Welcome to Litsy!

I absolutely loved this. I think because the character of Adina felt very real to me - a loner, an outsider, living near the poverty line w her solo mum, a child who feels alone & alien growing into an adult that struggles to make more than one or two deep connections. Is Adina really an alien? - she faxes her mother planet with her wry and poignant earth observations. Little nuggets of insight that punctuate the story. ⬇️

Some beautiful writing, but this kept me at arm‘s length enough that I couldn‘t love it. I know that was the point. The writing about loss at the end was a true gut punch and my favorite part of the book. Will be interested to see how this fares in #tob25!

I absolutely adored this book. A coming of age story about a possible alien born right around the same year I was? Yes, please. This is the second audiobook in a row that I‘ve listened to where I wanted to buy a paper copy so I can underline all of the parts I loved. This is now my pick for #TOB2025 and likely to be a favorite this year.

Eminently readable, in that the pacing and formatting creates a good flow, and I appreciate the writing style. More than just a collection of peculiarly-phrased perceptive observations, there does appear to be full life narrated from the point of view of a (possibly neurodivergent) asexual character, a collection of friends and family, 1/?

Carbs: A love language all their own. 🍞🥐🥖🍝♥️🥰

Today's 'scratched my brain just right' sentence.

Loved this book. Definitely in my top 10 of this year.

Today's 'scratched my brain just right' sentence.

#WeeklyFavorite

Beautyland hit my February sweet spot. Audiobook where life happens but there is a lightness in tone that keeps anxiety at bay. Glad to have read this #TOBshortlist book. 4 🌟

@Read4life

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Coming of age story of a woman who‘s ostensibly an alien sent to report about humans and Earth back to her home. It took awhile for me to connect either this—if it weren‘t for #ToB25 I probably would have bailed, but I found it much more interesting once she reached adulthood. I found many of her observations to be quite true and sweet.

#WeeklyFavorites @Read4life

Oh wow…did I love this.

This is a coming of age story of a girl who is supposed to be an alien. The coming of age aspect was good but it kind of lost me with the alien thing. Was she really an alien, though? Or was she just a girl who felt like an outsider? 3 ⭐️

I read the first part of this novel and decided to bail. Started another book, and started to think about this and what happened to Adina. So I gave it another chance and read another 60 p, before the final DNF.

I can‘t really explain it, but something wasn‘t working for me.

#tob25

I am reading the most popular Tournament of Books books. Perfect way to get out of a little slump. This one is just wonderful!

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Another one from the #ToB list that I loved, although the quirky premise (girl sent from another planet to report back on life on Earth) concerned me. Turns out I loved Adina and I‘d have been one of those holding up the ‘I believe you‘ placards at her readings.

I‘m glad it made the shortlist as the book was so difficult to get hold of here in the UK that I probably wouldn‘t have bothered otherwise and I‘m so pleased I got to experience it.

Adina is very relatable to me. I was committed to learning about her life, her likes, her dislikes, and her struggles in society. I remember as a child thinking I talked in a different language than anyone else, which is why everyone thought I was weird. I didn't know anything about the Spectrum. When Adina was hurting, I felt it deep in my gut. At one point, I realized I was clenching because I knew how her honesty would be misconstrued.

I feel like the gimmick (an actual alien reporting on the coming of age of an ace, lower middle class girl through living it) detracted from the story. It made the MCs identity uncomfortable and her v literal “dispatches” annoying rather than quirky. Sorry #tob #tob25 and I guess all the other best of lists last year but I wasn‘t here for it. #unpopularopinion

Visited the spinal surgeon. He still wants me out of work till March 19th. He said I could "visit" my class. Afterward, I talked to my principal. She asked me how many books have I read since my surgery. 17. There's not much else I can do except for light housekeeping. I do need a project.

Wrong opinions about The Beatles aside, I loved Adina and her observational reports on the human experience.

Their scope and her sensitivity. Even the way that loneliness looms throughout, and the underlying feeling that life is both too much and not enough.

I love books that make me laugh and cry. Even more so when they also make me ponder and reflect.

My first 5 ⭐️ read of the year.

Finished this afternoon and haven't been able to stop thinking about it.

I found this novel quirky and charming, but plodding as well. It's billed as sci-fi, but it mostly shows the insightful perspective of a woman who is different from everyone else.

#ToB25
#FrozenSick #gottacatchemall (Lillipup: dog or wolf companion) @PuddleJumper
#BookSpinBingo #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

I would‘ve skipped over this one if it hadn‘t been on the #tob25 shortlist and I would have missed out big time. A coming of age story about Adina, a girl who never quite fits in. She knows why she is different, she is an alien sent to earth to report to her superiors. It sounds gimmicky and in other hands it could have been but instead this is a story that balances the loneliness and the beauty of growing up and experiencing the world. Loved it.

I think I would have enjoyed this as a decent coming-of-age story, even without the alien “twist”. It did make me feel quite sad at times.
#ToB25

I read this one for #bookspin. It‘s on the shortlist for #tournamentofbooks. It is an interesting story of a teenage alien in the 1990s and early 2000s, learning to be human.

Definitely a top book for the year ALREADY! 😆 Also a possible contender for #PieinLit Award nominee 🥇🥧 #OatmealPie #PieCharts #Jan2025 Book1 #ReadICT category: #StrongWoman

I would love to discuss this one. #LitsyToB? 😊

#FirstBook of 2025

Goal = 100 Books -or- 35,000 pages
Complete #WiaN, #AsheCoNC, #ReadICT Challenges
Be a Tournament of Books Completist
Grow my Litfluence from 46227 to 70k? (Still not sure if I care)

Happy New Year 🎆

Ooh! I like this one a lot! In some ways, it reminds me of Martha Wells's Murderbot in that the main character is a (partial) outsider whose perspective on Earth and our species and Americans even more specifically is more poignant because she lacks an expectation of shared humanity with those she observes. It asks the reader, who on the planet *isn't* a visitor here? This is one I want to mull for a while and perhaps gift to a couple of people.

#TournamentofBooks #Shortlist

I‘m liking this list. I‘ve only read 3 and have 4 on my shelves and am interested in a bunch more.

What do you think of the list? What should or shouldn‘t be on there? Enquiring minds want to know.

I got a little excited while visiting our brand new library branch (now we have two branches within two miles of our house!) and checked out four titles from the #ToB25 longlist (plus one more just for fun). Now to tell my secretary to clear my schedule so I have time to read them.

But I guess that means I first need to get a secretary.

Adina is an undercover, asexual alien reporting on human behavior on Earth. Quite the blurb and so many people raved about it that I was sure I would too but I didn‘t. I didn‘t like the writing and thought the story was a bit boring. Glad I finished it. #unpopularopinion.

#WeeklyForecast 43/24

I am looking forward to all of these three books although I probably won‘t be able to read them all this week. I have just started For Reasons Unknown.

Beautyland blends light sci-fi with literary fiction. A sweet coming of age story, charming and emotionally rich offering a perspective on the human experience through the eyes of an outsider. For 80%, I found it charming and compelling, but the story lost steam toward the end. Still, it‘s a unique take on human nature. ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 ❤️📚

Gorgeous morning! ☀️Enjoying this book! It‘s charming. ❤️📚

⭐️⭐️⭐️ An odd book about being human. I didn‘t love the writing. The story was just okay, too.

Oh my. This was such a unique and tender story. Adina finds out she comes from another planet with a mission to report back to her planet on what humans are like. We watch as she tries to navigate a place in a confusing world of relationships, loud sounds, and bad behaviors.. There are some wonderful observations and great lines in this. I thought it got a little draggy in the middle but the author nailed the ending.

Absolutely amazing novel. My favorite of the year!

A lovely, heartfelt read. A coming of age story with a twist - Adina is an alien born on earth to report on the human condition - it is relatable, thoughtful, and a celebration of life in all its joys, heartbreaks, and banality. Bertino has a talent for walking the narrow edge of “quirky“ stories - just the right amount to delight, and always with purpose, but never so much that it reads as twee, cutesy, or weird for the sake of being weird.

"In spring, the school theater group announced auditions for the play Our Town."

Who else is counting Our Town references in their yearly reading? Tom Lake, Shark Heart, and now Beautyland. It's a hat trick!

I loved this! Readers follow Adina throughout her life, and she feels she doesn‘t belong. She receives fax machine and begins communicating with her home planet and her kind who sent her to earth. She reports on humans and the planet to her superiors. Adina is so relatable! (Just what does that say about me!? 😜) I found this to be poignant, a great read.

Really enjoyed this book. Thought the premise allowed pure and unadulterated observations of growing up and living life. Just a great book!

"It is impossible to be unhappy on a swing. Even at four, Adina knows this. She wants it to be finished so she can be as happy as she needs to be."

What can I say about Adina, an alien from the moment of birth, who moves through time as a human, continually sending messages to her home planet and receiving replies. I found her thoughts on humans and their everyday lives to be the most interesting parts of the book. She knows she‘s an alien and she knows her job is to explain humans and their emotions to her home planet, but she never quite feels anything. Thought provoking.

It took me a minute to get into this book, but once I did it was great. It is a story about Adina, a girl who always struggles to fit in. And that is because she is an alien from another planet. Literally. If you‘ve ever felt like an outsider, this book will truly resonate with you. It was unusual and surprisingly poignant as you get to know this delightfully strange young woman. The book is really about what it means to be fully human.

Bit of snow on the daffies this weekend!

This is my favorite book so far this month! It‘s a beautifully sad story about feeling alienated yet finding those who care told through a unique lens.

Adina is an alien born to a human mother. She communicates with her home world by fax and through her dreams. She finds a connection with a brother and sister but often feels uncomfortable in other situations. A wonderful coming-of-age novel.

Adina doesn‘t really fit in and when her mom brings home a fax machine, she finds out why. She is an alien sent to Earth to study humanity to see if her species can potentially live on Earth, as their planet is dying. This is a sweet, tender book following the arc of Adina‘s life and will make a lot of sense to those who feel like they don‘t fit.