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⭐️⭐️ I‘m sad to report that this book fell a little short for me. The beginning started so strong, and Mandel is clearly talented; the ending just felt so rushed to me, and there were SO many questions that I just felt were left unanswered. 😓 This book is hugely popular, and generally well-received and I usually LOVE dystopian novels, but this one just didn‘t do it for me, and I really REALLY wanted to love it.

A perfect Friday night: homemade soup and rereading a favorite from a couple years ago.

“A memory from early childhood, before the collapse: sitting with a friend on a lawn, a game where they closed their eyes and concentrated hard and tried to read one another‘s minds. She never entirely let go of the notion that if she reached far enough with her thoughts she might find someone waiting, that if two people were to cast their thoughts outward at the same moment they might somehow meet in the middle.”

So I just included this in my #top10ofthedecade... and look what I found in a charity shop today!

It‘s in pretty good condition, would anyone like it? UK preferred if possible - first to ask can have it....

A interesting but odd read 4/5

This book deserved better from me. I was determined to read it in 2019 and time was getting short so I went in. When my head is in the right place a dystopian story can rank among my favorite reads. I liked the concept of the Georgian Flu, the location, and the writing but didn‘t connect with the characters. I hope to revisit later.

Arthur Leander, Hollywood actor, had a heart attack during a production of King Lear. A flu pandemic arrives and civilization as we know it comes to an end. Kirsten Raymonde and The Traveling Sympathy dedicate themselves to keeping the remnants of art and humanity alive. They encounter a violent prophet who will threaten the band‘s existence. Post apocalyptic book and not in my comfort zone and there didn't seem to be much point of the story.

Best read of 2019 (so far!) and an absolutely beautiful literary novel. Atmospheric, perfectly paced and nuanced. Heartbreaking and hopeful. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

1. ⬆️
2. Mind reading
3. Gemini♊️
4. Family breakfast, craft fair, bachelorette party
5. 💜💜

#friyayintro

1. One of the few dystopian books I have enjoyed.
2. Patience
3. Aquarius
4. Reading, church (my church has a Saturday evening service that attend since I work on Sundays)
5. 🥰

#friyaintro @howjessreads

#friyayintro @howjessreads

📗 Station Eleven
🙃 Teleportation
♑
🐎 and 📚
👍

1. Done.
2. Is perfect pitch a superpower? 😂
3. Sagittarius
4. Driving home, then attending a house warming/engagement party/Cuban pig roast
5. Off I go
#friyayintro

I know many people love this but I let this sit on the shelves for quite a while until earlier this year. It was a pleasant surprise, I liked it!
#GratefulReads #thoughtyouwouldntlikebutdid

I really enjoyed this book! It was quite different from anything I‘ve read - format wise. There‘s no plot that I figured out, it‘s more a revelation of facts and occurrences and what happens in post-Georgian flu world to a specific collection of people. I don‘t know how else to explain it. The characters are compelling. The writing thought provoking! I suspect I‘ll be thinking of this book for quite some time... 4 ⭐️s

One of my favourite books so far this year....
#future
#MOvember

I know I‘m late to the party on this one, but so glad to be getting to it after it‘s been on my shelf for ages. What a good read!

"I was in the hotel," he said finally. "I followed your footprints in the snow." There were tears on his face.
"Okay," someone said, "but why are you crying?"
"I'd thought I was the only one," he said.
.
.
This haunted me after I read it, which of course was right before bed. I imagined surviving some end-of-times event and not seeing another living person for 100 days. Imagine that first sighting, that first connection. Disbelief. Pain. Relief.

For a #postapocalyptic novel, the plot of #StationEleven felt fresh. It focused less on the horrors of the new world and more on the beauty, tenderness, and interconnectedness of #humanity. I often considered how I'd feel in similar circumstances (both before and after the Flu). I loved that it was largely set along #LakeMichigan and in an #airport! Highly recommend to anyone who enjoys this genre. #airplanes #pandemic #fiction #fame #survival

Really, really glad I got my flu shot! 🤣

⭐⭐⭐⭐ ½
It took me a little while to get into this book but once I did, I loved it!

I really enjoyed this. I always say post apocalyptic fiction isn‘t for me, but this one really worked for me, without triggering my anxiety. I feel like I wanted something more from the ending, although I‘m not sure what. Maybe I just wasn‘t ready for it to end.

The flashbacks were a bit too long for my taste, especially since the characters relations aren't clear until the end. Overall an entertaining post-apocalyptic story.

I am in the minority with this one. I didn‘t love it but I didn‘t hate it. The narrative alternates between before and after the pandemic. It is a study on life and relationships, choices made and their affect on ourselves and others and how we survive in the memories of those who knew us as our actions carry on in a future without us. With all the ingredients for a book I should have loved, this one just jumped around too much for my liking.

1.) Done. ✅ “Station 11” (By the way, does any one know if she yet wrote another book❓🤔)

2.) Yes, I do make my bed. It makes me feel to snuggle into something fresh in the evening even if the sheets are not put on freshly.

3.) Cold pizza is such a _yes_‼️

4.) 👟: I think in the US system it‘s 5,5-6.

5.) Thanks for the tag @Come-read-with-me – For @howjessreads ‘s #FriYayIntro I tag: @Yoricke_SouthAfrica , @Jari-chan , @La_Cori

UK Littens this popped up on a Facebook Ad tonight.... #99pOnKindle

Bookish Song Nr. 3: All I Want Is Love by A Great Big World

I used to skip this song whenever it popped up on my Shuffle mode, until one day I happened to listen to it. And in no time I was back on tour with the Travelling Symphony. I saw them playing, I saw their past and their way through this new world. The whole atmosphere is just so fitting ❤️

❤ ❤ This book is love ❤ ❤
Defenitely a highlight in my reading year 2019. And it sure looks like this book and its characters refuse to let me go.

More, please!

I want this to turn into an entire series. I want a vignette of loosely connected ppl living in a country made up of thousands of islands, like Indonesia. And another for those in the Great White North of Canada. Another for the International Space Station who watched all the lights go out.

I don‘t usually read fanfic but in this case I say BRING IT ON!

#screamathon

(art credit https://www.deviantart.com/ejaynoir)

I got my annual flu shot this week. I hope it protects me from the Georgia Flu.

Punderson State Park, Newbury, Ohio

My sentiments exactly every time I travel for work.

I‘m so impressed at the author‘s ability to seamlessly switch the tone and writing styles between the handful of letters, excerpts of an interview, and the main narration. It‘s the mark of a great author. Loving this book so far; #screamathon is off to a great start!

As soon as I read this I had the line from Leonard Cohen‘s ”Famous Blue Raincoat” echoing through my head:

🎶 “New York is cold but I like where I‘m living” 🎶

...aaaaand now I‘m picturing Arthur as the late, great Lenoard Cohen in my head (…which fits, somehow?)
#screamathon

Excited for my first #screamathon and #screamathonPhotoChallenge! Not pictured: The Turn of the Screw, Through The Woods, Sadie, and A Ladder to the Sky (assuming my library holds come through before the end of the month!)

This is a wonderful book! It is filled with love and hope and well-written characters. I loved reading this book and seeing how all the pieces of this puzzle fall into place. One of my highlights in September 💗

#BookAWeekChallenge

"Because survival is insufficient."

Originally, I thought this was just another run-of-the-mill dystopian society book (which I'm not knocking, I love this genre). However, Station Eleven has so much more depth than that. It's truly a book about humanity. The storyline jumps back and forth to the time right before a rapid flu kills most people on Earth, and about 15-20 years after the demise.

Thank you so much for this book @BarbaraBB - one of my favourites so far this year! I know it gets a lot of love here on Litsy and I can see why. I loved the different storylines and timelines that all intersected at some point, and I found it all the more chilling for being so close to reality.

I‘m annoyed I was so late to the party with this one! 😁

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Did no aeronautical engineers/students survive? What about the text books. I don't understand. (Yeah, the apocalypse is not for me)

Finally diving into the book club pick for the month! 🤗 #bookclub #currentlyreading #booksandcoffee

I probably should have read this before Severance. Not because it might compare unfavorably, but because I was not a fan

This is a star book because it really fits into my love for the post apocalyptic world. It is remarkably similar to other oeuvres of the genre but ultimately it‘s story arcs coming together in a powerfully underwhelming way. The important is reduced to trivial and the trivial is recast when the end comes!

Review 2 of 2 😁 I love the cover of this edition 🧡

I found that I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. This time though, rather than enjoying the wonder of what would happen next, and which of the characters it would happen to, I enjoyed the intertwinedness of the characters and their stories. It was cleverly done, and reading it again took away none of the appeal.
Linger review on Goodreads for anyone interested 😊 #Reread

Safe and sound in Prague, and I've been enjoying reading in the sun all day 😊

Review to follow tomorrow 😁

So, I started this today and I‘m having a hard time doing anything else. It‘s so good 🤤.

I know I‘m very late to the party, but I‘m finally here to add my love! Absolutely wonderful and completely unexpected, especially from a post-apocalyptic novel, I was wrapt! Thanks to Tanisha again for gifting it to me 😘

I haven't a single negative thing to say about this book. It was perfectly executed.

Read this one along with my 7th grader, who is about halfway through himself. There is a local organized event centered around this novel, and the library was promoting it last time we were there. It just happened to be on my TBR anyway. We didn't get to attend the festival, but it was fun to read the book anyway.

#Overdrive #VirtualMountTBR2019

Thanks for the wonderful gifts @BarbaraBB and @kathedron - I feel so very lucky!

Barbara - I‘m very much looking forward to reading Station Eleven, I‘ve heard such good reviews on here!

Kate - I stacked this one from the recent reading challenge I co-hosted and it does sound really good doesn‘t it? I‘ll let you know when I‘ve read it.... Thanks also for the chocolate 😋

This book is mentioned everywhere. This is a blurb from Well Met by Jen DeLuca. I really need to move this book up my TBR

So my phone decided to update last night and the timer reset 😫 so I guess I'm starting fresh this morning 😅

I've hit a bit off a reading wall because I'm not sure I fancy any of the books that I've got on my current #TBR so I'm going to have a reread of something I know I love but haven't properly reviewed yet and come back to my #TBRChallenge picks when I'm ready 😊
#SummersEndReadathon #LeastRated #TBRCleanup 🖤💜❤

It‘s always a good day when you come home to book mail from friends. Thanks so much, Tanisha for sending me this. I cannot wait to read it. You‘re a kind heart & a beautiful friend ❣

Set in a future dystopian landscape after a pandemic has decimated most of human civilization, this novel skips back and forth through time exploring the twisting connections, brief encounters, and pure happenstances that make up human existence. Even after all that we think of as comprising human civilization vanishes before our eyes, these things remain, reminding us what it truly means to be alive.

Recommended if you enjoyed The Nix.