Welcome to Litsy!

Book 45🎧 3.5⭐️

This audiobook reads like “We have always lived in the castle” but it is FAR more twisted!😶😦 I did not expect that twist at all - what a flip!

M‘s brother keeps his “visitors” in the cellar of their shared family home. When he falls ill, M must descent into the cellar for the first time and what she finds is horrifying. Now she has to make a decision.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ ◼️ I couldn‘t stop listening....I both listened and read this one!!!! I will probably edit the review in a couple of days!!!! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3412817313 #February #bookbingo

I finished the tagged book last night, reading wayyyy past my bed time. It‘s the story of awkward, frumpy Marion who lives in her childhood home with John, her older brother. The siblings had a strange childhood, and they are weirdly co-dependant. The book is menacing and creepy...and unexpected. The ending was a teensy bit of a letdown, but still a great read.
And...it‘s a snow day here, so I started We Could Be Beautiful.

Really struggled with how to rate this. The first half has gritty Shirley Jackson vibes and then things get crushingly dark. By the end the characters and their arcs all leave a bad taste; there's not much left to empathize with but I think that's what the author was going for. It's a well written character study and I'll be thinking about it for a while but this is definitely not for everyone.

Got my first #LitsyMail this week when The Visitors showed up from @TheLibrarian after I was chosen in her #95kgiveaway. Thank you so much for the book! It's joined my towering #TBR, hopefully I'll get through a lot of the stack this week since I have the 4th off!

Congrats to @TheLibrarian for her milestone! Thanks so much for doing this awesome giveaway!

I‘d be interested in The Visitors and My Sister the Serial Killer!

#95kgiveaway

At first I wanted to bail, but then couldn‘t put the book down!!
The wake of growing up in a dysfunctional family is very well depicted in the characters of the codependent narrator and her brother. Excellent psychological profiles!
John the Golden Child and Marion the Scapegoat or Lost Child both seem to be equally troubled in their adult life. I was pleasantly surprised and loved the book!
#thriller #dysfunctionalfamily #moreplease

Books like this drive me a little bonkers...200 pages in and nothing exciting then the last 90 are decent. Definitely wouldn‘t read it again, and not sure if I‘d pick up this author again either 😞

I‘ve finally been able to sit down and get a good chunk of this read. Enjoying it so far. It‘s creepy and definitely a slow burn.
#thevisitors
#catherineburns
#currentlyreading

This book is so creepy. It took me a while to get into it. It's really good. If you like creepy thrillers. 🙋I do. The dust cover on the hard back is textured. That's cool all by itself.

#mypagehabit

For those interested, I am doing a giveaway on Instagram. (Sorry, U.S. only) This will include all items pictured: A NEW COPY OF The Visitors hardcover book with annotations by author, a short story, bookmark, and bookish stickers. To enter, just follow suzanne.literarylife on Instagram and like the giveaway post. You don't need to tag a friend unless you think they would want to enter. The winner will be chosen August 5th 8pm CST.

Given the recent negative experience of @pagehabit sending subscribers old merchandise, thought it would be a great time to share the subscriptions that have treated us well. 2 of my favorites are @pageonebooks and @apostrophebox. Thank you for keeping this bookworm happy. Share your favorites!!
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#literarylife #booklove #booknerd #customerservicematters #appreciation #bookish #booksubscriptionboxes #pagehabit #page1books #apostrophebookbox

Apparently it's April Fools in July. Instead of a new release, @pagehabit sent me the same book and items they sent me last year :/ From what I am seeing on social media, I am not the only one. See my disappointing unboxing at https://youtu.be/KyvfD3ilnDg
#lame
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#literarylife #booksubscriptionbox #booksubscriptionfail #bookworm #pagehabit #pagehabitfail #bookish #bookwormsad #booklove

Marion is a 60-something woman living with her brother John in their childhood home. She isn‘t the sharpest knife in the drawer, and tries to ignore the occasional muffled screams and moans coming from the basement where John spends a lot of time.
It all felt entirely plausible, and reminded me of tales by Shirley Jackson and Patricia Highsmith—sociopathic characters and a deep foreboding of evil in the mundane everyday.

⭐⭐
Weird. Not at all what I was expecting, and I don't mean that nesessarily a good way. Lots of jumping back and forth between past and present with random emails thrown in. I was confused a lot but something about the book kept me from bailing.

So chilling eerie creepy unputdownable a wicked read.

This is what I think about ol ‘Marion

Ummmm, trying to read here Pupper #dorkie #dogsoflitsy

Sushi lunch ❤️🦐

I‘m home sick today, but I have my reading buddy with me 🐶

How eerie chilling does this sound A timid spinster in her fifties a-decaying Georgian townhouse ,.Her brother John who keeps something locked away in the cellar of their townhouse.When John suddenly dies she must confront the secret of the cellar & secrets she herself might have.

LOVED it. Just the right amount of creepy and unsettling, nothing too extreme, no gory details or anything, just a perfectly balanced Crazy People book. I hope this author has written more books.

This book seemed a bit satirical with almost comical creepy characters. John and Marian are siblings who live in their dead parents house into their 50‘s. John has secrets in the basement and Marion ignores all hints of trouble until she is forced to confront what goes on downstairs when her brother becomes hospitalized and finds out what she‘s really made of. Oh so creepy, but oh so good. Not sure what that says about me. 😬😬

The tension in this novel is evident from page one. The story becomes creepier from one page to the next. It is a difficult story to read, but read you must. It is a giant cringe-fest but you need to know what happens next. A fantastic psychological mystery and a great read. Highly recommended.

This is definitely not your typical horror or thriller novel. It had neither the gore nor the action scenes that you would expect from this genre and yet it held my undivided attention from the very first page. Catherine Burns has masterfully created a dark, disturbing and deeply unsettling character driven story that examines to what lengths people go to deceive themselves in order to justify their actions (or inactions). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🤭😶😱 #creepy #disturbing

Not sure I should be reading this when it‘s dark outside. 😨 #creepy #disturbing

I wasn‘t a huge fan of this book but I couldn‘t resist the wallpaper. It reminds me of the cover of this book

Not for me... I wanted to like it and read the whole thing hoping there would be something. Annoying characters and predictable. No surprises or anything shocking.

This was...fine. Nothing more, nothing less. There are some disturbing parts, but it takes so long to get there (almost the entire book) that I felt like I was constantly waiting for the plot to advance. Ultimately, the payoff wasn't as shocking or haunting or depraved as I hoped for.

The creep factor in this book snuck up on me, then stayed with me. It also made me compile a mental list titled “Library Patrons Who Are Probably Keeping Women in Their Basement,” which I‘ve been diligently updating while finishing this book.

Pushing through this book was like, as the cover depicts, pulling back a beige wallpaper and revealing a slightly soiled shade of taupe. The pacing begs the reader to do all the work and over analyze every sentence lest you miss the minor reveals throughout.

I feel incredibly dissatisfied for not having any certainty that I know what's what. Some people will like that.

The bones of the premise have promise- but this iteration is SO NOT "it".

Took well over 100 pages for some mild chills and minor thrills and I nearly bailed, but I'm chugging along. Burns has held my attention so I've got to know how this ends....
#chillsandthrills #riotgram

This book was unbelievably creepy. It was definitely not a page-turner, yet the slow burn was effective as it kept me reading "just one more chapter" right before bed (despite the fact that I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to go to sleep due to the content). The setting was ultra-descriptive & was a huge part of the ick-factor. I loved how I kept thinking that I had figured out everything & was thrown for a loop when I read the last page...

#booksandabeverage #riotgram
This book is next up for me. I'm excited for another creepy read. Can't get enough this month! 🖤🤘🏻😈

Imagine Room being told from the perspective of a not so intelligent, pretty psycho too, sister of the kidnapper and you have The Visitors. Marion hears things in her basement, but chooses to ignore them- cries for help, babies, etc. Her brother John goes downstairs nightly and doesn‘t return until morning. We know John is a psycho, but the slow unraveling if Marion is the “fun” of this book. She is not an innocent, but thinks she is. Creepy.

Just started this today and am halfway done. This has been a great October book so far. There is something evil happening in the basement with Marion‘s brother John, but Marion herself is not all that innocent either. This is a tense book so far, but big warning- Marion is verbally abused by her family often, if that sets one off. Creepy, creepy, creepy!

I'm thinking about getting a #pagehabit box for the first time, but I wish I knew what the book choices were before deciding. Does anyone know what the October annotated books are for Literary Fiction, Mystery, or YA Fiction?

Last question: I got an email saying I would get a free book for buying a box this month. Do I get to choose the book or is it also unknown? Thanks!

This was between a pick and so-so for me. It wasn't what I expected. Not really a thriller or horror in my opinion. Mainly just weird with a little thrill factor towards the end.

So excited this just came off hold!

Thank you #PageHabit
I can't wait to get to this book!!

PageHabit.com

Half way through!!! Pretty strange so far and I'm wondering how it will end. I have a few guesses about what happens so we shall see if I'm right.

Side note: I'm loving my new leggings, mainly because I love all things skull related.

In exchange for posting their new #bookgivaway @Pagehabit sent me this fantastic box. I can‘t wait to dive into the annotations! Plus I love the pin. Thanks!! #pagehabit #bookhaul

PS You can still enter at http://bit.ly/ph365litsy

I‘m so excited but 8 weeks is so long from now! 😭

Oh look, I bought another book. What a surprise 😂 #bookhaul #bookbuyingaddiction

In exchange for posting about their new #BookGiveaway for Litsy, #PageHabit mailed me a book box ❤️ If you are not so much about the goodies, but more about the book and like to give back, this box is perfect for you. They have a few extras, but the best is that the book is annotated by the author on little post-its throughout the novel. And a good portion of your purchase goes toward a community in need and they send info about that place. 😊

Thanks @Pagehabit for this fun #mysterybox I received today containing #TheVisitors by #CatherineBurns (annotated and signed by the author), a short story called #WildThings, a letter from the author and other goodies! Check out @Pagehabit to signup for a membership if you're interested in receiving a monthly box similar to this one, and don't forget to enter their #bookgiveaway: http://bit.ly/ph365litsy #mypagehabit #bookhaul #mystery #giveaway