Update on my #LitsyToB24 reading. Only 3 to go!

This #LitsyToB24 title will likely be my final read of 2023. I plowed through this angsty high school drama and especially appreciate that the epilogue gives a “where are they now” for all of the characters.

Reading for #LitsyToB24 I agree 💯 with @BarbaraBB on this one. I feel like I‘ve already read this one. Beautiful writing, for sure, but nothing really new here.

Ugh. I‘m working my way through the #LitsyToB24 list and this is my second DNF. I just didn‘t like these characters and about 1/3 in, just could not care less. Moving on!

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2023/12/26/favorite-reads-of-2023/

My favorite reads of 2023!!!

#LitsyToB24 #ShareYourStack

I‘ve read quite a few of our shortlist! Looking forward to The Birthday Party and Mobility the most.

I DNF‘d Julia and may try again, but maybe not 😆

Wow. Nope. 650 pages of increasingly bad shit happening. I seriously do not get the hype. #ToB24

This novel is completely banana pants! 🍌 👖

Wild, speculative fiction that has several threads going at the same time. I‘d recommend reading a non-spoiler review beforehand to get a map of what‘s happening.

But, you guys!!!! The ending is PHENOMENAL! Everything comes together in the most satisfying way. #ToB24

Loved Torres‘ earlier novel, We the Animals. This one is VERY different. The plot revolves around a real historical study/publication called Sex Variants which discusses homosexuality. Did a lot of googling while reading to decipher between fact/fiction. The form was quite speculative and a bit hard to follow for me. Ok, but a lot of work. #ToB24

#ToB24

I absolutely adored Angie Kim‘s earlier novel, Miracle Creek and was very excited to pick this one up. Firmly recommend this one as well, but it still plays second fiddle to her earlier novel for me.

Fountain‘s writing is exquisite. His main character perfectly embodies the cringe worthy cis white male American, while getting to the meat of actual political issues and problems without reading like a history book or feeling like a sermon. #ToB24

#TOB24 Longlist is here! I‘m a few days late in the news, but so excited to see all the books. These are the ones I‘ve read so far and not a dud in the bunch. Looking forward to seeing 👀 what makes the cut!!

Whoo! Hoo! I‘m ready to make my picks!!! #ToB23

Two more to go for this year‘s #ToB23 Tournament of Books.

Liked but didn‘t love this one, like so many of you.

#ToB23

I started this one on audiobook, but it just didn‘t gel for me. I preferred the print which I saw the snarky and sarcastic bits better. The second person point of view didn‘t completely work for me. Liked it but didn‘t love it.

A word of advice: lots going on here, and it takes a minute to meet enough characters to get into this one, so be sure u have a few hours to read several chapters at the beginning. Once I got going, I couldn‘t put this one down. I think this has serious potential for audio. Reading for #ToB23

https://wellreadneck.wordpress.com/2022/12/16/best-of-2022/

I‘m so excited about this year‘s Tournament of Books lineup!!! As it happens, I‘ve read 11 of the shortlisted books and several of the rest were on my radar, so I‘ll definitely be reading All. The. Books!!! #ToB23

Got some great #BookMail from Europa today!! Both of these are May releases.

Fun and fast read. But, there were some unanswered questions at the end and the direction of the final scenes was pretty clear around the halfway mark.

YAAAASSSSS! Absolutely loved this audiobook. Seriously, the BEST author-narrated book I‘ve ever heard. He was off the charts. Increadible All-American/Friday Night Lights Grit Lit. Will almost certainly be a top ten of the year read for me. #ARC #audiobook #Netgalley

A sweet and charming Beauty and the Beast retelling. Thought she did a great job of making the story contemporary. #ARC #Netgalley

Some good steamy scenes, but the story was a bit lackluster for me.

Yaaaaaaasssss! Loved this wonderful mystery novel with a comic book theme. The audiobook was great! And, the “comic book excerpts” (which in the print version are illustrated) played like an old fashioned radio drama.

This is just the absolute cutest! It has all the tropes: grumpy/sunny; fake dating; whoops shared room. So much fun.

A fun, fast-paced thriller with past crime/present crime set up. The past crime takes place at a Blockbuster on New Year‘s Eve 1999, for a little nostalgia. Enjoyed the #audiobook narrated by a full cast.

I adored Dial A for Aunties and this second in a series book delivered more of the same antics. But, that was sort of my rib with it, it felt like the same book and the repeat loses the freshness. #ARC

#LibraryHaul

When it rains, it pours!!! 🌦☔️📚

#BookMail from #LibraryThing #EarlyReviewers

I love how the dandelion in the crack on the front is echoed on the spine. 🪨🌼

Unlike her earlier book, Quiet, this one be done don‘t quite gel for me. Some interesting ideas here, but the organization or something was off for me and it just didn‘t feel like a cohesive whole. #ARC #Edelweiss

Really, no. Lauren Graham narration only seemed to make the protagonist more unlikeable?! And, the plot set up just didn‘t work for me.

Such a fun and quirky mystery with a futuristic, techy plot. Great on #audiobook

Completely enjoyed Moriarty‘s latest. Both a mystery and a dysfunctional family saga. Lots of the same vibes as Nine Perfect Strangers. Listened on #audiobook which was 💯

Interesting premise. But, overly long for me and, welp, we all know how it ends. I didn‘t find this the spookily similar to current events narrative that so many proclaim. #ARC

Loved this book about a man looking back in his life (because he‘s being chased by enforcers for a man to whom he owes $$) of people who served as a Justice League of sorts for Civil Rights in the 1960s.

Enjoyed this unusual serial killer thriller. The story begins with the killer on death row and unravels his story through flashbacks from the points of view of three women in his life: his mother, his sister-in-law; and the detective who caught him.

Super fun sci-Fi. Read in combo egalley and #audiobook. Both were awesome sauce. Snarky and fun!! #ARC #NetGalley

Wow. Powerful short story by Toni Morrison. Zadie Smith‘s introduction (which I highly recommend be read only after u read the story) nails the discomfort that Morrison evokes for the reader. #ARC #Edelweiss

Just meh. Another someone behaving badly novel, but this one didn‘t do much with it. #ARC #Netgalley

Superbly weird. The WildBoyZ is a boy band made up of animal/human hybrids whose back story plays into a murder mystery.

Wow. I adored this strange novel that is part love story, part dystopian tale, part history lesson. Feels like a likely candidate for next year‘s Tournament of Books.

Throughly entertaining Gatsby retelling featuring the ladies. Well done.

Interlinked short story collection from the author of The Resisters. A similar sensibility to the author‘s previous novel. Loved the stories and the characters they contained. #audiobook

A glorious retelling of a 13th c. Poem about a knight who was both a man and a woman. Wonderful and thoughtful take on gender; societal expectations; nature vs nurture; and the wonderful spectrum on which we all live.

Loved the premise and early chapters were solid. But, along the way, the characters became abhorrent and the ending just did not do a thing for me. #ARC #netgalley

Nope.

#Netgalley

Yaaaasss! Listened on #audiobook and the narration is 💯 An up and coming Black violinist learned that his instrument, which has been in his family for generations is a Strad. The story is ostensibly about finding the thief, but really speaks to racism and family in profound ways.

Still enjoying this series. This story mirrors the Cinderella tale.

Enjoyed this self-romance book. Cute and empowering.

Great book. Very accessible and the information looks at gender equality in new (to me) ways. #ARC