Welcome to Litsy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is written so well, and is so interesting 😊 Read for #ReadHarderChallenge2021 My final book for this year‘s challenge 🙌🏻🤩📚 4.25/5 #ReadHarderChallengeFinisher2021

4✨ This is a historic event I remember hearing about, but lost in my memory. I really liked the storyline all be it pretty sad. A group of various individuals find themselves traveling together to escape the war. Some make it out, and the others sadly do not.

That cover looks so ominous. The audiobook version of this story is very good. I like having different voices for different characters. It adds so much to my understanding and compassion for them. This is a book I will be thinking about for days. I knew it was going to make me sad, but I had to read it anyway. The Author‘s Note at the end was especially interesting. #135 #BookSpinBingo #24 #BFC21 #BUZZWORDATHON Elements #NovelNovember

RIP Wilhelm Gustloff and all the others that deserved to go down in history⚓

This was so good! I knew nothing of the event this was based on, which isn‘t terribly surprising given the atrocities the Germans committed in WWII; don‘t really want something that may make you feel sympathetic towards them. The story she told was great though. Almost 5 stars but I don‘t really love her writing style, which I‘ll explain why ⬇️. Meanwhile, this was my #bookspin for August.

“Guilt is a hunter.” #firstlinefridays

Starting my #bookspin since will have a somewhat lazy day with a sick kiddo. First chapter and this is gonna be gut wrenching. But also based on the style of her last book I read may be a quick one with the short chapters.

This is a truly beautiful book. It‘s written from the perspective of 4 protagonists each with their own past and characteristics. If your looking for a beautiful historical fiction book that blends with other genres then tho so for you!

“Your daughter, your sister. She is salt to the sea.”

#59
Wow, another heart breaking story...loved it

Ebook on sale today. Highly recommended

The audio version was excellent. Multiple narrators to cover the multiple points of view. Fast moving story with characters you care about.
Based on a true story of a ship that was sunk at the end of WWII during an evacuation. It‘s listed as young adult but some pretty serious scenes.

I am posting a book every day from my TBR collection. 📚

Day 82

#tbrpile #tbrmountain #bookstoread

Last minute audiobook download for an unscheduled long road trip. About 1/2 through, and enjoying the quick short chapters and multiple viewpoints told by multiple narrators. It‘s definitely keeping us entertained.

This is my #doublebookspin, and I am bailing at about 60 pages in because I find I am just skimming. Not for me. @TheAromaofBooks

"This guy wasn‘t a sailor. He was a sociopath in training."

Alfred is the most unstable character in this book. You never know where his mind will bring him next.

My heart can‘t take the fact that this was likely the worst maritime disaster in history. And I‘d never heard of it, never even knew it existed. 😕💔
For more about the Wilhelm Gustloff tragedy, start here:
https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/sinking-wilhelm-gustloff

Instead of reading the other book. I am going to read all of Ruta Sepeteys books. Her books are so interesting!!

#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

#12BooksofChristmas #Day10 Time for a YA pick. Ruta Sepetys writes wonderful historical fiction, always a bit heart breaking but with hope. And I‘ve learned a ton about different periods and places in time I that knew little or nothing about.

Holy buckets does this book pack a punch!! It is heartbreaking to think that so many atrocities of war are unknown. I applaud Sepetys for giving theses forgotten souls a voice.

The writing was beautiful. Brutal. And ever so impactful. How Ruta writes and crafts the story in short chapters was just immersive. 😍

There were also themes of love, family, heroism, trauma which I could resonate with. But I didn't hit me. The story is both hopeful and tragic. But I couldn't feel it. The characters are so different and complex. But I couldn't relate to them. 😐

Overall, it was well thought out but lacked in emotions. 😓

Just laying in bed, waiting for the results of my COVID test, I was able to finish this one. I thought it was excellent, as all of her other books have been! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This has been on my tbr forever... I am so glad my book club choose it this month!! 🤓

I finished this book in mostly one sitting. The story was so compelling—the disaster only made it more impactful. Hopefully saying that doesn‘t spoil any part of the book. Overall, a great read—I‘ve yet to read anything bad from Ms. Sepetys.

January, 1945. German refugees are racing to the ports in East Prussia and hoping to get into a ship to Germany to escape the advancing Russian army. Told from the perspective of four young people, all deeply affected by the war and with secrets to keep. Once again Ruta Sepetys has written a heart breaking book about a tragedy I knew nothing about.

This is a heart-rending account of the winding down of WWII as seen through the eyes of a handful of young people, all from different countries. They are all, however, deeply impacted by the war. As if what we already know about the horrors of WWII aren‘t bad enough, this book brings overlooked tragedies to our attention. 😢

Wow! This one made me ugly cry. This story is told in multiple narratives. The characters are all involved (in different ways) in trying to escape Russia‘s invasion of Germany near the end of WWII. This novel is historical fiction and highlights a major catastrophic event that many readers, including me, had never heard of. In times of turmoil, we see the very best and very worst of people. That is true for this novel as well.

Oh my goodness, Ruta‘s books gut me. I know they are intended for a young audience which is sometimes apparent in the communications between her characters, but the description of what they experience is heartbreaking. I just did not know the Lithuania story until I read this author.

Book13 #15Books15Weeks @TheHeartlandBookFairy

5 🌟 I absolutely love this! My previous two by this author was also a 5 stars read, so I‘m not suprised that I loved this book so much. This is a historical fiction that tells a story during WWII, particularly on the event during the evacuation of German refugees on a ship named Wilhelm Gustloff. We follow multiple points of view and I love each of the characters so much. The story is so heartbreaking and gut wrenching. Have you read this book?

My father is currently in surgery. I can‘t go in so I‘m sitting in the hospital parking lot. I started Salt to the Sea, but I‘m not sure how I feel about it. Having trouble keeping the characters straight.

Wow! It amazes me that there is still so much history that is left in the dark. I had never heard of this ship and even questioned some of my own knowledge of the war while reading this book! The story is very captivating, but the inital switching of character perspectives in each chapter had me starting off slowly. Definitely a great read that I will be adding to my classroom library!

In the midst of WWI, four youths cross frozen land to aboard a ship set to sail across the Baltic Sea.

Wonderfully, amazing book. A heartwrenching tale describing the horrors of war. Definitely a must read.

#twofortuesday even though its Wednesday
@TheSpineView @Texreader

1 and 2. This year has been the first year in many that I am able to read again and with each book, I push myself to read more. It's amazing what depression can destroy, my love for reading was my destruction. However, with all things, you can rebuild and grow. Moving forward, I have four personal challenges and hundreds of books on my tbr list.

I didn't like is as much as Between Shades of Gray, but it was still good, definitely a YA book. I do love how she writes about more unknown events of WWII. Did you know there was a ship sinking "six times deadlier than the Titanic"? Because I definitely did not.

**side note. Since I tend to buy used books, I will often end up with multiple copies of the same book. Especially when they change the cover.

#two4tuesday

1. Tagged; 5 stars!
2. Same challenges as always: #authoramonth (Mary Roach), #readingeurope2020 (working on Switzerland at the moment and will hopefully squeeze in Denmark), #litsyatoz (working on letter R and I still need Q, U, and Z books)

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView @GingerAntics 😘

Wanna play @freeatlast1137 @Scochrane26 @crimson613 ?

I was able to go to an actual bookstore today! I am still trying to buy less until I get my tbr down, but I had to get these three. If you‘ve read any of them let me know what you think of them!

https://readinginthewildwood.com/2020/06/17/a-long-awaited-book-haul/

Ruta Sepetys is a gifted author. This is the 2nd book by her I‘ve read, both incredibly well-written. This book tells tragic, horrifying stories about the largest disaster in maritime history in a most dignified way. For example, no doubt rape occurred but it is disclosed in a subtle thoughtful way. Told from 4 characters‘ POV, you fall in love with 3 of them & the people with whom they traveled. A fast read, worth every minute. ⬇️

Before bed reading. This book is incredibly good. I just read such a touching scene, although I can‘t reveal because of spoilers. Just a note to say, wow, this is a good book.

Captivating book!

#ReadYourSign
#Capricorn ♑
#Lapis Lazuli cover - Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Starting this one tonight. #readingeurope2020 #Lithuania

#BookReport #WeeklyForecast. How to Stop Time has everything I love in a book: history, great characters, time manipulation but it fell flat for me. I think it‘s more me then the book. Loved Salt to the Sea 4 🌟

I am 70% through The House on the Cerulean Sea and loving it. Half through Lost Friends on audio. Have a couple hours of driving ahead of me today so might finish. Good story and great narration. Just started the other two.

“I became good at pretending. I became so good that after a while the lines blurred between my truth and fiction. And sometimes, when I did a really good job of pretending, I even fooled myself.”
― Ruta Sepetys, Salt to the Sea

“But unlike Mama, I would not go to heaven. My secrets padlocked the gates. I'd be a torn kite stuck in the dead branches of a tree, unable to fly.” 😭💔

#kite
#BloomingBibliophiles

⭐⭐⭐
A horrific story about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustluff. I was left feeling somewhat disappointed with this one. I would have liked it better if they had fewer main characters. There was a lot of back-and-forth and some chapters were only a few pages long. I liked Between Shades of Gray better.
@megnews #YAApril
#Bookspin #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

A real page turner. Chose this for the Read Harder Challenge, a book about a refugee, and it was terrific.

#readharder

Three of my favorite novels with #shoesonthecover

#magnificentmarch

@OriginalCyn620

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This book was eye-opening and such an experience to read. I learned about a tragic event and page after page I was sucked into the constant pain and turmoil of emotions. The book was a sad story of the biggest marine disaster that no one knows about. The sinking of the Lusitania was depicted in this book with immaculate detail and brought tears to my eyes. Through multiple narratives and mystery, the book was written beautifully.