Welcome to Litsy!

Combination of 2 Little Free Library scores the last Thursday of the school holidays when I treated myself to a Stockton op shop. I caught the ferry over and had a lovely morning to myself.

I haven‘t seen the movie (& don‘t plan on it tbh) but this was fun— unreliable, framed, epistolary narratives make me happy, as do the illustrations. Recommended for general weirdness & ✨vibes✨

📸featuring my fave new creepy snow globe— is it tiny bats w/ a normal-sized crow or normal-sized bats w/ a giant crow boy? You decide 🪦💀💗

I felt clever when I realized that O Caledonia is like a twisted & tragic “I Capture the Castle,” as seen through a funhouse mirror, with Wednesday Addams as the protagonist. Then, I read Maggie O‘Farrell‘s introduction, which I saved for last to avoid spoilers, and saw that she made the same literary comparison. Despite its short length, I didn‘t find this a fast read. It is, however, witty & darkly atmospheric with a keen attention to language.

“The wonderful words were almost enough to make Janet believe in God. At Christmas, too, the starry sky and the beauty of language and music caused a great surge of mystic yearning in her; then Mr. McConochie would harangue them, remind them of their unworthiness and guilt, the innocent babe born to die on their behalf. “Sighing, crying, / Bleeding, dying”…they sang, and the glory faded to heartbreak and desolation, the bleak light of afternoon.”

Much to my disappointment, I‘m not enjoying this at all. I can see how it would be funny, but it‘s not working for me. Anyway, I wanted creepy, not funny.

Unsurprisingly, given the authors previous book, this was absolutely heartbreaking. So well written, there were a couple of moments where I had to have a little break because it‘s SO. HEAVY. But absolutely beautiful.

And #bookspin #doublespin for October! Looking forward to ticking some off for #hauntedshelf 😁

#WeekendReads #WeekendReading

🤓📚Weekend Reading Goals:

- Finish ‘The Rainmaker‘ (Grisham)
- Finish ‘Not That Fancy‘ (Reba)
- Read 30% of ‘Robin‘ (Itzkoff)
- Read 20% of ‘Cork Town‘ (Hutchinson)
- Start ‘My Own Word‘ (Ginsburg)

“I walked into Haddows , took a cheap bottle of wine to the till and counted out most of my money .”

Back from hols + Barney's relieved back in our favourite reading spot. Anyway, I took away with me Muriel Sparks' 1st novel, a curious story breaking the author/character wall as Caroline hears a typewriter repeating her words as she thinks them. With threads into diabolic black masses & Catholicism, this is a strange tale that definitely has that spark feel, but perhaps lacks the later subtlety & dark edge, but for me, she can do little wrong.

Went to see Chris Brookmyre speak today at Edinburgh Book Fest.

This one sounds right up my street... it's a meta mashup mystery - cosy crime meets hard-boiled thriller.

Can't wait!