Welcome to Litsy!

Sea of Tranquility is my Book of the Year for 2024, the only book to earn a 5-star rating from me this year. Outstanding in every way and highly recommended.

Past, present and #setinfuture
#aboutabook

This book has so many interesting themes and ideas. For the most part it was pretty easy to follow considering all the different centuries, countries, and colonies. Thoroughly was engaged with all the characters, and curious to reread it as I know how it ends, and would love to analyze the subtle hints for first time readers.

The way the author entwined all the threads of the various characters was quite remarkable. Nearing the end of the book, I audibly gasped when one of the connections was revealed. It ended up becoming a kind of mystery, one that I really wanted to figure out and highly enjoyed. 5/5⭐️
Read for May‘s #AuthorAMonth pick (and posted late!😬)
(June 28, 2024)

I really enjoyed this. It starts out with three very disparate POVs and then comes together nicely about half way in.

Trying to get through my work read while the dog enjoys his yard time.

#sea
#summersouls

I really enjoy St John Mandel's writing style. She really knows how to drag you in and keep you engaged with the characters and story. This was a bit more introspective than Station Eleven but I found the exploration of the multiverse and time travel to be interesting.
I am waiting on a library hold but plan to read The Glass Hotel as well and spend more time with some of her characters.
#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

I didn‘t know that this book should be read after The Glass Hotel and Station Eleven because even though is not a sequel per se but it mentions characters and situations from previous novels. In GoodReads didn‘t appear as a sequel🤷🏽‍♀️I‘m not a big fan of multiverse topic, so there were parts where I lost interest but that is because I don‘t like this trope. I found it repetitive specially in those parts about Gaspery situation. 3⭐️

Sea of Tranquility is my favorite of the Station 11 ‘Trilogy‘. It evoked more emotions than the others,since it had a thriller feel to it. This was a complex, big story to write,& St John Mandel pulled it off!
*I think Station 11, The Glass Hotel, & Sea of Tranquility can be read in any order, or just by themselves.There are a few Easter Eggs linking them, which is a little fun, but not essential.
Thanks @Soubhiville for this #AuthorAMonth

Far into the future a time traveler tries to identify and correct an anomaly but faces a difficult challenge: if he knows some people he will interact with are going to die, and he wants to save them, will he be prohibited from further time travel because he‘s changed the timeline of the world? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and its unique storytelling techniques and plot. It was so much better than her first book, The Last Night in Montreal. ⬇️

This was a reread, so it went a little quicker. I liked this book best even though they are connected. I love how Mandel interconnects stories and time periods. 4.5 stars
#ReadAway2024 #AuthorAMonth
#20in4Readathon
@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES
@Soubhiville

Starting the 3rd in the Station Eleven ‘Trilogy‘. This one is supposed to have more connections to Station Eleven than The Glass Hotel. Thanks to #AuthorAMonth I was able to get Station Eleven off my bookshelf where it has been sitting since 2017!

Diving into this one on a very grey Sunday morning. I see that quite a few Littens have read this for #AuthorAMonth #AAM. I‘m holding off on reading their reviews until I finish reading as well. Hope you‘re all enjoying your weekend!📚
(May 26, 2024)

Up next! #authoramonth @Soubhiville

I will always Stan Mandel‘s Station Eleven “trilogy”. I love the alternate timelines in each book and how each picks up on different characters from the previous book and spins them in a new way. But my favorite part has to be the autofictional author on book tour in 2201 when a pandemic breaks out. She is an autobuy author for me, and I can‘t wait to see what she writes next!! #AuthorAMonth

This book has such a 2020-2021 vibe that I didn‘t pick up on the first time I read it. It all comes together beautifully at the end. I don‘t know how Emily St John Mandel did it.

You don‘t have to read Station Eleven, The Glass Hotel, and this all in a row, but thanks to #AuthorAMonth I did and it was a great experience. @Soubhiville

Reading tonight while Not My Cat watches me and my cat watches him.

Lunch and a book. RAIN RAIN GO AWAY!

Hygge hour on the front porch enjoying music, mint tea, baklava, and the tagged book. The frogs are singing and I‘m keeping an eye out for the beautiful fox that has taken to commuting through my yard at dawn and dusk. My favorite hour of the week.

#Naturalitsy

In this brief SF novel, a strange phenomenon links various characters separated by space and time: a young British man in 1912, an author visiting Earth from her home on the Moon for a book tour, a bored Moon colonist seeking a more exciting career. Their connection raises questions about the nature of reality itself; is the universe a simulation, and if so, what does it mean for the meaning of life?

#authoramonth
I‘ve been pondering this ending since last night, I enjoyed it, it‘s very clever & poetic. A unique interpretation on time travel & simulation hypothesis, more about the human element than the science.

Bought a waterproof case for my kindle so I could read in the hot tub 😂 📖🛀

Excellent. A thought provoking addedum (or a sci-fi epilogue) to Station Eleven that was perhaps a bit autobiographical? (Maybe that‘s just my assumption.) Even more relevant to our beyond-pandemic lives today without being navel-gazey.

I think I need to read everything by this author.🥺 #AuthorAMonth

May 2024 #AuthorAMonth #AAM #ReadAway2024 This short novel packs a lot of wallop! It is spectacular. I love science fiction because it makes me think. All good fiction should make its readers think, but science fiction is my favorite genre. I had somewhat figured out the twist at the end but not nearly all of it. Highly recommended!

I did not enjoy listening to the audio as much as I did reading the book. I thought it was more difficult to keep track of the characters and connect the storylines. Still, a pick for me. Love this author.

#AuthorAMonth
@Soubhiville

I was skeptical going in, as time travel isn‘t a theme I usually enjoy, but this surprised me. I really liked it.

There are quite a few characters and obviously it shifts through many timelines. I didn‘t see where it was going and loved the ending. 👍

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 Mandel. 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/?