Welcome to Litsy!

My StoryGraph January cover collage! I love that StoryGraph does this now!
Idlewild was definitely the best of the month. Second place to Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear.

I‘ve got my first book hangover of the year thanks to Idlewild. Once I started it I really never wanted to put it down. The passion and yearning of high school/ teen life, even when you aren‘t sure what the huge yearning feeling is for exactly, combined with such deeply considered characters.

While the ending felt right and very realistic, I did hope for something slightly different.

Best book of the year so far 😆. I did love this.
(Pic-Igor)

I‘m only 3/4 through, but I can feel this one is likely to make my best of list for the year. It‘s kind of exciting to say that this early in January!

I‘m pleased with this month‘s #bookspin picks 🙂📚. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !

This is a case of wanting to start all of these books right now, thank you Holly! I love that they are all from small publishers, and the oddities one doesn‘t even have any Litsy reviews yet so it‘ll be fun posting the first. I‘ll enjoy coloring the tea towels, what a cool project. And the bag did make me laugh, I used to love the little miss books from school book fairs. Pretty sure she was never featured 😆. Merry Christmas! 💚❤️💚

It‘s our second zombie match and again the zombie is the winner! A close call again and test Idlewild beats Wellness. Who would have guessed? I know I didn‘t!
Idlewild is the book that has received the most zombie votes. Will it be enough to take away the 🦃 against Sinners?
Tomorrow we‘ll post the final match of our #LitsyToB24 and then you can all vote for your winner! One more day to go!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Interesting debut by a trans author!

Centred on an intense friendship in a New York City high school that begins on 9/11, this novel kinda slightly missed the mark for me.

I was interested in the fate of the characters but the chapters using AIM chat and livejournal blog posts were off putting to me.

Something about Nell and Fays blog really made me uncomfortable? I don‘t know how to articulate it.

#lgbtq2024 #lgbtqbookbingo @Kenyazero

But late for this one for #litsyToB24 but I‘m going to start it today!

New happy lamp that looks like the moon 🌕 perfect for this rainy day.

#litsyToB #lgbtqbookbingo #lgbtq2024

This was so much more than I expected it to be. It was a really immersive, absorbing look at the intertwining lives of a group of theater kids at a Manhattan Quaker high school in 2001-2002. Strong themes of queerness in many forms, sex, art, love, friendship, obsession, control, and more. I recommend it!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Coming of age/friendship story of queer friends at a Quaker school in NYC in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. I was initially a little put off by the obnoxiousness of the MCs, but grew more sympathetic to what they were dealing with in terms of friendship and identity, especially 20+ years ago. #LitsyToB24

I can't say I “enjoyed“ this novel, as it brought back memories of some of the aspects I hated the most about high school. However, it was a good coming-of-age story with a mix of light-heartedness and darkly satirical humour.

#gottacatchemall @PuddleJumper (prompt 6: “Thievul: Set in a city“)
#LitsyToB24 @squirrelbrain @Megabooks @BarbaraBB
#52bookclub24 (prompt 51: Related to the word “Wild“)

A compelling coming of age story which was both familiar and disturbing. Fay and Nell are best friends at a NYC private Quaker high school navigating teenage insecurity, solipsism, and queerness. Their friendship is insular and uneven, with Fay leading and Nell following. Seamlessly told in flashback by their adult selves, regretful and nostalgic.

Read for #LitsyToB24
#Pop24 Fiction by a trans author
#52Bookclub24 About finding identity

#LitsyTOB. High schoolers trying to figure out who they are and looking for connection at a Quaker school. The friendship of the two MC‘s starts the day of 9/11 and grows through their Junior and Senior years. A good debut novel. #52Bookclub24 #RelatingtoWild 4🌟

Last book of 2023. I really enjoyed this one. It had me laughing out loud at certain moments - Thomas captures the absurd world of teenagers so perfectly. At the same time Nell‘s and Faye‘s experiences into adulthood broke my heart. Thomas captures all of it so poignantly and the ending felt real in a way I appreciated. #LitsyTOB24

I‘m so glad this one was on the #tob24 longlist and our LitsyTOB24, because it was not on my radar and I just loved it! I was fully drawn in to Nell and Fay‘s world and friendship as they each try to understand their own identities. My only quibble is it‘s sometimes unclear who‘s who on the audio. Terrific read.

This #LitsyToB24 title will likely be my final read of 2023. I plowed through this angsty high school drama and especially appreciate that the epilogue gives a “where are they now” for all of the characters.

Wow, what a ride. I usually avoid books about teenagers and/or 9/11, but my library had this one and it‘s on the #LitsyTOB24 list. I really enjoyed it after all, and kind of don‘t want to read anything else until Monday so I can end this year on a high note.

#tob24 long list

Give me a story with well-developed characters that allow me to see and experience the world around them, and I am hooked. Idlewild was such an enjoyable read that made me think, made me feel, and even surprised me.

It's a great story about growing up and reflecting, and the 9/11 storyline was very well handled in it.

And, I loved the ending. 😁

Nell and Fay are delightfully weird, teenage friends, so inseparable that part of the book is narrated by their collective consciousness, the “F&N unit”. Inseparable for 18 months that is: we know from the start that the Unit will not last. Until that tragic moment I was lost in their growing op in NYC post 9/11, in search of their own identity and sexuality, mirroring themselves in two boys they are a bit obsessed with. A great debut! #LitsyToB24

On the morning of 9/11, Nell finally speaks to Faye, the subject of her huge crush. Although the attraction is not reciprocated, the two strike up an intense friendship. Faye is more fixated on gay boys and becomes curious about two male students at their school. The awkward teenage search for understanding about identity and relationships come through so viscerally, I was reminded of how much I would never want to revisit those years. #litsytob24

When your book matches your flowers from a friend 💐
Really enjoyed this NYC Quaker school-set coming of age novel from the #tob24 longlist. I‘m really grateful because I‘d never have picked this up otherwise. Nell and Faye are friends but using each other for different purposes in their post 9/11 year…finding themselves and defining their queerness in relation to each other and a cast of classmates. I was wrapped up in the drama! Pick for sure!

I didn‘t love this as much as some other #tob24 readers did. Top half, but not top third. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Burgeoning lesbian Nell has a crush on high school classmate Faye. When 9/11 brings them together for a tumultuous 15 months, they navigate their different emerging queer identities. They obsess over a pair of boys who have their own odd sexual energy, and the foursome together is the definition of toxic friendships!

I did NOT expect to enjoy this as much as I did seeing as I‘m almost 30 years out of high school. But I found it to be really witty and touching. My only quibble was wanting to spend more time with Fay and Nell in adulthood. #TOB24

Another #ToB longlister that I loved and wouldn‘t ever have read otherwise.

Idlewild is a small Quaker school in Manhattan. Nell is gay and is obsessed with Fay who, in turn is obsessed with gay men. During rehearsals for the school play they notice two sexually ambiguous boys who they encourage to join their Invert Society.

If you love academia novels you‘ll love this, and if you read and liked Cyclorama, I think this is even better.

Always copying @squirrelbrain 🫶🏻 This is what I‘ve saved audible credits for all year: holidays and the Tournament of Books!! 🥂 #tob24

I promise I won‘t buy any more books from the ToB long list; I have enough already….oops! 🤣

These are two where I really liked the sound of them from the blurbs, plus I‘d never heard of them before. (Maybe American rather than UK?) They‘re used copies from Amazon but both in good condition. They‘re also quite chunky compared to many of the other longlisters.

Anyone else read these or planning on reading them?