Welcome to Litsy!

#HumbleHarvest Day 21: #Baking is definitely expected from this heavenly concoction. Read Florida while we were in Florida more than a week ago. This was taken at Fridays in Orlando - our very first meal upon arriving in the city. And yes, that is a shot of Baileys to be poured on this baked goodness. 💕

Lauren Groff's writing is beautiful, there's no questioning that. Something about this collection didn't work for me though. A few of the stories felt like the beginnings of novels that were abandoned before they got going. #storyaday2023

I love the tradition of the 12 books because it allows me to tack on an extra dozen to my BOTY list!
In January I read two Lauren Groff books: her imaginative & feminist historical fiction Matrix & her short story collection Florida. Matrix was a fantastic inaugural book for the year, however Florida has stuck with me more & I frequently find myself thinking of specific stories in this collection.
#12Booksof2022
@andrew65

Settling in to our room at the Author‘s Guest House in Key West FL. We are in the Library room! Nice digs for a relatively affordable place. Not getting a lot of reading in since I‘m unlikely to come back to Florida. Soaking up all the sights and activities. Reading some Hiaasen and hoping to dive into the tagged tomorrow.

I've been reading these short stories off and on about my new state, mostly liking them, tho' I don't usually get on with short stories. About the orchid pictured: a year (or more ago) my son sent me an orchid plant. It arrived with no flowers (unlike what was shown in the catalogue) and when he inquired they told my son it was up to the recipient to get the plant to bloom. I don't have much of a green thumb, never saw buds, but I watered it &👇🏻

Planning a December trip to southern Florida and the Keys! Never been. Want to experience art, food and culture in Miami, birds, beaches, hikes and kayaking in the Keys and hit Key West. Planning to bring tagged book. What Carl Hiaasen should I bring to read? Maybe reread Hemingway short stories. Recommendations? Books? Bookstores? Places?

Excellent—unbelievably good—writing, fantastic stories, & loads of marginally happy & occasionally hopeful but mostly unhappy, dissatisfied, unfulfilled, angry, disillusioned, miserable characters…with few exceptions. I loved it. Because in the end this is a collection of stories about humanity, about people being people through all the ups & downs & in betweens in life. Standout stories include Ghosts and Empties, Eyewall, Above and Below.

In the mood for some short stories so I‘m throwing this one into the mix. Loved the first story, Ghosts and Empties, so I‘m thinking I made a good decision…

📚 Fahrenheit 451/Fables/Fates & Furies/Feast for Crows/Fevre Dream/Fifth Season/Firestarter/Florida/Forensic Records Society/Furious Hours
🖋️ Nicci French/Tana French/Gillian Flynn
🎬Five Graves to Cairo/Firestarter (84 version)/Fargo (movie & series)/Ferris Bueller
🎙️ Florence & the Machines/Fiona Apple/Fantastic Negrito/Fontaines DC/First Aid Kit
🎧 Funeral (P. Bridgers)/Famous Blue Raincoat/Fake Empire/Fetch the Boltcutters/

I‘m really enjoying this collection of stories whose main character is all Florida. Evocative and poignant.

#BestMidyear22 Day 2: I read Groff's short story collection Florida soon after reading her latest novel at the very beginning of the year. As much as I appreciated Matrix & have recommended it to several others, it is Florida that has stuck with me months later, Especially the stories Ghosts & Empties, The Midnight Zone, Eyewall, & Snake Stories. I said in my review at the time that The Midnight Zone was my fav story in the collection, but the👇

“She‘d never met a child with beady eyes before. Beadiness arrives after long slow ekes of disappointment, usually in middle age.”

"On my nighttime walks, the neighbors‘ lives reveal themselves, the lit windows domestic aquariums."


I'm not usually a big on short stories, but these were ? I would have loved to read a whole novel centered around any one of them.

Working on reducing my mountain of a TBR pile.
#ShakespeareAndCompany #NPRreccomended2018 #ObamaReccomended

Different from other fiction set in the sunshine state that I've read, Groff's Florida doesn't feature zany Florida Man stories or satirizing of corrupt politicians & corporate tourist culture. Rather she focuses on the inner lives of her characters, portraying contemporary anxieties (“Their world is so full of beauty, the last terrible flash of beauty before the long darkness“) & brief triumphs. This is the 3rd Groff that I've read, & loved.👇

With several inches of snow yesterday it is a far cry from feeling like Florida, but that's not stopping me from enjoying Groff's brilliant collection. Just finished my favorite piece so far, The Midnight Zone. One of the best stories that I've recently read.

I‘ve had a shitty day.

Lots of close family members (none of whom I‘ve seen) are testing positive for Covid, & my husband had a doctor‘s appointment canceled for the 3rd time today (his first appointment was January 2020 & he‘s yet to see anyone), so I spent the entire morning on the phone trying to fix things for him from afar. He‘s struggling with anxiety & depression and it‘s near-impossible to get him the care that he needs. 👇🏻

Checked out a few books at the library today. I'm looking forward to reading Matrix in January & I always meant to read Groff's story collection. I just read the first piece, & to say that it's amazing is an understatement.

Lauren Groff is one of my auto buy authors and I love everything she does. These stories are excellent and impart a real sense of place (even when they aren‘t set in the titular state). Pictured here with my day lilies which I‘m very excited are coming up again!

The Florida depicted in these stories would never be described as the Sunshine State. Most, if not all, of the stories are very dark...too dark for my 2020 state of mind. 😐

Am I the only one panic-reading to meet my 2020 Goodreads goal? No? Just me?

Lauren Groff is such a beautiful writer. Her talent with story telling immediately sucks me in and immerses me into the emotions of her words. This collection of short stories weaves beautifully from story to story with a repetitive character. 🖤 Happy Thanksgiving Eve to my fellow Americans! 🍁🦃#MountTBR

“Mostly, however, I see mothers I know in glimpses, bent like shepherdess crooks, scanning the floor for tiny Legos or half-chewed grapes or the people they once were, slumped in the corners.”

We moved to Florida to be close to our grandkids, and due to covid this is about the closest we've gotten in the month we've been here. We're on the 2nd floor balcony of the condo we rented taking their picture while they play on the beach.

Not usually a fan of short story/vingette type fiction, but this book kept showing up as a recommendation from trusted sources. My main takeaway, man can this girl write! Florida is lush and evocative and entirely unique, and hits home for anyone - native or transplant - who has a little piece of this wacky state in their heart. I flew through it and ordered one of her other books as soon as I finished this one.⁣

I enjoyed the collection of short stories. Its been on my radar for awile. Many of the stories are centered around relationships (romantic, parental etc.) Her writing is lovely and just pulled me along. I still need to read some of her other work which i am sure i will enjoy. Living in FL i enjoyed the familiarity of the settings of many of the stories. 🌴🌴🌴🌴

A beautiful short story collection! By far the best I‘ve read in awhile. Definitely lives up to the hype. #catsoflitsy

Very much enjoyed this collection of short stories that was such a hit a little while back. This is my first piece by Lauren Groff, but I hope to read more soon. The stories in this collection revolve around the state of Florida, and honestly I have crossed the state off my list of places to retire eventually. A very atmospheric collection, with wonderful nature writing and sharp life observations. I hope her full length novels are just as good.

A collection of short stories that uses Florida as its setting; some stories in particular are an impressive intro to Groff‘s writing.

Read January 5-7
Rating 3.5/5 ⭐️
Book 2/60

I‘m really not into short stories - but I make an exception for Lauren Groff!

https://www.theatlantic.com/books/archive/2020/01/lauren-groff-birdie-short-stor...

Very excited to start this book! As a Florida native, the first chapter is already describing it perfectly.

Lauren Groff is a favorite author. This short story collection doesn‘t disappoint and as a native Floridian her stories and detail of place and character are well observed and present some of Florida‘s strangeness without trivializing it. It is a state to both love and hate as I contemplate moving to Maine someday! Great collection!

I can‘t handle short stories in audio format. If I‘m in the middle of exercising I don‘t want to pause before the next story and it just confuses me when it switches to new characters/stories.

I started this today driving around

Fates and Furies was probably a little too pretentious for little ole silly me, so I wasnt a huge fan of Groff‘s other book, but this one is going well so far. Read by the author.

#bookhaul #locallibrary #bookandcoffeedate
My husband & I had a coffee & book date at the library today. The best kind of date! 📚☕️

Snakes and swamps and hurricanes, oh my! Groff captures the collective of contradictions that resides in Florida without the clownishness of media headlines. The characters are vivid, and I enjoyed her writing in a way I hadn‘t in her novels. There were only two stories I disliked. Solid 4⭐️

#summersendreadathon 3/10
#24b4monday

Florida is perfectly captured by both the physical settings of these stories and the emotional baggage of the characters trying to live within them or escape them. These very personal, character driven stories read like confessions or self discovery narratives. I‘m sure those of us who grew up in Florida have a different experience with this book than those who did not.

My purchases from Powell‘s. I had so much restraint! I never check bags so only had a small suitcase, and my TBR is pretty ridiculous as it is, so I didn‘t have much of a choice. I am really excited about the mug though ☺️

I yelp aloud because of the swiftness of youth, these gorgeous changes that insist not everything is decaying as fast as we can love it.

“He stepped closer to her and put his head in the crook of her neck and breathed his inadequacy out there, breathed in her love and the grease of her travels and knew had been lucky, and that he had escaped the hungry dark once more.”

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.