Welcome to Litsy!

Loved this book! Totally lives up to the hype, and the full-cast narration was excellent. Do I want a paper copy so I can revisit it? Yes. But the audiobook was an excellent first read through.

It‘s an overcast late summer day with the promise of fall right around the corner. You know what that means? It‘s about time I‘m for a reread of one of my favorite books — Lincoln in the Bardo. I was once lured back to a book club I had lapsed in by them strategically selecting this book. I‘ve taken this book to the bar in rough times and comforted myself by just revisiting passages. What are the books that you regularly get the itch to reread?

On one hand, ashamed it's not more. On the other hand, the list obviously skews to a certain kind of litfit (though happy to see some speculative fiction and The Fifth Season) and there were tons of repeat authors on the list.

Currently reading with a bookmark bought in Boston.

I was musing with my husband about this audio book and it led me down a rabbit hole. This is a good article about the production. What a performance! This is one of those rare instances, like with film, that the performance is better than the print experience. https://www.wired.com/2017/02/george-saunders-bardo-white-house-audiobook/

Ummm, meh? I didn‘t get it. And I really wanted to love it. There was just so much going on it was hard for me to see the point. Anyone else?

This was both a very easy & a very hard read.The format made it a fast read.But I found the content to be confusing.I had to refer to “Litcharts” several times while reading the book to understand it.The message it delivered was very deep.The way the message was delivered was (for lack of better words) crazy.I don‘t mean that in a bad way. Have you read this book?What do you think? I rated this book a 4 after reading through a summery on litcharts

Taking this energy into a week that opens with Halloween and ends with a birthday. Hope you‘ve got something spooky in your TBR this week. (Or maybe it‘s the TBR itself that‘s spooky—can relate).

#Book2Book

Please comment if you would like this copy of Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders. I am happy to ship internationally. Good condition.

📣 Please note that this is only open to those who registered for the #Book2Book event. If you are interested in future events, comment below and I'll add you to the taglist. 📣

What did I just read?

Some parts were good with Lincoln and his son, although I did find some of the spirits commentary irritating.

I enjoyed the structure of this novel. Lincoln‘s son Will dies and the story is told partly through the graveyard ghosts and partly through contemporaries of Lincoln through citations. The book gives insight to the time period and what people thought of the President. 4 stars
#RushAThon
@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

Meh. I like weird. But. It was only ok.

#20in4 @Andrew65 I‘m participating in the readathon this weekend! My goal is read 20 hours and finish at least two books. Hooray for a quiet and relaxing weekend with my books! 📚

Excited to follow along with everyone. Thanks for hosting Andrew!

Haven't read anything from this author before. Very unique writing style which I didn't dislike, interesting narrative of voices and highlighting the variety of life but I'm not sure I loved it.

Still catching up on the last few years TBR. I‘m about 10% into this one and I‘m still not sure what I think about it.

Bailing on this one...not a great book to be reading during readathons. Too much to digest for now. Hope to pick it up again one day.

I am literally staggered by this work. It is sublime. I love the structure & the chorus of ghosts (especially roger bevins iii) It is hilarious, poignant, knife-in-the-heart, gut-wrenchingly sad & despite it being about the most heart breaking loss imaginable (your beloved child) & the navigation of that grief AND 99% of the characters being dead, it is also heart swellingly life affirming. Just brilliant, I'm altered by this book.

This is another book that was huge a while ago and I just didn't get round to. And by a while ago I mean 4 or 5 years 😳 So you could say I'm late to this particular party! But that seems to be the way I roll - permanently 5 years behind in books, fashion, life in general 🤣

I have been reading this novel off and on since the beginning of November. I admire the writing and can appreciate Saunders talent. This book was a slog for me. The chorus of story tellers held me at a distance from this story of greif. It was a relief to finish this one and not carry it over to 2023.

Such an imaginative and creative book! This book is based on the historical fact that President Lincoln‘s young son, Willie, dies. Willie ends up in a graveyard with a bunch of other ghosts, and the plot goes from there, describing the antics of the ghosts. At moments it‘s sad, and at moments it‘s funny. If you like clear plots and clear characters, I don‘t think you‘d like this book. But if you like dark books, and a bit of weird, it‘s for you.

#scarathlondailyprompts #grave @Clwojick

One of the most astonishingly creative works of historical fiction or fiction otherwise I have ever encountered. A wonderful companion to “The Good Place” series finale if anyone reading is a fan, and one of the best books I‘ve read from the last decade.

This is one of the strangest books I‘ve ever read. It was thought-provoking and creative but parts of it just didn‘t make sense. There were some beautiful statements about grief but then a chapter about what was happening in the bardo would be in be interrupted by a chapter containing a list of footnotes relating to Lincoln, which lost the flow of the story. The gimmick of using 168 narrators, some of who only read one line, got old after a while.

I‘m torn between a soft pick and a so-so on this one.

Positives;

I enjoyed it for the most part.
It was very clever.
I wanted to read on to find out what happened.
I liked the multi-character POVs
It‘s off my TBR shelf.

Negatives:
A bit too clever-clever for me. (Definitely a Booker book!)
A very depressing book.
Didn‘t like the style / layout of the text, with the names underneath.

So much white space that this book would be half or even a third of its size if one cut out all the wasted space. I found this book pretentious, like most arty books that attempt to dazzle with their attempt at an avant-garde style. Here, there's nothing but meaningless words. Aside from a couple of potty-mouth illiterates, all the characters sound alike. No real story. Other authors have written about the afterlife, limbo, and grief much better.

I‘m starting the tagged today as I‘m doing a buddy read with @squirrelbrain and I‘m already behind! 🤦🏼‍♀️😆

Then these are my #bookspin & #roll100 books — an interesting mix. A fun start to March madness, in which I hope to finish at least 11 books. 🎉📚

Henry and I are having a bit of a chill-out afternoon; the weather is rubbish again so it‘s sofa-time!

How are you finding the book? @wanderinglynn

I looked up a bit of info before I started (what is a bardo?!) and read a few reviews which have helped me so far to understand the quirky layout ,some of the messaging and to enjoy the book, which I may not have done otherwise.

I‘m up to chapter XVI so far.

#two4tuesday

1. The tagged—I‘m doing a #buddyread of this book with @squirrelbrain 😀

Also my #roll100 books, Out of Africa & The Midnight Front, & then whatever my March #bookspin & #doublespin books end up being.

2. Ultimately – my office mate (over)uses this word. 99.9% of the time, she‘s not using it correctly, and so it grates on my nerves every time.

I saw raving reviews about this book so was happy to find an e-book version at the library available. But I read the first 3 chapters and could not get into it. It was rambling and hard to follow…I didn‘t get the quotes (or are they excerpts?). I like to be able to actually follow the storyline and it wasn‘t happening here.

I HATE AUDIOBOOKS! Please change my mind!!!! I just started delving into AB because I love the idea or getting through some TBRs while I do shit around the house but I just can't get into them. I never like the books I listen to and I can't even tell if it's because I actually don't like the book or just don't like the format. Please recommend your absolute favorite AB so I can get over this and learn to love them.

🥱 I gave this one about 50% of the book and it never really caught me. Giving it up to move on to the next one. Too many books to read and too little time in which to do it.

Audio-book, weird.

My husband and I have little overlap in our reading tastes. But, I‘m happy to report he enjoyed LIB! He tried print with audio and dumped that, then he bailed altogether once, but then decided to go back to it. He was glad he adjusted his approach and now intends to read it again at some point. I agree there is so much going on in LIB it‘s worthy and now if I can just get him to listen to it! I think I‘ve listen 4x now. 🎧

Hi all! I‘ve missed you! But my book clubs at the library are restarting and I‘ve nearly finished my YALSA reading (which I‘m not allowed to publicly discuss) so I‘m Slooowly coming back to Litsy. This is the first book club book of the year and I cannot wait to see what the group thinks. I had trouble with the audio to start, but when it clicked- I fell in love. Such creative writing!

It put this as pick, but it was more ok for me. I found it on the whole interesting and the form it was written in was OK. I did find some of stories from the ghosts a bit boring at times. I did read up about Lincoln and his son's death,after I finished the book, just to get some more details.

As I‘m resting (to help an infection heal), I had plenty of time to read today - and finished this in one sitting. I loved it. Entirely in my wheelhouse - some history, a lot of fantasy, an unusual structure - almost like a play - with a huge variety of characters speaking. While Lincoln and his son are main characters, I hadn‘t realised that other ordinary men and women would steal the spotlight so wonderfully. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Husband is trying the audio & print simultaneously. I warned him it‘s one of those love it or hate it books. I ADORE this novel on audio. Knowing how different our reading tastes are, I‘m doubtful he‘ll have the same experience. 😅

These are the new library books I have to read. I have started the tagged book. I remember trying it a couple of years ago and just couldn't get into it. It still feels a bit strange the format but so far so good! #tbr

I can't even imagine what this is like as a print book. But the #audiobook is quite good. There are so many different narrators. It was hard to follow at first but I'm glad that I stuck with it.

I was able to squeeze in my #doublespin book for my last read of January.

I feel like a lot of folks either loved or hated this. Personally, I really enjoyed it -- particularly the unusual format! I think I'd enjoy listening to this on audio (the cast is supposed to be great), but I'm glad I read it in print first.

@TheAromaofBooks

Started off a little strange for me (owing to the format in which it was written) but after a few chapters I managed to "melt" into it and ended up enjoying the story.
Read this for #bookclubworthy for #booked2020 as I think this was probably a choice in many bookclubs when it was first published.
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

I am listening to this one on audio. It might be that I started listening to this while driving in traffic but I am finding this story difficult to follow. To those who did finish it, does it get better? I usually don‘t mind experimental narratives but this isn‘t clicking with me.

Because I waited so long to read this book, the full-cast audio was readily available. The audio while reading is a great option for this one because of the way the short paragraphs are presented. It‘s incredibly sad in one paragraph then wacky in the next and funny in the next. An unique and weird story - that‘s for sure!

With regret, I bailed halfway! I, like many lately, have been experiencing a spike in death anxiety. Our journey to the cemetery bardo began like exposure therapy, bearable in its humor and originality. But as the humor became more crude, the lightness dimmed, and my mood really sank. I‘m regretful because I could see tenderness at the heart of the book and was loving its genuinely unusual formatting. Maybe another time.
#DoubleSpin #AwesomeAugust

I have accidentally had quite a few library holds stack up on me and am feeling a bit underwater, so it‘s a perfect time for a readathon! Aug 15-23
#AwesomeAugust #readathon

I must finish Becoming by its due date in four days and read Lincoln in the Bardo, my #DoubleSpin I‘ve just begun. (What an unusual book!) Then I hope to make headway into Rules of Civility and Starsight. I‘d be pleased if I read at least 100 pages per day.
Here we go! 🤞🏻