Welcome to Litsy!

A quiet coming of age story that kept feeling like it was going to be incredibly special but never quite got there for me.

#BookerLonglist
I regret listening to the audio instead of reading the print because I think I‘d have enjoyed the read. Instead, my mind wandered with the scenes — past vs present? Who‘s speaking? That said, I did love the set up and setting. I came away disappointed though, as I just wasn‘t able to connect with the characters in this format.

It was a coming of age novel. I did not find it special.
3 🌟. #booker2025 @BookishTrish @JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures @vikaplus321

It‘s my lunch break and i‘m in a phone room in my office, about to start this book. I finished Love Forms this morning. #booker #Booker2025

#WeeklyForecast

Continue with my yearlong reads on the right

Continue Tombland #ShardlakeBR

Continue No Straight Road Takes You There, maybe even finish

Continue The South on audio

Finish Look at Us Dance and hopefully read Tell Me Everything

#BookReport

I continued my yearlong reads on the right

I continued Tombland #ShardlakeBR

I continued The South on audio

I finished Ocean

I read A Rome above a Shop, The Clue of the Crumbling Wall #NancyDrewBR and Flesh

And I have started No Straight Road Takes You There

I had my fist day back at work today after 3 weeks of vacation. And as I always says: “I‘m born for vacation”

The stack on the right includes my yearlong reads and buddy reads that I was finishing. For Tombland I kept up the pace

The stack on the left is was I read. When it comes to Kristin Lavransdatter, I read the 2nd book about a 1/3 of the book. I‘m still reading Ocean

I also finished The Flower Farm on audio and started The South

#bookerlonglist #10

I did really like this but struggled with the audio at the start. Definitely a case of me though, not the book. Listening on my commute and having lots of work-related stress meant I was very distracted and kept losing the thread. Although I don‘t think the constant changing of POV and from first to third person helped.

The ending was very sudden, but to be expected when it‘s the first in a series of four. I will read more.

#BookReport

I‘ve finished the 2nd book in the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, Wife

I‘ve read Hilda and Twig Hide From the Rain, Feeding Ghosts and This Mournable Body

I‘ve also read the two Sherlock Holmes stories Shoscombe Old Place and The Retired Colourman

I‘ve continued my yearlong reads on the right

I‘ve picked up Tombland again #ShardlaleBR

I‘m also reading Ocean and on audio The South

Like @squirrelbrain 's post from The Times said: Yes Please. This was fabulous.

One hot Malaysian summer, Jay's family leaves KL for the countryside and the run down, struggling family farm. As he works super by side with the farm manager's son, Jay experiences the longings and intoxication of first love. Flashbacks to the past test and expose family secrets and connections, and Jay and his sisters face coming of age in a struggling economy.

"In those moments, with the sun burning above us, we felt as though we could play that game all day, every day for the remainder of our youth. There were no rules, no winners or losers, no objective, and every match ended in laughter that we couldn't explain."

The South, by Tash Aw (2025)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Premise: Two young men from very different backgrounds form a connection during one dry Malaysian summer.

Review: This is a fascinating window book, exploring not only queerness in a SE Asian context, but also how urban-rural, racial, and class divides play out in Malaysia. Overall this worked very well, but I was left wanting a bit more from it.