Sisters of the Winter Wood | 
pickThis is a book that was selected for one of my book clubs and I was uncertain if I‘d like it. I ended up inhaling this! The combination of folklore, romance, and history along with the storylines of two very different sisters made for a page turning read.
pickThat classic fairytale feel 🤗
Enjoyed this a lot.
I like a slow moving fantasy so I wasn't as displeased with the pacing as some other readers, but it was very slow and repetitive - a little less crying and a little more action would have leveled this up.
Still, a pick!
And my #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks
pick(Between a Pick and a So-So) A pretty good retelling of stories based on Jewish, Russian, and Ukrainian folklore. I struggled a bit with a lot of details I didn't think were necessary for the story, and frustration with some of the characters' behaviors. Overall though, a decent read with YA age group set in early 1900s.
so-soWhile I enjoyed this beautiful story there was this desire for more that just never totally felt fulfilled. The characters are rich and have a lot of depth, I wish perhaps it was a little less PG and a bit more 18+ of you know what I mean. The romances tease the senses and leave many questions. That‘s said it‘s a lovely story and if there is a sequel I will read it for sure.
Spending the rainy morning reading in newly furnished reading chair 💀🦅
“If you want to know the history of a town, read the gravestones in its cemetery.”
#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl
so-soi really wanted to like this book but it had too many YA tropes and devices for my tastes—not that YA is bad or anything, i am just not fond of the genre (and this was shelved under general fantasy in the bookstore). if YA is your thing, you will probably like it much more than i did! the use of poetry is unique, and the goblin market allusions are good too.
i‘m swamped in academic papers for the foreseeable future, but sometimes i get to read things for fun still
Book maiiiiilllllll 😻 my friend and I did an impromptu book swap and this is what she sent me! It‘s so pretty and I‘m so excited to start it
so-soTwo sisters, as dissimilar as possible, are left alone in their home in the woods while their parents travel. But there are creatures in the woods and secrets long buried. And the sisters will need to protect each other.
A lush retelling of a fairy tale with a true historical background, but this was really slow going for me, and I really didn‘t get invested until 3/4 through. And then the ending felt rushed.
Good for fans of Novik. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
This is going to be so much fun! 2 ebooks and 1 audiobook.
#BookSpin #DoubleSpin #TripleSpin @TheAromaofBooks
so-soNot my favorite. I felt the writing was inconsistent in a lot of ways. Characters seemed to go from one extreme to another without much explanation, the language seemed to switch to modern day phrases randomly... BUT, I find myself missing the story even though I was rushing to get it over with?! 🤨🤷🏻♀️
It's time for another TTT and today we're sharing our book cover wheelhouses!
Check out our favorite kinds of book covers and tell us about yours in the comments.
https://stuckinthestacks.com/2020/01/28/top-ten-tuesday-our-book-cover-wheelhous...
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pickEntertaining read- elements of the story brought to mind Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I shake my head, “I don't think there are bears ... I mean ... I've never seen anything like that out by where we live.“ I don't know what else to say. The only bear in the woods is me?
New year new read. Sticking with the winter theme. At least I think I am. Only about 50 pages in. So far really enjoying the switching between the sisters' perspectives. And they are so easy to tell apart as one of them is told through verse.
Ok...this one is out of my genre but enjoying the audiobook.
Started and finished this today while I did some baking. Made 2 batches of nanaimo bars, pecan caramel logs, pretzel toffee bark and some potato bacon soup for dinner.
Really loved this story though based on actual events mixed with fairy tale.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
pickI would have read this SO MUCH sooner if I had known it was about pogroms and antisemitism pre-World War II! I honestly really think more books like this are needed. People seriously do not comprehend how longstanding antisemitism is. The infusion of the bear and swan were really interesting and did help break up a pretty difficult topic but it also fit in with the tone and geography of the book. I also liked the text formatting as if it was verse
I have been wanting to get to this for probably a year now? Finally picking it up
Well I actually don't like this book much it's okay okay
pick
pickI DEVOURED this book as if it were the delicious fruit described within ♥️ A poetic and intoxicating blend of Jewish folklore, fairytale, & world myths focusing on the love between sisters, sexual awakening in a time/place where such was forbidden to even be discussed regarding females, & the the strength of embracing the powers of womanhood. I got so lost in this book, that I had a hard time coming up for air.
pickI am so glad I read this. A tale of two sisters trying to find themselves and each other while learning new things about their ancestry and dealing with growing tension in their community. The writing style is so different, swapping between prose and poetry. I thought the inclusion of Yiddish words and phrases was really clever and immersive. I loved that it was inspired by chassidic stories that the author grew up with (continued in comments)
This book has too many foreign words that I couldn't find a translator for... 😣 All foreign languages (non English) included do not use latin letters. 😔
But the quotes.... OMG some of them are amazing.
so-soThis book looked promising but it had a very slow pace for me. On contrary, the ending was rushed and unsatisfactory. The foreign words made the story extremely confusing and half of the time I ended up guessing. Moreover, as intriguing as it may sounds, I didn't like the verse POV. It interrupted my reading flow and lacked of rhythm and poetry. This book had a potential to be more magical, surprising and captivating. Unfortunately, it was not.
Sometimes you know when you don‘t belong, but you don‘t know how to leave
If you want to know the history of a town, read the gravestones in its cemetery.
pickThis book was fantastic! I read it in a day and couldn‘t put it down. It was beautifully written and has such wonderful characters. It‘s written in half prose and half poetry, split by narrator!
so-soIn the woods two sisters are left alone while their parents are away. One tells her part of the story in prose, the other in verse; both are recipients of a secret family gift. I won‘t lie...the poetry is BAD. If half of your story is going to be in verse, you should be an amazing poet, and she...wasn‘t. This wasn‘t a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon, but I can‘t recommend this book much further than that.
pickI snatched this book up when it was only $2.99 on Kindle. I've been reading it slowly, but each time I started reading it, I was engrossed with this book. At first I wasn't certain about the two viewpoints, especially since one was in prose, but I came to enjoy the differences between them, as they felt tied to the sisters' personalities. It was a wonderfully dark blend of historical fiction and Eastern European fairy tale.
pickI really enjoyed the Christina Rosetti influence combined with Jewish history from Eastern Europe. It felt like its own fairy tale.
so-soA fast read and entertaining, but didn‘t quite live up to the premise. The chapters alternate between two sisters‘ POV, with one in verse and that didn‘t quite work for me.
pickI thought this was a wonderful fairy tale remix of different stories and historical fiction. It was written in the way of traditional fairy tales in that the simple plot is the core that moves the story, not so much the characters. Often I find that modern “fairy tales” rely too much on characters as drivers. I had a friend warn me that the characters make some infuriatingly bad decisions, which may have helped me keep my distance.
pickI absolutely adored this book. I felt like I devoured it each time I dove in to read it. The characters were refreshingly earnest. The plot felt like a fairytale from the brothers grimm. The family relations was nice to read and the different romantic arcs were interesting (as well as delightfully realistic). Highly recommend!
@Eyelit thank you so much! I look forward to jumping into this one! ☺️ #kindlitsy
so-soThis was an interesting read, though I couldn't connect with the characters as well as I would have wanted. The idea behind this book is fascinating, however I just didn't feel very drawn in by it. I had to force myself to keep reading. The good part. One of the characters point of view is written through poetry, and I somewhat enjoyed it. All in all, this wasn't a terrible read, and still not fantastic.
pickOverall, I enjoyed this book. The heart of it and the description of the Jewish faith and community were just lovely. I feel like there were some story details that were left unattended to and that some of the narrative clarity was sacrificed for the sentiments...which is ok, it was still a sweet book, but it left me wanting some plot filled in. She could write a really nice sequel to answer those points (I hope she does!) Dog for attention.
pickInteresting book. Full of Jewish mysticism and fairy tales, this story is told from 2 sisters POV. Laya tells her story in free verse while Liba‘s perspective is written in prose. I actually liked that the author chose to do that, but I felt the plot had some holes. I also questioned some of the character decisions which detracted from the story. But overall it kept my interest!
This one was okay. Every since I read #deathless I‘ve been reading a lot of Russian folklore/ fairytales. While this one certainly had those elements (not just Russian folklore), it didn‘t live up to my expectations. It was far more about love and finding yourself than exploring the stories. One of the sisters had their viewpoint in verse.. Not sure why.
I think it is also more YA than adult. #fairytales #jew #judaism #bear #swan
Working my way through my #thanksgiving reading list.
#housetomyself
