Happy Friday everyone! It‘s #bookishquestion time again. This week‘s question is: do you like to listen to music while you read, or do you prefer quiet? #BookTalk

“Charlie loves you. We‘ve all known each other since we were children. We grew up together. There‘s nothing wrong with that. It‘s family, it‘s . . .” She went on and on, hating the sound of her own voice, high and strained and nothing like their mother‘s. She always tried to match their mother‘s soft, lush alto. “We grew up together,” Dara finally repeated.

But Marie only looked at her and said quietly, “Did we? Grow up?”

Weak pick for this #aam selection. I don‘t like to downgrade books just because I guessed the ending, and Ware did successfully set up a suspenseful tale that had me compulsively turning pages. That said … the mystery depended on the MC failing to notice a detail that, given what we learn about her character during the book, she would never, ever have missed. A bit disappointing, but the writing was good enough that I‘d try another from Ware.

Happy Friday everyone! Time for the #bookishquestion of the week! The question is: is there a series you started out enjoying but just couldn‘t finish? For me, it was Outlander. I read the first 7 or 8 when they came out, but one day, I just couldn‘t get into them anymore. #BookTalk

There‘s still time to submit your entry to win one of my #14booksin14weeks - just comment below with your guess of how many I‘ll actually get through, and which book you want to win!

The books are:
Middlemarch
Tell the Wolves I‘m Home
Things in Jars
The Wedding Date
Little Eyes
The Dead Fathers Club
The Man Who Wasn‘t There
The Zookeeper‘s Wife
Ether Day
Being Mortal
From Here to Eternity (Caitlyn Doughty)
The Reason for God
The Liars Club

Powerful, propulsive and deeply thought-provoking. Small Mercies succeeds not only as a tightly written thriller and an homage to a singular time and place, but as a searing exploration of what we gain - and what we give up - in the name of identity and community. Lehane‘s observations of how the powerful manipulate the vulnerable, pitting them against other vulnerable groups to cement their own power, feel incredibly relevant today.

“Change, for those who don‘t have a say in it, feels like a pretty word for death. Death to what you want, death to whatever plans you‘d been making, death to the life you‘ve always known.”

This book is sensational!

#MagnificentMay

Finished The Road to Roswell, which was exactly what I expected and hoped. 👍🏻
Instead of In a Dark, Dark Wood, I read The Favor, which was ok. Not bad but I‘m not rushing to recommend it.
Now You See Us was really good! Posted my review earlier.
Double Life started strong but got slurped back by the library before I finished 😩
Between Heaven and Here is starting slow but could be good. Very atmospheric and dark so far.

The story of three Filipino maids working in Singapore. When another maid is accused of murdering her employer, the maids suspect she‘s being made a scapegoat - but what can they do about it?

The three main characters are delightful and the families that they work for are well-developed also. The murder isn‘t really the main plot, so don‘t come in expecting a thriller. It‘s not a comedy, but there are laugh-out-loud scenes. Just really enjoyable.

It‘s #bookishquestion time again! So, we all know the saying about not judging a book by its cover, but be honest - we do it all the time! This week‘s question is: have you read a book where the cover doesn‘t feel like it matches the book? What would you change? #BookTalk

I don‘t know if this is allowed but I‘m changing my #bookspin pick from The Accidental Tourist to Desert Heat. Accidental Tourist was on my list because it is the May pick for a book club I‘ve been going to, but for various reasons I‘m not going this time, so I‘m substituting the book for a different club that I will be going to. Let me know if this is not okay 😬

Amy in the second half is 🔥🔥

“Amy's lecture did Laurie good, though, of course, he did not own it till long afterward. Men seldom do, for when women are the advisers, the lords of creation don't take the advice till they have persuaded themselves that it is just what they intended to do. Then they act upon it, and, if it succeeds, they give the weaker vessel half the credit of it. If it fails, they generously give her the whole.”

Hey Littens! I decided to do a giveaway based on the #14books14weeks2023 challenge. Enter to win one of the pictured books! (US and Canada only, sorry.)

DEADLINE TO ENTER IS SATURDAY, MAY 27.

To enter, comment on this post with:
A. Your guess at how many of the 14 books I‘ll finish
B. Which book from this stack you‘d like to win

That‘s it! If there are multiple correct guesses who choose the same prize, I‘ll draw the winner at random.

My #14books14weeks2023 stack! #TBR
I have selected 6 nonfiction, 7 fiction, and one that‘s probably filed under “dubious memoir”
1984 is on my Kindle but the rest are physical books! Clearing some shelves this summer, woo!

Time for the May Beatles prompt! Join anytime! #bigfabbeatles

On February 9, 1964, the Beatles first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. Each month leading up to the 60th anniversary of that day, I will post a prompt for a different Beatles album.

You can do the prompts in any order. To see them all, plus bonus prompts, visit my challenge page on StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/341534ff-8451-4f08-b50a-c7523a8...

Connie Willis at her madcap best. A mashup of screwball comedy/road movie/alien invasion with a perfectly wacky cast of characters including the most lovable alien since Project Hail Mary‘s Rocky. Are there easily avoidable misunderstandings? Naturally. Does everything work out in the end via totally implausible turns of events? Of course! But none of that detracts from the highly entertaining romp through the desert and the world of UFO hunters.

Finishing The Road to Roswell tonight - it‘s so good! - and hoping to get through a couple of these during the #MagnificentMay readathon.

This story was so much more than I expected. The book centers on a 1980 “Farewell Tour” for has-been country singer Lillian Waters, determined to sweep back into her hometown as a celebrated icon and confront the lingering demons of her unhappy childhood. The book alternates between the “current” events of 1980 and Lil‘s life story beginning in 1930s rural Washington, which works well to build a picture of Lil as a person. Moving and lovely.

It‘s Friday again! Hope everyone is having a great week. Time for the #bookishquestion of the week! This week‘s question is: do you have a favorite genre or sub-genre?

For my answer I turn to a handy quote from Schitt‘s Creek: “I like the wine and not the label, does that make sense?”
#BookTalk

Agatha knew people, all right.

“I always felt sorry for him. I think that terribly conceited manner of his is a good deal put on.”

“I shouldn‘t be surprised,” said Mr S. “It‘s a very common phenomenon. If I ever see anyone who appears to think a lot of themselves and boasts unceasingly, I always know there‘s a secret sense of inferiority somewhere.”

#April wrap up!
Best books of the month:

?Demon Copperhead 5⭐️
?Dragon Reborn 4⭐️
?Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter 4⭐️
Ill Will 4 ⭐️
Half a Soul 3⭐️
One Two Buckle My Shoe 3⭐️
Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone 3⭐️
What Happened to Ruthy Ramírez 3⭐️
Still Waters 2.5⭐️
Bromance Book Club 2⭐️

The next #LMPBC book is winging its way to you, Sara! Hope you enjoy it 😊

Well my week went slightly off course. Instead of In a Dark Dark Wood for #aam I read The Farewell Tour because it came in at the library and I wanted to read it before it‘s due back! Dark Wood isn‘t in demand, so it will keep another week.

I read Still Waters & Three Men in a Boat for #trappedonanisland

This week I‘m dropping everything to read my ARC of The Road to Roswell, an upcoming release by one of my favorite authors!

My May #bookspin lineup is ready!

Omg you guys! I‘m so excited! I created a NetGalley account back in 2018 or so but with work and family issues I neglected it completely. But I just remembered I had it and on a whim I requested the new Connie Willis book coming out in June. I was SHOCKED to discover I got it! Literally my first time requesting and receiving an ARC. I love Connie Willis and I can‘t wait to read this one!!!! 😍

It‘s Friday again, and time for the #bookishquestion of the week! This week is National Library Week! My question is: how often do you visit your local library? How many libraries are you a member of? I myself have 5 library cards! #BookTalk

Oh, man. I had high hopes because this one started off strong, but the plot turned out to be rather disappointing. I loved the setting - it was very well written in terms of a vivid sense of place and time! But the characters didn‘t hold up, and the resolution of the crime did not hang together well at all. Anybody read any others in this series? Do they get better?
#trappedonanisland @Read4life @aperfectmjk

This was cute; I enjoyed it. Not my usual fare so I‘m grateful to @Johanna414 for choosing it for #LMPBC! As you said, it wasn‘t overly cerebral, but it wasn‘t total fluff either. I don‘t want to influence the other group members so I‘ll hide my other comments below…

“How many people, on that voyage up the river of life, load up the boat till it is ever in danger of swamping with a store of foolish things which they think essential to the pleasure and comfort of the trip, but which are really only useless lumber.”

Loving the blend of slapstick hilarity with pearls of deep philosophical insight in this book!

#trappedonanisland

#weeklyforecast
#LMPBC #AAM #doublespin #TrappedonanIsland

“Pedron Niall‘s aged gaze wandered about his private audience chamber, but dark eyes hazed with thought saw nothing.”
🤣 Robert Jordan isn‘t great at opening lines, but once this one gets going it‘s harrowing! Looking forward to finishing it tonight - I sense the final showdown is imminent.
#FirstLineFridays

It‘s Friday once again! Time for the #bookishquestion of the week! This weekend is the LA Times Festival of Books, so today‘s question is: do you go to book festivals/conventions/events? What do you like or dislike about them? #BookTalk

This was good but it felt that the story lost its center some of the time. I did know it wasn‘t a crime story about Ruthy‘s disappearance, but I thought the disappearance would be a little more integral to the stories of the remaining family members. It really felt like a series of linked vignettes about life in a NY Puerto Rican family - and as that, it was very good! But the Ruthy storyline felt oddly tangential despite the horror of the event.

If they wanted it to be a Thursday, why did they make it feel so much like a Saturday? Just one more chapter and then I‘ll get to work. Reading the tagged book. It‘s cute, perfect for a sunny backyard laze. #LMPBC

God, I hated the quinceañera. But of course, my mother had imposed all of her missed opportunities and broken dreams onto our lives, as if she were forcing the pieces of one old puzzle onto a completely different other one.

My nominations for #camplitsy2023

My #bookchain so far!
‘A‘ or ‘The‘ in title - The Sentence
Colors complement the previous cover - Quackery (black, yellow, red)
Title starts with next letter - Razorblade Tears
Different genre - Born Standing Up (memoir/humor vs crime/noir)
Has more pages - Assumption (225 vs 207)
Title has 1/2 the letters - Horse
Set in different country - Mystery of the Blue Train (UK & France vs USA)
Same genre - Crooked Letter (mystery/crime)

Fun!!

This is my stack to choose from this week! I‘m still digesting Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, so I‘m not sure what I‘ll pick next. I‘m about 2/3 done with Dragon Reborn so that‘s probably what I‘ll focus on today #wheeloftime

Half a Soul - #LMPBC
In a Dark Dark Wood - #AAM
Still Waters/Three Men in a Boat - #trappedonanisland
Ruthy Ramirez, Farewell Tour - #frontporchpodcast
Telephone, Tiger‘s Wife - impulse reads!

#awesomeapril
I had a hard time tracking page counts because I read Dragon Reborn and Crooked Letter on my kindle. I didn‘t do a ton of reading because we went on a mini road trip Wed-Fri. And Tuesday I was in a book hangover from Ill Will, so I just wandered around the library and read a couple chapters of Little Women. Anyway, finished 2 books 📚

#trappedonanisland #awesomeapril

This book was a sad and beautiful story of life in a southern small town. Two 41-year-old men, one white, one black, confront the accumulated consequences of choices made at age 16.

Anybody listen to the #podcast “From the Front Porch”? I‘m starting a book club on Fable where we read books that they promote on the monthly “New Release Rundown” episode. I read them a month or so after the episode drops because I get them from the library. The book club is asynchronous so you can read & comment anytime.

Check it out:
https://fable.co/club/front-porch-readalong-with-carrie-seydel-522724872508?refe...

Happy Friday everyone! It‘s Spring Break week at my house. This week‘s #bookishquestion is inspired by a difference of opinion between my husband and me: are your bookshelves filled with mostly books you want to read, or books you have already read?

Wow! This was fascinating. This psychological thriller is not so much interested in getting to the bottom of the crime (or crimes, perhaps?) as it is exploring the nature of reality itself. What is memory, what is perception, what is truth? Do we experience our lives as a set of verifiable facts and events, or are our lives crafted from a set of perceptions and inventions that we arrange in a way that makes sense to us?
#AwesomeApril
#EasterOMC

Guys, this book is off the rails! I was expecting a psychological thriller but this is taking “psychological” to a whole ‘nother level. I have no idea what‘s going on and I love the weirdness in Dustin‘s narration - sentences that just stop in the middle, weird blank spaces - something is very wrong with this man but I don‘t yet know what.
Happy Easter! Time for chocolate! 😁

#photochallenge #readingsnacks
#EasterOMC

On February 9, 1964, the Beatles first performed on the Ed Sullivan Show. Each month leading up to the 60th anniversary of that day, I will post a prompt for a different Beatles album.

Join anytime! #bigfabbeatles

You can do the prompts in any order. To see them all, plus bonus prompts, visit my challenge page on StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/341534ff-8451-4f08-b50a-c7523a8...

My reading buddies
#Litsypets #EasterOMC #photochallenge

My morning coffee & stack
#EasterOMC
#bookandbeverage

“Sometime in the first days of November the body of the young man who had disappeared sank to the bottom of the river.”
#firstlinefridays
#EasterOMC
#photochallenge

#EasterOMC #readingsetup
The view out my window from my reading spot