Litsy

What the Wild Sea Can Be: The Future of the World�s Ocean | Helen Scales

pick

Very interesting and informative, but a bit technical at times.

The TL;DR summary:
People are the worst. We destroy everything with our greed and short sightedness. But not all is lost, and some people are doing awesome things. To save the oceans (and our future) we need to work together globally, but also give the local people of each area a say. And we need to cut carbon emissions. By a lot. Immediately.

#WomensPrizeNF #shortlist

39 likes

squirrelbrain

Colored Television | Danzy Senna

pick

#ToB #shortlist

Loved this! I found it sharp and snarky and it‘s one of those books where the MCs are rather obnoxious (this time in an arty-farty way) but you love them anyway.

I thought the ending was a little weak, but I can see why it made the #ToBshortlist.

Thanks so much for sending it to me! @BarbaraBB

ChaoticMissAdventures I want to read this one, the library list is so long. I am so curious about her and her husband and what their dinner conversations are like. they are both so smart and talented. 2mo

BarbaraBB Glad you liked it! 2mo

squirrelbrain OMG! @ChaoticMissAdventures - I had no idea they were a couple! 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️ 2mo

ChaoticMissAdventures @squirrelbrain I found out maybe a year or so ago and have to admit I am fascinated. 2mo

CarolynM Great review. I‘m looking forward to this one now🙂 2mo

66 likes4 stack adds5 comments

Deblovestoread

Beautyland: A Novel | Marie-Helene Bertino

#TournamentofBooks #Shortlist

I‘m liking this list. I‘ve only read 3 and have 4 on my shelves and am interested in a bunch more.

What do you think of the list? What should or shouldn‘t be on there? Enquiring minds want to know.

squirrelbrain I‘m a little disappointed, although it‘s nowhere near as bad as last year‘s shortlist. I wanted some of the more obscure books on there - these are either mainstream or they‘ve been talked about for months already. 🤷‍♀️ 4mo

ChaoticMissAdventures I can't believe I struggled through Creation Lake for nothing!! 🤣 4mo

BarbaraBB I agree with @squirrelbrain . I already read most of them while I‘d been hoping to be surprised by books I had completely overlooked for the past year! However there are some good ones among these! 4mo

41 likes3 comments

Graywacke

Held: A Novel | Anne Michaels

pick

What an interesting book. I‘ll have to reread this. It‘s a splintered narrative and I tried to focus on where and when and who, enjoying the romantic touches and the drifty feel, overlooking the mechanical and scientific commentary … until I saw two chapters titled “River Orwell…1984”. Then I started to look for something dark. It‘s a little buried and quiet, but pieces line up. A striking condemnation of our destructive society is built in here.

Graywacke #booker #booker2024 #longlist #shortlist 7mo

Graywacke @rmaclean4 @squirrelbrain @Leniverse @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @jlhammar @AnnaCecilie @JenP @TheKidUpstairs @charl08 @BookishTrish @Suet624 7mo

BarbaraBB Another great review. It is an exceptional Booker year don‘t you think? 7mo

See All 15 Comments

Suet624 My goodness. You‘ve made it sound quite intriguing 7mo

Graywacke @BarbaraBB thanks… but no, I don‘t think it‘s a good longlist 🙈 I feel i read several meh books and all soft or imperfect prose. But i like that my four favorites are on the shortlist - this, Held, James, and SYD. 7mo

Graywacke @Suet624 it is intriguing! 🙂 7mo

BarbaraBB @Graywacke I haven‘t read the whole longlist but I really love the shortlist except for the Kushner that I haven‘t read 7mo

Graywacke @BarbaraBB i have three on the longlist to go - Playground, Wild Houses and Headshot. I was mixed on CL 7mo

squirrelbrain I‘m going to start Playground soon too…. 7mo

Leniverse I didn't even notice the Orwell reference 🤦🏻‍♀️ I was so frustrated and bored by that point. This one just didn't work for me. 6mo

Graywacke @Leniverse what part do you think made it boring or frustrating? 6mo

Leniverse It was just too disjointed for me. The ghost thing was frustrating because it was introduced and then abandoned except for some woo woo musings by later characters. Because we jumped around so much I had trouble working out how some of the characters were connected, and I didn't feel invested enough to put effort into it. ⤵️ 6mo

Leniverse I get that the whole thing was snapshots from a family album, and that ties in with the photographer theme, and it's all very clever, I'm sure. I think if the book works for you, you probably get a lot from it. I can recognise that. But to me it was just paragraphs, polished to be very pretty with overblown language, and no connecting matter. 6mo

Graywacke @Leniverse Thank you for sharing. Very interesting. i‘m still pondering the ghost thing. My thought at the time was that it‘s kind of silly. Or that his assistant was doing it. But it might have a good reason to be there. I didn‘t think of the photo album relationship. I like that idea. I was thinking she was jumping around to create reader detachment (from our real world) and to create associations. 6mo

Leniverse There was a thread of mysticism and lingering ancestors throughout that made me think the ghost photos were real (but probably also allegorical in some way), and because they're highlighted in the blurb I didn't expect that whole narrative thread to be abandoned. I felt detached, alright, but from the story. After we left photographer John I only felt invested once - the story where the woman goes back to a war zone and her father & husband wait. 6mo

52 likes15 comments

Graywacke

James: A Novel | Percival Everett

pick

I found this so bold. And he pulled it off. It‘s a terrific book. Critical of Twain‘s classic, while deeply honoring it. And provoking the reader. Making us uncomfortable. Confront us with this alternate world take. It‘s a brilliant book.

#booker #booker2024 #longlist #shortlist

Graywacke @rmaclean4 @squirrelbrain @Leniverse @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @jlhammar @AnnaCecilie @JenP @TheKidUpstairs @charl08 @BookishTrish @Suet624 7mo

BkClubCare 🌟 (Have you read The Trees? ) 7mo

Graywacke @BkClubCare hi. I have. Terrific book. But, whoa. I haven‘t read anything else by him. I want to read

Erasure: A Novel

7mo

See All 10 Comments

BkClubCare @Graywacke 👍 I haven‘t yet read Erasure. Have enjoyed So Much Blue, Telephone, and Wounded. I own I am Not Sidney Portier but … it‘s here somewhere 🤷🏻‍♀️ 7mo

Graywacke @BkClubCare you‘re a definite fan! I‘ve heard a little about all of these, except Wounded. 7mo

BkClubCare @Graywacke - he seems to have wiggled his way onto the must-read list 🤷🏻‍♀️ 7mo

Graywacke @BkClubCare I‘m feeling some of that now. More so after this book, although i think most readers find The Trees more powerful. I found this one really sharp in ways I could follow. Very insightful for me. 7mo

Suet624 @Graywacke I love your review. I thought he couldn‘t write something more powerful than Trees but I was wrong. This one, like you said, is so bold. And in that it is just as powerful. 7mo

Graywacke @Suet624 thanks! Different than the trees, and less funny. But just a satirical and challenging to the readers comfort. 7mo

squirrelbrain I haven‘t read many others yet, apart from The Trees. I‘ve read Dr No, which I think you‘d like. 7mo

67 likes10 comments

Graywacke

Held: A Novel | Anne Michaels

My last left from the #shortlist - I just started this morning and I‘m have The Sound and the Fury and Tinkers vibes. But it‘s also totally different. #booker #booker2024 #longlist

CatLass007 😻 7mo

Jari-chan 😻😻😻 7mo

dabbe Those mesmerizing green eyes! 🖤🐾🖤 7mo

55 likes3 comments

Graywacke

Orbital | Samantha Harvey

Starting my next book

#booker #booker2024 #longlist #shortlist

Itchyfeetreader That is a fab cover 7mo

Enchanted_Bibliophile #CoverLove 😍 7mo

Leniverse Curious what you\'ll make of this one. I thought it was slooow, but beautiful. But basically just alright. I read it six months ago and it has stayed with me since, and grown in my estimate. I think I might have to re-read it 7mo

Graywacke @Leniverse 16 orbits can get old quick. Will see. I‘m on page 8 ☺️ 7mo

Graywacke @Itchyfeetreader @Enchanted_Bibliophile it is quite a pretty cover. 7mo

49 likes1 stack add5 comments

charl08

No Title | None

I suppose four of six I'd liked/wanted isn't bad?

The Enright and Grenville are good reads but not my favourites of their work - wondered if they were carried by their other books / body of work rather than this book? IDK 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

#womensprize #shortlist #nopleasingsomepeople

Leniverse Yes, I wonder the same. But honestly, that might be reason to longlist them, but not shortlist. I'm baffled. Especially about Dolly. 12mo

TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse Dolly Maunder was a surprise for me, too. It was a good read, but nothing special. Definitely not Shortlist material! 12mo

charl08 @Leniverse exactly! @TheKidUpstairs I'm not alone 😀 12mo

See All 13 Comments

charl08 I'm rubbish at remembering to tag! @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain 12mo

squirrelbrain Yes, I had 4 of the 6 as well. And I‘m surprised about Dolly. I pretty much expected the Enright to be there though 12mo

AnneCecilie I haven‘t read any Grenville before and find that Dolly is growing on me and is a book I keep thinking about 12mo

ChaoticMissAdventures The Wren was the first I read of these and I cannot tell you what it was about. It had so little impact on me I cannot remember a thing. 12mo

BarbaraBB 4 out of 6 is good but my two favorites are missing though! I still need to read Dolly! 12mo

charl08 @squirrelbrain maybe I should reread the Enright. 12mo

charl08 @AnneCecilie glad she has some fans! 12mo

charl08 @AnneCecilie (Dolly, not Grenville, I mean - I've enjoyed her other books more) 12mo

charl08 @ChaoticMissAdventures I remember it - I was impressed how she wrote the yp's voice. But I've liked (some of) her earlier books more. 12mo

charl08 @BarbaraBB hope you can find a copy - would love to hear more comments about it. 12mo

49 likes13 comments

charl08

No Title | None

Oh go on then...

https://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/features/features/watch-the-2023-winner-...

#WomensPrize #Shortlist

Tamra Of all strange things, I was dreaming about the prize this morning! 🤪 Black Butterflies is my hope. 2y

37 likes1 comment

charl08

Marriage Portrait | Maggie O'Farrell

Listening to Maggie O'Farrell last night (on catch up) talking about visiting the grave of her RL character in Italy.

The nuns said no one ever asked to visit the grave. 😢

I want to listen to all the other shortlist interviews now!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001mll9

#WomensPrize #Shortlist

jlhammar I'll have to give that a listen. Thanks for the link! 2y

40 likes1 comment

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