Welcome to Litsy!

Holy moly, what a wild ride this was! 😳 I listened at every possible moment this week, I was so invested. Riveting narrative nonfiction makes me weak in the knees! I‘d never heard of the Silk Road and my la-dee-da brain could never have imagined it at all (yay for me!), nevermind all that went into creating it, maintaining it, researching it, and destroying it. There‘s a whole steamy pile of flawed human beings on both sides of law, to boot! 5⭐️

This was really good. #teamcryptkeepers @LiseWorks @Andrew65 #20in4
#spookoween @TheSpineView

Spent 2 hours with this one while doing crap around the house! #scarathlonsprint @dabbe @LiseWorks

Listening to this (enjoying it so far) and out walking on a beautiful fall day in Wisconsin! #scarathlon @LiseWorks #teamcryptkeepers

Starting this one today. Litsy made me do it 🥰

Fascinating true crime story! This one totally lived up to all of the favorable reviews. #BlameitonLitsy At first I kind of liked Ross. I could get down with some of his liberal ideas...until he quickly crossed some lines that I couldn‘t get on board with. I was transfixed with all of the government agencies trying to identify him and their methods. And, that ending! Wow‼️#MountTBR

This was a bit dense in parts, but definitely had some interesting parts. I love true crime and the story reminded me a little bit of Breaking Bad. I also really liked seeing so many perspectives of drug deals from FBI perspectives, etc.

The hangover from The Dutch House is real...I usually switch genres after a book I love like that! So, up next...a pivot to non-fiction! 🎧

Okay, this case is 🍌👖!

What Ulbricht did and how he did it is unbelievable, but how different law enforcement agencies were too busy taking credit instead of working together blew my mind! This case could have been solved much faster if people actually spoke to each other! And didn‘t turn rogue, of course.
Also, the author‘s foreshadowing annoyed me. Yes, I know things are going to end badly, but stop spoiling it!

Thanks for the rec @Cinfhen

Ok, so I just finished this on #audio, on the recommendation of @Cinfhen @Megabooks and @britt_brooke

It was fantastic, as they said. But here‘s where I‘m perplexed. I noticed a movement to “free Ross,” including an online petition. The argument is that his sentence is unjust and the government is trying to make an example of him. That he‘s a “non violent” criminal that doesn‘t deserve to waste away in prison for the rest of his life. ⬇️

This was a slam dunk for me and my husband. We have very different reading tastes -- I'm all fiction and he's all career development nonfiction. But recently we discovered that natrative nonfiction is where our worlds can collide. This is our latest shared read. The fast-paced true story of the creator of a site on the dark web that reads like a thriller. A wild ride!

This NEEDS to be made into a movie!!!! The MOST startling NF read!!!I‘m in awe. While the writing wasn‘t perfect the storytelling was SUPERB 🙌🏻
A misguided young man who‘s ideals turned him into a billionaire criminal kingpin.

Mind blowing!!! I just can‘t believe what I‘m reading/ listening too....CRAZZZZY🤯
Thanks for the recommendation @Megabooks Hope you‘re feeling well ❤️

Cozy on the couch with a book. The story itself is gripping, but the writing sometimes pulls me out of it. I find he uses a lot of plot devices to build suspense (eg. really short chapters that tend to end with a sensational cliffhanger line, like "BUT LITTLE DID HE KNOW..."). It's unnecessary, but I still can't put it down!

25 pages in and already having a strong reaction. When I read Ross's arguments for making all drugs legal, I cringe.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Damn, it‘s hard to beat good narrative nonfiction! This is the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, a staunch libertarian, who believed people should be able to buy and sell whatever they wish without government regulation. It‘s your body, put what you want into it. He created the Silk Road, a darknet marketplace where patrons could buy and/or sell illicit items, primarily drugs, anonymously. This shit is crazy. I couldn‘t stop listening.

Spent most of today audiobooking, since I decided to completely rearrange my bookshelves, which is turning into a much bigger project than anticipated. At least I finished the tagged book. Have a lot of reading to do tomorrow! #LitsyPartyofOne #24B4Monday #MrBook1inaMillion @MrBook @Alisnazzy @Andrew65 @jb72 @Rachel.Rencher @Lucas.Rencher @Lynnsoprano

I downloaded Nick Bilton's American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road from Scribd hearing Sara rave about it, comparing it to Bad Blood, one of my favorite nonfiction books. Oh, was she ever right. American Kingpin centers on Ross Ulbricht, (continued in comments)

Here's to February being a much better reading month.

#litsypartyofone

This was great - an absorbing, well-written, (mostly) nonviolent true crime story. (Bonus: includes an extended scene of high drama in a library. 🤓❤️)

SO fascinating! Almost unbelievable...but rooted in crazy reality. I did find the narrative parts--where the author tried to fill in feelings and dialogue---um...cheesy? But the facts and the progression of the story are riveting. Also highly recommend the Casefile podcast episodes on this subject!

So much that I did not know! This was a fascinating listen but yeah, I am continually stunned by the things people can justify to themselves and this case is a perfect portrait of that.

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book chronicles The Dread Pirate Roberts, leader of The Silk Road website and avowed extreme Libertarian, which definitely qualifies him as a #rebelrebel #septembowie

My July reads. American Kingpin was my favorite but I also loved Evelyn Hugo, One of Us is Lying, 11/22/63, and Final Girls!

Holy moly this book is good! It's a non-fiction account of the rise and eventual fall of The Silk Road, an underground website where anyone can buy drugs, guns, organs, etc. 5 ⭐️

Spending the 4th with an American Kingpin. I'm halfway through and this book is great!

What's on deck for #JulyTBR.

A well written fascinating tale.

5🌟 if you're into narrative #nonfiction #audiobooks (looking at you @Cinfhen 😉), this is probably the second best I've ever listened to. The minute-by-minute account of his takedown nearly made my heart stop. Well researched, amazing book. In fact, probably some of the most thorough and thought-provoking journalism I've read! #nonfictionchallenge17

TW in a spoiler tag.

Picked this up with an #audible credit based on @lettersfromriya 's recommendation! It sounds right up my alley. I'm not feeling much like reading a paper book tonight, so I'm going to try this instead of rotting my brain with bad reality TV! The psychiatrist adjusted my meds today so 🤞🏻🤞🏻 for better times soon.

I'm listening to the audiobook. It's going great so far. Casey Neistat recommended it in his first 'bookclub' session on his vlogs. It's about the takedown of a drug mafia kind of person who created a website called The Silk road which used to be the Amazon of drugs a few years ago. You could buy anything from drugs to guns online and it would be delivered to you by regular postal service.
That's so sick. Genius. But sick.

What are you reading?

The Social Network meets The Wire and absolutely riveting from cover to cover!

OMG I'm salivating to read this book now! Excellent interview.

It's 106 miles to Des Moines. We've got a full tank of gas, a half charged Kindle, it's bright out, and we're wearing shades.

Hit it.

(With apologies to The Blues Brothers.)

Since I started ghosting thrillers I've been reading a lot more of this stuff. Eye-opening!