Welcome to Litsy!

#doublespin winner. This book is thoughtful, quiet and captures that intersection between innocence and experience. Fifteen-year-old Linda lives with her parents at what remains of their commune in the Minnesota woods. Her life is forever changed by two events: an accusation made against her teacher and the arrival of a young family across the lake.
@TheAromaofBooks

Such a strange, quiet, &upsetting novel. The prose is atmospheric & stark, the story is somehow frank and mysterious all at once. The form is jumbled & confusing until, all of a sudden, it becomes clear. CW for child death & religious fanaticism. I‘m glad I finally read this one after it being on my #TBR for years but it has left me feeling a bit off balance. A pick because I‘ll be thinking about it for awhile. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I‘m not quite sure what to make of this book. On one hand, the writing is excellent. On the other hand, all of the separate threads didn‘t quite add up for me in the end in the way I was expecting/hoping.

1. It was tough to pick just one.
2. Some of our decorations. We also have purple and orange lights out front and jack-o'-lanterns in the windows.
3. Not really Halloween or fall, but my very favorite scary movie: Rosemary's Baby

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

The Litsy summary of this book accurately outlines the narrative. I was surprised to see it receive a low rating. I couldn‘t stop reading it and I find myself continuing to think of all the subtle and not-so-subtle connections between events and the emotional range experienced and outlined within the book. What do you ignore in an effort to be seen by another, to be included? The photo shows what‘s underneath the jacket. April‘s #bookspin.

“The woods were a kind of nursery for not thinking, for just seeing and walking along.”

I can‘t wait for this type of green to show up in Vermont.

Linda is a bit of a weird kid who grows interested in the new people across the lake in a remote northern Minnesota winter. Tragedy strikes as we move back and forth in time around the event. I really liked most of this book, though there are parts that don‘t fit well or ring true. But for me the good outweighs the bad.

#dogsofLitsy #Bindi #Greta (far background)

A cynical voice, chopping between different times in the protagonists life to build up a picture

I read 45 books this year. Of those, one (that‘s right: ONE) was from my TBR. I currently have six books out from the library, two of which I definitely will not be able to renew due to hold lines; five other books on hold, one of which is ready to be picked up; and a goal to read 10 books from my TBR in 2020. Can I do all of it?!

1. I finished this one---and loved it!---before joining Litsy.
2. On the sofa in the front room, snuggled under blankets and bathrobe, illuminated by Christmas lights (and a light bright enough for reading), and with a cat on my chest.
3. This gingerbread tableau my children and I built several years ago about sums it up.
4. Neither, thanks.
@4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads #FriYayIntro

A solid pick, though the ending seemed to go on for too long and left me a little puzzled. I loved the way Fridlund kept up the suspense and eeriness without making me feel stressed or led on, despite the fact that the main event is pretty much revealed on the first page (it reminded me of The Secret History in that way). I feel like I understood most of Madeline but there was something that just never quite clicked for me.

I wish I could read this faster! I really want to know what happens! I‘m sometimes confused by how the timeline skips around, but the author is doing a good job keeping up a sense of dread without making me impatient.

I love that too! What I don‘t love is this creepy teacher dude. What‘s up with him?

I don't know what it is about hauntingly beautiful dark books, but I am eating then up lately. Most of the bad reviews I've seen make it clear they just didn't understand. Maybe that's a good thing for them. Linda's story spoke to me on levels that I understand to my core and are the basis of my depression and anxiety. I read a library copy but I'm purchasing the softcover so I can take notes all throughout as the writing is glorious.

This is another book recommended if you liked Where the Crawdads Sing (the other one in the same recommendation was My Absolute Darling which was amazing). I'm excited to dive in! It's only 279 pages so I might have a review by tomorrow.

I read this book a few months ago and it has stayed with me. Images from it and the sense of loneliness it invokes. Also the moral dilemma Linda faced.

Depressing, bleak and horrible. I feel like I need to rinse this out of my brain. Wish I‘d bailed now.

So the husband has gone away on another work trip abroad leaving me alone with the kids for the first few weeks of the summer holidays. (Something I am dreading and looking forward to in equal measure!! 😬) Rather than cheering myself with a new book I thought I‘d scour my shelves and put together a decent TBR pile. Has anyone read any of these?? 🤔

Blew me away! Picked it up at @strandbookstore on a whim and loved it!

Later, I could get that drizzle feeling just about any time I saw a kid on a swing. The hopelessness of it—the forward excitement, the midflight return. The futile belief that the next time around, the next flight forward, you wouldn‘t get dragged back again. You wouldn‘t have to start over, and over.

I have read mixed reviews on this one. Liking it so far.

Time narrative and landscape seem to intertwine in this teenage protagonist‘s mind . Her story is quietly observed -and yet it seems her view is also skewed -perhaps by youth , but also desire and memory. There is a moral dilemma that is at the heart of the plot, but it‘s like watching it through a gap in the door . I couldn‘t decide what it was most about and that keeps me thinking of it .

This month‘s book club choice and a great choice it was too. Beautiful writing and a gripping page turner, shot through with a strong sense of dread. I only wish that the last fifth of the novel didn‘t feel quite so much like wrapping up. (Also, I only noticed as I finished the book that the cover shows a girl and not a large bird!)

Meandering story of loneliness. Beautiful nature writing and I liked how the author played with time line. Wonder if it will stick with me over time. 3.5 🌟My first #boutofbooks was fun. Finished 5 books!! Great start to 2019. Now I am ready for #24in48.

I am excited to participate in my first #boutofbooks. Here is my TBR for this week long challenge. https://boutofbooks/

I took the dust jacket off of this novel...and look what I found. I love a beautiful naked hardback!!

Odd!
I thought she captured the sense of place, Linda's loneliness and also the horrible foreboding. Interesting theme of belief/thoughts and responsibility. However, when Something Happened it was all of a sentence and the rest of the book unravelled thereafter. I felt she made inferences at times that her story-crafting hadn't earned and as a whole the book read like two or three novel plots stitched into one. And what the hell was that ending?!

Disappointing. I kept going waiting for something to happen, and even when things did eventually happen they were brushed past so quickly with such sparse details that I was left feeling frustrated

Our first frost on the island was so beautiful. I thought this picture of the Sheep was ironic. I know I will probably catch a lot of flack for this. But I did not like this book at all. It came highly recommended by several friends, so I was surprised when I couldn't get into it. I ended up reading half of the book without enjoying it, then decided to move on.

This book got into my dreams. That‘s fairly rare. It‘s quiet meditations on the differences between thought and action, responsibility, and allegiance wove neatly through the narrative without feeling didactic or heavy handed. Easy to read, beautifully written.

#OctoberXFiles #Howl 🐺 This was a bookclub book from this past April. I did not enjoy the book but the other ladies seemed to. Our discussion was interesting which always adds another element to the story. It‘s a coming of age story (of sorts) and a look at family dynamics & roles parents play in raising their children. #BorrowNotBuy

📌St Augustine Florida. It‘s lovely here. 📌 steely dan in the spring. They are still as good as they were in the day. 📌 I play with my hair. Clutter. So many. 📌 I finished Mrs Maisel second season. So good. 📌The history of wolves is next. #humpdaypost

I loved the slow steady drip of revelations through the first two-thirds of the book, but as it worked toward the conclusion the various threads of the story unraveled instead of weaving together. By the end I was asking myself what was all that supposed to add up to? Frustrating.

A psychological thriller in essence; smart and compelling.

This book tries to tackle way too many things. I didnt hate it but there wasn't much to love either. The main character was annoyingly teenager-y lol in her attitude and super frustrating in her decisions that lead to a terrible thing happening.

1 - Sometimes I Lie

2 - History of Wolves

3 - Kristian (pronounced Christian)

4 - the ability to speed read! I avg about 400-450 WPM when I‘m reading but speed readers are around 1000 or so. Forever jealous 😥

#sundaysurvey @alisonrose

This book was slow and atmospheric and impossibly tense. I felt so uneasy while reading it that at times I was nauseated, unsure of where it was heading. I was captivated though, by the woods, by the dogs, by Paul and Patra and Leo, by Mr. Grierson, by the difference between a thought and an action, by the wolves and the trial. This was never the story I kept thinking it would be; Emily Fridlund stayed a few steps ahead of me at all times.

Today called for banana cream pie 🥧. Hoping to finish this one up tonight. It‘s so good and tense.

Beach read

Not the most glamorous picture of our dinner tonight but we REALLY enjoyed it after a longgg and deeply rewarding wedding weekend. The officiating went beyond well, our friends are now married, and we are tired!

I‘ve gotten to read a bit of this the last few days and I really love it. I am not exactly sure where it‘s going although I have some thoughts and it makes me uncomfortable and that‘s okay. I hope to finish it soon!

New book and same lunch that I think I‘ll be having the rest of summer.

This felt to me like two halves of two really great books that for some reason got stuck together, but didn't really belong with each other. I will be interested to see what the author's next book brings. #EliReadsTheBookers

Sometimes you don‘t need words to understand what someone is trying to tell you. Love and fear are emotions easily sensed. In “Wolves,” however, final verdicts depend on action, and most characters — knowing they‘re prey — play dead to survive.

@Booksnob
#sockswap
@JPeterson
I'm hoping I tagged the right person here! I saw you read the same book, so felt safe to post this. Thank you so much for the books and socks!! The cover of History of Wolves is so pretty! And have been dying to read The Leavers. Hope you are feeling better, and that you got something for the swap too. Your Sassy Bad@ssy friend! Tera💚

Ended the school year super sick so today I‘m taking care of myself and staying in bed all day. I plan to finish this gem and binge watch Scandal.

"It seemed unfair to me that people couldn't be something else just by working at it hard, by saying it over and over."

It takes a truly talented author to keep you reading when the characters on the page are so utterly unlikeable. That‘s the case with this beautifully written, heartbreaking story filled with characters that make it difficult to like them. Young family moves into cabin, local teenager babysits for them, things happen (few of them good), & by the end I couldn‘t help thinking anything other than how messed up everyone was. Still, very well-written.

Now reading...

Travel read.