Welcome to Litsy!

#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.

One of the titles I was completely unfamiliar with from the #tob26 longlist. Lion is about an absent father who looms large in his daughter‘s mind, the narrator of this slim book. Often, fiction focuses on mothers as there‘s much to examine, so I was interested to read about a father‘s impact. Additionally, I have no relationship with my own father so I was like an alien studying earthlings.

As pictured with my baby lion, Olympia.

An excellent audiobook, and a great choice for last read of the year. I loved all of the letters and the book reference. I will probably listen to this again before #WinterCampLitsy

#ToB26 long list (and though I love it I forgive them for not putting it on the short list.)

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

Very readable but calling it All Fours lite. Maybe because I am at least 20 years past where these characters are at in life I just don‘t get it.

#TOB26

@squirrelbrain @Hooked_on_books @merelybookish @Bookwormjillk @Chelsea.Poole @BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes @ChaoticMissAdventures

#ToB26

Such a bleak and depressing read. But a good one. Alice becomes mentally ill during her first year at college and it changes her and her life forever: the meds, the frustration, the shame, the friends who can‘t stay, the shattered dreams. I didn‘t always like DeBoer‘s lack of emotion in his writing but it might be the best and most respectful way to share Alice‘s story.

I enjoyed this! Perhaps I needed more of a lighthearted and easy to follow story while hosting family and creating Christmas magic for my kids. Super exhausting, but being accompanied by this band of siblings during their cross-country roadtrip was a welcome addition to my own chaos. Interesting, as I read it following Lion, another #ToB26 longlist title, and both are focused on fathers.