Welcome to Litsy!

#weeklyupdate
Let Us Descend was brutal amazing writing.
The House of Doors was good historical fiction
Enjoying The Outside- a spin off from the Maeve Kerrigan series.

#BookReport

I had a great reading week! First 2 are the best of the bunch, enjoyed Dear Reader and the two Bookers were ok. Reasonable Stout is a fun cozy and Most Likely is a Pan.

#WeeklyForecast is to finish Covenant (switching between audio and print) and Where the Desert Meets the Sea. I have no idea what comes next.

Busy week. Lots of appointments, things to organise,... But also lots of reading time.

Read the 12 books on the left, started the 4 on the right.

#BookReport @Cinfhen

It is so crazy that I am on track to read around 500 books this year. 🤯 But I don‘t want to give up on difficult or long books, so I‘m trying not to get too hyperfocused. Best ones on top, so-sos on bottom. I hope Harry is making the right decisions going semi-tell-all. I can‘t wait to read more by Haruf this year! I highly recommend Perfectionist‘s if you like self help. I bail on quite a few of those, but this one 💯 made me think! #BookReport

Bad things on the bottom: three books I didn‘t enjoy and a broken 5th metatarsal. 👎🏻

However, I got my first bingo and have my first repeat authors of the year: Zigman (2) and Erdrich (working on 3 atm)! I am also caught up on reviews! 🙌🏻

Some fantastic nonfiction, too. If you haven‘t read Amber and Lacey‘s books yet, you‘re missing out. Blue Wren was a great find for #ReadingTheAmericas, and Lauren wrote a great sports memoir. #BookReport

Let me applaud myself for being caught up on reviews! 👏🏻👏🏻 And I‘m 20 pages away from a bingo!

Three countries into #ReadingTheAmericas2023 and two more off the #ToBlonglist. I‘m happy Manhunt was the one that made it into the brackets. Curious what others will think! Pests and Table were fantastic library borrows. Three wasn‘t as good as Fresh Water, but I‘m glad I read it. Valleyesque was a miss, but Palace was a juicy gem. #BookReport

I had three more winners from the #toblonglist this week! Reward Sytem, Carlotta, and Dinosaurs were all quite impressive, but I didn‘t enjoy 2 AM as much. Starry Messenger and Antiques were #GoodNotGreat. Reviews of States and Short Books soon, but the latter would make a great gift with one or two short books. (A good suggestion by Parnassus!) I read The Answers by Lacey earlier this year and was happy to find States on Book Outlet. #BookReport

Forgot to post this #BookReport! Cyclorama is one of the best of the year and Search was a solid 5⭐️ pick. The #toblonglist has so many gems on it! Panic and Flight were both enjoyable books from it, too.

So happy to have finished Mercies and checked off two challenges! #FeelingAccomplished 🏅

Singer is the first #aardvark pick I‘ve read, and I was impressed. Review soon.

Lost Night and Psalm were fine. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Two-week #BookReport this weekend! Still finding my groove, but I‘m really enjoying #NFNov. Tracers, about finding the thieves and bad actors in crypto currency, is one I loved and will reread with dad. Border was 💯 worth the investment! Wilderwomen is a worthy sophomore effort from Lang. I just love Rainbow. She can melt my old, stony heart. The Perry was the only one I didn‘t care for. Just didn‘t hit right.

Fantastic start to #NFNov! I initially didn‘t think I‘d increase my NF this month, but my library keeps bringing the 🔥 with their choices, so I‘ll keep reading. 👍🏻 I learned the most from White Wall, but I liked the action in Rebel. Trespasses deserves all the buzz it‘s getting, but Mexican Gothic was #GoodNotGreat imo. Still, all picks this week! 😁 I just finished the two on the bottom row this afternoon. #BookReport

Some amazing books (top row) and one HUGE stinker (the tabloid Bourdain bio 👎🏻) this week. Brother was an incredible memoir that taught me a lot about Haiti. Marriage also transported me to another place, Renaissance Italy.

I read two political books this week, Right and No Choice (reviews soon), that angered and scared me for the future. And Newsroom (review up) also had much to say about today‘s US political landscape. #BookReport

Really fun reading week! Favorites on the top row. I enjoyed all my Hendrix rereads for #AuthorAMonth. Grace was a fantastic window into Obama‘s thoughts and feelings. Home Fire - read it! A heartbreaking novel about the family of a British boy who leaves to become a jihadist.

Enjoyed reading about reactions to art in the Performance and Museum. Bad Vibes was hilarious! And you can‘t go wrong with Larson. #BookReport

It‘s been quite a month so far! My first 5⭐️ (McKinsey) a 1.5⭐️ book that I haven‘t reviewed yet. 😬 How Babylon made the shortlist for the NBA, I‘ll never know. Visual Thinking was a huge disappointment, too. More on those after Molly‘s (and my) playdate. 🐶

However, the ones on the top row are my favorites! Highly recommend all of them, but I loved others as well.

I hope y‘all are squeezing the last bit of fun out of the weekend too! 😘

So I think I‘m finally, maybe 🤞🏻🙏🏻 making a turn for the better in my long Covid battle! Just today I trimmed 5 hedges and walked my dog over a mile. My brain fog is lifting and my attention span is better, as you can see with the 13(!) books I finished this week. 🤯🤩

I still have to review the four on the bottom left, but Lucy stole my heart again, and it was a 5⭐️ read! The McCurdy was a huge disappointment, though. #BookReport

I had my first 5⭐️ this month, Invisible Circus, and that means I only have one more new Egan to read. #YearOfBacklists I also really enjoyed Hajji Hotek and Sinkable.

I finished Pathological this morning, and I‘m thinking hard about the DSM and how we diagnose and treat mental illness in the US. I have a lot to consider before reviewing.

Review of All the Living later today. It was a very dark look into the death industry in the UK. #BookReport

#BookReport and a mid-month #BookspinBingo update!

Big reading week(end)! Fresh Water and Trust were my favorites this week with How to Read a close third. Unfortunately, Our Wives and the Slaughter were disappointments. I think it was the wrong time for Our Wives. If it weren‘t for #CampLitsy, I would‘ve put it aside for a few months and tried later. Still looking forward to discussing! The Slaughter had more plot holes than a 🧀. ☹️ Onwards!

It‘s been an exhausting, emotional week, but once again, I am thankful for books and the escape they provide. I‘m planning to catch up on reviews today. I had two awesome, fabulous books - Immense World and We Want What We Want. Then I had some pretty enjoyable ones like Bad City and Either/Or. Then there were the disappointments, which were Four Treasures and the Tremblay. Overall, I‘d give this week a 3.5⭐️ - a #GoodNotGreat #BookReport.

Well, you know the book was bad when you rate it worse than an infected toothache! 🤣🤣 Let‘s be real, Acts was terrible! Burning wasn‘t much better. However, Heartbroke was among the best of the year! Amy & Isabelle, Bi (review soon), and Jen were strong picks too. Shore was in the middle. Hopefully the first week of August will be better now that my toothache is improving, but I‘m not looking forward to the root canal. 👎🏻👎🏻 #BookReport

My biggest print book week in 2 months, and I enjoyed them all! This was a great reading week overall. Acts of Violet was a fun audiobook. Tanqueray was a unique memoir. I really enjoy the science Crouch brings to his SciFi. The #CampLitsy discussion of This Time Tomorrow was a highlight of the reading weekend, too! However American Cartel about the opiate crisis was a hard read as I just lost a friend to overdose last week. 😭
#BookReport

A lot of great reads this week, especially the #botm by Zevin! I agree with many of us that it is among the top of the year. My other two print books were strong picks as well.

The two about families, The Latecomer and Normal Family (review soon), were great. NF was a fascinating look at a very non-traditional family whose father was the infamous donor 150 that fathered dozens of children.

Cults and Pretty Baby were disappointments. #BookReport

Once again, I‘m behind on reviews! I‘m hoping to get to Funny Farm and A Very Nice Girl today, but tbh, most of this week‘s books were #GoodNotGreat. Misfire was very interesting, but it was hard not to get more angry than I like to get when reading about the NRA. Many of the stories in Ghost Lover hit me more strongly than the full length novels. And I was really pleased with the discussion of You Made a Fool! Excited for next week! #BookReport

Well, I‘m a bit behind on reviews. Everything in the right column hasn‘t been reviewed. Fire Island and Ink were my only NF reads this week. I‘m just not enjoying NF as much as I used to. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#HorrorWeekend featuring Keep, Hide, and Pictures was a fantastic dip into genre fiction, which I should read more of. I always enjoy it more than I think I will.

Maggie O‘Farrell‘s debut was stunning. I should read her whole backlist! #BookReport

Looking back, it was an average week with bright spots. Colored was amazing. Thank you for one last rec @ReadingEnvy 💕 Marrying the Ketchups was just plain fun. I did not want to leave that family! The Lioness was a good thriller, too.

Fourth Man was interesting spy NF but probably better in print. Damnation Spring and Site Fidelity are both fiction about environmentalism and low picks.

I just wasn‘t feeling Mean Baby or 7 Days. #BookReport

I loved Storyteller and Fly Girl! Both are first class memoirs. The Hive and River of the Gods were close behind. I‘m still not sure about All the Lovers in the Night. I didn‘t enjoy it as much as her other two translated books…I think, but I‘m hoping to wake up with clarity about it! The Way She Feels was a low pick whereas I was disappointed by the Gilbert and the Novak. 🤷🏻‍♀️ overall a good week! #BookReport @Cinfhen

The Change was awesome! 10/10 would recommend! I‘d also recommend Out of the Corner (review tmrw) to all my 80s peeps and Hawk‘s Way to nature lovers. Heck I‘d recommend all three to most folks on Litsy.

Dead in the Water was interesting, well done true crime, and Hometown Victory was a cinematic underdog story. Gates‘ writing was thoughtful.

The Puzzle Solver was disappointing and The Pisces (review tmrw) was Just. Plain. Weird! #BookReport

Unlikely Animals was truly special! Can‘t wait to write a review tomorrow. How High and then Checkout 19 weren‘t far behind in the best of the week.

Deaf Utopia and the Klein were both great memoirs. Klein more funny and Nyle more thoughtful. Also I loved reading more from Strout and Lucy-land. Excited for Lucy by the Sea this fall. My Tiger Eyes review tomorrow will 🤯! The Fell was the only clunker. Can‘t win ‘em all. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #BookReport

Running late on the #BookReport. Despite being super stressed, I am still doing well with reading. 🤞🏻 The best two are in the middle, but everything this week was a pick! Memphis is my kind of historical fiction, and Lucy was a wonderful character to meet. Review of The Unseen Body coming tomorrow, but it is an enjoyable medical pop sci book. I‘m also happy to have read two good mysteries this week: Like a Sister and Assumption.

What a week! Finishing 1619 was a undertaking and an unforgettable experience. Lessons in Chemistry was wonderful for very different reasons. Bomb Shelter and Disorientation were excellent as well. Seek and Hide was a dense (but interesting) look into right to privacy vs freedom of the press. Review tomorrow.

Ladder to the Sky was extremely disappointing. ☹️ Cover Story was just okay, and Portrait of a Thief DRAGGED. Review tomorrow. #BookReport

April has been an OUTSTANDING month for books so far. I‘ve already read 14(!), and I‘ve only had 1 so-so and no pans. That said, I will be surprised if Sea of Tranquility is not in the top 3 this year. It was amazing! Tracking my reading year-to-year, March and April always seem to allow more reading time.

That said…I‘m thinking about trying Infinite Jest. Thoughts from anyone who has read it? It‘s always been on my chunkster TBR. #BookReport

Looking back, this week had a bunch of good not great books. Winter in Sokcho, however, was excellent! Definitely this week‘s winner. I‘d also recommend Happy at Any Cost to my memoir lovers, and Man without a Face to people looking to understand Putin better.

The Family, The Reading List, and Conversations with People Who Hate Me were enjoyable to read, but I doubt they‘ll stick with me. The rest, eh. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #BookReport @Cinfhen

I‘m late posting because of basketball. Coach K‘s final Final Four. Hell yeah! 🔵😈🏀

Anyway, Dr. Gilmer is my only 5⭐️ so far this month. Read it! The Doctor‘s Wife wasn‘t far behind. Review of Overdue soon, but it was an interesting look at changes that are overdue in library administration. Sounds boring, but it wasn‘t. Still trying to figure out how to express that. But I know that I didn‘t care for The Cartographers at all! #BookReport

All the #botm choices were great, including Booth and the St. James, but the backlog pick, Valentine, ended up being the best. However, I‘m hoping this is auspicious for the remainder of the year for BOTM!

I don‘t think Lisa See is an author I‘ll read again, but I‘m very much looking forward to John Boyne in April for #AuthorAMonth!

Now to watch more basketball. Anyone else watch UNC/Baylor? Quite a game! #BookReport

I had a really good reading week! The winner was The Invisible Kingdom, which I definitely recommend to other Litten spoonies. I finished the first of two #LMPBC books, two of my #botm choices, and three very intellectually and emotionally consuming audiobooks. Super Host and The Night Shift were great breaks during the heavier stuff.

#BookReport

Made my book-a-day goal this week! Sarah Polley wrote the big winner. Fan or not, highly recommend. Agatha was a wonderful hidden gem, and I‘m glad my library picked up Dusk and The Fifties, as I wouldn‘t have found them otherwise.

Reckless Girls (review soon) and Wahala fulfilled some challenge prompts, and that‘s about the best I can say about them! 😆 Looking forward to some better books tomorrow. 👍🏻 #BookReport

It‘s been awhile since I‘ve read more print books than audiobooks in a #BookReport! The winner this week was Don‘t Cry for Me, and this has been a great month for #botm overall…AND I am ½ a book away from finishing all 5 choices the month I made them! ??

Reading a book about fun is not, in fact, fun, and I‘m not ready for mediocre snark about love during the pandemic. Pass! I plan on coming back to Alive.

Hope y‘all are having a great weekend!

The Nineties is the definite winner this week! The Urge, review soon, was really impressive too. I like that it‘s more about the history of addiction rather than a particular drug. Both the print #botm choices were fun. I succeeded last month in reading more fiction, but my library‘s nonfiction game this month is STRONG, so we‘ll see about February.

44 Chapters: Couldn‘t follow her different diaries and way too much graphic sex! Pass! #BookReport

Light reading week, but I enjoyed all of the books I read. Obviously Heart‘s is the big winner this week. The more I think about Light Years, the more I appreciate it. Toxic Positivity really hit a nerve, too. Review of Something Wild soon.

My currents are both print books, and I can‘t decide among the three audiobooks which should be next. 🤔 Picking up Olga is definitely a blame @KarenUK 😁 #BookReport

Big #NewReleaseTuesday coming up, too! 🤫

A bit late #BookReport, and as far as a #WeeklyForecast, I‘d like to finish what I‘m currently reading! 😂😂

Bit of a mixed week. Two books I thought I‘d love, A Little Life and the Attenberg, I didn‘t. The other four were good, with Devil House being the best of the week.

Surprisingly enjoying Light Years from Home in my earbuds, whereas Good Mothers that I expected to enjoy was a hard pass. Looking forward to continuing the Boyne reread! 💜📚

All winners this week except Emotional! The Hard Sell was my second 5⭐️ of the month. I was really proud of finishing To Paradise in 6 days because I‘m such a chunkster-avoider, and it was fantastic, too. M2M was such a wonderful surprise and @vivastory keeps coming in with #NYWD22 hits: Passing 👍🏻

@Cinfhen I think you were right about the week before last‘s #NewReleaseTuesday being dry! Apparently the Federal Reserve is boring. 😂 #BookReport

Several really fantastic books this week, including my first 5⭐️ of the year, Voices From Chernobyl. Lucky sucked, but sometimes writing the bad reviews is oh-so fun! I don‘t think now is the right time for a Martian Chronicles reread, but I plan to get to it later in the year for #NYWD22.

Looking forward to my sleep-ordered To Paradise arriving today. I have a feeling it will dominate the weekend. #BookReport @Cinfhen

Well, I‘ve had my first 1⭐️ of the year (The Maid), but no 5⭐️ books yet, although The True Deceiver was close at 4.75⭐️. I still have a review of Fiona and Jane to write, but it was better than most #botm are picks for me!

Three print books is more than I usually finish in a week. I got to relax some because the snow shut everything down. I‘m also caught up on two 90 Day Fiancé series. #priorities ?? #BookReport

Great week, especially since I hit 500 books! Best of the week were Intimacies and book 500, Tell Me How to Be, which was an amazing #audiobook! Vikas Adam is an incredible narrator.

I knocked three off the #ToBshortlist. I think that puts me at 12 read total! So happy reading reviews and discussions of these books.

I sincerely hope the movie version is better than the book The House of Gucci because I was totally bored! #BookReport

This week, I read a 5⭐️ book (Wholehearted Faith) and discovered a new author to watch (Bethany Ball), so I‘m pretty happy! All of these books were picks. Overall, a great reading week. 👍🏻 #BookReport

I‘ve had a lazy day today and haven‘t read much. There were some fantastic books this week with the exception of The Life of the Mind. However, my favorite was definitely the Patchett! @Cinfhen I hope you love it too!

This has been a truly great reading month overall. I‘m averaging more than 4⭐️ for the first time this year, a welcome change after last month‘s mediocrity. My current books are no exception. 19 left in the #DriveTo500! #BookReport

Interesting week. Famous People, Patient Zero, and Vanderbilt were definitely the stars! On Animals delivered, too. Just finished so I‘m still thinking about it.

Lemon and Fight Night were disappointing. I didn‘t care for the narrator or writing style in FN. Review when I figure out how to articulate it!

The Color of Compromise is a difficult read about the complicity of Christian churches in white supremacy. Going slow. #BookReport

I am struggling this week with the #DriveTo500. (Reading 500 books this year.) I am 35 away atm, but if it weren‘t for this, I‘d probably be sliding into a slump. I may finish with a bunch of #rereads, but 🤞🏻 I‘ll make it.

All three print books were BIG TIME winners!! I loved my reread of Mary Jane. Perfect for my mood now. The Ai Weiwei was far too heavy, but I‘m enjoying my #audiobook reread of Fake Accounts. #BookReport

October finished strong with 5⭐️ to Summerwater and 4.5⭐️ to The Poisoned City, but while Cokie was very good, the four fiction books I‘ve read so far in November were lacking. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Can‘t love them all!

And NO BAILS after three last week!! 👍🏻👍🏻

Unsure what print book I‘ll start next, but I‘m enjoying my #reread of O‘Briens, even if the #audiobook narration is mediocre. #BookReport

Well y‘all, the book review writer‘s block is back! 👎🏻 Hopefully it will lift soon.

Bourdain is the only 5⭐️ I‘ve had this month, so easily the best of the week. Chainsaw was the best fiction. Great seasonal read!

I wrote an epic bail review of Mirror. The other (tagged ⬇️) was a subject I know about and didn‘t agree with the authors. Some books aren‘t worth it.

The Plot I keep putting aside. I can‘t get a toehold. We‘ll see. #BookReport

Best of the week was definitely China Room, but Sankofa was great too. The two celebrity books (Fan Fiction and Hooked) were enjoyably quirky.

I officially put the King in bear mode and got back on the list at the library for a later read.

I‘m really enjoying Imposter Syndrome, an old #botm pick. It‘s been a good week for my choices from them! #BookReport

Went to the doctor with my mom today and I‘m a bit shook up. Please pray or send healing thoughts/vibes to her if you can. 💜🙏🏻 I just keep thinking about the worst, so I‘ve decided to scrap everything I‘m reading and start fresh. See bottom row!

Before today I did have a great reading week! All the books were good, most great in fact, but my sentimental favorite was The Red and and the Blue. 🇺🇸

Have a good weekend y‘all! #BookReport