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I spent three hours reading this nice mystery novel with a great premise: what if the world and our life are just a simulation?

A time travel agent from 2400 is sent to several periods in the past (1912, 2020, 2200 etc.) in an attempt to investigate an anomaly in the time continuum.

The writing style of the author was good. I‘m not usually a big fan of time travel. This novel took the reader through many time frames with the different characters. I did enjoy the book.

Some of us tonight after book group. Energized and ready for our next book. #FirstSaturdayReaders

January - Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
February - David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
March - Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

#topread2024 #fiction

This is the third excellent book I‘ve read by Emily St. John. If you‘ve ever enjoyed going down a rabbit hole regarding the nature of reality, this novel might be for you. I finished it in one sitting. ❤️

I love her books and this one was another winner! It went in a lot of different directions and you definitely have to pay attention but the ending pulled it all together in a wonderful way.

Loved this! Finished and immediately started rereading. Can‘t wait for book club to discuss this. Definitely recommend.

Up next for book club. #FirstSaturdayReaders

Simply marvellous! Loved piecing the fragments together and wow what a writer! Audio book was amazing!

I like a book where the beginning circles back. Speculative fiction, science fiction and time travel made for a good read. Station Eleven was a big book for her but I think I enjoyed this one more.

My favorite book of February was also read with my book club.

✅ science fiction
✅ dystopian
✅ connectivity

#12booksof2023
@Andrew65

The book has been on my tbr for awhile and the candy is my favorite. Thanks, @sblbooks for my #JolabokaflodSwap gift!

Weird and wonderful! Time travel, spies, and pandemics make for a unique reading experience. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Is it a pick? I dunno because I don‘t think I was clever enough to really understand what the heck was going on in this story about time travel, living on the moon, pandemics etc. Perhaps someone will be able to explain it to me tomorrow night at book club.

I absolutely loved Station Eleven so was excited to read this. It was such a different reading experience. Like waking up from a dream over and over. It all came together at the end in a way that made me want to reread the book for clues.
I didn't see the forest for the trees.
Prob not for everyone, but I liked it because people seem to talk about simulation all the time these days. The peek into the future and time travel aspect was fun as well.

I read this book last year and remember feeling annoyed that I didn‘t predict the ending. I‘m giving it a reread, this time on audio, to see how it feels now that I understand where it‘s going.

Read this in three days, it‘s addicting.

Really enjoyable, dreamy time travel story. This is my book club read this month and I‘m excited to discuss it! And here‘s my #bookspinbingo board for September too!

I really loved this. We follow several strands at different times in history as the story and links slowly pull together. I loved each and every character, and particularly loved the sections about author Olive Llewelyn as she copes with family life and a pandemic in the moon colonies circa 2400. In fact I‘d read a whole other book about the moon colonies. Brilliant.

After loving Station Eleven and being disappointed in The Glasshotel I was curious to find out what I would think of Mandels third book. I was worried that I would dislike it as well, but after the first few pages my worries were long gone.

I was absorbed by the story and wanted to keep on reading and reading. It wasn't as intense as with SE, but I felt at home in this book and was happy to return to it. I now need to reread The Glasshotel.

Dreamy, quiet, speculative, with a dash of existential dread.
Shades of Greenwood, looking at different moments in time that are paralleled in their anxieties about the present and future, whether humanity will survive. 1/?

This book was so different than I was expecting! It follows the stories of several different people in different time periods. With a mixture of space travel and time travel, they do end up connecting… but I won‘t give it away. In some ways, this book felt more like a series of short stories. I think I‘d have to read it twice to truly get it! 😅 But it was beautifully written.

"If we were living in a simulation, how would we know it was a simulation?"
Very smart, very neat time travel story.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

At the heart of this time travel book that spans 500 years and explores bigs questions like the nature of reality, the meaning of life, and the end of the world, is an intimate portrayal of loneliness, grief, and the connection we all seek.
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🖋: Leonardo Momento Zero Orange Dreams F • Fontoplumo Exclusive
🩸: Diamine Orange

I seem to have lost my motivation for online book talk, but I am still reading and doing more in person things — including now hosting a book club through Inkwood Books in Haddonfield, New Jersey! #bookclub #southjersey #philadelphia

If any of my online friends in the Philadelphia/ South Jersey friends want to join me in person, follow the link below and join me at Inkwood!

Winter #Booked2023 complete! Tagged and Round House were my favorite reads from this challenge, but I liked all of them except Frankenstein. Which is sad! I really wanted to enjoy Shelley‘s first and much copied scifi novel, not least because of the circumstances of its creation. I think it cannot be a coincidence that it was written by a new mother whose partner was dissolute and likely quite unhelpful… but alas.
Good luck all Booked challengers!

This was a close call! Before the start of our #LitsyToB 6 people voted for Sea as their favorite, 5 chose Rabbit. Now these 2 met and it is surprising that Rabbit is the winner, meeting Babel in the zombie round!

It feels like today‘s judge in the #ToB23 also had a hard time choosing between the two but her final arguments really resonate with me. Sea advances!

Please fill in the next form today: https://forms.gle/WJnU7sxgDgq6wH2a8 ‼️

We‘re in sync again with the #ToB23: both QF have Sea of Tranquility up against The Violin conspiracy. Our obvious winner is Sea, as is the official one.

This is a story of all the questions: What does it mean to truly live/be alive? Who do we serve? What is our own agency? What is real? Can there still be value in a manufactured reality? If you could time travel, would you stop yourself from interfering? What is your duty; do you have one? We see Gaspery wrestle with all these questions as he ages and contemplates the past versions of himself and who he ultimately is.

I read this for my book club. I was looking forward to it bc I loved the HBO show, Station 11, which was written by the same author.
This is a mystery taking place in the past & distant future. I connected to the characters dealing with pandemics, but loved the main character‘s mission to time travel. Alike Station 11 in that the author imagines a bleak future where people are able to survive by connecting with others.
We loved it!
🎻🎻🎻🎻🎻

Babel might have been the most surprising read for us this year. Most participants of the #LitsyToB23 enjoyed it more than expected. @Cinfhen @RebelReader and @kwmg40 even root for it in this years tournament.
It was up against Sea of Tranquility however, a book even more popular among us. Unfortunately Babel didn‘t stand a chance. Sea of Tranquility is our winner in this match! Unexpectedly, in my humble opinion, the #ToB23 judged likewise

I devoured this book within 24 hours! I loved it so much, it's faster paced than the Glass Hotel, but has characters from it featuring throughout. I think this is my favourite book of her so far, or at least closely tied with Station Eleven. I think Gaspery is a good character, and the book reminded me of a Sanderson's Snapshot, but with a happy ending.

This book surprised me at every turn. This may end up being her masterpiece. The writing is spare and yet evocative. The tale twists and turns. The characters are so engaging. I could read a novel dedicated to each. I preferred last night in Montreal to stations eleven for its aspects of John Irving. But she finds her own voice distinctly in this work. I sit astounded as I set it down.

“Is there an unease that‘s specific to the sense of an invisible bureaucracy in motion around you?”

Great book. Worth reading, especially if you are looking for something unique and beautifully written.

Illness frightens us because it‘s chaotic. There is an awful randomness about it.

This book was ok. It took me awhile to get into it, but I‘m glad I stuck with it, just not sure I‘d recommend it…

If there is pleasure in action, there‘s peace in stillness.

11 Feb-1 Mar 23
I enjoy Mandel‘s writing - sparse and light. This novel flits through a number of different time periods and characters, who are ultimately tied together through one man‘s time travelling. It is also a pandemic novel, clearly written through COVID.
I enjoyed it but not nearly as much as The Glass Hotel.

Finished my 10th (and probably final) #tob23 book. I went in with low expectations (not sure why since I loved Station Eleven) & was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. A time travel book about a pandemic. Clearly Mandel had some fun with this. I enjoyed how all the pieces came together even if I'm unclear on the meaning. But there's no question that Mandel can write. There's a confidence to her prose that's reassuring. Pic of Obie who 👇

I really enjoyed this. Mandel weaves different stories together from 1912 to a future where humans live on the moon. Her writing is so fluid & economical, in just a few lines she places you in the scene, you want to know what happens next. The characters feel real, I cared about them. A reflection on humans‘ desire for connection & a dystopic future but she has a light touch. Didn‘t love the sci fi parts (but that‘s just me).

Reading a few pages while it‘s still quiet in the office.
#celebritybc

This book has no cover photo in the Litsy database, but the thread has some amazing shots! Here are a few of the ones I enjoyed the most. As for the book itself, it‘s a pleasantly forgettable tale reminiscent of at least a half dozen other time travel / futuristic stories I‘m familiar with. Barely a pick for me. Photo credits below ⭐️⭐️⭐️-1/2

I had a wonderful start to the year with my reading. My favorite was the first- Sea of Tranquility. In between all this I‘ve been working in A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations for my freshman honors class.

#teachersoflitsy #january

Read this book for Book Club and I have to admit I‘m not a fan of futuristic dystopian books. Nothing in this book changed my mind. It was a light read but I found holes in the believability of some details.

I picked up this book after reading positive reviews. and was my first read of this author. It took me a little while to get into the book and while it was wrapped up well at the end, I personally didn't appreciate it as much as most readers. It focuses on one man and his experience with time travel.