Welcome to Litsy!

Barbara Kingsolver is a very good writer, and this book is rich with metaphor and well-drawn parallels between the 2015 and 1870 storylines that illustrate the ideas about America she‘s trying to convey.

But. It‘s not a good book.

The problems are:
- the book is tedious and the story and characters didn‘t draw me in
- I disagreed with much of her overall sociopolitical message, which made it even more tedious to read.

#weekendreads

Reading this one for my in-person book club which meets this Thursday. I suggested it because I enjoyed Demon Copperhead tremendously. This one, unfortunately, is a slog. I‘m about halfway in, and there‘s no plot to speak of - it‘s long on characters discussing social issues and short on story.

Recent book swap scores! Some great authors and old copies of my favourite Australian magazine.

Really liked it!

As my partner was saying : this is the third book in a row about families and non-genre... I will probably go back to science fiction or fantasy very soon !

This book was weird for me—I read all of it but was still disappointed. Because it‘s Barbara Kingsolver, who has never disappointed me. Two different timelines with different families in the same house. The past MC is a science teacher dealing with people who are against Darwin. The present family is dealing with several crises & clash sometimes about political issues. Parallels about the house, people trying to accept changes in the world. 3.5/5

Probably my least favourite Kingsolver I‘ve read but I still enjoyed it & the more I think on it the more I want to recommend it. I liked the characters, past and present, and the parallels between them. When there‘s duel timelines sometimes I‘m more invested in one than the other but in this I liked them both equally - there‘s a good balance and I appreciated the themes and debates that ran through them.

Enjoyed the chance to read just as much as having my hair done…probably more 😂

I‘m liking this book but I‘ve been reading it in dribs and drabs so don‘t feel like I‘m doing it justice.

Thanks so much Misty Malone for the great Halloween gift 🎁.

I am recuperating from bilateral knee replacement surgery and this surprise package 📦 certainly lifted my spirits.

#litsylove

I enjoyed this dual timeline book, but I would have been perfectly happy with only the historical story involving Thatcher Greenwood & Mary Treat. Those sections were fascinating. I found the Tavoularis family to be interesting characters and appreciated catching the Zorba references since I read it recently, but if I‘d been reading in print, I probably would have skimmed some of the present day sections.

#AuthorAMonth #audiobook

Completed January #AuthorAMonth with my first Kingsolver. I really enjoyed this. The narration was done by the author and I thought it enhanced the story. A nice historical fiction centered around family themes.

@Soubhiville

I really loved this book - even tho it‘s not something I‘d typically gravitate toward. Featured two distinct timelines (that related), expertly showcasing how history repeats itself. All of the characters were truthfully human and believable in their flaws. Definitely recommend!

Kitty pictured isn‘t mine, but a sweetie I cat-sat over Christmas. 😻 #AuthorAMonth

Another great book from #authoramonth Barbara Kingsolver. The narrative moves between 2016 and 1871, and from science to politics to family life, with the linking thread being the threat of losing your home or place of safety.

Probably not my favourite Kingsolver but I do like her style of writing, even if the books can sometimes feel over-long.

Thanks for the #buddyread @Caroline2 - sorry I was a bit tardy! 😁

This was my third #AuthorAMonth for January, which alternates timelines. I immediately liked the present day story with the Knox family settling into an old home in New Jersey, dealing with loss and some strained family relationships. It took me longer to get into the story of Thatcher Greenwood, also in NJ but in the 1800s, a science teacher struggling to follow the expectations of his new school, but I was drawn in by the overlap in the stories.

I started this today for January #AuthorAMonth. My first Barbara Kingsolver and I‘m really enjoying it so far.

@Soubhiville

That sentence hit hard. 😬

I really liked the beginning of this book; the characters, crumbling house, dual time line and I found myself nodding along to all the discussions. Then it felt repetitive and like I was being lectured. Good ending tho. 😆 (and of course, good ole Barb sure can write!!) #authoramonth

Since Chicago Public School children only returned to classrooms this Wednesday, my poetry residencies are scheduled to resume next week. I‘ve had more time to read and knit this week and I‘m not complaining! 😍 #readingandknitting #readingandcrafting

Finally got time to make a start on our #buddyread for #authoramonth @Caroline2

Henry is helping. He actually fell asleep like this; he loves quiet time in the library!

How are you finding it? I hope you‘re enjoying it!

My first Barbara Kingsolver. Won't be my last. Honestly, didn't love her as a narrator, but audio was what my library had available - will read others in print.

As always, thanks to #Authoramonth2022 & @Soubhiville for introducing me to a new-to-me author!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Willa decided that she was done with motherhood for the night, if not for the remainder of her allotted years." - Barbara Kingsolver

If you're a parent/guardian/primary caregiver & claim to have never felt this way, you're lying through your teeth. ?

"A mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child."

Wow, Barbara Kingsolver. Wow. #truth

Up first for #Authoramonth! @Soubhiville

DNF due to suicide in first chapter that I was wholly unprepared for. I can't deal with that right now.

This got pretty good in the last 60 pages or so. I don't think the first 400 was worth it. I liked the general gist of Willa's story but absolutely could have done with out the lectures & preachiness. Thatcher's story was okay but it felt like Kingsolver had done a tonne of research and needed to share everything she learned with the reader (and I did not feel she did.)

“A mother can only be as happy as her unhappiest child.”

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 192
#BooksToRead #TBRPile #TBRMountain

Friends - I‘m loathe to DNF any book and can usually push through, but I‘m struggling here. Maybe because its sole plot (via two timelines - the present and the past) is seemingly about how people vehemently resist progress, even when it‘s against their own interest to do so. And I deal with the Tucker Carlson mindset from my family and this book reminds me of how pointless it all feels.

Have you read it? Is it worth it? Ugh.

Good writing, good concept but it stops just shy of really tying the two plot lines together. slightly unsatisfying. I think it'd be better as two separate books.

Loved all other Kingsolver fiction. This is not my favorite, but appreciate her take on Darwin, Cuban socialism, excessive accumulation of stuff, & the real botonist Mary Treat. Listened to audio & think I'd have been better off with physical copy to take time with it. Thoughtful, varied meanings of the title. Note that "unsheltered" is being used in our community rather than "homeless." Sitting in gratitude from the shelter of my front porch.

Book 124 I listened to Unsheltered, a well-written literary novel with rich characterization and setting. The story is of Willa, a middle-aged woman, and her family living in an inherited, dilapidated house. Shelter as a theme is illustrated through the relationships in Willa's family. The chapters alternate between them and a previous owner of the property, who had to fight to teach evolution. Read by the author, a worthy listen or read.

Reader spotted in the wild. #bookcam

As with the last book I finished, I‘m listening to the audiobook from the library instead of reading the hardcover on my shelf. I really liked Flight Behavior but DNF‘d The Poisonwood Bible. I‘m happy to be listening to the author‘s voice.

Although this was sprinkled with some very nice turns of phrase this is not my favorite Kingsolver book. Dual storylines is problematic for me when I like one much more than the other and become impatient with the less liked story. Avoiding star ratings as mostly unhelpful I give this a 78 out of 100.

Damn, I wanted to like this book so much! The first chapter deals with a suicide and the way the book describes the circumstances triggered me and distressed me nearly to the point of having to stop reading it. But I tried to continue.
Then the book took a wild turn where it seemed as if the author was preaching to the reader about her own personal views. Political nonsense that no one really wants or needs to hear from a work of fiction.

One of the things I like about this novel is how well the themes from one time period (1870's) echo those of the other (2010's). These two quotes are five chapters apart, which I think shows Kingsolver's skill at weaving in the themes as each story unfolds.

I enjoyed listening to this one at this moment in history. It's hopeful in a kind of depressing way, which matches my mood in our current situation. As usual, Kingsolver's description of setting is so vivid and subtle that I'm there before realizing I'm there. Only one complaint: I really dislike the thing where a writer character goes through a transformation that results in the resolve to write the novel in which they appear.

I got in a tiny bit of listening on my mile walk with my children this morning. Highlight: my daughter rescuing a dehydrated (but alive) worm stranded on the sidewalk.

After a chilly and rainy several weeks, it's suddenly sunny and warm enough to wear shorts (with sweaters in the morning). It always feels weird those first few days with bare legs.

#litsybitsy @Cuilin

Audiobaking two loaves of GF vegan bread that cooked up vaguely caplet-shaped. Enjoying the book, though.

"The simplest thing would be to tear it down," the man said. "The house is a shambles."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

I went to have dinner at the restaurant next to where my bookclub meets & ran into some of the ladies from bookclub. Luckily they totally understood when I said I would pass on joining them because needed to try & finish the book. I failed to finish, but I made a valiant effort.

Trying to get through this one by book club next Wednesday. I may have started too late 😬

I just recently read The Bean Trees, which was my first ever Barbara Kingsolver book. I loved it SO much that now I want to read all her other stuff! Luckily, I already own a few! 😍📚💕

I loved the intertwined stories of Willa Knox (in the present) and Thatcher Greenwood (in the past). They are linked by the home they inhabit many years apart.

In both the past and the present, the characters deal with people who fight progress and prefer to remain mired in the past.

I especially loved the inclusion of real-life scientist Mary Treat, who corresponded with many of the leading scientists of her day, including Charles Darwin.

This arrived in the mail today; I have about one week to read it before book club.