Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m afraid I have to echo a number of others here—this book didn‘t quite go the distance. I like the idea of a hotel being taken over by citizens of the enemy until they can safely leave during wartime, but it‘s not as compelling as it could be. And there‘s a magical realism bit so poorly explored as to make it pointless, and I know MS is very capable on that front. But at least I crocheted this cute reindeer while listening!

Maybe I just wasn't in the right mindset for this right now but this took me way to long to read and I don't think I can tell you one thing that happened.

My backseat road trip buddy & I...vacation here I come!!

A very unique novel!

#HaikuaDay #HaikuHive

I've loved Maggie Steifvater's YA books and the premise of a hotel commandeered by the U.S. government during WWII for the use of Axis diplomats waiting to be exchanged sounded fascinating, especially with a supernatural element. But it turned out to be set at a really slow pace, and most of the characters didn't become interesting until the end.

Happy Summer Solstice! ☀️☀️☀️

It‘s been a minute since I‘ve done an anticipated releases post. Last year, I was in a horrible reading slump, so I wasn‘t interested in new releases. And at the first of this year, I tried to focus on some backlist reads. But now I‘m ready to sink my teeth into some new reads.

What books are you looking forward to this summer?

I was fascinated by the setting of this book—a magnificently luxurious hotel in West Virginia haunted by magical springs, run by a brilliant and determined woman who is furious to learn the hotel will be used to house detained foreign nationals as World War II begins. The characters were harder to get into, since their POVs are not very deep, but the beautiful writing carried me along.

I met a sweet dachshund and had to include his picture!

Rainy evening in Virginia, I am spending it with an #ARC set in this general area by the marvelous @MaggieStiefvater Apparently replete with dachshunds, my spirit animal! So looking forward to this adventure.

Although I liked seeing this time period from a non-European perspective and in a non-EU setting, I never really got into the story. Maybe it was the slower pace, maybe it was the magical realism element that I wish had either been left out entirely, or had been more "fleshed out". Or maybe, having read Stiefvater's YA work, I had too high expectations.

#NetGalley #ARC #MountARC

The day the hotel changed forever began as any other.
#FirstlineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Adding to my TBR…