Welcome to Litsy!

I love when a book surprises me. I approached this one reluctantly, but it ended up being one of my favorites of the year. I've seen quite a few people mention her newer book Wild Dark Shore as a 2025 favorite, so I look forward to reading it in 2026.

June #12Booksof2025 @TheEllieMo

#FridayHappyReadingHour This evening it‘s tea… because I‘m looking over my notes for Migrations. Bookclub tonight and it‘s the book I picked so I‘ll say a few words about it. I‘ll be having my Friday glass of vino ( or two ) with my bookclub ladies later 😁🥂
Happy Friday to you all @kspenmoll @Tamra @BarbaraBB @Ruthiella @dabbe @mcctrish @melissajayne @Aims42

Sorry I‘m late posting for #HappyFridayReadingHour #FridayHappyReadingHour

‘Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make a soul. ‘

Lots to think about in this book.
Wine and nuts and raisins.

Another beautifully written book by the author of Wild Dark Shore. We meet our narrator as she is trying to join a boat‘s crew so she can track the migration of a group of terns. As the story goes back and forth in time, we find out so much about her life and what has led up to this moment in time. It‘s a love story, a book of mysteries, a story about obsessions. Well worth reading and I loved meeting so very many interesting people.

Greenland. I listened to Migrations from my TBR list. I found the jumping timeline a bit confusing at times but overall enjoyed bouncing around learning about Franny, her history and her family AND the ending was a surprise! Dinner was boiled cod with a mustard sauce that was ok and warm potato salad that was delish. Not sure I‘d enjoy their food traditions on the regular though. #Foodandlit

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I've seen this book receive good reviews, but admittedly, I wasn't sure if the basic premise would engage me. Though this book wasn't set in Greenland for as long as I'd have liked, I was really riveted by the plot. In a future or alt reality where wildlife is rapidly going extinct, Franny wishes to follow the Arctic Terns on what is, very likely, their final migration south. We get to know Franny via flashbacks & through her ⬇️

Starting to feel better, but I'm totally going to milk this head cold for a little extra reading time this weekend, but not so much that I can't tour my town's new library this weekend. 😁

My library hold came in on this one, so I'll pause my beachy read and enjoy some icy and turbulent conditions.

Thought I should get this off the ol' TBR before checking out Wild Dark Shore. WOW - fantastic. Emotionally engaging, deep in its themes/messages, and riveting in a would‘ve-stayed-up-'til-3-AM-to-finish-if-my-body-let-me sort of way. A top read of 2025 so far for sure.

Pretty good month. #readingstats #monthlyrecap# BookSpinBingo
✅ BINGO!
✅ #bookspin
✅ #doublespin
✅✅#BOTM
✅ book that has been on my boards for years (tagged)
✅ book that has been on my shelf for years

I am so glad I didn't let her Wolves novel deter me from picking this up, I enjoyed this much more! Even though I thought the twists were predictable, there was still enough intrigue and appreciation for her onion peeling writing to keep me reading. It is horrifying how much her world is just like ours but with barely any animals, sometimes you can go pages having forgotten. Great work.

Bailing on this, not because the writing is bad, but it is just not for me. Moving on!
#hailthebail
A #roll100 book off my physical tbr

I‘ll read any novel this author writes.

Flippin heck, what a book.
I feel despondent and sad but also in awe that she's conjured up such a terrifyingly possibility which should be prevalent in our minds and actions at all times.

Ready for April! Hoping for some nice weather for outdoor reading 🤞. Also hope to get to two books that have been on my #BookSpinBingo boards for over a year including the tagged book.

Oopsie! I put The Sweet Spot on my #BookSpinBingo board twice. Before the #bookspin and #doublespin numbers are drawn I will change #20 to Migrations.

Recent #bookmail.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Set in a near future with rapid animal extinction, Franny casts off with a commercial fishing crew to follow a specific bird on likely its last migration. Where there are fish, there are birds, and vice versa. For a bit, this felt like two stories slapped together until we are fully aware of the circumstances. Such a gut punch. One of the absolute best, most emotional, endings I‘ve experienced in some time. #bookclub

Wow, what a heavy and emotional book!! Highly recommend for a deep reading experience. ❄️📚❄️

Movie time with mom!

My #ReadingtheAmericas2023 progress: continuing to knock a few off, although I won't read everything on the list by 2024!

My #Greenland pick for #ReadingtheAmericas2023: not actually much Greenland but a really captivating story about an ecojustice activist in the near future who charms her way onto an Atlantic herring fisher to follow the migrating and threatened terns en route to the Antarctic. A painful backstory and a very diverse crew, with a bit of a nod to Moby Dick, kept me engaged, as well as the sheer passion for saving any bit of Earth's life.

In a near future where animals are going extinct at a rapid rate a woman is determined to follow terms on their last migration. After reading so many conflicting reviews I wondered where I would fall. Thankfully I really liked it. I cared less about Franny‘s backstory and was more interested in her journey at sea on she set sail with a crew that doesn‘t especially trust her or want her on board. The writing was so transportive.

This is a work of art. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
A Plath-like depiction of a lost and tortured woman who is wandering and broken, the prose in this book was so delicious. It‘s a unique story unlike any I‘ve read before that left me sad but hopeful. The world is losing species at a rapid rate, and the protagonist is her own antagonist and goes searching for the last of the Arctic terns. Travel to tumultuous tundra of oceans that is a broken woman‘s existence.

This is a very soft 3 star for me. It was interesting in regards to looking at mass extinction and the after effects of how we could survive. I wish I could have seen more of this. Our main character was okay, but I just wasn‘t a fan of hers as the story progressed. The back story for her made sense, but I felt led to believe that there was something more there. Read for #Naturalitsy @AllDebooks

Thank you for the tag @Eggs 🍎Autumn time is one of the few times we can be outside and enjoy being outside. There is a town close by that we like to eat pie at and enjoy the sights. 🍎 Determined 🍎I‘m currently reading the tagged a little late 😅 Would you like to play?: @AllDebooks @Littlewolf1 @Daisey @JazzFeathers

This book is bleeaakkk.

Amazing! This heartbreaking ecological odyssey considers a near future world where most animals are extinct and shares a personal journey of love, loss, and redemption. The characters are complex, difficult, and unforgettable. 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Good discussion today at book club. This novel was liked by everyone. #FirstSaturdayReaders

#Naturalitsy

I don't like to pan a book but I really hated this story. I would have bailed but was hosting #Naturalitsy #buddyread
I couldn't gel with the MC at all, implausible storylines, preachy, inconsistent and meh.

Don't give up on McConaghy tho as Once we were wolves is fantastic.

This was an ok book. I had a hard time getting into for almost half of the book. I really enjoyed reading the setting: sometime in the near future where most animals and forests are extinct. I wish the book was more about this instead of Franny's inner turmoil. I give this 3 ⭐️

#BookSpinBingo #8 #ispybingo
@TheAromaofBooks @Clwojick

#rushathon
@DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

#naturalitsy #buddyread @AllDebooks

I was listening to this chapter while walking my dogs this morning. Quite apropos, as I too have crow friends who follow me around because I throw them peanuts. No gifts yet, but they do leave feathers on occasion. 🪶
#naturalitsy @AllDebooks

I'm currently trying to finish the tagged book and no, I'm not relating to any of the characters. The main character is trying to run from her past (murder, love, loneliness) while trying to catch some birds. So yeah...no. 😅
I could probably relate a little bit to the character's loneliness but I'm blessed to have loving people in my life.

#SundayFunday @ozma.of.oz

#NaturaLitsy

Post 6/6

Would you read more by this author based on this reading experience?

🤔 I would appreciate some feedback on our first fiction read.
Have you enjoyed it as a break from non-fiction or would you prefer to have a nature fiction read on a regular basis?

I thought for sure I‘d love this, but just a like for me. A bit heavy-handed perhaps? Once There Were Wolves worked better for me for some reason. It is a haunting and emotional read though and I‘m glad I finally got to it. I‘ll be interested in whatever she writes next. Looking forward to our #NaturaLitsy discussion!

I did not enjoy this journey at all. I was so irritated with the structure. The time changes & sequences with little cliffhangers every two pages made my ADHD scream “Get To The Point!” It was completed through anger infused propulsion. I also didn‘t find much of it plausible. I didn‘t like the MC. I really thought it was going to be about a woman tracking arctic terns. Guess I‘ll have to find another book for that. #UnpopularOpinion.

Just finished this a few minutes ago, and, wow, what a surprise this book was. Thought provoking, challenging, emotional. Can't wait for my book club's discussion.

Although I enjoyed this book, it was at times rather preachy and depressing. Set in a not to distant future where most of the animals and birds are extinct, Franny is on a quest to follow the last migration of the Arctic terns.
#Naturalitsy #naturalitsybingo2023 #climatechange @AllDebooks #RushAthon @DieAReader @Andrew65 @GHABI4ROSES

Just hanging with my Seren-cat reading. I can't believe she's 4 today!

I loved the ideas behind this book, but for me, the execution left something to be desired. It seemed a bit overwritten. I liked the start, and the ending finally managed to engage me emotionally, but overall, it just didn't quite work for me.

And an ornithologist like Niall would know the whole "don't touch a bird's egg or the mother will abandon it" is an old wives tale. (That's not a spoiler, it's just one line towards the end that bugged me)

Who else loves getting an oil change because it means a solid 45 minutes to an hour of reading time? 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

Sorry #naturalitsy, I bailed.

I read 81 pages. I liked the setting, i was ok with the tone. I didn‘t like the (cardboard cutout?) characters, didn‘t like the development and all the things that I didn‘t buy. I felt it wasn‘t holding together and it got to me. Hopefully i‘ll take more to our next book.

#BookBinge #InvolvesAnimals in this case birds, as Franny Stone tracks the believed last migration of arctic terns to Antarctica.

#Naturalitsy

Hi 👋

It feels weird not having a weekly check-in, so here I am asking how you all are. Have you had a good week? Have you started our book yet?
I'll post a discussion thread at the end of the month 😊

All welcome to join us. Please let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.

This was my book clubs pick for July. I think this is beautifully written. I had no idea what this was about when I picked it up - I thought it was going to be about birds. I will definitely read more books by her (I‘ll just make sure I have a box of tissues nearby)

#LiteraryLadiesBookClub

August and September selections for book club. #FirstSaturdayReaders