Welcome to Litsy!

A really disjointed reading experience. Some pieces of this worked for me, but those pieces were hidden within a lot of fluff and meandering prose.

This was a weird one. A woman and her daughter are hiding out in a Maine motel while her estranged husband is searching for them. Started out as a psychological thriller with a supernatural element, but the ending took an oddly religious turn. I liked it, but am not sure how I feel about the resolution.

Certainly a weird story, but I quite enjoyed it! Anna‘s attempt to escape her husband‘s political campaign provides for a thrilling plot line with an interesting cast of characters.

Intrigued to see where this is going... (An ARC that‘s definitely not advanced any longer. Came out May of last year. 😳)

Yeah, every time an author puts out a book, it‘s like they have a baby and then they say look at my baby, love my baby. They‘ve put months of nurture and care and they are brave enough to bring that baby into the world. Which makes me feel bad when I don‘t like their baby. Lol. 30% in and I just couldn‘t go on. It is somewhat shocking to me, because her Mermaids in Paradise was so funny and heartening to me. On to the next!!!!

Yes it's 7:15 and yes I'm in bed already with hot chocolate and a book.....heaven, after the day I've had 😅

What a weird book. This is the story of Anna and her young daughter Lena, who hide from husband Ned in an old hotel in Maine. He has never cared for either of then until now. For his political ambitions he needs a stable family.
I liked Anna and wanted to understand what was going on. But I didn't. The abstract parts on religion and existentialism went way over my head. #ToB Picture: La Lonja, Valencia

Getting some kitten snuggles with my reading time today!

I have to say I am glad I read it, but I think the writing is not my style. Story itself is still great, though!

Seriously, #ToB? Seriously, Pulitzer? There were so many great books last year. I'm 1/3 of the way into this book and I just don't care. I checked the reviews and it seems that I'm not alone. Therefore, it's time to bail. #dnf

In an effort to have some familiarity with the #ToB17 titles, I'm listening to bits of books, as many as I can. Unless a book hooks me right away, in going to give each book the length of one dog walk. While I didn't have any particular objection to this one, the writing wasn't compelling and the character had not gripped by the end of the first part.

Just kidding! Mail man came back to deliver this beauty! We did a #BlindDateWithABook with our #LitsyGoesPostalOG and I received mine from @Lola today!! Some chocolate to go along with my date, too! ❤ Thank you! Can't wait to dig in 📚🙌 #BookMail #LitsyGoesPostal

Made it halfway and cared even less than where I started. I didn't feel any urgency even though it should have felt high stakes. Maybe because of the author doing the audio? I'm not sure. I also didn't love the religious elements that start becoming a major plot point. Oh well I tried it! #tob #tournamentofbooks

I decided not to go back to work after lunch because I'm fighting off a massive headache ... Guess I'll listen to one of the ToB books and lay on the couch in the dark!

February stats, old-school style (because I'm not tech-savvy enough to go new school like the cool kids ;))

Finished for the #ToB2017 and #PGBCBookBingo ! I don't think this book flows very well but it was interesting. I'm using this book for the "Library" box on our Book Bingo card

#deepThoughts for Saturday morning

Several interesting tidbits from the internet are scattered throughout this #ToB2017 book

This book was weird and trippy and prescient and so so good. After two very mediocre reads it was a relief to experience something so excellent. Ah, this is why I love to read. #TOB17 #TOB2017

Breakfast before my daughter's track meet; the Kentucky Benedict. I love me a good plate of hash browns almost as much @MrBook loves his tater tots. I should be able to finish this book between events. #booksandbreakfast #TOB2017 #TOB17

Same spot, same book, different lunch combo before the last few hours of my computer forensics seminar. Today it's lentil soup with pancetta and a turkey avocado wrap. I'm really enjoying this book (which I'm maybe sort of sneak reading during the lectures). #bookandlunch

This book was so good. I was 50 pages in and already had things underlined. The mystery of it is great but the writing really made this book what it is. This book took me longer to read cause I savored it. Rereading passages and pages cause I loved it so much. I went out and ordered her other books cause I loved it so much.

This was 9th on my Tournament of Books list. When I started the book it had a 48% rating on Litsy. Today it's at 52%. Those numbers really surprise me. I had trouble putting this book down. The thriller aspect of the book had its foot on the gas (granted I don't read many thrillers, but still...) and the ideas she explores of community, sanity, and the machinations of the unscrupulous were thought provoking. #ToB17

Lunch break. Computer forensics made me very hungry for a little time with my book. Lunch is Caprese sliders and minestrone to fuel me up for the afternoon's exciting lectures 🙃 #bookandlunch

After some off-list reading yesterday, I'm back to ticking off the #TOB17 short-list. This title has been on my Kindle for quite some time. So technically, this isn't really #flowersonbooks but since it is my current Kindle cover, it's really is flowers on lots of books 😜🌺🌸🌻📚 #riotgrams #riotgram @bookriot

"He used to be a feral librarian, he said, before he went back to school. That was what they called them, he said, librarians without a master's degree."' I know a few of these and now I know what to call them!

"I had the devotional urgency of new mothers and couldn't help feeling that a baby was a standing debt, a debt to a forming soul."

I'm so glad it's Friday. After reading an intense book I've moved on to my ninth Tournament of Books read. It's -2F and I'm under my favorite red Tibetan blanket on the couch. Dinner can wait a bit longer. #Litsypartyofone #Tob17

This is book #9 for me from the #TOB2017 short list. This appealed to the side of me that likes heady, intellectual novels, and to the other side of me that loves a good creepy thriller.

Just okay. I think this one was either not weird enough or not developed enough for me to really engage with it. I really liked Anna (the mother/narrator), but I didn't like some the jumps the plot took in the second half. Those episodes felt rushed and/or unnecessary - I think this book would have been way more ominous & more solid without them. #ToB17 #ToB2017

Library haul. The books I own continue to be ignored. (Sigh) No complaints though. I'm a lucky woman to have so many choices. Tournament of Books number 9 next to be read. #TOB17 #bookhaul

Quality writing but the story leaves me with some questions. I give it thumbs up and it would be a good book for book clubs.

I'm having a hard time getting into this one. On page 113.

Current read for the #24in48 readathon, very compelling writing so far.

This is a toughy. I really REALLY enjoyed reading this book. Lydia Millet is quickly risen to the favorite authors list. But I know that others may find it frustrating to read a book that doesn't necessarily have a clear-cut ending or doesn't answer all of the questions it asks. For me, it's a pick, but be prepared to be weirded out.

It's a rainy dreary day and my boys and I are doing what we do best. 😂😍📚. Has anyone read this one? It's taken a turn for the weird but I'm pretty sucked in at the 60% mark. #2017ToB #ToB #currentlyreading #dogsoflitsy

"The yarn was blue-gray."

Uh oh. If this is supposed to mean something to me, I have failed. Hate it when I feel like I'm missed something! Grrrr. I am ready for this book to be over. Better have a WOW!-ending...

Oscar says, "Oh great, Mom is going to be really boring for the next 9-10 weeks." #TOB17 book #7 of 18.

The blurb got me: "This double-edged and satisfying story features a strong female protagonist, a thrilling plot, and a creeping sense of the apocalyptic." Also Millet is fantastic!

I wanted to like this one but I could not. I found the writing heavy, the plot did not move

Spent today finishing two books: Barkskins in print and Sweet Lamb of Heaven on audio. Not sure if they count as the last books of 2016 or the first books of 2017? Either way, glad to start tomorrow with a clean slate.

Doing a puzzle is one of my Christmas traditions but this year my sister-in-law gave me a 3000 piece monster. 😵 (Only 1/3 of the pieces are on those 2 tables.) It may do me in or cure me of puzzling forever. Listening to this book by Lydia Millet as I pick away. It is decidedly weird so far.

On the one hand, I genuinely loved the narrator, her daughter, and the commentaries on language and philosophy. However, this was billed as a psychological thriller, and it did not come off that way to me. Some elements were thrown in last-minute as well. I think if those had been left out, this would have been an effective work of literary fiction, but it does not work for me as a thriller.

Spent the past day in Ohio and on my drive there and back I listened to book 5 of my #nba2016ficlonglist. It's about a woman married to a complete sociopath and she has a baby with him. when the baby's born she starts hearing this steady stream voice. She leaves her husband, but he goes to great lengths to get her back for his political campaign. then things get very, very weird. about the end times and the interconnectedness of living things

What are you reading tonight? #FirstWeekendOfFallReadathon

YOU GUYSSSSS. I'm so excited that this made the National Book Award longlist. I absolutely LOVED it but never would've expected it to make the list. 😃 I also am excited to see The Underground Railroad and Imagine Me Gone on there. I wasn't crazy about What Belongs to You. Anyway, here's the link to my review for Sweet Lamb of Heaven: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1588266311