Welcome to Litsy!

Fiction recs for this week's prompt: tagged is my fave Dark Academia novel, and the MC's transition is a major part of the story.
The Merry Spinster by Daniel Mallory Lavery (formerly Ortberg) is a collection of gender bending fairy tales written as the author explored his own transition.
Queens of Noise by Leigh Harlan uses paranormal “were“ animal characters to explore the queer experience & ideas of found family.
#integrateyourshelf

"How does any relationship survive in the end, when change is the only constant?"

This book asks a lot of philosophical questions for a mystery. I had to ponder this one.

This book is a suspense and a murder mystery with a character who is transgender, and it is also beautiful. It is a study of human depth and decency. The author is amazingly insightful when it comes to relationships. There were so many great quotes in this book about human nature that were thrown in the middle of this murder. I loved it! Highly recommend!

My hours for the #24B4Monday #readathon so far. I've already beaten my goal of 15 hours due to canceled plans. I might actually make 24 and I'm thinking I will finish two more books. I'm reading these 3 and they are all really good. The Long Black Veil is really captivating and spooky with lots of symbolism. It is written by a women who is transgender.
@TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65 @jb72

The first half of this was everything I wanted and didn't get in The Secret History. Young, kind of pretentious liberal arts students (who still seemed like real humans), a mysterious, potentially criminal incident, and more buried secrets than you can shake a stick at. The last quarter relied on some coincidences that stretched my disbelief and there were several characters I wish had been developed more but overall I really enjoyed this.

Business trip. Been out all day with clients and co-workers, it's been a great time but I'm glad to unwind in my hotel room for a bit. Hopefully I'll get some decent sleep, flying home in the morning and going straight to the office.

Book Riot‘s 2019 Read Harder Challenge #3 - Read a Book by a Trans or non-binary author. I‘m finishing up Long Black Veil, a murder mystery/marital drama that has my eyes watering. This book is deeply layered, exploring gender, identity and the depths of loyalty. It also has me majorly missing my college friends. 😭📖 #readharderchallenge #bookriot #bookstagram #longblackveil

I just discovered a new reading challenge I am excited about, the #fold2018 challenge! This is my book for challenge #6, fiction by a transgender author. I actually went to a book talk the author did for this book, so I am pretty excited about reading it!

Omgggg! Thank you so much @LibrarianRyan I love it all! Did you make the unicorn bookmark? So cute! Also your letter was so sweet, I definitely will follow in your footsteps in future swaps. Thank you again!!! #secretsantagoespostal #wintersolsticebookexchange

Day Three: 4/35. All 35 of my Bookmas books are here!!

My favorite thing about this book is that the trans-ness of one of the characters is both central and not so much. Her mistakes aren't reducible to that fact, nor is her appeal. Yay!! The book depends on a world of pop culture knowledge, and there were some weird sentence level writing issues. I wonder if the publisher rushed it out in time for last summer's pride... Anyway, it's a fun character study with some clever twists.

With more than a week left, I have met my reading challenge on Goodreads! I wonder what my final reading total will be. Also, I loved Long Black Veil, but odds are my biases relate to gender identity. I'll post more on that book in a minute.

Reading this passage in the middle of a mystery novel feels like a revolutionary act.

This description of reinvention made me so happy.

Just started this one as an evening break from an academic book that makes me very grumpy. I'm only 20 pages in, but I'm already enjoying the shifting POV chapters and the character detail. I already feel like I know these people.

3⭐️ The use of the prison setting was eerie and a little creepy. It proved to be an interesting character study of the six friends that entered the prison that night. The book explored who they were then, and who they became thirty years later as a result of what had happened that night. I found myself wanting more details on the characters. https://lharvey250.tumblr.com/post/158003729034/the-long-black-veil-jennifer-fin...

Finished up this one today. Thought it was a really well written contemporary mystery. Finished up a little quickly but nicely

This one was a hard one to get into at first because I wasn't grasping what the author was trying to do from the multiple viewpoints but after I caught on, it was actually pretty insightful. It was very interesting reading a continuous plot line from multiple mental states and viewpoints although more could probably have been elaborated.

#TBRtemptation post 4! Released in April. The body of Judith Carrigan's college friend, Wailer, is discovered after missing for 20 years. She's the only one able to testify to Casey's innocence, Wailer's husband. The only problem is that in order to defend Casey, she's got some deep, dark stuff to expose which can rip her life apart. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Coulda been better, coulda been worse. A great read for Pride month. I felt things while I read this, but I can't go into detail without spoilers soooo. Here's my review: http://theghastlygrimoire.com/2017/06/16/book-review-long-black-veil-by-jennifer...

Almost to the halfway point. I've been unemployed for a week now, and while I still feel like crap, my mental state is recovering. That's a plus. I go back to the psychiatrist next month and will also be seeing a pain management specialist. Time to curl up and read.

Locked and loaded

Another pic from the library! I havent heard anything about it, but it sounded interesting. Labled a thriller and its about the Eastern State Penitentiary! Im in!

Okay. Judith Corrigan, thus far, is every bit as terrible and selfish as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl.

Here's a photo of #OtistheCat laying on top of my copy of Long Black Veil all grumpy like. #gingerbrats #catsoflitsy #littenkitten

Wow. JFB does it again. I have one niggle with the plot, but it's minor. Who decides who we are, and when? If that's changed, by us or someone else, does the old narrative become a lie? What happens when the story in your head doesn't match what everyone expects of you, wants from you? Can you really change who you are? JFB has constructed this so carefully, beautifully, heartbreakingly--it is very nearly perfect. Read it. Then read it again.

It's been awhile since I've had the energy to read and God knows I'm behind on my galleys. I've had a full blown relapse. Today I had to quit my job. I'll be filing for disability, as I don't have any other options. My depression and anxiety, coupled with my colitis, have finally torn me down. Whelp, I'm gonna look on the bright side: more reading time! I turned to Litsy when I was first diagnosed. I'm glad to have you all. Time for a soak!

OMG, OMG! It is finally in my hot little hands (well, OK, downloaded into my Kindle app)! You know where I'll be every spare moment the next few days (and some not so spare...)! 📚

My first physical #reviewcopy!

So! I really enjoyed Judith's story. The personal insight Boylan was able to give to the story really shaped Judith overall as a character. I would have loved if the story was told strictly from the perspective of Judith... I feel this would have been more intriguing to me. The story kept my attention but I ended up feeling pretty frustrated throughout. I'm struggling with my rating for this one.

This book is read by Ms. Boylan and frankly I had a super hard time with that. I had to pause in my listening maybe this summer on the beach I'll be able to let go of my objections and actually be able to contact to the story.

This is a meandering book that wanders between a number of characters and places, and though it's not poorly written it just never rang true to me. I think the strongest aspect was the characterization of Judith, a trans woman, who is also one of the characters we spend the most time with. It's not really a mystery, and with almost every character being universally disappointed with their lot in life is a bit of a downer.

I like Boylan's nod to the trans flag on the inner flap. 🏳️‍🌈

A place for every cat, and every cat in its place.

(Well, not every cat. There are two more elsewhere.)

#catsoflitsy #petsoflitsy

Finished with breakfast this morning. I'm not sure how to rate this one. My first day of reading ended around page 200, which is pretty close to where it switches from mystery/suspense to thriller/dénouement, and I like to have to mystery run for a little while longer.

Also, I was wary about the introduction of a fat (did we mention he's fat?) character; it's not too spoilery to say that he does get a fat-related comeuppance and scolding. ?

The book police inspect my library selection.
#catsoflitsy #petsoflitsy

Six chapters in and really enjoying this so far... but I also only have one week to watch a whole season of Orphan Black, so it keeps getting put aside.

I have, however, been spontaneously singing "Long Black Veil" at regular intervals since I checked it out, and I'm also earwormed by the constant references to "Norwegian Wood." (I think it's come up three separate times so far?)

This is not just a book about murder. This is a book about how even the strongest of friendships can fray, the future is never what we expect it to be, nor are people always what they seem, and a person's seemingly small choice can have a big impact.

The turns in the plot are sharp but the design is masterful. Small details from the beginning of the book come back to play a bigger part later.

*Copy of this book was given by LibraryThing.*

Mistake #1: In 1980, 8 friends go into the ruins of a prison after 2 of them get married. (Whhhhyyy?) One dies and the body is found decades later. 👎🏾I wasn't pleased with a character dump in the beginning of the story. It was confusing with their nicknames. Judith kept my interest and was my anchor in a bloated story. 👍🏾 I enjoyed the exploration of identity and loyalty. The twists were great! Shaky execution in the ARC. 🥉

Far from being a simple mystery novel, this is an exploration of identity, of keeping secrets, of who we are and how we change as we go through life. I've never read Boylan's fiction, but I'm glad I picked this one up. Of course, y'all should go read her memoir She's Not There. #trans #lgbtq

I love how JFB tells a story, the way she allows it to unfold in its own time. LONG BLACK VEIL contains elements of a thriller, a mystery, a hint of paranormal, but is still a wonderfully character-driven piece of literary fiction. The theme of a trans person living in stealth was profound. I think those of us who are younger, who've always had online community, can't fully grasp how isolating this was. Great read. #ownvoices #translit

And so success had come to her, as it comes to so many people....
The exasperating truth of success. We can't all make careers out of doing what we love or we'd be professional readers. Lol

She needs to meet my extended family! Their accents are still in daily use, and they don't get a ton of tourists where they live. 😅😅😅 #downeaster #maine #ayuh #amreading

In 1980, eight friends enter an old, abandoned prison. Only seven of them leave. In 2015, bones were found in the prison and the survivors must revisit that night. A solid mystery with well designed twists. However, some of the language and dialogue reads as if it were taken straight from social media.

I read Boylan's "She's Not There" a long time ago, and it really opened my eyes to transgender issues. So, I would say I was a fan going into this reading. This novel does a great job at hooking the reader with a mystery set in an abandoned prison. However, there are many character POVs, which can be confusing, and it's hard to feel a real focus to the plot. Would still recommend this to some readers though. ⭐⭐⭐⭐