Welcome to Litsy!

Several years ago, I listened to the podcast, Books on the Nightstand, religiously. One of the hosts, Michael, raved about how much he loved The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti. I completely understand why he was so enamored by it. It‘s a 5🌟book for me! There are so many layers to this story: grief, survival, identity, change, friendship, love, and family. It‘s deep and wonderful.

Full review at https://abookandadog.com

Loo and her father, rugged hit man Hawley, have an unbreakable bond. It‘s them against the world (quite literally in several cases). This father-daughter relationship is the beating heart of the novel. Hawley has bullet holes covering his body, and how each one enters is a backstory, uncovering bits of his past in chapters alternating with the present action. The chapters that took place in the past were like short stories.

#temptingtitles #withanumber

This was a different take on a father daughter relationship. A bit drawn out and the ending, well, I wasn‘t so thrilled.

This was a book about the life of a man on the run and his daughter. The father had a dark past and he could never get away from it. It was a fast and mindless read but not the most amazing book. 3/5

So sad to finish this book! I loved both main character - Samuel Hawley, an outlaw on the run with his daughter Loo. Their relationship is like no other, true complicated love. Loo‘s mother Lily is dead and in a nonlinear way, we learn about her parents‘ tumultuous marriage. It has other great characters and very intense scenes of danger and violence. Fabulous book!

I loved “The Good Thief” but this felt unfocused. There were too many stories and characters. Fatherhood is once again an important theme. And once again the father is a criminal. I liked it but didn‘t love it.

These are my TBR books for this month. But I will count myself happy if I finish these because my work has gone crazy for the past month. Also, I see some people reading even thirty books in one month. 👀 How do you guys do it? Share the secret, please. 🙂 Anyway, I‘ll start with “Force of nature” - I‘ve completely forgotten I actually had this book. 😅🤓

I was looking back at the list in my journal and I noticed that I have unintentionally read a lot of books set in the USA. The settings had a major relevance and the novels wouldn‘t be the same in a different setting. Some of my favourites were:
1. Shotgun Lovesongs (Wisconsin)
2. The House on Tradd Street (Charleston)
3. Cop Town (70s Atlanta)
My #currentread is woven back and forth from Alaska to the Adirondacks. 🇺🇸

Merry Christmas!🎄🎅🏼🤩

#7Covers7Days

Day 5

I *loved* this book....$1.99 today...snatch it up!

Is it just me being a crank? I‘m getting sort of tired of formulaic titles.
“ The (insert number) (insert noun)s of (insert name)”
“The Girl (insert preposition) The (insert noun)”

*getting off soapbox*

@Saari84 Auch da klingt die Inhaltsangabe richtig gut.
Schade allerdings, dass ich mich durch den letzten Satz ein wenig gespoilert gefühlt habe.

I don‘t have a lot to say about this book. I liked it and would recommend it to others.

Book, tea, and oatcake. I‘m ready for Sunday.

This book reads like 12 short stories nestled amongst a novella. I enjoyed that. This book was right in my wheelhouse. It was gritty , and I do enjoy a gritty novel. It was a coming-of-age story, a genre I thoroughly enjoy. The characters are not 100% likable, kind of like life. I would recommended it. Trigger warning: there is a little violence. OK, there‘s a lot of violence. But, deep down inside it‘s the story of love, safety, and family.

I think part of the joy of reading is when words create a picture that cause you to look at something differently. I enjoyed the picture of silverware being carried like a bouquet of flowers. 💐 🥄 🍴

“She was a drooler.” 😃

I never bail on books. I always power through. But I just couldn‘t get into this one. At all. It is an audiobook, but I keep finding my mind wandering and cannot get into the story. I‘m bailing before I get too far into it and feel like I HAVE to finish. Onto something else!

Started a new audiobook tonight while enjoying a delicious Starbucks refresher ❤️

❤️

Starting this for my book club. And I have a signed first edition of this that I received from Parnassus Bookstore in Nashville. It was on my TBR pile. So glad when my TBR pile and my book club have the same book. About 30 pages in and I‘m already really enjoying it.

I waited years for this after Tinti‘s excellent THE GOOD THIEF, and I wasn‘t disappointed! The book bounces back and forth between Samuel‘s present life with his daughter Loo, and the twelve times in his past that he had been shot, engagingly telling the story of their life on the run, Loo‘s mother‘s death, and their hope for a peaceful life. These characters will stay with me for a very long time. I unreservedly recommend this!

When you take the dust jacket off a hardcover and find this gem.

Hannah Tinti is a masterful storyteller, and this book is beautiful, compelling and haunting. Unfortunately, I just reached the point where I think I figured something out, and now it is also terrifying - not conventionally so, but in what it will reveal about a past tragedy, and the pain of characters I‘ve come to feel so much for.

Compulsively readable, even though I found I didn‘t really like any of the characters... Tinti is just that good.

The Bullet 4 chapter of this book is outstanding. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 The pacing and descriptions are impeccable.

I got this ARC last year at my local indie bookstore and I‘m finally getting around to reading it. I love that it has this cool author doodle!

I went a little crazy with library haul. Apparently Dean Martin thinks I should put YJY up at bat next...Xena is apathetic about the whole thing. Do you ever wish you were a speed reader? I know I do.

I finally finished this one and it was just ok for me.

Backseat riding today, still reading the same book...

Starting this tonight!

Very good

#marchmadnesschallenge @JenP

Having a hard time reviewing this one. The characters are sharply drawn, especially Samuel - I can see him & he intrigues me.
And the book reads well enough - good pacing & plot, interesting structure. There‘s plenty to uncover about Samuel, before, with, & after Lily, & we get it all. But there‘s just something a little flat, & a little drawn-out.
Still a solid read.

I have been excited to read this book for awhile now. What do you all think about this one?

Just finished this delightful and gritty book that tells the story of Hawley, his daughter Loo, and a whole lot of gunslinging. Bonus points because it‘s set on the Northshore of Massachusetts, just outside of Boston (where I live). Highly recommend, especially if you have a soft spot for father/daughter narratives. A perfect mix of gritty and whimsical.

#MarchMadnessChallene
Alabama moves on with its partner The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.

Did you pick it?

#MarchIntoOz Samuel Hawley is a complicated guy, he‘s got a dozen #scar(s) to prove it! But at the heart of the matter he‘s a dad willing to risk everything to keep his family safe! I liked this one, although maybe 7 scars instead of 12 would have sufficed 😜It was a little too drawn out but still recommend 💕

The temperature today has reached a balmy 42 degrees and I needed an excuse to get out of the house. What better excuse than a run to the bookstore? These have both been on my wishlist for a bit. I can‘t wait to jump in.

#popsugar2018 #popsugar2017 #haul

Good. At least I think it was. It kept playing like a movie in my head. But I enjoyed it!

#nakedhardcovers #riotgrams @bookriot

I loved this story of a young girl and her father, circling the truth and each other. Told in alternating chapters set in the past and present, the blanks are filled in one bullet at a time. I figured out some of what was coming, but I enjoyed the ride. I grew to love Loo & Hawley. Part coming of age story, part love story, part crime novel. I'll read more from this author.

This one was a little slow for me at first, but I am glad I didn't give up on it. I enjoyed the back and forth between past and present all wrapped up in the bonds shared between people who despite bad choices are not bad people. Perfect reading for a cold winter day.

"When Loo was twelve years old her father taught her how to shoot a gun."

The rest of my new year books just arrived! 🎉🎉🎉

Overall a really good story about grief and live and how far we go in both journeys. I found the end to be a little too open for my tastes, by I still recommend. A rough beginning, but a satisfying read.
Working through #Netgalley backlist: 3/18

Hannah Tinti's literary thriller is an absorbing and well-structured read that combines Loo's coming-of-age tale with a look back at the mistakes in Samuel's past that return to haunt him to form a novel that made me care about the pair of them and kept me gripped from beginning to end.

Interesting, sad, funny, and not cliche. Quality

#TuneIntoNovember #EmojiNov Samuel Hawley is an outlaw and a bit of a #🤥 As much as he loves his daughter and is willing to risk everything for her, he can‘t share his past with her. As the novel alternates between Hawley‘s violent & complicated past we come to understand the life that scarred him, shaped him and keeps him so anxious about his daughter‘s safety. His twelve scars represent 12 bullets, each with a tale. #ScarsToYourBeautiful

#twelve #Novemberbythenumbers I enjoyed this one just a few months ago ❤️📚