Welcome to Litsy!

Not terrible, but not a total winner for me. As much as I loved the Goodnight Moon connections, I could never suspend my disbelief enough to allow fictional Aunt Ruby to have created portions of the story instead of MWB herself. But June was a compelling character, and I was invested enough to finish! #womensfiction

The more I learn about Margaret Wise Brown, the more fascinating I find her.

Terribly interesting New Yorker article here:
https://tinyurl.com/NYmargaretwisebrown

I just ordered her 2017 biography (tagged). When I‘m done, I‘m going to visit her papers (I had no idea they were so close!)…& maybe even try to seek out her gravesite in Maine.

Moxie is upset about the grisly rabbit details…but we‘re trying not to dwell.

There have been so many fabulous books about motherhood recently that are truthful about the parts that aren‘t sunshine and roses. This weirdly creepy novel also had a thread of Margaret Wise Brown‘s actual life that was also interesting. Good narration on #audiobook

5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 This book is hard to describe. It is about the author Margaret Wise Brown, but it is not a biography. It‘s about the fact that she wrote a book that was not liked by the main lady at the New York Public Library, but that it still exists in our modern lexicon because she believed that children deserved weird little books.

In the days following the birth of Megan's first child, strange things begin to happen. The reader wonders, is she being haunted or is she psychotic? Fine's depiction of the isolation of new motherhood and of the expectation for everything to be a-ok right away feels capital-T True, but the unfolding of the story is tedious at times (as is motherhood). This novel addresses the ways we fail women and the things that we pass down to our children.

Meh. Predictable with no added value

I personally think that Julia Fine is super underrated. This is a masterful unraveling. I deeply disliked Meg, but the writing kept me enraptured. The inclusion of Margaret Wise Brown and Michael Strange was interestingly done. Julia Fine‘s style is decidedly offbeat, but in a way that really works for me. I can‘t recommend her books enough.

I found myself picking this up and putting it down more than I anticipated—savoring delightful twists. Relishing the ideas and the oddity. Both wanting to devour and languish. This is exactly the weird and wonderful I hoped for. This book created vivid mental pictures, played with form, and explored important topics. That being said, the MC isn‘t necessarily likable and this may not be for everyone. YT thoughts —> https://youtu.be/3WipNj32WPc

Diving in—expecting weird and wonderful, though in a different weird and wonderful vein than What Should Be Wild. (I do recognize What Should Be Wild was kind of polarizing but I LOVED it). Also many Chicago indies have signed copies I‘m sure they could ship to you, if you want a signed copy.

I have a piece today in Electric Lit about mothers and horror! Check it out to add to your TBR:

https://electricliterature.com/why-new-fiction-is-making-mothers-into-monsters/