Welcome to Litsy!

Wood is a masterful writer, at the top of her game in this one, so The Natural Way Of Things is a fantastic read – but it‘s also traumatic and difficult and fascinating and provoking and nuanced and scary and gut-wrenching. Make of that what you will! Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-natural-way-of-things-charlotte-wood/

Another heavenly day at a writer‘s festival. 1st up this morning was Tony Birch (I ❤️ the sound of his voice), then a shop at the farmer‘s market (on the same site) where I got all the ingredients for a feast that we ate tonight. I love me some Buratta. Then the lecture in the pic where I caught up with a family friend before and after, then last but not least Clementine Ford and a new discovery for me, Brodie Jabour who I need to investigate.

‘Poxy bonnet on its hook.‘

This book was so disturbing. First, the premise that these women are imprisoned in a work camp for having (often unconsensual) sex; second, that they are abandoned in their prison in the middle of nowhere, and then everything goes all Lord of the Flies. And so many unresolved questions - who is this corporation that runs the prison? What‘s going to happen to the women after the novel ends? Creepy, semi-apocalyptic, and compelling.

This came up in my recommendations after checking out The Water Cure, and wow, this is more than I was expecting. Intense, harsh, hard to read. I‘m going to have to read this one slowly, in small increments.

Apparently I have a LOT of #greencovers #deardecember @Eggs

What a powerful but difficult read. So much of this book is devastating but still relevant today in our society. Where women of scandals are humiliated, blamed and hated instead of being treated like the victims that they are.
10 girls all involved in 'sex' scandals are drugged and sent to an old isolated sheep station in the middle of nowhere surrounded by an electric fence. They are put to work, hard labour to teach them a lesson. ⬇️

Continuing my challenge to reading women around the world with this book for Australia

This could have been so much better. The idea of it sucked me in as it resembled A Handmaid‘s Tale but it was no Atwood. The cover and these flowers are divine.

Oh my god what an inferior piece of garbage. It was nonsensical—offensive, even—that a group of ten or so young women would allow themselves to be controlled and abused by a trio of pathetic, idiotic captors wielding a grand total of one baton between the three of them. Just effing stupid. Electrified fence notwithstanding. What a waste of valuable reading time. Bailed two-thirds of the way in. Did I mention that I hated it?

"When I watch you read this book, it's like you're forcing yourself to eat a bad sandwich" -my partner watching me read this book. It did bring on some stank face - violence, gore, dead baby rabbits... It felt like Lord of the Flies but more devistating and with rape and the occasional mention of modern tech. It grew on me toward the end, and you can get some kind of girl power from it, but it was not a pleasure to read. Happy to be done!

Great read. Proof that a compelling story can outweigh stylistic distractions.

Halfway through, and I am enjoying it, but books that constantly change tense in a simultaneous narrative make me sad. Pulls me out of the story every damn time.

Gotta get my butt in gear...

Thankyou so very much for my gifts for #secretsantagoespostal. You get me. I love all of the books, teas and chocolate. Merry Xmas to you.

I‘m glad I persevered with this. Not my usual fare (dystopian, nightmarish, violent) but important. Dark & slow plot-wise: the women are imprisoned, & it doesn‘t have the tension of an escape story. It tackles misogyny head-on, with controlled rage. I didn‘t enjoy this but it‘s tightly written, powerful & I‘ll remember it for a long time: testament to its originality & the strength of the writing. A pick for all too real dystopia; so-so for me.

Ten young women are kidnapped and taken to a desolate prison camp. Their ‘crime‘ is they have been involved in sex scandals. They do hard, pointless labour and are being systematically degraded.
How does a woman survive this? I was eager to find out but was ultimately disappointed by the many open ends and the lack of depth in the book‘s main characters.

#ReadAroundTheWorld Australia

This week‘s freaking beautiful cover award:

I was shocked to hear that Charlotte Wood's dystopian setting was based on a real 1960s era prison, the Hay Institute for Girls. There's a documentary about the horrors of that place: Exposed to Moral Damage. Wood said their crimes were that they had reported being raped, rather than keeping quiet. They were treated worse than Wood's fictional characters.
Kim Hill interviewed Wood on Radio NZ on August 18; you can search for the podcast version.

I was looking forward to this but found it a bit 'meh' I think it was aimed more as a contemplative thinkpiece, and a book to be analysed, and I was expecting a proper story

More #junetunz ...Australian #cruelsummer books - this is still on my TBR shelf but I'm daunted by its tough premise. And now that I'm on a roll ...Picnic at Hanging Rock!

😍😍😍 #day8 #readingwomenmonth #australianauthors

A very beautiful cover for a book about an ugly subject. What happens when you become a very public embarrassment to very powerful men? These young women find out... A very brutal story.

It was okay. A 3/5 for me. I'm more of a genre reader and I think this was more of a "literary" book.

Oops tagged this under the wrong title. Time for a survival story! Told from the viewpoint of two young woman whom wake up in an unknown room. Only to find themselves with other women that were kidnapped. Takes place in Australia #Australia #TBR #survival

Oh boy, the most exciting thing happened to me this afternoon. I was listening to the latest #readingwomen podcast and they mentioned me (well my maiden name because I still use it for my email address)!! I had emailed them about the Australian women's writing award the Stellar Prize and they were talking about a past winner (see comment) so I reckoned this book which is just incredible and won last year. I think that means I'm famous right?

I'm recovering. When I finished, I was reading a review and it referred to this book as feminist horror, and that hit the nail on the head. I'm not sure what the beep I just read, but I liked it. Style wise, the writing kind of reminded me of The Enchanted which is one of my all time faves. Weird. Read it, and enjoy the depressing and beautiful ride.

I have a question on a take home midterm about library layout. Since this is basically my second home, I'll just read and soak in the ambiance while the little plays on the computer. 📚💤😴

What is happening!

Wow. This was quite a read. Not for the faint of heart, I tell ya. Gritty. Raw. A dystopian commentary on the female sex.

I really enjoyed this book. It is reminiscent of "Lord of the Flies" in a bleak (so very bleak) modern day dystopia full of patriarchy and policing of women's bodies. Hard to put down despite the disturbing nature. A dark, visceral read that is a bit too close to real life for comfort.

Started reading this last weekend and then depressingly enough I had almost no time at all to read during the week. Excited for the weekend so I can get some reading in!

Women wake up drugged and imprisoned in remote Australia. Why? How? This dystopian novel is not my usual read AT ALL but today this spoke to me. It fits the sort of mood I am in right now. Here's a review from NPR: http://www.npr.org/2016/07/26/487485581/dystopian-novel-challenges-misogyny-as-t... #feministreads

Ecuadorian chocolate and an Australian novel... aren't I international. @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled #24in48

Wow! This is dark and intense and amazing. I loved the writing, I was there. This was gripping.

Love these, but here's a great example of my out-of-control TBR pile. I remembered nothing about this book. Nothing. Then I click, read the description, go all "Squirrel!" Like the Up dog, & now I want to request one of the available copies from my library, even though we were just there yesterday. Plus I'm supposed to be reading more of the books I've bought, & I'd like to focus on authors who will be at Tucson Festival of Books.
#bookproblems

Just ... holy shit.

First day back at work after the Christmas period. Going to finally crack this baby open during my lunch break!

Nope. No explanation was given for the situation these women found themselves in, and given that it was a highly unusual situation (they were in what seemed like a prison for being promiscuous/implying promiscuity or just being human beings complete with sexuality) that was really necessary. I don't mind being left w/ questions at the end of a book, but this was ridiculous.

Kindle sales are both the best and the worst. I now have about 50 books (not even an exaggeration) that I would like to read during my 3 weeks off in January. Given that it takes me about 4 hours to read a 360 ish page book, if I read for 10 hours a day, that's achievable right? 😂😂😂

@LeahsBookNest the package came!! I am excited to rest these!

A group of women wake up in a rural Australian property with nothing. Their clothes are gone, their heads are shaved, they're waking from being drugged and they have no idea why they're there. And neither do the two grotesque men keeping them hostage and working them like slaves. Absolutely brutal. Difficult to read but difficult to put down....

So many good 2016 reads. New female Australian authors were a particular theme as this collection demonstrates.

The first book that popped into my head as having flowers on the cover. It has been sitting beside my bed in my TBRSOON pile for months, just waiting for the right mood to strike. #funFridayphoto

Dear lord... is this really how society thinks women can be treated? I'm sure it's an exaggeration, but it terrifies me to my very core. This book may not be for the faint hearted, but it will take a hold of you and force you to think. I couldn't get it out of my mind.

#feverdream

My personal rap song... currently reading THE NATURAL WAY OF THINGS! And the New York Times Book Review, because more books. Hopefully Steinbeck approves...
#BooksfromSteinbeck @Liberty