#camplitsy24

I‘m sure you‘re all as excited as we are to continue our discussions tomorrow on the craziness that is All Fours!

Here‘s just a little reminder that our third month of this summer‘s camp will be The Alternatives, followed by Bear.

Next Saturday, 3rd August, we‘ll discuss up to the end of Act One, Scene Two. (Don‘t worry if you‘ve just started and that‘s confusing - it starts with chapters and changes to a script part-way through!)

👏👏👏 to the team at Penguin for this marketing experience at the Crimewriting Festival!

Richard Osman‘s new book apparently takes place all over the world (one of the MCs is a bodyguard to very wealthy people) so they set up a chill-out area that was an airport lounge.

Free drinks are always welcome (!) and they had a passport Photo Booth, plus a newspaper with an exclusive sneak-peek of the new book. ❤️

Had a fabulous day at the Harrogate Crimewriting Festival yesterday. I saw 4 panel events plus Dorothy Koomson and Richard Osman, so over 20 authors in total.

I‘d read a lot of the authors‘ books beforehand and now I want to read even more - they were all fascinating people to listen to!

Bottom pic is the goody bag, and I bought 4 books, including Murder in Harrogate, published specially for this event.

I couldn‘t put this down! The Van Laars own a camp in the middle of the woods. In 1975 Barbara, their daughter, is missing from her camp bunk. 15 years earlier her brother, Bear, also went missing in the woods and was never found. Are the two disappearances connected?

I loved all of the characters (or loved to hate some of them!) and there were so many twists and turns, which I didn‘t see coming at all.

Highly recommended!

Further to my last post, this is another author at the Crime Festival and, from the blurb, I really wasn‘t sure.

Whew-ee though, this was a page-turner (or whatever the equivalent is on audio!). It‘s very gruesome, with a lot of VAW, which is difficult when you can‘t skim-read on audio, so be warned.

I just couldn‘t stop listening, and I‘m really looking forward to seeing the author now, on a panel called ‘From PI to AI‘

I‘ve been reading lots of crime, from authors speaking at the Crime Festival that I‘m going to in 3 weeks‘ time. That‘s the only reason I hesitate to give this one a so-so, because I‘m going to see them and I don‘t want them to hate me! 🤣

I mean, this was fine - just very slow (the lodger didn‘t even move in until around 25% through).

There were two twists at the end, neither of which I saw coming but one I appreciated and one I didn‘t.

I loved this book, about two high-school sweethearts who broke up due to a misunderstanding and meet again in their 60s.

I‘d highly recommend it, with only one caveat - the ending is really odd and should probably come with a trigger / content warning but can‘t say why, because spoiler.

Also, the UK cover just makes no sense - the book‘s about 60 year olds and this just doesn‘t relate at all. 🤷‍♀️

#bookhaul from our York meet-up. I went with the intention of buying Sandwich (hubby thought that was hilarious - that I intended to buy just *one* book!) and spotted this ARC in the Amnesty charity shop. Definitely need to go back there again as Moon Road and Evenings & Weekends were also ARCs, for just Qc each.

Tangled Vines is the Murdaugh murders story, and I‘m seeing the Redemption author speak at a Crime Festival in a few weeks‘ time.

Littens in their natural habitat!

This was such a fab bookshop, with friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Mainly crime, both fiction and NF but, as the staff explained, it‘s amazing how many books have crime in them!

Book haul to follow later, when I get home.

#trainreading

On my way to York to meet Trish, Emma and Katie for a bookshop crawl.

Pic is of Knaresborough (not Japan! 🤣) - book is really interesting NF having just finished reading Butter for #camplitsy.

@TrishB @Oryx @youneverarrived

Went for a walk today (up a big hill!) to Eas Mor waterfall. The ‘library‘ there is not a library in the traditional sense, although there are a few books there.

Instead, it‘s an emotional, beautiful, peaceful, library of thoughts and feelings , left by visitors.

Just arrived on the Isle of Arran for a real #camplitsy24 trip.

Within half an hour we were in a tiny bookshop, selling books set in and around the Scottish Isles. One isn‘t on Litsy - Night Falls on Ardnamurchan, about the end of a crofting family‘s lifestyle. Had to get a 🐿️ notebook too.

Our campsite is right on the beach and looks out to the uninhabited island of Ailsa Craig - does anyone else think it could be the island from Clear?!

Another fabulous #europacollective read - I just couldn‘t put it down. I loved meeting all of the different characters - it really felt like I knew them all intimately.

@Chelsea.Poole compared it to Anne Tyler and @Tamra felt it was like Mary Lawson and I couldn‘t agree more with both of you!

Excited to hear that there‘s a sequel.

Thank you so much to Lindy for hosting this Suitable Boy #buddyread, and I really appreciate everyone‘s insights and comments that truly enhance my reading of the book.

It‘s been on my shelf for years and years and was just too daunting. Even though, once I started, I loved it I still think that, without the #buddyread I‘d have been tempted to rush through in my usual manner and I wouldn‘t have had the same experience.

#suitableboy2024

Congratulations to the author of this month‘s #europacollective book!

Perfect timing! 😃

I‘m just about to start this and looking forward to it after other Littens‘ reviews thus far.

Too much work means I‘m too tired to read much. I am reading some great books but they‘re all rather concentrate-y and lack of brain-space means I‘m flicking through magazines or vacantly watching TV.

This, however, grabbed me from the start and I flew through it. It‘s certainly not a ‘fluffy‘ read though, covering 3 sisters who endured an abusive foster home and now, many years later, hear that a body had been found at the house.

Mei is the titular mongrel - a child of a Japanese mother, who she loses when she‘s just six, and a white father. Yuki leaves Japan to study music in London and falls in love with her older teacher. Haruka works as a hostess in Tokyo‘s sex district.

I loved this tangle of narratives and couldn‘t put it down at times.

If you liked #womensprize nominee River East, River West then I think you‘ll like this too. For me, this one is slightly better.

I‘ve been on the fence about this, but the author is at the Harrogate Crime Writing Festival in July and I‘m trying to read as many authors as I can before I go.

It was the AI Detective in this that was putting me off, and to start with it made the book feel quite YA, with it being a hologram. After a while though, the twisty storyline overtook that element, and the AI became less ‘obvious‘.

There is a sequel, which I now think I‘ll read.

We were supposed to be going away today for a few days camping, but there is a weather warning for torrential rain for all 3 days we were planning to be away. A tiny campervan and a wet Labrador don‘t really mix so we cancelled.

Went to the shops instead! The Alternatives is for #camplitsy of course! I‘m going to re-read Brooklyn before Long Island. TM Logan is one of the authors at the Harrogate Crimewriting Festival in July.

Hey, #europacollective Littens - this looks great! And it‘s free!

Hopefully the link below works:

https://www.bookpassage.com/event/anne-berest-postcard-online

Unfortunately the timing doesn‘t work for me (it‘s way past my bedtime here in the UK!) but hopefully some of you can make it.

Yet another fabulous Kim Stone book from Ms Marsons. I always think there‘s got to come a time when one book isn‘t as good as the previous one, but they‘re always better.

This one is particularly twisty-turny, in both the cases featured. The titular storyline concerns young girls competing in beauty pageants and, of course, anything to do with mothering brings up issues for Kim.

Published at the end of the month.

#netgalley #guiltymothers

We‘ve been watching the Netflix series Homicide: NewYork, which features Butcher in her role as a Death Investigator in the city and hubby said ‘I bet she could write a good book‘. So of course, I looked it up!

This is a tough read, covering some very gruesome discoveries and 9/11, as well as the author‘s own mental health struggles, but I flew through it in a couple of hours. Highly recommended, if you‘re not squeamish.

This is a collection of over 50 short stories and poems, by women from various #readingoceania24 countries, including #newzealand, #fiji, #tonga, #papuanewguinea and, the one I‘m going for, #samoa.

Thank you so much for sending this to me Holly @Hooked_on_books - I really enjoyed it and also felt like I‘d learned a lot about the different cultures. I did prefer the more ‘modern‘ storytelling rather than the fables but there was a great mix.

On the face of it, the blurb of this book made me think I wouldn‘t like it, but I was also weirdly drawn to it. I thought, as it‘s a library book, I could bail (me, bail?! Ha!) but I ended up loving it.

The MC, Cyrus, is a recovering alcoholic who decides to write a book about martyrs and spends time talking to an artist whose last installation is her dying days in the Brooklyn Museum. I loved Cyrus, despite and because of all his weirdness. ❤️

Thanks for putting this on my radar @Megabooks - I loved it!

This time the author looks at the biases caused by our own over-thinking brains, particularly in this social-media obsessed age. Although I don‘t do that much social media, I do more than my fair share of over-thinking so I felt very seen, and also very re-assured.

As usual, I loved the author‘s narration on the audio.

I loved this, and it may even make my top picks of the year.

I couldn‘t imagine that a book about a woman giving up life to live in a convent retreat would be very interesting and, really, not much happens but I still adored it and didn‘t want it to end.

This is the first book I‘ve read by this author and I definitely want to read more - luckily the friend that gave me this one also gave me another, although she didn‘t think it was as good.

A rather intriguing style, with unreliable narrators and unfinished sentences. I rather enjoyed trying to decipher the audio recording, written as heard so you almost had to read it aloud.

I think the reason that I liked it, not loved it, was there was too much going on. I really enjoyed learning about the protagonists‘ weird relationships, but the background plot on the island itself felt like a step too far. (Trying not to give spoilers! 🤪)

I liked this but, like @TrishB , I didn‘t love it as much as I thought I would.

Even before I started it, I felt like the premise was very similar to Audrey Magee‘s The Colony. Although some of the writing was beautiful, the story fell far short of Magee‘s book. For me, there was little tension in comparison and there were a few points where there was a disconnect in the story - even the whale itself didn‘t quite draw everything together.

After announcing the 6 fabulous books for #camplitsy24, Meg, Barbara and I thought you might like to see the 10 books that ‘nearly‘ made the list. (In no particular order)

James was by far our runaway winner, with 4 in 10 Littens voting for it. Next were Bear and Clear, with around a quarter of you voting for each one.

The other 3 winning books gained just a few more votes than these 10, so a close-run race!

We‘d love to hear your thoughts!

Just about to start this (it jumped to the top of my pile @Oryx so not next year like I thought!). 🤣

I always like to match my bookmarks to my books, and this one is particularly pleasing so had to post it - it makes me happy! 😜

Two books given to me by a friend / neighbour. Stone Yard is brand new - she loved it but ‘never keeps books‘. Great for me! 😃

That inspired her to get the other book, which she found rather depressing and didn‘t enjoy as much, but it‘s a free book, so….

(We did just give them our barely-used travel crate for their new puppy so a fair exchange I think! ☺️)

Bought this on Saturday morning at The Stripey Badger bookshop in the Yorkshire Dales but couldn‘t post about it until now, for two reasons:

1. To celebrate #camplitsy24 launch weekend, we actually went camping and had no phone or Wi-Fi signal.

2. Can you imagine if I (as a camp host!) had actually posted this longlisted book yesterday before most of the camp books were revealed?! There would have been rioting in bookshops around the world! 🤣🤣

I‘m thrilled to be hosting your August #camplitsy24 books!

First, we‘ll be heading off to Ireland to read about 4 gifted sisters in The Alternatives, then heading to the Pacific Northwest to read Bear, which was our second most voted for book, after James.

We‘ll confirm all of the dates for each book shortly.

That‘s all 6 books revealed now, what do you think of our final two, and of the full selection for camp? 🏕️

Here‘s my #womensprize shortlist, in approx order, although I can‘t choose between the first two.

I have to say I‘m slightly disappointed in the longlist this year. Usually there are at least 5 / 6 books that would make it onto my personal favourites list for that year - this year only 2. (Defence and Brotherless Night)

I‘m not a completist, as I bailed on The Blue Beautiful World, which means it will make the shortlist, along with Hangman! 🤣

This is one of those books that you feel you can‘t say you loved, because of the subject matter (suicide). But I did love it.

It‘s very dark but also darkly humorous in places. Looking back on it now I can also see a sense of hope there too.

I can‘t wait to what this author writes next.

#womensprize

Looking forward to celebrating with our May birthday babies soon!

If you‘d like to be added to the list to receive #birthdaylove on your special day, just email your Litsy name and birthday to litsybirthdays@gmail.com and the Birthday Fairies will do the rest!

🎉📚🎉📚🎉📚🎉📚🎉📚🎉📚🎉📚🎉📚

I‘m so excited that we‘ve launched #camplitsy24 - here are my 4 nominations.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone else picks, and to my TBR list growing exponentially!

If #camplitsy24 is new to you, take a look at @BarbaraBB ‘s post from earlier today and make your own 4 nominations. We‘ll then all vote for 6 books from the long list and discuss them throughout the summer here on Litsy.

Thank you Emma @Oryx for my notebook and bookmarks from your trip to Colorado.

Stationery and bookmarks are my favouritest things… alongside books of course! 🤪

The next book, after Water, in the ‘four elements‘ set by John Boyne.

This one, about a gay footballer caught up in a sexual assault scandal with a 19-year old girl, is as compelling as the first book. I couldn‘t put it down and read it in one sitting (it is only short though!)

There was one bit that just seemed a bit OTT! But then what do I know about this murky tabloid world?! Be interested to hear what others think…

Out 18th April in UK.

A lovely book, about what lessons we can learn from the books taught in the UK school system.

Many of the books were ones I *hadn‘t* studied, or even read so, beware, this book if full of spoilers!

I really liked that though - the plot spoilers and the author‘s explanations and analysis drew me to the books and made me want to read them all!

#netgalley Published last week in the UK

Just arrived in Manchester ahead of the Percival Everett author event this evening.

Meeting @TrishB and @Oryx later - currently having a lovely lunch in The Portico Library cafe. (Sweet potato, peanut and chilli soup) 😋

The library itself is over 200 years old - most of the books are ‘out of bounds‘ but still wonderful to sit amongst them.

I rather liked this #womensprize long lister to start with….but then the perspective changed to a second-person narrative, the chronology jumped (I think?) and it all got a bit magical-realism.

On reading GR reviews, this seemed to confuse other reviewers too, but then they all said it came together at the end. 🤔 Well, it didn‘t for me so please can someone who‘s read it let me know what on earth went on?! 🫤 (In spoilers below please!) 🙏

Clearly this is a tough subject to read about (a primary school shooting) but it‘s more about the aftermath than the event itself.

Was Marty actually in the hall at the time - was she running to escape or was she running towards the school? And what effect will all the truthers and conspiracy theorists have on the village?

It‘s a very similar style to Girl A - quite steady with a slow reveal rather than twisty-turny edge of your seat stuff.

These are my choices for the Women‘s Prize for NF short list. TBH, I‘ve liked everything I‘ve read, but these just edge it. I don‘t think they‘ll all be in the actual shortlist, as I‘ve included 3 memoirs.

I‘ve hibernated 2 - VC and Britannias and haven‘t yet read enough of Shadows and Young Queens to include them in my list but I‘ll continue on regardless with those two, even if they don‘t make the shortlist.

Not so much of a big win in today‘s LitsyToB24 semi-final - 60/40 in favour of Wellness.

The Rachel Incident has been storming through the brackets up until now, but appears to have finally met its match in Wellness. Which did you vote for and are you sorry to see Rachel go?

Look out later today, when Barbara will be posting the results of our zombie 🧟‍♀️ votes - who will Wellness go up against?! 🤔

It‘s official…I‘m going to be a non-completist of this year‘s #womensprize for fiction!

The first 20% of this was OK then it lost me completely. I looked it up on GR to see if I could glean any clues, only to learn that it‘s book 3 in a series. (Although some called it a ‘companion piece‘ not a sequel and others said it stood alone just as easily).

I also read that there was a glossary of characters in the back so I thought that might be ⬇️

Hello, fellow #LitsyToB24 Littens! We‘re getting close to the end now…Today‘s semi-final result is a clear win for Hello Beautiful, with 75% of the vote.

I‘m sure this is what most of us expected, or are you surprised by this result? Tomorrow we‘ll find out the other semi-final result, along with which Zombie this one will go up against. Which Zombie are you hoping for to go up against HB, or should that be which do you hope HASN‘T been picked?!

I chose to read this #womensprize nominee next as I didn‘t think I‘d like it, and I‘m saving the ‘better‘ books for later… 🤪

I haven‘t read any of Enright‘s other work, but I understand that women‘s intergenerational trauma is a theme in her writing. This book also includes a male POV as we hear from an impoverished poet who abandons his family, his daughter Carmel, and her daughter Nell.

Won‘t be my fave on the list but better than expected!

Went out last week to an Indian street-food restaurant. (Not in India - we were on holiday in the English Lake District!).

The food was fabulous (the owner / chef had spent some time in India), dogs were welcome and, best of all, I got to try nimbu pani!

Their version was a mix of lemon and lime juice, with a hint of spice. I could definitely taste cumin in there - delicious!

This #womensprize long listed novel apparently started life as a series of short stories and, part-way through the book, this was an issue for me and I even considered bailing.

The ‘8 lives‘ are arranged non-chronologically which makes for a more challenging reading experience and the initial set-up seemed rather tacked-on.

However, towards the end, everything drew together satisfactorily and my opinion changed to a pick.