Welcome to Litsy!

What if you never existed? What if your whole world view was dependent on two people in your life? What if you were a lie? Honestly, even though I guessed early on what the twist would be. I was satisfied with how it all was written out. (Minus the animal abuse, major avoid if you can‘t handle that) Franks family is just, really, really unfortunate.

That was weird. Good. But weird. I liked it. lol
It‘s been a slow readathon. But I‘m doing what I can
#DashingDecember @Andrew65

Starting the #DashingDecember readathon with this one. My cozy holiday reads are a little different. lol
@Andrew65

Well I need a palette cleanser after this one 😬

A harrowing journey into the mind of Frank, a 16-year-old living on a tiny Scottish island with his secretive father. Frank is a stunningly original character, and his unusual brand of wry, upbeat madness, shaped by isolation and cruelty, is captivating (and very disturbing). You may be both appalled and proud of your inevitable sympathy as the extent of the horror on this island is revealed. This batshit crazy book is bonkers to the final word.

Two horror picks today. Wait for Night is my favorite short story by SGJ that I‘ve read to this point. Also I‘m sharing the Wasp Factory which is an absolutely creepy novel by Banks. I was completely hooked but disturbed while reading it!

#AlphabetGame #LetterW
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Posting this because the first question really got me thinking!

1. As a child probably Roald Dahl, I loved his books. Then I went through a Paulo Coelho phase and read 9 of them. Now maybe Iain Banks? I‘ve read 7 of those. I read a lot more varied authors (and more women) as I‘ve gotten older.

2. On the couch or in my bed, although the risk of napping is big in bed 😂

3. Sometimes! It‘s been a while since the last one I did though.

@Eggs

Got my list done before I checked Sarah's numbers for today! I look forward to this every month and I'm so excited to get started!!!
@TheAromaofBooks is amazing and puts SOOO much effort into coordinating this challenge! Thank you for all you do!

Happy reading, Spinners! #Bookspin2022

This book from the #1001Books list is weird and brilliant, but it was so difficult to read because of the violence and the disturbing thoughts of the narrator. I think I'll still to Iain Banks's sci-fi books.

#WinterGames2021 #TeamGameSleighers #HolidayHorrors #AVeryMerryReadathon #BookSpinBingo #DashingDecember #ChristmasMyWay
@StayCurious @PatchShank @TheSpineView @TheAromaofBooks @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: American Psycho

The latest review on the blog (link in bio) is for The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Disturbing but captivating. I couldn‘t put it down. Not a book I necessarily enjoyed but I appreciate Banks‘ writing.

3.5/5

Have you read The Wasp Factory? What did you think?

#iainbanks #thewaspfactory #horror #fiction #thriller #mystery #contemporary #scotland #review #bookreview #blogger #bookblogger #dark #suspense #classic #classics

July wrap up

5 books in July:
- The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks ⭐️3.5/5
- The Jane Austen Collection (Audible audiobook) ⭐️4/5
- My Outdoor Life, Ray Mears ⭐️3/5
- The Handmaid‘s Tale, Margaret Atwood ⭐️4/5
- Oh Myyy! (There Goes the Internet): Life, the Internet and Everything, George Takei ⭐️2/5
Reviews to be published on the blog (link in bio) through August. Keep an eye out!
Have you read any of these? If not do you plan to?
#reading #currently

*My reaction at the end* REALLY?!?! Iain Banks never disappoints and this book is no exception!

I went into this book knowing nothing, not even the genre, so it was all a surprise to me and I couldn't put it down, I just had to know what was next and where it was going; wasn't expecting that ending. Wtf.
.
🐝
If you want to read a book from the POV of a psychopath then read this book; it's violent, disturbing, filled with black humour and it's one of the most twisted books I've ever read - so not for the faint-hearted.

According to reviews this is one of those books you either love or hate. I cannot give an opinion as it is in the never ending TBR list. #insectsonthecover #magicalmay

Yet another from my TBR mountain, a book with #insectsoncover .
#MagicalMay

I'm not sure what I think of this book. Iain Banks was a very creative writer and imaginative storyteller. I just didn't particularly care for the story. I love disturbing books and don't mind gore but this book came up a little short. Frank murdered 3 family members at a young age and liked to blow up animals and torture bugs. His brother escaped from an asylum and that story isn't explained until near the end. It's just a weird book 🤷‍♀️

One of my last reads for 2019. Supposed to be creepy and weird, so it‘s right up my alley! 😁

Holy Shit how have I not read this book before? Still has massive impact in 2019, must have been like a bomb going off in 1985. Dark, murderous, Scottish noir. It is not perfect but it is the opposite of bland.

Well, it's still a messed up book, but I'm still as fascinated by Iain Banks' writing as ever.

Just 4 hours left to complete for this #24in48 #readathon. I might go with another #audiobook but I need brain fuel, so I'm off to have some dinner before I make my final book choice for this weekend. ..

@24in48

I needed some a more passive approach to this #readathon to give my eyes a bit of a rest, so I've opted for this messed up and insane novel by Ian Banks.
I've read it before, so I know what to expect, but it's still very out there...

31 hours in, 17 to go...

#24in48 @24in48 #iainbanks #audiobook

Well, tomorrow is the day I have lumpectomy surgery. I won't lie, I am freaking out! But trying to relax with a book...about a kid...who's a killer...Yeah, that'll distract me 😂

“Leviticus, a person of such weapon-grade stupidity his mental faculties would probably have improved with the onset of senile dementia...”

I‘m sorry @LauraJ, but this #NewYearWhoDis recommendation did not work for me. While I enjoyed the layering of secrets and the nonlinear way in which they were revealed, overall, I thought this novel was dreadful... I had to slog my way through most of it, while periodically feeling sick due to the detailed descriptions of animal torture and deaths of family members. I respect your opinion, as well as others who loved it, but it wasn‘t for me.

⚠️ Animal/Child/Generally-all-sorts Cruelty⚠️
This book is a TRIP! Our main character is a self-aware psychopath/murderer. And the entire book is one bonkers, cuckoo journey through his life. And the ending? Didn‘t see it. It‘s a BAD book but in a holy-💩-what-am-I-reading way. Not for everyone, I‘ll admit. But I dig it. 154/1,001 #1001Books
📷: tessafarmer.com (just wanna throw out there, this isn‘t how I envisioned The Clock...)

I‘ve been in a reading slump...😩🙄😩 SO, I put back the books I was reading, re-did my TBR Bowl of Destiny to include EVERY book I own (not just the #1001Books) and I‘m starting fresh! First book from the #TBRBowlOfDestiny is Wasp Factory! Here‘s to ending the dreaded slump! 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

🎶Well, everybody better move over, that's all
'Cause I'm running on the bad side...🎶
It is a bit of an understatement to say that Frank Cauldhame is running on the bad side. Sinister & full of dark humor, this one is unforgettable.
#WinterWonderland
@Cinfhen @TrishB

You want a SERIAL KILLER? Because that‘s how SERIAL KILLERS are made! Creepy book but oh such a thrilling read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks, has garnered many accolades since its initial release in 1984. The book has appeared on a number of greatest horror lists and in a poll was even named one of the top 100 novels of the century. To some, Banks is a visionary crafting a tale of the macabre. While others have viewed The Wasp Factory as little more than nonsensical garbage. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Omg! Omg! Omg!
Look what I found.

Library haul

😑 I finished this book last month and I just cannot deal. I‘m still not sure if I liked it but... it has burrowed into my brain 😑 This is the book version of The Human Centipede. It‘s a part of my life now, and once in a while, when I least expect it, parts come back to haunt me. So I guess it‘s kind of ruined my life forever. I think I liked it. Maybe.

Frank Cauldhame, the narrator of Banks unclassifiable, undeniably macabre, novel is an adolescent murderer. He lives with his eccentric father when his brother, who he refers to as insane, escapes from an asylum. Frank receives strange phone calls from his brother as he seems to be making his way home. Frank spends his days in elaborate, grotesque rituals with the Factory & other ceremonial sites. He also recounts his family's tragic history, 👇

I'm not sure if starting this book after several glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon is the best decision I've made recently...

Well, I'm not sure what to say. Utterly vile and completely engrossing. Couldn't put it down, just through sheer morbid curiosity. Reads like a science fiction, like the private thoughts of a mad teenager stuck on Mars, but horrifyingly real and not really another planet but an island in Scotland.

Bleurgh. I loved it!

This is on my the for one of the books I own that sounds really terrifying to me . This takes us into the mind of a 16 year old psychopath and what makes him tick..... these sorta books scare me more than monsters. #horror #book #horrorfiction #booklover #booknerd #scary

Clearly there is something wrong with me bc I actually liked this book. The writing is brilliant, the plot is very disturbing but gripping, the characters are challenging, and the ending is very strange.

I did have to skim through some parts that were too graphic and upsetting for me to read - animal cruelty. Read this for Scotland #backpackEurope

And now I‘m off to Ireland, hopefully with a more pleasant book

I‘m taking a stroll along the sand dunes in Northeastern Scotland. It‘s beautiful and peaceful. But some creep has been decapitating mice and gulls and leaving their heads on top of poles.

#backpackEurope

Next stop Scotland. #backpackEurope #1001books

I might struggle with this one bc I‘ve been warned about the animal cruelty at the beginning 🙁

I just stopped reading it. I put it down and I just don't have enough desire to pick it back up. It's okay, not gripping me. I'm pretty sure I see where it's going, and though I'm curious to know what's in the rest, not enough to keep reading.

#disturbing

“Looking at me, you'd never guess I'd killed three people. It isn‘t fair.”

While Banks is known today for science fiction, most notably, the Culture series, his first book was not science fiction. The Wasp Factory is a strange, and violent, and funny, and dark, and completely unreliable rite of passage. I read this a few years ago. And, of course, I liked it.

#ReadingResolutions | 5: #UnderratedBook

📷: Made with Typorama

A friend gave me this book, telling me it's her favourite & she'd love me to read it. It's nice when someone wants to share a part of themselves in that way so of course I accepted. I'm now questioning my friend's mind! Ha! Gothic it definitely is and I found it deeply disturbing at times. It's not a comfortable read by any means but it made me smile and even laugh. I did sort of enjoy it, I think And to think I gave her Jane Eyre in return!

Thanks @samharnold for the bookmark and reading journal which I LOVE!!! As well as the marked up book with yours, @DivaDiane and @Balibee146 comments - love the mark up club! Thank you!

I originally tried to read this book five years ago. I think I completed a couple of chapters before I gave in. This time I read the book as part of a book club. Whether it was the comments from the other readers or a change of outlook but this time I really enjoyed the read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What a strange, disturbing, and fascinating story, although I would have appreciated some more explanation at the end.

I'm glad I had the opportunity to buddy read this a chapter a day. It made me slow down to consider each chapter, and it gave me a different level of appreciation for the combination of violence and weird humor.

#AWaspADay #1001books

Ummm... that ending came out of nowhere.

That said, this book was absolutely riveting throughout. It‘s dark, it‘s disturbing, and it contains animal and human abuse and death. Definitely not for everyone, but the writing is phenomenal - the way the tension built in the last chapters was masterful. Frank‘s narrative is as funny as it is freaky, but the ending was abrupt and I would have liked more.

Thanks to my reading buddies for #AWaspADay 😃