I‘m a definite fan of curmudgeonly Shaun‘s chronicling of life in his Wigtown bookshop. I read them out of order (this is book 2 and I‘ve read 1 and 3), but enjoyed them all regardless.

The first half or so of this memoir is very good, detailing the author‘s childhood as an American with undocumented parents from Mexico, trying to live under the radar but still provide for their kids. When they decide to return to Mexico to try to reestablish their visas, they are rejected and stuck there, leaving Elizabeth with impossible choices. The second half falls apart, as she leaves so many aspects of her college years and adulthood ⬇️

In post-apocalyptic Lake Superior area, some infrastructure remains, but the population is significantly reduced. Rainey and his wife are making their way when a stranger arrives, setting events in motion. There‘s definitely a plot here, but this is much more about the relationships between the characters. I really liked this, and I love the cover.

Here‘s my book picks up this month for #ReadYourEbooks! I will make no predictions this month, I‘ll just see how I do! I think it‘s a good mix.

An actress in her 60s has an onstage crisis, compelling her to retreat to her hometown. As she interacts there with people from various phases of her life, the novel contemplates life choices taken and not. I liked this book, especially the message that yes, you can go home again.

Me (April 5): I‘m going to read all 4 of my #ReadYourEbooks picks this month!

Me (May 5, mere hours before the numbers are picked): Ok, I read two. And by “read,” I mean I‘m just now finishing the last 30 pages of the second one. 🙄

And…here‘s my list for May!

I thought this would be an interesting social commentary, looking at a time when divorce was not widely legal, forcing women (of means) to live in Nevada for a short time to “establish residency,” then finally be granted their divorce. But I got through about 25% of it and it‘s like watching paint dry. Back to the library it goes!

Turns out that not only is Amy Tan a great writer, she‘s also a terrific artist. She recently rediscovered her joy in drawing when she was drawn in by watching the birds in her yard. In this book, she chronicles 6 years of bird watching and feeding with her own illustrations, whether formal portraits or alongside less formal jottings. This book is a complete delight (and I‘m not necessarily very interested in birds).

After a terrible injury befalls a teenage boy, an ambulance-chasing lawyer seeks them out to sue whomever he can. I was a little worried this would be pro-suing doctors (I‘m pro-accountability, not pro-greed or blame-making), but I really enjoyed what it ended up being, which is really interesting. There‘s also a fantastical element that the plot hinges upon.

This book follows a family helmed by a conservative Christian 7th Day Adventist father and his goes along wife and their kids, especially the youngest, Patsy. We see them across decades, through secrets and hypocrisies. I really liked this. I think this is Zevin‘s debut and I‘m not surprised it‘s good.

Billed as a mystery, this is really more the exploration of a Native family and community and the impacts of multigenerational trauma. It follows Louie in the 80s and his niece Noemi now as they each must cope with things happening in their lives and community. I think the book is quite good, but I suggest avoiding the audio—the narrator who reads the Louie chapters is awful.

I went in bling on this one, so I won‘t comment on the plot, but I‘m pretty sure St James fans will not be disappointed! I couldn‘t stop listening, finding this completely riveting. It bogged down a little in one spot, but was smooth sailing for the rest. An excellent entry to her cannon!

This is mostly an unusual, intriguing novel that feels like it could be an allegory in places. It features a man who is alone and is perhaps unraveling, with the structure of the writing matching his mental state. And it‘s post-apocalyptic? He‘s in a coma? In purgatory? I don‘t know. Then it has these weird cuts and the ending is kinda silly for all the work it did to get there.

This book has a great premise—a successful, aging writer uses an inherited land plot to bury the stories that didn‘t work out, whose ghosts then whisper in the cemetery. But this end up being a bit of a gimmicky way to approach a group of stories which are quite compelling on their own but didn‘t work for me as a whole. I feel like a different approach would have made a much better book.

Lauren arrives home one night to a strange man in her house. Turns out he‘s her husband, only she‘s been very single. Then, he goes into the attic and a different husband emerges. This is a fun premise and a very enjoyable book, only the ending is quite weak with a much better ending offered earlier in the book. Low pick for me.

I knew I had to read this as soon as I saw the title. Kitty doesn‘t intend to kill men, but the first one just kind of happens and things go forward from there. Her targets are toxic men that you cheer to see gone in this darkly funny commentary on toxic masculinity and rape culture. I liked this. (And I‘m glad I had a digital copy so my husband wouldn‘t see the title. 😉😂)

In Knife, Rushdie details his attack by a violent assailant and the aftermath, interspersed with some musings on life. This is an outstanding read. He doesn‘t hold back or mince words but it‘s also not a polemic but the words of a thoughtful (and surprisingly funny at times) man.

Odile‘s town is in a valley with the same town 20 years ago in the next valley and 20 years in the future in the other direction. Travel between the town is strictly controlled. This is a fascinating premise and a completely absorbing listen, but there‘s a huge plot hole that‘s impossible to ignore. Between pick and so-so.

Alongside This is How it Always Is, this is my second slam dunk read from Frankel. Here, she explodes the concept too many people have of what family “should” be and shows how families can look quite different. It veers dangerously close to sentimentality at the end, but I just loved it and didn‘t want to stop listening.

For anyone reading the Women‘s Prize for nonfiction longlist, as an FYI the audio for this one is terrible. I listened to the first bit and immediately put in a hold for the print book, as there‘s no way I can listen to this.

There have always been trans and gender nonconforming people, even before we had the word trans. Heyam looks back through history to reveal those who fell into these categories as well as those who most likely did. This is completely fascinating and thoroughly readable.

This is a really interesting look at how three women who became queens quite young had intersecting lives and experiences. My main complaint about it is that there were so many Elizabeths, Marys, and Catherines at the time that it got a little confusing. So for me this is a low pick but well worth reading.

Brooker‘s mother was diagnosed with a rapidly progressive form of MS at age 40 and decided at 49 to stop eating and drinking as there‘s no assisted dying legal in England. Here, she recounts her mother‘s life and death while exploring the health care system as well as other literary works on death and dying. This is a powerful, short book that I hope gets more widely read.

British mariners had latitude figured pretty early on, but longitude flummoxed them to the point of shipwrecks and lost lives occurring because they just didn‘t know where they were. This book talks about the efforts to fix longitude and the machinations of the organization created when someone finally did so. If you‘re looking for an excellent, short narrative nonfiction book, look no further. #ReadYourEbooks

I expected this one to be super weird and it was, but turns out it‘s my kind of weird. Croft explores the relationship between authors and their translators and plays with language (I‘m sure even more than I realized), as well as winking at her own work. I didn‘t love the ending and this won‘t be for everyone, but I dug it.

Here‘s my shortlist for the Women‘s Prize for fiction, with the caveat that I have yet to read three: Nightbloom, A Trace of Sun (I acquired both recently), and Soldier Sailor (not out in the US until June 4). Brotherless Night and 8 Lives are absolutely my top two. I can‘t wait to see what books they pick tomorrow!

From the first chapter, we know Christian has been jailed for the murder of her uncle John in 1679 Edinburgh. Then we learn about her life and what transpired to arrive here. I loved this! I‘m so glad I ordered this from the UK (it has no US pub date) and that it was on the Women‘s Prize for fiction list so that I read it.

British-Palestinian actor Sonia travels to Israel to visit her sister and gets roped into being in a play in the occupied West Bank. Through the narrative, Hammad reveals the realities and difficulties of life for Palestinians in Israel and the constant danger faced. I thought this was terrific and couldn‘t tear myself away from it.

Maggie Hope is imprisoned on a remote Scottish island with other specially trained British agents who know too much. Then people start dying. Sounds fascinating and the setting is indeed fabulous, but this book was a dud for me. MacNeal basically announces at the start that she‘s going to rip off Ten Little Indians then proceeds to do so, with an uninspired ending. This is my 2nd try with this author and she‘s not for me.

I have loved this series, though this final installment is the weakest of the three books for me. It could have used editing and there‘s a section this goes past horror/gore into straight silliness (and I don‘t think he intended that). Also, the audio isn‘t helped by the author reading the last chapter in a combo of monotone and upspeak that was hard to pay attention to. But it was fun to spend a little more time with Jade.

#Bookmail! I‘ve been very good about not acquiring new physical books lately, but some just need to be bought! The chunkster is for my Women‘s Prize for NF reading and the Nelson and Rushdie are 2 of my most anticipated books of the year. And I‘d like to pause and note how impactful the Rushdie cover is. The first time I saw it, I gasped. Outstanding cover design!

This book slapped me across the face and grabbed me by the lapels at the start, yanking me along with its intensity. It loses some of that in the middle, but the intensity certainly returns by the end. Because of the heaviness of this book, I wouldn‘t say I “liked” it, but it‘s powerful and will stick with me. I definitely appreciated it.

From early in this book, when the Disney Pocahontas starts speaking directly to young Native woman Alice, I was hooked. I found the exploration of her struggles with early maternity and what we would term mental health difficulties seen differently through a Native lens completely fascinating. I‘m so glad the Women‘s Prize for fiction put this one on my radar.

Book 2 of this series finds several local deaths by poisoning and suspicious they may be connected. Mallory uses her current day knowledge alongside the tools present in Edinburgh past to try to solve it. I‘m really enjoying this series so far and look forward to the next book!

This extremely readable book explores how the policies put in place in the 1970s and 80s that led to mass incarceration were largely supported by the black community, including voters, politicians, and members of the justice system. He focuses in on majority black DC and gives a little hint on efforts made more recently to turn things around. Really interesting read.

Since it‘s longlisted for the Women‘s Prize for fiction, I tried really hard to make this book happen. But despite having engaging writing, the story is so convoluted that I‘m not following it well and I just don‘t care. I made it 2/3 through and am calling it. I could stare at that cover all day long, though.

I just love this series! This one picks up immediately after the events of book 3 end, seeing our characters headed to Atlantic City. Great humor alongside some close calls ensue, of course. Can‘t wait for the next installment!

#Bookmail! After not acquiring any physical books for two full months (two! Maybe two and a half, really!), these arrived today, ordered from the UK for my Women‘s Prize for fiction reading. They don‘t have US pub dates, so I figured this my only way of completing the list. I‘ve read 8 so far and am sputtering a bit on my 9th read, which is feeling more and more like a bail.

I‘m seeing some great nominees for #CampLitsy24 (voting is going to be hard)! I‘d like to throw these 4 into the ring as my nominees.

Lucy is dragged back to her hometown by her (awesome and hilarious) grandma for a birthday celebration and gets pulled into a podcast about her best friend‘s murder. Only most of the town thinks Lucy did it, so things are pretty awkward. I had a lot of fun with this book and especially enjoyed the humor in it, which I wasn‘t expecting.

Weaving together art history student Raquel‘s story in the 90s with artist Anita‘s starting in the 80s, this book explores art, gatekeeping, misogyny, and more with vibrant characters. Overall really good, though I have small quibbles. Anita is based on Ana Mendieta, and I feel like with this Gonzalez has given Ana the final word, which I love.

A minister trying to eke out a living during the Scottish clearances takes a commission to travel to a far north Scottish island to remove the final inhabitant. This novella is both intimate and vast and atmospheric in all the best ways. I enjoyed the read and absolutely loved the ending.

Holy cannoli, 8 years! I‘m so glad I found Litsy. You are a wonderful community that makes my life and my reading life better. I was a great reader before Litsy, but you have made me a superb one! Thanks to all of you for being a part of this. I‘m so glad I found my people!

This book was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, is has good characters, lovable dragons, and an infuriatingly realistic depiction of racism. On the other hand, I felt like the story was a little lacking and not terribly original and the naming of things was very distracting (it‘s an odd mix of the same words we use, slightly tweaked words like Anglish, and completely different ones for existing things). Between pick and so-so.

After being badly injured in the car wreck that killed her mom, Jess is sent to live with the father she barely knows in the far north of Canada. When the unthinkable happens, she has to figure out how to survive the wilderness. Great, quick read with lots of tension.

From its gong of a first line all the way through to the end, this book grabbed me by the lapels and didn‘t let go. The MC looks back at her experiences across years during the Sri Lankan civil war as first the government and then the local militia terrorized civilians. This book will be on my best of the year list. A must read.

After barely escaping a bush fire, Alison walks to the road to leave the area and finds a woman dead in her car in her driveway. A combination of exploration of trauma and mystery, this book takes its time unfolding in a way I felt really suited the story. It‘s dark and can be emotionally challenging, but really good.

CW for physically/sexually abusive relationship on the page

This is a quote from a Tamil character during the Sri Lankan civil war. But it sadly applies so broadly to people in many places.

Wow, that‘s a heckuva first line!

Psychologist Ophelia signs on to a trip to a remote planet in an effort to retreat from publicity around a recent tragedy. She finds the team doesn‘t want her there and it quickly becomes clear that something else is afoot as well. I loved this. Barnes creates great creeping dread that made me not want to put this book down.