Welcome to Litsy!

No one cheerfully refuses pie! Yesterday was Blueberry Pie Day, but I made a mixed fruit crumb top instead.

A break from all my backgrounds of spring flowers. My first Lief Enger; this is for the Tournament of Favorites. I volunteered to be an alternate judge.

If you enjoyed Peace Like a River, this novel by Enger will have a familiar (and yet very different) feel to the writing. A dystopian novel, an odyssey, and an unlikely found family relationship, this cli-fi is a warning and a threat. Full review at http://booknaround.blogspot.com/2024/10/review-i-cheerfully-refuse-by-leif-enger...

Wow, all #tob25 for this month's favorites. It either says something about the quality of the longlist, or it's just a reflection of the fact that I read most of this month's books from the longlist so my favorites are statistically more likely to be from among those titles.

#WeeklyFavorites @Read4life

I wonder if this novel would have hit me quite like it did if I'd read it before January 20, 2025. Because right now it feels practically prophetic. But in addition to being prophetic, it's also a beautiful story of persevering through hardship and maintaining integrity (defined in this case as acting in alignment with one's core values) in a world geared towards profit and self-interest at all costs. #tob25 longlist

"But this was clear...he could not tell left from right. Which in itself was not the problem. The problem was that when he turned, and the world turned round him, he could not adjust. The evidence was not enough. He had no compass of his own, yet wouldn't follow the one before him, its trembling needle pointing out directions for anyone with eyes."

This quote hits hard, especially at this time in history.

"Lark and I once took life a year at a time. As the world shifted we went to a month at a time, later a week. At this point an hour would do. I'd take twenty minutes in the sun."

Does this novel stay devastating? I love it, but it's breaking my heart.

I bought a new plant. And I keep taking pictures of her. I think the cats are getting jealous. Not related to the tagged except that it's the book I keep looking up from to admire the plant.

4.25❤️ it looks like this is getting mixed reviews here, I fall better inline with the GR reviews. I loved this. I do think the blurb is misleading. Calling it Orphean is not right. Our MC Rainy does lose his wife and goes on an adventure but the adventure is him finding himself. The book is written in a Greek tragedy vibe and style which I loved, and once I got over the expectations of the synopsis I really loved the whole thing. #ToBlonglist

Lake Superior is 350 miles (563 km) long (east to west), and its greatest width is 160 miles (258 km) from north to south

I am not a Midwestern girlie, and I have a hard time with distance. So reading this I have been curious as Rainy is spending weeks sailing around Lake Superior. I have always heard it is "big" but - greater than the combined areas of Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Hampshire!

"He lifted his head. "Yes, that would be nice - I'm sorry, I don't mean to be such awful company. It's the times. The times are so unfriendly. Play me something, would you, Rainy?"

A poinent passage that feels too close to reality right now.
#ToBLonglist

#FirstLineFriday @ShyBookOwl

"Here at the beginning it must be said the End was in everyone's mind."

I am really liking this one.

Set in a dystopian American future, Rainey and his wife are tucked away from the more severely affected areas of crumbling society in a small coastal town. But when a stranger comes to stay, the wider world follows, causing an event that sends Rainy to escape by boat. Enger is a fantastic writer, but his epic storytelling took precedence over building some of the relationships between characters. All the same, I was swept away and enjoyed it.

I really liked this, thanks #tob2025 longlist! I was avoiding it based on the blurb, which made it sound like Rainy is pursuing a runaway wife through a dystopian landscape both twee and surreal. This is misleading, as Rainy‘s wife dies 80 pages in, and the surreal elements are mainly due to the unknown and therefore somewhat terrifying motives of others and not to an anthropomorphized Lake Superior.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was on the #ToB2025 long list, but it didn‘t really work for me. Set in dystopian version of the Great Lakes, MC and his wife take in a boarder who it turns out is on the run and that sets off a chain of unfortunate events. My issue was that it wasn‘t clear what the MC wanted other than avoiding bad things, so not really compelling. And the resolution seemed to come out of nowhere. 🤷‍♀️ Glad when it was done.

Some authors have a way of stringing words together that make you catch your breath. Leif Enger is one of those authors.

I savored every word of this ugly/beautiful story about not giving in to despair.

Ugggghhh… Leif Enger is SO GOOD. This is absolutely gorgeous: beautifully written and beautifully human, as expected—but I was surprised (in a good way) by its exploration of topics of injustice in a post-apocalyptic landscape. A very different setting from Enger‘s other books, but I loved it just as much. And look at that amazing cover!

Another great Minnesota author. Leif Enger‘s latest novel is a dystopian tale of a near future where the rich have secluded themselves away from the slow collapse of society, and everyone else is just doing their best to survive and stay human. The book centers on Rainy, a house painter/musician, and the events that unfold after a stranger falls into their care. Surreal, touching, and deeply human. I highly recommend.

In post-apocalyptic Lake Superior area, some infrastructure remains, but the population is significantly reduced. Rainey and his wife are making their way when a stranger arrives, setting events in motion. There‘s definitely a plot here, but this is much more about the relationships between the characters. I really liked this, and I love the cover.

I listened to this as an audiobook. This is a difficult one for me to review because I liked the audio production and loved the protagonist but felt lost in the action of the story. The world as we know it is over and people must make their own way of life to survive. Rainey and his wife end up on a boat but tragedy strikes and a quest ensues. Many people and places feature along the way but I had trouble finding the meaning behind it all.

This one got a few “bails” here on litsy so i‘m going to give it a try and see where i fall with it!

Here are my nominations for #CampLitsy24! All from authors I‘ve read & loved. I‘ve tagged my top pick on this post & the others in the comments.

📚I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger—I 💜 everything I‘ve read by Enger!
📚The God of the Woods by Liz Moore—this is either a perfect or a terrible book for me to pick: a girl named Barbara goes missing from summer camp 😬
📚The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
📚 Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

I‘ve read all of Enger‘s earlier books— and this is the first one I listened to on audio. The performance is great… but I just didn‘t love this one the way I did his debut novel, PEACE LIKE A RIVER. Maybe I am just kind of over dystopian fiction? Rainy‘s love for his wife, Lark, propels this book forward for the most part. I loved her passion for books, and Sol was definitely a scene stealing character, but I had a hard time connecting with Rainy,

Speculative meanderings with the MC - not really in my wheelhouse.

This wasn‘t the reading experience of Peace Like A River, but to be fair I read it decades ago and no doubt my preferences have changed.

I had a Dr appt in the "big city" this afternoon, so I stopped at Barnes and Noble on the way home. I wanted the new Leif Enger book. Also found a Persuasion I don't have yet and some pretty metal butterfly bookmarks.

Honestly I'm not a huge fan of dystopia type novels...which this is...but at the same time Lark and Rainy were two characters that drew me in...until they didn't. There is a lot of moving parts and honestly whilst wasn't something I would've picked up on my own (I run a book club) I don't totally dislike the book. Left me feeling meh. 3 🌟

This hot-off-the-presses dystopian novel packs a huge punch. I‘m glad I didn‘t shy away from reading it. Read my full review here: https://debbybrauer.org/#i-cheerfully-refuse

Publication day: April 2.

#NetGalley #RBMedia #ICheerfullyRefuse

I work tomorrow and one of my tasks will be to get Tuesday's releases in the catalog.