Welcome to Litsy!

My first book of 2024! It also qualifies for #WickedWords since it is set in Colorado. It‘s the true story about football scandal at Colorado, where many of the players raped and assaulted various woman because of the culture under their head coach. @AsYouWish

#Rushathon

I had forgotten this book was one of my #BOTM books until I decided to finish the #BOTM challenge & was crushing my stack looking for shorter reads.🤦🏻‍♀️ Anyway, called a mix of memoir & literary true crime, it‘s a tough read for subject matter (sexual assault investigation + the impact of the authors own childhood sexual abuse) but it is well written, fascinating & compulsively readable. The author fell into doing investigative ⬇️

This book wasn‘t what I thought it would be, and I‘m glad. As someone that jokes that she missed her calling as a PI, I was ready to step into a world of intrigue, gossip, and secrecy. But this is a much darker story about a rape at a university and Krouse grappling with her own childhood trauma. She writes beautifully and tells a compelling story that ultimately reminds us that we must investigate our deeper selves in order to heal. 4⭐️

My second DNF of the month and the week. I just felt that this was maybe a little sensationalized about complete strangers telling her their secrets and her responses to them. I seem to be easily irritated this week by people‘s decisions, fictional (The Wishing Game) or in reality (this one).

#dnf #botm

Daisy is my friend IRL. I did not know she was in this book until Krouse introduces her in the telling. I have some mixed feelings, obviously. Feeling protective.

This book is part memoir, part true crime. For me personally I was hoping for more story focused on her work as a private investigator and a lot of this book is more about her personal life.

I do feel the author did an excellent job with writing about the crimes/assaults committed by the football team. At times it felt like I was right there with her uncovering the truth.

I could not turn this off! It is amazingly addictive and horrifying (or the other way around), part memoir, part behind the scenes of a massive investigation where EK is a private investigator. I was so angry at one point I said no one was allowed to watch football while I was at home anymore. I wouldn‘t say there are graphic descriptions of sexual violence but that is what this book is about & it could be very triggering. Lego waves are soothing

I am so captivated by this book. And horrified

It‘s a chores and errands Sunday with a sweet treat for checking the things off the list. I am transfixed by this audio book ( I need more things to do )

I just started this on audio and I‘m hooked. Why did I have it on hold? Was it the cover? Did somebody write about here ? 🤷🏻‍♀️ it‘s really interesting so far

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was a good true crime/memoir. She tied her own experiences together with how it affected her work as a private investigator. I found parts fascinating, and others were slightly slow. I also enjoyed the vignettes about other related topics - I thought they helped provide context. Overall an interesting read.

The subject matter of this book is very difficult to handle. Trigger warnings: sexual assault, abuse, violence. However, I read Missoula, which was similar to this and I liked this book better. I feel the author was a better story teller and was also telling her own story at the same time. That is not easy to do, but I thought she did it well. Strange to put this as a #JoyousJanuary read, but it is what it is.
@Andrew65

A pick with some reservations. I knew this was about her work as a private investigator but I didn‘t realize it was all about one case — sexual assaults involving football players and recruits that happened at a university that she doesn‘t name but is the University of Colorado - Boulder. She also covers her own abuse by a relative and her mother‘s indifference. It‘s not an easy read. This was my #DoubleSpin for Jan.

#Top22of22 Honorable Mentions

I had such a great reading year. These didn‘t make my top 22, but they were so close. All memorable and very good.

See my #12Booksof2022 posts for my favorite audiobooks of the year.

Oh - thank you soo much @CBee - I‘ve been eyeing this one for a while. Thank you for thinking of me.

Happy Holidays

Xxxxx

Whoa. That was...intense. And if I hadn't already had a serious disdain for football, I sure as hell would now. The author was also sexually abused... No, RAPED. She was raped by her stepfather for several years when she was a child, so be aware of that when you read this. She doesn't go into detail, but she does describe the mental scars.

Heartbreaking. Gut-wrenching. Excellent and disturbing read.

#doublespin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

This book was incredibly interesting is some areas and felt incredibly slow in others. I didn't hate it but I didn't love it. I do love #SirSherlock and his one exposed fang, while posing in his sleep.

#Scarathlon2022 #TeamSlaughter watch list. @Clwojick

This is my #TeamSlaughter #Scarathon2022 TBR. Here is to seeing how much of this I can actually get through. I do warn my family that October is all about this challenge, but my kids love being involved with the movie part. My Daughter for the less intense (Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice), my teen son for the more intense. @Clwojick

this audiobook was just ok for me. I was very interested in the author‘s PI work details, less so in her personal life which took up a good chunk of the book. there was lots of rambling on tangentially related topics too that just didn‘t hold my attention. nothing against the narrator…she did a great job! the content as a whole just wasn‘t for me.

TRUE CRIME bingo square ✅
book 13/22 for 22

#readingchallenge

This one is aways fun! Join us before it is too late. @Scarathlon2022 @Clwojick

Wow this pissed me off at times! My #doublespin for September @TheAromaofBooks

TRIGGER WARNING ⚠️ This was a bit slow at first because the author was finding her groove as a private investigator, but overall a really powerful book on rape culture and sexual abuse.

I thought this was really well written. I loved the point of view of this book being from a woman who was a PI. It added a very interesting element of really learning about this type of work along with the true crime aspect and the pieces of her life that she wound into the story. There were parts that were a little slow for me, but this book had a lot of depth and feeling and I would definitely recommend it!

Written from the lens of a first time private investigator, with a past of her own, Erika is learning as she interviews all the idiosyncrasies of our failed judicial system. This book makes me angry and angsty about everything that is still wrong with the invented loops to a game that make the lives of sexual assault victims looks like penny candy. The 4- not my dog rules are savage and so on point that I want to vomit...

Lots of trigger warnings, but otherwise interesting investigative take on on-campus sexual assaults and the layers of protection schools go through to cushion their athletes. #botm

Loved this true crime-nonfiction-memoir hybrid. This is certainly a style of book that‘s emerged in recent years and I‘m here for them. Tagging others in comments ⬇️
This author is an accidental PI investigating football rape culture at the University of Colorado (I believe, though she doesn‘t name the school). Along with this, Krouse describes a new relationship, her traumatic sexual abuse as a child, and horrific relationship with her mother.

• ModernMrsDarcy.com 2022 Summer Reading Guide #MMDSummerReading #MMDBookClub

Fantastic crime investigation about an investigation by an “average” woman who helped expose a major college football team sex scandal. Part memoir and part literary true crime, Tell Me Everything is mesmerizing story.

I really liked it. Krouse works for a lawyer as a PI investigating a university scandal. She takes on rape culture while dealing with her own trauma. It's a heart breaking book.

This fascinating book is nonfiction meets memoir and was amazing! There are so many components to this story, finding your path, Private Eyes, survival and advocating for others, and really terrible men. Difficult to read in places; CW for sexual abuse, child abuse, rape, and institutionalized rape culture. Krouse wove this book together in a way that made it accessible, illuminating, powerful, and affirming. Outstanding.

Something about this memoir just didn‘t work for me. I was really intrigued about the elements discussing the Title XI case but was less interested in the author‘s family history. I respect that she had to tell that story as well though. #botm

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I don‘t remember the last book that made me cry like this one! Now that I‘m a mother to my little girl, and since I work with mostly female college students, I think this subject material hits me harder. This was completely engrossing, visceral, and beautifully written. I felt infuriated, protective, helpless, reflective… but ultimately moved by the power of human resilience and connection. #BOTM

This was excellent! Although this is about a private investigator revisiting her past via a case, it reminded me a lot of THE FACT OF A BODY. I loved this one more because it was so literary but still down-to-earth. I learned so much; it was also expertly edited. #truecrime

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I liked this mix of memoir and true crime. A lot of the story was awful, between the investigation into a college student's rape by a group of football players and the author's own childhood sexual abuse and other family problems. Her relationship with her eventual husband and her feelings surrounding that was fascinating. It's a really fast read, frustrating at times, but I'm glad I picked it last month for #botm.

I loved this! I devoured this one long sitting.

This is the perfect non-fiction read for true crime fans. A detailed account of working a case from the inside.

Erika Krouse crafted a compelling memoir that is part professional and part personal. She weaves her work as a PI with a landmark Title IX civil case with her own history of sexual violence. The result is a gripping read. #botm Triggering for sexual abuse. ⚠️

Last day of March and I started this book on my afternoon break. #botm

I didn‘t want to put this book down! I hope #BOTM gives us more offerings like this in the future.

Krouse worked as a private investigator for a law firm on a groundbreaking Title IX case. Part true crime, part memoir, this was a shocking, infuriating, completely arresting read.

“I became a private investigator because of my face.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

#NetGalley #AudioARC Available March 15!! This is a blending of memoir & true crime. Erika Krouse worked as a private investigator without any prior experience, to help bring a major US University accountable for allowing a rape culture to exist within their athletic department. It was infuriating & disheartening to read the blatant disregard for the woman‘s safety. Interspersed within the story is Erika‘s personal story of being a rape survivor.

#AudioARC #NetGalley 🎊I was eyeing this book on #BOTM so I‘m SUPER excited to receive an audio ARC 🎧♥️

#botm #bookmail on a Monday always feels good!

Apparently I should have added this one to my #BOTM box 😆

My #BOTM picks! Got an add on for my birthday month!

#botm books are up!

Some amazing picks from #BOTM this month! So hard to choose! I ended up with these 3 but I‘m adding all of them to my #TBR !

The top row was all 5 star reads, and the second row 4 stars. So many great ones this month!