Welcome to Litsy!

Another book where I can see that the writing is beautiful, but where I came away feeling like I wanted something more. It‘s not even 200 pages long, but I realised halfway through that it was taking me a while to read because I was bored.

Eeeeck! Finished this book in record time (for me lately). I couldn't put it down or stop thinking about it 🫣. I loved the writing style and story. Some might find the ending off putting but I reckon it added even more to the overall creepy and anxiety inducing mood of the book.

After 5 years I'm back on Litsy
Starting off with the first read of the year - one that has been next to my bed for a few months now

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

Ending the busy day on a relaxing note. My kitty has glued herself to me since I got to my parents last week (she was supposed to just stay with them a year...3 years ago).

Currently reading The Perfect Nanny. In the mood for a thriller despite the jolly season.

#LitsyLoveReads

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

Compelling and unnerving. I couldn‘t put this down. The author‘s observation of society and modern values is captivating

#BookMoods Day 12: Practically all the books I buy have #BeenOnShelfForever - most are still wrapped in plastic from when I bought them.

This was one that was beautifully written but felt incomplete. Felt like things were missing or left out. Well crafted though. A solid 6/10

Easy read

Okay, I enjoyed how the author described this seemingly innocent looking Nanny. If I say more I will spoil the interactions amongst the characters. It had me at the edge of my seat 🛋️

(It has a different name in Uk - Lullaby)

A odd and relatively boring book, I was waiting for the twist but it never came.. I was waiting for something to happen but it never did 👎🏻 Luckily I got as an e book from my library but otherwise I‘d be pretty peeved!

3.5/5 Read for #52BookClubChallenge2022

This is a tough read. It opens with the nanny killing the children. This is called The Perfect Nanny in the US. And it's Lullaby in the UK, which is actually what the French title is. So after that crazy opening it takes you back so you understand how it all came to happen. This author won the Prix Goncourt and was the first person from the Maghreb to do so. And I'm glad I read it but it's a struggle.

#BookSpinBingo done! @TheAromaofBooks

This book starts with its finale so you know from the start the awful truth of what‘s going to happen. Then it winds back to how the nanny immerses herself in the family‘s lives and the parents‘ delight at handing their children over to such a capable person who reorganises their life. We then start to see snippets of what the nanny might be. This is a short, intense read and I‘m still unsure whether it left too much uncertain and unanswered.

#BookSpin #DoubleSpin #BookSpinBingo
@TheAromaofBooks

It's a mess. Whatev. Half of it's in pencil anyway.

Ordered these online yesterday. Obviously they didn't come directly from France. They came in the regular mail from New Hampshire. I'm feeling really happy right now.

⭐⭐⭐ Another three star read for me. This French novel inspired by a real life New York crime is about a nanny who murders the two children in her care. From the first page, you know that this will happen. The story is not a mystery, but instead a look inside the lives of the nanny and her employers. For me, this was not a bad book, but also didn't give me much to feel engaged. By the end, I wished that the motivation had been more fully explored.

Meh. I'm not sure if the writing intended to make this feel like a field observation but that was my experience. I did not feel like I knew or cared about any of the characters. Back to mental illness & crazy woman tropes so that knocked it down for me. Although the presentation of mental decompensation does seem more accurate than most we should remember that mental illness rarely leads to murder. 2.5⭐⭐💫

Audio baking this morning - granola muffins. It‘s a King Arthur recipe and I noticed at B&N they‘ve released a new tome. I‘d like to spend some time thumbing through it.

I‘m curious about the low rating for this novel on Litsy. I stacked it because Harriet and guests on “A Good Read” enjoyed it. We shall see! I agree with the protagonist that it‘s frightening to leave your young children with a caregiver for the first time.

Hello #LMPBC Group T!!

Do any of these look fun for our thriller round??

@Alfrazier21 @Tattooedteacher @Kappadeemom

have officially finished a whole book in a foreign language :) i‘m proud of myself. this was a bit of a difficult and claustrophobic read, but enjoyed the language and challenge of it. i probably should have chosen something easier for first read in french.

not sure what i‘m going to read next, probably a novella by annie ernaux or something short by maupassant.

a bit of a bummer that e-reader pics are so boring to look at.

First time reading this highly recommended book.

reading my first book of the year which is also the first whole book i‘m reading in french! called lullaby / the perfect nanny in english. was first surprised by how uncatchy the title is in the original compared to lullaby (which may be one of the loveliest english words out there). but chanson douce has grown on me because of how evocative it is of the kind of life the nanny wants to live, which is that of her bosses, a much softer song.

Probably the last book I read of 2020 for a book club. I actually already owned it cause it was one of my dollar tree finds. Wasn‘t as good as I‘d hoped. Most of the people didn‘t enjoy it that much. The ending was just so abrupt - we knew the ending from the start but I wanted more details about why things happened.

#theperfectnanny #leilaslimani #thriller #mystery #cookies #bookclub #librarybookclub #virtualbookclub #dollartree

@Mitch thank you so much for the lovely birthday gift!! I‘ve wanted to read this one for a while. Also, so cool to get the British version of this novel. It was published as “the perfect nanny” here in the states. Can‘t wait to get this to one! So sweet of you.

Here‘s my #3Books...#BasedOnTrueStories (or I guess actual people)
I wasn‘t a fan of the Edna O‘Brien book, but the story about the girls of Boko Haram was really heartbreaking
Tagged book is based on the NY nanny story
Dancer is a fictionalized story based on dancer Rudolph Nureyev ( really good)

Tough week! Like others, I had a difficult time thinking of African authors I've read who have been translated from a language other than English. The closest I can think of is Leila Slimani, who is Moroccan but now lives in France. I know I read some short fiction by African writers in French when I was in college; I wish I still had that textbook on hand!

Did find a nice article on African women writers - link in comments.

#integrateyourshelf

Really wanted to like this one, but it fell short for me. The start was really intriguing, but it‘s started to drag early on... and just kept dragging straight to the end. I would‘ve bailed if it wasn‘t such a short book.

18h37m for #NutsinMay with @Andrew65
#Book14 for #BookSpinBonanza with @TheAromaofBooks

I only read for about 2 hours yesterday, and for less than an hour so far today... but I‘m not too worried about it since I read for close to 10 hours on Sunday. Still, I‘m hoping to finish this one tonight but I‘ve found it to be slow moving so far. #NutsInMay

@Andrew65

End of Day 2: #NutsInMay - 14hr43m
Currently reading Lullaby/The Perfect Nanny and Listening to Commonwealth on audio. I‘m only a few chapters into both of them. These are books 14&15 for #BookSpinBonanza

This was an interesting quick read. These poor baby angels are dead in the first page, then the rest of the book is events leading up the murders. All of it is sad, so it‘s good it‘s so short.

This was an interesting quick read. These poor baby angels are dead in the first page, then the rest of the book is events leading up the murders. All of it is sad, so it‘s good it‘s so short.

Very proud of myself for finishing another book! I thought this was ok - intriguing and well written. But I was expecting a lot more out of an NYT top ten book of the year. It felt unfinished, but I‘m also glad it wasn‘t longer. #PercyCat and #SullivanCat are in agreement 🐱🐱 #catsoflitsy #KAL

The epigraph of my next read is a little on the nose for right now.

Such a clever read- from page one you know the children are dead. The nanny killed them in a brutally and bloody way, but this is just the start of the story which you unravel to find out why?
Throughout the book - the way the children died stayed with me.... lurking in the background, so even the lovely bits, the bits about the family‘s happy times are tainted by the first chapter, the horror you know is to come....

This novel hits right where it hurts.

"Uz djecu se osjećamo sami. Njih ne zanima od čega se sastoji naš svijet. Slute da je surov, mračan, ali ne žele znati ništa o tome."

"We are feeling alone with the kids. They don't care what our world is about. They suspect it's cruel, dark, but they don't want to know anything about it."

#croatianedition

Wanted to love it but sadly didn‘t

"At about 4pm, the days without commitments seem endless. In the middle of the afternoon we become aware that we have wasted time, we start to worry about approaching the evening. At that time of day, one is ashamed of not serving anything."

Finally in my hands.

#croatianedition

But in what black lake, in what deep forest has she found these cruel tales where the heroes die at the end, after first saving the world?

Up next!

This started out so so good, and then petered out. I do get that it's more a character study than a thriller and I did appreciate the tension resonating from the book. It totally makes you think twice about leaving your kids with just anybody. But the ending lacked resolution for me.

#LitsyAtoZ Letter S
#MMDChallenge A Book in Translation

So just finished this the other day. I really enjoyed it. I recommend it for people that like thrillers.

I found the writing a bit stilted. This is a translation, so that could be the culprit. I didn‘t like any of the characters. I was actually waffling between 3.5 and 4 stars, but the end pulled it down without a doubt. It didn‘t completely seem to finish, or if it did, I didn‘t get it. Now, from my review, even 3.5 might seem a bit high rating, but I was interested to find out what happened (sadly, the end let me down).

Not really much to say about this one. The plot wasn‘t really there and it wasn‘t very suspenseful. The parents were also awful

Should I be studying? Yes... but at least it‘s only 228 pages hahaha 😂

If you guessed she‘s far from perfect, you would be right. 😂 This was translated from French so it‘s not the best but I think the story hold up pretty well. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

A nanny is accused of killing two of her charges. Through a variety of voices, this novel traces how we got to this point.

The telling is disjointed, we hear from the perspective of too many different characters (too much breadth, not enough depth), and the motives and hangups are cliched. But I like that the novel explores the friction of the employer/employee relationship in the case of childcare and similarly intimate professions.

Currently on this book, for a book club. It seems really good so far.

I read this for a book club, excited that it was something different than my usual go-to genres, and was so taken in by the journey that I didn‘t even show up to the discussion, not wanting to sully the purity of my experience! The subtle dread that gradually builds was done perfectly, and this was my gateway book to the horror genre, which I never knew I‘d enjoy to this extent. A good book to read on long transits in my opinion.