Welcome to Litsy!

That feeling when you read a story set in a dystopian future that, it turns out, isn‘t really in the future at all but is, in fact, unfolding before our very eyes… Set in a future when abortion is illegal & a Personhood Amendment has been passed, this story follows the lives of four women and what they come to understand about freedom, autonomy, motherhood, identity & more. Well-written, visceral, & thought provoking. Lots to think about…

Starting this one today…

Today‘s #bookmail includes the tagged book which is for my book club and one just because. Not that I NEED to be adding to my TBR pile. 😬🤷‍♀️

A not-for-me #bookclub pick. I tried but I couldn‘t get into rhythm of the writing and the slow buildup was killing me.

Three dystopian books I have read that touch on reproductive right (or lack of them) for people with uteruses.

For all three: tw reproductive rights, reproductive issues

Red Clocks: tw for abortion, infertility

This feminist dystopian written four years ago now, feels more like an imminent News bulletin. In it people with uteruses are being prosecuted as murderers for abortions in the United States and there is a literal witch hunt. I was attached to the characters and their particular circumstances. The book felt very real.

#MarvellousMay #Readathon 2nd book read

@Andrew65

Did pretty well on my #January #BookspinBingo ! Read both the #bookspin and #doublespin and 6 bingoes! Just barely missed finishing For the Wolf in time. 13 books off #MountTBR @TheAromaofBooks

Lots to unpack here about women‘s roles in society. I really loved this, and found it funny that it had an intersection with my interest in polar exploration- that was unexpected!

This book. How to I put it? Was intriguing and disappointing. Beautiful and infuriating. Not a one-sitter but interesting enough for me to pick it up daily. Worth it, though.
I'm putting a content rating of Mature for sex and language.
Also a TRIGGER WARNING: in/fertiliy, reproductive rights, abortion

This strange story follows the lives of 5 women at various stages of their lives coming to terms with a world where women have little agency and their worth is seen only in relation to men or children. While the world encounters a climate crisis, the US focuses on banning women‘s medical procedures. Dark and ominous, this book is well written with an unique format and pace. #Bookspinbingo #roll100 @PuddleJumper #Booked2022 #ecofeminist @Cinfhen

#BeginsWith @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

A dystopian novel where abortion is illegal that I've kept putting off because it felt more like current events than fiction.

My #roll100 books, the tagged book is #24 and #49 is Under the Whispering Door. Love the idea for this challenge @PuddleJumper !

My #BFC22 goals include: listen to 3 audiobooks a month while walking/exercising; 10,000 steps a day, weight training twice a week. 2021 was a great year for me health wise and I plan to continue that in 2022. Happy New Year all! @wanderinglynn #BFC

A timely address of the anti-abortion/anti-woman policies that are spreading across the nation. This book follows five women in the not-so-distant future in an America where abortion is illegal, only couples can adopt, & IVF is not an option. Given the current climate, it is a frightening warning of the future that could lay before us. Uniquely structured, the alternating viewpoints provide a holistic view of the issues of womanhood & fertility.

Took me a while to get into this one, but once I did I finished it quickly. Unfortunately this novel is uncomfortably too close to current reality.

I suppose there are worse ways to spend a Sunday afternoon when your spouse is inside doing homework for his graduate classes. 🤷🏻‍♀️

That feeling you get when you‘ve just finished a book and you‘re debating what to read next and at that exact moment a notification pops up from Libby with the news that a book you‘ve had on hold for weeks is available. And you yell “Yes!!” and pump your fist in the air and feel triumphant like you‘ve somehow been entirely responsible for the exquisite timing of it all. 👍🏼👊🏼👸🏻🦸🏻

We‘ve got four women in the future where abortion is illegal and only couples can adopt. Not enough character development for me, but an interesting story.

Such an amazing read, funny but poignant and sad, I can not recommend this book enough!

This book really hit home in an uncomfortable way. Such a relevant topic in today's world. It probably wasn't the best idea to read during this anxiety-provoking election period, but it made me even more grateful of the outcome. Hopefully our country can avoid this all-too-real dystopian future 😬
Overall it was a wonderful read. I love books that are written from different characters' points of view, yet are all connected.

Upon further reflection I am bumping this down a star even more, the language this author used just did not work for me whatsoever, though she certainly did envision a VERY realistic reality if abortions are deemed illegal here again, I could absolutely see this world playing out exactly as written. But I wish I could have connected with the characters.

So, review to come and tbh i didn't care for this book, but i did really love it's analysis on the word "important".

#ManicMonday #LetterR @joscho

📖 Red Clocks (Leni Zumas)

💻 Anne Rice

🎬 Rome

🎤 Kenny Rogers

🎼 Running Down a Dream (Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers)

So #LMBC I just started this today and February is over tomorrow - Urp!

I'm really sorry - I've been traveling a lot & traveling light, just carrying my ereader so no actual books. I probably won't finish this until mid-to-late March. I'm sorry about that! I'll send it back and close the circle just as soon as I'm done!

@MeesesPieces @Hazel2019 @Hestapleton

Definitely underwhelmed. This was nothing like I expected it to be. It was written much more like a literary fiction novel than a dystopian in terms of tone and perhaps that threw me. There was nothing overtly bad about it -- though some pieces were unnecessary and/or just plain weird -- but there also wasn't anything really powerful, intriguing, or impactful either. Good concept, but not a good enough execution for my taste.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️ This is one of those books that gets better the more you think about it. It‘s about women, the issues that affect them, and the way society shapes their lives. It‘s dystopian but most of the problems presented here are very real today. I will be re- reading this one in a few months.

@MeesesPieces @Hestapleton @Mogoeg started this yesterday and am about a quarter in. So far I‘m really enjoying it. It‘s an interesting writing style with lots to think about. This would make for a great discussion.

Ok I bailed! 🤦‍♂️ I wanted to like this one so much and I remember there being alot of buzz about this one. It reminded me Handmaids & Vox but it just didnt do it for me. I tried to skim ahead to see if it got better and it just did not. I mean it took 30 pages in to barely find out what was going on! I was so lost!

Not gonna lie...this is just not catching my attention. Whats the end game?! Been considering bailing. What do you guys think?? Keep going or Dnf??

Book 18 of 2020
#tbrlist

I am so sorry I am running behind on this one! With all the craziness of Christmas and my birthday I got behind in my reading. I‘ll send out as soon as I finish! @Hestapleton @Mogoeg @Hazel2019 I am sooo sorry everyone!

Five women, living in a world where abortion and IVF have been outlawed. Timely, powerful. 2019 no. 10

A novel about an America that has outlawed abortion in any form for all 50 states. The author writes from 4 main perspectives: the biographer, the wife, the daughter, and the mender to weave a powerful narrative. Highly recommend for fans of Atwood's Handmaid's Tale! I definitely want to read more from this author.

Mood. 🤷‍♀️ #MommingAintEasy

Just finished this #LMPBC and it‘s off to @MeesesPieces tomorrow! It‘s a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ book for me, but still really interesting and I‘m excited to see what everyone thinks!

A US where abortion is illegal, embryos have been granted “personhood,” and single people cannot adopt. Terrifying, right? Zumas doesn‘t quite pull off what she‘s trying to do: address women‘s erasure and their roles in this scary dystopia, but props for trying. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2019/10/review-red-clocks-by-leni-zumas.html

This examines what it means to be a woman, the struggle to control your life as one, & the accusations we face when we dare to defy the restrictions placed on us. This softly disturbing, near-future dystopia is so utterly contemporary in its feel and the single, devastating change to law so realistic that it leaves you unsettled as does the quiet sound in the night that you aren't quite sure you really heard but can't stop listening for.

“Have you ever considered ... how much time has been stolen from the lives of girls and women due to agonizing over their appearance? ... How many minutes, hours, months, even actual years, of their lives do girls and women waste in agonizing? And how many billions of dollars of corporate profit are made as a result?”

This was worth waiting for. A well woven narrative, a lot to think about here about women, bodies, choices we make and choices that are made for us. I‘ll be checking out Zumas‘ other work for sure.

1. Tagged plus Best of the Best Volume 2: 20 Years of the Best Short Science Fiction Novels, Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty, ¡Vamos a leer!, The Scar by China Miéville, Favorite Poems, and The Complete Works by William Shakespeare

2. “It is clammy and springy, like a hard-cooked egg.“ (from tagged book)

3. Homemade hot chocolate with cayenne

@rachelsbrittain #weekendreads

#weeklyforecast is looking good! I accomplished most of the goals from last week, except to get to my ARC reading (need to do that!!)

Plans:
📕Finish Invisible Cities
📖Start A Good Neighborhood

🔈Finish Red Clocks
🔈Continue Wanderers

I‘m crazy busy this weekend but trying to get as many hours of reading and listening in as I can. I‘m already five hours into this and just started yesterday. I have so many thoughts. Loving it so far.

I liked this a lot! The audio narrators were excellent. I really connected with the topic and the characters, especially Gin. I‘ll be recommending this one!

It‘s here! It‘s here! My latest Brilliant Books Subscription book is here, and it totally looks like my kind of story!

Told from the perspective of four women, Red Clocks re-imagines what the US would be like if abortion was once again illegal and criminalized while also outlawing single parents from adopting. The women in this novel each deal with this new reality in different ways. Zumas did a good job in creating four wildly different characters whose paths cross and who all in their own way are so strong and authentic.

Does this look right guys? @MeesesPieces @Hazel2019 @Mogoeg ? #lmpbc #groupD

From dog poems to feminist dystopia, my reading is a little all over the place this weekend.

Nothing like a little dystopia for Tuesday. Just what the doctor ordered.

May finishes. I loved Dolphins, Fahrenheit, Red Clocks, and Marriage. Outsiders and Meditations were okay. #thisisit #amonthofsongs #gilmoregirlsreadingchallenge #bookclub