Welcome to Litsy!

This might be my favorite book of the year. Although - not for the title.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Middle Grade Novels in Verse are quickly moving up my list of genres I never turn down. The emotions match the pace and thought process of the characters. This one has history, climate issues, some suspense, and sense of belonging and/or being left out all tied into the story arc.

My favorite read of November was Ada Blackjack: A True Story of Survival in the Arctic. This story has stuck with me and I am interested to read about it from other authors' points of view. I also delved a little bit into some of the primary sources and would like to read more of those too. #bookbracket #readingbracket #bookbracket2025 #readingbracket2025

French noblewoman Marguerite de la Rocque de Roberval (1515--1542) has always led a quiet life, but her guardian spends her fortune and sells her home. His plan is another prosperous voyage to “New France.” This time he takes Marguerite with him. After he discovers Marguerite‘s rebellion he strands her with a lover and her nurse. Although slow to start her tale is thrilling and satisfying. It is a 4/5 ⭐️ read and a 2025 favorite.

I‘m sad to finish this 7-book post-apocalyptic series but I loved seeing the transformation of each character, the formed relationships, their resilience, and the found-family they discovered amongst each other.

#postapocalyptic #survival #suspense #dystopia #actionpacked #foundfamily

Lost at Windy River is the amazing true story of the nine days the author‘s grandmother was lost by herself in the wilderness of Alberta in the 1940s. Isle was thirteen at the time and it was, of course, winter. She was incredibly resourceful and used Traditional Indigenous Knowledge to survive. This book is also an opportunity for her to reclaim and tell her own story after it became well known and was shared by someone else.

Loved this book, fascinating re-imagining of a real historical event, the abandoning of a young woman on an island off Canada during early French attempts at colonisation.

Apparently her house is for sale!
http://chateaudelamothe.fr/marguerite-de-la-rocque-16th-century-noblewoman-who-l...

We stood together, and I said, "I realize now-"
"What?" Auguste said.
"How easy my life has been."
Regretfully, Auguste said, "You have been rich, comfortable, and safe."
"No, I was never safe." My own words startled me, but they were true. If I was in danger here, so I had been at home. If I could not choose my dwelling place, that had been the case before. Following Auguste out. I thought. If we live in a cave, at least it will be ours only.

I never knew my mother. She died the night that I was born, and so we passed each other in the dark.

#FirstLine

Two old women was an excellent story passed down from generation to generation. A short fast paced book. 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️