Welcome to Litsy!

I haven't been doing great on my #10BeforeTheEnd challenge. I am reading this longer Donna Tartt book, I am loving it but it is taking some precious time to get through. I am picking up The Space Between Worlds on audio to get me moving a bit this week.

So far I have love The Safekeep, thought She Would Be King was excellent - I wish more people talked about this one it deserves hype! And was disappointed in The Empusium.

A fantastic book - right up there with A Secret History for me. I went in expecting a murder mystery, but really this is a story about childhood when the adults in your life are mostly failing you. Tartt captures the experience of being a child - outsized beliefs and feelings of having no control over what happens much of the time - brilliantly. I‘m counting this as my first book for #10BeforeTheEnd, which I just joined today. 😉

Here are my #10BeforeTheEnd books! We now officially have 10 full weeks left of the year,

This week I have decided to tackle Donna Tart, and maybe start a smaller one like Safekeep.

Good luck to all who are joining!

I decided this was the perfect season to finally pull this off my shelf and read it.🍂 I‘m loving it so far. The dog is not as convinced that reading is the best use of my time.

Sometimes you go to a thrift, pick up a book, and fall in love. Does this copy have its dust jacket? No. Is it first edition? Yes. Do I already own this book? Yes. Do I need another copy? No. However, something happened when I saw the spine on that shelf in Goodwill and now we‘re very best friends 🤩🫶❤️

#NewYearNewBooks
#ToyCover
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Well, I tried for about 100 pages. The writing is beautiful but not much happened. So I decided to check the Goodreads reviews, which are mostly 3 and 4 star. Not bad. But reading reviews, a lot of them say pretty much what I was thinking: pretty words, disappointing lack of plot. So I‘m bailing. 🤷‍♀️

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen

The tagged is my third book over 500 pages this month! 💪📚😆. I‘m only 30 pages in.

The Book of Longings is from my 12book12friends12months challenge, and it‘s really good so far.

I‘m hoping to get to the bottom 2 this week too, we‘ll see!

I pulled my October #Bookspin list today with a theme of Spooky/Creepy/Fall Colors. Appropriately enough Black Cat Venkman wanted to pose on top. Lol.

The ones that might be tough to read titles on are
5- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt
16- The Island of Dr Moreau by HG Wells
19- The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld

#tbr for the week, can‘t wait to finally get through these books, because I‘ve been so busy and putting off reading way too much. I really need to find a book club.😭
On another note my #litsylovesanimalsswap came! So excited, and thank you to @DinoMom and my match! 🖤

I was unaware of this book until I received a signed copy for Christmas a couple of years ago. While I liked the writing and story well enough to stick with it, I wasn‘t sure where the story was headed. The death of Harriet‘s older brother was a mystery I wanted to see a resolution. It seemed like the author pulled together a vague ending that not only left me wanting more, it was like she got tired of writing and just ended the book. #MountTBR

This was a great stress relief for me. When I have a lot going on in life books like this help me relax. This is not a plot driven book. It focuses on couple of kids and their friendship. If you are looking for something fast phased this is definitely not for you.

#FallTreasures #Day15 #FaceonCover

Three very different books with faces on the covers. I‘ve read Tartt‘s other two books, but not yet this one. It sounds quite different from The Goldfinch and The Secret History. A Little Life has been on my #TBR for awhile but I know it is extremely sad, so I‘ve been putting it off. I started Doctor Zhivago during lockdown last year, but got distracted about 30% in—need to finish this year!

Going in to my first Donna Tartt. The beginning feels really promising! 😍

It‘s difficult to even begin to describe what this book is about, as the plot deviates so much throughout. I started off by listening to the audiobook and switched to the print book (which was moderately better), but felt like there were too many characters and subplots that added nothing to the storyline. The book didn‘t do much for me until the very end where I was intrigued but ultimately disappointed.

All I can say is I listen to the book and thought the audio gave out and dug out my print copy. I was so upset to find out it just ended like that!

Generally I don't reread books because there are just too many books and not enough time but in my younger years I didn't always have access to many books but I did own, love and reread these 🖤
#3books #booksihavereread @OriginalCyn620 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Lazy summer days ☀️

Lazy summer days 🌳

Love me some Donna Tartt!!

📚The Little Friend
🖋 Dennis Lee 🐊🥧
🎥 Lawrence of Arabia
🎶 Louis Armstrong
🎼La Vie En Rose
#ManicMonday #LetterL @JoScho

This novel is beautifully written but surprisingly brutal. Everyone goes around ignoring each other‘s feelings in a way that is almost cruel and that makes for a very frustrating 500+ pages.

The plot goes nowhere and ends with a thud on a non sequitur. And the only two characters to have anything approaching a real arc (out of myriads) are two of the “bad guys.”

Wish my original pick for my #readharder2020 #doorstopper had worked out. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I bought this several years ago because the doll on the cover creeped me out. After finishing it, the cover is still my favorite part of this novel. 😂

The book started out strong, and I was intrigued and wanted to keep reading. A few chapters in though and there were too many characters and side stories that didn't work with the main story.

This is my second read by this author and I think I'm gonna pass on any others by her.

I think I need to abandon this one for the present. I love Donna Tartt's work, but this one isn't cutting it for me. It may simply be due to time constraints this week with little reading time, looming deadlines, and a pile of other library books begging for my attention. Perhaps I will give it another go at a future date.

Twelve-year-old Harriet and her best friend Hely spend the summer in their small Mississippi town investigating her brother‘s untimely murder, angering some meth-dealing locals as they uncover clues.

Read October 25 - November 14
Book 58

I get the disappointment with this novel. The story is meandering and unresolved. It‘s more of a character study than a plot. The abrupt ending made me feel that maybe this book started life as a short story, then got expanded. I still recommend it, because Donna Tartt‘s writing is so evocative. I listened to the audiobook, and that was an additional treat - Donna Tartt reads it herself. 3 stars.

#7days7covers #covercrush
@MrsMalaprop

4 more for the #SouthernLit Display! 😁 Books are just flying off the displays! 😱👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 *Happy Dance*🕺

Have you read any of these?!

#LitsyLovesLibraries #MrBooksDisplays

I had to rate this book so-so because the ending left me disappointed. I really enjoyed the authors other novel The Goldfinch but this one kind of dragged for me. Don‘t get me wrong the author can write beautifully but this story just didn‘t keep my attention in the long run. The ending just left me with too many questions and the main plot of the story was never resolved. Kinda aggravating 😒

Loved it.
Many reviewers say it‘s her weakest novel, but I found it to be on par with The Goldfinch.
Tartt creates an atmosphere with believable characters and makes you think while reading.
Definitely recommend.

#Aprilstats I‘ve not read as much since starting my new job in January. Part of it is due to a short commute, so fewer audiobooks. Part is probably due to Council meetings three or four nights a month, and house renovations and wedding planning. But I feel like I need to up my game a bit.

It‘s not The Goldfinch, but it was good enough to keep me up way too late to finish it. I was bothered by how many seemingly impossible situations these kids got out of - rather cartoon-like success of kids over grownups. So the ending, which doesn‘t answer the central question, was a bit irritating. The realization of Victory and Defeat being intertwined almost saved the end. But not quite. 4 star prose, 3 star plot.

And oh, those filmstrips!

I love well-placed literary references! #kipling #junglebook

“Wife-swapping Utah Jesus!” This cracked me up, even though the “do your research!” side of my brain is saying missions only last 2 years. So either he rented it to the Mission president, or those boys left the church. #notLDSbutlivedinUtah

#currentlyreading

Started this one on my lunch hour. So far, it‘s reeling me in.

It‘s too hard to choose just one! So you must forgive me—I chose two (one is tagged).
1. The Little Friend (tagged) + Cutting for Stone/Abraham Verghese
2. Friend - save Harriet; Stone - save Marion
3. Friend - Eugene goes overboard; Stone - Rosina goes overboard
4. Huge wheel of cheese 🧀
5. Hello 👋 @EadieB @sprainedbrain @squirrelbrain

Donna Tartt is one of my favorite authors. The Secret History was a fantastic debut novel, and The Goldfinch is a modern masterpiece. The Little Friend is a long work. It takes a long time to develop, and it gets better as it goes. It‘s not as good as her other works, but I‘m a fan of anything she writes. The UK version of this audiobook has been recently recorded and is better quality than the U.S. version. Overall rating: 4.31 stars

Tartt‘s worst novel.

I finished it, but wow, fuck this book and everyone in it. Schools of red herrings swimming in a cesspool, and lots of shitty white Southern assholes being just horrible to every character of color.

What‘s the opposite of “recommend”?

I‘m in with @emilyrose_x ! This is day 1 of #adventrecommends! If you cannot see, it is The Little Friend, by Donna Tartt.

Starting this big doorstop! I enjoyed the other books of hers I‘ve read.

Congratulations! 🍾🎉🎊🎈 @Moray_Reads and thank you for sponsoring #BooksChangeLivesGiveaway! About the tagged book: I think most people love at least one of Donna Tartt‘s books...I love them all! But “The Little Friend” is the only book I‘ve ever read that convinced me that I have a book in me. Haven‘t finished it yet, but this book lit the fire...maybe I‘ll get there yet.

You guys! I volunteered at the library book sale and got all these for $10. Plus I came home to my #FallingForFallSwap box today. My sender is still a mystery... Such a good bookish day (not a good day otherwise - this has been such a tough summer). I can‘t wait to open this and there are a few here I‘ve been wanting to read. (My #FFFS is going out tomorrow.) 😊

I‘d seen mixed reviews of this but I was so pleasantly surprised! Much better than the Goldfinch which I really couldn‘t get on with. I adore atmospheric southern gothic things like this, and Harriet and Alison were such brilliant characters.