Welcome to Litsy!

A strange book - murder mystery, dark comedy, fable and myth - all intertwined and led with comedic character by the village single, retired engineer. Deeply troubled, anxious about the state of the world and with a strange relationship with animals, she plays the role of sleuth well as villagers turn up murdered. Her wit and unique voice are translated so well. It was a slow start - but once it got going i hove the world she showed us.

Not a lot of action for a “mystery” but the writing is absolutely beautiful and I had a lot of sympathy for the main character, who could be quite amusing in her own crankpot way. #lmpbc Group I, will get it into the mail next week. @rachelm @aeeklund @lele1432 Just confirming...I send to @aeeklund correct?

🌟 New episode 🌟
This week we talk (ok rave) about Olga Tokarczuk‘s novel Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. You can find the episode wherever you get your podcasts (and as always the link in bio).
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Have you read it? What did you think?

Monday morning commute. I‘m about half way through and I still don‘t really know what to make of my book clubs pick???

Dear friend gifted me this book today!! Excited for our first Buddy read. #booksintranslation.

Part of me really enjoyed reading the perspective of a unique woman who lives in a mostly empty village high in the mountains, but part of me couldn‘t handle the amount of animal death, even though it was a part of the plot. Well written, but difficult for me to read in some places.

Away from home tonight for a few days work (didn‘t feel like lots of driving - so checked into overnight hotel). Found this little nook in the corner off the hotel lounge. I‘ll be here for a while! I‘ve got a book club book that I need to read ( tagged!)

Hoping to get through much of this book over the weekend for my #lmpbc group I.

After a neighbor dies suddenly, several other members of a small Polish community start to die in odd ways as witnessed by our eccentric main character. This is truly a character study of a woman more in touch with nature than people, with a mystery draped over the top. I enjoyed the humor of it but I did find it bogged down in places for me.

This is a theory of the main character. She goes on from here. My husband didn‘t seem to appreciate this, but I think she‘s a riot.

😬😆

I think I‘m going to like this one. Page 3 and I‘m already loving the snark. 😆

My deck is now in full shade, so I came inside to finish this fantastic book. I loved it - the characters, the plot, the writing - all gorgeous, and a perfectly grisly murder mystery deserving of all the awards. My first book finished for #mrbook1inamillion and just over 7 hours in for the #24b4monday #litsypartyofone Bonus: #saturdaysnuggles with #Bailey #dogsoflitsy #pibble #pitbullsoflitsy

It‘s sunny, but cold outside, so I‘ve grabbed a blanket to enjoy some time on the deck with this book that I WILL finish today. The dogs, of course, think I‘m nuts, so this is truly a #litsypartyofone.

#mrbook1inamillion #24b4monday

This book gets me. 😆

4 1/2 hours so far for the #mrbook1inamillion #litsypartyofone #24b4monday readathon. I might get another half an hour before I pass out. Today has been a very rough day. 😔

#Poland #Blake. An odd little twist on a murder mystery with an old woman astrologer as our MC. It is a wonderful introduction to rural Poland along the Czech Republic border where Catholicism and hunting are cultural norms and where our narrator is a vegetarian atheist. Humorous, sad and dark at the same time, it was my first intro to this Nobel Prize winning author. “...the human psyche evolved in order to defend us from seeing the truth”

I have a plan for the rest of the year that I have to stick to if I want to be able to meet my #mounttbr goals and clear up my NetGalley queue. It‘s too much. I‘ll burn out, but I have to try. To that end, my #weeklyforecast guarantees tears. I need to finish the tagged book and my audiobook (A Place of Execution), read The Blue Eye from cover to cover, and start Agent Jack. Wish me luck, time, energy, and sanity!

It‘s cool, but sunny outside, so I‘m going to enjoy my deck and try to make a dent in this book. I had hoped to finish it by the end of October but I‘m running a little behind with my planned reading. 😱🤷🏻‍♀️

#Bailey is being a brat and refusing to come outside with me. I guess 59*F is too cold for my spoiled pibble. 😂

This book so far has been a #treat. The writing is gorgeous. Take this passage above where the MC talks about watching the weather channel and how much she loved the weather maps. 💖
#screamathonphotochallenge

Would you be in my Book Club?
#myidealbookclub

• “Once Upon a River” - Diane Setterfield
• “Feast Your Eyes” - Myla Goldberg
• “City of Girls” - Elizabeth Gilbert
• “Salvage the Bones” - Jesmyn Ward
• “The Memory Police” - Yoko Ogawa
•”I Like to Watch: Arguing My Way Through the TV Revolution” - Emily Nussbaum

*second half in comments below 👇🏻

There were so many beautiful quotes that I took down from this one. Definitely strange but well-written.

Book shops and beer joints. #Asheville

#Malaprops

The tagged novel by a new Nobel laureate is one of my favourite books of 2019. It‘s on this list. I‘ve read 55 out of the 100 and have many of the others on my TBR. Are your favourites here?

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/21/best-books-of-the-21st-century?fbc...

Bumping this up my TBR list in honor of the newest Nobel Laureate.

Woooo Olga! Tagged book is so brilliant. I must admit I haven‘t heard of Peter Handke before but I guess I‘ll look into him now!

While I‘m sure these two are very deserving and it‘s great to see non English language lit be promoted (Olga certainly is and I‘ve got nothing against Peter), I‘m a bit disappointed not to see a non European author win either spot - Africa Asia and South America particularly get so little representation!

I do so love it when my library holds come in. Go, Libby!

#womenintranslation #wit

I made it almost halfway and just couldn‘t go on anymore 😏

Between perusing the #longlist for the #nba & reading Booklist today, my TBR is experiencing exponential growth. Hopefully, so will I. Having a relaxing soak (which only *looks* gruesome) to celebrate new beginnings, compliments of my Death Card bath bomb from Witch Baby. It‘s week 3 of my new job & everyone knows what power rests in that number. (Some of the books I added would be great, late additions for the #basicwitchswap!) 🖤🦇🛁

My September reads. I‘m still behind on what I need to read to make my Goodreads goal, and I thought I could get one more finished this month, but I‘m still happy with this group of reads. Favourite is tagged.

I had my book splurge sent to my office so I could sneak it into my house, but then I confessed to buying it last night. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣🤣 Hoping to get to this one next month!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really loved the writing in this, and I‘m soooo glad the translation is good (another translated book I‘m reading at the moment is translated very awkwardly and it‘s bothering me a lot 🙃). I found it easy to get sucked into the story, although it did drag a little bit at times. I also thought Ms. Duszejko was a great character.

#catsoflitsy #Phoenix

What a truly weird and beautiful book. I will be thinking about this one a lot.

1. Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead and Limit
2. Pumpkin spice
3. And perhaps it was just as the Author would have wished—everything that I read pervaded my dreams—and all Night I saw visions.

#weekendreads

My husband I read this aloud on our drive cross country this week. Despite weighty thoughts and issues, we laughed quite frequently. This is a sharp and witty book. Well written and powerful.

I‘ve been anxiously awaiting this one since a friend raved about an advanced copy they read a few months ago. I love the simple cover too.

#bookmail - this wasn‘t available at my local B&N so I ordered it online.

Enjoying a foggy, cold morning for a lie in with my favorite old lady and a new book for #witreadathon ! .

Quirky! Janina was funny with her insights about her neighbours. Translation was a little clunky in some parts.

Our dismissal of the elderly is well-laid bare here by Janina:

Testosterone autism!

This is a 7-day loan only. It's fairly slim so should be no problem to do.

“At this point it occurred to me that I didn‘t like this man. More than that: I felt a sudden surge of hatred toward him, as sharp as a knife.”

August is Women in Translation Month! I‘m going to attempt to post about a different book each day. 📚
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This novel was a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize. It‘s on my TBR for the weekend! It‘s by Polish author Olga Tokarczuk - who won the Man Booker International Prize last year for FLIGHTS - and is translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones. It comes out here on Tuesday, 8/13! #womenintranslationmonth 🖤📚🖤

Really enjoying this

Starting my day right with frothy coffee, some fruit, and a #buddyread with @Weaponxgirl! Shirley, I'm aiming to read the first 4 chapters before this Sunday. Wish me luck 😘

Hooray! Mini Tuesday #bookhaul. I have the afternoon off work so I can gloriously spend it reading.

Btw, @Weaponxgirl, I got it!

Short list for the Man Booker prize!: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/09/man-booker-international-shortlist...

Finished at the 11th hour before the #mbi2019 shortlist is released, this is by far my favourite of the books I‘ve read from the long list. I doubt it will win as she won it last year, but this is SO much better than flights. Weird but grounded, fascinating protagonist with a clear, individual voice, the sense of place and the Animals were just perfect. I don‘t have high hopes for it winning but certainly hope it makes the shortlist

‘Its Animals show the truth about a country,‘ I said. ‘It‘s attitude towards Animals. If people behave brutally towards Animals, no form of democracy is ever going to help them, in fact nothing will at all.‘

Good morning and happy Sunday all! I‘m so exhausted and am trying hard to make myself read books rather than stare at the news all day.

Oxford Cambridge boat race today (go dark blues) which I‘m excited to watch in London with my friends, tho mainly I like boat race day cause of the sitting around outside in the spring and it‘s raining today :/ I don‘t actually care about rowing that much