Welcome to Litsy!

I‘ve known for years that I should read this classic but the description of it as “romantic suspense” left me feeling lukewarm about picking it up. But I needed a paperback for our trip, so I packed this one and figured that would finally force me to read it. I‘m glad I did. I wouldn‘t classify it as “romance” at all—just delightfully creepy Gothic suspense. Check this one off the list. ✔️

Via @JENLOVESJT47
Sorry everyone for getting so behind on #HitchToScreen ! It's been a rough few weeks. But I'm happy to announce our next buddy read is a favorite of mine, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier.
The movie is amazing as well. Remember it's very casual. We have 6 weeks to read the book, just post a review & tag me when you're done. Anyone is welcome to join! If you'd like to be added or removed from the tag list, let me know. Happy reading!

Sorry everyone for getting so behind on #HitchToScreen ! It‘s been a rough few weeks. But I‘m happy to announce our next buddy read is a favorite of mine, Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The movie is amazing as well. Remember it‘s very casual. We have 6 weeks to read the book, just post a review & tag me when you‘re done. Anyone is welcome to join! If you‘d like to be added or removed from the tag list, let me know. Happy reading!

#12Booksof2024 Day 4

My favorite book of April was Daphne du Maurier‘s Rebecca, which I read with the #HashtagBrigade .

@Andrew65 @BarkingMadRead

Not a book for everybody. I must say it kept my attention after 15% in. However, the story was strange with plenty of room for moral criticism and the end was underwhelming after so much buildup. I would not recommend if someone was not specifically interested in the genre or details. Though, I will be watching the movie, I am curious to see Manderley in color.

I'm starting this tonight. 🌙
Buddy read w/ @BooksNBowls

This was a fun poll! I haven‘t seen many, but they were memorable. 13 out of 50. Link to survey: https://www.listchallenges.com/litsy-afis-50-greatest-villains

1. Mrs. Danvers
2. Mr. Potter
3. Darth Vader

#TLT

#Two4Tuesday

1. No preference. I very rarely drink alcohol. Coffee and Diet Pepsi are my go to beverages.

2. I‘m picking Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I‘m generally stingy with a five star rating, but I‘ve read this three times now and am astonished every time by it.

Thank you for the tag @TheSpineView ! 😊

Would you like to play @The_Penniless_Author @Branwen @RaeLovesToRead @bthegood ?

Another classic I was so familiar with that I honestly thought I'd read it already - turns out that, the familiar tropes & ubiquitous opening line aside, Rebecca had a fair few surprises in stores for me! I really did enjoy this one! I am still thinking about it a few weeks later - who really was the villain of the piece here? Who was the victim? The writing is exquisite, the mood vaguely ominous, a darkness hovering just out of sight. Fabulous.

This novel really drew me in! Lovely writing, slowly suspenseful, gothic undertones. I think I would read this one again at some point in the future.

#rebecca #classicliterature

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Freebies!

I thought I should return to my reading of Rebecca, begun 5 months ago & paused 1 month ago at 38%, noticing my heavy feeling as I reached for it.

Du Maurier's writing is wonderful & atmospheric, & if it was all descriptive of the gothic Cornish environs in which she set her story, I'd be happy with that, but I don't give a fig* about any of the characters & really don't care how it ends (which I know, anyway, from film adaptations). So, 👋📔🚮

#BookToScreen - I‘m already seeing the huge difference in the book vs this screen. He seems so much more loving and into her - a lot less red flags ❗. Like it makes me not feel like she was as nieve and young as she is in the book. of course I'm posting this as she just gets to Manderly.

Still catching up with reviews from the past weeks. I really enjoyed rereading this book, one of my favourites, with commentary from @BarkingMadRun and the #HashTagBrigade.

I also rewatched the classic Hitchcock adaptation recently and it was interesting comparing the book and movie.

#gottacatchemall @PuddleJumper (prompt 59. Mimiky: Re-read a favourite book)

This was my first time reading this classic gothic story and I'm so glad I finally did! The writing is so atmospheric and descriptive, menacing and enthralling. The characters were awful in the best way. I think the chapter-a-day pace with the #hashtagbrigade was perfect and kept up the suspense. I could definitely see a reread in the future.
Thanks @BarkingMadRead for leading! #pemberlittens

My #BookBracket2024

(I didn't read a graphic novel this past month -- wow I know -- so, just posting my novel one)

#HashtagBrigade #ChapterADay

It had been about ten years since I last read this book, and I was surprised at how many details/scenes had slipped my mind. While there are things about this book that I don't like, the writing somehow grips me every time, despite a third of it being the unnamed narrator's imagination instead of things that are actually happening. Creepy, suspenseful, twisty - this one is just SO good.

After finishing The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner for April's #12MonthsOfJane immediately started rereading Bloomsbury Girls. I had forgotten that Daphne du Maurier makes appearance. Quite fun since I had just finished #HashtagBrigade read of Rebecca.

Favorite part of Rebecca is descriptions of tea & gardens @ Manderley. Don't actually like any of the main characters. But I still absolutely love the book.
@BarkingMadRead #PemberLittens

Book 82/100 of the year.

Oh my gosh… this book is SO good! A Five-Star read for sure. Beautiful prose, compelling plot, secrets kept and revealed, masterful foreshadowing, and so atmospheric. Stunning.
Thank you for hosting this, @BarkingMadRead . 💖 I loved reading it with the #hashtagbrigade .
Now I can‘t wait to watch the movie - both the old and new versions.

#HashTagBrigade
#PemberLittens
@BarkingMadRead Thank you for adding me to this journey. I loved this book and having a group to discuss was so fun!

Picture of spring peeping through.

@BarkingMadRead Thank you for taking us to Manderley this month! No matter how many times I read this I fall in love with it all over again! #hashtagbrigade #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I just spent a month at Manderley…

This is a reread for me, and while I did not remember every twist and turn, I do remember the creepy vibes from this. It‘s a level of creepiness that slowly enfolds the reader and can make one shiver. That Mrs. Danvers…oh my! I loved it and am glad it was a #PemberLittens #HashtagBrigade read! #192025 #1938 #52BookClub24 #AnAbruptEnding

#Zeke #Vladimir #SebastianKitty #Xander #CatsOfLitsy

I can‘t decide if I enjoyed or am frustrated by the way the book leaves certain things open to inference & interpretation.
Looking forward to discussing that ending tomorrow with #hashtagbrigade !!

Add me to the list of those who just couldn‘t bear to stick with a chapter a day! WOW! I pretty much didn‘t see any of that coming, and yet it all made perfect sense. Du Maurier was a master. #PemberLittens #hashtagbrigade

My reactions to reading this in my teens and early 20s: what Gothic romance, oh, Byronic Maxim! Ah, love! I loathe Rebecca! #theylivedhappilyeverafter
My reactions as someone in her late 50s: The unreliable masochistic narrator is desperate for a father-like husband with the last name de WINTER (sterility, coldness) and a first name of Maxim (a rule of conduct) to be completely submissive to. But did I still love it? YES. #agirlcanstilldream

#hashtagbrigade

4✨ This book was a true work of art. Starting off with the pure symphony of descriptive writing. The twists and turns were amazing, and completely unexpected. This is one I‘ll need to read again because there is so much depth I‘m pretty sure I missed something. While I don‘t like the relationship or the fact that I know the narrators thoughts, but not her name was an interesting element. Definitely would recommend.

Reading and flipping between the Dodgers and the Rangers games this afternoon with a favorite little treat. Having an early #hyggehourreadathon as I‘ll be driving home later this evening from a weekend of pup sitting.

“It seemed incredible to me now that I had never understood. I wondered how many people there were in the world who suffered, and continued to suffer, because they could not break out from their own web of shyness and reserve, and in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them that hid the truth.“ #hashtagbrigade

“It doesn't make for sanity, does it, living with the devil.” #hashtagbrigade

#FillYourCupFriday

Had a rough 3 days at work (4 deaths) I‘m exhausted caring for others and their grief. I need to do some productive things (which helps) and just process my own thoughts and feelings. Nursing is hard on you.

(Might add shopping to this - the car dealership is near target)🎯

“I watched this self who was not me at all and then smiled; a new, slow smile.” #hashtagbrigade

“Then I heard a step behind me and turning round I saw Mrs Danvers. I shall never forget the expression on her face. Triumphant, gloating, excited in a strange unhealthy way. I felt very frightened.” #hashtagbrigade

“For one desperate moment I thought that something had happened to my brain, that I was seeing back into Time, and looking upon the room as it used to be, before she died… In a minute Rebecca herself would come back into the room, sit down before the looking-glass, and she would see me too” #hashtagbrigade

Chapter 13 - #ChapterADay (#INeedToReadAhead)

#HashTagBrigade #SomethingFishyGoingOn
#PemberLittens
@BarkingMadRead

“Oh, God, I thought, this is like two people in a play, in a moment the curtain will come down, we shall bow to the audience, and go off to our dressing-rooms.” #hashtagbrigade

“And then I knew that the vanished scent upon the handkerchief was the same as the crushed white petals of the azaleas in the Happy Valley.”

#hashtagbrigade

“…I had the odd, uneasy feeling that I might come upon something unawares, that I had no wish to see. Something that might harm me, that might be horrible. It was nonsense of course,”

#hashtagbrigade

Ch 9: Jan meets the fam #butfirstshefindsthewestwing #itsforbidden #nonotreally #couldntresist #danversisherusualcreepyself #beatriceisfun #ifeellikethatsthemostinfowehavegotten #ifonlyshestayedlonger #janistheantirebecca #isthisgoodorbad #staytuned #hashtagbrigade #pemberlittens #marshamarshamarsha

'Of course, she said, you know why he is marrying you, don't you? You haven't flattered yourself he‘s in love with you? The fact is that empty house got on his nerves to such an extent he nearly went off his head. He admitted as much before you came into the room. He just can't go on living there alone…‘

#hashtagbrigade I‘m curious what you guys think ⬇️

#hashtagbrigade

@BarkingMadRead #HashtagBrigade instead of my usual #BoringKindle cover this month I‘m going with the audio version I already owned. The audio for this is kind of cool. There are subtle sound effects so every once in a while you hear a tea cup hitting a saucer or melancholy music. (Also has anyone watched this on Netflix?)

#BookSpin2024
@TheAromaOfBooks

Here we go, April! 💚🩷💚