Welcome to Litsy!

I‘ve been trying to read this for almost a month now. I just can‘t finish it. It‘s not that it wasn‘t a good storyline, it just wasn‘t thrilling/captivating enough for me. I might come back to it later in life, but for now this is where I‘m gonna stop and move on to something more enjoyable.

Gosh this is a quite remarkable read. It contains some things that I don‘t like - age differences in relationships inc a child bride (of its time but still not what I want to read about) and an almost distant story telling with very abrupt changes in main character and focus. It was a spiralling family saga - at its heart about love for each other and love for home even as both things change and evolve. The love for the land comes clear ⬇️

Three generations and more than seventy years following a Malayali Christian family in Kerala, this is a magnificent and epic story. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2024/08/review-covenant-of-water-by-abraham.htm...

I don't even know how to describe this book, beyond amazing. I read it a chapter a day since the end of December, and was often very tempted to just keep reading. The intricate strings of connection between different pieces of the story are astounding. #14-2025

The combination of high expectations and high page count mingled together to make me want to quit this many times. I persevered (I‘m leading the book club meeting for it tomorrow) and the ending was worth it! A family saga across 70 years set in India…unbelievably tragic and relentless in its melodramatic tone but despite myself, I loved the family matriarch and cried at the end. Heavy on the medical/disease/hospital scenes which aren‘t for me.

I finished one more since this was sent to me so 52 books this year!

Tagged was my favourite, I think. It‘s hard to pick!

#goodreadsyearinbooks

How can I put into words how much I loved this book? I loved every bit of this 715 page story! Not a word of it felt drawn out, and I didn‘t want it to end. I learned so much about India, about surgery, about leprosy, about politics in India, and more! I loved so many of the characters and began to feel that I knew them personally. I highly recommend this book!

I‘ve still got time to read more books so this won‘t be my final count, but I did meet my Goodreads Challenge of 100 books, so that seemed worth celebrating. Apparently Covenant of Water was the longest book I read this year and it I think will also make my top 10. But I am not one to do a Best of the Year List until I actually reach the end of the year! So that‘s still to come. And if you‘re a Goodreads user, send me a friend request.

I was in the mood for a historical fiction read when I came across The Second Life of Mirielle West. I don't think I've read anything based around the leprosy colonies. It was interesting to learn about that but I can't say I really liked this book. Some of it felt like it was dragging on to me. Then the end felt so sudden almost like there should have been a few more chapters between the last and the epilogue.