Welcome to Litsy!

An absolute heartbreaker! Two limbs: both are Australian girls who are attracted to/in love with their female best friends. Told in alternating chapters: one limb grows up to marry a man, the other is out and lives with found family. Both women/stories are impacted by the AIDS epidemic and both tragic, albeit with very different events. I loved this and was torn apart by both women‘s stories.

'You're a tick boxes kinda guy,' his wife used to say. And according to one of his annual performance reviews, 'a pedestrian determination' was the 'hallmark' of his 'approach to policing'.

Admin were thinking of bringing in self-assessment; if they did that, Muecke was tempted to write, 'Still standing.'

I won a gift card in the Bookly readathon! This is what I bought 😍😍

This is not a Shaun Tan book I am used to but I loved it! It's about a fake inventor named Henry Archibald Mintox and the fake stories about the inventions pictured in the book. The pictures are actually really from the Powerhouse Museum. I thought the pictures, and the stories were great and hilarious.

My building‘s book swap finds on Sunday night.

My sole reason for reading this was the accusation that McCullough plagiarized L.M. Montgomery‘s “The Blue Castle.” And yep, there are an uncanny number of similarities between the two books. Personally, I don‘t think this one holds its own. I told a friend that it went beyond “discount Blue Castle” and became “Temu Blue Castle.” The parts that mirror Blue Castle do it worse—the way McCullough changes certain details of the plot weaken ⤵️

Matches have been sent out #AussieSecretSanta‘s - please let me know if something doesn‘t look right or if nothing has come through.

The answer to the chocolate question appears in a bolder font.

Remember to send parcels out by the 6th December so that they arrive in time for a Christmas Eve opening.

Now‘s a good time to spruce up your Litsy TBR in case your Santa needs some inspiration.

This was a dark yet at times amusing crime thriller. Its book 3 in the series. I haven't read the others but I could follow along enough without. I will go back and check them out though. The plot is clever and twisty. There's lots going on around the main plot as well but it keeps the story interesting and allows depth to the characters. The ending was well done too and tied it off brilliantly. I have to say I loved Amanda the most. #Netgalley 4*

A couple more (non-Blue-Castle-related) questions:

Does Missy‘s journey ring true for you? Why or why not?

What did you think of the ending, and the reveal about the character of Una?

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent