Welcome to Litsy!

I *nearly* bailed on this ‘hardboiled detective‘ novel from the #ToBlonglist but persevered and, about 30% in, found myself caring for one of the MCs which turned the book around.

It could also be called speculative fiction as it‘s set in an alternative 1920s USA, where First Nations people live side by side with Blacks and whites, but still with the KKK on the rise and a ritualistic murder on a rooftop setting the whole town on edge.

A strong pick for me from the #TOBlonglist. I loved the different storylines with their overlapping components, centered around an apartment in Paris, feminism, fidelity and motherhood. Some of the connections between the stories were brilliantly done. I got a little bored at times in the third part, but overall my kind of book.

This #TOBlonglist book actually looks like snarky fun that I would enjoy. But it‘s just not working for me right now. So back to the library it goes!

5+⭐️ I always worry about overselling a book here, but this #toblonglist choice is one of the best books I‘ve ever read. Ten years of PhD research about Allende‘s and Pinochet‘s regimes in Chile culminated in a novel that perfectly captures the fates of an American boy and his Chilean girlfriend when the coup happens. The story is told in sections with three MCs that each illuminate different faces of survivors and their families. Just read it!

This book follows 3 people who meet in girlhood, then sees how their adult lives unfurl. But at its heart, it‘s an evaluation and critique of capitalism and the path it may well have us on for the future. It‘s not pretty and it feels all too likely. Grim but good. #TOBlonglist

What a fantastic start to my reading year! I absolutely loved this book. I was fully absorbed right away and never wanted to put it down. It‘s not what I would think of as a Booker nominee, but why not? I‘m so glad this was on the #TOBlonglist to insure that I read it.

Yet another book from the #TOBLonglist that I think should have been on the shortlist.

This was my first read of the year, and I loved it! It seemed so true to me- working a job with very little power doing what you can to create any change at all. Highly recommend.

Good month for #bookspin. I‘ve got a #toblonglist book and my choice from #botm. If my box were here now I‘ve grab the new Lisa Genova, but it‘s still in Illinois! 👎🏻

This wasn‘t what I expected, and definitely not a top pick for me from the #TOBlonglist. I liked the creepy nature of the dreams in the story and I appreciated reading about the Korean War, but much of the time I struggled to stay engaged in the story.

This thought-provoking book is a mix of unusual personal/family memoir and what feels like a NF version of Labatut‘s How We Cease to Understand the World. It ruminates on life, death, war, and more. I found it fascinating and I‘m glad it serves as my final completed book of 2024. #TOBlonglist