Welcome to Litsy!

Started a chapter a day of War and Peace. Following along with a gal on Tik Tok and a guy on substack too.

My favourite book of August was this beautiful depiction of the power of friendship. The rural landscape was so vividly described.

Honourable Mention to Uncle Paul by Celia Fremlin.

#12BooksOf2025

Finally read my #FoodAndLit #Nicaragua pick (Also a September #BookSpin).

Based on the history of Juana the Mad, this novel is full of obsession, betrayal, ambition, and inappropriate relationships. But it was a good (if infuriating) read to end the year on.

Every year I choose a few books I want to re-read. These are the ones I have been thinking about a lot and will be my picks for 2026!
A Dive From Clausen's Pier
Death With Interruptions
The Collector
Slaughter House 5
The Bluest Eye
5th Season
Red @the Bone
In The Time of Butterflies
Death of Vivik Oj
Underground Railroad

Despite how fast things happen for his characters, I think this is one of his best books. Kimberly Rossi‘s father sends her to a dream writer‘s conference. There she meets Zeke and everything seems to be going perfectly in the beginning. Can I just say Kim is a bit of a drama queen. If I didn‘t know people like her I‘d otherwise say the author was stretching it.

About halfway in I totally skipped the chapters relating to the husband who was on trial for murdering his wife and instead only read those focused on Cam, Allie and Mia. Holyyy shit Jodi Picoult is an incredible author. All of the emotions and thoughts she captures in this love triangle are so believable and the ending is fucking perfect. It really helped me re-look at a situation I was experiencing at the time, for the better.

Not as impactful as some of the graphic novels/comics. An artist moves intro a haunted house for inspiration for her paintings. Theres an inhabitant of the house. The artwork is super dark and creepy but I wanted more of a storyline.

Soon after Wren and Lewis get married, Lewis is diagnosed with a mutation. He is turning into a great white shark. Despite the bizarre premise, this is a Serious Book. Despite the transformation to animal, this book is very human as it plumbs the depths of Lewis and Wren‘s hearts. Beautifully and poetically written, Shark Heart captures the human experience - full of joy and grief and fear and, ultimately, hope. #BookSpin

The reason I gave this book a 3 of out 5 rating is because I didn't enjoy it as much as before. I still love the characters.

In Sept, we hiked the Tour de Mont Blanc - we missed one day due to illness but hiked about 165km of the trail. And audios kept us company. And because I‘m terrible at keeping up with reviews…. Here they come with our gorgeous views!

So many of the characters came accross as whiny and it was just grating. Putting that aside... This could have been so much shorter and I was creeped out by literally everything that the mother did.

#ElinHProject