Welcome to Litsy!

First 2023 start and finish! And it‘s a good one!! 🎉

I‘ve had this one on my shelf for ages. I‘m not usually one for multi generational family drama, but this one was off the rails and disaster-y enough to hold me through. Or my tastes are changing. Who knows!

Based on the synopsis, I thought it would be a hilarious dark comedy. It wasn't. It was boring, repetitive, & dismal. The characters were all self-loathing. So completely flat that I found it hard to care about any of them or what they were going through. I can root for unlikable characters if I'm given some reason to. Here, there's no reason.

TW: suicide, animal death + graphic descriptions of taxidermy

March #bookspin
#MarcellousMarch book 1

It‘s almost time for Andrew‘s mid-month #readathon! #MarvellousMarch starts Saturday!

Perfect timing since I‘ve slacked off on reading this week. My goals:
▪️if I don‘t finish these before Saturday, finish the tagged (#bookspin) & The Midnight Front (#roll100 roll2)
▪️ read The Nature of Witches (#doublespin) & Out of Africa (#roll100 roll1)
▪️read another book from my #pantone2022 stack

#weekendreads

1. Started my #bookspin (tagged) & plan on going to Out of Africa, my #roll100 roll 1 book next

2. I haven‘t browsed the library recently.

3. Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews

Who hasn‘t played? @TheSpineView @Eggs @damselsgotballs @Blackink_WhitePaper

Grief is messy. And so is Jessa, the central character here. But she felt incredibly real to me, in all her mess and misery, as she avoided dealing with losses old and new.

That realness of Jessa is one the book‘s true high points, as are the author‘s detailed descriptions of the taxidermy process, nimbly jumping from graphic to poetic and back again.

But something kept the book from fully clicking for me…

I managed to resist picking this one up whilst I collected my hold but only just (I know I‘m too slow a reader to pick up multiple books). But it does sound fun! Maybe next time I go.

New day, new audiobook!

What an odd and ultimately sad book. The taxidermy stuff was just gross and I certainly could have done without it. But I get why the author relied on it. The living things were what broke my heart. It was a truly unique and memorable reading experience. 👍🏼

Indie bookstore book club pick for June. This book is delightfully quirky thus far.

This book was a really unique, fictional look at how people deal with loss and love and healing. The narrator slowly reveals more about herself and her life and those closest to her as she attempts to make something whole out of loss, while dissecting the sincerity and absurdity of family, death, love and Florida.

I finished this one and needed time to think about what I had just read. It was interesting, but I didn‘t like it as much as I expected. Overall it was paced well, but had some “cringe-y” parts for me. The ending was also more upbeat and tidy that I was expecting based on the rest of the book. It was described as darkly funny, but I didn‘t find it funny really at all so that was perplexing. 3⭐️

I would definitely recommend this one. I came by this book when I was looking for something funny to read. Now, I wouldn't say it's hilarious or laugh out loud funny. It's more of a dry, morbid kind of humour, but it did the trick and I read it in one go. If you ever wanted to know what it's like to be lesbian, a taxidermist, or both, this is a must-read. If you have siblings and were always the "example" child, it will hit home hard.

Not for everyone, this was about the painful loss of Jessa‘s father on his family and the loss of her brother‘s wife who deserted them all. What I loved- the not so subtle backdrop of the taxidermy business and its ability to transform death into something else. Aren‘t has nailed her sensory observation of Central Florida perfectly. Bravo for that. I live in Florida and she transports what you feel around you into words. Most excellent!

Mostly Dead Things is probably the last book I will finish this month. All and all a really good reading month for me. A little bit of everything but heavier on thrillers than usual for a month but I thoroughly enjoyed them all.

#questionsandanswers

1. The tagged, Stiff, Mission to Methone, and Witches Be Crazy
2. Slaughterhouse-Five - it‘s been on my GR TBR since I joined GR in Jan 2008 😆
3. There are several, but I‘ll go with the Doors of Stone since there‘s no publishing date yet 😭
4. 50 Shades of Gray

Over halfway though.

Book #46: This book is about a lesbian taxidermist, need I say more?

Good-night from Jesse and me.

So much pent up grief, inarticulate stubbornness, lack of self worth, identity, and inability to see what‘s right and obvious in front of Jess, whose only skill is taxidermy the way her father taught her. I felt like shaking her at times, but that just means the writer is making you care. Always Daddy‘s girl she can‘t forgive his suicide, yet keeps his memory close in desperately trying to keep his business afloat. She‘s a craftswoman who can‘t ..

This took longer to read than I had anticipated, but I had a lot going on. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Smart, lovely writing, and far more touching than the overall premise might suggest. Recommended.

YES. I love the magic Florida vibes in this book. The grief, the family dynamics, and the dead animals. Another good one looking at family relationships.

1. The City We Became, We Ride Upon Sticks, Do You Dream of Terra Two, and In Our Own Words

2. Molly Weasley (Harry Potter) and Vivian Forest (Royal Holiday)

3. Mostly Dead Things

#weekendreads

I‘ve been itching to read this for ages. So far (100 pages in) it‘s been worth the wait. Quirky, funny, deeply touching.

Lots of good books this month, including my final book, Finna, which was a five-star read for me.

An up-close exploration of grief, love, family, & taxidermy. Jessa & Milo grieve the loss of their father in addition to the woman they both loved & lost while their mother creates sexual taxidermy displays Jessa struggles to understand much less accept. Lovely prose & exploration of the way we hold on to hurts and hurt others because of it. Contemporary fic isn't usually my go to, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

TW: mentions of suicide

I appreciated this story of a lesbian taxidermist in Florida struggling with her own self, family, and romantic relationships. I loved the use of taxidermy in this book as an overlaid metaphor for working with something whose life has been taken and presenting it like nothing is wrong, that it‘s again alive and everything is fine. There are lots of layers of broken lives in the characters. My only complaint is that it went on for too long.

As a queer person with a love of dark humor and taxidermy, when I read this book description, I thought, "someone wrote me a book." Sadly, this book is not funny unless you enjoy laughing at characters, rather than with them. The main character is a depressed alcoholic. Yes, absurd things happen to her, but she doesn't find them funny. I finished it because it was well written, but it was depressing. Plus, there was unexpected animal cruelty. ?

This book is difficult to rate/review. You need a strong stomach to read it. It's about a seriously dysfunctional family whose business is taxidermy. In addition to the many graphic descriptions of the taxidermy process, every possible gross thing is also described in detail: dirty floors, stained clothes, pimples, bugs squished on the windshield. It is well-written, but it's not a book for everyone. I'm not even sure how I feel about it. 🤢

‪Taxidermy as a framework for telling a story about grief and family dysfunction is something I would never have thought of, and it works really well in this story. It‘s often grotesque, darkly funny at times, and sharply seen throughout. Really enjoyed it.‬

This book is gritty and raw, definitely not for everyone. I was grossed out a lot of the time, because it‘s about a taxidermy shop and the father and daughter who run it, and you can imagine the carnage that goes on there. But there‘s plenty of descriptions of bodily functions as well, more detailed than needed.

I could relate to the family, though, the lack of communication and the dark secrets that come with suicide.

Not for the sensitive.

Next

This isn‘t a bad book, but it‘s an ugly one. Not only is everything here dirty, smelly, complicated, and repressed, Arnett uses some of the ugliest sounding words and similes to describe how gross everything is. It‘s clearly intentional, and certainly not without skill, but do you really want to spend 300 odd pages in this muck? I‘ll ponder that while I take a very long, hot shower.

The memories sections dragged a bit for me, but the main story was compelling and the characters, complex. The “humor” here is more about irony than ha-ha humor (I think some people got the wrong impression in early widely read reviews on this book.) I loved the gritty taxidermy details, but perhaps not for everyone.

Feeling super virtuous that my lunch was only 1/2 candy. Lunchtime audiobook time. Just started this family drama about a taxidermy shop.

A very interesting story. Still processing this one.

Currently reading

A woman takes over her father‘s taxidermy shop in central Florida, in this novel about family legacy, queer relationships, and the nature of art. Quirky and comedic, but still deals with real issues in an appealing way.

A women takes over for her father‘s business doing taxidermy. She has to deal with her mother going through a crisis, her love life, her brother, and more.

I thought I would love this book, but I guess not! It's just not pulling me in. #QueerBooks

Unusual and surprisingly sad. One of the the reviews called the novel funny, which I certainly would not say. About the time you think Jessa is never going to pull out of her sadness, the story changes.

This was an interesting story,the main character Jessa takes over her family taxidermy business,she is complex on many levels her relationships with her family,the business, and her memories. Some of the descriptions made me uncomfortable but I think in the end it helped shape what the author wanted to come across.

I don‘t think this book is for everyone. It‘s depiction of taxidermy is visceral (if you can‘t make it through chapter one, put it down.) It‘s a story full of broken messy people struggling, but I think those are the stories I like the most.

It took me a long time to read this, and I really wanted to like it more than I did. It excels as a Floridian novel, one that brings that very particular place alive. But unfortunately, in spite of being dark and visceral (things I usually love) the rest was just off the mark for me. I liked what I read, but felt there were too many missed opportunities to make this something exceptional. #indiebuddyreads

#indiebuddyreads this is also apt

This #indiebuddyreads

This story was just too relentlessly sad. The characters are all filthy, depressed, and passive-aggressive. They are grieving the death of their father and abandonment by a former lover. My biggest issue with the book is the lack of finesse. The reader is constantly hit over the head with repeated scenes that show just how sad and disgusting everything is. Yes - I got it! 2⭐️ #indiebuddyreads

I think I found this recommended on lithub. Hope it‘s a bit lighter than my last couple reads.

Just NO! This is a definite no for me. I did not like this book. Let me say I had no issue with the taxidermy or the suicide. But the descriptions about how dirty Jessa was were too much along with Brynn. There were too many details and not enough aha moments. The characters are all confused leaving the reader confused. Jessa treats her mother as a non person. She‘s sleeping with her brother‘s wife.
#NOPE #takeashower #laundryisyourfriend

1. I‘m super excited to visit Waverly Hills in a few weeks.
2. 💜 October Halloween 🎃 👻 🖤
3. On a nice breezy beach with a shade tree and quiet.
4. Scout is doing much better - a bit of a toy hog.