OK Littens, I haven't been around in a bit... Family obligations, traveling, and the holidays. I'm not reading much (ack!) and I'm not able to do much tech stuff, but I knew you all needed this word on your vocabulary so here I am for a few minutes...

Tsundoku ... I know you can all relate! 😜

3.5
I liked the beginning, but found myself bored halfway thru. Part of the problem is that Tom doesn't experience any real growth until the very end of the book. For the most part, he sounds like he is still struggling to figure out his place in the world. This seems unrealistic being that he is 439 years old!

Every time I was ready to put the book down the author would write something interesting, so I finished it, but I won't recommend it.
⏬⏬⏬

I read this interstitial while waiting for book 2 of the Raksura series, The Serpent Sea, to arrive. It didn't add much to my understanding of the Raksura, and wasn't long enough for me to develop any feelings for the characters. But it let me stay in that world a bit longer!

Still waiting for book 2 though. Sigh. Need my fix.

Wells does it again (I just finished the Murderbot Diaries). She's revamped an old trope and done some spectacular world building. I highly recommend this one of you like fantasy/scifi.

@TheLibrarian
#70kgiveaway

Wow, a 70k influence. I can't even imagine. Congratulations. And thanks for this giveaway opportunity.

(The tagged book was released in 2016, but I only hard about it a few months ago here on Litsy.)

I find it difficult to recommend this book. The main character, Mike, is written in such a way that makes him not believable. I don't believe this character could become so successful in a corporate environment by the time he's 30.

I also have difficulty believing V would date him for as long as she did.

And... part 1was much too long. We get more than enough of Mike's insane point of view in about 1/3 of that section.

I absolutely loved this quartet of novellas. Murderbot is definitely someone I'd spend time with even if it didn't really want to!

The story makes you think about the definition of intelligence. It's a fun read with interesting social commentary.

My only complaint is that this could have been a book rather than 4 quick installments. At $10 a pop that makes for a $40 novel... I library-ed these.

I love Murderbot. In this installment Murderbot works to uncover what nefarious business GrayCris has been involved in. And we meet another bot, Micki, who's relationship with her person is very different from what Murderbot has seen so far.

Micki was fun, but I missed ART, from book 2. So far he's my favorite auxiliary character and I hope he comes back in book 4.

Thoroughly enjoyable, although not as good as the first one.

On to the third installment of Murderbot.

I wound up loving Murderbot, and who wouldn't? An AI who hacks itself in order to avoid the unpleasant and ethically questionable aspects of its job to hang out and watch vids all day long. It was fun to watch Murderbot struggle to interact with its human cohorts.

This novela pulled me in immediately, and I'm looking forward to the remainder of the quartet.

(Last post tonight, I promise I'm all caught up from my Litsy-break now.)

This was the weakest of the trilogy. There was too much political commentary, and not enough exploration of the alien planet. I also really did not like the interview format coupled with multiple times streams. I wound up frequently confused as to which time stream I was in.

Overall though, I recommend the trilogy. It is thought-provoking, insightful, and a fun read.

I'm not sure l which book I enjoyed more, this one or Sleeping Giants. While I had a difficult time getting into book one (interview format), I really wound up liking the story. This one was even more engrossing as I'd developed affection for some of the characters and grew to dislike others.

The story went off in a different direction than I was anticipating and made me think about things I'd not previously considered. On to Only Human.

@Clwojick
#blackcatchallenge

I thought this was an appropriate Halloween-y kind of shot for today's photo challenge prompt.

I don't usually participate I these challenges, but I couldn't pass up the chance to showcase one of my babies! 😻😻😻

I finished "Sleeping Giants" and am already on book 2 of The Themis Files. I don't love the interview/diary format the author chose to tell the story... But I love the story.

It's a fresh take on the sci fi genre and well worth reading if you haven't done so already.

I picked this up because a bunch of Littens were discussing it when I first joined Litsy. Yay Littens!

I picked this one up immediately after finishing "The Dry ." Out of order, I know, but it really didn't make a difference in understanding the story. I liked this one marginally more than the second, but loved them both!

I am an Aron Falk fan and hope to read many more by Harper in the future.

I highly recommend these police procedurals set in southern Australia.

Having been on a number of corporate team-building excursions, I can attest to the fact that they can be difficult. But thankfully, none of them have resulted in any bad behavior or lost team mates.

While the ending wasn't entirely unpredictable, I didn't get there for a while, and definitely didn't predict some of the nuances.

Harper writes wonderfully well. I'm off to start "The Dry." (Out of order, but I don't feel lost.)

I didn't even make 100 pages. I was so bored and simply couldn't spend any more time with those characters.

I remember liking Quindlen I the past, but perhaps I am mistaken. This one makes me want to pass on her writing.

On to "Force of Nature."

Sorry to hear about your friend @TCLinrow .

This is my favorite picture of my boy cat. It's a few years old already, but still makes me smirk. I had been painting the house, and he decided to help. The little kitty paw prints around the house were very cute, until I tried to remove them.

I hope this helps.

#catsofLitsy - (I don't think I've used this one before)

I'm always reluctant to pan a book. I can appreciate how difficult it is to create a world and characters that people are interested in spending time in/with.

I found the characters in this story unsympathetic, and the plot line simplistic and annoying. I wound up dropping this one at the mid-point.

I loved this one. The YA romance was predictable, if somewhat annoying. I liked most of the characters though, so it wasn't too frustrating.

But what really worked for me is that there were many references to other books, and an insightful treatment of living with grief.

And (if you've read the book) how much fun is the idea of a Letter Library?

This was a lovely slice-of-life story. I highly recommend it.

I was immediately drawn into Lu's world. I loved the pace, loved the characters, and loved the plot. As with most YA, there is some suspension of disbelief required. Also Emika's romance happens too fast and becomes too deep without enough explanation to the reader. The twists were obvious, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this one.

This is a fun read and I'd recommend it heartily if you are a fan of YA and/or "Ready Player One."

This is an interesting take on dystopian/speculative fiction where THIS world is the dystopia.

I truly enjoyed this book until the very end. I wound up skimming the last few chapters. Other nit-picky things, didn't like the MC, and the chapters were ridiculously short which made it all to easy to put the book down.

While I was reading it though, I truly enjoyed the story. The book did not resolveitself the way I hoped/expected it would.

I would have never picked this book to read had I known it was a novel about the life story of a movie star. I find the cult of celebrity abhorrent and try to distance myself from it as much as possible.

I picked this up because I saw so many positive reviews here.

The book was well done, the characters complex. I found myself liking Evelyn. I had a hard time putting it down.

Try it If you're looking for a good beach read, or palate-cleanser.

I rarely read physical books anymore, I 💗💗💗 my tablet. But I wanted to read a book I wasn't sure I wanted to buy and my local library didn't have an electronic copy. When I put the physical book on hold, I got this message.

Is this something libraries are doing now? Charging $1 if you don't pick up your hold?

I don't get it. Anyone? Librarians? ????

This is a police procedural set in Hitler's Germany during 1964. As a police procedural it worked well. I enjoyed the story line, the characters, and the plot development. As an alternative history, it didn't really work for me. I'm not sure if it's a function of having audio-ed this one, but that aspect of the story felt underdeveloped to me.

This book made me nervous and uncomfortable regarding today's political climate and women's reproductive rights.

While the story kept my attention, I found Zumas' writing style to be confusing at times. It took me a while to care for the characters too, but I wanted to see where this was going. The book picked up for me during the second half.

It's better than a "meh" but not an unqualified "recommend."

This one was a little too twisty for me, and because of that I figured out the ending about 2/3 of the way through.

Shades of the Showtime series "The Affair" mixed with "Gone Girl."

Still, it was a fun read and I'll definitely look to read more Burke.

Meh.

I did not like Olivia. I can give her a pass on some of her behaviors because she just lost her mother. But what she did with G and Marcel (clients of her employers)?!? That's not cute or excusable behavior, there's a word for it, and it's not flattering.

Olivia exhibits some character growth by the end of her story, but you barely get a hint of it before the book quickly wraps.

Cantor writes well so I'll definitely consider her next book.

Audioed this one, the narrator's were excellent!

What defines the promise of loyalty in marriage? Should Celestial and Roy have expected their 1-year marriage to have withstood a 12-year incarceration? Were they suited for a long marriage to begin with?

What should the expectations be when one spouse changes the dynamics of a marriage, voluntarily or otherwise?

Thought provoking and beautifully written book, but I found the ending weak.

I may have picked this one up subconsciously since the temperatures were predicted to be over 110 for four days running. I'm glad I did!

Milchman writes beautifully. I loved her description of grief and how people grow into each other in a relationship.

The mystery however, left a little to be desired. There were elements to the story that were rather far-fetched. But the story works, and it was an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed this book, despite some shortcomings. The protagonist had a different viewpoint than I've come across before, and I found it quite thought provoking.

There were some scenes that were truly horrifying, and others that were unimaginable. Even though the story felt YA, and the wrap up felt too quick, I found it gripping and recommend it.

Fun article in the Wall Street Journal on the rise of on-line book clubs. No mention of Litsy though. 😲

https://www.wsj.com/articles/too-busy-for-a-book-club-join-an-online-version-153...

We recently adopted a cat from the Humane Society. She was picked up with wounds along her neck and shoulders.

In order to increase our chances of a happy integration, we picked up this book. After 5 weeks... Success! (She's the small one.)

Many of the training tips are rather complex, and I'd love to see more tips on how to get them to stop doing things. But this book provides some good insight into cat psychology.

#catsoflitsy

I loved "Deerskin," and while I enjoyed this retelling of Robin Hood, I was never completely engaged. McKinley does an excellent job humanizing the mythological, but I still found something lacking in the story.

Overall though, it's the best version of Robin Hood I've come across.

I'm not sure why this was fictionalized since the author had access to Dita Kraus. This also makes little sense in light of the fact that he reveals the actual names of the characters in the epilogue.

The blurb talks about the great risk to the librarian, but the author only made me feel concern for her once. It seemed more like Dita was given a task to keep her occupied.

The last few chapters were interesting, but not worthwhile in the whole.

This was a light, optimistic read. The world building was great, and the story was engaging. There were a few heavy issues, but the author glossed over them making the story read like YA.

The crew were enjoyable to send time with, although the author could have flushed out a fee things... Rosemarie had some issues and could have been fleshed out; Corbin-Sissex tied together with no issues; Ohan?

Overall a light, optimistic story. Fluffy and fun.

This is why I haven't been on Litsy, oreven reading much. (That's my iPad, with a cat app she loves!)

Hubby & I just adopted Ellie from the humane society. She had bruising and scabbing across her shoulders and neck when they found her, & they advised a rather lengthy intro period.

So the hubby and I are taking turns visiting her in her room. The boy is none to happy, but slowly getting used to the idea of an interloper!

#catsofLitsy

I love stories that revolve around time-travel, and I loved this one.

Willis does an excellent job of world building, in both story lines. Both scenarios seem utterly plausible (if you can suspend your disbelief about time travel).

Highly recommend, with the caveat that some readers found this book tedious and overly long. I didn't.

I love dystopian fiction, so I had high expectations.
Unfortunately, this book didn't deliver for me. I found it thoroughly redundant, as if the author were trying to stretch out this material in order to have enough pages to justify a sequel.

But the ending was interesting; not what I'd expected at all. I'd like to know where the author is going from that point. I imagine you could just pickup the second book without missing a beat.

So I just started the tagged book... post-apocalyptic fiction, a genre I typically enjoy. But right now (I'm in the pre-apocalyptic chapters) I find myself hoping none of these characters make it. They're all playing with their cell phones while driving. Grrrr.

I wound up reading this for the #LitsyBuddyRead, so I finished it, but with some heavy skimming, especially the scenes that revolved around the children (all too long and really didn't drive the plot forward).

I found myself laughing out loud occasionally, especially at the Saturday morning soccer, and I genuinely liked Frances, but it's not a book I'd recommend.

The story kept my attention, despite a rather annoying main character. But the epilogue is just not believable. While Cassie has experienced enough trauma throughout the story to make her character growth potentially believable, there is just no way anyone else could find her reliable in so short a time. Regardless, I don't believe Cassie could have gotten there w/o a lot of therapy.

The writing kept me interested. I'll read more of this author.

I truly enjoyed this YA fantasy series. Thanks again @PenguinInFlight !

Taylor does an excellent job of worldbuilding. I was quickly drawn in & was engaged throughout the entire story, but book 3 felt long. Taylor introduced other characters who wound up being integral to the resolution, but by that time I was so invested in the characters I knew, I wasn't as interested in them as I could have been. Still, I'd highly recommend all 3 books.

Started this one the other night.

Cassie's getting a realty check from her lawyer. Ouch!

This is the second book in The Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. It did not disappoint. With strong themes of atonement and remorse, it didn't read as YA to me.

This one is darker than the first. The characters are weary, many are unsure what they are fighting for.... And things just seen to go from bad to worse.

Thanks to @PenguinInFlight for turning me on to this story.

@cobwebmoth is hosting a #ChooseYourOwn giveaway open to all Littens and closing on 5/19. See her OP for the remainder of the details.

For myself, I would choose a gift card as I am almost strictly an ebook reader. Although if I'm not the lucky winner, I hope that Litten chooses a box of goodies as I love to see all the packages you guys send to each other. (It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.)

Happy Mother's Day to all you Littens moms. (Ties to my review of Daughter of Smoke and Bone.😜 )

Final #FreakyFriday read from @PenguinInFlight

I really enjoyed it & finished the trilogy (other reviews will follow, along with Litsy time, I'm just inundated with real life right now).

Anyway, the story is a slight departure from the YA I'm used to. Very well written. Loved Karou etal. Well worth a read even if it's not your usual genre.

This was one of my #FreakyFriday reads.
I borrowed it from my library. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish it in time, and someone else had it on hold.

I got about a third of the way through, it seems like a sweet story. I did not believe that Nell would turn away from her very loving, adoptive family... That didn't ring true to me.

Since I want to find out how it resolves, I'll request it again.

@PenguinInFlight
@Clwojick
@monalyisha

#FreakyFriday status

Didn't finish @PenguinInFlight s list, but I think I'm in good company ?

I would have done better had I not been traveling this last week.

❇ I finished 6 books (1 audio)
❇ I dropped one
❇ and I'm halfway through 2 more (1 audio)

And for the flight tomorrow, where I hope to catch up a bit, I've got "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" in both formats.

THANK YOU @monalyisha @Clwojick for hosting this fun event.