Welcome to Litsy!

Wow! This was a dense read. It took me a while to get used to the main character‘s voice. The author‘s writing style is like a heavily annotated autobiography. But towards the end, things started to click and I went back to put the pieces together. It was all there and I missed most of it.
Brilliant!
September 7, 2024

This book is wordy - it took me awhile to get accustomed to the author‘s pace - but I‘m into it now!

I read this novel for the first time 12 years ago, and although I write a very detailed review at the time, it seems I forgot almost everything about it except the tone and the ending. My children being in college and high school now changes my experience of this coming-of-age story, but I still enjoyed it. Blue's facility with language and her gradual realizations about her father still resonate for me.

Kanoodle and an audiobook (a re-read) while waiting to see how intense this historic SoCal tropical storm will get. So far, in addition to the above activities, we lost internet briefly, I cut up a watermelon and baked GF bread, called my mom, and learned that my rain jacket is no longer waterproof. Next up: a movie then Skyping friends, if the infrastructure holds up.

#BookBinge
@Eggs & @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#SchoolSubjectInTitle

https://amzn.to/450DH2q

I wanted to like this book - what with a young female protagonist who reads everything (from old Hollywood biographies to anarchic texts to physics tomes), and uses her vast stores of bookish knowledge to set about investigating the mysterious suicide of her favorite teacher on a camping trip. But….it‘s perhaps this same abundance of literary reference dotting every other sentence that made this novel feel a bit too heavy-handed and over-the-top.

Here's my May stack for #bookspin #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

My focus is multi-colored spines, and this was a prettier way to show it than my list. A couple got cut off - Under a Dark Sky, The Shadow King, and the tagged book.

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, and some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookaDay2023

Got most of these at a used bookstore today for $29 (plus three more for hubby), and the bottom two are from a friend's LFL.

#campus #SavvySettings
@Eggs @alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My second half of the year for #12booksof2021 - I loved all these from July to December! I just finished Night Bitch a few days ago but it was a very very clear favourite for me.

@Andrew65

I am obsessed with this book in the most literal way. I read 600 pages in a day and a half and kept having to remind myself to slow down. So mysterious, funny, atmospheric and interesting. I loved Blue and her naive pretentious unreliable narration. I loved looking for clues, I loved the narrative style. Absolutely a top read of the year and I‘ll definitely reread.

My second to last day in Greece and last day on the beach. This book is incredible, and reading on a hot beach when the wind is high in a amazing. I‘ll always associate reading this brilliant book with the sound of the waves and smell of the salt. Going to be very hard to adjust to going back to work in England on Monday!

I love this cover.
#CuriousCovers Day 16 #Pink

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Pretentious. Hated this. Tartt is better

I think this book would have benefited from tighter editing. Some great one-liners, and I see where the author was going with the literary quotes, but it's a long book for what happens. #ReadHarder prompt “read a doorstopper published after 1950, written by a woman.“
Photo credit here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/hickatee/46813583774/in/photostream/

Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it.

#FirstLineFridays

I first read this in January of 2007. I have remembered it *very fondly* all of these years. 😂 Sadly, I didn't lurrrrrve it this time. I still enjoyed it, but it didn't rock me. It's really long, given how little actually happens. [I guess I'm saying that she could have had a more gripping and effective book if she had (been) edited heavily.] Having just recently read Night Film (for the first time), I'd say that is a better work.

Finally finished this one - it took me quite a while! It was entertaining and I was very curious to see what Halle Ed, but it dragged quite a bit in places, and the little reference notes were distracting after a while. I do quite like her writing though, and I have enjoyed all of her books.

Anfangs war ich mir nicht sicher, ob es mich überzeugen könnte.
Doch nach etwa 150 Seiten war ich total drin in der Geschichte, Blue und ihr Vater, ihre besondere Beziehung zueinander und zur Literatur, und vor allem Blue & ihre Clique - all das ließ mich das Buch kaum aus der Hand legen.
Das Ende brach mir etwas das Herz, aber Blue wird ihren Weg gehen. So oder so!

This is a long novel, packed full of allusions, metaphors, similes, and any other type of figurative language you can think of, and author often digresses from the main storyline. This, along with countless references & citations, leads to a fragmented reading/listening experience. At one point I thought I was going to like this novel a lot, but it never caught up to the potential I saw in the beginning. Overall rating: 4.07 stars

#day7 #7days7covers Post a cover you love each day for 7 days. No explanation needed

1. The North Carolina mountains is one of my happy places.
2. Cool in the morning, high near 90, sunny. SoCal weather.☀️
3. Never really dated, just hung out with people until I married one of them.
4. One teen, one tween, and one cat who's nearly old enough to drink.
5. 🌼🏵️💮🌸

#friyayintro @howjessreads

#LiteraryLove Prompt 15: #flowers @vkois88 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The book cover in the middle of the top row is one of my all time favourites 😍
#coversublime

My plan for #deweysreadathon is simple: read the last 70 pages of Special Topics in Calamity Physics, read the entire Giant Days Extra Credit graphic novel, and read the intro and first essay in Reflections on the Psalms. After that (and for the rest of October), I will focus on my magazine reading. My mom is always bringing me magazines and I have an enormous stack of them on my nightstand at the moment.

I‘m 15 hours into a 21 hour audiobook and the jury‘s till our on this one. #boutofbook #bob23

I breezed through it in 3 days. it's delightful, tho maybe a teensy bit heavy on the intellectualism of the dad. having picked it up because of a Dark Academia reading list I subconsciously compared it to The Secret History, which it resembles in a few lone points - Calamity Physics feels more alive though, less aesthetic. and it raised a number of personal questions, which I hope I'll be able to answer in time...

Finished up two in progress books today, but the others I‘m reading are not what I need right now, so trying a new one? I have an interview at 10:30 tomorrow, so my anxiety is kicking in hardcore right now. 😬😬😬😬 x a million!

I‘m excited for all of these for the summer season of #Booked2018! First up is Blood in the Water, which I started last week.

📚Beach Read: The Summer Wives
📚Japanese Thriller: The Devotion of Suspect X
📚LGBT MC: We Are Okay
📚Set in School: Special Topics in Calamity Physics
📚Diverse Nonfiction: Blood in the Water
📚Blame it on Litsy: The Dry

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well as Pessl‘s Night Film. She brings mixed media into her writing in a way that is novel and not heavy handed. (Also, her writing is gorgeous— so much unexpected & vibrant imagery!) This one reminded me of The Secret, a little bit and it was compelling to move through even before it delves into the mysterious aspects of the story. The last chapter disappointed a smidge, but it was a v enjoyable read regardless.

This was my second time reading this book; the first was over 10 years ago (I think).
The second read was great, not as enthusiastic as I was the first time and found the writing a little tedious. But. It‘s still one of the best books I‘ve ever read. Blue is a wonderful character and I found the premise so unique. Everyone was so well fleshed. Can‘t wait to see what I think when I read it for a third time.

I read this years ago and remember being blown away by the writing. Hoping I get to revisit that same feeling.

Nope, not for me!!! I SERIOUSLY wanted to like this book but, alas, DNF!!! Very frustrating!!

I just didn‘t care to spend more time with it, with the pretentious characters & well, honestly, the somewhat pretentious writing.
I did find an online plot summary though, to find out where the story goes.
I can see how this is a matter of taste, it wouldn‘t hurt to give it a chance, the story is quite intriguing & the overall style very original!!

Slow morning...
I‘ve got to go to work later but for for now I‘m takin‘ it easy with my delicious first cuppa & giving it a whirl with this new book. With all the mixed reviews I‘m optimistically cautious about it 😁
The first pages are certainly refreshingly different!
And - yeah, the cover is so pretty 🎀

This book has been on my shelf for ages, and I've enjoyed her other books so I'm thinking about starting to read this today.
#bookandabeverage

Finally got to the library book sale for audiobooks. Now what to listen to first? Have you read any of these?

Chatting Marisha Pessl with my sister. It‘s so great when you lend someone a favorite book and they love it too. ❤️

#bookwithabeautifulcover is the #janinbooks18 challenge. I remember picking this book in the library first because of the gorgeous cover then because of the quirky title. It was a good pick as I really enjoyed reading it.
Thanks @bookisglee

Astonishingly refreshing, filled to the brim with wit and heart and a twist that'll leave you dumbfounded. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Was bored. It was supposed to be all I suspect... See there were all these clues I left you reader.. aren't I clever type of ending. The twist at the end was OCC to the power of a 💯. This was more a vanity writing look how cultured I am, see how I read Lolita, type of novel than the father/daughter relationship with a curious mystery type of novel. Very disappointing and definitely a waste of my time which makes me 😡😡😡 #emojinov

I think there's probably something impressive about this book. But the teenage pretension stopped being charming about halfway through, it stopped being fun hating every single character with absolute fervor, and the climax during which the narrator discovers the secrets of the novel is mind numbingly boring. Still, the format is interesting, and the scope is something to praise.

So delightfully meta!! I can't wait!

4 ⭐. It would have been 5 ⭐ but the constant referencing of other media texts started to get annoying.
P for #LitsyAtoZ completed ✅ @BookishMarginalia

#awholenewworld #jubilantjuly @RealLifeReading

Anyone fancy being reminded of Doctor Who? 😉❤️😍

Why is it every time I open a book today I get one of the photo challenge prompts? #bugs for #sizzlinsummerreads @Tiffy_Reads. Photo taken on holiday in Crete.

Quote: Nigel was sitting in his chair staring at Hannah, and the way his eyes were buried behind his glasses, reflecting the candles, until he turned his head and they emerged for a moment like beetles in sand, the way he sat so straight, so small yet so substantial, he looked like 👇

#marchintoreading day 31: #bestofmarch. These are my stats for an amazing book month. A lot of good books. Now I look forward to @RealLifeReading 's book challenge for April and I thank @Simona for inspiration as to how to log my reading progress . 🤗

Pretty good month...it started off slow, but finished strong.

Love this quote.

I started reading this today. I just love the terminology and book references. Fun read so far.