I enjoyed this novel and never found it predictable. It was much more than I thought it would be in the end. I did have trouble picking it up. 4 🌟
#booker2025
@Bookistrish @JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures @vikaplus321

It was a coming of age novel. I did not find it special.
3 🌟. #booker2025 @BookishTrish @JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures @vikaplus321

What was that???
#Booker
@JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @Ruthiella @ChaoticMissAdventures @vikaplus321

#bookerlonglist
This novel made me so sad about the state of the world, yet I want to reread it! Was interesting reading this right after the nonfiction book White Trash. Some of the same world views were expressed in both works.
I'm not sure it would be on my short list, but it is the first Booker read for me this year.
@BookishTrish @JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @Leniverse @charl08 @Chelsea.Poole @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke

You either love or hate Ali Smith. I love her. This was a delight to read, I flew through this short dystopia novel about 2 siblings navigating the world on their own. 4 🌟

A delightful diversion between some heavy books. I loved the audio. I'm not sure I would have stuck with the written novel. Romance in the world of Pride and Prejudice. 3 🌟

Best book I have read this year! 5 🌟
Charlotte McConaghy is an author who just works for me. This is fast-paced for a literary fiction novel. I love how she reveals more and more about her characters as the plot unfolds. This book made me ugly cry. Highly recommend!

A pleasant read. Historical fiction about a train journey and the passengers on the trip. Don't know that I will remember it. 3 🌟

I admire the writing and the skill of this novel. I see why it has made the short list for #womensprize, but it was not a novel for me.

Reading an Anne Tyler novel is like putting on a favorite cardigan. I loved this novel. 3.5 🌟.

Outstanding read. It's one of my few 5-star books so far this year. There is such ease to the writing. This is a very internal novel, and I loved it. I loved this far more than the Booker winner last year.

This novel about generational drama I found uneven. The story in London was more compelling to me than the "Then" part set in Australia. Just did not work for me. 2.5 ?

#womensprizeforfiction This is a very well written, compelling, and uncomfortable read. Particularly uncomfortable in Trumps America. I am happy I read it, but I can't say I enjoyed it. 4 🌟

##womensprizeforfiction I am surprised this made the short list. It is a story unlike any I have read before. I found the tone super uneven. I liked it but did not love it. 3.5 🌟

I loved this authors last book, An Island. In Crooked Seeds, she has written an extremely unlikable main character... and makes us care about her. Set in the near future in South Africa, as there is less and less water. There is a mystery at the heart of this book. I thought it was masterfully written. 5 🌟 ##womensprizeforfiction

Unpredictable, uncomfortable, poetic, and completely compelling. I loved this thorny series. Not for every reader, but I am delighted I read these 3 books. 4.5 🌟

#@carolshieldsprize This was a fast read for me. It was well written, but I did not think the novel was special. 3 🌟 I am surprised it is on the long list.

Sweet, cute, but I don't know if I will remember much of this novel in a couple of weeks. Good break from all the awful news in the US and the world.

#walterscottprize I could see, smell, and feel the setting of the historic fiction love story. It is a brutal love tale set in an unforgiving land written in lyrical poetry. A big thumbs up. 4 🌟

A romp of a fantasy written at a gallop. Fun world building and the characters are interesting enough to keep me flipping the pages. 3.5 🌟.

I see why this is up for the #womensfictionprize. Beautifully written, propulsive, and claustrophobic. I could not put it down
4 🌟

I deeply appreciate this book written by a Jewish author whose family survived nazi Germany. It is a ditopic philosophical novel. I did not enjoy the reading experience. 2.5 🌟

This was an auto-buy for me. I have loved her other two novels. This one did not disappoint. I did not love it as much as The Snow Child, but I still enjoyed this story of a mother, daughter, and a bear in Alaska. Like all of her work, there is a magical element. They read like a fairytale. 3.5 🌟

This is a slow, contemplative novel about a young artist battling with her mental health. I was surprised by all the love in this sad novel. I am glad I read it. 3 🌟

This was a disappointment. I loved the first book in the series. This second book was so heavy-handed in getting its message across that it took away the enjoyment of the world the author had created. 2.5 🌟

Continuation of a grand adventure. Wonderful writing and a compelling story. Can't wait to read the third book.

What a big fat historical adventure story. Just loved getting enbeded into 1560s France. If you are in the mood for historical adventure, this is a great pick. 4.5 🌟
I am on to book #2.

Intriguing short novel. I need to sit with this one. I loved how the tennis imagery carried through this surprising novel. 4 🌟 (for now, this is a book that I need to think about and see how it stands up to time).

I always love her writing, but her books leave me mid. I'm glad I read this, but it's not an all-time favorite. Story set in ND in a tight-knit farming community. 3 🌟

Beautiful slow paced story set in a small Irish town during the 1962 Christmas season. Story focused on community and family. Loved the ending, I did feel that it dipped in the middle of the novel. 4 🌟

Surprising at every turn. Some very explicit sex scenes in this novel about a woman facing change in her body. A story about family and how to be an individual within parenthood. Great first book of 2025. Not for the faint of heart. 4.5 🌟

Fun diverting mystery. 3 🌟

If you enjoy a novel about a large community, including a large cast of characters, this is your book. Well written with interesting diverse characters. I just enjoy a tighter focus. 3 🌟

Loved the writing in this novel about war and art. Highly recommend. 4 🌟

I found this romance/science fiction novel both confusing and dull. It did not work for me. 2 🌟

There is a lot to admire in this novel. The first half of the book worked best for me. Once the novel picked up where There There left off, I started to lose interest. Well worth a read, but not on my personal short list. 3 🌟 #bookerlonglist #booker @squirrelbrain @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @jlhammar @Deblovestoread

A novel about ghosts, abuse, absent family, and found family. Nothing deep and nothing new. Charaters' pasts feel more like a plot device than truly being explored. 2 🌟

August Reads
5 🌟
James: Percival Everett 📖
Galatea: Madeline Miller 🎧
4.5 🌟
The Safekeep: Yael Van Der Woden 🎧
Enlightenment: Sarah Perry 🎧
4 🌟
Chain-Gang All Stars: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah 🎧
Brotherless Nights: V. V. Ganeshananthan 📖
3.5 🌟
Whale Fall: Elizabeth O;Connor 📖
3 🌟
This Strange Eventful History: Claire Messud 🎧
Orbital: Samantha Harvey 🎧 📖
2 🌟
Held: Anne Michaels 📖

I love Madeline Miller's writing. This short story retelling the Pygmalion myth is as close to perfect as I can imagine. 5 🌟 I needed to read a short fiction that I knew I would love before I move on to more #bookerlonglist novels.

A loosely connected collection of short stories. Some worked better than others for me. I found them over written. Not a fan, proud that I finished this short novel. 2 🌟 Not on my short list #bookerlonglist @Deblovestoread @squirrelbrain @JenP @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @jlhammar

This poetic, rhythmic, meditative novel was not for me. There is no plot, and although I can appreciate what this work is doing, it did not captivate me. I switched to the audio version at about the 50% mark since I was having trouble making myself pick it up. 3 🌟 #bookerlonglist
@squirrelbrain @JenP @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @jlhammar @Deblovestoread

I am in love with Thomas Heart. Strongest novel of Sarah Perry's that I have read. I hated Melmoth and thought The Essex Serpent was interesting. This book took my heart. The exploration of different love and the nature of time. This is one I want to reread. The way she would blur timelines as if "all life happened at once." 4.5 ? This would be on my #booker shortlist. @squirrelbrain @JenP @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke

3 🌟 read for me. I can admire this novel, and I enjoyed listening to the audio book, but I did not feel invested. This would not make my personal short list. 3 read, 3 in the process of being read, and 7 to go! #Booker @JenP @AnneCecilie @charl08 @JamieArc @BarbaraBB @Graywacke @jlhammar

"Who should read this book? Every single person in the country." Anne Patchett "Percival Everett is a genre." Kiese Laymon 5 ? Everett is one of my favorite writers. This is my favorite novel of his. The book takes off when it stops following the plot of Huck Fin. A top read of the year for me. #booker2024 @BarbaraBB @jlhammar @Graywacke @JamieArc @Leniverse @AnneCecilie @JenP

Finally read the winner of the #Womensprize and #carolshieldsprize. An important book about war and truth. Beautifully written. I felt removed from the book emotionally. Can appreciate this novel. 4 🌟

Wonderful start to the 2024 #Bookerlonglist . Rich tale of how we begin to reconcile with the holocaust. Set in the early '60s in the Netherlands. This novel also explores what it means to be gay. Highly recommend. 4.5 🌟

A quiet lyrical novel set on an island off the coast of Wales right before WWII. Beautiful writing. 3.5 🌟

A violent, fast-paced novel about the wrongs of the incarceration system in America. This gave me a lot to think about, packaged in an alternative future. 4 🌟

July Reads

5🌟
Prophet Song: Paul Lynch 📖
4🌟
Soldier Sailor: Claire Kilroy 🎧
3.5🌟
Good Material: Dolly Alderton 🎧
The Midnight News: Jo Baker 📖
The Coast Road: Alan Morrin 🎧
3🌟
Happy Place: Emily Henry 📖
2🌟
The Book of Love: Kelly Link 🎧

Brutal honest portrait of early motherhood. At times, it was uncomfortable to read. Beautifully written. 4 🌟