Welcome to Litsy!

I'm bailing on this one at 22%. I usually really enjoy strange, confusing novels, but this one just isn't hitting for me. The big question is: Can I still consider myself a #tob26 shortlist completist if I don't finish this one? It doesn't count as completed for the challenge on TheStorygraph, but I bet I could still justify buying myself the mug.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. The writing and the storytelling are engaging overall, but I find the structure disappointing and confusing. I don't understand why it doesn't circle back around to the adult Vera storyline. It leaves me unsatisfied. (Also, while the narrator of the audiobook puts forth a solid performance, the editing doesn't make sense to me. There are background and mouth noises I don't expect to hear.) #tob26

I‘m bailing on this one. I‘ve been trying for a week and I‘m just not into it. I may try again if it advances in #ToB26

@hooked_on_books @barbarabb @chelsea.Poole @squirrelbrain @sarahbarnes @chaoticmissadventures @bkclubcare @deblovestoread @merelybookish @ChaoticMissAdventures

#ToB26

I wonder why this book is shortlisted. It‘s about an unlikable girl creating a man out of a blob she finds in an alleyway.
Also, there is a some symbolism and self-discovery but it is all so obvious. Is it a YA book? It might be. And that‘s why I wonder why it‘s on the list. Enjoyable but forgettable.

#ToB26

I really tried but at 22% I call it quits. It‘s so much longer and I am not that invested in the story so far. Too many books, too little time 🤷🏻‍♀️

#WeeklyForecast

I am rereading The Correspondent for #WintercampLitsy and am loving it again. Next will be either Blob or Katabasis for #ToB26 and I also want to pick up Banana Yoshimoto‘s short stories. This might be a bit ambitious because it‘s back to work again tomorrow, but we‘ll see.

This ten year affair is the ultimate example of “the grass is always greener on the other side”. I thought what Somers did with MC Cora‘s imagination of an affair with a fellow parent met in baby group was brilliant. Perfectly displaying human nature to expect to have it all using a group of cringey millennials and their offspring over a decade. These people are horrible but still a bit relatable, which is uncomfortable.
#ToB26 shortlist.

Elderly sisters are locked away in an English manor house. As we read, we are becoming more and more aware of their odd situation. The vibes are cottage core creepy. And their fragile little existence is up ended by a visitor, the first they‘ve had in decades. The sisters‘ differences and annoyances are exacerbated by this new presence. Their mother‘s influence looms large, but what‘s going on outside the walls of the garden? Loved #tob26 longlist

Pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this. A dual narrative: one focused on Ebby, both present day and some of her past, and the other featuring an artifact from her ancestors—a jar. This object has great significance for her prominent black family and historical background…reaching back hundreds of years. A tragic loss at the beginning of the book is wound up in this object and we spend the whole book uncovering the secrets of both. More ⬇️

Confusing for the sake of it, which I try to give a chance, but this was definitely wrong book wrong time. The busy holiday season isn‘t great for puzzling happenings in fiction, at least for me & my befuddled brain. Anyhoo, twin sisters reunite after years of estrangement because one meets a woman who (either actually is or just looks like??) their long lost mother. It‘s a good set up and some memorable moments but I was happy when it was over.