Welcome to Litsy!

A truly excellent short story collection that I really enjoyed on audio, which can be hit or miss for me with literary fiction. The historical fiction in particular was so well done, I loved it. #tob25

This might be my favourite of the #ToB25 books so far. This book consists of interconnected stories that bring together not just characters but past and present. I loved the New England setting and Shattuck made its history so vivid. It's been several years since I last visited the US but now I have a longing to visit New England again.

#gottacatchemall (Pikipek: featuring a musician) @PuddleJumper

Finally, my in-hand so-excited-for hardcover edition of #ToB favorite! Posed with a cooperative Copper - look at that face! Starting this as my last #ToB2025 entry that I am sure I devour but want to savor and not pressure through #ifyouknowwhatImean. Through my reading, I am having a lovely January ❄️ 🌟

Btw, Jan 23 is National Pie Day! 🥧 grab a slice 😁

As someone who frequently struggles with short stories I was ambivalent about this #tob25 title. Lots of love on Litsy for it but I often find short stories unsatisfying. Not the case here. Each story feels well fleshed out and complete with enough time to break my heart or make me feel as if I had walked with the characters and understood them in a slice of their lives. I loved the connections between stories. Great addition to the short list.

Just loved this, especially with the unique way the stories are interconnected. The audiobook is fantastic, with different readers for each story.
#ToB25

I was lucky enough to be shopping in Golden Hare Books in Edinburgh this past weekend.

I loved this book so much. 🩵 Happy to have read it in time to make my best of 2024 list - I loved it from the beginning and it was so good until the end. I liked the ways the stories revealed themselves throughout the book as the reader gets a different perspective on events or a mystery revealed. #TOB2025

This season has been so busy, but this short story collection was just what I needed to slow down. Another from this genre I adored, which is usually not the case! These stories were often focused on the natural world, in New England, but spanned from modern times backward in history. The connections were perfect! Subtle but hard to miss. Read for #tob25 — this is a real contender. Also, @TheKidUpstairs —is this on your radar? It‘s a “you” book!

Reading this book of interconnected short stories, many of them historical, set in the NE US and into Canada is like walking through a museum dedicated to New England and seeing different studies through the ages of people in this place. It‘s just marvelous. #ToB25

Fantastic, interconnected stories set in three centuries in New England. I loved most of the stories. Each so different and yet an unmistakable part of the whole. A favorite on the #ToB25 shortlist for sure!

I loved this collection of short stories from the #ToBlonglist.

I‘m not usually a fan of the genre but I appreciated that these were all beautifully written with proper endings. They‘re also linked to each other in some way, even by just a small object, which was lovely.

The whole book felt like a lively warm bath (even though 1 or 2 of the stories were sad / upsetting)

Definitely on my shortlist.

I‘ve only just started this collection on audio (2 stories in) and wow, I‘m going to need to get this in print! 😍 The cast of narrators is out of sight!

I‘ve already stacked Six Walks.

I loved these stories so much. The writing is engaging, elegant, the characters are complex, the storytelling ranges from historic fiction to contemporary, focusing on art, music, farming, religion, nature, love and loss … just wonderful. Highly recommend!

This is an exceptional short story collection. Spanning centuries, primarily focusing on events in New England, the stories each have a companion piece that offers a perspective or answer to the first piece. Despite not being a lover of short stories, I couldn‘t put the book down and read it more as a novel. Each character, each event, so clearly outlined, and each story draws you in. The title story will be made into a movie with Paul Mescal.