Welcome to Litsy!

Tagged by the fabulous @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm

📚 Hamlet, not by choice. 9th grade honors English, 10th grade English, and 12th grade drama.

📚 A pretty cover certainly helps. I'm more likely to at least read the blurb on a pretty book, but if the cover is ugly, I won't bother unless there's strong word of mouth.

📚 Tagged. Most of it takes place out in nature.

#thoughtfulthursday @MoonWitch94

If you want to play, you're tagged.

A strange but beautiful story that leaves one with more questions than answers. I suppose that‘s life during the uncertainty of war. Like others, I felt the ending was somewhat of a let down, but it didn‘t take away from the feeling this short book left me with.

Though this takes place in Poland during WW2, this was a fairly quiet book. When 7 year old Anna's father doesn't come home, the little Jewish girl is all alone. She meets the Swallow Man who takes her under his wing and together they hide throughout the forests, trying to lay low. While interesting, a good portion of this is lacking "oomph" to really make it a full on pick. This was my #doublespin read & is now off my shelf. @TheAromaofBooks

With 73 pages left before I check off all my personal #EasterExtravaganza Readathon goals, I did finish the egg hunt. This book has a textured cover (like a fancy, marbled cardstock), A's on the cover, "suddenly", a dog, and stars.
@SumisBooks @Andrew65

1. Tagged
2. I couldn't decide between my new phrase or the perfectly timed pic of this pup & a bubble. #spaceman
3. Reading, keeping a general schedule, and weekly home manicure. I also instituted a rule: no official work without proper pants & a bra.
4. Milk chocolate
@4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads #friyayintro

I love the first half of this book. The story feels like a grim fairytale. I'm from Poland and I really appreciated the way it was described. But near the end it stopped working for me. The twist and turns, the reality check - though maybe necessary - felt heavy handed. But I going to ignore the imperfections cause it was still a memorable read.

#snowicesetting #DearDecember @Eggs

Two good books set in #Poland #LetsTravelAugust
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

I was really on board with this book until a few surprising scenes towards the end which made me like it less. Until then I would have happily have gifted this book to some young readers, now I would recommend 15+ which I think is a shame.
That aside, this is still a really well written, thoughtful book and I liked it very much.

Pretty prose, boring plot. Ditching out at 1/3

This week's listen

I binge listened to this and it‘s now on my TB “to buy” list. I loved the theme of language and the language itself is gorgeous in parts. There is an overall ambiguity cultivated, especially with The Swallow Man character, but it adds to the suspense and fairytale quality of the story. The narrator is very good, but I‘m rather surprised one with a Polish or German accent wasn‘t used. It may have really lent to the atmosphere created. 👍🏾

Anna and the Swallow Man was a beautiful story. I loved the tone and the parts that were vague didn't bother me at all. It was melancholy, but in a way that I enjoy. Pick for me.

It says for fans of The Book Thief. I'm hopeful.

A lot to think about in this book. How war destroys but hope grows

Playing MLB The Show and listening to a book. Can it get any better than this? #winterreads #bookchallenges #januaryreads

I finished my 2017 #LitsyAtoZ challenge from @BookishMarginalia just under the wire! All of them are titles, except "K" is the author. A couple at the end were cheaters in my opinion (X-Men and The Quiet Book), but I'm still happy I finished, and I'm going to count it for myself! Wahoo!! ??????

#FavoriteBookCoverof2017
#AlltheBooksof2017 @Annreads

Three five star reads (on top) and three from my tbr.
#UncannyOctober #SetinEasternEurope

I am in love with this book! I am listening to it right now, but I will be purchasing it.

All the work tasks are done for the day, on to this month's young adult book club pick #eshaverbookseller

Can't wait to read 📖

This was a first for me - I actually coughed up a couple of bucks for an e-book. A pity the book wasn't more of a success.
It is glaringly obvious that this is a debut with the author trying so hard to impress. And there was some beautiful writing but it didn't flow naturally within the narrative. After the initial novelty wore off the story got lost and the author never quite brought back on track.

I'm on a teen award judge team. My genre is historical fiction. This is the first I finished. I listened to it and it was an immersive little story, full of heart. I definitely recommend.

I mean, the narration was good. And I can see why it made top audiobooks of the year lists. But the story itself was weird and didn't resolve. Or maybe I was just waiting for it to end that I didn't even pay attention. Either way, meeehhh next.

I am disappointed by the ending. It does leave you questioning, as seems to be the goal of the author on every page, but this isn't even answered in the unsatisfactory way of the Swallow Man. I'm not sure what happened. Anyone who has read it have any thoughts?!

So far sitting around for jury duty is pretty great. I'm basically getting paid to read all day!

When will I learn to not read on my lunch break? 20 pages in and I just want to know more!!!!

I knew this was a World War Two book from the perspective of a child, but I still did not get what I was expecting. It was a short book, that read quickly and kept me in. But the last section was not satisfying.

I liked this book about loss and the choice to disappear but it did not blow me away like I thought it would. It is clever and moving and philosophical but I was missing the little 'extra' that makes novels like 'The Book Thief' or 'All the Lights we cannot see' great (this book has been compared to both but can't live up to them in my humble opinion).

Office reading. :)

In a Q&A, Savit says that what he want readers to get from "Anna and the Swallow Man" is "Questions. And the urge to find and ask more of them." Well, I certainly have questions! Like yelling "what?" after reading the end of the book-- which also ends on a question. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed listening to this book and Allan Corduner did a wonderful job narrating Savit's carefully crafted novel. #odysseywinner

Really good. I read it in one day. Set right before WW2 in Poland. 7 year old Anna's father is arrested up by the German police. He is an intellectual. He does not return. She meets the Swallow Man, follows him, rescues him, and they traipse around avoiding soldiers trying to survive. I didn't like the ending much, which seems to be a regular comment.
#WW2

This book. So weird but also pretty good. Starts out a bit like "The Book Thief" then wonders around, then becomes like a Neil Gaiman book. Ok then. "The world as it exists is a very, very dangerous place."

Happy New Year, littens! I'm starting off 2017 with a reading challenge. Here's my first haul (A-G) for #litsyatoz! #bookishresolutions

Anna felt herself drowning in the empty stillness. It was the first time she had said it, the very first time she had even allowed herself to think it so clearly: She did not think her father would come back.

If you have read Ruta Sepetys 'salt to the sea' I think you would like this book and its telling of the events in WW2 in Poland

#novemberreads

Beautiful.

"Because," said the Swallow Man. "A friend is not someone to whom you give the things that you need when the world is at war. A friend is someone to whom you give the things that you need when the world is at peace." #JewLit

One of our favorite YA reads, mystical and magical WWII fiction.

I finished this beautiful read last night. Moving, lyrical, melancholy. "Human beings are the best hope in the world of other human beings to survive."

Lunchtime reading 😊💕📚💕