Perfect book for this new chapter in my life. Some good stuff in here and some 🤷‍♀️ stuff in here. I‘ll take away from it what I need.

‘A party ain‘t a party without a splash of red.‘
Well what can I say but this book was everything a horror book should be! The sense of dread from the first page to the last was so satisfying!
This book was horrifying and sick and awesome!
Thanks @Reggie for gifting this to me and introducing me to a new horror author, I will definitely be reading more of Ahlborns work. ♥️

@Reggie Ok. I‘m going in! Wish me luck! 😬😱

It‘s about time I read this book! My first for 2022. Garner writes like no one else but I must admit I was troubled by a lot of it, Especially where her daughter was concerned. I found it hard not to be judgemental and to comprehend that Nora is obviously an intelligent woman who is choosing to live this life. 33 is old enough to know better.
#Ozfiction

I just finished watching a 3 part series about iconic Australian books called ‘Books that made us‘. It was fantastic! I had read about a third. So my reading resolution for 2022 is to read all the books on this show. I started with this one. I loved it but I was disappointed to learn that some of it was made up. So the true history is not a true history 🤷‍♀️🤣
#ozfiction

Merry Christmas @CarolynM ! Wow you spoil me. Thanks for this, I‘ve wanted to read it. You must be psychic. I‘ve just been writing you a letter to put with a couple of books I have for you! Let‘s hope 2022 is a fantastic year for us both! I‘m still planning on coming over to visit my daughter so when I do I shall get in contact if you would like to meet at a bookshop somewhere? 😘

Christmas Day in Australia! A swim with the family at the dog beach. 42 degrees! One of my happy places!
Merry Christmas littens ♥️💚

Book club pick. It was ok, not as funny as promised.

So I have received 2 books in the mail from the book depository and I have no idea who they are from! They look like @Reggie books! Was it you?
Well whoever you are you are wonderfull! It‘s the best feeling to be gifted books! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! ♥️

My school book club book. I really enjoyed reading this book based on the real life about a servicewoman of the war. Nancy Wake was given the nickname ‘The white mouse‘ by the gestapo because she avoided all their traps to catch her. What an amazing woman she was!

Straight talking, cuts through the bullshit!

Families in Afghanistan that do not have a boy dress one of their girls as a boy to increase the family‘s stature in the community. I assumed wrongly that most families dressed their girls as boys so they could have a better life. This was a topic I knew nothing about. It was a great Bookclub pick as it generated a lot of discussion.
The main emotion I felt reading this was anger. ⬇️

Fantastic book! I loved reading about a pandemic in a pandemic. I‘m glad I didn‘t get a cold or flu whilst reading this! 😬

I loved this book! Thanks for suggesting I read it @MrsMalaprop straight after reading Great expectations by Charles Dickens. I had a big ugly cry!

This was such an amazing book, it portrays living a life built on trauma so well. The past trauma becomes like a poison in Wallace‘s body and it affects him physically and emotionally. My stomach was in knots for most of it. I could feel Wallace‘s exhaustion with his world, the constant up hill battles. The racism both at work and with his friends. I think Wallace will stay with me for a while.

This was an eye opener! It was equal parts shocking and hilarious!

I cannot believe that I am reading this for the first time at 50. What a wonderful story this was. Absolutely loved it!

I loved the retelling of this story of the Trojan war from the point of view of Briseis who goes from being a Queen to Achilles slave. I found myself thinking about what is happening in Afghanistan at the moment and feeling sad for the women of that country. We still have such a long way to go with women‘s rights.

I hated the first half of this book and the second half was only a bit better. I feel like it tried way to hard to be high brow and this alienated me as a reader. It was pretentious and daft. The book would have fared better if it had just stuck to the story and didn‘t add all the other stuff which was totally unnecessary and boring.
I‘m not usually this savage when reviewing! 😬

I really loved this book. The writing is beautiful and the story is very atmospheric and incredibly sad. My heart ached for Erica and the troubled relationship she has with her incarcerated son. I couldn‘t stop thinking about how hard this would be to live with.
#Ozfiction

I listened to this for my school book club. It was a pick but only just. I don‘t like things that are neatly tied up with a bow. Very predictable. Next!

This was my latest bookclub pick. It generated fantastic conversation. It‘s strange to enjoy a book when you don‘t like most of the characters.
It made me incredibly sad that it is set 90 years ago in the 1930‘s and we as women are still facing a lot of the same issues and struggles.

This book was really different but in a good way. If you contract the virus the ‘Zoo flu‘ you can talk to animals, which isn‘t such a great thing. It sends most people bonkers!
It was fantastic to have a grandma character that wasn‘t sweet. I loved the gutsy, drinking, smoking, swearing grandma Jean. ♥️
This is a picture of my Mums pug Pippa.
#Ozfiction

I read this book in one day and it filled me with dread the whole time. My anxiety was through the roof! So much is packed into this short book. I did feel like it could have been fleshed out a bit more and the ending was a bit rushed. I will definitely read some more from this author.

This book was everything I hoped it would be and more! It was epic, captivating and brought back the feelings I had as a child being totally lost in a good book. The awe and wonder and sheer delight of being immersed in a new world! Wanting to read it as fast as possible to finish the story but also wanting to read it as slow as possible to make it last! ♥️

Yeah, nah……
Between a so-so and a pan.

Thanks @Tanisha_A for gifting me this book.
I‘m embarrassed to say it is my first Morrison but it definitely won‘t be my last.
Such a sad book. So much pain and tragedy. It‘s heartbreaking that society is the cause of such self hatred in some children. That there is only one way to look, one kind of beauty. And if you don‘t conform to this beauty standard then you are worthless. We still have such a long way to go to undo these wrongs.

I didn‘t want this book to end and now that it has I am feeling very empty. It‘s rare for me to mourn the end of a book but that‘s how deeply I felt for these characters. Stunning! ♥️

This was given to me from a dear friend in my bookclub. She has sewn some thread on the bottom corner. ♥️
This is a collection of essays etc on gifting books and reading by many different authors. I liked some more than others. Each contributor listed their top 5 books that they gift. A book that came up in 2 lists was ‘A fine balance‘ by Rohinton Minstry. A book that I have had on my tbr shelf forever! So that‘s my next read!

‘Everything is broken, and fucked up and completely fine. That is what life is. It‘s only the ratios that change.‘
I loved this book and it‘s portrayal of mental health is staggering! It‘s fierce and funny and devastating and profound. So good! 👏🏻

I needed this book as I have an immense fear of developing dementia like my Mum. It put normal forgetting into perspective.

What makes us human? Our heart, our feelings and our compassion. I loved this book about an artificial friend. I found it sad and alarming as I believe that this kind of story could well happen in our future.

I loved reading about NYC in the late 1930‘s. Towles descriptions painted such a clear picture in my mind of the time and place. ♥️

Oops! Got some money and vouchers for my birthday so of course I went book shopping!!!!! Books are cheaper than shoes!

What a breath of fresh air this book is and a mind f*#k! Thanks for putting it on my radar @Reggie
It‘s a cautionary tale about letting technology take things too far in our world. It also acknowledges that women are somebodies not somebody‘s. This was weird and wonderful! 🐬🐬🐬

I used to think that if you are a good person good things will happen to you but now I realise that this is definitely not the case. It‘s all just down to chance. Fantastic book about life, death and humanity, it was so insightful and it made me realise how lucky I have been. And when someone in your life is going through tragedy you just need to show up. You don‘t have to have all the answers or say the right things. You just need to be there.

I was not expecting this book to effect me as much as it did. The writing is exquisite the subject matter heartbreaking. Cunningham‘s understanding of melancholy is astounding! ♥️

I listened to this. It was a pick but only just. Lots of interesting stuff in here but it had no direction and I‘m confused as to why it was titled ‘My year of living vulnerably‘.

This book was sad, sad, sad from beginning to end but god it was good! The similarities with its depictions of a pandemic were spooky, especially because it was written in 2018. There are so many scenes that will stick with me, especially to do with Candace wondering around a deserted New York City taking photos for her blog page. It‘s just helped cement my desire to visit NY one day.
Apocalyptic fiction is my jam!

Oh my heart! This book hurt! Sooooooo good! ♥️

School book club pick. Not my thing, too unbelievable. Listened too it and the narrator was good, he could do English, Australian, Greece and German accents.

Seeing as I am on holidays for this week I‘m going to join in!
My goals are 3 hrs physical reading a day and 1 hr listening a day. Also finish my current jigsaw.
Thanks @Andrew65 for the encouragement
Also this is a beautiful picture!
#AwesomeApril

My bookclub book choice. I have always wanted to read this book as I love the movie. This book has it all! I needed a bit of silliness in my life right now and this book didn‘t disappoint! This book was a delight! 🤩

This was exquisite! Loved it! A really lovely surprise how much I enjoyed it. 💛
Another beautiful gift from @CarolynM
It looks splendid with my birthday flowers!

Why have I not read Virginia Woolf before now?
I loved this book and the writing. I will definitely work my way through her others! ♥️
Thanks so much for this gorgeous gift @Tanisha_A

Thank you @Reggie for sending me this book ♥️. The language was beautiful, the story devastating. I loved the complexity of the characters. Good people do bad things sometimes and bad people sometimes do good things. I will definitely look out for the authors next novel.

@CarolynM Thank you! This was very unexpected but so lovely. You have made me feel very special and reminded me what an amazing community Litsy is. I have been a bit absent on Litsy lately, as life doesn‘t always go to plan. Fingers crossed I find more time to interact with you. X

This was a very interesting listen. I learnt a lot and was shocked with how things were covered up and not handled appropriately. Very sad and devastating consequences for a lot of innocent people.

I just finished all three of these books and I really enjoyed them. Not bad for a YA series. I just watched the movie and I hated it! Why must they change the story so much that it‘s totally different! Aghhhhhhhh, so annoying!

Another Booker prize winner I adored! This book ripped my heart out. I just wanted to open my arms up to Shuggie, give him a cuddle and never let him go. Soooooooo good! ❤️