Welcome to Litsy!

This was promising but disappointing. I enjoyed the mystery and how it played out, but there were a lot of things about the writing that annoyed me. Most frustrating was that the main character is in her 60s but reads as a LOT younger. Almost across the board, the characters are not developed consistently or convincingly (it‘s never a good sign when you have to count back in a section of dialogue to figure out who said what, (Cont‘d ⤵️)

I had to answer today‘s #Two4Tuesday questions because of my amusing history with striped shirts!
1. It has to be stripes. A few years ago, I realized I‘d somehow accumulated an unreasonable number of stripey shirts. I was not intentionally amassing large quantities of striped shirts, but apparently I do possess a deep love for the stripe.
2. It‘s somewhat surprising that of the TEN books I have in progress, only one (tagged) is a library book!

Meh

#readingBracket2023

I am glad things worked out for the protagonist in the end, but that was an awful lot of mean-spirited judginess and thinly veiled misogyny to wade through. It definitely reads more mystery than thriller because while the majority of characters appear unlikeable at first, their rough edges eventually get sanded off, or at least explained/downplayed, with a couple notable exceptions that make me very glad I'm not in academia. 1/2

A mystery set in academia, this was a slow read with a dormouse of a main character who must uncover the whereabouts of a valuable missing bible, without the full support of the university (or her co-workers). Trigger warning for depression and suicide. Full review at http://booknaround.blogspot.com/2022/10/review-department-of-rare-books-and.html...

I wanted to like this book about books more than I did. Liesl Weiss has to step up in the library after her boss has a stroke, but then an important manuscript goes missing. I feel like I was expecting a bigger mystery than there actually was, with more twists and turns. I also felt that so many of the female characters didn‘t get the ending they deserved.

Been there, done that, got the tee shirt. Mean spirited colleagues, backstabbing administrators, rich donors with too much power. Throw in sexual innuendos not essential to the plot, and I bailed after the requisite 50 pages. I loved being a Librarian, but this story brought back all the bad days. Some will love this, but not me!

It‘s a drizzly day and there‘s nothing to do but read. (I kind of love this.)

There is no bigger fan of the library than I, and so I really wanted to love this book. But it was just missing … something. I did want to read on to discover who the thief was, but this book was missing the magic of so many books that take place in libraries.

Started this tonight. I'm about 130 pages in so far... not loving it... it's kind of slow and I'm still not sure what's happening. I'm guessing it's gonna be a 2-3 star for me... but guess we'll see

Hubby just pulled this book off a shelf and said, “You should read this one. You‘ll like it.” He didn‘t even read the back. “What holds more secrets in the library- the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?” The writing wasn‘t the best, but the story was good. The editor was lazy. Overall it made for a good Sunday read. So I guess hubby was right. Don‘t tell him I said that.

Todays forecast? 100% chance of reading

The director of a rare book collection at a Canadian University has a major stroke shortly after an extremely rare book was acquired. And now no one can find it. This excellent premise and setting are squandered by bad writing (constant repetition, lots of sentence fragments), gross juvenile humor, and a major undervaluing of the female characters. Very disappointing.

This book about a retirement-age librarian, who unexpectedly has to take charge after her boss has a stroke is a low pick for me. The library processes, the academic machinations, and the mystery of some missing books were interesting, but I could never warm up to Liesl. It seemed she tried to solve most of her problems by drinking, and that included on the job. I found the ending really satisfying, however.

While I walked today, I didn‘t listen to anything, I did read some more of the tagged book and am liking it. The lower left picture is tonight‘s sunset on our walk. The rest are of our trip to the aquarium in New Orleans yesterday. It‘s been awhile since I‘d been there, and I don‘t remember that little Holocaust Memorial outside by the river.

If you are fascinated by rare books/rare book libraries or are a plot-focused reader who doesn't mind being emotionally distant from the characters, this is an excellently done book. I didn't quite find the characters compelling and found the tone detached and glib, edging on satire. I feel I should have loved Liesl, the surprisingly complex older woman librarian comfortable being the person in the background, but I just didn't warm up to her.

I‘ll start with the mug. The mug filled with garden tools! Mugs are special to me. I love coffee. I love my mornings (especially now that I‘m not that busy with freelancing)—leisurely and filled with reading and word games. And I love mugs. Mugs I‘ve been given or mugs I‘ve purchased, but most importantly, memories of where and how I ended up with the coffee receptacle. #springequinoxswap @Chrissyreadit @sprainedbrain

Gripping mystery with good questions about preserving original manuscripts versus damaging them through labratory dating methods. Pic of Thomas Hughes Free Public #Library opened in 1883 in Rugby, Tennessee, now part of the historic village. The original collection of books of over 7000 volumes, dating from 1687 to 1899, remains intact. #SavvySettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Not for me… It was slow with stiff writing and I found Liesl dull & insipid. It's a decent debut but I don't think I'll be watching for anything else from Jurczyk.

Also, I‘m annoyed that she couldn‘t come up with a better name for the department given the name of the equivalent department in the library she works is the Department of Special Collections and Rare Books.

I‘m looking forward to some good #weekendreading time, finishing up my library book, catching up on the #pemberlittens North and South chapter-a-day and hopefully, getting a start on Matrix.

Meh. Didn't love it. Didn't hate it. Very disconnected main character compared to the cover art since Liesl's been married 40 years and near retirement when she has to take over the department due to the directors health emergency. Mystery but also not... Just part of the storyline???

Been in a bit of a slump. About 1/2 done with this one, and it's mildly interesting. #mystery #booksaboutbooks

Just finished this gem 💎😍I loved how it kept me guessing all the way to the end 🤯 It also made me want to go walk around my college campus again and visit the library I spent many hours studying and typing endless papers at 😂 A treat for all library fans and fans of books about books!!

I have the most awesome and brilliant #Litsypenpal in the universe! Thanks @Beck9lol for making my birthday a lot more joyful! That little coffee cup that says, ‘Friends Like Books Should be Few and Well Chosen‘ pretty much says it all! I can‘t wait to crack these beauties open along with those cocoa truffles. Yum! The Leefee plant air diffuser is perfect! So very thankful and as Miss Bates would say from Emma; ‘Wanting for nothing.‘ 💜📚💜🤗📚🥰

This book was fine. The library aspects were fascinating & I‘d be interested in nonfiction about rare books. I don‘t mind not liking any of the characters but I really disliked Leisl. Her decisions & behavior drove me crazy.

This afternoon‘s read.

#mugtour #gettysburg #coffeeandbooks #chocolate

My parents stuffed 8 of us in a station wagon for a trip to Gettysburg National Military Park,Hershey, & Amish country. Beautiful weather, picnics, fascinating tours, chocolate bars! 🍫🍫 wonderful memories. Decades later,my husband & son visited Gettysburg,stayed in town a few days & soaked in history. Hence the mug. ☕️📚

1. Tagged book is my most recently added. No clue when I‘ll get to it. 😆
2. Nope.
3. The Eighth Life, A Truth Universally Acknowledged, and There is Confusion
#WondrousWednesday

I love a good book about book lovers ❤📚. It's an enjoyable mystery about the world of rare books and those who work to research and preserve them.

A steadily paced look through the stacks of a university library housing thousands of priceless tomes. Liesel is thrust into a position of authority when her boss falls ill. Unfortunately Liesel must also contend with fundraisers, donors, missing manuscripts and a possible thief in their midst. #fiction #arc #debut

My eagerness to read this book was slowly but surely squashed as I slogged through the first couple of chapters. I am a reader who prefers to *like* at least one of the characters. Unfortunately, every single character got on my last nerve. I found the writing disjointed, with groups of sentences describing one thing jammed in the middle of paragraphs about something else. This makes me suspect the ARC has some formatting issues.

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, but it was not what I expected (based on the cover). When the head of department (library) at a large university in Toronto is rendered comatose by a stroke, his assistant Leisl (on sabbatical) is called in as interim. Things go bad from day one, and she must wade through her coworkers secrets/motives to determine if one of them is a thief when a priceless artifact goes missing. This is not your 🔻