Welcome to Litsy!

A little bit of late night reading 📖 I‘ll be reading this one for #20in4 readathon and try to score some points for #scarathlon

#blackcatcrew 🐈‍⬛

A score from my library‘s ongoing book sale 📚I love going to their weekly book sales to see what goodies they have!

I actually didn't enjoy this. The premise is interesting but my math and science brain thought it was ridiculous. It gave me a headache.

IRL book club pick for September. Best part was I didn't have to pick it.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was fascinating, beautiful, & heartbreaking. It delved into politics, moral dilemmas & the question: is it better to have loved & lost or never to have loved at all. I savored it, thinking about each new quandary the characters faced. Would you open your box? Would you date or hire a short stringer? Should legislation be in place to regulate how they are treated? The parallels for other social persecution are obvious. So much to discuss!

This was good if a bit predictable. The characters were very likable though which kept me reading. 4⭐️

#WondrousWednesday

🍏Walks outside with the cooler weather and autumn leaves
🍎Tired - teacher tired IYKYK
🍏tagged, liking it so far, entertaining though a bit on the nose so far, we‘ll see how it ends.

Holiday read.
I was looking forward to this, but I felt it was executed quite poorly. The concept was brilliant, but I found that there were too many characters, and I didn't care for many of them. Not my cup of tea.

Loved this novel. What would you do if you received a box with a string that told you how long your life was going to be? Would you open it? What would you do if you received a short string; or if your partner did? This book goes into all of that and more.

I do love a found family story.

this was an interesting concept, really well-written and carefully thought out. there isn‘t really a plot per se, just character vignettes about how the strings affect their lives. the way the characters‘ stories intertwined kind of reminded me of Love Actually. it took me a while to get through the audiobook and I sorta had a hard time remembering what was going on with each character. I might have done better just reading it. 4 ⭐️s! #audiobook

Grab this one for $2.99! #boleybooks #themeasure #nikkierlick #bookbeast #bookjoy #mustread

I really enjoyed this one! Everyone in the world receives a string that measures how long they will live, some long some short. This causes division in society, & the books follows a variety of characters with different string lengths. I liked how all the characters intersected. The story was reminiscent of Covid and US elections in 2020, just everything turning upside down and how people react. My only complaint is it dragged a bit in the middle.

This was an interesting,thought provoking book and I really enjoyed the writing and the creativity. I was invested in all the characters and their stories ❤️I also liked how the author put a spin on how politics played a big role in this story and I felt like there were messages of how politics can create division under times of uncertainty
Book 1 of #JoysofJune readathon

I ended up liking the concept more than the execution. Seemed to have a lot of build up but lacked follow through. Wasn‘t bad, but somehow not a lot of emotional impact or connection. As people struggled to make decisions or figure out their next steps, the impact on them and their families was seen more than felt.

A v unique story and that‘s what kept me reading The writing is good but the characters are a bit stereotypical I would have liked to have had stories from around the world in different countries to get a better perspective. About a quarter before the end it became too sugary and over sentimental for me and I had to race through to the end. It lost an edge I felt and rushed to tie up all the stories. Would still make a great book club discussion.

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
#boleybooks #themeasure #nikkierlick #bookbeast #bookjoy #mustread #bookbuds
What are you reading? 😊

Started The measure this week and I have to say it‘s an unique story. Well written although I‘m not convinced by some of the characters. I‘m hoping it‘s not religious or has an ultimately “moral” story as I would prefer a more scientific explanation or even a supernatural twist. I really like it so far.

The concept, riveting! The characters…I found some of them to be highly insufferable. Despite the characters that were ridiculous social caricatures, the style of writing is very good! And the well-written characters were great to read about, and their scope/development was rewarding to read. But as stated earlier, the star of this book is the concept, not the characters. Worth reading? I think so. Wouldn‘t read it twice, but glad I read it once.

A 4.5 out of 5 stars for the refreshing topic of how the world (especially the west) reacted to boxes containing strings representing each life‘s span. Erlick cleverly weaves this multi plot point story to cover all human concerns and reactions to the information on a personal and en masse level. Well done!

#discussionbook #maymontage @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Some members of my IRL book club and I—with @AmyK1 of course—hit 8 stores on the #greatercharlottebookcrawl today!! It was so much fun; Liberty Bookstore in Rock Hill was my favorite (not a surprise, because I went there in college and adored it). Haul in a separate post!

What would do you do if you had the chance to know how long your life would be? Would you want to know? This book follows a handful of people when the option is forced upon them.

This was a reread for me since I was in charge of both hosting and leading my book club discussion on this book. I watched a pile of YouTube interviews with the author to hep prepare. But after finding a podcast discussion sans author where the 1st comment was the dislike of the book, I lead with would you open your box vs who liked/disliked it. Good decision as the discussion was great and it turned out only 4/13 people liked the book! ↓

#BookMail

I‘m intrigued by the premise of this book. It sounds a lot like The Immoralists by Chloe Benjamin…

My new plan is to opt for the audiobook whenever Julia Whelan narrates.

One day, everyone wakes up to a box that holds a string that shows the measure of your life. How the world responds is as vast as the cast of characters the book contains. Took me a bit longer to finish than I thought, but overall I really enjoyed this book. It‘s a book I‘ll keep returning to, not because of the writing or story but to consider the real world applications.

The Measure asks, what if everyone on earth could know for certain how long they would live? How would that change things? How would society react? Who would choose to know or purposely choose not to know? How would that change our decisions, change how we live our lives?

Hoping to finish my audiobook today. Mr Floof has been very invested in the story with me but really I think he just enjoys the company.

What would you do if you awoke and a box was on your front step, telling you when you would die? The Measure looks at how society woukd react if we all knew when we would die. An interesting read.

A little past half way and I was surprised by the strong political view this book took. Realistically, I shouldn‘t have been as it makes sense and it‘s almost terrifying how realistic the way things are playing out in this universe with strings. Things feel a bit slow for me right now, I‘m ready for the next big plot point to come about, but I am still enjoying the narrative.

“You know, I watched a lot of people come to the end, and everyone around them kept begging them to fight. It takes real strength to keep on fighting, and yes, usually that‘s the right answer. Keep fighting, keep holding on, no matter what. But sometimes I think we forget that it also takes strength to be able to let go.”

Same

Same

What a concept and strong start! I‘m excited to keep listening to this as a I clean today!

I am not sure I have the words to accurately describe how much I love this book… it made me laugh, it made me think and it made me cry. This book will stay with me for a long time to come!

Everyone gets a string that tells you how long you‘ll live. Multiple storylines emerge as people come to terms with the ensuing decisions. Great premise and solid character development. The middle got a bit preachy in my opinion but the way the stories develop and intertwine kept me reading. Interesting way to reframe prejudice, and a different take on the question of what a life well lived really means.

I cannot put this book down…. I seriously want to call in sick to work tomorrow so I can stay home and read!!!

But this is what humans have always done. We segment ourselves based on race or class or religion or whatever f&@$ing distinctions we decide to make up, and then we insist on treating each other differently.

Oh, my God - I loved “Lessons in Chemistry” SO MUCH. 😭😍 Now onto the next as recommended by my coworker, who hasn‘t let me down yet. This is super-unsettling so far, but I can‘t look away! #themeasure #nikkierlick

I really liked the concept behind this story. It fell under the “lessons leaned” category for me. It goes to show you that the human race will show prejudice for just about any reason. I got a little lost trying to figure out the connection between all of the characters. Other than that, I‘d say that this was a great read!

The Measure is still on top for me!

Since I did not post at all this month, I am doing a collective post. Best book of the month with 5⭐️ is The Measure w/ After After She Wrote Him a close second with 4.8⭐️.
Most impactful-Wilderness 4.6⭐️
Strangest-American God 3.4⭐️
Worst- Without a Trace 1.8⭐️
I completed my #bookspin with It Starts with Us for #bookspinbingo, but am still working on completing my #doublebookspin. Last, I completed all three #roll100 for the month.

Please excuse me as I nurse the worst book hangover I‘ve had in a LONG time. I‘ve known it was coming for days, and I still wasn‘t ready. This story is going to stay with me for a long time. The book will go back to @suvata soon, but I plan to buy either a physical or digital copy. Maybe both. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ @vonnie862 @Bookwormjillk #lmpbc

#TBRtarot @CBee This is one I‘ll be thinking about for a long time. The whole time all I‘m wondering is if I would look in the box to see the length of my string or would I be one of the people who refuses to look? I‘d like to think I wouldn‘t look and just continue to live my life to the fullest, but I also think I wouldn‘t be able to resist. Either way, this was a great story about the power of hope amidst chaos and corruption.

One morning every adult across the world receives a box with a string inside. The length of the string correlates exactly with how long you will live. Would you open the box? Would you live your life differently knowing you had limited time? The book follows several characters as their lives intertwine and shows reactions as “short stringers” become marginalized. Although at times a bit hokey, I enjoyed the life well lived theme.Thought provoking

5✨All of a sudden everyone over the age of 22 gets a box with a string inside. On 22nd birthdays one arrives. These strings are all different sizes, but soon they find out the string is a representation of how long this person will live. Prejudices arise, to open or not to open debates start happening, and really big thoughts are displayed throughout. If I didn‘t have to work and sleep it never would have seen a bookmark. @Littlewolf1 #HometownBC

I enjoyed this, but it did take a bit to get into it 🤷‍♀️ Super thought-provoking with some parallels to the current atmosphere we‘re living in - but ultimately, a book about hope and how it can prevail despite unforeseen circumstances. This was my #TBRtarot for February (book with a yellow cover), and it fits #pantone2023 #oystermushroom 😊 @Clwojick

My January reads I forgot to post. 😅

Okay, I just realized I never posted my January stats! I read quite a bit and here is the story graph I worked hard to make sure got created. I‘m only 14 days late. 😅

Happy Valentine‘s Day Everyone!!