Welcome to Litsy!

Quirky characters, magic, matriarchs, adventure… This book was a lot of fun! It follows the Montoya family as they try to unravel their powerful grandmother‘s dangerous secret to protect their home for future generations to come. Oh and there‘s a river god, a magical rooster, a circus, a living star, and flowers growing out of people. Somehow she makes it all work! 😂 #LiteraryCrew

It‘s time for the #LiteraryCrew discussion! I have 7 questions posted as spoilers; you can find them on my feed, the book‘s feed, or by searching the group‘s hashtag. Feel free to jump in whenever for the discussion!

I will make the official post for November‘s book tomorrow!

How can this be the 31st??? I really dropped the ball on #LiteraryCrew reminders this time…I‘m adjusting to a new work routine while working around Zeke‘s medical needs, and down time is pretty much nonexistent. I miss reading!

Today is discussion day, and I will have questions posted sometime this evening, US East Coast time.

I realize too I never posted a November reminder; we‘re reading The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta. Official post later! ⬇ï¸�

The #LiteraryCrew #BuddyRead discussion title for October features magical realism with a bit of thriller elements.

Read at your own pace throughout the month. I‘ll post periodic check-ins; discussion on October 31st.

All are welcome! Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the tag list.

The form is now open to make suggestions for titles for 2026! Link in comments below. I cannot wait to see your suggestions!

Next audiobook! 🎧 One of my New Year‘s resolutions is to read all the physical TBR on my shelves (or the ones I started the year with because I can never stick to a book buying ban) and I‘m finding audiobooks are making it easier. Kind of feels like cheating but life is chaotic and it‘s easy to listen while stuck in traffic or doing housework.

A magical realism story of Orquídea Divina fleeing Ecuador and her grandchildren discovering her secrets. Two timelines, with magic, secrets, mysteries, generational trauma, and a resolution that left me gasping! Undoubtedly, my favorite read of June.

And the audiobook was, pun intended, divine.

#12BooksOf2024 @Andrew65

The story of Orquídea & her flight from Ecuador to make something of herself. & the story of all her children & grandchildren coming to terms w/ her legacy of secrets/trauma.

Wow! Totally worth the wait! Such interesting characters dealing w/ generational trauma against a beautiful backdrop of magical realism. The parallel timelines gave us little bits of the mystery at a time, & the resolution! Whew. Going to look for more by Cordova.?????

2024: 4
I love magical realism. It takes me back to childhood and the stories my grandma would weave for me. This book hit close to home. I'm not Ecuadorian but I am a latina from Texas and very frequently drive through a small town called three rivers which instantly became the village of four rivers from the book in my imagination. I can relate to the familial folklore and culture so this was a fun read for me.

2024: 4

Sitting here about to start reading when I should be taking down all the christmas stuff. Incidentally, I'll be dropping this book somewhere once I'm done with it in hopes that someone picks it up, reads it, and then passes it on again. #bookfairiesusa

“She wondered, did everyone have such a fraught relationship w/the places they came from? Did anyone else have a grandmother who might as well have been a legend, a myth, a series of miracles that took the shape of an old woman?�

This was hard to follow, I‘m not sure I understood it, but somehow I think I still liked it? I‘m not a fan of magical realism but this was really more a mix of a family saga & fantasy w/beautiful writing.
#52bookclub24

This book is all about inter generational trauma, curse, and blessing. It‘s full of magical realism, with a strong emphasis on the magic. It‘s also dual-time! At times I was like, “this is too bonkersâ€� but at the same time it did keep my attention. If you can just go with it, I think it‘s more enjoyable. Not my typical read, but I‘d rate it a pick overall.

I picked this title for #Ecuador for #ReadingTheAmericas reading challenge. I really enjoyed this one. The combination of characters, culture, storytelling and pacing kept me rooted tho the pages. I can understand why so many have enjoyed this one. #bookspin @librarybelle @BarbaraBB @thearomaofbooks

Here is Group 1 of my #Book2book options. I can either do one of these or all. Open to everyone who signed up for #Book2book. If more than one person wants a book, then I will do a drawing on the 20th for it
@AllDebooks @Bookish_Gal @Chrissyreadit @LiteraryinLawrence @Clwojick @Cuilin @bcncookbookclub @Tineke @julieclair @Catsandbooks @TheAromaofBooks @Soubhiville @Lizpixie @KateReadsYA @TheBookHippie @dabbe @CSeydel .

Absolutely beautiful writing, characters, plot. No notes 10/10 please read this!

For April‘s #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge the country is #Ecuador, giving me the perfect reason to get this one off my TBR! This multigenerational magical realism story takes a little while to really get rolling with the bulky cast size (the titular grandmother has been married five times and has nine children- many married with children of their own). But the unique imagery & the drama of the story, hooks you in & makes the latter half move quick!

Not sure if it was the meandering story or the sleepy narration, but I found myself replaying chapters because I had stopped paying attention. As a book about family storytelling I though I would enjoy this more as a listen. Reading it as a printed word may have been more enjoyable.

🌺 Absolutely loved this multigenerational magical realism story. Witchy and beautifully written, this is told from multiple perspectives when the matriarch of the family summon her relatives before her death 🌺

I had bought this personal library kit last year to date stamp my books when I read them, it‘s so cute and quirky and would make a lovely gift for any book lover!

Gorgeously narrated audiobook. Enjoyed listening to this one while I worked. It was unpredictable and has a big cast of vibrant characters. ��������

A multigenerational tale in multiple timelines. There were extra details at times but it was very beautiful &wistful.

The matriarch of the family, who has been a force of nature through & through, calls her family together before she passes on to accept their inheritance, but there‘s more than money & property passed down.

My gifts are done so I started making this more complicated glass project for myself def at the limit of my skills 🔥🦅�

"That's the whole point of being a kid. You believe things before the world proves you wrong." -- Marimar Montoya (pg. 44)

Loving this story steeped in magic ?

#WinterReadathon

Target had a sale on books yesterday. I bought the tagged book to get ready for #readingamericas2022 #Ecuador @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

����💫

I seem to be in the minority, but this story didn‘t captivate me as much as I had hoped. The large cast of characters, changing timelines, and ambiguity were kind of confusing for me to follow in the audio format. 🎧

I loved this witchy magical realism tale of a family and the life journey of its matriarch. There could be comparisons to Encanto, but this is much more adult and a very different story. I highly recommend. 5��
Word search- 36
#Scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash #witchathon #31in31 #Spookathin #bookspinbingo #LittenListen #bodycountbingo #OustandingOctober #Readathon

My favorite witchy book of the last few years! I LOVED this book!!! 🌙🔮�

#witch #scarathlondailyprompts #teamslaughter

I read by theme every summer. This year it was #SummeroftheWitch Listened to this one and the audiobook was excellent.

This book was very different! It started out so good, and proceeded to get extremely strange. I get that mystical realism books are meant to be that way. I think I would have liked the story better if it had been a bit more realistic. I did love the parts that took place in the circus, as I love stories about circuses or carnivals. If you like a really bizarre read, this book is for you.

“Reach inside and hold you close
I won't leave you on your own
Teach me the words I used to know
Yeah, l forgot 'em long ago
I wanna remember
She is me and I am her
So hold the girl
Hold the girl�

#rinasawayama

#lyrics

#meaningfulwords

Another great Target Book Club find. This novel tells the story of a complicated family infused with magic. I enjoyed seeing the family dynamics unfold between the modern day story and the flashbacks. The story shifted from magical realism to fantasy in the last 1/4 of the story. I preferred the earlier parts of the story where the magic was unexplained, but I still enjoyed the book overall.

Can‘t believe July is coming to an end 🌹

I loved this book! It was unique and magical and the writing was lyrical without being overdone in the purple prose. Magical realism is one of my favorite genres and mixing it together with historical settings that included the circus sets this up to be one of my favorite books of the year! Also the cover is just gorgeous!

I think Cordova tried to accomplish a bit too much in just one book. I also “wishâ€� the source of the family‘s magic didn‘t come from quite so far afield…but I still enjoyed this magical tale! Perfect for fans of Encanto, The Night Circus, & The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, with themes of family, secrecy, communication, prejudice, mother-daughter relationships, folklore, domestic abuse, & generational trauma.

This was really well written. It‘s a story about magic and family drama which I really liked. It did get over complicated in parts and it lost my interest a few times. I liked the characters and the plot and the culture behind everything in the book. I wish it hadn‘t jumped around as much as it did, but I did overall enjoy it.

“I am dying, come collect your inheritance�
this book feels like a YA version of encanto with some darker themes in places. the world is so brilliant, the characters, the magic, the multi-generational story telling is all so well done. I really enjoyed this and was trying to figure out Orquídea‘s past the whole time, but Marimar, Rhi, and Rey were such great characters to focus on as they grow and learn about their grandma postmortem & their magic

Like reading a grown-up version of Disney's Encanto. 💚

I really enjoyed this one. The magic, the story, and all of the characters were a delight to get lost in for a few hours.

This multi-generational family drama was a fantastic journey and is a great example of why I love magical realism in literature.

Another one for the Pantone challenge! This is such a dreamy color and the name even matches this book. �

#readingchallange #colors #fantasy

I reas this book because I saw it recommended for fans of “Encanto.â€� It was not Encanto, and I didn‘t expect it to be. But it was good in all the right ways. A rare â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸�â­�ï¸� for me. #Libby #audiobook

I absolutely loved and adored this book. It was magic and family and suspenseful. Just beautiful.

It‘s very clear I have a preferred setup. Don‘t knock it if it works! 😂

#cozy

Work break means it‘s time to start a new book! 😄

My friend is having oral surgery today and I'm her ride... which means a couple hours of reading in the parking lot... if I don't nap in the sunshine instead. 📚☀�

Okay, so, I KNOW I haven't read this before... but I'm getting such strong deja vu over the first scene inside the house. Is there another book that happened in, because I'm starting to second guess whether my own grandmother sprouted roots and grew into the ground... 😳

Avoiding adult responsibilities like there was a book mail delivery. �