Welcome to Litsy!

Oh my gosh, this book. Marra's writing is incredible, full of sentences, thoughts, and moments that stop you in your tracks. The way he situates his characters in time, everyone is simultaneously who they are, who they were, and who they will become, is beautifully effective (and shows his incredible craft, it could very easily be clunky in less skilled hands).

Thank you @Sapphire for including this on your #AuldLangSpine list!

@monalyisha

"For months they'd run their fingers around the hem of their affection without once acknowledging the fabric."

"... that utopian mirage cooked up by cruel young men who gave their mustaches more care than their morality..."

God, Marra can write. I keep having to stop and read sentences multiple times because they're just so carefully, pointedly, beautifully crafted.

#AuldLangSpine @Sapphire @monalyisha

"With heavy breaths they shaped the air. No prophet had augured this end. Neither the sounding of trumpets nor the beating of seraphic wings had heralded this particular field, with this particular girl, holding his particular hand."

#AuldLangSpine @Sapphire @monalyisha

Couldn‘t choose just one for April either! 😊 #12Booksof2023 @Andrew65

This is my (predicted) #lastfirst - we'll see how accurate it is come Jan 1!

Last - my current read is My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin, and so far so wonderful. The kids are gone so I don't see myself getting TOO much reading time too finish anything else before the New Year

First - I'm thinking my first read off @Sapphire 's #AuldLangSpine will be the tagged - it sparked so much love from Littens AND my library has it!

@BookNAround

I don‘t know how Anthony Marra does it. Technically, these are short stories, and of course at first there isn‘t a connection, but THEN….. every story becomes interconnected, and it‘s just magical. It took me longer to read this as it‘s a book to savor. Gorgeous writing. #booked2023 #shortstorycollection

My March fav was a hard choice because I think Sea of Tranquility is brilliant. But when it came down to it, @CBee was right. The characters in constellation really stick with you. It was a good reading month overall. #auldlangspine. Always thanks to @chasjjlee for the bracket graphic

All I can say is thank you to @CBee for putting this on my #auldlangspine list and to @monalyisha for hosting. This beautiful, tragic story so needs to be told. I had not heard of the book, nor would I likely have chosen it. It‘s so timely, and yet so easy to ignore from an American perspective. We delude ourselves that it couldn‘t happen here. I am grateful to have read it. The writing, the language, is so finely crafted as well.

This book captured the thoughts and struggles of Christophe André who was abducted and held hostage for 3 months in Chechnya. It takes the reader through the hardships that Christophe endured as he was held hostage and moved around many times in order for his abductors to not get caught. He stays incredibly calm during the 3 months until he finally figures out a way to escape and regain his freedom.