Welcome to Litsy!

Banks is a favorite author of mine and I haven‘t read enough of his books. They are generally a bit dark so if you‘re looking for something cheery he may not be for you but his writing gets me every time. This book of three short stories are actually situations I‘m familiar with, as he bases them off events that took place in upstate NY. A kidnapping of grandparents for ransom due to a grandson‘s drug dealings, a man who sells neighboring 🔽

42% done, this book is taking me a bit longer to read. Not the book's fault I can't manage my time better.

I was a little apprehensive about the demonic wind, but Helm is growing on me. I‘m loving so far, the viewpoints from different points in time and Helm‘s relationship with humans.

We get independent stories of each of the four women in the friendship, and a fifth story with the estranged sister to Desiree. The friends finally come together in the final quarter of the book. Without the book the few times time didn‘t move forward added to my confusion. But still, I was quite interested in all five of these women and their lives. Dang, I did myself an injustice here by not reading with the physical book..

My number 6 read of 2025

#12Booksof2025 I wanna play ! January book. Sofie , an intern at a Stockholm publishing house catches the interest of a senior editor, Gunnar because they shared similar insights and passions for books . The book focuses on the dynamics that always comes into play , is publishing more about art or commerce? I found it quietly fascinating. Sofie is on her way up , the more commercial staff think maybe Gunnar‘s time of relevance has past.

I listened to 2.5 hours of this 25.5 hour audiobook and it just wasn‘t doing anything for me. I hung onto it for a few days, but I have no interest in going back to try to keep going. Thanks to @Suet624 for helping me know bailing was the right choice for me! #TOBlonglist

This almost felt like a book of short stories about four women. They are connected through their friendship and years together. Like most short stories, some of the chapters worked more than others. I didn‘t love the ending, which dampened my overall impression. I did love a book centered on friendship.

Sent from India to find new lives in the US, Sunny and Sonia‘s paths nearly collide but not quite. Instead Sunny loses his sense of self, Sonia spirals into loneliness. We watch this unravelling and at times this was excellent reading - charming, funny, tender. However the meandering story slowly began to lose me. The ending was satisfying and tear inducing, yet how we got there was not so much, for me. And at 670 pages, this felt LONG!

Do you ever appreciate what a book is doing without necessarily enjoying the reading experience? This is the situation here. A book about identity (namely sexuality and race), both personal, and America as a nation. There‘s a boxing gym and phone sex and a retirement community…but mostly there‘s a large cast of characters that all crash together nicely but I was over it by the time it happened. Pick, with reservations.

I‘m not sure this was a book for me.

It‘s said to be about Helm, a wind in the Northern England. I was surprised by how little we heard from it. In this book of 340p, maybe 20-30p

And also we followed a lot of different people in different time periods, and I had a hard time knowing where I was unless their names popped up. The writing was the same no matter what. Maybe because of Helm, but I don‘t know