I really liked the "Appalachian noir" setting of this novel, and I enjoyed the beginning. But somehow the suspense didn't keep up all the way through, and I ended up a bit uninvolved and under-invested in the characters.
Perhaps it would have been better if I'd read it in one sitting?

Book 30 of #52Booksin2018

#Bookhaul! @Kitta and I went to the Brooklyn book fest today and got totally carried away! Which is especially bad as I also bought Never Anyone But You in the airport a couple of days ago and forgot 🙀
So now we both have big new #TBR stacks!

Nala doesn't understand why anyone would read a book about a non-cat animal.

I however liked it. I've also read "a year with hare", the famous Finnish memoir that inspired this, but I feel like I would have understood beggar& hare more if I'd studied the original in school (as apparently Finnish children do). Still a great read, though!

Book 29 of #52Booksin2018

I loved this, although the two halves (visiting her brother on death row; forging a new life in the keys) felt disjointed. Both would be great novellas in their own right!
I especially loved the diving imagery throughout. Read it if you want to be angry, then soothed.

Book 28 of #52Booksin2018

Ok I almost never do this but I think I'm #bailing on this....
I usually LOVE Zadie Smith, but I just can't get into this at all. I really wanted to love it! But I don't care about the characters, or their weird autograph fixations. I'll give it another go in a month or so (I'm so far in! But I just can't keep reading it)

Book 27 of #52Booksin2018

Reading my latest #botm in Reykjavik airport! Pretty great airport, and appalachian murder is the perfect backdrop to 7am jet lag grumpiness 😂😂😂

Read all of Idaho in one sunny weekend on the beach! Gripping and evocative, I didnt want it to end and am still thinking about the characters a week later! Warning, you will want to move to Idaho after reading.

Book 26 of #52Booksin2018

Well this book nearly broke me.

I'll admit I didn't like the first few chapters- the mix of voices felt confusing, and I couldn't follow the plot. However, based on the rest of the book I think this was deliberate- the reader has no more insight than the characters, so the revelation shocks us as much as them. The second part was stomach churning, and I couldn't look away.

Book 25 of #52Booksin2018

In my non-litsy life I'm a prof of psychiatric genetics. I spend a lot of time asking 'who gets psychiatric diagnoses, and why?' Some of it is genetics- but as this book brilliantly illustrates, a lot of your risk for disease (& psychiatric disease) is influenced by society, by race, and by racism. A must-read for clinicians, scientists, and anyone who wants to understand our broken healthcare system...

Book 24 of #52Booksin2018

Absolutely loved this epic novel- written and told in the style of a classic British or Russian family saga, but instead telling us about London's first gay bookshop, teenagers taking poppers, and Paul Klee teaching students in the Bauhaus. I always feel like I learned so much from Hensher's novels, and they are completely engrossing!
Go read it!

Book 23 of #52Booksin2018

Just finished this and I loved it! One of the best Tana French novels - perhaps second to the trespasser, in my opinion?

Mostly I'm disappointed that I've already finished this book!

Sometimes you need old favourites when you're sick! I can't face the subway without a book, and I've loved rereading these! Sedaris is always excellent. It was especially interesting revisiting his childhood having just read Calypso, and his diaries!

These were Books 21&22 of my #52Booksin2018

Also couldnt resist showing off this gorgeous cover (&our new cookbook stand!)

Made a start on some delicious Canteloupe Sorbet last night thanks to The Perfect Scoop! Cannot wait to get home and finish it off (by which I mean, make it & eat it all in one sitting!)

I've been sick for a few weeks so I dropped behind on posting...
Finally feeling better now and spent the afternoon lying in prospect park. I am LOVING this Tana French!

Book 20 of my #52Booksin2018

Loved this twisting tale of Lotto and Mathilde, and their marriage and families. I especially liked the discordance between the two halves, the different experiences of husband and wife (of fates, and furies).
Definitely not the sort of thing I usually read, but totally engrossing!

This was Book 19 of #52Booksin2018

The Break broke me. Generations of women tell different snapshots of their story. First, Stella sees a crime unfold outside her window. She calls the police, but they dismiss her- she's a woman, and she's Métis. Emily and Ziggy go to a party. Phoenix finds herself alone. Their mothers and grandmothers have the same stories & memories-and the thread uniting them is that no one listens. They are women, and they are métis.

Book 18 of #52Booksin2018

Absolutely loved this book! Primarily it's about three anthropologists caught in a love triangle- but more deeply it's about their disagreements about how to study and interpret culture, and whose stories we tell, and listen to.
It's based on Margaret Mead, and now I can't wait to read more about her!

This was Book 17 of my #52Booksin2018

My Cat Yugoslavia weaves together folk-lore, clashing politics and family strife. The politics are riveting, but the talking-cat storyline felt a bit heavy-handed (trying to avoid spoilers here!)

This was Book 16 of my #52Booksin2018 (slightly out of order!)

Loved this wrenching novel. Two men, Thomas and John, are trying to build a life. They fight grueling and dehumanizing battles that horrify us, and that they don't attempt to comprehend. They just want to get home, to lead everyday, boring lives, together.
Totally different to anything I've read recently, and completely worth the gut wrenching/crying parts!

This is Book 15 of my #52Booksin2018

Couldn't put this down! I always love Tana French, and this was no exception. A creepy and unpredictable tale of two cases involving missing children, twenty years apart, in the same small town in county Dublin. Nothing feels quite right about the case, or the people wrapped up in it....

This is Book 14 of my #52booksin2018

This one almost made me cry on the subway. Starts bleak, stays pretty bleak, but eventually the light gets in. Ultimately it's about what our purpose is, what 'useful' means, and how we can change things for the better.

This is Book 13 of my #52Booksin2018

Favourite thing about our new house has to be our balcony! Nothing better than a beer and a book on a warm evening 📚🍺🍷

Lizzie Borden took an axe....

Or did she?

See what I have done is chilling and evil and claustrophobic.
I couldn't put it down- and the minute I finished it @Kitta read it to see what the fuss was about! And hasn't put it down since. One warning- I did almost miss my subway stop!

This was Book 11ish of my #52Booksin2018 challenge!

Some fantastic books that I neglected to review at the time!
Lila is moving, haunting, and beautiful, because it's by Marilynn's Robinson.
Reservoir 13 is astonishing. Every page feels hand crafted rather than written. Read it!
Lean In is helping me with tenure track negotiations!
TTATHQA is a book within a book- not my kind of thing, but a gripping mystery/whodunnit!

These are books 7-10 of my #52Booksin2018 (maybe. I lost track)

So excited that the new David Sedaris was my #botm ! I've been feeling underwhelmed by botm lately, so this was a welcome surprise!
I finished this in two days (thanks, new commute!) and LOVED it. It definitely feels different to the older Sedaris collections- this is more grown up, and sadder, and more political, and perhaps funnier too!

Still not sure? Ask yourself, who else would feed their lipoma to a snapping turtle, except David Sedaris?

Nala enjoyed moving day! So many things to look at. So many people to shout out! So many things to lick! Best day ever.

Totally lost track of my reading for a couple of months....
...because we moved house! These are just the boxes of books 🙀🙀🙀

Anyone interested in a #BOTMbookswap?

Looking for
An American Marriage
Little Fires Everywhere
Killers of the Flower Moon
Behold the Dreamers
Siracusa
Veins of the Ocean
&Sons
Association of Small Bombs
The Moors Account
The Sympathiser

Or anything similar!

I loved book one of the great outdoors- the descriptions of Alaska, the hard work, the long harsh winters- like an incredibly bleak Laura Ingalls Wilder. Book 2 I didn't love, the romance storyline felt a bit forced and obvious. I'm totally gutted by the second part actually- if it has all been like book one, I would have LOVED it. Now it was just ok, felt a bit YA for my tastes.

This is Book 6 of my #52Booksin2018

Absolutely loved this book! Beautifully written and completely absorbing from start to finish. Definitely one that will stay on my bookshelf for years to come.

This is book 5 of #52Booksin2018 !

Enjoyable feminist read (if you couldnt tell from the cover art...). Red clocks tell five stories of women is the dystopian near future (my favourite is Ro, the biographer), caught up in a modern day witch-hunt. Well written and gripping, a good read if you liked The Power (although a bit predictable at times).

This is book 4 of #52Booksin2018 ! Slightly behind schedule because of a big grant at work....

I know this is popular, but I couldnt get into it. It felt a bit superficial to me (although I really liked the relationship she forms with her cat!). A bit predictable, but a decent airport read.

Book 3 of my #52BooksIn2018 challenge!

Anyone in the mood for feminist historical novels? This one's for you! Exciting and well-paced, a thoroughly enjoyable read!

(PS I HATE the cover art, though).

This is Book 2 of my #52BooksIn2018 challenge!

First book this year- a hazy, nostalgic and claustrophobic summer retreat in the english countryside. A lovely antidote to the drizzly english weather, especially combined with coffee!

Also, this will be book number 1 of my #52BooksIn2018 challenge!

Excited for the #ManBooker announcement soon! My fingers are crossed for Elmer and Exit West, but my money is on Autumn..

#ManBooker shortlist! I'm surprised at the selection - I would have bet on the brilliant "Ministry of utmost Happiness", and I'm surprised that Swing Time didn't make it.

So far I'm 3/6, and really really trying to avoid the Auster. Fingers crossed for Mohsin Hamid!

#ManBookerReadalong

Couldn't resist sharing this view from our balcony in beautiful Playa del Carmen - wish we were still there! The perfect place to catch up on some reading :)

#botm #ManBooker #ManBookerReadalong

I have mixed feeligs about this one. I enjoyed reading it, and was captivated by the story line. I loved the description of the setting (the forest, the lake, the snow!), and I was invested in tbe characters. However, there were too many strands, too many plots- and at the end I'm not sure how I should feel about at least half of them...

Well deserving of a place on the #ManBooker shortlist, but probably not a winner?

#ManBookerReadalong

Beautiful day to lie in the park with a book!

The Likeness was a great, engaging read. I stayed up till 2am reading because I had to know. Highly recommend for a gripping day at the beach or a long train ride!

The rest of my #bookhaul from Carpe Librum! $11 well spent :)

First excellent find from Carpe Librum - a Tana French I haven't read. $3.50=total bargain.

Creepy lighting brought to you by amtrak 😂

In DC for work and I couldnt resist popping into Carpe Librum. It's for charity! All books are less then $4! Libri carpsi 📚📚📚

No more books about Wolves please, Mummy. Only cats here pls KThx.

#catsoflitsy #ManBookerReadalong #littenkitten

Happy 30 years of "Beloved", everyone!

A beautiful setting for a gripping read!

#governorsisland #manbookerreadalong

Love this description of Exit West! #ManBookerReadalong

Starting order for the #ManBookerReadalong !

This should give me some time to frantically beg steal borrow and buy the other books 😹😹😹

Time to get started on the #ManBooker #Longlist !

I propose a litsy #ManBookerReadalong !

I'll try to read one book a week from the list (some aren't available in the US yet so I won't get to read all of them 😔) and post pictures, thoughts, and questions.

Once a week I'll run some stats and see which book is in the lead in the Litsy Man Booker Prize rankings!

Please tag me in your #ManBookerReadalong posts, I'd love to see them! 📚📚❤️

Love this quote by Anne Bradstreet on our Calendar this month!
Happy August, Littens!