Welcome to Litsy!

Read this companion story to The Book of Speculation to help me wake up for more #readathon. On to the next one! #24in48

This is a love story between Daniel and Paulina, the parents of the narrator of The Book of Speculation. Daniel falls in love with the Paulina, the mermaid from a travelling circus and fears she will leave, like a mermaid being called back to the sea. He yearns for her, and yet she longs for something else. Freedom? Her past life? Swyler brilliantly pens the fragile nature of their relationship and leaves the reader breathless and wanting more.

I haven't read The Book of Speculation but I just might add it to my TBR pile after this. Beautiful writing. My only complaint is this could definitely have been longer.

...all the softest things wounded you into loving them.

Short but great!

This was so lovely. It made me want to revisit The Book of Speculation again.

Starting this short read tonight. I won this on Goodreads First Reads.

40,000+ pages... And I'm not done yet😜

I also have a new challenge for 2017 - 50K pages!

(I need to stop adding challenges. Wait 'til you see them all 😮)

It's been a great year. I exceeded my goal of 112 books (and I'm not done yet 😜).

Far & away, the best thing I did was join Litsy😍

Here's to a great 2017 for us all!😘

#goodreadschallenge

After listening nonstop to Book of Speculation, I loved getting this added aspect of the story.

#bookmail 📫Woohoo! I've won my first ever Goodreads giveaway..... I loved 'The Book of Speculation' and this is a short story about Simon's mother.... a mermaid who runs away from the circus....

The Mermaid Girl is novella and a kind of prequel to The Book of Speculation. It centers around Paulina and Daniel, the parents of Simon and Enola, when Simon was a child and Enola was a baby. It's worth a read after reading TBOS. It puts some puzzle pieces into place, particularly after reading about Paulina. I did enjoy it, it was just as wonderful as her novel... perhaps I might've a bit more had I read it right after finishing TBOS.

Totally realizing this is a 99 cent ebook, it still will not kill my joy that I won it through a Goodreads giveaway. Plus, I always enjoy a physical copy. 😁🤘🏻

This very short (30 pages) prequel to The Book of Speculation is about Penelope - Simon and Enola's mother. The language is beautiful. I could feel how disconnected Penelope was from life outside of her time as a carnival mermaid. Best understood after the novel, but could be read before. My less than 100 pages book for Book Riot's #readharder2016 Challenge. Oh yeah, I collect mermaids.

Sparkling rose. The Mermaid Girl. Waiting for the mister for our anniversary dinner. ❤️

I was so excited when I discovered this short prequel to The Book of Speculation! The first thing I had thought when I finished TBOS was that I wished there was a sequel; and then I found this prequel.

The Mermaid Girl is a good short story, but it really did not shed a whole lot of light on the unanswered questions left in TBOS's wake.

I STILL WANT MORE! 🤓

I was so excited when I discovered this short prequel to The Book of Speculation! The first thing I had thought when I finished TBOS was that I wished there was a sequel; and then I found this prequel.

The Mermaid Girl is good short story, but it really did not shed a whole lot of light on the unanswered questions left in TBOS's wake.

I STILL WANT MORE! 🤓

I loved 'The Book of Speculation' and this insight into characters that we had previously only seen through the eyes of others - was both interesting and gorgeously written! I could have happily read a full length novel about Simon's parents.

I was so excited when I seen this, as I couldn't get enough of The Book of Speculation. This was a nice add-on to that novel, but wouldn't recommend reading it as a stand-alone short story. Very short story, I want more! 😢

Amazing! Erika Swyler has done it again. Such beautiful writing.

More, please!

"The joy of children was the worry,the constant reminder that a piece of you was running loose in the world."

A quick read before bed. Sooo happy to have more related to The Book of Speculation!

Hooray! I adore The Book of Speculation (which FYI had a fabulous blurb from Katherine Dunn, RIP) so I am excited to read this story about Simon's mom. (Also, I highly recommend following the author on Twitter - she's extremely interesting and funny.)