Welcome to Litsy!

Another so-so. I‘m not having outstanding audio listens lately. 😐 The MC in this one is difficult to like, though she has her reasons, and it felt like there were one too many threads in the storyline.

This was perfect for the kind of summer reading I need right now. Murdery and twisty with a good cast of characters that were easy to follow. The main character wasn‘t particularly likable but she was interesting!

Slow burn murder mystery novel. I really enjoyed it even though I was not a fan of the main character Maddie. I went into the book thinking I wouldn't like it based off the blurb on the jacket. I'm happy I didn't go off my first impression!

#suspense #mystery #historicalfiction

#SavvySettings #Lake #Day5 #TBR

I was looking forward to this based on reviews, but I just couldn‘t get into it. I was not engaged at all and couldn‘t find a thread to follow. I have liked other of her books, but not this one. Not my style. Watching the tv series now… so far, it‘s better than the book!

Ran/walked a 5K this morning and finished off this thriller for #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks I love the setting-Baltimore in the 60s, divorcée finding her way into the newsroom, so many different voices represented. Really compelling read! And all these #audiobooks have kept me walking, down 62 pounds this year in part because of all of the walking and listening thanks to #BFC21 @wanderinglynn

#currentlisten Enjoying the interesting format and story and trying to finish by the end of tomorrow for #BookspinBingo

Not my favorite book. At times it was hard to follow and other time it was just kind of meh. It had A LOT of potential and just fell short. The ending was forced. Read at your own discretion.

Starting this one today.
#audiobook

Another mashup! #bfc21 #falltreasures

#OctoberTBR
🧡AAM & book clubs*
🔷New book that‘s showing as “received” at the main library
🤷🏻‍♀️LMPBC selection lost in the ether
Plus anything else that I can get to - it‘s going to be a busy month.

Fitness:
Continue PT and “graduate” to a cane by the end of the month.

*Savvy Littens may remember I‘ve tried to read the tagged book before. Now it‘s the selection for IRL book and virtual book club.

At first, I was on the fence about this book. It started slow, I didn‘t understand the pace that was being set, the narrations were all over the place. However, as I got further into the writing, I realized that the book is sort of a masterpiece. Maddie sits in the middle of everything that happens in her life. The different stories told, however brief, show just how small the world is.. and how easy it is to ruin someone else‘s.

Vivid, twisty mystery & tale of 1960s journalism. Bored housewife turned ambitious wannabe reporter Maddie is obsessed with two very different murders-as race, faith & class separate a young Jewish girl & an African-American cocktail waitress killed in the same year. 2 twists in the final 2 hours excite! Strong narration, especially in performing the flawed narrator & the sultry waitress. #5stars #twomurders #strongsetting #newspaper

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🎧 In 1966, Baltimore is a city of secrets that everyone seems to know—everyone, that is, except Madeline “Maddie” Schwartz. Last year, she was a happy, even pampered housewife. This year, she‘s bolted from her marriage of almost twenty years, determined to make good on her youthful ambitions to live a passionate, meaningful life.

Back to this suspenseful mystery audiobook I started before Scarathalon. 2 parallel murders happen in 1960s Baltimore, & ambitious ex-housewife turned cub reporter Maddie looks into both the killings of Jewish schoolgirl Tessie and black cocktail waitress Cleo. Complex women and a good narrator. Lippmann is a great writer. #mystery #complexwomen #audiobooks

In the animal kingdom, the male performs for the woman, woos her with his beautiful feathers or flowing mane, is always trying to out-strut the other men. Why do humans do it the other way? It doesn‘t make sense. Men need us more than we need them.

Maybe it sounds funny to some, but I see my days as trees, like in the Tarzan movies. Every morning I get up, grab a vine, and hope it‘s long enough, my arms powerful enough, to carry me to the next one.

The heart knows nothing, sees nothing, but it kicks up a ruckus, throws tantrums to get what it wants.

Told from multiple points of view, this is a story about journalism and no holds barred ambition, no matter what secrets are revealed. In the 60‘s, when few women were journalists, Maddie Schwartz leaves her husband and tries to land her break into journalism. But in her drive to expose murder and corruption, she causes a good bit of damage herself. Engaging + well paced + murder + intrigue = the formula for a decent crime novel. 3/5 ⭐️

A girl discovered almost in the cradle that things would never be fair.

She was like a car engine, revving, revving, revving, making noise, sending sparks out into the world. She wants to get somewhere. Trouble is, she doesn‘t know where she wants to go. That‘s what makes her dangerous.

She was tired of caring what others thought about her, more tired of how they thwarted her. The world kept telling her to look away, to pay no attention to an age-old system, in which men thrived and inconvenient women disappeared. Maddie wasn‘t having it.

THANK YOU, @williammorrowbooks

#lauralippman
#WMTastemakers
#williammorrowinfluencers

I usually use the headshot of the recommending author for my #read99women social posts, but recommender/author/bookstore owner Robb Cadigan (right) provided this picture of Laura Lippman (left) at her Reads & Company event for LADY IN THE LAKE, and I just love her expression here. Read Robb's rave: http://www.greermacallister.com/blog/2020/4/9/read99women-robb-cadigan

Just started this. No idea where this is going based on how it started but I‘m looking forward to the ride.

I was not enamored by this book at all. It was just okay. I think the ending caught a lot of readers off guard, including myself; making the story seem more than what it really was🤷🏾‍♀️

I‘ve been listening to audiobooks while doing other tasks around the house like working (I work from home), exercising, trying to fall asleep 😆......and so I‘m plowing through a bunch of #TBRReads audio. This was okay.....I may have liked it more if I read the physical book. #WinterGames #TeamNutcracker

I think I understand why this was on a lot of best of the year lists, but it‘s not on mine. I will probably check out more from her in the future, but this one wasn‘t a hit for me.

Saw some good reviews for this one, and got a skip the line loan for it. Anyone else read this one?

This was an old-style newspaper reporter-type murder mystery. Much was also made about gender expectations and race relations in 1960s Baltimore. Good, but with a few issues that detracted from the story. My main issue with the book was the multiple side jaunts into peripheral characters. 3⭐️

A black woman disappears in 1960s Baltimore and no one seems to care. A white woman learns a body has been found and decides this will make her newspaper career. I liked the idea of the historical mystery, but I found the audio a bit hard to follow as the story jumped around and I ultimately struggled to care about what was happening. Definitely not my favorite Lippman.

Bordering on a pick but I ended up totally HATING Madeline by the end of the book!!! A decent mystery that was made a little difficult in audio due to every character's perspective being intertwined with the "Lady's" perspective. I enjoyed the appearances can be deceiving aspect of the story but I wasn't horribly thrown by the plot twist. Again, Madeline Morgenstern Schwartz is an awful human being... that is all... LOL

Whoops got distracted from @DeweysReadathon for a bit but I did got to see Caitlin Doughty who was awesome so 🤷🏻‍♀️ still a pretty bookish day. Anyway I ended up liking this but it‘s not my kind of mystery exactly... started out pretty slow though it sped up at the end

Getting started with this for the @DeweysReadathon ! Here‘s my intro questions while I wait to start.

1) Reading in Chicago today
2) The one above largely cause it‘s overdue at the library (thanks Chicago public library for eliminating late fees 😆)
3) looking forward to snacking on tea and chocolate
4) This is my first time in this readathon tho I‘ve done 24in48 a few times
5) Looking forward to breaking a reading slump today! 📚

Still crafting for the school district's Halloween party this Friday so I needed a creepy audio to push through! I wanted a good horror but they mostly have King and we know how I feel about King. 🙄 Hoping this mystery does it! I've heard good things!

An interesting mystery. Not sure it‘s noire, even though the title is borrowed from Chandler. Lippmann tells the story through multiple voices, alternating after each character is introduced through the narrative. It works except when it doesn‘t. Great twist toward the end.

Not my favorite Lippman, but can‘t deny her talent.

3.5🌟 I wasn‘t sure about the storytelling through all the different minor characters, but in the end, I like how the story was woven together.

I didn't care as much for this Laura Lippmann as I have her others. Set in the 1960's in Baltimore.

I feel like I should prefice this by saying that my sister was in town the last week so my reading time was few and far between, I read this book in short bursts and it certainly didn't help. I love Laura Lippman in general, and this was written very well, but the twist didn't do it for me and the ending felt a bit anticlimactic. Loved the use of shifting perspectives though!

I really enjoyed this book. It‘s the first Laura Lippman book I‘ve ever read. I will definitely be checking out her other work. I particularly loved the tenacity of the women in the book. I‘d seen criticism that the book swapped perspective to too many characters too often and it was confusing. I found that engaging and that was one of my favorite things about this book. If you want a good page-turner that sucks you in, maybe give this a go.

Laura Lippman's Lady in the Lake was a three-and-a-half star read for me. (It's my second book by Lippman, after I was absolutely wowed by Sunburn.) The novel focuses on Maddie, a white woman who has just left her wealthy husband and teenage son. The book also centers, to a lesser extent (as far as presence on the page goes), on Cleo, a black woman who narrates her own story after her murder. (continued in comments)

A Jewish woman in 1960s Baltimore rebels against her family and finds herself drawn to a series of murders in the city. A noir that centers on race relations and old school newspaper jobs in a changing city and industry. I loved it.

I loved this mystery. I am all in on Laura Lippman.

I like multiple POV novels, and this one had the unique twist of a POV of a mentioned character in the chapter prior that gave insight of the main character. I didn‘t especially like Maddie Schwartz but it was an entertaining book. Light and quick read.

We went for a walk in the rain. Now it's time for snuggling... And reading.

This one is unfolding a little bit slower than I thought it would. I can't decide if I like it or not. The various narrators are interesting but it feels less cohesive in some ways because of this. I'm interested enough to keep reading though. Who's read this one?