Relief Map | 
pick"She usually had sense. But maybe it was just that she had had so few chances to do stupid things before. Maybe she was actually a person who would do stupid things all the time, if it seemed likely that other people might see her doing them and think she was brave."
Summertime, adolescence and a slow burn of tension in Small Town, PA. The plot doesn't hold up well under scrutiny, but i enjoyed Knecht's style of writing too much to care.
pickI very much enjoyed this quiet little drama. The power goes out in small town Lomath, in the middle of the hottest part of summer, the roads out blocked & the police doing house to house, looking for a Georgian fugitive. Then Livy & her friend Nelson get caught up in something & life will never be the same for the whole town. #MountTBR2019 #Bk11 #LitsyAtoZ2019 #LetterK #LittenLoveBingo #LLB19 #RecommendsdayBook #Pop19 #BookWithAPlantOnTheCover
"She had been like that for most of her adolescence, vivid to herself with the world muted and blurred around her. Now the world was thunderous. She pulled up a blade of grass and chewed on the end of it. The world was loud and close, and her heart and lungs and brain were a tinny afterthought."
After digging into my #MountTBRShelvesOfDoom I found a few gems I‘d forgotten I had. This is one. I bought this late 2016 after @Liberty recommended it & a few other littens agreed. A small town, a hot summer, a fugitive & the FBI collide in this debut novel, with much unpleasantness all round. #MountTBR2019 #Bk11 #LitsyAtoZ2019 #LetterK #LittenLoveBingo #LLB19 #RecommendsdayBook #Pop19 #BookWithAPlantOnTheCover
"He'd had a few brilliant ideas in his life and every one of them had started with money and ended with a beating."
so-soAn easy read but I ended the book not being satisfied. I didn't really feel the connections of any of the characters outside of Livy and Nelson were well developed. The interspersed chapters of the fugitive were not interesting which was a shame cause he had the potential to be more interesting than most of the others. It was a book to pass the time but not one I ever read again or recommend to people.
FYI, Owl Crate is selling past boxes through today with 20% going to Puerto Rico relief.
Definitely an interesting read. Fell in love with the cover design/art initially and enjoyed the book, but it wasn't what I expected!
panI can see what this novel was trying to be, but it did NOT work for me. The story is shallow and amateur—the kind of writing that tells with barely an ounce of showing. There are a couple of major events that happen, but there's such a lack of depth and insight into any of it. Rather than coming across as powerful and tense, these events are completely unbelievable and even borderline ridiculous. I didn't buy a word I was reading.
Did I beat @Notafraidofwords to posting about this one? #flowersoncover #feistyfeb 💛💚💜🥀
This book is getting a time out for literally being unbelievable. Great cover + a good premise + lots of hyperbole = 😒. I'm still reading it, but I have my doubts, people. I have my doubts.
so-soI don't know why anyone does anything they do in this book. Assume there's a terrorist definitely hiding in your town. Would the FBI put up a roadblock and not let you leave? For days? And cut off the electricity? (Why?) But then lots of people seem to easily sneak through. But why? Lots of stuff just seemed to happen to try to make it exciting, so it wasn't.
There was also no Relief Map in it, so I added a map that I find relieving.
Past the half-way point, and stuff is happening, but I'm not sure why. Nobody seems to have any realistic motivations -- they're just acting in a way that'll lead to the most tension.
My rainy-day read today. I like that it's set nearby (deep rural Philly suburbs), but we're a third of the way through and I'm ready for the "set up" to be over, and the forward progress to start.
Still has a potential to be really good, but it is slipping away each time a scene ends with nothing but more building of tension ...
so-soI really wanted to like this book, but it didn't quite work out that way😕. It's less than 300 pages, and yet it took me a week to read. I just didn't connect with the story or characters. In the last chapter, I was finally feeling something for Livy. But then it was all over & done with.
I would keep my eye out for this author again, though. She's capable of keen insights & great at setting the scene.
I blame this - and every other mess in my house - on Litsy 😜. Because why organize/clean when I can read, or scroll through Litsy?!?!
(PS - what's the point of a roll top desk that doesn't roll down? Isn't the point to hide your mess?😩)
#blameitonlitsy
#somethingforseptember
@TheSpinecrackersBookClub
pickWhew...reading like a maniac to finish this book before I have to go out tonight....so good.....the town is isolated and quarantined after an international bad guy is on the loose...the heat of the summertime, the boredom of the residents and increasing stress of it all make for an excellent read.
This is another one I am FINALLY getting to. After trying to start it a couple months ago - 😩 - I'm just pushing the rest of the stuff out of the way until this done ☺️📚
pickIt was a coincidence I read this during this weekend of all weekends. It seemed a microcosm of the post 9-11 world with paranoia, a smaller world, and lives full of secrets. A small town is locked down with police and FBI as there is a manhunt for a Georgian man (country not state). Narrated mostly from a 16 yo Livy with pieces from the fugitive. This is a tense book. I love @Tin_House
pickSlow burning, unsettling, and super suspenseful. Loved the portrayal of the teenage friendship in this book and the writing style in general. I cannot wait to read more from this author!
"Her mind cascaded with other things she couldn't do. This was her strong suit. She was good at seeing pitfalls. But then, of course, she went and did things anyway. Her fingers dug between the the stones. She held herself in place."
Also reading Relief Map. Very different from Ove (see other post). I was wondering where it was going, but it once again shows why I love @Tin_House books
I'm never going to stand up, ever again.
"A slow burn panic set in, which made him do stupid things like wave the phone through the air in search of a better signal, as if the nonexistent message were a butterfly he was trying to catch with a net."
#next up
Relief Map
7 down for July
6 to go
#RecommendsdayLooking for a great summer read that is both plot driven AND comes complete with a great sense of character and place?Look no further than this little gem. Perfect for @24in48 or when you're looking for a between-books book.A full, satisfying reading experience in less than 300 pages.
pickToo hot to sleep in small-town Pennsylvania? Why not read a book about it being too hot to sleep in small-town Pennsylvania? I'm not sure I was completely convinced by the teenaged narrator, but this book was still a case of the right thing at the right time, and I couldn't stop reading it today.
pickTerrific. Beautifully written, briskly paced, I'm having trouble thinking of a person I wouldn't recommend this book to. One of my favorite debuts in a while.
pickWHY isn't this book getting more love/attention?! 11 reviews on Amazon?! Really good one-day read. Complete, satisfying story in less than 300 pages. Perfect for @24in48 Thanks @Amyegia @RoscoeBooks @Liberty for putting this on my radar.
Another Fiction Book Club pick complete. I plowed through this in two days and am really looking forward to hearing what everyone else thought!
Goals for the weekend: celebrate our anniversary, work though the ridiculous pile of library books I've accumulated, save the dog from panicking about fireworks. Any suggestions on where to begin?
"How could you mine the future tense? How could you suggest return?" I love me an unexpectedly deep question in the midst of a book.
@RoscoeBooks Fiction Book Club pick for July. @Liberty kicked off this week's All The Books Halftime Show with it this week. Good choice, @Amyegia !
I love having a job where I can take home a book if I've finished mine during the day! On this hot, sweaty day, I'm giving this summery, claustrophobic book a try.
@Notafraidofwords The review is up on the blog! http://wp.me/p7kSEG-7c
Rosalie Knecht retweeted and followed me on Twitter! Squee!!! 👍🏻🌟😃
pickThis book was amazing. I read it in one sitting and the characterization is stunning.
pick4🌟Subtitle should be: an extraordinary week in an ordinary small town. The book is good if you enjoy atmospheric character-driven books. I wish there were fewer more well developed characters. I also wish the fugitive had a more detailed storyline. Overall, I'm glad I read this book. 👍🏻
Just finished this one. I liked it, but I can't decide how much I liked it and in what way. Kind of an odd duck, this book. I will think on it tonight and review tomorrow (like always lol)! Shrill by Lindy West is up next. I feel like some essays. @Notafraidofwords
I try to see the humor in things. Of course you want brand if you're committing a robbery. 🙄 🙃
Getting back to it. This little doggie (Henry, my old man) has joined me for now, but he always leaves the first time I get up for water. He's pretty cute, though. 😉🐩
It always starts at 0%. I don't remember how this book ended up on my TBR, but I'm excited. 👍🏻
I keep thinking about this 📖. I finished it over a month ago and cannot get it out my head. Today (while in traffic) I realized why...
I love books about characters make reckless choices. I 💗books about people doing things that I would not dream about doing. Just to see if there worlds fall apart.
Anyone has similar recommendations of this book. I truly loved it and I'm trying to get the same feeling back. Help!
pickThis was fantastic. Slow and simmering and really great.
