I read 12 books in January.

2 were chunksters (over 500 pages) Ours by Philip B Williams and Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

2 ARCs - The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by SGJ and One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against this by Omar El Akkad (Essential reading)

My favorites were Real Americans by Rachel Khong and I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

I am finishing my #bookspin book today so after 600 pages I am calling it done (enough) to count for January. Giving me 2 bingos and reading of my #Bookspin book. I didn't get to my #doublespin but I feel okay about that, plenty of time to get to it this year!

As my favorite January poem says 'it's been january for months in both directions' and it looks like we are finally at the end!

@thearomaofbooks

Finally February list!

@tharomaofbooks

Women's Prize for Nonfiction Long list will be announced on Feb 12 so will be spending most of the month trying to get my hand on and reading those, before the Fiction longlist is announced on March 4!

All day everyday!!

Looking for spoilers!!

Have you read this? Does the hare die?

I can't find the answer in my normal places. This is getting a lot of talk in predictions for the Women's Prize Nonfiction and I just cannot handle a dead bunny at the moment so would love if someone could use the spoiler button below and spoil it for me.
Thanks so much!!

Soft pick.
These are slice of life stories. Focusing on women in France, many are very dark and the men are all mostly awful. I enjoyed the overall writing but I don't think any of these stories will really stick with me for too long. I do love that each story focuses on different "working women" a gas station attendant, a housekeeper, a hair washer. All had a bit of darkness and violence to them.

4.5⭐
Essential reading. This is going to upset a lot of people. They need to be upset.
El Akkad New book is part memoir, part political discourse, part Palestinian war criticism. Knowing where he came from is critical of understanding his views on modern day American politics and the war on Palestine.
Release date Feb 25th. I have preordered my copy, I needed to reread the published copy and make a bunch of notes.

A very blue library haul. I cannot for the life of me remember who or what had me request the tagged book! But I guess we will see how it goes.

Everyone seems to hate Extinction of Irena Rey so I thought I would give it a try 😂 I feel I enjoyed her last book more than others and I love to be a contrarian

I read about Vanishing Treasures in my research for possible Women's Prize nonfiction books. Not sure if essays count there

4.25❤️ it looks like this is getting mixed reviews here, I fall better inline with the GR reviews. I loved this. I do think the blurb is misleading. Calling it Orphean is not right. Our MC Rainy does lose his wife and goes on an adventure but the adventure is him finding himself. The book is written in a Greek tragedy vibe and style which I loved, and once I got over the expectations of the synopsis I really loved the whole thing. #ToBlonglist

Lake Superior is 350 miles (563 km) long (east to west), and its greatest width is 160 miles (258 km) from north to south

I am not a Midwestern girlie, and I have a hard time with distance. So reading this I have been curious as Rainy is spending weeks sailing around Lake Superior. I have always heard it is "big" but - greater than the combined areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire!

"He lifted his head. "Yes, that would be nice - I'm sorry, I don't mean to be such awful company. It's the times. The times are so unfriendly. Play me something, would you, Rainy?"

A poinent passage that feels too close to reality right now.
#ToBLonglist

"It's been January for months in both directions"

I absolutely love this poem by Martyr! author Kaveh Akbar you can find the full poem here:
https://apoemaday.tumblr.com/post/674030488568184832/wild-pear-tree

#FirstLineFriday @ShyBookOwl

"Here at the beginning it must be said the End was in everyone's mind."

I am really liking this one.

I am not as mad about this as other Litsy members seem to be. I thought this was fine. I liked that the Senator was not named. This was not his story. I prefer this - a side character story vs books that take a still alive famous person & novelize their story
The writing is good, I liked the pacing. Overall though it is a book that didn't make an impact on me and I will probably forget I read it by end of the year. I would read the author again.

Hello!

I cannot see that there is anyone on Litsy that is a dedicated poster about the Women's Prize (formally know as the Orange Prize)

This is my very favorite literary prize and I would like to know if anyone would be interested if I hosted some things - Predictions; Longlist reading, shortlist, and voting for favorites to win?

Both prizes are sort of on top of each other so I am unsure how it will all shake out, just gaging interest?

A perfect time for a reread of this.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

20/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

I am sad this didn't work for me. I cannot decide if living in a fantasy romance land where everything/everywhere Frankie goes is accessible is refreshing or pandering. But I can say this writing is not for me. It isn't good ... giving up at 1/3 in

***I am looking for other (better written) disability rep books if anyone has suggestions

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

19/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

#ToBLonglist
I really enjoyed this one. The characters were all interesting and believable. I loved how the idea of genetics and science was woven through but not a focus (don't be dissuaded if you are not into science). This book seems to tackle so much- generational family drama, coming of age, college life, all in a harmonious way.
My only note is that the author had a strange way of putting sentences together and I often had to reread them.

#weeklyforecast
Finishing the tagged today
ARC - One Day Everyone Will Have Been Against This
Overdue at the library -need to start I Cheerfully Refuse
#BookedInTime & #25in25 starting Wolf Hall

Today in the US it is Martin Luther King Jr Day.
I wanted to share 6 books of his/about him that I thought were excellent:
The tagged by Eig is brilliant. 5 ⭐ My review - Eig gives us a detailed, well researched, and balanced look at King's life. The good and the bad. His health struggles, his misogyny, his hope and his commitment to the cause

I will tag the other 5 in the comments below!

I really enjoyed this, but I liked Fresh Water better which was annoying as I kept thinking about that one and how it compares. Both of them have super short chapters which I am not a fan of. This one felt like it jumped around a lot more. Many storylines going at the same time, while each are interesting I never felt like I could completely fall into one. Almost felt like the book itself had ADHD 😂. Overall I enjoyed the stories and characters

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

18/20
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#20Covers

If nothing else has gotten me to read that tag this is going to work. 🤐🤨🤢

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

17/20
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#20Covers

"Between us was a small graveyard, marked with moss stones. Most of its inhabitants had died young in the 1800s, which was oddly reassuring to me. Their ghosts were babies, and babies most likely didn't know enough to be vengeful."

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

15/20
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#20Covers

Sent to me by a friend I am not sure the source

Box has a box set of Kant 🤣😂🤣

"She isn't afraid, but he is."

#FirstLineFriday
@ShyBookOwl

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

14/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

This is not the cover I have and I NEED this one how gorgeous is this!

I have a 4 day weekend and I have been not really in a reading slump but just super distracted. I have got to finish the tagged (it is overdue at the library) I am hoping to make a dent in the other 2
One Day Everyone Will Have Beed Against This (ARC)
Forgotten On Sunday

A little gay YA romance, Stevie has amnesia and has to remember Norah and their relationship. This was a bit too YA for me - a bit too much cheese and dramatic teens but that is on me I bought this last year on a stop over in Edmonton, I also thought it was Canadian but about half in I realized they were in Philly, so I just fully picked up the wrong book apparently and it didn't really work for me. Overall though it was fine just not my taste

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

14/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

I am so glad I didn't let her Wolves novel deter me from picking this up, I enjoyed this much more! Even though I thought the twists were predictable, there was still enough intrigue and appreciation for her onion peeling writing to keep me reading. It is horrifying how much her world is just like ours but with barely any animals, sometimes you can go pages having forgotten. Great work.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

8/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Oh man I wanted to like this so much more than I did. I really, really struggled with the language SGJ has chosen to use throughout. I am reading the ARC so it is possible a solid edit could bring this to a more coherent modern place. Or maybe I am just not smart enough. I really struggled with one of the characters being called Etsy every time I thought it was the marketplace website 🤣
The concept and characters are fantastic though.

“So it goes“

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

7/20
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#20Covers

This probably wasn't best in audio format for me. I think it would have been more impactful physically reading it. But overall a great narrative of the recovery of genocide victims remains. I spent most of the book hoping these experts will be able to recover Palestinian victims.
Heartbreaking stories well explained about the Guatemalan and Argentine genocides.

"If anyone wanted to commit murder and get away with it, they should come to Guatemala,"

"Work during the day, cry at night" - Clyde Snow

I am glad Hagerty has chosen to write this important book, I cannot help but wish Snow had written an accessible book instead (o/also) Hagerty 's experience as a student is interesting I think a lot of people will connect w/ her internal struggle to handle what we often see as gross body bits of 5the dead

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

6/20
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#20Covers

Okay so first I am absolutely obsessed with how good this cover is.If this was in a museum I would buy a print for my office
For inside - I enjoyed this but it is too long. I thought the world building is exceptional, all of the characters are really complex and rich. Saint is way more complicated than I thought she would be from the blurb. She will make you uncomfortable. And sometimes you will fully be on her side. 👇

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

5/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

4/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

#WeeklyForecast

Finishing the tagged (have a little over 100pgs to go) Reading SGJ's The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (I am about 75 pages in already and loving it)

Starting Real Americans which is due back to the library next weekend (#ToB), and Still Life With Bones (#NFReads)

"Not much for notable sins. Ever since he made Ours home, he had seen only a couple scuffles. One over a pig invading a neighbor's garden and another between two men over a woman who wanted nothing to do with either."

Isn't that the way it often is?