldyourather @Kalalalatja

#topfivemalecharacters tag!

❄️ Jon Snow
💀 Kaz Brekker
🐕 Buck (The Call of the Wild)
😈 Lestat
✨ Dream (inasmuch as Dream is male)

#rapidfirebooktag
🔥Physical or ebook: Either
🔥Hero or Villian: Complexity is better
🔥Standalone or Series: Both
🔥Last book you bought: The Bone People
🔥First book that comes to mind: The Shadow of the Wind
🔥Film that's better than the book: Practical Magic

The raccoons have nothing to do with this post 😂

This book was magical, horrifying, heart-wrenching, and beautiful. I loved it so much, I feel like I carry these characters in my heart now. Definitely deserves the growing attention! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#readharder2017

This book was lovingly written. Patti worshipped her good friend and former lover Robert Mapplethorpe. This book is a testament to that relationship. Patti talks about living the bohemian life in NYC, casually running into the likes of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Sam Shepherd, Allen Ginsburg, and Andy Warhol. The life she describes is fascinating. Her descriptions of her struggle with art and the art world are inspiring. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you're not already following @EclecticReaders you should be! Their #ERMadLibs Reading Challenge is super fun! Here's mine!

At the Edward Gorey house on Cape Cod. It's hilarious.

#gorey #gashlycrumbtinies

With any book in the fantasy genre, there is always suspension of disbelief. That's how we get to enjoy these stories. But it wasn't happening here for me. It's a four thousand year old jinni with sixteen year old girl hormones. All other jinni in the book were monsters and given little humanity, unlike the protagonist. Le sigh. ⭐️⭐️

Nettie Lonesome is a half-black, half-Indian girl navigating her way through a world of white men and monsters - who are sometimes one and the same. Bucking the gender binary, Nettie thinks of herself as a boy, and finds that being human can mean a number of different things, including being more than the sum of your parts. I can't wait to read the sequel!

#sirensreadingchallenge #lgbtq #genderbinarybusted

This is a story about love and loss, sorrow and happiness. It's quirky and curious and beautiful and whimsical. The characters are memorable, and the way their lives collide is a crescendo of intention and emotion. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It's a #roadtripread! Heading up to Maine to witness my brother's marriage.

#sirensreadingchallenge

It was a great month for checking off items on reading challenges!

#may #recap

#BookNDinner Grilled tofu with Korean BBQ, and a side of sautéed with garlic fiddleheads! I'm loving this book, but I'm finding only short snatches of time for reading! Gah!

#vegetarian #foraging

My husband reported that while I left the bedroom, Malai took some selfies with my book. Here's the evidence. #selfie #suspicious #dogsoflitsy

Spent part of the afternoon reading my book on the deck while one of my charges watched me from his blankets. #wildliferehab #raccoonsoflitsy

Me today while watching the first two episodes of "Anne with an E." ???

#childhoodbookfavorites #anneofgreengables #annewithane

Sometimes, I thought of Neil Gaiman while I read this. Quirky characters undergoing major changes, a mix of mystery and magic, and then there's technology. It's dystopian, and futuristic, and then it's a witchy tale about a girl and boy who band together to save the world... 3.5 stars!
#sirensreadingchallenge

1. I was born in Stuttgart, Germany
2. Deerskin by Robin McKinley
3. Either Phedre's Trilogy or Damar
4. Finding Nemo
6. Tori Amos
7. Grey, Teal, Vermillion, please don't make me choose
8. Fantasy and horror
9. An environmental learning center
11. Dog, cat, two rabbits, hedgehog, three lizards, four snakes, two tortoises, eight chickens, and about 200,00 bees 🐝🐝🐝
#meetthelittens

I liked this book. It was an enjoyable read. But I didn't love it, or think it was super fantastic. It's a creative tale about a girl named Faith who comes into the care of a mysterious tree that tells her truths if she feeds it lies...or does it? Clever Faith uses the tree to try to solve the murder of her natural scientist father, and things get dangerous. #sirensreadingchallenge

I finally finished it. The first 50% was like slogging through a bog. The second 50% was like paddling the rapids of whitewater! Charlie Manx is a creepy old man with an unhealthy obsession with Christmas and kids. Victoria is, at first, a curious girl with a talent for bike riding/ripping through space. Years later, she is a troubled woman fighting for the life of her own child. Violence and blood galore!

1. Paperbacks. I find them easier to fit into my purse, or to carry around, and I find them easier to hold for reading. Also, if you lie on your back and hold the book up and it falls on your face, it hurts less. 😁
2. New books!
3. Errr...that's difficult... I guess loan.
4. I don't care about movie tie ins. They're annoying.
5. LOTR
6. More than 500.
#wouldyourather #playalong #quiz #shareyouranswers

Malala touches on many subjects: religion, governance, terrorism, sexism, self-reliance, family, and I can go on. She gives some insight into how a country that is beleaguered by corrupt officials and suffers a natural disaster can be even more easily influenced by fundamentalist terrorists. I think it's really important for non-Muslims to see that the Taliban terrorizes Muslims more than any other group. Great read from a brave young woman.

A year ago, my coop was bust open and raided by a fox. Today, I begin anew! 😍🐣🐥🐥

And the book I tagged is pretty funny to read through. 😜

#youvegotmail #chickmail #chickensoflitsy

This book only has a 3.48 rating on Goodreads, but I gave it four stars. I enjoyed the lyrical prose while some may find it too purple. I thought the story was both beautiful and complex. It gave me some insight into what it may mean to be Indian and living in America. I'm glad I ignored the poor rating and read it.
#sirensreadingchallenge

I present to you a new hive of bees I am now calling Hester Prynne because they are industrious workers despite my earlier doubts about them. If you don't keep bees, what they're doing here is building comb on the divider wall of a top bar hive, which is a no-no. But, you gotta give them props for being so diligent.

I have another hive named Antigone, and with a friend I maintain two more hives, Jane Eyre and Prince.
#beesoflitsy

I found this at the beat bookshop, a used bookstore in Boulder, CO. I'm psyched! "Science fiction by women from the 1970s to the 1990s"!

#sciencefiction #womenauthors

I was so excited when I found this at Trident, a used bookstore in Boulder, CO. I could only buy one book at each used bookstore I went to because I had to carry anything I bought onto the plane with me. 😭

But this was a damn good choice, if I do say so myself! 👍🏾👌

#poetry #atwood

The Long Island Sound Watershed extends from CT to parts of Canada, and includes most of MA, parts of NY, RI, NH, and VT. What we put into the ground comes out in the LIS! #rockinmay #livingbythesea

"Underneath the moonlight, together we'll sail across the sea, reminiscing every night..."
Queen, Seaside Rendezvous

Every time we come to Estes Park, we take a swing by the Overlook Hotel! 😈

#redrum

I'm behind in this challenge, but I'm playing now! #blackauthors #blackmusicians

"You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way"
Tracy Chapman, Fast Car

#rockinmay
#immigrantsong

Started this, and I am loving it! Also planning a few of my own walks in the woods in the Colorado Rockies.

#nature #hiking #appalachiantrailforbryson #rockymountainsforme

#recap #readwomen #weneeddiverseauthors

Angela Clarke.

I really enjoyed this read. Elka was found as a child by Trapper, who teaches her how to hunt, fish, and fend for herself in the wild. Her world gets toppled when she finds out that Trapper is a killer - and now she's on the run from the law and from the man she thought of as a father. #thriller #dystopia #alternateworld