Welcome to Litsy!

This is a long overdue post expressing my delight and thanks to @CBee for sending this my way. Once I get through my huge stack of library books (make me stay away from the library!!!) I‘ll be diving in. This author is now a must read for me. Thanks again, Cydney, for your thoughtfulness.

I finally read this (picked it up because I liked her Child Finder series and also Soubhi‘s review). Brutal, haunting, so dark, but full of light, hope, and yes, enchantment. Absolutely gorgeous writing that kept me riveted despite the very difficult subject matter. 💔 @Soubhiville

My first #tbt
The Enchanted
by Rene Denfeld
A magical realism book that blew me away. Denfeld's writing is amazing. This book is so atmospheric, you can feel the scenes. It is a darker read, and absolutely beautiful.

“I imagine he knows magic, if he is reading books. The book itself doesn‘t matter. It‘s that he found another world in it.”

Wow, how had I never heard of this book?

It‘s a story of prison life, from the warden to a last chance investigator, to death row inmates. It doesn‘t shy away from abuses between inmates. It doesn‘t shy away from corruption committed by guards. It shines a bright light on mental health.

I found it riveting and compulsively readable, even as I cringed from the pain and trauma these characters had been through.

Brutal but also compassionate.

October 18 for The Daily Photo Challenge - Prompt: enchanting

🔴 6 pts

#OminousOctober
#scarathlon22 #teammonstermash #scarathlon #enchanting #dailyphotochallenge #newpost #viral #spookyseason #instabooks #halloweenreads #halloweenvibes #halloween #bookporn #horses #trending #horror

#OminousOctober October 18 Enchanting @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks This one sounds interesting. #Scarathlon2022 @StayCurious #TeamMonsterMash

#manicmonday #lettere @CBee @Librariana

📚 The Enchanted, Empire of Pain (Keefe)
✍️ Annie Ernaux
🌮 (Somehow my popcorn icon got replaced by tacos but we are going with it) Easy A
🎤 Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald
🎶 Everlong (Foo Fighters)

The story of a mute death row inmate (for whom books and reading are everything), the fallen priest who administers to him and the woman working to get his death sentence overturned. Based on Denfeld‘s own experience working as a death penalty investigator. Haunting, deeply moving, unforgettable.

#Prison #SavvySettings
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I started this wondering why I chose it and where I‘d heard about it. A prisoner tells us about his life on death row without telling us much at all. We also follow “the lady”, a death penalty investigator trying to overturn death sentences and reprieve these men. Told with a haunting, mystical quality this story had echoes of The Green Mile by Stephen King yet at the same time is uniquely of itself. Quietly and strangely good.

#GratefulHarvest @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#Enchanted

I occasionally had to put the book down because of the horrors of prison. Still, pauses included, it was a fast read and beautifully written. I picked it up because of the way the narrator speaks, so poetic and magical. I stayed for the intensity and reality.

A story about a prison told from the viewpoint of a inmate on death row. It shows the brutal abuse perpetrated by those on both sides of the bars. There are also characters like the warden, the fallen priest, and the death row investigator who each play a role in the prison despite the different things that have brought them there and differing viewpoints. This is a brutal but remarkable read. I will have a hard time shaking this one.

I'm posting one book per day from the ever growing unread stacks in my personal library. No description or explanation, just books I own and plan to read. #tbr

Day 28

Day 7 of #12booksof2020

This book about life on death row told from the point of view of one of the inmates is gorgeous. And tender, how strange that may sound. Another one of this year‘s favorites.

#AlphabetTitles #LetterE

By far my favorite E title is The Enchanted. A bit magical realism but just a ton of pure magical writing talent. This book sucked me right in.

So many great nonfiction reads Einstein, Emperor of Maladies, Educated, Empty Mansions all vastly different but engrossing reads.

Round it out with some easy reads of Eleanor & Park and a Saramago one about an Elephant and you have some great reading.

Just a little bit late😜 Touch, a book by Claire North👍Thanks @DaveGreen7777

#BookHunt #Round1

@ShyBookOwl What a fun challenge! 😀 Thank you for the tag, @wanderinglynn

“This is an enchanted place.”

Inviting some wonderful Littens to play... @Meaw_catlady @Librarybelle @batsy @JoScho @Gissy @Zoes_Human @Megabooks and, of course, the wonderful Litten who gifted me “The Enchanted” in the first place, @Branwen 😁

#AprilStats #AprilWrapUp

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
The Enchanted
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
My Dark Vanessa
The Glass Hotel
The Holdout
⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
State of Wonder
The Slaves of Solitude
Late in the Day
Lady Susan
A Game of Hide and Seek
Time Regained
Weather
Open Mic Night in Moscow
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Snowblind
Nada
The Western Wind
Inheritance
⭐️⭐️
Crudo

#manicmonday #letterE @JoScho
📚 The Enchanted
✍️ Emily St John Mandel
📺 Eureka
🍿Empire Records
🎤 Elton John
🎶 Elysium by Bears Den

#BookReport 18/20

I am beyond proud and relieved I finished Proust! Beside that achievement I loved ❤️ The Enchanted. The other three were enjoyable too so I has a real good reading week!

“Monsters aren‘t born - they are created” is stated on the cover of the book - deriving from the conditions in which they grow up. This book is about life on death row, about the 'monsters' waiting for their execution and about those who work there. It‘s a thin line sometimes, between man and monster, as we learn by voice of “the most horrible monster of all”, who tells his story in such a beautiful, moving way. 👇🏼👇🏼

Thank you so much Emma ❤️ 😘for some reason I didn‘t think Amazon we‘re still delivering non essentials (not that books aren‘t essential!) this was such a lovely surprise.
So grateful for our #JBUK, been a lifesaver recently.
Hope you and your loved ones are safe and well.

Equally horrifying & dark, rich & illuminated 🤷‍♀️this one will haunt me for awhile 👻also more #litsylove ♥️ I‘ve been designing something special to send out & am v. excited 📚thank you @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks & @Mynameisacolour for the beautiful cards!

One for my birthday list!

Thank you @teebe for this wonderful #PoutinePenPals #CanuckChristmasSwap package! ❤️ You have spoiled me! I love everything, from the books, book ends and bookmarks to the t-shirt, cozy socks, tumbler, hand cream, snowman ornament (which is now proudly hanging on the tree), Drako keychain and sweets. ❤️ I wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the very best in the New Year!

#FriYAYintro @howjessreads

1. Just gorgeous writing but a sad story
2. OE ~ short for ocean eyes...my blue eyes turned stormy whenever I got mad 😜
3. Guacamole & chips and throw in a side of sweet potato fries with chipotle mayo 😋
4. Spending the weekend with elementary school friends (we‘ve got at least 45 years of history together) 😍
5. Two 🥳

Woof. This was a rough read. Written by a death row investigator from the point of view of a prisoner on death row, the book examines how exactly people like him are made and how prison removes their ability to be anything else. The language is beautiful and evocative. Squidapus found it handled incredibly dark things like rape, murder, abuse and such respectfully but also smartly in obscuring it so your imagination comes up with so much worse.

A man on death row and an investigator looking for innocence. But apparently there's some scifi/fantasy shenaniganry afoot. Squidapus was intrigued by the first page which he always takes a look at in store so late see how all the other pages are!

Grimly lyrical, steeped in magical realism.

An unnamed (until the end) narrator tells the story from his death row cell. He blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, victim and victimized.

All the trigger warnings and all the feels.

Holy Hell!!! THIS BOOK is just filled with the MOST poetic writing but the MOST heartbreaking content. A look at prison life through the eyes of a mute inmate sitting on death row. Absolutely heartbreaking. I read this in one long sitting with a lump in my throat and an ache in my heart 💔TW: sexual abuse 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book: a small dark gem, full of horror and beauty, death and life.

#BookMail part II Both were impulse buys because I can‘t resist a #BookDepositoryBookBargain

I picked this up because I loved the title and beautiful black and gold cover art. It was not what I expected. Devastating, brutal and haunting stories emerge from the setting of a corrupt stone prison — and yet the writing is gorgeous, poetic, hopeful and supremely imaginative. Denfeld makes you feel the humanity of men on death row without minimizing the horrors of what they have done. I can‘t stop thinking about this book.

My second venture into this book (#audio then print) and it still gives me chills. I adore this book! Kinda weird to say given the dark content, but I find it so beautiful.
💛🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛

I wouldn't recommend this to everyone. But that ending was worth everything. This was so brutal but so beautiful.
#screamathon #spooktober

I have a hard time explaining my experience with this one so far. It hurts more and more as I go on and I have to take breaks (usually watching a Disney movie) but I don't want to stop reading. #screamathon #spooktober

This was a dark and devastating read. Highly recommended if that‘s your jam.

Haunting, intense and dark. The writing is strong and I thought the ending was well done. If you love reading for atmosphere, don‘t pass by this one.📝

🎧 Today‘s #JIAM #audiobook recommendation! Jim Frangione‘s storytelling abilities shine in this production. His delivery adds a subtle creep factor & is emotionally intense.

Magical realism can be a little precious for me, often because story comes second to style, but this was compelling.

So Litsy is throwing a fit about me posting a picture that had my review of this book. To summarize: beautiful writing, but didn‘t make sense with the story. Nor did the POV. So disappointing, and I DNF-ed at 68 pages. Only the 10th book I‘ve ever DNF-ed :(

The look in her eyes is of a person who drank from the end of a gun barrel and found it delicious.

Denfeld has serious credibility as a journalist and nonfiction writer. Plus her day job is investigating death penalty cases. But this book is clearly fiction / magical realism, which is one of my favorites. The Enchanted‘s story is told by a nameless death row inmate with a quirky imagination. He devours books, and has a unique vision of the old stone prison in which he and the other inmates live.

Full review posted at www.TheBibliophage

Started this one the other day as a combo audio/ebook read. I‘m using it for one of the #ERMadLibs challenge prompts. And wow—it‘s quite a book to follow When They Call You a Terrorist, which has so much to do with mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex.

#scribd #kindle #audiobook

"She got over her fears in the way she gets over everything - she pretends they don't exist."

This book is brutal. It‘s a story of broken systems and broken people. Set in a prison, we meet death row inmates, a woman hired to help try and get death sentences commuted, the warden, a fallen priest. No one is whole and all are human. I think the author‘s choice to leave most characters nameless is a powerful one. And all of it is told in such beautiful language. I suspect this one will truly stick with me.

I don‘t poetry much 😂 but I figured I‘d give it a shot anyway. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Mystic river, gathering blue
By the light of the moon
The enchanted night

#bookspinepoetry #JanInBooks18