Hello world!! It‘s been a long time since I last posted. I‘m so happy to see the Litsy wheel is still turning and I think I‘m making my return :) This is my most recently finished read! Daunting in size, but this book is a page turner. I love how deeply King immerses you into the culture and town of Salem‘s Lot. You get to know each nuance of the town so closely & that makes the strange occurrences there even more terrifying.

Some books I acquired over the weekend! Lindsay Hunter hosted a release party for Eat Only When You're Hungry at Women & Children First and my husband & I went with another couple in our writers group. While there, I also had to get Hunger because I've been dying to read it. Zoe Kazan (who I love on twitter) highly recommended You Play the Girl, and my friend from writers group couldn't say enough amazing/enthusiastic things about The Grip of It.

This is what most girls are taught--that we should be slender and small. We should not take up space. We should be seen and not heard, and if we are seen, we should be pleasing to men, acceptable to society. And most women know this, that we are supposed to disappear, but it's something that needs to be said, loudly, over and over again, so that we can resist surrendering to what is expected of us.

Just finished this collection this morning. We ride along with the floaty passing of time with an addict through country homes, bars, hospitals, crime scenes and missteps. Each story is achingly raw and beautiful, and I found myself floored more than once at his moments of clarity. There's a reason Denis Johnson is so beloved, and there's a reason this collection in particular has a 100% rating on here.

This book is like a 3.75 for me! The pace of this book is awesome. There are a lot of places where it could have dragged, but didn't. I thought the story was creepy, and in some parts thrilling. We also get a lot of good/unexpected reveals throughout the novel. There are a LOT of rhetorical questions in here though and it got to the point where I was paying a lil too much attention to them. Also was not a fan of the last two pages.

Hi littens! I hope everyone is taking care of themselves during this super scary time in our country. I just posted a thread on twitter about how we bookworms can use our reading as a form of protest. Please check it out/RT if you'd like! https://twitter.com/courtneytownill/status/897811053291200513

It's a chilly (for August) and stormy evening here in Chicago so I wanted to start something creepy and dark!

I wasn't expecting genius when I picked this book up, but I was surprised at how many unflattering quirks there were. As mentioned, repetitious and boring dialogue and action sequences that didn't make sense. The main character was also impossible to like or root for--she was nosy, couldn't keep a secret, and had very little to say. There were actually some awesome lines of prose in here which made the not great parts even more jarring.

Whoever edited this book must have been sleeping the whole time. There is so much of this. The narrator describes the object and then goes back to describe how it was acquired. Characters are acknowledged by name before the MC is introduced to them. The characters mishear each other a lot in dialogue which I think is supposed to be "accurate" speech patterns but just comes off as annoying because we have read exactly what it says? Yikes!

Started reading this yesterday at the Secretary of State..my husband and I bought a car! This book has an interesting premise, but so far I'm not totally impressed by the amount of times "okay" and "great" is used in dialogue. The dialogue is also extremely repetitive. It's not bad enough to ?? bail on it yet.

Struggled between a pick & so-so. This book is an alcohol soaked and drug fueled adventure with engaged Laura and party girl Tyler. The moments between the two friends were strong and addicting to read (my liver hurt just reading it). A large part of this story centers around Laura and her square fiancé Jim, though, and their relationship is never anything that we get to root for. Great read, tho, especially for those of us in our 20's!

Just started this morning. So far it's like if Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23 was British and the girls were more broke. Witty banter and female friendships (plus, I love anything on Europa). Looking forward to this!

This book is just as creepy as I've been lead to believe! Being in the mind of a sociopath is a scary and frustrating place to be, especially because they are able to do and justify almost anything. The story of Teo and Clarice is a demented rollercoaster that made me wish this was a movie already! That said, though, I think things get to wrap up a little too neatly for Teo which I don't think was deserved. Definitely a fantastic, eerie read!

Just started this one yesterday! It is already as unsettling as was promised. I'm excited (and dreading) to see how this turns out!

Went to the library today! I didn't make a list like I usually do which was a HUGE mistake (the Harold Washington Library is enormous and overwhelming), but I think I came away with some great books! I think I'm going to start with Perfect Days because I've heard it's terrifying and thrilling and I've been looking forward to it!

If you like books with a defined plot, you would hate this. If you're just fine riding along on a stream of consciousness, then this is the book for you. Dunn has created a compelling and unreliable narrator who is serving time for cashing bad checks. She dips in and out of her past and Prison and childhood and it's hard to tell what's real and what's in her troubled mind, but the moments of lucidity are beautiful. Lots of underlining took place!

I just started this book last night and WOW. It's already a head trip. I can't tell if I love it or hate it just yet, and it definitely takes some time to get used to the stream of conscious-type narration. There are some gorgeous lines and details though, I've been underlining like crazy.

3.75 ⭐️ I wanted to like this more than I ultimately did. I could see a lot of what the author was trying to do, and there was a lot of potential for rich family histories, but with 13 children to account for, some characters fell flat and others weren't fleshed out enough. A lot of details were given too easily. The last third of the book was so strong, especially because we finally get to see the fam come together, but a resolution was missing.

A pack of wolves. A murder of crows. All groups needed order. He felt the loss of control like a loss of basic reason. A dark splotch on his frontal lobe. Why not give in to every impulse, break free and go insane, if he lived in a world where people made structures disappear overnight?

I was in the mood to buy books today so I had to do it. I went to college with the author of Monster's Daughter and got to read excerpts in workshops so I can't wait to read the full novel and see how it turned out! I also loved Geek Live by Katherine Dunn and was so excited to see her debut novel newly released in paperback. And Denis Johnson...because it's mandatory!

My current read! My dad was born in Detroit and I spent a lot of time there with family when I was growing up so it's been fun reading this book and looking out for familiar places. So far, the prose is beautiful but the story is a bit slow.

This is maybe one of my best book finds. My husband and I took a day trip to Milwaukee a couple of days ago and went into this new/used bookstore. There were several copies of the Bachman Books with 'Rage' in them...so naturally we bought several copies. Since it was removed from print (it allegedly inspired a string of school shootings) it is VERY hard to find...and nearly impossible to find for only $4. Can't wait to read this provocative story.

This book is odd, unsettling, emotionally visceral, and darkly erotic. These are all very good things to be. This short novel, told in three parts from the loved ones of a woman who has suddenly refused to eat meat, is a force of storytelling. It is a quick read and written very simplistically, but each page packs a punch and really drags the reader along with it. Absolutely haunting.

I've been wanting to read this book for so long. Here we goooo 😬🙃

I read this book very quickly and found myself very invested in the relationships between long-time best friends and former band mates Elizabeth, Andrew, and Zoe. This book spent a lot of time building up to SOMETHING though, and instead of letting the tension play out and have a resolution, the story fizzles and Straub gives us a few newspaper clippings to wrap everything up? The drama was great, but the lazy ending made it a so-so for me.

A little lunch break reading. This book is cute and fun so far. Exactly what I needed!

Ottessa Moshfegh has one of the most unique voices I've ever read. Her stories are full of grit and the nastiness that comes with being human, and I especially loved the first and last stories in this collection. I do wish that I had read each story individually rather than binged them, though, because about half way through it seemed like each story came from the same checklist or grab bag of unfavorable traits/details. I'm a fan of her though!

Decided to hang out with some short stories for a little bit. I loved 'Eileen' by this author, and five pages into the first story, I'm already obsessed with her voice.

I feel so elated to have finished this. It's been 2 months! To make this short, this book is 70% awesome, 30% drag ass boring. I absolutely loved the action scenes, the bouts of horror, and the Losers. That said, there is a loootttttt of exposition about Derry and soooo much history about it that it sometimes got in the way of the horror and high tension moments. A very immersive experience, though, and I'm glad to have read it!

Hi everyone! I've been on Litsy since close to the beginning but lately I've been reading some massive books so the reading is slow and I need to reintroduce myself!

1) I live in Chicago (Logan Square)
2) @Liberty talking about it on All the Books!
3) Perks of Being a Wallflower
4) No, but it's my dream to get a turtle when I'm 70 so my children have to take care of it for decades after I'm gone. #welcomelitten

I'm curious, littens! How old were you when you first read It and which part did you like best? I'm only about 60% through but so far I'm liking the scenes with the adults more than the kids. This is my first time reading it! A lot of my friends read It when they were kids/teens and remembered liking the scenes with the kids better.

When you see two sealed up storm drains (the second one is a bit hard to see in the picture) with capital letters saying DON'T OPEN, there's really only one thing to think: what don't they want to get out? 🤡

STAN WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?! Don't you know creepy places with giant doors that were slammed are probably not the kind of places to be investigated!?You 👏🏻 are 👏🏻a👏🏻child👏🏻go👏🏻home!

I am slowly, but surely, making my way through this monster. This is my 7th Stephen King novel and so far one of my favorites. Definitely some of the best of his writing that I've read! I realized that this year in general has been a slow Litsy year for me because I keep reading these giant books, but they have been so, so worth it. What's your favorite long book that you've read recently?

Started on my commute today. I married into a family of big Stephen King fans and I may have even offended them when they learned I hadn't read It before. With the new movie coming out so soon, the time is now.

I wish I had read this before watching the series (which I thought was amazing). Hannah's story is still ultimately heart breaking, but there is not as much connection or tension between the characters--something the series did incredibly well. Clay's perspective is also filled with lots of rhetorical questions which gets to be tiring to read. Overall though, I think this book/story is important for people of all ages to read& learn from.

I was really excited to finally get to use this pickle bookmark my sister got me for my birthday! It's so cute (and I love pickles always & forever).

Starting this on my commute today. I'm still thinking about the Netflix series so I'm excited to compare the book to the show while it's still fresh in my mind.

This was a fun read that was nearly impossible to put down. It wasn't the most thought-provoking read, but I was thoroughly wrapped up in the lives, dramas& worries of this group of moms whose children have just started kindergarten. Woven through the story are pieces of interviews with these parents that leave you guessing until the end about what happened and to who, and it was a twist that couldn't have been expected. Excited to watch the show!

Recent acquisitions! Like the rest of the world, I'm emotionally drained from watching Thirteen Reasons Why. Somehow I haven't read it yet so that's next! I bought Chelsea Girls and the short story collection on my birthday last weekend because I've also somehow never read any Flannery O'Conner. And my sister LOVES The Alchemist and gives it to everyone so I got a copy for my birthday and I also can't wait to read it!

Started on my commute this morning. Going from The Hate U Give to this book which is very clearly centered around privileged white people is...jarring. So many of my friends loved the show, though, and I wanted to read the book before watching!

This book deserves every bit of praise it has been receiving. This needs to be required reading. The subject of police brutality has been heavy on my heart for years and years, and Starr's experiences and voice gives an honest and heart wrenching perspective on the effects of violence in a family, and in a neighborhood. Quick and amazing dialogue and I teared up more than once. I loved Starr's authenticity & hope, and her family.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

That's the problem. We let people say stuff, and hey say it so much that it becomes okay to them and normal to us. What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?

I have been SO EXCITED to start reading this and the time is finally here. I read the first three chapters as a preview from the publisher and I was immediately hooked. I have a feeling this book will gut me, but we need more fiction like this. Especially for teens/young adults.

This book was the perfect fun, quick read that I needed. Lauren Graham is charming and witty, and she has such a strong voice that makes it very clear she's the one telling her story. I loved the look into Gilmore Girls and the reboot, and her admissions that writing can be HARD! I'm not sure a non-Lauren Graham fan would get as much from this read, but I just really adored t 💗

I'm in the part where she is recapping every season of Gilmore Girls and MY HEART! I just miss this show so much. I do wish I had this book on audio rather than an e-book but it's still fantastic so far 💗 Does anyone have a favorite GG episode or character?

After the intense read of the Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I definitely needed something much lighter. I put this on hold two months ago when I finished the series and finally got it! I think Lauren Graham just IS Lorelei Gilmore

What starts as a search for a missing cat quickly spirals into the biggest trip of a book I've ever read. *Stefan voice* This book has everything. There are odd teens, mental prostitutes, war veterans and man skinners, jelly walls, alternate universes, a mute genius, and more. This experience was so surreal and dreamlike that I feel like if I were to talk to someone else who had read it, the names and events within it would be different for them.

So...close...to the end...!