#Booker2022Shortlist
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A photographer in civil war-torn Sri Lanka that dies & wakes up in the afterlife being given seven moons / days to figure out whether he will choose ‘the Light‘. It describes the not so distant atrocities committed in Sri Lanka. At the same time it takes a very honest and personal look at the life of the Maali. Another book that‘ll stick with me this year.

My new #LMPBC book arrived today! 😃

Plus some bookmarks and tea for all to try! Can‘t wait to get started on this one!
@TheBookHippie @Pogue @Maria514626

@suvata

Went out today to @Pogue 🌺

@Maria514626 @TheBookHippie @suvata

The afterword is as valuable to read as the novel itself. It‘s about the two girls‘ strong friendship but it‘s also about the strict societal and religious rules that were so stifling, they made one of the heroines virtually a prisoner, both mentally and physically by taking away her free choice and forcing her to fullfill others‘ expectations.

It‘s a quick read, sad and impactful.

#LMPBC

It‘ll be on its way tomorrow!

Here‘s my #Booker2022 Shortlist. I haven‘t read the entire Longlist but I‘ll continue us to chip away at it. If I had to pick the winner right now, it would be Trust. But that may still change.

Can‘t wait for the announcement! Just a few more days!

Thought provoking, humorous, tragic, & very human. A mix of fact & fiction in more ways than one. A woman thinking that a psychotherapist convinced her sister to commit suicide, invents a persona for herself under which she visits him herself to find out the truth. Her journals of the meetings & her life are intermingled with the biography of the psychotherapist. Lots here about the truth behind what appears crazy & what appears sane.
#Booker2022

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The phrase ‘alternative facts‘ came to mind as I was reading this superbly composed & executed novel. It is about creating the ‘reality‘ of who someone is and what impact they have. In every story there is a motive driving the narrative and it may be impossible to tell how much of it is true and how much isn‘t. And who gets to decide this anyway?

A story of a man and woman, their genius, his ego, her ‘place‘. And the truth of it all.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This is truly a work of art. It takes you on a journey and breaks your heart along the way, over and over…

A story of a small island and it‘s Irish speaking inhabitants. And the heartless world around them, busy doing what it has always done.

Only the 3rd book I‘ve read from the #Booker2022 #BookerPrize2022 but my favorite thus far.

???

Anyone else attempting to get through as many of the Booker 2022 Longlist titles as possible before the shortlist is announced? Seems like a fun challenge to me 😁 #Booker2022

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I watched a documentary about the Irish mother baby homes a while ago and it‘s incomprehensible that this was ever allowed to happen. On one hand, this short novella is filled with snow and family and Christmas spirit. On the other, hypocrisy & cruelty permeates the story. It‘s the internal struggle of the main character that brought this to life for me. Wish this were longer but perhaps it‘s just right to make you reflect. #Booker2022

Thanks for the tag @KateReadsYA !

1. Paperback in my hands but hardcovers on my shelves 😁
2. Definitely indoors!
3. Fall 🍁

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

GN all 😊

Second #DNF within the past week. This was was so mediocre, it just didn‘t hold my interest. Cool cover tho…

Sooo I am NOT going to be finishing this. I am a hundred pages in, it is well written, makes you keep guessing who killer is, and there are so many great candidates.

But the child abuse here was just too much for me.

I don‘t want to know what happens next.

Still digesting it. Yes, you‘ll chuckle here and there at the ridiculousness and stupidity of white supremacy and baseless racism. It leaves a bad taste though. I hope.

Pay attention to the names and places, look them up and you‘ll discover countless tragedies.

There‘s lots of killing in this book, lots of death. Is it revenge? An orchestrated plot being executed? Black magic…?

#Booker2022

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My #LMPBC book is going to be on its way to you tomorrow @Pogue ! Trying to stay on top of things this time around so sending this out a bit early ☀️ 🌸

Some snacks will be on their way to everyone separately next week @Pogue @TheBookHippie @Maria514626 😋

Hope everyone is having a blast reading their selection! 😁

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A young artist rents a spare room from a family and end up impacting their lives forever. Two of the siblings, a brother and a sister, each fall in love with him and recount their experiences and memories on the pages of this book. The impact the relationship has had on them will last them a lifetime. The writing is simple and raw, it pulls you in. A quick but impactful read.

And the results of the random drawing are in! 😁

I decided to pick 3 winners because 3 seemed more fun than 2! 🌸 ☀️ 🌸

Congratulations to @Zuhkeeyah @peanutnine @KateReadsYA !!!

Please email me at IdaJGro@outlook.com with your mailing address.

I will choose 2 books from your Litsy TBR as your prize. If I should be choosing from another wishlist, let me know.

CONGRATS!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another great book! Much of it is about solitude, about pure and simple feelings and intentions, and about the other(s) - other people, other feelings, other places… there is some palpable uneasiness throughout majority of this novel, but that must go with the themes.

I say dive in and experience all of it for yourself…

It #LitsyLoveSummerSwap #LLSS opening day! Yay!

Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for this great package! I have wanted to read these books so bad for a while now and finally I have them to enjoy! ☀️
And I absolutely love the tote bag, the coasters, the stickers (one of those is going on my laptop immediately), the kitty bookmark and the card that is going to double as a bookmark as well!! Lol

This has truly been so much fun! Thank you!

🌸 ☀️🌸☀️🌸

Yay! I‘ve reached 25K in Litfluence 😀

To celebrate I am doing a #Giveaway!

To enter (US only) repost this, tag me, use hashtag #Hazel201925K and on July 10th I will determine (at random) two winners who will receive 2 books each from their TBR.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Have I EVER been successful in keeping to my TBR? The answer is - No ?

Still, it won‘t stop me from planning. Here is July:

1. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (just finished)
2. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (reading now)
3. Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar
4. How High We Go In The Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
5. The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán
6. The Shadow Book Of Ji Yun edited and translated by Yi Izzy Yu & John Yu Branscum

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Yes! I loved it! It had me all emotionally invested & feeling close to all the characters.

It‘s a very ‘bookish‘ book following the life of a bookseller (AJ) and his bookstore on Alice Island. AJ‘s wife dies in a car accident & he adopts a toddler that someone leaves at his store for him to find. You will have to read it to find out more but overall it‘s about books, people & relationships. 😊

#LMPBC #Round15 #GroupI

#LMPBC #ROUND15 #GroupI

Here we go!!! 😀

Yes, I‘m trying to be organized 😆

@Pogue @Maria514626 @TheBookHippie @suvata

#LMPBC #GroupI #Round15

 @Maria514626 @Pogue @TheBookHippie

Here are our books for this round!! 😊

🌸☀️🌸☀️🌸☀️🌸☀️🌸☀️🌸

Have you ever had a strange urge to learn more about fish? No? Give this a try and it just might change your mind. The Coelacanth (see-lo-canth) is an ancient fish that nobody knew still existed until late 1930‘s. Since then the world of science had tried to hunt it down after which they tried to preserve it. And after all that..there is still so much we don‘t know about it.

Fun book! Give it a read 🙂

I rate it 🐟 🐟 🐟 🐟 out of 5

OK, I think we have a winner! Here‘s my pick for #Round15 #GroupI #LMPBC read!

@Pogue @Maria514626 @TheBookHippie @suvata

#LMPBC #GROUPI #ROUND15 How about any of these? @Maria514626 @Pogue @TheBookHippie

Let me know! 🌸 A somewhat different theme ☀️

#LitsyLoveSummerSwap #LLSS package has arrived!!! ☀️ 🌸 ☀️ 🌸 ☀️ 🙃 @TheAromaofBooks

Can‘t wait to open it on July 4th!

@Kdgordon88 @rsteve388

#LMPBC #GROUPI #ROUND15 @Pogue @Maria514626 @TheBookHippie here are the choices for my book! Or I can go back and look for more.

🌸 ☀️ 🌸

@suvata

There is still time to sign up for #LMPBC #ROUND15 !!

🌸 ☀️ 🌸

Sign-up link: https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/5080444aead2ca0ff2-l...

@suvata

The #LitsyLoveSummerSwap package is on its way to @TheAromaofBooks !!!! ☀️ 🌺 💗 since I forgot to write who it‘s from on the package, I‘m sharing it here 😊

Should be delivered by June 21st so with plenty of time before opening day!!!

@Kdgordon88 @rsteve388 #llss

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love, love, LOVE this book! It is deep, impactful, and brilliantly thought provoking, with flashes of humor (yes, at times made me chuckle). And as the title states, there is sorrow and and there is bliss. It follows Martha, with debilitating mental health issues, as she goes through life and focuses on how the mental health issues affect both her and those around her. You must read the whole thing to truly understand it‘s brilliance.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ a timely novel, weaving some of the quite recent events of police brutality as well as the pandemic into the lives of an indigenous family and their friends. I loved the writing, quite humorous at times even though dealing with quite difficult topics. Oh yeah, and there are ghosts. And the story does get a bit spooky at times. I might need to reread this one since I was dealing with Covid myself while reading it.

#WomensPrize2022

A very persistent wannabe… 🤨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was perfect. At first I felt some some parts were too dense and skipped over too quickly, not exploring the complex issues sufficiently. But in the end, it just felt right. It taught me a lot about Cyprus and some of its tragedies that happened in not too distant past and the pain that lives on in peoples hearts.

#WomensPrize2022

⭐️⭐️⭐️ a mystery with several things going on, that all come together in the end. A fast read, with chapters that you‘ll fly through & some unexpected twists. Basically if you‘re in a reading slump, this might be the book for you!
A few couples deal with lost opportunities and want a second chance, & there is a not so sweet old lady who has lost her husband and her eyesight at the center of it all. Not a bad story but not memorable IMO.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ WOW! A great narrative, a beautiful translation and an impactful and thought-provoking read. Describes four murders committed by women in Chile in the 20th century. The crimes themselves are horrific but Alia Trabucco Zerán will also guide you through the narrative that accompanied them due to the gender of the perpetrators. Highly recommended!

I‘m kind of conflicted about this one but I‘ll give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There is a sadist, a masochist, a good amount of depression and a ‘love triangle‘ …if you can call it that. It‘ll give you quite a bit to think about and it is a really quick read. It was going to read it in March but read it in a couple hours today

One for #LMPBC, one longer science fiction, and one shorter. I‘ve been slow at reading, no time…

But I think this small TBR is totally doable… 🍃

⭐️⭐️⭐️

3 stars for the book but 5 ⭐️s for the cover! I really do love it 😁

A woman suffers from a curious condition where she slips into a coma at times and appears to be dead. And she‘s married to a man that‘s interested in her $$$ a lot more than he is in her. You can imagine what could happen when you combine these two ideas. Not a bad read at all but not a favorite either.

#LMPBC @suvata @allureofbeauty @ImperfectCJ @Bianca

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Will be a solid contender for my favorite of 2022.

Part 1 takes place during the Palestine / Israel conflict..the Israeli soldiers capture a teenage girl, rape, kill and bury her.

Part 2 takes place close to current day where a woman tries to uncover the details of the crime.

The book is beautifully written but clearly deals I with a very raw and horrific topic. It‘ll stay with me for a while.

3.5 ⭐️s

A VERY quick read, all written in the form of slack chats. One of the office workers gets stuck in slack and all sort of weirdness ensues. It is quirky, funny but don‘t expect any deep life lessons out of this one 😁 if you have a few free hours, give it a try.

I got this beauty in the mail today. Starting on it right away. @allureofbeauty @Bianca @ImperfectCJ

#LMPBC

Hello @booksellerofyourdiscontent @Pogue @Littlewolf1 here are some choices for my book. Let me know if any look interesting.

#LMPBC #GroupR @suvata #magicalrealism

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Tana French does such a great job using the concept of family - blood relatives or chosen. I‘ve seen this in a number of her books and it always leaves me longing for that close connection. But unfortunately, it doesn‘t take long for cracks to start showing.

I truly loved this one and left me broken hearted.

Highly recommended although it is long and a slow burn. Be ready.

@maich look what arrived today 😍 thank you so very much!!! Can‘t wait to read both of these!!! 💛 💜 ☺️

#bookmail is the best!!!

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks you truly made my day! Thank you for the Blind Date with a Book! I don‘t have this one and I‘ve been wanting to read it!! Thank you so so much 💕 📕

I will read this one next!

Hope you‘re having an amazing weekend! 💗

#bookmail #LitsyLove

Faithful Place…This one got under my skin. Almost quit halfway through because I didn‘t want to know what happened. No matter what, it wasn‘t going to be ok…but what a great story ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

On to The Likeness.

So here‘s my first 2022 goal - read the remaining Tana French books!! 📚

I have all of them on my shelves but have only read 4, reading the fifth one one - Faithful Place.

Here‘s to Tana French January 2022! 🥂 🎊 😁