Welcome to Litsy!

Mid-year reading check in
Like always I love my moody broody dark reads! I really am trying to work in more lighthearted things... really 😂
Favorite book so far tagged.

This was my first time reading Emily St. John Mandel and she has a lovely way of writing.

While the book includes pandemics, time travel, space colonies and big questions (Are we living in a simulation?), the story‘s unfaltering focus on the human condition is what really captivated me.

For just a few days, this book was my constant companion. I will gladly read more by this author!

#bookspin 6/22

Sci-fi time travel pandemic book? If anyone can pull it off it‘s Mandel. Love her. #bigjunereadathon @Clwojick

Amazing. Mandel is an auto buy for me. The way she weaves a story is fantastic, excellent writing, time travel, plus characters from other Mandel books making appearances makes this book a gorgeous experience.

Don‘t be like Jessica. Not an ideal way to live. 😁

Whoops, forgot my book upstairs again. Guess I'll start a new one again!

Excellent! I enjoyed the twists and the subtle references to Station Eleven. The book flowed easily. I definitely recommend it!

Story travels through multiple time line, multiple theme, multiple places with diverse characters. the first few chapters r fragmented, & hard to follow.It‘s like kaleidoscope, beautiful & complicated. It has pandemic aspect, time travel ( literally to the moon and back 😀) metaphysics . Brilliant sci-fi considering the page numbers. But there were so many characters , for me a second reading may help. perfect ending beautiful 4.5⭐️ #bookspin

#weeklyforecast
Started tagged and Freshwater already, I grabbed Firekeepers Daughter and Home on audio - I just bought a bike and the weather is going to be amazing this week so hopefully lots of riding and audio!

He steps forward -

-- into a flash of darkness, like sudden blindness or an eclipse. He has an impression of being in some vast interior, something like a train station or a cathedral, and there are notes of violin music, there are other people around him, and then an incomprehensible sound --

📖 6-15-22 || Meta | Time-travel | Pandemic
This is strange but enjoyable! I love the extended section at the end that is included with editions purchased from indie bookstores 💗
PS-I think the book jacket discloses too much … I recommend not reading it until you‘ve already read the novel.

Esther reports that this book is very good. Her momma especially loves time travel stories and this hit all the buttons. Only complaint? Too short!! Could‘ve delved more into a few more character story lines but these are reader issues and not plot point issues. #tobcamp

If “reality” is actually a simulation, so what? ⏰🚀

This was a DNF for me. I‘m not sure what I expected but this is my second attempt at her books and feels like something is missing.

This is a very 'meta' novel. Its not-so-subtle subtext is Mandel working through what it means to be a writer writing during a pandemic, when that same writer is the author of a recent (pre-pandemic), incredibly (and unexpectedly) popular, and now very much beloved, novel about the aftermath of a fictional pandemic.

And you know what? Honestly, I'm here for it (continued below).

I loved this immersive clever and compassionate novel. The wit and generosity of Emily St. John Mandel are extraordinary. She lets the reader share in her self referential humour at the same time as spinning a fantastic time travelling yarn and making thoughtful reflections on covid 19. I loved station eleven and the glass hotel. Sea of tranquility is not only a great read in itself but it also enhances the other two books. How wonderful is that!

‘But all of this raises an interesting question‘ Olive said. ‘What if it always is the end of the world?‘ She paused for effect. Before her, the holographic audience was almost perfectly still. ‘Because we might reasonably think of the end of the world ‘ Olive said ‘as a continuous and never ending process‘.

😯

I‘m late to the Emily St. John Mandel fan club. I‘ve read Glass Hotel, Station 11 & then this her latest in the past 6 months. I really like her writing and the interlinked characters. Station is the standout, but I enjoyed all three.

5 stars.
Astonishingly good. All the threads are perfectly woven in this time travel pandemic book that doesn‘t FEEL like a time travel pandemic book.
Those things (time travel, pandemic) just allow for beautifully posited big questions with a variety of characters I was invested in across time.
I am a sucker for good endings and this delivered!

#two4tuesday @TheSpineView

1) I think the cover would have been better suited to The Glass Hotel as not much of the story took place in Caiette this time around.

2) It influenced my decision to buy the book on account of it being gorgeous, but I read it for book club 😊

Tag everyone!! 👀

This book felt like an unreality. Like an experimental fever dream branching off from her other books. It was, as always with Mandel, gorgeously rendered and full of keen observation, lovely description and heartstring tugging.

Don't think about the time travel mechanics too hard or it will unravel in an explosion of paradox.

This was a poignant and clever little book, but read The Glass Hotel and Station Eleven first.

Soft pick, 3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

"My personal belief is that we turn to postapocalyptic fiction not because we're drawn to disaster, per se, but because we're drawn to what we imagine might come next. We long secretly for a world with less technology in it."

Dion's job required a great many meetings, so he was in holospace six hours a day and was dazed with exhaustion in the evenings.

"I don't know why it's so tiring," he said. "So much more tiring than normal meetings, I mean."

"I think it's because it isn't real." [...]

"Maybe you're right. Turns out reality is more important than we thought," Dion said.

As I read the early pages of Mandel‘s latest, I thought “oh, not another group of related short stories masquerading as a novel” (and let‘s face it, no one‘s done that better than Tommy Orange) But,but then it turns into an incredibly successful novel. Call it speculative if you must: it is about time travel. Don‘t let that put you off this fascinating story. Read it for the characters, read it for the hope, read it for the message. Just read it!

This latest from the author of the incomparable Station Eleven is a sketchy try at time travel that left me with a case of vertigo. I have decided to read it again but this time with a flow chart to aid in recognizing some of the characters that initially seem superfluous but are later found to be key to unlocking the tumbling plot! Should I have to stay so organized when the author did not? Maybe this was her intent. Stay tuned ….

May reading stats from Storygraph. I finished 14 books, and even made a slight dent in my physical and Kindle TBR. My favorite and only 5 ⭐️ read in May is the tagged book, but overall I had a really good month of reading. I have a lot more going on life-wise in June (two weddings, including my sister‘s) so I don‘t think I‘ll be as productive this month. According to Goodreads I am 10 books ahead of my 2022 goal (100 books).

This was just okay for me. Lots of existential pondering tied up in a time travel novel produced during the pandemic. I had difficulty connecting to it.

If the tagline to Station Eleven is “Survival is insufficient,” then the tagline to this novel would be “No star burns forever.” A really beautiful novel - it is slim, but packs a huge punch. It didn‘t affect emotionally the same way as Station Eleven, but I was still profoundly moved by Mandel‘s treatment of the themes of fate, limitations/extent of human empathy, and the moral implications of technological advancement. Third 5 ⭐️ read of 2022

Another day, another book to start…

On finding the grave of a 4 year-old: “Those are the worlds that end in our day-to-day lives, these stopped children, these annihilating losses…” This made me think of Ukraine and Buffalo and Uvalde… and so many other places in the world 💔

@TheAromaofBooks Bookspin for June 😊

Quite a lot of these are books that were picked for #roll100 that I haven't quite got round to reading yet... lots of these are for PopSugar too #pop22

I love taking part in challenges, but I'm not all that good at completing them 😅

If for some reason I finish any of these before June card is drawn, substitute Poor (Caleb Femi) and Sex/Life (BB Easton)

Holy endpapers, Batman!!!! 😍

#endpapers

Well. I don‘t know what to make of this one. I was at least 150 pages in before things started to come together and then… I‘m still not sure but it was interesting ride! Huh. Worth a try I‘d say.

I finished Sea of Tranquility on my walk this morning. Such a beautiful book, I loved the idea of ‘the still point‘ in this crazy world. Themes of loneliness, loss , and hope across timelines and portals into other worlds. Could life be a simulation, and if it is does it really matter? . I found the characters stories moving , and I‘m left with an aching feeling for what I don‘t even know. Great book ♥️

🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

☝🏻= me, reading the twist at 95% of the book.

🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

☝🏻 = me, not believing that I didn't see it coming

Wow. Just wow. I'm stingy with my 5⭐ reviews. No question with this one. She's just phenomenal.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Loving this one so far #currentlyreading Heard HBO is making adaptations of this book and The Glass Hotel https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wired.com/story/sea-of-tranquility-essay/amp

70/150 #unpopularopinion As much as I adored Station Eleven and enjoyed The Glass Hotel, this novel just did nothing for me. I found the characters flat and uninteresting, and the various time lines never came together for me as a coherent story. 3 ⭐⭐⭐

Time travel. Science fiction. Multiple, connected characters. I burned through this one and loved it.

I didn‘t love her previous book the Glass Hotel (beautiful writing but it felt fragmented). This has me hooked with the character writing and things are already tying together in an interesting way

I never reread books quickly, but I just couldn‘t stop thinking about this quiet time-traveling novel. The ending left me reeling the first time around and the plot felt completely different, knowing how it all played out. I listened to it on audio this time, which allowed me to process it in a new way. The book tour chapter was my favorite. Mandel‘s observations swing from big picture issues to simple personal reflections. Just beautiful.

Another lovely surprise from Libby! I'd better get reading! 😁

What an interesting book! Even when I figured out where it was going, I wasn‘t sure where it was going.

Anyway, that‘s a wrap on the #MarvelousMay readathon. All things considered, I‘m pleased with the outcome.

I don't think this wowed me as much as Station Eleven, but that wasn't much of a shocker. I'd say this is a book best experienced in 1-2 sittings if possible. I had to put it down and pick it back up enough to make the quickly shifting timelines and perspectives a little confusing. There were some really poignant quotes about the pandemic experience - ESJM is so talented!

Finished this on the train home yesterday. I really liked it, but didn‘t love it as much as some seem to do. My favourite parts were those about Olive; they felt spookily real despite being so far in the future.

I couldn‘t make my mind up about which I preferred between this and The Glass Hotel, so I scored it out of 10 before I looked at the score I gave TGH a couple of weeks ago. They both scored 8, so there you go… 🤷‍♀️

On my way to London to meet up with some lovely Littens for a bookshop crawl.

It‘s so long since I‘ve been on a train to London; I‘m enjoying listening to the tagged book while gazing out of the window, instead of reading my Kindle for a change.

Liked this a lot more than Station Eleven. Different time lines and different characters, very well interwoven.

#Gladstonerds @rockpools @squirrelbrain @TrishB @Oryx @Caroline2 @scripturient @Leniverse @jhod @jenniferw88 @Susanita @CGainor3 @RaeLovesToRead @Cathythoughts

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

#MarvellousMay @Andrew65

#Gladstonerds @rockpools @squirrelbrain @TrishB @Oryx @Caroline2 @scripturient @Leniverse @jhod @jenniferw88 @Susanita @CGainor3 @RaeLovesToRead @Cathythoughts

🌸Libby first told me it would be MANY weeks before the ebook would be available, but I was able to download it yesterday.
🌸I‘ve only read about 15% but I like it so far.
🌸I highlight ebooks and will write in a book once in a while if I own it.
#thoughtfulthursday

In short, not on par with Station Eleven but still enjoyed. I liked the plot but I wished there had been more character development. It look me a bit to get into the story. 3.5 to 4⭐

Okay, this is the first pandemic novel I‘ve read with Covid-19 mentioned and I was okay with it. We can‘t watch movies set during the pandemic, so I thought it would be the same.

However, at this point, I‘ll read anything by Emily St John Mandel. I loved this book. I dropped everything as soon as my library hold came in.

I loved seeing the connection with The Glass Hotel and Station Eleven. Starts in 1912 and goes to 2100+ with time travel.