Welcome to Litsy!

Started this today but it may not be a great choice for these times.

#FriYayIntro @howjessreads
1. 👍🏼 I threw in several!
2. Meh, I have to host a Valentine‘s Tea Party for all girls.. so both?
3. Burnt orange or browns
4. My mom couldn‘t remember.. haha! Probably something basic
5. 💙💙

I think it‘s apropos that I finished reading this book during a snowstorm with a family of animals clamoring up and down the roof right over my head because the novel itself is creepy, confusing in its details, and mysterious. The idea of the book and this story is intriguing and inspired me to continue reading until the end. I wonder what it would‘ve been like if Marcus had chosen to focus more on the emotional impact of such a plague.

Marcus tests the boundaries of what it means to be human in this book.

“It‘s always startled me that people are so cautious when it comes to who exactly they are. It‘s almost the only thing we really get to control. What a missed opportunity, really” (127).

This is 1 of my favorite covers ever. The book itself, however, not one of my favorites. Honestly, I don‘t totally get it. The premise—language is lethal & only children are immune—is intriguing. So too is thinking about how our brains might rewire themselves so that we could communicate without using what we‘ve traditionally understood as language. Snippets of great writing aside, I just didn‘t love the way the author investigated that question.

Ok, I‘m ready to commit to my “carry it around wherever I go book,” because, honestly, I‘m ready to carry around something else. I‘m also certain that even as I continue my internal debate about how much I actual like this book (if at all) it will continue to provoke & intrigue me and provide enough mysteriously well-written passages seemingly out of nowhere, that I‘ll be able to power through to the end. Here goes. Wish me luck!

I‘m out & about & enjoying a little reading time with my “take one everywhere” book. I have to admit, I don‘t know that I entirely “get” this book. I‘m not even entirely sure I like it—though I can say I don‘t love it. That being said, every time I pick it up, I seem to find some beautiful writing or an intriguing idea. Something keeps bringing me back. So I read & I wonder & marvel at how weird this book is. It makes me think & that‘s not bad...

A quote from my “out and about and never leave home without one” book...

Supervising study hall today so reading more of The Flame Alphabet—always a good idea to stick a book in your bag & leave it there. The premise, the sound of children‘s voices makes adults physically ill & can even be lethal, is really out there. And, as the back of the book asks, how do you leave a child you love even if hearing his/her voice is slowly killing you? A good question, likely impossible to answer...I suppose I need to keep reading.

Today‘s “shove it in the bag and go” book. Love this cover (perfect for a gray, rainy day) and the intriguing premise.

How much do I love the “sale” shelves at one of my favorite local booksellers?!? Quite a bit actually. I went to buy gifts for friends and found a few things for myself—friends too! (It‘s a risk I run whenever I go to a bookstore. It‘s so hard NOT to find something.) Two books in/about Chicago, one not. All have great covers and I‘m excited to spend the school break reading.

Here is my #patternspines for #bookcolortag. I was tagged by @mrozzz

I feel like I'm one of the last few to have done this but I'm gonna tag @EchoLogical @8little_paws annnddd @DuskAngelReads to do maroon spines ❤️❤️

This story, of language usage by children that causes their parents to wither away, was too cerebral for me. Not enough emotion. Children came across as tyrants b/c they knew their power over the adults. Various alternative methods of communication were discarded without enough depth for several of them. Author seems to care more about his usage of language (which is well-done) than trying to make the reader *feel*.

#LitsyAtoZ, Letter M (author).

Seems like a lot of epidemics start this way. No big deal until it affects the general population, right?

Had been curious about this book for a long time. Parents' lives are threatened because hearing the speech of their children cause the parents to waste away.

@vivastory 's recent reading of this novel spurred me to throw this in my cart on amazon prime day. Let's see how this goes!

William S. Burroughs called language a virus, in Ben Marcus' novel, it is a plague. The narrator reminded me of JG Ballard's narrators, protagonists who find themselves in unusual circumstances and are simultaneously fascinated & repulsed by the situation (Chabon calls them insanely sane). There are elements of Jewish mysticism (calling to mind Kafka), frankly as someone with a rudimentary knowledge of the subject, I felt like a lot of it 👇

I really wanted to like this one. The concept is great: children' voices become deadly weapons in this #dystopian novel. Parents leave their children to survive. In the end however, it went over my head and became too abstract. #knausgaardsfavouritebook

My sister-in-law did some spring cleaning and I got a sweet book haul out of it! 📚👍🏻

I genuinely liked certain parts of this, and I enjoyed thinking about language and communication so abstractly.

Still. Life is too short to finish a book you don't enjoy. The protagonist was an ass, too many things go unexplained, and the writing feels too concerned with being ~~Literary~~ than with reaching out to readers. Meh.

The main character can't possibly have enough sick days for the first chunk of this book to work... although adherence to reality might be the least of its worries. #impossible #LyricalApril 🔥😶📚

I have a bad habit of finishing books even when I don't like them (which I talked about on our February episode of #EclecticReaders), but usually I'd have to anyway because they're book club books. Because I'm committed like that! #didntlikeitstillfinished #MarchintoReading

#thisshouldbeamovie - a seriously disturbing movie. #seasonsreadings2016

I don't think I've ever physically thrown a book across a room, but the closest I think I've ever gotten are with these two. Neither lived up to my expectations in the least. #threwitacrosstheroom #PhotoadayNov16 @RealLifeReading

One of my favorite covers of all time. Makes me miss construction paper crafts... Maybe I should start scrapbooking?

Brain: Wake up! Responsibility is calling!Me: ......ugh.......*muffles under covers*
Heart: ....do you want to go to the library?
Me: I'll be ready in five minutes.
Brain: seriously?!