Welcome to Litsy!

If I had a nickel for every book I‘ve read about a bunch of sisters all named after flowers that have some extremely traumatic childhoods, I‘d definitely have at least two nickels.

I did enjoy this book for the most part but feel slightly let down by the (lack of) resolution of a certain plot point in the end.

I genuinely hated the direction of the storyline after page 100, like you know what's killing these girls but the why or how it works is never answered. I wanted an explanation or answers. I deserved the answers, but I never got them.
Despite my annoyance at this I must confess the writing and characters left me completely enjoying the journey from start to finish

It is hard to convince anyone how empowering the book is as you relay one plot point after another, but it truly is. It had all the frustrations women feel and felt through the ages, wrapped up in a harrowing tale that made me grip the reading chair with worry, gasp in well expressed grief and wallop when battles are hard won.

I was in Paris on Sunday and visited Shakespeare and Company. I bought 3 books and this tote bag. This shop is really cool. I had a great time looking at their selections.

This is my local indie‘s book club pick for this month. While I loved the author‘s Dietland, I didn‘t go into this with sky high expectations because I saw it characterized as witchy, magical, fairy tale-ish, etc. none of which is my jam. It has serious Gothic undertones but was remarkably accessible. It had a slightly similar vibe to The Change for me which I loved. Very atmospheric but NOT a horror novel at all. Stupid book marketing. 👍🏼

A ghost story based loosely on the life of Sarah Winchester. As a lover of all things haunted, I‘ve always wanted to go stand in the Winchester house and see if I could “feel” anything. Anyway, worth the read and definitely fits my #scarathlon2022 genre.

not really sure how much i like this one but excited for line-dried sheets

My #bookreport for last week:

9 books total
8 audiobooks
1 book/audiobook (switched in between the two).
Over all these were all good- Funny You Should Ask and Cherry Robbers were my favorite of this week.

@cinfhen

The gal at one of my favorite local bookstores who recommended this book described it as a cross between reading Barbara Kingsolver and Shirley Jackson 😍

“A gothic ghost story with a fiery feminist zeal.” 👻
#thecherryrobbers #gothicliterature

Acclaimed artist Sylvia has hidden for decades that she is actually Iris Chapel, daughter of the wealthy gun manufacturing Chapel family. She ran to try to escape the family curse, and her story is told here. While the approach to this book is wildly different from Walker‘s debut, she continues to explore the difficulties women face in simply navigating the world. A low pick for me.

I loved Walker‘s debut, Dietland, but this was a bit of a miss for me. The gothic elements, loosely based on Sarah Winchester, were fantastic, but it was too long.

Iris is the second youngest of six sisters in the famous Chapel firearms family. Her mother never wanted to marry and is haunted by those dead from guns. When Iris‘s oldest sister marries and immediately dies, then it happens with the next sister, she fights to keep her family alive.

I‘m really loving this. At first, I was worried because I had adored Dietland so much and was hoping I wouldn‘t mentally compare the two books too much, but not a problem! This is such a completely different vibe (very Shirley Jackson) and I tearing through it. Can‘t wait to see how it ends.

#NetGalley

Gothic southern tale about a family where the women are plagued by ghosts from the past. It's told in both the past and present with the mystery of the past unfolding slowly.

The pacing was a little slow for my taste and some sections could have been shortened. I still enjoyed it though.

The Cherry Robbers by Sarai Walker is a blend of Southern Gothic and historical fantasy that will appeal to fans of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson or The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab. The story revolves around Sylvia, a reclusive artist with a mysterious past. She has become relatively well-known in art circles, but nobody knows who she was before she became an artist.