Welcome to Litsy!

Was looking for my next read and pulled these two seeing as the temps plummeted and we‘re experiencing bone chilling winds too - a “winter” themed book might be best? Two Canadian authors - I figure they would know how to write about winter? 🤭 #CanLit

Not Fallis' strongest but I did really enjoy listening to the audio since I listened to most of his early works as podcasts. But, the story just felt a little too predictable, the beginning a little too morose and the main female character a little too perfect.

But, it was excellent company for my walk along the Val Gardena Railway Trail! #audiowalking

I purchased the Manawaka novels more than a year ago based on @vivastory discussion of them. So I thought I had the tagged book. Review of my shelves and a check with LibraryThing says no I don‘t. How did I miss this. Thanks to @TheKidUpstairs #auldlangspine2024 list I will be correcting that now and prioritizing getting to these as well this year.

This is a pretty slow story. Overall, I‘m rating it ok, though. I‘m not thrilled about rats being poisoned at the border. None of the 4 were terribly likable or interesting. I was a child in 1979, so some of the 70s references (tv, music, etc) were kind of fun. Also, my grandparents, then parents sold farm equipment, so it was interesting for me to read about the different farm equipment, though this is unlikely to be of interest to many.

This is a short novella as part of Barclay‘s “Promise Falls” series and I thought it was really good. I don‘t always enjoy short stories, and although (like many other short stories), I would have liked this to be longer (in this case, to draw out the suspense a bit), the mystery was still done really well, though it was much sped up. Barclay continues to be one of my favourite thriller writers.

Very good. The narrative in the north is so real and stunning. I wish it had ended there. The canoe trip is epic. Will maybe read again in 10 years

Attempting to read a physical book with a needy pug, who always wants to be in your business, is truly an accomplishment. 😂🖤

Spending some time this morning taste testing some books on my physical shelf that I‘m thinking might be a DNF & Donate. Normally I‘ll know within 100 pages is I want to read on, or give up. Next up: Mount Pleasant.

Pitch perfect rendering of the rapid, constant whir of noise inside the brain of a parent who is solely responsible for the emotional labour of a household. The never-ending recitation of tasks, doubts, plans, questions, the "fuck-its", etc when you are trying to keep all the balls in the air for everyone, and the overstimulation of everyday noise joining the cacophony.

Yes, the cover is eye catching but there wasn‘t very much substance given the title. It felt choppy, like random ideas about a character‘s life were thrown together and was published as a book. If you ask me a week later about this book, I probably couldn‘t tell you anything.

#Bookspin for April

1. We Measure the Earth
2. Lesser known Monsters
3. Seeing Ghosts
4. River Sing
5. New Jim Crow
6. Dream States
7. Pedagogy of the Oppressed
8. How Much of these Hills
9. The Savage Detectives
10. Sleeping Car Porter
11. Fresh Banana Leaves
12. The Mountains Sing
13. A Small Place
14. Night Tiger
15. Rememberings
16. Nasty Brutish
17. What You Have Heard Is True
18. Of Women and Salt
19. Beekeeper of Aleppo
20. Pure Colour