Welcome to Litsy!

This was such a thought-provoking read. What if one day everyone received a string that measured the length of your life? Would you look at it?
It was so interesting seeing how the ramifications of such an event could affect society, and a bit scary how accurately it portrayed the prejudice that would probably also arise.
Wonderful characters and a great premise, I couldn't put this one down!

May fiction #ReadingBracket2025
A great bookclub discussion book! And it made me cry 😭

I‘m really excited to discuss this month‘s #bookclub choice! The premise here just begs for discussion! Overnight, everyone on earth (22 or older) receives a mysterious box and inside of it, a length of string which denotes the length of the recipient‘s life. On a 22 birthday moving forward, a box is magically delivered. Following an interconnected cast of NYC characters, this deals with the aftermath both close to home & for the larger country.

What would happen if all of the adults in the world suddenly had the ability to know how long they will live. Who would embrace this knowledge? Who would avoid it? What would the effects be on one‘s personal life, but also on the community and societal levels? I think the author did a commendable job of telling a satisfying, multi-faceted story around this intriguing premise. One which shows both the beauty and ugliness of humanity. 4/5

Sietje got up and left when I tried to get the photo, so you just get her toys today.

I came to really care about these characters and some tears were shed. I think we all know what this is about, it‘s pretty hyped, and I felt like it brought up interesting questions. The main one of course- would you open your box? If I knew what it contained I would not.

I enjoyed this Amy, thank you!

I loved this story! The way it handled not only how the individual characters dealt with who had a short string vs. a long string but how society as a whole and politics were shaped by the revelations felt very real and very timely given the world we live in 😳. There are a lot of characters to keep up with but I didn‘t even care - I just couldn‘t stop listening! So good! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Starting this one tonight, ahead of potential 8 inches of snow tomorrow ❄️ will be a pretty day to read by the window 📖📚🌇

This book has a ton of characters. Too many really. The concept was interesting. Short string vs long string to represent life, what would you do differently? What the characters do accurately represents how people would really act. It was a decent book.

3.25/5
+: the idea of the threads, and how knowing your life expectancy could change our society, how would people react, and the play of social media, all these elements were quite realistic and interesting, well executed. Gives a lot of food for thought.

-: some lacking in character's building, quite close to stereotopycal characters at times. Also some plot twists I saw coming a mile away.

Overall good read, especially for a debut novel.

I definitely recommend this. #sundayfunday

One day every adult on Earth gets a box with a string inside that indicates their life span. Are these boxes #blessings or curses? It‘s hard to say! I think my book club will have lots to discuss.
#25alive!

Thank you to @Littlewolf1 for this fabulous #jolabokaflodswap and to @MaleficentBookDragon for organizing!! I can‘t wait to read this book, but those chocolates are definitely going first 🤣

“That the beginning and the end may have been chosen for us, the string already spun, but the middle had always been left undetermined, to be woven and shaped by us.”
#December2024

I really loved the premise of this book. It captured my interest right away and held it all the way through. I think maybe there were too many characters and it was a lot to keep track of all the different stories. But, I loved the concept and the way it was written. I think this could definitely be a really cool movie if they adapted it. Definitely a thought provoking and interesting book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My September #doublespin and Book Club pick for October. Felt good to read a book that I wanted to keep coming back to. I think our group‘s discussion will be a good one.

The ending has me sobbing

This was an interesting concept for a book. It made me think about life and living and it has some great discussion topics for a book club. My big question is what happens with life insurance after the strings are released? If you have a short one, can you sign up for insurance knowing you don‘t have long to live and how does insurance companies respond. That‘s my big question.

My recent #bookhaul is filled with lots of books I'm super excited to read!!📚📚📚 My local Barnes & Noble booksellers are always ready to give me recommendations on things to read

I listened to this on audio and enjoyed it. The concept is interesting…getting a mystery string that tells a person the length of their lives if they choose to look at it. I liked the characters and how the author made their story strings intertwine. My favorite message is that the most important thing is that we get a string at all, not the length of it.

Lots of good ones this month! #MonthlyWrapUp

4 audio 🎧
4 physical 📚
1 dnf (not pictured)

#LitsyLoveReads

7/31/2024

#Coverlove #yellow @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My favorite book club discussion came from this book!

“The measure of your life lies within.”

Starting this one on Audi today… spur of the moment! It‘s reminding me of The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin… Have you read it??

🧶 😱

I read this for book club, and found the concept intriguing: every adult receives a mysterious box containing a length of string that corresponds to the length of their life. While the book explores the ramifications in interesting ways, it relies on coincidence a bit too much, and some of the characters lacked depth. I didn't feel strongly about any of them. Still, it was thought-provoking and should make for an interesting book club discussion.

Life is completely normal for the world until a day when all adults receive a box. In the box is a string, all are different lengths for each person depending on how long you‘re going to live. The book goes through a handful of different characters stories whether they have a long string or a short string or even some that don‘t open the box at all. Was a great read but still left me pondering some at the end!

Out of nowhere every person on the planet over the age of 22 receives a small box containing a string, the length of which will tell you just how long your life will be. Some choose to look, others do not. But the world quickly arrives at all kinds of opinions, public policies, and judgements about short-stringers and long-stringers. It‘s a fascinating and timely exploration of what constitutes the quality and measure of a life.

4⭐️/5⭐️

This is definitely going to live in my brain for a long time.

#currentlyreading

Loved this… such a surprise. There was a thread of hopefulness, humanity and even love, that ran through the novel that I really liked. It was perfect for my book club… lots of great discussion. Would you open the box? If you did, would it change how you lived? How would we react as a whole, individually, as nations… a speculative pick that really made us all think. #52bookclub24 #pop24 #morethan3POV #morethan4POV

My book club chose this. While I think it will probably provoke a good discussion, I felt like the author pushed an agenda at the expense of any substantial character development. I think I‘ll stick with Atwood and Orwell for speculative fiction.

So many characters that it took me half the book to even care about them. Had to go back and listen again so that I could enjoy the story the 2nd time when I already knew the characters and had the lay of the land.

If you could find out exactly how long you‘d live, would you want to know? If you choose to know, how or would you change your life? This book is terrific, insightful, thought-provoking. I couldn‘t put it down and cried through the ending. Incredible.

I listened to this one, it was just so-so for me. The concept and message were interesting, the writing could‘ve been better. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Just over half-way and hoping this story takes a super exciting and unpredictable turn, soon.

A little bit of late night reading 📖 I‘ll be reading this one for #20in4 readathon and try to score some points for #scarathlon

#blackcatcrew 🐈‍⬛

A score from my library‘s ongoing book sale 📚I love going to their weekly book sales to see what goodies they have!

I actually didn't enjoy this. The premise is interesting but my math and science brain thought it was ridiculous. It gave me a headache.

IRL book club pick for September. Best part was I didn't have to pick it.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was fascinating, beautiful, & heartbreaking. It delved into politics, moral dilemmas & the question: is it better to have loved & lost or never to have loved at all. I savored it, thinking about each new quandary the characters faced. Would you open your box? Would you date or hire a short stringer? Should legislation be in place to regulate how they are treated? The parallels for other social persecution are obvious. So much to discuss!

This was good if a bit predictable. The characters were very likable though which kept me reading. 4⭐️

#WondrousWednesday

🍏Walks outside with the cooler weather and autumn leaves
🍎Tired - teacher tired IYKYK
🍏tagged, liking it so far, entertaining though a bit on the nose so far, we‘ll see how it ends.

Holiday read.
I was looking forward to this, but I felt it was executed quite poorly. The concept was brilliant, but I found that there were too many characters, and I didn't care for many of them. Not my cup of tea.

Loved this novel. What would you do if you received a box with a string that told you how long your life was going to be? Would you open it? What would you do if you received a short string; or if your partner did? This book goes into all of that and more.

I do love a found family story.

this was an interesting concept, really well-written and carefully thought out. there isn‘t really a plot per se, just character vignettes about how the strings affect their lives. the way the characters‘ stories intertwined kind of reminded me of Love Actually. it took me a while to get through the audiobook and I sorta had a hard time remembering what was going on with each character. I might have done better just reading it. 4 ⭐️s! #audiobook

Grab this one for $2.99! #boleybooks #themeasure #nikkierlick #bookbeast #bookjoy #mustread

I really enjoyed this one! Everyone in the world receives a string that measures how long they will live, some long some short. This causes division in society, & the books follows a variety of characters with different string lengths. I liked how all the characters intersected. The story was reminiscent of Covid and US elections in 2020, just everything turning upside down and how people react. My only complaint is it dragged a bit in the middle.

This was an interesting,thought provoking book and I really enjoyed the writing and the creativity. I was invested in all the characters and their stories ❤️I also liked how the author put a spin on how politics played a big role in this story and I felt like there were messages of how politics can create division under times of uncertainty
Book 1 of #JoysofJune readathon

I ended up liking the concept more than the execution. Seemed to have a lot of build up but lacked follow through. Wasn‘t bad, but somehow not a lot of emotional impact or connection. As people struggled to make decisions or figure out their next steps, the impact on them and their families was seen more than felt.

A v unique story and that‘s what kept me reading The writing is good but the characters are a bit stereotypical I would have liked to have had stories from around the world in different countries to get a better perspective. About a quarter before the end it became too sugary and over sentimental for me and I had to race through to the end. It lost an edge I felt and rushed to tie up all the stories. Would still make a great book club discussion.