Welcome to Litsy!

4⭐️ Another enjoyable read from Mary Lawson. I like how the three characters are connected, how they are actually reflections of one another. There‘s something about her writing that I really like… simple, engaging, and addictive 😍

I really enjoyed this gentle novel. Set in a rural northern town in Canada in 1972, it‘s told from three perspectives: 7 year old Clara, whose teenage sister has run away from home, Elizabeth, Clara‘s elderly neighbor who is in the hospital, and Liam, a mysterious young man from Elizabeth‘s past. Comparisons to Anne Tyler are apt, IMO.

My 2nd #10beforetheend book and #TBRtarot for December.

This is my #10beforetheend stack! It doesn‘t include my current library books I‘m reading or the three group reads I have coming up. 😬 I‘m pretty much doomed to fail. 😂

This is going to be kind of a niche review but so be it. 😅 A Town Called Solace reminded me intensely of the part in American Gods when Shadow stays in Lakeside, with all of the small town characters *and* all of the small town mystery, but without an epic war between gods looming in the background. I was hooked instantly by Clara (with whom I share the joys of magical thinking OCD), & was rooting for Liam to find connection. 👇🏻

This book gave me massive Lucy Barton vibes and I loved it! Told in multiple POV‘s we meet Clara, a young girl whose sister has gone missing, Liam a young man, recently divorced who is Clara‘s new neighbor and Elizabeth, the elderly lady who used to live in the house next to Clara‘s. Set in the 1970‘s this book captures the beauty of small town life, the complexities of adolescence and how the past is always present. 👇🏽

Synchronicity! Look @BarbaraBB you and I were reading this book at the same time! I absolutely loved it.

We have 3 POVs - Clara an 8yo in turmoil because her teen sister has run away, Liam, a newcomer to the small town, and Elizabeth, an elderly widow in hospital. I love when a child‘s POV is done well and this is spot on IMO. ⬇️

Clara's sister is missing. Clara is 7 years old and, isolated by her distraught parents' efforts to protect her from the truth, grief-stricken and bewildered.
Then a man called Liam moves into the house next door, a house left to him by an old woman he can barely remember: Elizabeth Orchard.

Solace in 1972 is the sort of place where everyone knows each other, there‘s only one place to eat, and that one place has a minuscule menu. ⬇️⬇️

I love a quiet, small town, character driven novel to get lost in and this was really nicely written. I liked the way the past/back story unfolded, the ending, the different points of view and the relationship between Clara and Liam. Will definitely read more Lawson at some point 💕

#AuldLangSpine first read. The writing was good -not my type of read, however if it yours, is it‘s very well written…

I have recommended it to people IRL who I know will love it.

Off to pick another off my list!

I‘m getting annoyed with this lady‘s creepy obsession with someone else‘s child. I understand it to some level, but it‘s going too far. Perhaps the author has me right where they want me. Time will tell, 77% done.

A quiet book I enjoyed more than I expected. The overlapping POVs was a compelling way of telling the story, and the way the past was unveiled worked very well.

The joy of challenges is picking up books you wd not have read to find an author you will like again , so with
#setinacanadianprovince #booked2022
The story by 3 narrators, a man recently split from his partner who moves to a house he inherits in a small ontario town, an 8 yr old girl whose sister is missing, + an elderly lady in a care home. Great storytelling + characters, + a gradual reveal
@Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

Excellent: three perspectives on a tragic but ultimately loving story set in Northern Ontario. All three characters: an dying old woman, a little girl looking after her neighbour‘s cat while waiting for her runaway sister to come home, and a young man who is just arrived from southern Ontario, are vividly portrayed. Again, a great audiobook because you can hear the different voices. Thanks to @Amiable for this #NYWD rec.
#Booked2022 #Sisters

Loved it

This really is a beautiful book. Although it isn‘t big on plot, I was very interested to see what would become of each of the well-developed characters. Liam, a 30-something man, arrives back in Solace and meets Clara, a young girl going through something big and they form a bond. An episode from Liam‘s past is slowly revealed by Mrs. Orchard, a neighbor he had a special bond with as a child. I teared up multiple times throughout this quiet novel.

This was great; so poignant and contained and hard-hitting and human and just GOOD

I very much enjoyed this one. Love a good small town story.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

1. A Town Called Solace & Black and British
2. Crying In H Mart (it's more orange but I'm counting it)
3. I'm terrible at keeping on top of new releases but I'll be looking through this hashtag for some!

It's not a Wednesday but it is the Easter Bank Holiday weekend so here I am anyway😂

1. Not really but I do love a chocolate egg!
2. NO! I don't think I've read a single book so far, just started some and not finished them😭 BUT I'm on a mission this long weekend and I'm determined to finish at least 2 books
3. Having my parents place to escape to in the countryside - prime reading spot

Happy Easter everyone!

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

I'm very late to the party with this one but I've gotten out of my reading rhythm in recent weeks and I'm keen to get going again!

By Sunday 17th, I want to have finished 2 books!😁

#AwesomeApril @Andrew65

#Welcometolitsy @HubBen ! Everyone please say hello!!😊

#litsywelcomewagon

I'm going to stay with my parents for the long bank holiday weekend and was a complete doughnut in forgetting to bring anything to read!

This did mean I had an excuse to go book shopping earlier though😁

This is a quiet little novel set in a small town that focuses on our interactions with the people around us, or more specifically our neighbors.

It's told from several different POVs, which helped to bring depth to the story. There's a missing girl, a man struggling with his past, and a young girl who no one really seems to understand except her older neighbor.

I enjoyed it even though it's not my typical read.

I do love stories like this; a small cast of characters in a small town, all with a dramatic event hovering over them, their lives intertwining. It‘s a quiet story despite the drama in the background and I think I‘d had a good book cry by page 11. This put me in mind of Anne Tyler, and I do love Anne Tyler. Also, the cover 💙

Lawson's writing reminds me of Alice Munro's, though it's a little darker and more suspenseful. She explores small-town life in Northern Ontario in the same way that Munro did for Southern Ontario. I became so engrossed in the lives of her characters!

Only 8.5 hours finished for the #20in4 readathon so far, but there's still a bit of time left! @Andrew65

A slow-burn, character-driven book. My first Lawson, but definitely not my last.

A quick and easy to read novel set in a small town. Unfortunately I found the story and characters flat and boring. Only just a so so as I did finish it but ultimately a forgettable book for me

Quiet, thoughtful and sad novel. Though I did enjoy it.
#setinacanadianprovince #booked2022

Another 2fer for September. These were definitely close to making my top 21 but got edged out.

#12Booksof2021 This Booker longlisted title was the highlight of my August reading. Gentle, small-town, domestic story. Simple, elegant writing. Flawed, yet lovable characters. My first Mary Lawson, but definitely not my last.

This is a nice novel. It‘s clean, embracing a 1970‘s Northern Ontario isolated from the outside world, but not isolated enough. Lawson is maybe looking for peace and restoration without denying reality…but she is still holding reality away at arm‘s length.

I‘m not sure it belongs on the 2021 Booker longlist, but I enjoyed, snapped through it, really.

Still working through the Booker longlist and picked this up yesterday, trying to jog myself into a better reading place. It‘s seemed to work. Reads simple, but I‘m enjoying it and it‘s peek into 1972 small town Ontario.

Quick and easy read book. Told in 3 different narratives. The characters are just flat and dull. I don't think this book is worth to be on Booker nomination list. I've read better written books before this.

Oh, how I loved this book! 🥰

Brilliant book, I liked the characters very much and became keen to hear more.

The library app has all the Booker 2021 shortlisted titles and I've just got this one.
Told from different perspectives, it's a slow start but seems to trundle along.

A quick, sweet easy read. Written similar to the style of Anne Tyler, I could envision the plot, setting and characters as if it were a movie. Told from three different points of view, the plot shifts in time and provides interesting perspective about similar events. The three narrators are inextricably woven together and though the premise is that all three are experiencing duress, there is hope in connection.

10-6 Sep 21
Booker Longlist 4
Not a typical Booker, but it drew me in quickly. A 15 year old runs away from small town Ontario in 1970s. Three narrators tell their stories: the younger sister, a stranger and an elderly neighbour. I dreaded the end - scared to know what had happened to Rose.
This raised questions about motherhood for me - what is a good mother? And who has the right to judge? It also highlighted a child‘s need for love and trust.

A story about growing up, dying, family, regrets ... in short, a story about life and correcting mistakes. Readable, gentle, simple and, unfortunately, unremarkable. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #BookerPrize2021

I read 100 pages, and while I was impressed at the beginning by the emotionally complex preteen narrator, I have decided to stop because little else is working. The adult characters are dull and poorly drawn, while the story achieves that most pathetic of hat tricks: humdrum, far-fetched, and ponderous.

#BookReport: Project Hail Mary was so entertaining! Maybe a tad long but I loved it on audio 4.5🌟 Captain Wentworth‘s is Grange‘s best retelling 4🌟 Loved A Town Called Solace . It fit perfectly into my current small town slice of life reading. 5🌟

#WeeklyForecast: Decided to tackle The Only Plane now to honor 9/11 anniversary and for #Booked. It‘s a chunkster and hard to put down. 💜 & 🫒 will provide relief when it gets too heavy. ⬇️

Reasons I love Litsy…. I am not sure I ever would have picked up this book without having read some wonderful reviews here. This was a read in one sitting book for me. Three characters with inspecting stories who are at pivotal times of different life stages are in the type of small town where everyone knows everything about everyone else. I tend to be wary of Booker nominated books to be honest but I really enjoyed this one.

In the small town Solace, a 16 year girl is missing. We follow her younger sister, the old neighbour and the just moved in neighbour. I loved the different voices and the story

I‘m so happy this made it to the Booker Longlist, because I wouldn‘t have heard of either the book or the author otherwise

#BookerLonglist2021

Of the Booker Prize titles I've read so far, this is the one I've most enjoyed. Goodness knows what it's doing on the list, though! It's a straightforward, good honest story written with compassion for it's characters: troubled 7 year old Clara, her elderly neighbour Mrs Orchard, and newly-divorced Liam. The sort of book that does a heart good. (That said I'd have skipped the formulaic romance: let's just leave after the ice-cream next time, yes?)

I liked this more than I was expecting! When a book is nominated for the Booker I always end up with strange expectations, like I‘m looking on every page for the reason it was worth nominated for a prize. Once I let go of that I liked this. I often don‘t like books with multiple intersecting narrators but I always liked the writing here, and the description was emotional without being heavy handed. A simple story well-told

A book with a child narrator had a low chance of being a pick from me anyway so maybe this isn‘t a fair review. But the cliched lonely librarian and successful/nasty ex-wife meant this was definitely a pan. I‘m surprised that this was on the #bookerlonglist. I‘m not having much luck with those books so far this year but I‘ll persist!

Let‘s set aside the fact that this is not going to win the Booker. I thought It was a LOVELY read. I‘d describe it as perfectly undemanding of its reader. It has some fairly well-worn ingredients- a small town setting where everyone knows everyone, but which has recently been shaken by crisis, multigenerational narrative voices, each protagonist flawed and struggling in isolation to grapple with the ills of the world around them.