Once Upon a River: A Novel | 
Day 22 & 23
Once Upon was a book I never expected to like; required for class. After the death of her father, Margo sets off on a journey with her rifle, supplies & beloved Annie Oakley bio. Searching for her mother, she will need all her survival instincts & skills. Will she survive or will the rivers inhabitants chew her alive? I haven‘t read A Drop yet but believe it‘s also about survival.
#whatsonyourshelf #historicalfiction #feminism
Went to my favorite vegan bakery and got some yummy peach pie (because Pi day!) and little miss thing thinks she should get some too. No pie for Elliot cat today, tho. 😹
Wish I‘d had the comfort of pie for the first part of this book. It‘s been a bit of a hard read for me. Looking forward to finishing tonight.
#catsoflitsy #piday
pickThe blurb about this book on Litsy neither does it justice nor accurately describes it, so don‘t let that throw you.
I was blown away by this novel: fantastic writing, wonderful character development, a thought-provoking and tragic storyline, and amazing imagery throughout. It‘s equal parts beautiful and brutal, heartbreaking yet optimistic. Definitely not for those that have need of trigger warnings, but a truly great book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Robert Heinlein would have approved. #SpecializationIsForInsects
“You‘ve got every right to try to live any goddamned idiotic way you want to.”
This is the core of my philosophy.
What better setting to read Once Upon a River than the Kalamazoo River?
Check out my June 2019 Month-in-Review and Mid-Year-in-Review. Many books were read and reviewed (not Once Upon a River, though—I started that yesterday). https://everydayshouldbetuesday.wordpress.com/2019/07/02/june-2019-month-in-revi...
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Wow, just wow. This book is going to stay with me for a long time and it will definitely be one to which I return. The allusions to classic literature and mythology made me want to be an English major again.
You come up with a list of the BEST BOOKS you read in 2018 (they don‘t have to have been published in 2018; you could include Jane Eyre (1847) if you just read it for the first time). You get matched up with another Litten (hopefully with similar taste). You let *their* list guide your reading for the month.
Big Question: Would you rather do this in December (to close the year out right) or in January (to start 2019 off on the right foot)?
I posted a warning on GoodReads, Slack, and in the journal but it bears repeating: For those who will receive this #LGPOG book & journal after me, PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL IN HANDLING THE LURES! THOSE ARE #6 TREBLE HOOKS AND THEY *WILL* HURT IF THEY PRICK YOUR SKIN! AND OBVIOUSLY, KEEP AWAY FROM EYES, EXPENSIVE SHIRTS/SWEATERS, CURIOUS ANIMALS AND CHILDREN!
#manicmonday
#letterb
📖 Book: Bellweather Rhapsody
🔵 Food: Blueberries. Or Brussels Sprouts. Can‘t choose! 🙈
💪🏻 Author: Bonnie Jo Campbell
⚰️ Movie/Show: Beetlejuice (movie), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (show)
pickWhat a read!
I choose this book as a result of a reading challenge that had us choosing a book in our home town, but I settled for one in my home state. Michigan!! It took me a while to convince myself to pick this one up and begin reading, but once I did, couldn‘t put it down. Travel memoirs are growing on me and this one hooked me early and was a page turner until the end. A story of heartbreak, revenge, growth and healing. A must read for all!
My thoughts on life summed up in one short dialogue!
This is how I‘m going to respond to someone next time someone talks about being normal to me!! Bravo!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
And loving a new person might eventually dull the pain of having lost the people you had loved before, even if it didn‘t happen as quickly as you wanted it to.
pickThis book is a treasure! Thank you, @MeganAnn for putting it on your #freakyfriday list!
It‘s about a young woman coming of age in the early 1980‘s on the Michigan riverside. It might not be for everyone, as Margo lives a harsh life, suffering from all manner of ills - including multiple counts of sexual abuse. But the writing! The writing is GORGEOUS, which makes it just my kind of book.
*Continued in comments below👇🏻
“She lay in her bed and listened to the high-pitched whispering and whistling all around her boat: a flock of cedar waxwings resting during their northern migration. She whispered and whistled back to them in their secret language. As far as she could tell, every language was a secret language, secret and manipulative and hopeful, starting with... nursery rhymes.“
#freakyfriday
“I‘ve been trying to figure out how to live,” Margo said, but didn‘t know how to go on & so crossed her arms over her chest.
“Me, too. Haven‘t figured it out yet,” Smoke said & held out his hand. Margo uncrossed her arms & took the hand in hers so it stopped shaking. She wished she could see his eyes. He said, “You‘ve got every right to try to live any goddamned idiotic way you want to.”
I love the interactions between these two characters! 😭
“You can‘t get ahead in this life if you don‘t finish school.”
“I don‘t want to get ahead. What‘s so great about getting ahead?”
#freakyfriday
I called this, I called this, I CALLED THIS! 😱
#freakyfriday
“Only then did Margo see the teenage girl in the yard, lying barefoot in a lawn chair... The girl was reading a book, & it took Margo a few seconds to make out what it was she had on her stomach: a giant rabbit, weighing maybe 20 lbs. She was using that rabbit to hold her book up. The rabbit‘s ears were longer than the girl‘s hands, & they twitched, but otherwise the rabbit just sat there. Margo laughed out loud.”
#bunlife 🐰💖📖
#freakyfriday
Book by @MeganAnn , coffee by @whippoorwill815 : Littens have shaped the whole of my morning. 💞📖☕️
Look at this beautiful, light-filled sunroom complete with cozy couch & a book. I‘m never going back to work. #lifelonglunchbreak
Tfw 3/3 of your match‘s #freakyfriday books involve violent deer death. 😂
“She‘d be fine after that initial cut, after she turned the deer from a dead creature into meat... She reached up & stuck the knife... into the flesh below where the ribs came together. Pulling down hard & steady... she unzipped the buck from sternum to balls, tore through skin, flesh & corn fat, & then, as the guts sloshed into the galvanized trough, she closed her eyes.”
When you‘re freezing your butt off at work, so you spend your lunch break reading *on* the heater. 🤷♀️📖
Starting my third #freakyfriday book from @MeganAnn ‘s list!
“Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.”
~Groucho Marx~
pickThis was a “meh” until the last 100 pages, when a character showed up that I cared to read about. I stuck with it for the Michigan setting. #MittenLitten #RoadTripping 3/5⭐️
pickThis book. Amazing! ✨ ✨✨✨✨
I finished yesterday and I‘m still digesting it. Chose a brewery called Steel Bender where a small steel mill used to be. It‘s probably the closest brewery to the river we have right now. The combination of river and steel is perfect for the novel. I couldn‘t decide which beer to get so I got a flight. (Ignore my bro-in-law in the back 😂). #booksandbrews #Litsygoespostalog
Breakfast! Also, 43 pages left in this novel that I can‘t seem to put down. 💖
I‘ve been MIA on litsy this past week. It was a super busy week this week. I received quite a lot of bookmail though! Blue Plate Special and Winnie Flynn from @Bookworm83 Daughter of the Siren Queen pre-order, and the tagged book is @Owlizabeth lgpog selection! I can‘t wait to dive in.
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ WOW. What a great journey.
pickThis book was really good. It touched on a lot of sad and even disturbing subjects, but it was a great way to see the way some victims can associate love and life after the events. I love the way she incorporated her connection to nature both good and harsh. I have never read one of her books before, but this was heartbreaking and so beautiful in a lot of ways. I know a lot of people might not relate, but a great read for insight of victims. ❤️
pickThis book will take you on a wild, heartbreaking, and heroic ride. I never would have picked it up myself, but thanks again to #lgpog and @Owlizabeth I opened it up and devoured another new favorite.
Margo Crane endures countless acts of violence and abuse and abandonment as she paddles up the river to try and find her mother. I was swept away by the atmospheric writing + storytelling, falling in love w/ this fierce young woman page after page.
Got my work cut out for me this morning 💕. Favorite day of the week and I couldn‘t be happier!
And now little #Coale is curled up with me on the chair while I read a great book and drink my tea. A perfect ending to a lovely day! 😸📚
#catsofLitsy
Books read in January. (Plus 2 audio). Includes A,B, and half of C for #litsyatoz since I couldn't choose between authors and titles and am trying to do both. 😬
Library haul! Bottom two are mine, top one was a free book that I grabbed for my girlfriend. She said she'd look it up, and I managed to snag her a copy for free!
"Margo was getting the idea that maybe she loved Brian, that love was different than she expected, that it was something ordinary. "
