Welcome to Litsy!

Woof. The writing is way too pretentious for me to try and continue. No thanks.

#BookSpinBingo

Entirely unsettling, but it‘s a pick for me. I know the ending (or non-ending) is a point of contention for some. For me, I‘m good with not knowing what happens but being left with enough clues to guess at a couple of outcomes. Alam sprinkles in details about what‘s going on in other places across the US that are really interesting, but I definitely could‘ve done without the unnecessary and unwanted sex/bodily fluids/body parts details.

“She packed a book, as you never knew when you‘d need a book.” My book goes everywhere 🤷‍♀️✊🤓 #lifemotto

“She wasn‘t terrible, his sister, and she was still a little kid, so she couldn‘t help being a dumbass. Had he been that stupid at thirteen?” 😏😆😂🤩 #siblings

I did like the actual story and I‘m not sure what is creepier- reading it in first lockdown with not a clue what‘s happening to us all or reading now on brink of another war/invasion 🤷‍♀️ we all know the dread of uncertainty.
But I hated the authors overblown writing style with totally inappropriate sexual descriptions- come on - some of them just made me go ewww.

Exactly Rose! Have to be prepared!

And further to my last post, here's the stack with the lovely edges.

I liked this as a lit fict pick but as others have mentioned, the ending left a lot of unanswered questions. Overall it was a solid ⭐⭐⭐

I really wanted to love this book. I devoured it in one night. The plot was so mysterious and intriguing, I couldn‘t put it down. Unfortunately, the end felt rushed and was a complete let down. I am still left with questions and the story did not feel as resolved as I would have liked it to be.

Next up, Leave the World Behind. I love Marin Ireland as a narrator so hopefully it works out.

This is a VERY light pick, tomorrow it may be a so-so. Fantastic premise and set-up but it all sort of fizzled out. I couldn‘t put it down which means it was more successful than my previous attempt with this author. Ultimately I think he‘s just a wee bit too pretentious for me.

Amanda and Clay rent an AirBnB in remote farmland as they can‘t quite afford the beach. Then the owners return; is it true something terrible has happened in New York? Or is it a scam? We watch the following days unfold with tantalising teasers, undertones of racism and privilege, and a sense of dread, unease and claustrophobia. This is unusual, clever, entirely absorbing and feels extremely timely.

Finished the tagged… very disappointed. I‘ve left a short spoilerish review on goodreads, for those who‘ve read it & want to know why 😕

Started Wintering. The 1st chapt was like listening to someone describe one of my greatest nightmares. I‘m glad I pushed through, of course. I‘m about 10% in & … I feel like I *need* this book right now

Also rec‘d #LMPBC #groupw book last night - Thank you Katie! ♥️

And rec‘d #fantasticstrangelings Jan book 🥳

Would be a great movie. Tackles so many interesting themes about technology, information and isolation. great and really well written!

September 2021

It was tough choosing my top ten fiction but here they are. I read so many good books this year. My clear number one is the tagged book. It was the first book I read in 2021 and I loved it! #TopTen #Favoritesof2021

21-25 Dec 2021 (audiobook)
A family rents a home in remote Long Island for a chance to enjoy the other half‘s life. In the night, an older black couple knock on the door, re-claiming their house having fled the city because something is happening. Unusual activities follow - animal migration, unexplained illness, and disconnection.
An eery, disconcerting novel which reflects on the Other, human bonds formed in catastrophe and our fragility.

It‘s all about the atmosphere, which is an unsettling, unknown dread and a mysterious event that is occurring ‘off-screen.‘ A family staying at a remote Air B&B, are unexpectedly confronted with the return of the possible owners, and the loss of communication to the outside world. The Omnipresent narrator, POV-hopping works so well. Tackles race, class and human behavior in crisis so well. Not for anyone who likes an ending tied up in a neat bow!

Sad to say this one didn‘t land for me. There‘s a cool concept in here, but the prose was way too purple for my taste, and the story spins its wheels for a long time before ending abruptly. Just wasn‘t for me in the end.

Great atmosphere of building tension. Reminded me of A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet. 3 🌟 #BookSpinBingo

#conflictedworlds #disaster (a day late)
@eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I am a lover of a slow burn read and one which doesn't have all the answers is perfect. This is a great disaster read where you are not quite sure what is actually going on.

This book had a lot of potential. I feel like it promptly ended as soon as the story got moving and I got interested. It‘s like the author didn‘t know what direction to go so just ended it mysteriously. ⭐️⭐️

Making progress!

#mbcreadathon #mbcbookfrogsreadathon7

I often get to enjoy this spot by myself and leave my worries and the world behind. My sister filled me in on all the spoilers for the tagged book. If she hadn‘t, I‘m not sure I would have finished. 3.5/5 ⭐️

Despite a great premise — a family‘s vacation comes to a halt when the owners of their rental house show up unexpectedly, with news of an evolving crisis — I didn‘t like this book. I wanted the tension & movement to be about the underlying precariousness we all have to just ignore in order to live our lives. Instead, I got unlikeable characters & the implication that all people are inherently terrible underneath a thin layer of forced politeness.

Trying to use psychology by only letting myself listen to this audiobook while out walking. Hopefully, my face is not scaring the others out on the walking path as I react to the book as it goes more and more off kilter. Wow! What a wild ride!

Finished this is two days. The atmosphere of dread was so strong that it leaked out of the book and followed me while I tried to work and do my stupid little errands. That's what this book was, atmosphere, rich descriptions, a growing unease. Really great. Loved it.

Edit: Looks like it wasn't very liked here. That's two unpopular opinions in a row, I'm not usually this out of sync with the Litsy reviews! 😆

This book has very mixed reviews, but I loved it. Full-on creeping, existential dread, and I absolutely couldn‘t stop listening. Decent writing with a very mysterious, very big, world-changing event happening, but we just get little hints about it while we watch a cast of only somewhat likable people experience it together in an isolated vacation home. Great character study that made me think and cringe… perhaps a bit too plausible.😬

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Something bizarre/powerful/dangerous is going on and no one knows what it is. I can‘t say how I‘d react in a similar situation, but I‘m pretty sure it wouldn‘t be the way these characters did, so it sort of lost me.

I don‘t know, man… I‘m a little more than halfway through this and I‘m not sure I believe it enough to feel the suspense I think I‘m supposed to be feeling. Same narrator as Beartown—she‘s very good, but distinct enough that I‘m imposing some of that story into this one in my head…

A white family on vacation in a rental house is surprised when the black couple who owns the house shows up, claiming that some kind of blackout has occurred. Throughout the rest of the book a slow realization happens, that some unknown world-changing thing is happening. This book reminds me of an existentialist play where not much happens but a sense of dread hangs over everything and you leave the theater wondering what happened.

Some of my top books of the year so far. I‘m not doing a very good job of reading books that have been on my shelves for awhile, which was one of my goals this year. I‘m too distracted by the new and shiny. 😛 #ReadingGoals #Reading2021

I knew going into this book there would be disappointment. So, that being said I found it interesting. It seemed to me the main focus was the interaction between characters then the story or the characters themselves. It's a quick read. #20IN4 @Andrew65

A mixed bag for me. I loved the beginning, reminiscent of Get Out. I loved some of the descriptive writing. But the story fizzled for me, becoming too unbelievable to carry me along.

Great concept - badly written, even cringy at times. The author tried too hard, using obscure words, sometimes not even in the correct context - it was pretentious and distracting. He used a ridiculous amount of metaphors/similes, really bad ones too. And had weirdly sexual descriptions of things, including a mother describing her children. Still, the storyline was so intriguing, I couldn't put it down. #LMPBC #GroupG @Jerdencon @shellleigh33

I custom ordered this bead for my bracelets. This book wasn‘t what I was expecting but I often don‘t fully read up on a book that intrigues me from a blog or post. Some of the details were more than I thought I needed 🤣🤣🤦🏻‍♀️ but I sped through this on audio trying to figure out what the hell was going on

Started this ( another book I‘ve read about - can‘t remember where ) and I‘m totally engaged

Alam poses more questions than he answers with this book, and you wonder what you would do in this situation. I quick read and more of a set up for rumination than a complete story.

About to start this one and enjoy the rest of my holiday reading in bed #LMPBC @staci.reads @Jerdencon

I‘m ready for a break, but not the type of escape that occurs for this family (at least so far, I‘m not sure what‘s going on).

There are lots of mixed reviews on this book but I enjoyed it.

The slow build was perfect for the foreboding feel this book created in me. I loved that the typical format for a dystopian was challenged delivering a thought provoking look into how much we depend on technology and how disconnected we have become from the natural world around us.

It was ok. Easy listening during my walks but a little boring. The ending was ehh. Lol

Ugh. No. Full of over-wrought metaphors, no depth, weirdly sexualised prose. An unconvincing story that takes itself extremely seriously and just feels a little juvenile and silly in the end. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

You know those times when you read a line and think "this was definitely written by a man"? That. This is a mother looking at her young teenage daughter ?

Rating: ⭐️⭐️
This was definitely forgettable and boring. Not much happened in it either.
#botm #bookstagram #bibliophile #litsy #littens

The disquiet & slow build of an unknown disaster was enough to make me finish the book about a couple & their kids on a Long Island getaway in a rented home & what happens when the owners show up.All they know is that NYC has a blackout.Shows how dependent we are on our technology,how we are often disconnected from the natural world.Some of the writing style & inner dialogues of the characters were very WTF for me. 😟

Ok , I‘m just to the part where GH and Ruth show up but my question is nobody has a transistor radio with batteries? 🤔 @vivastory @AmyG a car radio? When I was on my grandparents farm 40 some miles away from Kansas City , I could pull in WLS from Chicago on one of these bad boys .I‘m on chapter 13 , no spoilers please.Sometimes old tech is better than cell phones & satellite TV.