I didn't mean to sound like I hadn't found new things to read in the #tob2025 longlist! Above the line are books that have been on and off my monthly tbr stacks all year and which I'll now try harder to fit in, and below the line are books newly on my radar 🥰 I can't believe I missed the newest Rivers Solomon!

Happy #tob2025 longlist week! I've not read a ton of them (no surprise given my comfort genres); what I have read is primarily thanks to litsy suggestions (😘 #camplitsy24). Not much that was a surprise tho -lots of repeat authors?- and James in particular seems like an obvious choice. But it was fantastic so... 🤷🏻‍♀️
My list by enjoyment in the reading is above fwiw! Highlighting the tagged bc James gets plenty love wo my help 😜

It‘s sooo squishy!!! Thanks for the thoughtful package @KaylasReadingNook I love it 😻 I‘ve not read this Stephen King yet, and I‘m looking forward to enjoying everything. I‘m pretty sure that puppy is nefarious, too. Right?
#allhallowsreadswap #ahrs
Thanks for organizing @MaleficentBookDragon

@BethM I‘m enchanted! 🤩 the candy fits me perfect, how did you know? And I can‘t wait to try the bath bomb! Thank you for the thoughtful #hhs #hhs24 and thanks for organizing @wanderinglynn

Forgive the excess of stickers, just wanted to do a quick post while I was thinking about it that my #ahrs and #hhs packages arrived! I‘m very excited to open them 🤗

I almost forgot to post that I sent my #ahrs #allhallowsreadswap #ahrs2024 today! Should be there by the end of the week. My dates were off thanks to the Monday holiday so just under the wire lol @MaleficentBookDragon

Audiobooks 3-6 for #hauntedshelf :
I enjoyed them all except The Horoscope Writer. Tagged was a nice palate cleanser fantasy satire told from the pov of a reluctant dark wizard. However I enjoyed the claustrophobic space-spelunking horror vibes from The Luminous Dead and the confirmation I got from How to Sell a Haunted House that puppets are indeed more creepy than dolls, and I'm ready for more spine-tingles for the week ahead! #flerken

A pic of #HHS package taken as I left the house - it‘s away now, should arrive by the end of the week! #hhs2024 @wanderinglynn

Well, that‘s an “ugh, my rival” glare if I‘ve ever seen one! #catsanddogs #dogsoflitsy #readathon #hauntedshelf #flerken

There were actually MORE eyes than expected. As advertised? But still. Ew.
#hauntedshelf #flerken book 2!

Book one of October /#hauntedshelf is this memoir. It is, apparently, super-controversial and polarizing, but in general I found it to be a very engaging read that is informative on the subject of how everyone may not process or engage with emotions in the same way. I dunno if there‘s as much science as I wanted, and I dunno if I believe everything happened in this book as stated, but I also dunno if that matters as to its enjoyment value.

#hauntedshelf recs, clockwise from tagged:
1. For the tame, my fav middle grade horror series
2. For those that don't mind body horror and find ikea to be slightly creepy to start with
3. For the monster lovers
4. For the lover of women-centered retellings
5. For the slasher lovers
6. For paranormal romance
In case you needed more spooky-season inspo! #flerken @PuddleJumper

Finally catching up on this quiet little novel for #ClassicLSFBC @RamsFan1963
Y‘all‘s callbacks to Star Trek felt apt - this was about as cozy as SciFi can be. Reminded me of the Ilona Andrews series a bit too 😂(⬇️)
I didn‘t love the literal hand of god ending but liked that it seemed like Enoch would get the chance to reenter humanity and alleviate his loneliness. Do you think he‘ll let himself start aging again?

#flerken #hauntedshelf
1. I think this changes daily 🫣 currently I‘m leaning to the tagged bc of the miniseries
2. My partner and I try to carve pumpkins every year, and we love to decorate
3. Pumpkin beer - and did you know TJs has pumpkin spice Irish cream? Omg
Or piping fresh off the frier apple cider donuts!
4. Bingo boards!

My #hauntedshelf team #flerken tbr has options and bingo boards built-in😜
October's #Bookspin is all about buddy reads and ongoing challenges, and I've created 2 lists for #readyourebooks / #readyourkindle in honor of all the spooky books I've collected in years past. #castthedie is for library loans. Overambitious? Yes. Overexcited? Oh, yes. But man do I like both making lists and having options for mood reading.

This sapphic regency romance with gods and fairies is a low pick. The second half kind of dragged, but the framing was fun and I had some laugh out loud moments.

#5joysfriday
1. The weather is approaching fall vibes - my favorite 🍁🍂
2. Caught one of the nights the zoo was open late 🐅
3. Tried an online nail wrap store and they‘re really cute + the store owners sent a hand written thank you note with my order - aw
4. This weird tomato bouquet I made is thriving so well I may have to plant it? 😆
5. Going to a coworker‘s wedding reception tonight! Party time!

*Less than a week until #Hauntedshelf but there‘s still time to join! See link below to sign up or @PuddleJumper for more details.
True story, I‘m here for the bingos. And the vibes.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe7g2cbAys_w6B9G5HHloV6kRr1yQvXVOptseGn...

#castthedie is taken up entirely by books I‘ve wanted to read from the library but never quite gotten around to - or just excited about. Tagged is my “lucky” pick. So excited for the new Osman!

I wish this book about art was more about the very geeky subject of how and why we appreciate art and less of the author‘s personal journey. Pictures would have helped. The pic above is from Julie Curtiss‘s website (an artist the author spends a great deal of time with) and which I find very arresting. More of that, pls!

I think it might be more fun to develop your own eye than to listen to anyone else develop theirs 🤷🏻‍♀️

Super emotional read with lots of tough subjects including but not limited to genocide, residential schools, loss of parents, addiction, drug abuse, and a mass shooting. I loved the epistolary feel and sometimes-epistolary format and how the book therefore often felt like it was talking directly to me. The writing was lovely and the narration fantastic but this was a bit of a tough book to chill with due to subject matter.

#5joysfriday
1. I cannot currently telework and my office chair was a problem for my sciatic nerve, so I bought a new chair and it is delightful
2. I've kept up well with pre-work walks with my ridiculous pup
3. We made it to two delicious restaurants for restaurant week 🤤
4. Started a new crochet project
5. Plotting and planning my October reading!!
Hope it was a good week for you all!

My Halloween aesthetic is pretty much where you could stick me in an Edward Gorey set for Dracula and I‘d be happy as a clam. Intricate library? ✔️ gothic arches? ✔️ goofy/creepy faces poking out in the background? ✔️
Maybe add in Nightmare before Christmas‘s movie-in-background or at least the music and some mad scientist-ness, and I‘m there!
#hhs #hhs24

StoryGraph tells me I'm tracking 21, which is downright embarrassing. I think I'm only active on 8... Which probably means I need to make a few dnf decisions, plus be better about remembering when library borrows are going to magically disappear from my devices 🙄🤦
#sundayfunday

This was a #blamelitsy read but hilariously was something a coworker was reading at the same time and so has now become an office by-word. I liked it! Dual narrators, good banter, fresh premise. Did I mention the male narrator has an Irish accent in the audiobook? 😂

About serial killers who kill other serial killers and fall in love via a serial-killing-competition, so consider for your October reading pleasure if you need some raunch.

Love this idea for #tlt #ListThreeThursday @dabbe 🎃🖤
I had a lot of fun reading Diavola this year - think family vacation from Hell in the Italian countryside, and I recommend Arden's middle grade horror quartet all the time, even to those squeamish about horror. However, Mira Grant/Seanan McGuire's creature feature novel was the first book to spring to mind for the prompt, so it gets the tag!

I wanted the satire sharper and the humor funnier in this new novel about Iranian-American food heiresses who want to be the next Kardashians but the pandemic gets in the way. Great cover though.

I wasn't paying attention and the tagged returned to the library with 1 hr to go. My September #bookspin plans are already derailed!

/1 hour!!!!/

The latest Mercy Thompson installment felt short while reading it and afterwards almost feels like a reset? Or maybe a deep breath before the big battle book. Anyways, I‘ve now read it twice (once with my beloved Lorelei King narration of course) and enjoyed it. A solid entry - and maybe feels like Briggs is dipping her toe into fantasy mystery??

This cookbook full of mezes from the eastern Mediterranean made me miss the camaraderie of enjoying a slow evening with good friends and small dishes soooo muccchh. I don‘t know if I can try the recipes without being emotional, but I‘m sure I‘ll try because they sound delicious and who doesn‘t love mezes?

This was a great #Netgalley find! Great world building, and the best commitment to gritty dark fantasy as a backdrop for overarching class and poverty struggles that I've seen in a while. The cover is a vibe clash for me - too light airy and pretty.

#bookspin but make it super late 🙄
We were without power for four days or so, though, so if that's all I'm behind on I call it a win!
I've already been reading off it esp for #AuthorAMonth and have to say that the Dickens vibe in the tagged choice isnt really jiving with me. Does anyone have a different favorite Waters novel I have to try? Maybe one that is more contemporary?
@thearomaofbooks @soubhiville

In June and July, I've been really finding my stride with bails - and the tagged is my lowest rated finished book. I'm not sure what it says about me, but I'm proud of and decided to celebrate them this time 🙃 🫣
💀The Fraud
💀The Earth Transformed
💀The Extinction of Irena Rey
💀The Wolf and the Woodsman
Some I may come back to and try again (some book hangovers are real!) and some... Not so much 😆💩
At any rate, circled books I did enjoy!

Reading my May #bookspin now for June #bookspinbingo credit = similar to feelings during my academic career... 😇😂😏

The anger in the tagged is incandescent and it pulled the novel to my number one spot in May. It asks, aren't you also tired of all the talk surrounding perpetrators of crimes against women that be moans the "promise" of these "bright young men?"

Also enjoyed : Diavola, Station Eleven (#AAM), and SGJ's latest. And it looks like I'm all caught up on Twain so I can properly enjoy James! But I'm doing badly on #bookspin picks yet again + no bingo ?

Looking forward to my #readyourebooks choice this month as I‘ve shockingly not tried a Jodi Foster bk yet tho they seem right up my alley.
Tagged is #bookspin and #doublespin is Wide Sargasso Sea (which I‘m happy to finally be reading with the #hashtagbrigade)
#aam is giving me the excuse to pick up Station Eleven
So it looks like a game of catch up all round, and not least in #roll100
Hope y‘all having just as much fun this May!

Just a small shout out to everyone who nominated books for #camplitsy24 - the books above were my top choices among those that did not make it onto the official camp roster. They immediately went onto my tbr anyway! I would not have had them on my radar if it was not for the longlist, and that would have been a shame. The library hold on the tagged is only 2 weeks out and I'm looking forward to the hilarity promised #blamelitsy

Urg must stop listening to this at work (it is bad form to cry on evidence). 🙈😂
Does anyone else feel like the blurbs for this were very bad? They should ALL have said something about the Little Women homage. I do NOT feel prepared lol.

Tagged is my favorite read from April - but I had four other 5-star reads, which is impressive!
Acevedo's first book for adults, in all its magical realism glory, was just too moving. I appreciated the breadth of female and immigrant experiences in this book about 4 magical sisters from the D.R. and their families. As ever, Acevedo's own narration in her audiobooks is not to be missed.
Oh! And my first #bookspinbingo of 2024! @TheAromaofBooks

I read and enjoyed these books for March and April‘s #aam picks.
The Harper was a solid thriller but I don‘t know that I‘ll seek out more of hers.
I had tried Ozeki before and been lukewarm, but was happy I tried again with her Booker-winner. The parts I was most engaged with were the ones set in the monastery.
Yay for a challenge I‘m doing well at! (not that finding new authors is a hardship 😜)

A break in the storms -> I collected ramps on a little hike -> dying of boredom waiting for the pine nuts to toast up for the pesto 😝
Guess I'll read my book and try not to get too distracted so the nuts don't burn...

This was a fantastic #naturalitsy read that combined travel journalism with the natural history of the eight extant bear species. My local zoo has a sloth bear, and he‘s always been a bit of a mystery to me, and learning about all the other mysterious species was equally charming. Tho I could have done without knowing that bear farming is a thing. Hope reading it is a joy for you too, @AllDebooks

It was a hard task, but I managed to choose the six recent releases that I thought would be most fun to buddy-read with you all 🤗 (as opposed to omg-this-is-going-on-my-kindle-tomorrow bingeable #bookdragon territory). Did you vote yet?
I‘m so happy ya‘ll are hosting again this year, and the spreadsheet @squirrelbrain put together is 👩‍🍳💋. My TBR is much bigger, thanks littens for letting me know of all those juicy new books I was overlooking!

I actually just finished this YA Victorian horror novel and it perfectly fits today‘s #springskies prompt since the main protagonist is a transmasc autistic teen. #neurodivergent
This was really well done if brutal and touches on so many very modern issues that the historical setting only helped to highlight. I‘ve been on a YA-avoidance kick lately, but I‘m happy the cover of this one made me dive in anyway.

Good news! I have my personal shortlist narrowed down to 11 with 19 runners-up 😭 #camplitsy24
I'll mull which would be most fun to buddy read rather than devour immediately in one sitting today and hopefully vote tonight 🫣

It's been a long week, but i thought I'd post this #5joysfriday a bit late to change my mindset for the weekend @DebinHawaii
1. My experimental English muffins turned out tasty if flat 😋
2. Took the time to go to the library for a change
3. The weather turned chilly enough that I can put off yardwork a little longer
4/5. These cuties allowed for snuggles this week, and the cat usually isn't into them, so I'll take it!

I've been...Not great?.. in posting my reads lately, & I'm not sure what's worth posting now 🤪
Case in point: March! Well, at least my fav (tagged) should get a shout out. Spot on cougar narration, man! If they were to do things like narrate, that is.
+ I'm impressed I got through so many #tob2024/#LitsyToB24 selections! I plan to continue with those lists, but possibly not very diligently, given that the tournament-immediacy is, um, over.

A color-co-ordinated #camplitsy24 nomination for y'all:
⛺️Diavola - Jennifer Thorne
🏕️ The Morningside - Tea Obreht
🪵 Exordia - Seth Dickinson
🌲 Sociopath: A Memoir - Patric Gagne
Can't wait for the tbr explosion of the longlist!

I've been lurking and reading but haven't had the energy to post. So hello! Here's the list I've been reading off of this month. I'll be tentatively poking around at these challenges and buddy reads, as ever. 👋 #bookspin #roll100 #readyourebooks #naturalitsy #noplacelikeholmes #LitsySciFiBookClub

Newly transitioned, non-binary Sammie goes on a debauched bachelor‘s weekend for their best friend from before they transitioned. They contend with micro- and macro aggressions as they try to figure out if these relationships are worth saving - literally saving, as it turns out, since the weekend happens at the site of an apocalyptic cults‘ bid to awaken their eldritch god. So… lots going on. The part with the clones felt most thought-out. ⬇️