Welcome to Litsy!

I need to preface this by saying I‘m not a big fan of short story collections in general. I tend to like character driven novels so short stories can be frustrating for me since there isn‘t usually enough time to flesh out characters. Having said that, there were a few stories like the one during the tornado and the first one set in France that I really loved and I expect those who are fans of short stories will love this collection.

Risking a #litsyneighborhood walk this morning under a very stormy looking sky.
This audiobook re-read for a bookclub (previously read in print) is perfect for my South FL locale.
The gorgeous writing captures the eerie natural brutality of Florida in each of the short stories, it‘s extremes of weather, it‘s prehistoric creatures, the humidity and oppressiveness....
It‘s soooo good! 💕🌴😎🦎🐊🐢🦅🌩💨

As always, Groff‘s prose is beautiful. I didn‘t like this as much as her other books, but short stories aren‘t really my thing. Just as I get invested, they end. But I did like the recurring mother character. And I related as a northerner living in the south. Descriptions of north Florida are spot on!

“She buries her failure in this, as she buries all her failures, in reading.“
Yep, that's me!

Thoughts on this bookcase? 👍🏻 or 👎🏻

Photo credit: Nj.sterling IG

I should be reading but.......

Very good, a little melancholy but that's okay. Short stories with one recurring character. The narrator's voice seems to be the same one through the whole book though. Intentional?

And so the move begins. This is about a quarter of my TBR pile - and my TBR is only about a quarter of my books owned. Lord have mercy.

Excited about the next month of reading

I listened to the #audiobook of this #shortstory collection. There were seriously amazing scenes and writing throughout. I am not a huge short story fan, but I like the author and heard great things; it didn't disappoint. I also many of the stories relatable as the mothers featured in the stories often had two young sons, as I do. Also, Florida was such an intense setting in these stories, obvs! 🐊

Next up is Florida on #audiobook. However, pictured here is the #librarybook with one of my 4 beautiful blooming apple trees. 🌸 🍏 🌳 #readandlisten

Camping can sometimes mean rain, but this is where we are this week. I was able to read here today, with a wonderful breeze and an iced tea. #retirement

I‘m left a bit meh with this book, and I‘m not really sure it is the book‘s fault. I‘m mostly into weird, magical and fairy tale like short stories, so this realistic collection isn‘t really in my wheel house. Groff‘s writing is great, but it didn‘t really make me feel anything, except a bit anxious with all the snakes.

#MarchMadnessChallenge

Treat yo self 🙌

#currentlyreading

We fly home tomorrow. 😭

The first of many #LibraryHaul(s) for the #MarchMadness reading challenge 📚📚

Booked tickets for a long-weekend down in Florida this evening. This‘ll be me in just a little over two weeks‘ time. Sunshine, here I come! ☀️

Now accepting vacation reading suggestions. 😉

Our first RV trip to the Everglades was a good one. I read three books and we enjoyed 🐊 spotting. Spotty internet and Tv signal was almost welcome. Almost. #mountTbr

#readingUSA2019. I finished Florida yesterday. 4🐊. Moving right along with my #readingUSA2019.

4🐊. Fresh from the Everglades! Great short story collection, all with a Florida connection. #readingUSA2019

Starting this for a weekend in the Everglades. Seems appropriate. 🐊🐊🐊#readingUSA2019

#Booked2019 #Clifi Thankyou @KarenUK for the heads up on this one ... I loved Fates & Furies ... And was only too happy to read this one ! I found it haunting & beautifully written, love this writer ♥️👍🏻
✅ #clifi done & dusted

This Cli-Fi story has everything I‘d expected from Lauren Groff. Gorgeous writing with an underbelly of something sinister.
A single mum struggles as her grasp on reality slips away, triggered by a disturbing discovery during a beach clean up. She spirals as the threat of environmental destruction, and the pending decay of the south FL coastline appears to loom ever closer in her mind.
#booked2019 #CliFi
(Not in database -A kindle single)

I don‘t know what it is with me and Lauren Groff but she just does not do it for me. I realize that she writes in English but it all comes out as so much word-mush. All the stories in this collection bleed together because there isn‘t a lot of plot or character. It‘s all atmosphere. So in that sense this book is aptly named. A state with storms and swamps and creepy creatures is the MC here. Very gothic. Yawn.

I can see why others liked it but this one‘s not for me.

Lauren Groff has written novels that have stayed with me for years. This collection of short stories will too. I have a strained relationship with short stories in general, but Groff‘s descriptions and subject matter kept me glued to the page. I can‘t wait to read whatever she writes next.

I‘m reading the tagged book but this is the current temperature outside and it‘s supposed to get even colder. An accumulated 20 inches of snow fell over the last three days and my shoveled piles are taller than my head. It‘s actually quite beautiful out there. Sweaters, blankets, a couch and a great deal of reading is my plan for this wintery day. Snug as a bug in a rug. 😀

Florida with its storms and snakes link all these stories together as do mothers and men of differing levels of bad. I was drawn into each one. She challenges the convention of what a mother should be or feel and does so honestly without being self-deprecating. She gives these mothers interests and lives outside their children without making them unloving or bad mothers. Women as whole people.

Book 3 of the year. Loved this short story collection, they kept on getting better throughout the book. Great reflections on women, independence and motherhood.

“Now a hunger that cannot quite be located comes over her, a sense of yearning, for what? Maybe for kindness, for a moral sense that is clear and loud and greater than she is, something that can blanket her, no, no, something which she can hide for a minute and be safe.”

What in the hail?!
Can someone please tell me what I‘m missing?!?!
I read the first three stories and I just... ugh. Can‘t do it.

So I started this one today- and I‘m two stories in 😒 I‘m not sure if I‘m missing something.... or maybe I‘m not intellectual enough but- not quite getting the hype 🤔 Is it just me?

This was the perfect short story collection to lose myself in these past few weeks. Lauren Groff is a master of literary fiction, and I loved the unifying theme of the state of Florida (although I‘ve never been).

savage

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Short Stories are hard. Lauren Groff is now on my list of go to authors- her writing is fabulous. These stories about my home state were great. Eerie and strange and poignant. Go pick this one up!

Next up! 😍

3⭐️ I liked this short story collection more than I liked Arcadia, but not nearly as much as I liked Fates and Furies. In theory these stories all reflect Florida, though they don‘t all take place there. My favorites were Flower Hunters and Above and Below. Groff is especially good at writing the mothers of children—she captures the fear, worry, amazement, and love so well.

Has anyone tried these cli-fi short stories with narration on Amazon Prime? It looks like they have some good authors and they are in Goodreads database if anyone is looking for shorter things to reach their reading challenges

This kind of day — filled with things I love 🐶🎄📚 #snickerdoodles #sleepingdog #christmastree #reading

I can relate!!! 🤣😂

Starting this one on this rainy Sunday! Perfect day to curl up with a book I‘ve heard so many good things about.

I really enjoyed this.Get the audio version.

This book has a special shiny glow for me and I immediately looked up all her other stuff. Of course I liked some stories more than others but I got sucked in every time. This book has a certain weird factor. I know it is named Florida and we all think Florida is weird (right?), but it's not that. I get the impression the author is a little weird, in a good way. We could hang out, lol.

I'm about to bail on this one. I made it through 68 pages and I'm still not into it.

I've been trying to start this book for 2 days and keep getting interrupted. This is the cutest interruption so far!

I don‘t generally care for short stories, but I really enjoyed this collection! I liked the way the author never named many of the characters. I loved the inclusion of the Florida fauna. I appreciated the author‘s seeming dislike and at the same time undeniable attraction for the state.

Great book event in Portland today! In addition to a pop up poetry reading by Wendy Chen and the book sale, I attended ‘This is America: Race and Family‘ with authors Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Nicole Chung and Luis Alberto Urrea as well as ‘Dangerous Places: Women and Power‘ with Lauren Groff and Rachel Kushner. All were fantastic. (I started reading ‘Florida‘ while in line —I‘m excited to read more tonight!) #PortlandBookFestival #pdxbookfest

A pick for consistently strong atmosphere and exploration of character. I ran out of time to finish it (darn library books with holds on them) but would still recommend it.

Got to see Lauren Groff at Hugo House in Seattle tonight, reading a brand new short story. She is - ok so too many words have been overused and soured by Trump, but - phenomenal. She‘s phenomenal. Also got to hear brand new material from R.O. Kwon and Kim Fu and they were incredible as well!

Great collection of short stories. An intimate reflection on the exterior and interior landscape of swamp and sweat that is Florida.