Welcome to Litsy!

Thanks for the tag @hannah-leeloo

1. According to my list here, it's the tagged.

2. Nope, not yet.

3. 🎧 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
📖 The Mercies

If it's still Wednesday, you like Wednesdays, or even just survived a Wednesday and would like to play... go for it!
#wondrouswednesday @eggs

Tbh I wish I had read this before reading The Five. This book was well written and well researched. Parts of it made me very angry it was not the book. It was the Attitudes of the the people. How racist, classists and just uggg.

#audiocrochet with a true crime.

September 2020 TBR. There is a very slim chance that I will finish all seventeen of these books this month, but these are the ones I'm aiming for. 🙃📚

Skip is such a great journalist for Texas Monthly and his book is of the same quality you expect from him!

Hollandsworth creates the growing city of Austin well - the politics & the politicians, the streets & institutions. There are some really evocative scenes that took me to 1885, allowing me to really soak up the vibe of the city. The book through doesn‘t hold that intensity of pace throughout, some stretches that were dull - and felt like they were included because the research had been done. A tighter edit may have kept me hooked for longer.

A book about the search for America‘s first serial killer is an appropriately creepy read for October, right?

Oops.... i just popped in to have look!

#bookishproblems

This has been a long week, can‘t wait to start relaxing

I haven‘t read this one yet, but it‘s on my shelves and has a beautiful map.

#getoutthemap #lilithjuly

So good! A fascinating, true crime story of America‘s first serial killer from, of all places, Austin, Texas. I loved reading about our area landmarks as they related to this chilling story. Highly recommend! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #truecrime #MountTBR

Ive been wanting to dive into this ever since I discovered the first American serial killer may have been from Austin, where I live. Really fascinating so far to read about the area I know when they were new and the city was barely more than a cowtown. Max looks skeptical. #hometownmurder #truecrime

This is the story of a serial killer in Austin, Texas in 1884 - 1885 that was never brought to justice. The facts are laid out in a nice narrative manner, very well told. I have given this a middling grade only because this book is just beneath the quality of similar historical crime stories such as the amazing ‘Devil in the White City‘ by Erik Larson.

This is an interesting story but ultimately fell flat. I don‘t see anyone outside of Texas would care. However if you took Texas history at all and want a story that Texans don‘t tell I would give this a shot.

One of America‘s first serial killers terrorized Austin, Texas in the late 1800‘s leaving #human remains all over the city. He killed using an ax, a knife, and an ice pick causing Austin to erect huge structures with giant lights on them to try to deter the killer. #getmovin

I love history & mysteries (though I generally prefer them to be solved!) so this was a great read. I was impressed by the research & the sheer number of details included, from meals at the restaurants to the name of the man who lit the gas lamps. It's striking that so much is known about the city & it's people yet there are NO CLUES about the killers identity. I'm doubtful he became Jack the Ripper; wish more was known about both! #freakyfriday

Starting third #freakyfriday read and very much looking forward to it. I'm way behind on usual number of books read in a month, hoping I get through this one a little faster than I have been. @RainyDayReading @Clwojick @monalyisha

The books from your list are arriving, @RainyDayReading ! I'm excited to read the tagged book first but they all sound intriguing. I bought another of yours on a kindle deal and the rest I'm trying to get from the library. I'm starting to feel ready for #freakyfriday. 😊

Nonfiction events in 1880s Austin.

This was an interesting #truecrime audiobook to listen to, especially after reading The Alienist. It chronicles the year in 1880s Austin, TX when the citizens were terrorized by a butcher of women. No one had seen crimes like this before, and the investigation was hampered by inept lawmen, rampant racism and unraveling scandal. It offers no real theories about who the killer might have been, but it kept me listening. #audiobook

I‘ve long admired Skip Hollandsworth‘s magazine work in Texas Monthly, so was excited to pick up his first book. This details the crime spree of the Midnight Assassin, a serial killer in Austin, Texas, who between 1884-1887 killed 7 black servant women & then 2 white society women. The killer threw Austin into a panic & stunted its meteoric rise as a modern city. The killer‘s identity has never been discovered. A thrilling true crime story.

My latest #audiobook for the car. I started it this morning, which worked out because my commute was an hour longer than usual, and I got through a good chunk of it. #currentlylistening #truecrime

So, the theory that this guy was also Jack the Ripper is sorta thin. Like, the victimology is rather different (prostitutes vs. domestic servants), and their MOs are also very distinct.

My first book for #ReadHarder2018 challenge! This year looks like I‘ll finish it for sure!

Like a novel

There‘s lots of 1880‘s culture, slipshod police work, murders, and questions in this true crime book. #nuyear
#IAssassin

A snapshot of my bullet journal, which I‘m using to keep track of my current reading challenges. Besides Rory Gilmore‘s (which I‘ve been doing for like five years), I‘m trying to read all the Women‘s Prize‘s winners and BookRiot‘s Read Harder (I tried it last year, but life got in the way). I think I‘ll start with The Midnight Assassin because it‘s been in my Kindle for a long while.

The beginning of this 1880‘s true crime story about a serial killer got bogged down by too many facts about Austin, Texas. The second half of the book depicted “a perfect crime story...a whodunit of murder, madness, and scandal” to quote the author. It is a true mystery - were the murders carried out by one man? Was this murderer also Jack the Ripper? And why are these killings rarely mentioned? There are so many unanswered questions.

My #currentread - a serial killer is chopping up women in 1880‘s Austin, Texas and the Keystone cops are trying to figure out who it is. It would be laughable if it wasn‘t true. #blackandgold #reindeerreads

I‘m terrible at bailing on books. But there‘s only so much time and I have so many books I want to read, I can‘t keep going when I don‘t love a book. This was an interesting historical moment - a serial killer who ravaged Austin before the time of Jack the Ripper. But the writing isn‘t what I look for in nonfiction. So...onward!

Don't mess with the archives...

Listened to this one. Pretty interesting if you like stories kinda like Jack the Ripper - there's no concrete ending. And if you like history.

This is a terrific narrative nonfiction of a serial killer who stalked the nights of Austin before serial killers were really a thing. If you enjoy true crime, it's a must read. It definitely reveals the ingrained racism of the era, though this is not the book's focus.

Just starting this NF about a Jack the Ripper style serial killer in Austin, TX in 1885. There are some great historical photos in here that Austinites would enjoy (I'm looking at you, @Soubhiville ). I bought this book twice (by mistake), so I clearly really wanted to read it! 😂 Good so far in chapter 2.

Before Jack the Ripper in England, there was Austin, Texas. Home to America's first serial killer (before that term existed), the growing town of Austin and its inhabitants tried to balance their new-found prosperity with the terror of an unknown killer. Deftly written, Hollandsworth's account reads like a thriller, full of scandal, indiscretions, and no easy answers. - Rachel

Great history of a serial killer who terrorized Austin in 1884-1885. It's unsolved, though, which was frustrating!

Currently listening to this. Fascinating!

True crime: as the subtitle says, The Hunt for America's First Serial Killer. Austin, Texas, in the 1880s. Looks fascinating. #24in48 and on my list. Not reading much because I'm so caught up in the #WomensMarch around the world.

So @LeahBergen asked what are you doing tonight -- I am *finally* done with my crazy, busy fall editing work and am now back to normal, as of 6:30pm. SO I'm going to take time to look through some #BookMail Tomorrow I may even read 📚😏

A story I have never heard about murders in Austin Texas in the 1800s, right before the Jack The Ripper murders in London. It's amazing what history we are never taught

My latest completed read in my true crime spree. A quick read about a series of gory murders in 1885 Austin, Texas. Not for anyone who likes a clear answer but if you enjoy city history along with your murders, you‘ll enjoy it.

Picked this one up at the library after a patron recommended it. Enjoying it so far, but avoiding reading it at night before bed!

What they describe as "rip roaring". Fast paced, evocatively written in that best skip hollandsworth way, full of fascinating characters very well drawn. Not a book w depth per se but a super enjoyable one. Elevating it to "must read" if you live in Austin (as I do), or even Texas in general- incredible look into the city's past, including stuff that's been largely forgotten

So interesting! This story is one I haven't come across in all the years of my true crime fascination. Definitely worth the read!

TFW you swear you're only gonna get two things from the library at lunch...but then you (re)discover the true crime section.