Welcome to Litsy!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (5/5)
I had no idea what to expect going into this book, but wow was it a fantastic read. I laughed. I cried. I read on the edge of my seat. I'm definitely going to read more Connie Willis.

“Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up.“ Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

I have 4 chapters left and I can't wait to get home and finish! This book is intense, but so good.

#firstlinefriday #doomsdaybook #conniewillis

It's factually wrong about too many things. For over 400 pages nothing much happens. The UK of 2055 looks like someone from 1955 dreamed it up. The Middle Ages part is displayed so stereotypically; it hurts.

#Booked2023 @alisiakae @BarbaraTheBibliophage @Cinfhen
#ProperNounInTitle

⬇️

What a great novel! There were a few times I lost patience with the suspense and the repetitive stating of the characters‘ goals, but I am able to overlook these points because in the end there was so much more to love. The characters were all so great and the attention to historical and medical detail painted such a vivid picture in my head. ⬇️

I have come across a few weird words in the tagged book so far. There‘s the futuristic “terrorist jacket” (an adaptation from “bomber jacket”?)and the character Colin‘s favorite adjective, “necrotic.” But I chose this because of how prominent the bell ringers are and how everyone seems annoyed by them. Sample sentence from the tagged: “Perhaps I should send Colin up Carfax Tower to vandalize the carillon.”
#weirdwords @CBee #weirdwordswednesday

“Mr. Dunworthy opened the door to the laboratory and his spectacles promptly steamed up.”

I‘m only five chapters in but really enjoying my second Willis novel which is retro feeling, yet oddly timely as well.
#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

Love it

I'd first read this 1992 years ago. Rereading it now makes me realize how well Willis described how governments and people respond to pandemics and measures put in place to contain them.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#SuperSeptember @Andrew65

I've wanted to read this book for many years. Just something about the title that piqued my interest. I did not realize it was a book set during a pandemic. Published in the 90's it was really interesting to see how well the author captured the pandemic mentality. I'm not sure if it was supposed to have a twist, if so, there was a lot of obvious foreshadowing that didn't make the reveal very surprising. Still a very interesting read. Recommend.

My #LetterD pick is a recent discovery and fav of mine!

#AlphabetGame

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

©1992

The beginning was interesting and I liked the characters. Reading about the plague and a future “post pandemic” that was written in 2005 was also interesting on its own. But it was too long and just slugged through the second half, particularly the Oxford in the future dealing with a brief viral outbreak.

Up next.... Time travel, academics and The Black Death....sounds ideal #nextup

A little late, but better than never!
1. Backwards! But never to stay for long 😂 I like the comforts of the present
2. Tagged! A historian gets accidentally trapped in plague-ridden England as a futuristic (ish) Oxford deals with an epidemic of its own. A chunky book but worth the read!
@TheSpineView

Kivrin is an Oxford historian who travels back in time to the middle ages. Things don't go as planned. By the time I realized this was about the plague, it was too late, I was invested. I needed to know what happened to Kivrin. There's a parallel story of Kivrin's mentor in modern times, combating a virus outbreak and trying to figure out how to help Kivrin get back to the present. The story gets bogged down in the middle, becoming repetitive ⬇️

#BookCoverChallenge
Day 117.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

A pandemic book with time travel! Set in future England, a university sends a historian back in time to research and accidentally sends her into the Black Death. However, the future has difficulty rescuing her due to their own outbreak. The past storyline was tragic and heartbreaking. My issue with the future story - communication problems were a huge plot device. They invented time travel, but not voicemail or texting or email? #pandemic

I loved this book so much! It‘s absolutely apocalyptic 😉

When a sci-fi book written 30 years ago accurately predicts today.

#audioknitting a baby blanket for my niece. Almost done. Really enjoying this book so far 👍🏼

I almost hit my monthly average this month so I'll still call it productive. I managed to finish all my RNG picks this month including the one holdover from last month. I enjoyed all that I read this month which was nice.
3 eBook
5 physical
I'm sitting at 4250 points for my #BuriedAliveChallenge with 108 points average per qualifying book
#MayWrapUp

#BookReport
I managed to finish Doomsday Book this week and enjoyed it more than I thought I would considering what a downer it is dealing with viral outbreaks. I'm also about 50% of the way into Cold Magic which is interesting so far.

#WeeklyForecast
My goal is to finish Cold Magic and finally finish out my library stack with Wizard's First Rule. After that is anyone's guess but I'll probably work on finishing up trilogies I've started.

Well I knew going in this would probably be a downer and not the best to read with the whole pandemic thing irl but I still enjoyed my time reading about Kivrin in the Middle Ages and her team in the future. I liked the way the two timelines sort of balanced each other out. Colin and Agnes were probably my favorites though.

Decided to do a bit of porch reading today. The natural light helps with the small print.

Cals and I are headed into Doomsday Book today which has the tiniest print I‘ve ever seen in a hardback edition.
#CatsOfLitsy

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description or reason for wanting to read the book. Some are old and some will be new. Don't judge me - I have a lot of books.
Day 271

#tbrmountain #bookbuyingdiet

I‘ve read this book twice and I was just as blown away with it as the first time I read it. It goes down as one of my absolute favourite reads.

Kivrin, a young historian, travels back in time to the 1300s and gets caught up in the Black Death. As she desperately tries to help and save the people around her, we see how absolutely horrific this disease actually was.

Profoundly sad but also very moving, this novel is amazing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just finished this book. I mostly enjoyed it. The characters evoked my affection and empathy and the description of the harsh environment in the 1300‘s was palpable. The present day parts were a little tedious at times. All in all it was a good but ultimately sad read. Especially in the current pandemic!

Borrowed this from Moosmoo .... On chapter three

Vacation 2020 read/listen. I loved it ❤ Connie Willis is a quirky writer and you have to be patient because things seem repetitive and unimportant, but pay attention and it all pays off in the end.

From Chapter 6 of The Doomsday Book written in 1992. 🤦‍♀️

Help, I am drowning! Books to read soon, including Red and the Black on my Kindle and Redefining Realness on audio (available for free on Hoopla). Seven of these are some form of book club/ buddy read... and I am backburnering two more... aaaah

#tbr #mounttbr #shakespearereadalong #ookbookclub #cleopatrabuddyread

Time-travel fiction is tricky but Connie Willis is at the top of her game here. Haunting, memorable and richly detailed, the research is meticulous and the historical recreation impeccable. An all-round great read with a stunning ending, this fine novel established its writer as a major force within an increasingly crowded genre. I loved it when I first read it umpteen years ago and it haunts me still.

I will admit. I was not prepared, on finally reading this (it's been on the list for years), to have it parallel a 21st century pandemic/quarantine lockdown & the varied reactions to it so faithfully. YIKES. (60% through)

I'm happy to say my post-elopement wedding reception has finally come and gone (this past Saturday) 😂.

This is the favors table from that night! Not included in the photo are the postcards that have covers from vintage DC Comics on them.

It was so much fun, but now I'm looking forward to getting back to writing, blogging, and reading full time again. (And catching up on #LitsyLove correspondence.)

Not my usual genre but a really incredible book. A modern day historian accidentally gets send back to the time of the Black Plague. In our timeline a desperate scientist faces his own challenges trying to get her back. A bit of a tear jerker but I couldn‘t put it down

I don‘t know why I waited so long to read Connie Willis. The Doomsday Book is one of her Oxford Time Travel books. A group of Oxford historians use time travel to research the past. This novel sees a young historian travel to the 1300s. The point of view switches between the historian in the present to the historian in medieval time. The novel is long and sometimes repetitive, but I found it absorbing and compelling.

Had another bail with Shanghai Girls, but this one is really good so far... I love time travel! ❤

Ok, that was a bit repetitive, but I loved this book!
Loved the characters, cried a lot, but laughed more!

1) I think Buffy has the right idea for today, naps are gonna be necessary.
2) unlikely, I'm listening to two audiobooks on and off right now Doomsday Book by Connie Willis and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
3) socks only this morning
4) the usual, bed side table, two dressers and a large Ikea shelving unit that houses a lot of stuff.
5) turkey dinner #2 with all the fixings

#humpday
@MinDea

New books! I won Doomsday Book from Bookish Muggle during SciFi Month. I am in love with this Masterwork edition.
Random House Kids sent me Fairy In Waiting, which looks really cute. This is a sequel though so I out the first one on hold at the library. This comes out in Jan 2019.

#Whoops #NoFemmeber This one is on my TBR courtesy of @Centique at the @ReadingEnvy pub. Getting stranded while traveling back in time to the 14th century is definitely a 'whoops' moment. Time stops at 4:18 am on Kate Tempest's 'Let Them Eat Chaos', when characters from different songs meet during a storm. A rapper and poet, you get gems like 'Pete's 14 doors from home and his thoughts are like a pack of starving dogs/Fighting over the last bone.'

I really enjoyed the concept of time travel as a method of studying history and the parallel storylines in each time period. Well thought out characters and good use of details having later significance, like the bell ringers. I'd definitely check out the rest of Willis's work!

PopSugar Reading Challenge 2018: a book about time travel

How did I miss this book for so many years. Loved it! Time travel, medicine and history.

Pardon me while I now try to get "Into The Woods" out of my head...

I actually did know someone who spelled it that way but wouldn‘t you usually just assume it was the more conventional “Mary”? This is the first time I have ever had my name spelled wrong 😆

I‘ve got my reading socks on, and I‘m hoping they will give me inspiration to finish this book up today! I have less than 1/3 left, and it needs to go back to the library soon.

An exciting adventure filled with the heartbreaking loss of reality. I love the idea of time travel being used by historians to investigate and learn more about the past, and you get just enough science to make the theory plausible.

The real heart of this book is the journeys of pain and loss that the characters go through in both centuries. Through unimaginable loss, neither Kivran nor Mr. Dunsworthy either give up hope. ❤️

Made it to Book Three! Lots of progress on this book over the weekend.

Woke up this morning achy all over and a sore, swollen throat. Finally roused myself from bed to make some ramen. Settling into the couch now to eat my soup and do some reading.