Welcome to Litsy!

I found this galley proof of Hunter‘s first novel in the bargain carts at The Strand this summer. I loved The Harpy so it caught my eye. It‘s a slim, sparse account of a climate apocalypse that feels pretty realistic at this point, and the aftermath, told by the narrator who is a new mother. I liked it; a low pick.

“There are so many different kinds of quiet, and only one word for them. The quiet in the house has matured from quiet as lack of noise to something else, a textured, grainy quiet, a thickness to stumble through.”

A slim and poetic novel which I read in two sittings.
Her lyrical prose is of such contrast to the climate emergency. Cleverly written.

The prose whispers itself into poetry. A sail boat becomes a “ diversion of cloth, wind and wood”. The sunset & the flood waters that have obliterated all become “The shimmering green- gray-blue terror. Orange in the evening then gone.” Every sail boat & every waterview sunset are just those things. That‘s all the new mother can absorb so that‘s all the text there is. After the flood, everything is subtextual, subliminal, submerged. Ambitious!

As the lake water starts its yearly August drop, I‘m picking up this short cli-fi catastrophe novel.

In this novella, a woman and her baby are searching for refuge as London is submerged by the rising waters.
In parallel to the dire situation being described, we're witnessing the baby growing up.
This novella offers an interesting take on apocalyptic fiction, with sections in italics inspired by mythological & religious texts. It's a short read, a mix of prose, with a poetic layout whose content reads like diary entries.
Overall, a nice discovery

Discovered a monthly book subscription called #TheEndOfTheWorldReadingClub for dystopian reads plus related 'gifts'. Super excited for my first read and can't wait to see what the gifts are (they're all wrapped with instructions to open at certain pages in the book!)

The U.K. is flooding and a small family must flee to safer ground.

It was refreshing to have a during/post disaster novel that didn‘t fall immediately into humanity is terrible and awful. There‘s a level of community and of hope here, that I want to see more of in this kind of book.

However, given the style of writing, the depersonalization of the characters through initials only, and the shortness of the story, this felt flat to me. 🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑

1. I‘ve been needing something to get the nibling moving, so today, after it cooled down, I hid teddy bears around the house and sent them on a bear hunt.
2. Tagged!
3. Drinking lots of water, sitting outside at least once a day, sleeping when I need to, and cleaning.
4. YES

#friyayintro @4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads

“I am hours from giving birth, from the event I thought would never happen to me, and R has gone up a mountain.”

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Finally! Another day where it‘s above 45 degrees!

(It snowed yesterday! 😭😭)

Sadly, the best thing about this book is its cover.

With stilted language and awkward descriptions (one passage describes the staticky sounds from a radio as sounding “post-coital” 😐), this book didn‘t deliver on its initial promise.

A post-apocalyptic story in a time of pandemic? Yes, but sadly, not an effective or satisfying one.

🌊🌁

Haunting, poetic, tragic, then add in childbirth and a dystopian disaster. Her writing is bare bones and lyrical. Loved it but an see why some might struggle.

Enjoyed this poetic dystopian story-stitched together by the stories we‘ve heard of earths creation, or recreation. I especially enjoyed the character naming conventions & the struggles of being a first time mother with a newborn in an emerging and unstable world.

Floods are threatening London, forcing a young mother and her baby to make their way in this new dystopian world.

Sparsely told with beautiful prose. It is a short read that feels somewhat detached but I couldn‘t put it down until I finished.

Thanks @AThousandLives87 💕 this was part of the fantastic #dystopianblues package you sent me!

I‘m undecided about this book. It‘s short, almost a novella, about a new mother coping in the aftermath of an environmental disaster that floods London (and presumably much of the south of the UK, not that that warrants a mention). Potentially a good story, but it‘s delivery, in disjointed sentences, and the use of initials rather than names - the mother is unnamed, the father is R, the child Z, and so on render it soulless. I just didn‘t care.

The summer of cli-fi continues.…

Another find at the book sale. I wish there was an easy way to get library plastic off 😬

#WanderingJune #LondonCalling In present day, London is slowly being submerged by relentless rains and people fear the end of the world is drawing near. An unnamed woman goes into labor, delivering her child named Z. Wanting to save Z, husband and wife risk fleeing London for higher ground. Chaos, confusion, resentment and turmoil ensues. I received both lovely editions as bday gifts last year. Thanks to @RachelO @TrishB 💙💙

I read this for #Booked2019 - Clifi

Quick read, only 120 pages and it is not written like your typical book. No one has a name. The unnamed narrator has a baby while London is starting to get flooded and come under water. The story is about her journey and her child growing up. A lot is purposely vague and you don‘t really know what happened. She meets different people who help her get through this while all the resources dry up.

A quick, intense read. Found it on a list of motherhood/apocalypse books. Recommend!

Starting this small book today. Message seems to be hope in disaster. The author is very lyrical and beautiful in her storytelling.

#MarchIntoThe70s This book, a present day apocalyptic London submerged underwater should have been a brilliant read but the sparse detached writing left me underwhelmed. #AnarchyInTheUK

⭐️⭐️⭐️
I must have jinxed myself with my last post. 😂 Oh, well. This wasn‘t bad or anything, it was just okay. I like the style it was written in and the juxtaposition of new motherhood and catastrophe. Unfortunately, I just felt like the story held me too much at a distance which kept me from really feeling for the characters.

#booked2019 #clifi
#catsoflitsy #Phoenix

A short but powerful dystopian story that really makes you think. The UK is underwater due to rapidly rising sea levels & this book explores the story of one woman coping with motherhood, love, loss & chaos all at the same time. Don't go in expecting full descriptive paragraphs and lengthy dialogue because that's not what you'll find. I really liked this one so it's 5 stars from me.

My full review is up on my blog now 📚

I loved this tiny book. I loved its sparseness, its elegance and the trust it offered to the reader to fill on the gaps. This is the ultimate literary lesson in the less is more rule, something more writers should heed.

There are so many different kinds of quiet, and only one word for them. The quiet in the house has matured from quiet as lack of noise to something else, a textured, grainy quiet, a thickness to stumble through 🌊

A lesson in saying a lot in very few words. Beautiful.

This was short, intense, lyrical and beautiful. But it just didn‘t touch me 🤷‍♀️

On the night the world is flooded, a child is born and a mother is formed. As the MC‘s focus is on her newborn, so is the reader‘s focus moved from the dystopian disaster to the bonding between mother and child, which was the best part of the book. If it had just made me feel SOMETHING this would have been a pick.

It‘s definitely #socksunday weather again. Here‘s to warm socks, cozy blankets, and new books! This post apocalyptic read is slim and spare but it‘s a powerful story of motherhood and survival.

Big thanks to @Cinfhen for sending me this pretty book ❤️ and the pen and sticky notes are cute!

I haven‘t seen this edition before, but it is so lovely! I just hope the book lives up to its pretty exterior 🤞

#Bookmail #Littensarethebest

#Recommendsday

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2018/09/28/the-end-we-start-from-megan-hunter...

#septemberdanes @Cinfhen @Kalalalatja

I forgot to post yesterday. #TheDayAfterTomorrow reminded me of this apocalyptic book by Megan Hunter. It's a very slim book, the writing is poetically weird and the story stayed with me for a very long time.

Today's prompt reminded me of a book on my #TBR. #BonjourMadame

I started this #audiobook during my #audiowalk today for the #25infive #readathon! (Currently at 3/25 hours between 3 books.) It‘s very lyrical and quiet and unemotional, for an end-of-the-world type of book. I like it so far! Just as the new mother focuses on her baby rather than the world ending, so does the reader.

Side note- North Carolina is so green! It‘s jarring but nice!

#currentread #bookinaday

The writing here is sparse and lyrical, and the plot is intriguing. But there is not much connection to the characters, and I found the quirks of only calling them by letters rather than names frustrating. It is so short that it is hard to really develop a relationship with the work, but the writing is poetic.

Finally pulling out my haul from #PhillyMeetUp2:
Philly bookmark from @BookBabe
The Reader and Four Past Midnight from the @EadieB Bookmobile
Tagged (signed!) book and goodies from our gift exchange
#Phillylittens outdid themselves! Such a great time

Thanks to some serious jet lag {literally} I‘ve finished my first read for #backpackEurope 🇬🇧This novella didn‘t work for me. A woman gives birth to her first child, Z in the midst of an apocalyptic flood that submerges most of London forcing residents to flee the city and seek shelter elsewhere. Mother, child, son escape to higher ground as sleepless nights, changing bodies, frayed nerves & dire circumstances become their new landscape. 👇🏼

Sushi lunch and a wander in Barnes and Noble makes for a happy Mother‘s Day treat. Have you read this? It sounds pretty good!

Different read for me, but I liked it. Very quick, only two parts on audio (and I listened at double speed). Not a shocking plot line, I just liked the narration.