Welcome to Litsy!

July 15th #CoverLove Orange @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I have now finished reading all of Fuller‘s books! This one is middle of the pack for me but still a pick. I liked the twists in the last two chapters but it got a bit dull in the second act.

Frances has come to an English manor to assess the property for its new American owner. There she meets a couple also hired by the American. They have a weird dynamic, and the woman spins an unbelievable tale of love and loss that ensnares Frances.

This was so atmospheric that it was almost easy to see how Frances got so wrapped up in Cara and Peter. The food all sounded absolutely amazing and I'm a sucker for a story with a big, old house.

Yay! Look what was at the post office for me this morning @BarbaraBB Happy holidays and best wishes to you xo

My current read.

I randomly took this book off my shelves to make room for another book I was shelving. I looked at it, shrugged, and decided it was as good a choice as any to read next. The vagaries of the reading life! 😆

Wow, did not anticipate half of that 😃😱😳.
What a fantastic book, and so unexpected to this reader!

Really absorbed in this! The hot weather is reflected in the story too. 🕶🌞🌞☀️

The only one by Fuller I've not read.
It's a good opening.

I love everything Claire Fuller writes. This has Daphne du Maurier feel.

I'm a big Claire Fuller fan. Her books have such well-developed characters. They're full of believable motives & behaviors. I loved Swimming Lessons & Unsettled Ground. I appreciate this book more the longer I sit with it. The narrator is a masterful story teller & the way the story unfolded kept the pages turning because I needed to know what happened! It's not my favorite of her books though. 3.5 stars rounded to 4 Because I love her writing.

Just managed to finish the tagged book, which was my #bookspin for December, in time. Very good too, I'll post more another day. I'll take four books read and another in progress for December, it's more than I thought I would manage. I've started a couple of new books over Christmas but I'm going to put those on my January list so I have a head start on the next year if that's not cheating too much!

Not a bitter orange but grapefruit sold by local FFA kids. I look forward to it every winter and citrus makes me think of Christmas time. The book has 3 characters dealing with self doubt and inner fantasy life. They are all very well described. And I felt like I was living at Lyntons with them for a little while. Maybe not such a good place to be.🙀

I‘m really enjoying the story and writing style. This is the second book I‘ve read by Fuller. #wintercosy. #AVeryMerryReadathon. #adventathon

Overall I enjoyed this story of a creepy, sinister abandoned country house and it‘s three temporary residents, there to catalogue it‘s contents and architecture. Throughout there were secrets and mysteries just lurking as our three main characters become obsessed with other. It‘s intense and claustrophobic, although some elements didn‘t quite work for me and it didn‘t really all pull together as I wanted. A really atmospheric read though

#orange #curiouscovers @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#kindledailydeals got me again.

3-30-21: My 33rd finished book of 2021! Frances is remembering her time in the summer of 1969 which she spent at the dilapidated country estate called Lyntons. A quiet and unassuming women, Frances, who has just lost her mother, meets Cara and Peter who are at Lyntons for the same purpose as Frances, to survey the house and gardens for an American buyer. It‘s only a month but what a month it turns out to be. One that will change Frances‘s life.

Is there anything better than your first outdoor reading session in the spring, basking in the sun and warmth, after a long and cold winter?! ☀️ 📖 ☕️

#bookreport

Quite a few mediocre books this week (with the exception of On Top of the World.) Hopefully the coming week brings the wow factor! 🙃

Started @emilyhaldi ‘s pick for the previous round of #darguschfamilymarkupbookclub. Somehow we have two rounds going on simultaneously. 😅

And I broke out one of my very favorite bath bombs to start off the weekend. Lush‘s Turmeric Latte.

#bathandbook

Um. What?

This book was creepy and meandering and also good. I have strange feelings about this novel. Similar to "Mexican Gothic" in that there is a creepy house, unexplained phenomena, and loads of slow burn to the end.

3.5☆ An atmospheric, suspenseful story of obsession. A slow burn. I really enjoyed the story structure and Fuller's writing. Her prose were methodical and brimming with suspence. The atmosphere she builds with her words really shines! Throughout she gives us this underlying feeling of dread, slowly building to the climax. I didn't particularly like any of these characters though, they were all so full of longing and desperation.

If anyone was looking to snag this one its on sale for 2.99 for your kindle!

My favorite candy is now at Cracker Barrel. They only have it once a year and it runs out fast. It‘s actually not pumpkin flavored but sour orange. 😋 🤤
Now it‘s time for a little ghost story and treats.
My first read for #scarathlon2020 #teamharkness
1 point

Brilliant dark novel set in the summer of 1969. Middle-aged Frances takes a job at a remote country house with the wild couple Cara and Peter. Told in retrospect, we know something awful happened, but what and is Frances a reliable source of info? Loved it! https://cannonballread.com/2020/08/bitter-orange-elcicco/

I have conflicting feelings about the book! Not pick and not so-so!
This is not a mystery, not a thriller, this is a drama! The plot reveals to us the story of a naive woman with mental problems, with problems in communication!
But there is a plus-the book didn't leave me indifferent! After reading it, I was left with bitterness and pity for the main character! 🍊🍊🍊

I really like the cover! 📕🍊😍
Most reviews of the book are so-so.😔
I decided to check it out!🤨
#currentlyreading #coverlove

This mystery leaves a little something to be desired... And is atleast 50 pages too long. But it did make for a fun mark-up bookclub read! I enjoyed being able to express my annoyance with these characters right there on the page 😝📝 Passing on to @Mdargusch to read next 🤗
#darguschfamilymarkupbookclub

#NamasteNovember - Orange Covers: Confession - I am absolutely lackadaisical when it comes to searching my bookshelves for books to fit photo prompts. I am overjoyed when the answer is on the first shelf that I look at. And when there is no fitting choice instead of searching further and deeper, I fall back on creativity that works in any small way - like my choice for this prompt...Orange Cover became Oranges ON Cover.🍊Yay, prompt covered!🧡😊

#BookReport 47/19

I finished three books I had forecasted last week: the wonderful Lonely Passion, the okay Bitter Orange and the not-for-me Doctor Moreau.
I also was able to fit in one more: the heartbreakingly beautiful Waiting for Eden.

All in all, another good week!

I loved Swimming Lessons and had been looking forward to another novel by Claire Fuller. Unfortunately Bitter Orange is promising in its set-up, scenery and characters, but in the end it didn‘t deliver.
It's the story about a complicated friendship between three people (a couple and a single woman) taking care of an old mansion. Add a vicar, some ghosts, some lies, a few timelines and you have the ingredients of an amusing read, no more no less.

It's a pretty good read, a bit dark I suppose but I wish the house has been a bigger part of the book. The characters were all good, but not as interesting as the house. Too many unrevealed secrets.

The audiobook is beautifully read by Bianca Amato, but the story and characters left me cold. A lonely woman becomes entangled with a seemingly golden couple. There are secrets and lies. It felt too familiar. A pleasant enough way to pass the time, but I don't think it will stay with me. That cover tho 😍

This one had serious Daphne DuMaurier/Shirley Jackson vibes. Much like The Haunting's Nell, MC Frances responds to an unusual job opportunity at a remote country house soon after her mother dies. She becomes involved in a tangled relationship with the couple living there, and eventually the skeletons start to come out of the closets.

This one will sit with me for a long time.. atmospheric, slow burn best read on hot summer days. Artfully written.

This cover is everything 🥵😱🙋🏼‍♀️💕🎉

This was okay, but not as compelling as Fuller‘s other books. It took too long to get going and the end felt a bit rushed. Fuller‘s writing is beautiful and atmospheric as always, but the story lacked something.

#Booked2019 #FoodorBeverageontheCover

Reading and eating 👌

I had my last day at the center for rape victims, and I‘m ready for a long weekend before I start my new job on Monday. My colleagues gave me a gift certificate to books as a goodbye gift, which I‘m so excited to use! I haven‘t bought books since January, and I‘m feeling the pain 😅

Just finished this today and not sure if I like it or not. Very dark but one I‘ll probably be thinking about the next few days.

While the writing is crisp, clear and evocative the story was (intentionally) numbing. I WANTED to know what the big secret was even though I didn‘t have any care for all the characters involved. Fran,a woman on her deathbed is looking back at an event that altered her life. Potential was there but I agree @Simona not even close to what Penelope Lively created with Moon Tiger. Thanks for sharing book with me 🧡

It‘s calling to me @Simona 😁

I liked the writing, but the story just never really came together.

Surprise!! More #bookmail and the worst part is darn Amazon delivered it while my husband was still home. Whoops 😬

I‘m a thriller junkie and I love a setting as a character, so this story should have been my jam. I really appreciated the writing, but this story about three unusual people sharing a dilapidated English mansion just didn‘t pull me in. Although I finished it, I found myself not at all anxious to get back to reading it each day. This usually means I‘m not in the right head space at the time. I may try again in the future.

On the train back to London (with a stop to pick up forgotten suitcase from airport!) after a restful, relaxing and fun #readingretreat. So great to meet more Littens and see again old friends, in an amazing setting. Thanks so much again Mitch for organising... Am totally up for another one!

@Mitch @Oryx @squirrelbrain @julesG @scripturient @RachelO @Leniverse @eraderneely

Loving this book and the house in it has a library just like Gladstone's!

I enjoyed this book, it started slow but it soon started to pickup after the 3 main characters meet and start interacting with each other in this abandoned mansion where they will be working for the summer. There is just something mysterious and sinister in the house that starts penetrating their subconscious and you just know it‘s not going to end well.

Something lacking in this book and I don‘t really know what 🤷‍♀️ it felt very predictable and like I‘d read a version many times. I love the authors writing but I didn‘t love this one.
Using for #foodorbeverageoncover #booked2019

Frances, a dying woman, reflects on her past - one summer that forever change her life. What I like about this novel is a very vivid setting. Old house with its own story, excessive easy-breezy life on a bright, hot summer in the countryside when dark past/secrets starts slowly creeping to the surface ... While I liked atmosphere, some parts of the story, and especially one character, felt very unconvincing and unnecessary plot device. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I liked this one. A woman who seems to be close to death reflects back on one summer, hinting at something that might have happened. #foodintitle #foodoncover #halfbloodbingo

I finished my spring list for #booked2019 today. Mostly because it had a huge crossover with #halfbloodbingo which I was determined to finish this month.