Welcome to Litsy!

I finished The Brutal Telling (Gamache book #5) and Bury Your Dead (book #6) this month. Both are fantastic detective novels with so much art, history, compassion, and culture of #Canada incorporated into them. I just can‘t get enough of Chief Inspector Gamache or Three Pines though these two novels took very sad turns.

Also enjoyed the fun Canadian treats from @mcctrish and will need to be finding another Coffee Crisp someday yum! #FoodandLit

Gamache is in Quebec City working on a murder case unofficially and he has Beauvoir go to Three Pines, unofficially, to look into the murder of the Hermit to see if Olivier was wrongly convicted (last book). Both officers are recovering from a devastating case which left several officers dead. The best in the series so far- overall, an excellent read.
6/19 #SeriesLove2024 @TheSpineView @Andrew65
Make a great day everyone😊

This was the best 1 yet! There were multiple threads throughout this 1 & 1 of them being very thrilling which I enjoyed & was a nice change of pace! I found myself waiting to get to those parts! It was interesting to see the investigation into the death of the hermit by the 2nd in command & how he situated himself into village life while investigating. There‘s a bonus interview with the author at the end of this audiobook! I‘m eager 4 the next 1!

I am continuing to really enjoy this series and find it fascinating how well the series has done internationally and in the US considering how rooted it is in Canadian culture - particularly the unique intersection of French, English and Native culture and the many threads of history here. I particularly enjoyed how this wove together three distinct stories. Looking forward to the next instalment.

This is the one where the story really starts to get deep. It picks up where the last book, A Brutal Telling, leaves off. I‘ve read this a few times and the end still shocks me a bit. 🌲🌲🌲

I wasn‘t ready for winter to end. I was too deep in hygge and coziness. Today‘s walk changed my mind though.

(Still in my Louise Penny mood for audiowalks.)

Bagels from St Viateur in Montréal (they ship ❤️) to celebrate finishing the BEST Gamache yet!!! It‘s always a struggle to pace myself when I‘m reading one of these books cuz I just want to inhale them ( like my bagel) but I also want them to last forever

Still fucking sick! So self care = the next Gamache book, multiple fluids to hydrate and flush this virus OUT OF ME and maybe some vitamin D cuz it can‘t hurt

1. Nancy Drew started it all for me 2. Flavia Deluce on audio makes me happy ( it‘s been a while and I forget where I left off) 3. Inspector Gamache ( I just got books 6-10 to continue on with) 4. I just discovered Lady Sherlock aka Charlotte Holmes and I think I love her ( I couldn‘t stop) thanks for tagging me ❤️

Self care delivery from Amazon

Making its second appearance in my #sundayfunday repertoire!

This is definitely my favorite Three Pines book so far! I love the setting of Quebec City, the Lit His, and the mystery of Champlain's remains. I love the three parallel story lines and the slow reveal of the investigation-gone-wrong that Inspector Gamache is trying to come to terms with. It's the first one of the books that I found myself wanting to reread as soon as I finished.

The Brutal Telling:
Storyteller
Fear
Totem.
Wood carvings
Woo
Charlotte.
The Hermit
Cabin of treasures.
Truth or lies.
Olivia lies,greed = his downfall.
“I‘m afraid of not recognizing Paradise.“– Clara.

Bury Your Dead:
Samuel de Champlain
Champlain fanatic.
Dead in the basement of the L & H.
Separatists - the English vs. the French
Literary and Historical Society/Library
Quebec city
Distraction
Retreat
Healing
Recovery
Mentor
Friendship

Rereading.#Gamache #louisepenny #serieslove2023 #magnificentmay #readathon

Nobody is an auto-but, but I put Louise Penny‘s books on hold as soon as there‘s a title. Tagged book is my favorite in the series (so far). #sundayfunday

1. Clear crisp days after a snowfall. (So far no snow here this winter, though).
2. Tagged book takes place at the Winter Carnival in Quebec City in February. Armand is looking forward to some much needed R&R after recent events, but of course it doesn‘t turn out that way.
#two4tuesday

😢 This one ……

I haven‘t listened to the series in strict order, but it hasn‘t impaired my enjoyment of the novels at all. Penny does a reasonable job of cluing in the reader with relevant past details without being a bore.

This was definitely my favorite Inspector Gamache so far! I had heard they get better after the first few. The addition of a historical mystery to the normal murder mystery was fun! And seeing our hero in his human weakness worked well also.

#NovemberNarrative @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#DayoftheDead

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one is a low pick. I enjoy these stories more when more of the Three Pines villagers are involved. Also there was a bit too much going on and hard to follow at times. Still, it was good, especially the parts with Beauvoir.

#scarathlon points: 15+1+(12hours x 5 thons x 10) + (10 x 363 words) = 4,246 #teamslaughter @Clwojick #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks #31by31 @Catsandbooks #spookaween2022 @TheSpineView #littenlisten @aperfectmjk

OMG. Book 6 in the #Gamache series is brilliant and heartbreaking. Penny wove together several plots even interweaving thoughts and conversations seamlessly as Gamache remembers a recent traumatic event in the midst of a current mystery. It contains both tales of personal history for Gamache/Beauvoir as well as Quebec historical events. Magnificent.
This was so damn good I worry nothing can match it - and yet I have already opened the next one!

This one started off slow for me, but once the 2 stories started interweaving, it took off and was amazing! I really understand Gamache and Beauvoir better now. Can‘t wait for number 7! I own this in paper but listened in #audio and it was great! #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #Booked2022 #writtenbyajournalist @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

This book. This series. Be still my 🧡. I saved this book to read right when Carnival in Quebec City takes place, and I was so glad I did. A perfect winter read, an absorbing mystery, and fascinating history. Of course I‘ve gone down the Champlain rabbit hole. Can‘t recommend this series enough.

And of course I‘m in for the #FabulousFebruary readathon! Goals: Read my #Bookspin, my #Doublespin, and get a bingo.

@Andrew65

I enjoyed this 6th book in the series which takes place in January. We get three mysteries solved in this one.

Just ten pages in and had to google ice canoe racing because I had never heard of it. This is wild! Photo taken from https://www.vqronline.org/reporting-articles/2018/03/revival-ice-canoe One of the many reasons to read, and to read books set in other countries than our own is to learn cool stuff like this.
✌🏼♥️📚

#SundayFunday snow edition! Perfect timing because we got our first real snowfall yesterday 😊
1️⃣ Book wih lots of snow: Tagged is set in Quebec City in February during Carnaval.
2️⃣ Yes, more so now that I work from home full time 🤣
3️⃣ On my to-read list is First Snow, Last Light, by Wayne Johnston.

I really do not know how Penny does it - writes a narrative with so many layers. This one follows multiple storylines, and while that may sound confusing, it‘s really all connected, all related to one event. She‘s a master of hiding details and evoking so many emotions. Another great addition to the series, and one that I think will take multiple rereads to absorb every little detail.

It‘s been awhile since I‘ve spent time with Armand Gamache and the Three Pines community. I‘ve missed them! I especially liked the descriptions of Québec City; I visited once when I was 15 and I‘ve always wanted to go back. I appreciated the author‘s acknowledgments, and that she began this book with them.

This was my October #BookSpin pick.

A Review: The tagged was a very satisfying continuation of the series, with a new mystery to boot. I always ♥️ returning to 3Pines 🌲🌲🌲.

A Status: Reading Neverland Wake (such an interesting concept!) and We Were Never Here (captures your attention… but I‘m taking issue with a central theme.. more on that once I‘m done).

A Spotting: saw A Radical Act of Free Magic at Barnes today… anyone read it? It looks really good…. 🤔

📚📚📚

Those is such a sorrowful one. I loved it and I loved the redemption and the acceptance. I also loved the Quebec history and sense of place in the old town. It was a sad one, though, as Gamache does the slow work of recovery.

Really relieved how this one started. Glad I didn't have to wait after reading the previous!

This might be my favorite yet in this series. Three main storylines/mysteries, getting to see Gamache's reaction to tragedy and trauma, and learning some cultural history of Quebec that's almost entirely new to me make this a thoroughly engaging read.

#SundayFunday
1. I would eat any meal at the bistro in Three Pines! I especially love Penny‘s descriptions of the sandwiches that he bistro serves 😋
2. I think Flavia de Luce would provide some VERY interesting dinner conversation 😂😂
3. Maybe an afternoon tea cookbook based on Downton Abbey, but I would only read it, not actually use it.

Currently listening to Bury Your Dead.

I loved A Study in Scarlet Women and was delighted to find there are 5 more!

2 a.m. at the Cat's Pajamas was a so-so for me. I didn't like any of the characters.

Normal People was interesting and rang true. I lived in Dublin and went to Trinity.

I was impressed that Moonflower pulled off the same trick as Magpie without being repetitive.

Rachel Bloom's reading of her memoir was wonderful.

I love this series - even though, in real life, I‘d be highly suspect a group of friends in a town where murder was the primary form of entertainment.

I enjoyed this book because it was mainly set outside Three Pines. It was enjoyable to read about places that I had visited in QC. This series is my go to when I don‘t know what literary mood I am in but know that I want something tried-and-true, such as quaint murder. 😉

3rd stop on a fun filled spring break.

Second stop Spring Break ‘21. 53 degrees and sunny. What glamorous hot spot will be next?

My “spring break” as I hike around the suburbs sitting at tables and benches in public parks reading and snacking. Stay tuned for my next stop. Current weather 50 degrees and very windy.

“Up the stairs they raced, taking them two at a time, trying to be as quiet as possible.”
#FirstLineFridays

Back in Three Pines! At least part time. Also visiting Old Quebec which is just as lovely. I don‘t often picture particular people as characters but in my mind Gamache looks like Paul Hollywood from Great British Baking Show! #seriesread #LouisePenny #ThreePines

What a great idea! Since I missed the boat on the posting of monthly favorites a few weeks ago, I‘ll start with January.

Tagged book got me firmly on the Louise Penny bandwagon. Atmospheric, good character development, expert interweaving of story lines. Two books later she kind of dropped the ball IMO, but she got back on track with the next one. Next year I plan to binge the rest of the series (so far).

#12BooksofChristmas

My October #BookspinBingo options, 1-24. With planning my (first ever) virtual conference for 5,000+people, I may not get much reading done but hoping to squeeze in a few. There are a few spooky reads in here I think!

Gamache looked at the young man. The minister. Who cares so much for hurt souls. He was a good listener, Gamache realized. It was a rare quality, a precious quality.

Always enjoy these books--an occasional treat as they become available. This one was intriguing as it was set with the main character in Quebec City, alternating with his second in the village of Three Pines. I enjoyed its exploration of Quebec history and Francophone/Anglophone relations, as well as resolution of the tension left in the previous book. The series of flashbacks were powerful but hard to follow, at least on audio.

1. English, Spanish, and Portuñol
2. Tagged book is my favorite so far.
3. Red and ... pasta colored
4. ?❤️??
5. Sorry I‘m late!
#friyayintro

1. Mystery, history, fantasy
2. Commuting, lunch time, evening, before bed.
3. Tagged book is my favorite so far. No worst but I did DNF Nine Perfect Strangers.
4. It‘s late! Consider yourself tagged if you want to be!
#wondrouswednesday

My mother claimed we‘re related to Samuel de Champlain, but I‘m skeptical. Be that as it may, the mystery of his burial is just one plot line in this well crafted, thoughtful, and bittersweet story involving Inspector Gamache and his squad. The reader can really feel his pain and feel the cold of a Quebec winter, thanks to the author‘s exquisite language and story telling skill.