Welcome to Litsy!

This collection of genre-bending short stories started off with a bang! I loved “The Husband Stitch” but was then disappointed by all the law & order mini episode descriptions. Others were less memorable, but engaging while I read them. So it was uneven for me but I did appreciate the focus on the ways women‘s bodies are commodified, possessed, and mistreated. I am giving this a pick because I‘m not sure I‘ll forget about that ribbon!

The most impactful book I've read this year for sure. Started on a wild note with an essay about a pandemic that sweeps the US. Appropriately bizarre note for this book to start on. Such a clear voice and minimal embellishment but sets the vibe impeccably. Would love to see this on the curriculum for a gender studies lit class.

#OctoberReadingBingo

Apologies, I don't know who created this board to tag them. Which is a shame as it was a great one, and I enjoyed filling the prompts. So much so that I filled it quite quickly.
So thank you, mystery board maker 😊

#SummerEndReadathon September #bookspin

Machado is clearly a gifted writer but her style is not for me. Her stories are too vague and unresolved for me to get invested in. I did like a couple of the stories but overall this one didn‘t work for me.

Compelling storytelling, captivating writing, didn't have that short story issue where I sometimes find myself struggling through a narrative I knew would end too soon. I think I was half right in seeking out this collection after having such luck with Julia Armfield's Salt Slow, i.e. both short story collections of feminist horror/magical realism. 1/?

#weekendreads

After a busy week I‘m enjoying some quiet time with my current reads.

September #bookspin pick!

A collection of quirky, strange, and mostly queer stories surrounding the realities (and frustrations) of being a woman and the violence done upon women‘s bodies. A combination of urban legend, science fiction, and psychological realism. I really enjoyed this one. I didn‘t care for “Especially Heinous” or “Mothers,” but the other stories in the collection are definitely worth reading. 3/5

Magical realism/horror short stories about women &their bodies & the way society & men feel entitled to them. None of these are easy to read, TW for assault, eating disorders, mental health etc but they are so well written & unique. The intermixing of queerness is appreciated, it‘s just there, it‘s not a plot point. The reimagined story of SVU episodes was so interesting. Why do we watch shows of women being assaulted? Bc they are. But why?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Carmen Maria Machado's debut is a showcase of social commentary with an experimental & unsettling edge. The standouts for me were “Inventory“ (I don't want to say too much, but what appears to be a mere recounting of amorous encounters takes an unexpected turn), “Especially Heinous: 272 Views of Law & Order SVU“ (as I mentioned in a previous post this is Law & Order as directed by David Lynch) & “Eight Bites“ (about a Gastric Sleeve Surgery that

I know that this long story (almost 60 pages) is divisive, but I thought it was really interesting! Using actual SVU episode titles, Machado spins an unsettling & surreal narrative that is more David Lynch's Twin Peaks than Dick Wolf's Law & Order.

My kind of religion!

All of the stories are haunting and well written

Great collection of short stories. The only story I wasn't a fan of was the Law & Order SUV, but the others were great. This is a diverse collection that contains themes of magical realism, horror, humor, and a lot of originality.

The first and last stories in the collection were my favorite.

Machado's writing is art. Every single story had something to offer, and something to relate to. The author hits the whole spectrum of consequential female existence, specifically through the lense of queer women.

It's a rather short collection, but I took my time to savor and ponder every word. I've added In the Dream House to my TBR, and I really hope we get another collection soon.

Yet another 5⭐️ read for 2022 💜

This one, like The Husband Stitch, was really hard to read. Tw for assault, the ending for me was really sad. A good end to the overall book though.

#scarathlon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #readlikehellathon #readwithus #allhallowseveathon #wickedathon

A writer goes to a retreat in the woods and is forced to face herself. As a lifelong Girl Scout, and having camped at places similar to the one described in the story, it was a neat visualization to add to the story. As a writer, too, yet another one I can put myself into.

#scarathlon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #readlikehellathon #readwithus #allhallowseveathon #wickedathon

I bought this book after a professor had us read “The Husband Stitch” for a Hauntings and Horrors literature class. I won‘t lie, it did get a little slow there in the middle, and all the stories made my head feel fuzzy, but I did enjoy all of them in some way or another. The Husband Stitch is, imho, the best of them, but a good read regardless.

#scarathalon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix

Tw: eating disorder, but otherwise a very creepy tale. Not my favorite of them all so far, as it‘s quite tame in comparison, but interesting.

#scarathalon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #readwithus #wickedathon

This feels relevant, especially with the happenings in Texas, but it could also be applied to any female-presenting issue. Bodily rights, being transgender, or just living as a woman, this story rings more true the more I contemplate it.

#scarathlon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #wickedathon

I had to move inside because it was too cold! This one read a lot like the movie “Us” more than Law and Order SVU. I liked it, though.

#scarathlon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #wickedathon

I‘m not sure where this one was going? It‘s sad, but the ending is…ambiguous.

#scarathlon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #wickedathon

This one strikes WAYYY too close to home! An epidemic takes over the US, with a bisexual main character, and I can easily put myself in her shoes. Spooky.

#scarathalon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix #spookoweenreadathon #screamathon #wickedathon

A wrap on week 2! Lots of movies and not so many books, but trying to read more this week!

#scarathlon #scarathlon2021 #teamhendrix

This wasn't bad. The first story was my favourite though. A retelling of The Girl With the Green Ribbon. The reimagining of every season of Law & Order SVU was....interesting. I do enjoy this author though. She always has a unique take.

#screamathon Week 2 Challenge

9hrs

Non team theme: 8x5=40pts

#littenlisten :400pts
#bookspinbingo :400pts
#spookoween :400pts
#outstandingoctober:400pts

#scarathlon2021 #teamslaughter

I have goals!

🖤 Finish tagged for #screamathon
🧡 Get a bit more done on Empire of the Vampire
🖤 Finish the Locke & Key graphic novels
🧡 At least one more #audiobook that I haven't decided on yet

#outstandingoctober @Andrew65

Finally getting around to sealing these for framing!

#audiocrafting

Getting myself caught up on Bingo boards this morning. It's gotten away from me and it looks like I actually have a few bingos across the boards 😊

Next step: movie bingos

#scarathlon2021 #teamslaughter @Clwojick

I stayed up most of the night listening to this audiobook. I thoroughly enjoyed this book of short stories. Each story held my attention. They ranged from erotic, violent, magical, and just a diverse mix.

This was another one that just wasn't for me. Which made me sad, as I had been wanting to read it for a long time. But 🤷‍♀️ that's okay. There are plenty of books that do seem to be written with me in mind, and life's too short to dredge through the ones I'm not vibing with!

I really enjoyed most of these short stories—“The Husband Stitch” and “Difficult at Parties” in particular—but I thought “Especially Heinous” was significantly too long. I also kept going back to this collection-opening quote, and felt like the helplessness within colored my reading more than Machado likely intended. Overall I‘d say this is a fairly interesting read, but probably a bit too interested in being “cerebral” for the sake thereof.

I enjoyed the first two stories in this collection with their mix of fairytale and magical realism. Then came the third story, 70+ pages and 50 of these about the TV series SUV and I never figured that one out, so she lost me. And then she lost me for a while until the last story that‘s really powerful.

Again I‘m doing a combined #BookReport and #WeeklyForecast

Finished:
📚 Anne of the Windy Willows #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

Read:
📚 The Death of Francis Bacon
📚 How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division
📚 Territory of Light
📚 The Duke and I
📚 A Village Life

Currently reading:
📚 A Jane Austen Education
📚 The tagged short story collection
📚 Mansfield Park #PemberLittens
📚 The Ickabog #Ickabogalong

Next up:
📚 Inside Out and Back Again

A combined #BookReport and #WeeklyForecast

I finished A Secret Sisterhood and The Group

Buddy reading The Ickabog, Mansfield Park and Anne of Windy Willows

I want to start reading A Village Life. I‘m also in the mood for some shorter reads and I hope to start the tagged short story collection. And like everybody else, I‘ve watched Bridgerton and want to read the book the series is based on. An overly ambitious tbr for the upcoming week

This Saturday I am a bit out of the Christmas atmosphere with these short stories, but this is only because I find the second half of the book title (which instead of “Other Parties“ has been translated “Other Pleasures/Indulgencies“), very evocative of the little pleasures of today's cozy winter morning 😊

Machado‘s collection of stories is sensuous and slightly foreboding with a hint of the gothic, perfect for dark winter afternoons.

Read December 10-12
Rated 3.5/5 ⭐️
Book 54/60

This only got better after a reread. So much to unpack! Fairy tales, dystopias, uncanny doppelgangers and psychological terror that reads like realism - through these otherworldy elements and settings, Machado explores our world, which condemns (queer) women's fears, desires and bodies while bringing them to the forefront and celebrating them for the force that they carry.

I didn't finish many books this month, but the five books I did finish were pretty dang good. My favorites were Hither Page (fun, gay, historical, mysterious) and Her Body and Other Parties (dark, gay, feminist, disorienting)...always gay. 🙃📚

No fault of the writer, it's totally me... way too much sex and not enough horror for me. @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick, definitely check this one out!!

Give me blood and guts and I don't bat an eye... give me sex and I'm instantly uncomfortable!!!

Gonna try and push through the stories but the first one has me squirming!!!

Still working on the slow burning The City Where We Once Lived but this hold came in! I can't pass it up, I just hope it's good!
#SlumpingAlong #quarantinereads #readingslump

Am behind on posting about some of the books I‘ve finished in the past few weeks (though it‘s a small number given the all consuming political climate in the US). My focus has been totally shot up until the last few days 🥴 Anyway, I loved most of the stories in this weird little collection, but a few of them fell really flat and dragged. But worth reading on the whole - searing takes on the female body in society with a magical realism bent.

"Afterward, she traced the indents in my skin from the harness, and confessed to me that no one was having any luck developing a vaccine. 'But the fucking thing is only passing through physical contact,' she said. 'If people would just stay apart--' She grew silent. She curled up next to me and we drifted off."

Unexpected pandemic content hitting me HARD tonight. ?

Truly a fascinating and yet uncomfortable read at times, which I think was Machado's intent so well done. A good one for the espooky season. Couldn't help but get caught up in the language. And I loved that every story was basically just a long winded metaphor for the harm the patriarchy does to women. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Read a few stories out of this anthology. The Husband Stitch was really well crafted and wove in a handful of urban myths and folklore perfect for the season. All stories seem to comment on women‘s struggles, coming of age/aging in general, and sexuality. Interesting stories for interesting times.

76pts for #teamharkness #scarathlon2020

I always have such a hard time rating short story collections because some stories I absolutely loved other I didn't care for at all so I always and I mean always end up with a 3 star rating an while this one was no different the stories I liked especially the very first one which I absolutely loved. The supernatural elements tied into the very real horror of what happens to womens bodies really stuck with me.

I get why people like this one, but it just wasn‘t for me. I think it felt a little too much like contemporary fiction in a horror disguise and I was expecting far more horrifying things. Maybe the kind of everyday violence against women has ceased to be horror for me?
+6 for #teamslaughter

I'm so sorry that I forgot the last two weeks' prompts! It's the final stretch of campaign season here in the US and I am swamped, both with work and with stress/emotions/anxiety. 😬

However, it's also my favorite time of year -- OCTOBER! I'm tagging one of my favorite spooky short story collections by an AOC. If you haven't read it, it would be a great choice for #scarathlon2020!

#IntegrateYourShelf