Welcome to Litsy!

😆 I didn‘t know this was fiction until I finished listening to it. The content & style is so convincing I thought it was a memoir. However, it is apparently based on the author‘s experiences and she also lives in the Twin Cities, MN where it‘s set. No wonder!

I‘ve always wanted to keep chickens IN THEORY. 😜 The reality is I‘d be an unhappy cluck having to care for them in subzero temps.

Writing is beautiful in places.

Or be able to read so so much about them and not throw the book…?? I‘m pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this short novel. The MC has suffered loss and has thrown her attention at keeping chickens in her backyard. There‘s warmth, and even humor, though readers see the heart of the matter is her attempt at recovering from a very personal trauma. Her mother is lovely and her husband is in the background, but the chickens are top priority.

#12Booksof2021 Read this debut back in April and it has really stayed with me. Moving, funny, wise, original. Also, absolutely love this cover!

I know this one has a “love it or hate it” effect, but I thought it was hysterical. I really enjoyed the dead pan midwestern style telling. While she talks about chickens even though it‘s not about chickens, I don‘t think it‘s about infertility either (having lived that). I think it‘s about the fears and joys of parenting being one and the same, maybe even the terrors and triumphs of life itself.

The eye of a chicken is all that is left of the dinosaurs, a little portal into the era of nut-size brains. Meaning cannot be derived from a chicken‘s eye because meaning does not exist there. But, also, the craziness of the eye obscures everything.

I loved this book. Beautifully written. Great on audio.

#CurrentlyListening to this novel about raising chickens… I had high hopes! But alas: 16% in and I wish this were a nonfiction memoir instead of a novel. I think I‘d rather learn about chickens. I‘m not caring about any of these characters at all…

UPDATE: 25% and still meh

UPDATE 2: Bailing at 30% — life‘s too short

Uggghhh! Worst book I‘ve read so far this year. She was going for Jenny Offill, but it was too literally about raising backyard chickens. I didn‘t get any of the nuance that would have made it more about her infertility (which is what the author was obviously going for). Even one of my favorite narrators, Rebecca Lowman, couldn‘t save this! Thank goodness for libraries. #audiobook

Spoiler in comments.

I think this will be another winning #ShelfSubscription from The Bookshelf. It sounds so good!