Welcome to Litsy!

December 17: Ersatz Panda by Lucy Ives. Story published in Granta.

In this story we meet Panda, the store cat, than one day get switched. Then the story changes to another store cat. We also get the writer‘s reflection on this.

This book is terrible. I gave it 150 pages. It‘s pretentious and confusing. The characters are one-dimensional. I tried to finish it because I paid full price for it, but I‘m going to consider it a donation to a beloved indie. Don‘t let the gorgeous cover fool you!

New day, new book.

The cover is very purple, so I decided to go with purple beaker bookmark. I bought this book on a whim at an indie bookstore two years ago, so we‘ll see if I like it!

For the art historian. #readersadvisory #badasswomen #rebelgirls #readingwomen #nonfiction #recommendations #booklover #bibliophile #blogger #bookoftheday #bookworm #bookclub #bookshelf #bookstagram #cozy #silentbookclub #favorites #ilovemyjob #instadaily #lately #librariesofinstagram #newbook #relaxation #somanybookssolittletime #relaxation #readmore #whatareyoureading #thingswelove

Cover: gorgeous. Writing: dreadfully pretentious and R A M B L I N G. It took me several attempts to meander my way through 8 pages, at which point I gave up. I could barely even summarize what happened in those 8 pages...so many meandering diatribes that were so full of trying-too-hard descriptions, it's difficult to stay connected. I felt my eyes glazing over like in the days of old, when forced to read a particularly draggy textbook.

#TBRtemptation post 4! Recently released. I like this cover! Stella, a curator at Manhattan's Central Museum of Art, has her soon-to-be ex-husband stalking her, her workplace romance with a narcissist collapsing, and her colleague Paul missing. Amidst all this, a mysterious 19th-Century map appears, linking a poem, novels, and a counterfeiting scheme. She learns why Paul is missing. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Beautiful cover. Awful book. I only finished it because it's for my book club.

I wanted to love the book.... the premise seemed so good. It was just so.... boring. The characters were all rather drab, and the narrator would just go on and and on. There were parts that were interesting, but it just could not save it.

This book is part mystery, part messy life being sorted out. The mystery part is fun. It starts with a map of an imaginary, world and leads to commonplace books, obscure 19th-century novels, utopian society pamphlets, and museum catalogues. The messy life being sorted out part is not fun. It includes office affairs, a difficult mother, jerky exes and general ineptitude.
If you like art and research, this book is ok. If you don't, don't bother

"an allegience that is nearly perfect in its combination of mutual understanding and/or easy going neglect. I never feel that I need to act in elaborate ways to keep up the friendship, which is pretty much all anyone can ask."
Love friends like that! I am lucky to have a few.

When a book's plot but some of the writing makes you cringe, do you give up or soldier on? 😕

Hey guys! I think that's the longest streak I've ever gone without posting. Lately I've been going through some rough life stuff, a surge of depression, and a lot of busyness! This last weekend I got to sit in this hammock overlooking the MN River Valley and realized I need to have more time to just be. So hopefully I'll be around more as I leave more space on my calendar for reading for fun (:

If Gil's not into this book than neither am I! #PondandGil #CatsofLitsy #LittenKitten No for seriously though.... my brain is finding EVERY distraction not to read this because I NEED to. #ARC #galley

A mystery in an art museum?! Sounds like perfect travel reading.

(Do you ever remember trips because of the books you were reading? I remember reading The Kind Worth Killing on a flight from Denver and hoping Evie would stay quiet just a little bit longer so I could keep reading.)