Welcome to Litsy!

Thank you so much for your lovely package @iread2much 💖 So many beautiful and unique gifts! Thank you!!!

I think this is a pick...? A soft one, I'd say. I loved the start, the writing, and of course the topic of the book. It was special, different. Exactly what I expected from Vandermeer. But I think he lost himself and the plot somewhere in the middle. At least it felt like this to me. And therefore, he also lost me. It got better again at the end, but there was a big whole, where I wasn't sure what the author wanted to tell me exactly...

I think we all agree that #Litsylove letters and book mail are the best ❤ Yesterday I got lucky and had both in my mail box 💛 This little gem is due for another big journey after I read it. Really, I wanted to have this book since I first lay eyes on it. Yes, I totally judge books by their covers (and their authors).

@iread2much

reading The Library at Mount Char has me craving some more Weird books. I loved annihilation by jeff vandermeer. #buddyread #Weird

Another 2022 read.
I was overly excited for this book which is probably why this is a no go instead of so so.
The main character is so unlikeable it's hard to be with her for an entire novel. And honestly there isn't a lot of story in the pages. I know so many people who really loved this, so I think I'm in the minority with this one but it just wasn't for me.

I‘m a big fan of VanderMeer but overall this was disappointing and my least favorite of his books. It started out strong but I couldn‘t get a handle on what was really motivating the main character‘s obsession, at the expense of literally everything else in her life. The suspenseful tone was on point throughout though and kept me reading.

#newin

top two are from an local bookstore (#bookworm) and bottom are from the book subscription box #wordytraveler

the left 2 are nonfiction and the right two are fiction #aroundtheworld #danube

#bookoutlet #bookhaul #bookmail
This book has almost 50/50 reviews, so I was debating not purchasing it; but, it has the most #beautifulcover I‘ve seen in a while. I‘m judging this book by its cover .😁

So I liked it but less for the story, there really isn‘t much of one, & more for the telling of the story which is absolutely phenomenal. If you are interested in the craft of writing, you could do much worse than reading this book to understand how to create tension, effectively use foreshadowing, the slow & steady building of seemingly innocuous moments into big consequential moments & more. Strong first half, weaker back half but interesting.

Monday morning reading

I really liked the narrative voice of Jane, who is frankly not a very likable character. But Jane speaks honestly and openly about who she is recognizing her selfishness and other flaws. She doesn‘t try to make excuses even as we eventually discover the awful childhood she had. I was engrossed in her story and wanted to understand what compelled her to abandon all and continue to dig deeper despite the danger not just to herself but to others.

“The face that stares back at you from the mirror later in life is so different than when you‘re young. There‘s a winnowing away and a shutting down. A sense of something having been taken from you and you don‘t know exactly what it is, just that it isn‘t there anymore. What opens up to you instead is experience, is cunning, is foreknowledge. Nothing you sought.“

A stuffed hummingbird is only the beginning of an obsession that leads to Jane losing everything.

This didn‘t click with me. It‘s slow, not very thriller paced until 1/2 way. The stream of consciousness style was tough to follow. And I didn‘t feel like we ever really know Jane, for all the time we spend in her head.

I‘m not sure what story was told here or what I was supposed to take away from it. I was just left a little hopeless. 🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑

As my illness progressed, over time, I would see also the complexity of what we took for granted in our landscapes and hidden lines of connection would attach to me until moving through the world was like being wrapped in chains. But it was the links, the chains, that made you free. Once you saw it all, you could never go back. Everything was alive. Overwhelming. I was overwhelmed eventually. Overcome.

Like: the overall sense of mystery; the idea of environmental disaster slowly moving into the narrative foreground; the sense of space; the salamander facts.

Dislike: a bunch of isolated events that barely constitute a plot; characters boasting so much pathos and introspection I expected them to say "I‘m a character in a mystery novel" any minute; the abundance of sentence fragments.

I wanted to like this. There are some really interesting elements. Ultimately, though, the writing didn‘t work. It was disjointed and led to confusion. It‘s honestly a crazy plot and there‘s no apparent reason why Jane would abandon her life to follow clues left for her by someone she doesn‘t know. It also tries to make statements on too much - there are too many ideas here. This needed a better editor - I think it could have been really good. 😕

Book mail! My books from Idependent Bookstore Day came. I've already read Horrorstor, but it's one worth having on your shelf. Hendrix has the coolest books! I've never read VanderMeer but I'm excited to see what he's all about.

Book Review- https://boleybooks.com/2021/02/21/hummingbird-salamander/

Super weird in the normal VanderMeer way and add taxidermy! The plot was propulsive but just didn‘t really lead anywhere. #ARC #Netgalley

Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives a key to a storage unit. Inside, she finds a taxidermied hummingbird & clues about a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the dead woman who left the note, is a reputed ecoterrorist & daughter of a wealthy industrialist. VanderMeer twists the world we live in ravaged by environmental devastation, into an unsettling mystery-thriller for his readers.

[I received an advanced e-galley through #Netgalley.]

Tackle The TBR 🤓📚 #boleybooks #hummingbirdsalamander #jeffvandermeer #NetGalley #bookjoy #bookbeast #bookstagram #readwithme
What are you reading? 😊