Welcome to Litsy!

What a marvelous book! I‘m only sorry it took so long for me to get around to reading it. It has everything I want in an apocalyptic novel: storylines before, during, and long after the event; making do with the things left behind by the old civilization while rebuilding in tiny communities; even traveling entertainers! It‘s all brought together by Mandel‘s beautifully drawn characters and compelling prose. I just wish there were more.

Loved this story of a post endemic world where society is completely different. The handling of the pandemic is masterful as it is more of a set piece than the story itself. Character driven piece.

An amazing reread. 4.5

#CanadaReads2023

"The King stood in a pool of blue light, unmoored.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

This book really intrigued me. I loved how the plot went back and forth between pre-pandemic and post life. The characters were all so intriguing and rife with complexity. The only thing that upset me was the ending, it was incredibly anti-climatic. I really love this author and am looking forward to reading more works by her.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️(4/5)

This was absolutely worth pushing through the reading slump and finishing. I think my favorite part are all the small details that connect the pre pandemic narrative to the post. So many interconnected threads that give nice little payoffs. This was my #BookSpin for January @TheAromaofBooks

You guys I‘m having the best reading night in a long time! Somehow I‘m only 100 pages from the end and a wild feline reading buddy has appeared. Since we adopted the dog in May he‘s super territorial over my attention and usually tries to get them to leave but he‘s currently distracted by my feet lol
#CatsOfLitsy

I was going to use my book stand pillow but Rolo had other ideas. I have been in a bit of a slump so it‘s taking me forever to finish this. But I‘m enjoying it when I can actually get myself to pick it up.

Parts of it felt like a rehash of The Stand (I probably should have left myself some more time between the two) or maybe just pandemic fiction in general, though the circular plot design is a neat little trick that worked okay for me. Surprisingly, I found the airport chapters quite harrowing and many of the episodes from Arthur Leanderβ€˜s life so engaging that I would have liked to read more of them.

#BookReport
Didn't manage to finish any of the books that I'd track for my yearly goal but I did read quite a few of my guilty pleasure no track books. I also made decent progress in the tagged but not enough to really count.

#WeeklyForecast
Goal this week is to finish Station Eleven and start Amatka. I like how I made all these great reading goals that were less strenuous than last year and am already falling behind month one lol.

Back porch reading while the dog alternates between staring at me, playing with his toys, and sunbathing.

A most excellent dystopian novel with multiple perspectives both pre and post flu epidemic. Was fascinating to read about how life was perceived to end up post epidemic before we as a society went through our own epidemic. I can see why this book became very popular during COVID era. Amazing way that all the characters were connected and eventually circled back around to each other. Honestly would have loved to have a little bit more book!

I read this book 6 years ago & loved it. I remember thinking then how easily the events in the book could actually happen. And now, here we are post-pandemic, so it was a different experience reading it this time around. I still love this book! The subject matter is still scary, even more so now, & the themes of human connection, fate, death, and survival ring truer than ever.

#pop23 - fulfills a fave past challenge prompt (reread of a fave book)

Ready to start my retro project for #LitsyCrafters! And listening to this book on audio. I read the print version like 6 years ago, and want to watch the series when I‘m done with the audiobook.

#jumpstart2023

Happy #BookSpin Day to all who celebrate! I am hype we have our new selections for the New Year. My BookSpin is the tagged with Against the Tide of Years as my DoubleSpin. Both have been on my tbr for a while so I'm happy to have the excuse to get them done.

This was such a nice read! You'd think a book dealing with a pandemic and the post-apocaliptic world after woyld be grim, but the story focuses instead in the random connections people make and how small acts of kindness can reverberate throug peoples' lives.

Yes, there's some dark stuff going on, but it's not the point or the focus of the story.

#adventrecommends @emilyrose_x

It's irl rdg grp tomorrow + this is one of the 2 bks we are discussing. The first half when the pandemic strikes was very disconcerting reading post covid given its being written in 2014 . I felt the 2nd half told 20 yrs later + reflecting on life post the illness well told but offering similar threads to many other dystopian novels incl the ominous preacher. I liked the connections to actor Arthur and overall well told and enjoyable

πŸ“˜Station Eleven
πŸ–ŠοΈJeff Shaara
πŸŽ₯The Sound of Music
🎀Bruce Springsteen
🎢Someday (Celtic Woman)
#manicmonday #letterS

#ManicMonday #LetterS @CBee

πŸ“˜ Station Eleven
πŸ–Š John Scalzi
🎬 Shrek
🎀 Stevie Nicks
🎢 Shambala by Three Dog Night

What a great question! Except that I would say that every English teacher was my favorite at the time. I‘d like to think that any of them would be glad to know I‘m still a reader and would enjoy a good conversation about something more contemporary than the works of William Shakespeare or other dead white guys. Tagged book would be a good place to start. #sundayfunday

This wasn‘t as hard to read as I feared, and I found myself caring about and being interested in the charactersβ€”which is good, as this is a very character-focused novel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely loved this book. It mostly centers around 3 people and their connections on the night the plague hit. Arthur who dies on stage that night, Jeevan who tried to save him and Kirsten who was on stage with Arthur as one of the children in King Lear.
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#Booked2022 #SetInACanadianProvince @Cinfhen @alisiakae @BarbaraTheBibliophage

#two4tuesday

1. I‘ve read both, but more apocalyptic books. I‘d love to read more alternate history! As long as the story is good, I‘m good with either.
2. The tagged book. I loved it!

If you want to play, consider yourself tagged! πŸ€—

If you can read my scruffiest handwriting, these were my favourite quotes from Station Eleven. I'm planning a re-read soon.

"A trapdoor waiting under every word"

"If you are the light, if your enemies are darkness, then there's nothing that you cannot justify."

#alphabetgame #letterS

I love her writing and this is an excellent read. So many S books. Also I must mention The Shining S King. A secret history Donna Tartt Slade house David Mitchell. A short history of nearly everything Bill Bryson. #alphabetgame.

I couldn't put this one down. Loved the characters and the way their lives touched and were intertwined with eachother.

Read for #bookspin

Here is my list for #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo @thearomaofbooks

I am not sure I will read all of the #AuthorAMonth listed @Soubhiville, but they are placeholders so I can see if I like them.

Also listed #TBRDeckOfCards @clwojick - I already ruled one other one out this week.
#Booked2022 (almost done with this one!) @cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @barbarathebibliophage
#Roll100 @PuddleJumper

I‘m 11 chapters into this book and I can‘t bring myself to read another chapter. There are parts where it‘s hard to follow and is thus losing my confidence in continuing further. I see it has a great rating on here, so I guess it‘s just me.

'No one seems to have noticed that Miranda‘s saying very little. β€œI wish you‘d try a little harder,” Arthur has said to her once or twice, but she knows she‘ll never belong here no matter how hard she tries. These are not her people. She is marooned on a strange planet. The best she can do is pretend to be unflappable when she isn‘t.'

This was tough to read in our current times, but interesting characters and story. I wish I had a little more resolution with some of the characters.

Since I just read this , it is hard to imagine how I would feel about this book pre Covid .In the first days of our lockdown I was trying not to picture scenes as drastic in this novel happening IRL.The writing is beautiful, the book atmospheric. That the arts make a comeback & that there is a museum of now useless artifacts was fascinating.Of course there‘s an evil prophet, there would have to be, though my least favorite part of the book.

Not sure this lived up to the hype for me but it was really beautifully written and I did get pretty invested in some of the character's stories. But not all.

Every time the Cabazon Dinosaurs do a new paint job my mom, grandma, and I make the trek out to take a new pic. But one of the best parts of the trip is that half way home we stop for lunch and then go through the large Barnes and Noble next to the restaurant. Today my haul included the tagged as well as Hall of Smoke and Temple of No God.

#bookspin list for June.
@TheAromaofBooks

Station Eleven reawakened certain feelings and fears of mine from COVID 2020. Although, not always a page turner the characters make this eerie novel come to life.

Yes, I‘m still reading this. I‘m slow! It was making me a bit depressed too. But I talked about it with my book club friend who‘s reading it, and she said one theme is that life was still difficult before the apocalypse, which to me means life is as difficult as you make it to be. We‘re not just victims of our lives, we are the main drivers. I do like this book!

This book gave me nightmares, combined with some snippets of my current audio (Katie Couric‘s Going There). Imaginative, emotional and doesn‘t seem that far fetched. Wonderful characters and character development. I felt vested in them. Book wrapped up well, too. I heard there‘s a series (Netflix?)… has anyone seen it? Want to watch it with some friends after passing around the book.

Read this the first time in 2018 w a physical copy and I thought it was ok.
I either gave the book to my mom or donated it, so I rented the audiobook from the library and I liked it better this time!
I don‘t typically reread, but I watched the show, and it was awful. Such a jumbled pretentious mess that I HAD to reread. The book is miles better. (My opinion is the minority on the show)

Let me start by saying, this book isn‘t bad at all; it kept my interest enough that I was able to read it in 4 days. I like how she weaved a story about different people far away from each other in both time and distance but still intricately connected to each other.

I agree that it lacks in depth a little. Also, the beginning is slow and the story doesn‘t pick up pace until half way through.

You could pick a much worse book to read, however.

β€œA novel of art, memory, and ambition, Station Eleven tells a story about the relationships that sustain us, the ephemeral nature of fame, and the beauty of the world as we know it.”

I wanted to love this book, but I only kinda liked it. It kept me interested with the way it wove the characters & the before and after together. But it kept getting close to something meaningful and beautiful, then would focus on something else. I wanted more depth

A #MarmiteBook.

I'm not sure whether it's the characters that I didn't connect with, or the prose that I found a bit too much sometimes. Or the jumping around the timeline from before the epidemic to after? Or maybe I missed some more background information about this dystopian world?

#MountTBR -1 😁

β€œHell is the absence of the people you long for.”

Bloody hell this was good. @Rissreads recommended it ages ago & my husband, a dystopian fiction aficionado, read her copy. He gave it an Ok, but didn‘t share her enthusiasm, so I didn‘t bother to read it, not being a huge fan of the genre.
Then someone chose The Glass Hotel for book club & I liked the writing, so my husband bought me a copy of Station Eleven for my birthday.
The lesson here? Listen to @Rissreads when she recommends a book πŸ˜†πŸ‘.

Ah, I was going to go to a local book club tonight for my first time, and it got rescheduled to next Wednesday without a reason, via meetup. :( we were going to talk about the first half of Station Eleven. I guess I have more time to get to the halfway point and beyond! Yay!

This was an unusual read for me. I didn‘t think I would enjoy a book about Georgian flu, travelling theatre, apocalyptic world, comic book and famous actor‘s life story in one.

Still not sure what was the point of all of it! Have I missed something important? Please let me know!

I would rate it as a β€˜pick‘ just because I was captivated throughout. I couldn‘t really put it down!

Who knew a book about the end of civilization - no, the end of civilization as we know it to be - could be so magical. It's post-apocolyptic, but tender and true. Because Emily St. John Mandel has captured that thing that makes me love Steinbeck and the other sad literary writers: the human heart is relentless in hope and survival. Which is why as long as we are here, civilization of some sort, the small beautiful things in life, will remain.

Is this going to get really scary? I never read horror - but I heard this book could be categorized as such. I am reading cautiously, on page 79 or so!