Welcome to Litsy!

Chabon is so hit or miss for me. When I love his books, I LOVE them (Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Wonder Boys), but others feel so phoned in (Summerland and this one, unfortunately). This was somehow both overwritten and underdeveloped. Chabon had an aversion to using names (MC was never named), which made it difficult to figure out who was doing/saying what. Blessedly short.

My 3rd Sept #roll100 complete!

#dogsoflitsy

Around the end of the Second World War, an octogenarian beekeeper is drawn into a case of murder and a missing African Grey parrot.

This was the first Chabon I ever read. On reread, it continues to be a lovely piece of pastiche, with a disconcerting peephole to our capacity for evil.

#lovesmesomechabon

A little hard to follow in a few parts but overall I enjoyed this one.

"A story of detection" in which the principal mystery goes undetected, but not unsolved. A charming novella. Chabon has been one of my favorites for the past several years.
This short book served asked an excellent counterpoint and complement to my light vacation reading this year.

I love the illustrations in this book and how the words in the images foreshadow so delicately. Clever! 💙

This short novella is fun and all but this cover is amazing. It needs to be recognized as such.

Went back to work after the furlough and immediately got sick. 😷 Guess I‘m allergic to work! 😜 It‘s amazing how being sick can throw you off your game! Channeling my inner Mary Poppins and trying this app #Habitica which makes daily tasks and big projects feel like a game. Hopefully this‘ll help me get back on track with everything, reading included! I am very behind if I want to meet my reading goal this year 😮 #Ifeeltheneed #theneedtoread

Combining Michael Chabon's wonderful writing skill with his "Sherlock Holmes as a retiree" story totally had me in a happy place. Highly recommend this novella.

And in total contrast some of the #thin books in my collection #30daysofreadathon

A tough one to rate. Michael Chabon is clearly a master of the written word – his vocabulary is exceptional and the overall prose is wonderful. That said I am not quite sure it works particularly well for creating a sense of pace or urgency in a detective / mystery story. In fact, for such a very short book there was a distinct lack of much being uncovered at all. Ultimately a little disengaging to me – and I really did not care for the title.

A short take on the aging Sherlock Holmes trope. Chabon's trademark mix of humour and melancholy make this an enjoyable read. Including the parrot's perspective was a nice touch :-)

"The conquest of his mind by age was not a mere blunting or slowing down but an erasure, as of a desert capital by a drifting millennium of sand. Time had bleached away the ornate pattern of his intellect, leaving a blank white scrap."

Used book store score! I snagged all of these for $8. Best of all I had credits, so I'm calling them FREE.

For those interested, I'm drinking Prairie Artisan Ales Phantasmagoria Double IPA. It's good. 👌🏻👌🏻 #cheers #booksandbrews

A personal favorite in the Holmes canon. A gently powerful tale with grave consequence, redemption, and the turning point of modern war all handled deftly in this 131 page novel.

#peachcovers for #day15 of #augustphotochallenge - some of these may be a stretch in the color department but HEY! I tried 🍑🍑🍑 #augustofpages

I enjoyed this pastiche, though I do feel I would have enjoyed it more if it had been longer. There was a lot of potential here. But I liked the boy and the parrot. Pretty decent. Not amazing. Illustrations are great.

Morning reading