Haters gonna hate, but I really had fun with this one 🙌🏼. One ridiculous plot point aside, Origin was far better than Inferno.

The book that wanted to be a movie 👎🏼

A slow start, but worth it as you get to know the characters. The question becomes: who is “the beguiled”? The young, innocent-seeming girls? Or the charming Irish soldier recovering in their boarding school? The answer is up to interpretation, making this book worth the read.

Interesting idea that seemed underdeveloped to me. Mysterious portals that lead from one country to the next just by stepping through a door.

In reality, we see that modern people can move and are connected in ways never before available in human history and that creates issues as well as opportunities. This book speaks to the refugee crisis, but wasn't long enough to do it in great depth.

Autumn arriving just in time for...autumn! (Also in time for me to read it before the Man Booker Winner is announced on the 17th!)

Just finished this on audio and am left a little unsure. I enjoyed how dialogue heavy it was, and the twisted, yin-yang relationship between the protagonists. There is seemingly one major flaw in the crime aspect which makes me question if I can consider this book any better than just "good".

The narration boosted this to a ?? for me! I loved his voices and his noir-styled voice.

Once I got over the fact that this is NOT what I expected it to be, I really enjoyed it. Did I want more witchy stuff? Yes. But I want to stop judging books based on what I want them to be, and instead judge them by what they are.

Good book about love, familial and otherwise, and the real-world magic it does. Now looking forward to its sequel out this October 😊

Jackaby is a detective of the supernatural and, in this installment, he hires a girl to help him solve a murder. It fell flat, though, as the book practically begs you to find its "wacky" characters/going-ons endearing.

Example: Jackaby's roommates are a ghost & his former partner who's been magically transformed into a duck...& this was supposed to be funny? Cute? But it never felt sincere. I might read the 2nd to see if we get more development

Good book. Complicated story I'm not sure ever added up to 100% in the end. The heroine wants to be an opera star, but more than anything she wants to be free of the one man capable of making her opera dreams come true. She escapes him, only to fall into his clutches time & time again. I liked that storyline, but it's complicated by a competing admirer. I never connected with the other male lead & this led to a disappointing end. Still a 🤘🏼.

I've only heard good things about this and so maybe I went in with too high of hopes. The story never took off for me, and the second I thought I was interested it would veer into another storyline or character. All supporting characters seem infatuated with the main character, yet I never understood why. She was described as a badass feminist, yet few actions in the text actually backed that up.

Overall: Unfocused which left me uninterested.

The ending of this book has me 🤔...if the Robert Langdon series continues, I'm interested to know how Dan Brown resolves the problematic cliffhanger here.

Just finished reading / listening to this. Really enjoyed it all the way through, although "The Secret History" comparison continued to nag at me until the very end.

It's about a group of college kids training as actors in an intensive Shakespeare course. They're best friends until their own tragedy unfolds and breaks each of them, and their group. Would've been a 4 star read...until the last page!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for a fun, enjoyable read.

Starting my #cozyreadingnight with Pedro Almodóvar's novella "Patty Diphusa". The memoir of a self-described "sex-symbol internacional, o estrella internacional del porno, como quieran llamarlo". It's as ridiculous as it's cover suggests and I'm loving it.

A must-read for any fan of Almodóvar's movies.

Current listen...

Started a little slow, but I'm starting to get into the groove of the neighborhood now. Lots of gossip, Boo Radley rechristened, and two little girl investigators (a la Flavia de Luce).

Holy amazing of books. I know this was huge within the last year and I'm so glad the hype was deserved.

I wasn't expecting a horror story, but that's what I got. Mixes the real with the magical with metamorphosis with family drama with women's rights. Packs a punch in a short, amazing 188 pages. Talks about the ways in which women control their own bodies and what happens when that fundamental right is taken from them (us). Incredible.

My current listen... 🎧 started a bit slow, am still waiting / hoping for it to pick up!

Republished in 2013 by Harper Perennial, described as "a rediscovered classic" from 1956. A precocious teenager bounces from boarding school to Hollywood to New York and finds it increasingly hard to be herself in the rigid, elitist society into which she was born.

Scandalous in the 1950s looks a lot like "Gossip Girl" of the 2000s.

All hail the Mighty Bob. May he rule forever and ever, amen.
This book is poetry and song and music and stories and love brought by a humble artist. An artist who never asked to be made into an icon; a person who knows himself and doesn't need anything more. Absolutely wonderful.

Currently listening to..."The Song of Achilles".
Gimme a British narrator anytime, all the time.

Beyond Cervantes and Ruiz Zafón, I think authors from Spain are largely unknown. I don't know if this book has found much fame in English-speaking parts of the world, but it was HUGE here and then made into a film.

I like Cercas's writing because it focuses on vernacular Castilian Spanish with the narrator telling the story as if he's speaking to a friend. #notinenglish

Thomas Cromwell might as well have been put to death in this first of the trilogy for all I cared about him in this book. Maybe that's a good sign of Mantel's historical writing? Not lending too much sympathy or humor or personality to a figure we can't possibly know that intimately. But I found myself bored for much of this novel, despite all the scandalously entertaining royal happenings. Do I read the second one...? Yet to be decided.

Stumbled across the world's oldest operating bookstore by chance while in Lisbon 🇵🇹 this weekend!! It was just as wonderful as it sounds 😍

Another great adventure with Flavia at the helm!! I've read the first three novels in the last month (so grateful to Litsy for introducing me to OverDrive) and have adored every one.

Now my dilemma becomes: continue on my Flavia reading spree OR interrupt it with other things on my TBR? Thoughts?

I can't do horror in any form because nightmares will ruin my life for weeks following any reading/viewing, but I've found the Flavia de Luce mysteries to be both fun and a little creepy. Creepy in a good way that gives me a little "spook" factor during the Halloween season.
The 2nd installment was just as wonderful as the first. Flavia comes across the page as completely genuine and absolutely hilarious. I can't get enough of her antics!????

This book is the perfect example of hype letting me down. So many people rave about Bel Canto so I was excited to be late to the party, pick it up, and see what all the fuss was about!

To my dismay, the first 200 pages were painstakingly boring. My persistence in continuing lay only in my discomfort of bailing on books. The last 50 pages, when "showing" finally took the place of "telling", redeemed it somewhat...but overall a ??.

Wonderfully fun story that I finished on a flight to Dublin. Was so totally absorbed in the mystery and its twists and turns that I was pleased to have all the time to dedicate to it without stopping. If you're looking for a quick, fun read then look no further!

This book has left me confused.

The style, the writing, the voice wove a story that I've never read before. There were too many characters and some that I really did not care about, but at the end of the book, as all things come together to make a complete picture, I'm not sure who could've been cut.

It lacks traditional narrative structure and that made it difficult to get into and finish especially at 686 pages. I feel...exhausted.

Loved this book as much as I love this edition. It's part of the Penguin Drop Caps series, which I now covet having in its entirety.

Siddhartha follows a man in his journey to enlightenment and his bump in with Buddha along the way. Thought provoking yet put in terms that allow the reader to deal with Buddhist philosophy with ease. #BooksSetinAsia #somethingforsept

Saw the movie first, fell in love with the book later. A classic example of book being far superior to the movie, although I imagine there are plenty of people who disagree with me on that given Audrey Hepburn's iconic portrayal of Holly Golightly. Capote actually wanted Marilyn Monroe to play Holly, interestingly enough. My favorite book of all time #MadeintoaMovie #somethingforsept

Hop me on that bandwagon because this book was incredible. Each chapter a new character, a new generation, another cause of suffering all held together by different branches on the same family tree. Cause and effect made real through engaging, visceral storytelling. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I keep going back and forth about my thoughts on audiobooks: sometimes I love them, sometimes I feel like I'm missing out by not having the reading experience. But this story has such a wonderful storytelling feel to it that audio is only making it better. I'm loving the characters, the backstory, and the premise so far and wanted all Audible listeners to know its on sale for $3.95 until August 31st 🤘🏼!

When we finally get to the moment in which the parachutists are about to jump back into Czechoslovakia to begin their assassination mission....Binet gets right down to it. They jumped.

This was a book full of stories and "characters" that build upon one another to make one great and true account. Binet criticizes himself, the process of writing narrative non-fiction, all the while creating a truly unique reading experience. An Absolute Pick.

Started this one today and am tearing through it. The chapters range from a sentence long to 3 or 4 pages so the pace is unstoppable. Binet's reflections on the limitations of historical fiction make his writing self-aware and oddly trustworthy. I've given myself up to it completely.

Started this GIANT today. I've decided to read along with an audio performance so that I keep a good pace. I've come to do that a lot with classics, especially Victorian British novels because the voices (and accents 😍) make the writing so much more enjoyable and lively!

Having just finished "The Sympathizer", my mind is still churning through everything it had to say about the Vietnam War. Coincidentally, "Heart of Darkness" was next on my TBR, the inspiration for the modern-day adaptation, "Apocalypse Now".

Love the smell of art intersectionality in the morning!

Begins at the "end" of the Vietnam War as a southern General plans his escape from Vietnam with his Captain, our narrator. Nguyen criticizes the American war machine & its destructive power as relevant today as it was during the Vietnam War. Beautiful in its entirety, the last 50 pages are rapturous

It started off well enough...but each character added made me dislike it more and more until it finally became comical. The women were so stereotypical drawn and when he'd try to fill them out with stories, their stories were equally generic. Too many characters, absolutely none for whom I cared.

"Telling these kinds of stories, or learning to read, see, and hear family stories as war stories, is an important way to treat the disorder of our military-industrial complex. For rather than being disturbed by the idea that war is hell, this complex thrives on it."

Starting The Sympathizer today.

I'm racing though the Thursday Next series! They're just too much fun, I get lost in them only to resurface 300 pages later and find it's time for the next installment!!

Highly recommended if you're in a reading slump or just want something goofy, but bookish!

Listening on audio now! I'm enjoying the idea of the clandestine club of intellectuals...but the writing seems to be trying a little bit too hard to sound as smart as the characters are supposed to be, which is coming off as pretentious instead of genius. Thoughts?

"The gum looked fresh. I sniffed it and it smelled all right. I licked it and waited for a while. When I did not die I crammed it into my mouth: Wrigley's Double-Mint."

I'm reading To Kill A Mockingbird for the first time since 8th grade. Am loving Lee's ability to capture childish innocence.

LOVED this book! Was not expecting to find it nearly as engaging as it was, but I could not put it down despite its 600+ pages. I expected the writing to bog me down, but it was funny, clever, & fast-paced! I couldn't get enough of the first narrator, Betteredge and his "detective fever" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Cheer up! I'll ease you with another new chapter here--and, what is more, that chapter shall take you straight into the thick of the story."

Loving the direct speech to the reader! The narration is quick and conversational ☺️

My first Wilkie Collins (I love the author picture included in the Penguin edition)!! Charles Dickens' lesser known / read friend and contemporary. I've heard good things so I'm not letting 600 pages of Victorian writing scare me 💪🏼

A fast read with short chapters that kept me thinking "oh, next chapter is only 3 pages? I can fit that in before I go to sleep." Fascinating story and commentary on medicine today, its miracles and its limits.

Ever read a book with certain expectations and it turns out to be something completely different?...well, Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" did exactly that. I wanted one thing, instead I got a complex analysis of death, love, beauty, and decay. Need to re-read this in the right mood and mindset.

I listened to "Heartburn" after seeing it posted here on Litsy! Not one for so called chick-lit generally, Nora Ephron's movies and Meryl Streep's narration won me over. The story was....pretty "first world problem"-ey, and too whiny for me. But the narration kept me entertained, so overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Loved Mindy Kaling's first book "Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?" and have been waiting to read this! I'm starting to dabble with audiobooks and this one is narrated by the author, making it all the more quirky and fun!

Starting a rare dive into non-fiction for my upcoming trip to the Floating City. Let's hope these 400+ pages of history capture what I'm expecting to be a wonderful city 🇮🇹
I also want to read something fictional set in Venice, if anyone has any suggestions!!

"He who ruled scent ruled the hearts of men." (161)

Never will you think about your sense of smell in the same way. After reading Süskind's "Perfume", you are thoroughly convinced of the power of our most underused sense. Utterly beautiful.