Welcome to Litsy!

Spent the weekend on a baseball field (a Halloween tournament) and nearly froze—but I did have my cozy little bubble to watch/read from…with a heater! No better place to finish a book club pick, the state in which it‘s set. A West Virginia setting is hard to get right, and this one felt a bit dated. I love the beauty but the poverty can be heartbreaking. I think Keller portrays that well here. Our book club enjoyed it and found the mystery worthy.

This was relentlessly depressing, and I didn‘t find the ending to be particularly satisfying. On the other hand, it‘s a well paced story with relatable characters and some insightful descriptions. Solid pick but I won‘t carry on past this first book in the series.

I‘m getting close to finishing my personal #52mysteries reading challenge.

Last week I got to a stopping point in this book then set it aside for longer than intended. Tonight I went to a free concert in a local park, where I sat and read and ate a yummy sandwich before it started.

Luckily, some friends arrived, and they had an extra chair I could use instead of sitting on this historic beach towel. Now I‘m back home chilling and reading.

#hyggehourreadathon

I spent #hyggehourreadathon #withmystery plus milk & cookies (biscuits). The cup was my prize for completing the library‘s summer reading program, and the table was recycled. #aboutaboom

I read this book solely because I was in need for a book set in #WestVirginia for #ReadingUSA2019 but it turned out to be a decent thriller. At least as interesting is the description of the state. Desolate, depressing and forgotten, that‘s the way Keller writes about West Virginia. Drugs rule and the future seems very unpromising in the small town where the story takes place.

#WeeklyForecast 49/19

A new month means another bit of Proust and I am reading the marvellous Red At the Bone. I am not sure what to read next. Another #1001books maybe or one of the ultimate ones for #ReadingUSA2019? Or the Korean thriller I just have been looking forward to?

I‘ll keep you posted of course!

I notice now that four of the five books pictured have a silhouette on their cover. What a coincidence!

I‘m not doing so well at this challenge (and a few others), but here‘s #WestVirginia. I did like this book - the story was engrossing and the descriptions of the WV scenery were terrific. #ReadingUSA2019

I don't quit books. I just don't. I quit this one. Keller has a beautiful voice & is no doubt a talented writer, but this book frustrated me. 50% of the way through & she's still describing every little detail, telling the back story of every minor character, repeating herself over & over, yet the plot has gone NO WHERE! When I realized I'd given up & was merely skimming, I decided to bail.

Moving on to A Killing in the Hills by Julia Keller, a book set in my home state of WV.

I'm giving this a pick because I liked it in spite quite a few flaws. I think it's the tone and setting that I liked, and I was engrossed in the story even though the mystery was pretty weak. If you read it, be prepared to skim a bit when it gets too wordy and overdoes the similes. Also be prepared to feel depressed at the end. I'm really selling this one, aren't I?

Thank you so much @cathysaid for the books and the cat toys! I‘m so glad I won the giveaway (and surprises), I can‘t wait to read these books.

This was utterly horrible. Every paragraph felt like a sentence written in draft format, then written again in the longest form possible and then written one more time for luck. I'm not sure if the editor was supposed to choose, but they seem to have all made the final version. I have never been so exhausted by dreary, expository nonsense with every point hammered home with a wrecking ball. Manipulative, boring, repetitive and just plain shite.

Pretty good. Some of the WV stereotypes got to me. Especially since the author is from WV. Some of it spoke really accurate too though. The mystery itself was decent.

More between a pick and a so-so because I guessed "who-done-it" early on in the story (and trust me, it ain't 'cause I'm such a crack detective ? ). Murder, drugs and betrayal in the hills of a West Virginia town. Fast paced and entertaining but a bit formulaic and predictable. 3/5 ⭐️ #crime #debut

Reading this for a book club at my local library...
"It was also an ugly place, a place riddled with violence – the special kind of violence that follows poverty, the way a mean dog slinks along behind its master."

4/5 stars

#augustphotochallenge day 26. For under hyped books, I would choose Julia Keller's Bell Elkins series. This is a great series with an interesting, flawed female protagonist and good supporting characters. I feel like the books are almost hard to find at times even though they are recent and that is a tragedy. I think Keller is tops!

#recommendsday Julia Keller's Bell Elkins series is very good! They offer a very realistic look at what is happening in small Appalachian towns. West Virginia has some beautiful places, but Bell Elkins has to deal with the crimes taking place in her mountains. I recommend reading the series in order. The picture is of the New River Gorge in December.

I love when I internally shout "I did not see that coming" at the end of a book. I thought I knew who the guilty person was and 30 pages till the end, I was completely flabbergasted! I will be picking up the next book in the series.