Welcome to Litsy!

October was the month of the epic and/or intense read for me. Although slow, it was full of excellent reads. Outline was definitely the stand out, and a top quality buddy read at that! The new Kingsolver and Zusak‘s were absolute treats. I was a fan of the two polarising Booker shortlisted novels I read. Our #indiebuddyread was perturbing but thought provoking. November is set to be the #readharder catch up month!

#indiebuddyread This book was written to commemorate his deceased brother who was born with Down syndrome. He wanted to highlight how we all see the world differently and to come to terms with the prejudice and abuse his brother was subjected to because of his condition. I understand what the author was doing here and respect Jesse Bell, who is incredibly smart, but the reading experience was a bit boring. Beautiful message and writing, but slow.

Schmidt,does an excellent job of building a claustrophobic, uneasy atmosphere. The foregrounding of this atmosphere is the basis for tension in the novel- and I found the repetitive nature of these descriptions reinforced for me, how important this toxic environment is. This really is a novel about how small, important things left unsaid, issues and memories unattended to, build up, and create an environment where such an horrific crime can occur.

A re-read in preparation for the #indiebuddyread #indiebuddyreads Madeline Miller month. I‘s a fantastic book. I actually like it better than Song of Achilles, but then along with David Mitchell, McCullough is my favourite author. 😊

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 Stars. A very solid debut, with some skilful writing and an eerie claustrophobic setting maintained throughout the whole novel. “Booo, boooo, hisss!!!” Don‘t mind that, that‘s just the other members of #indiebuddyread who disagree. 😂😂😂🤣

Early days, interesting style but I‘m enjoying this #indiebuddyread

It‘s on again #indiebuddyreads #indiebuddyread I‘m excited to get into this one