Welcome to Litsy!

In the midst of my own grief, this book brought me real comfort and I found myself picking it up every chance I got. Its message to keep moving through hardship, disappointment, and self-doubt stayed with me. Without question, my favorite book of the year.

I put off reading this for years because I was scared it would be too depressing, but it was a fantastic book. To an original and ambitious premise, the author added beautiful writing, well developed characters and great pacing. Yes, it was sad to think about knowing the exact length of one‘s life, but it was so much more than that. I highly recommend it, especially for a book club.

Themes: Thought-provoking reads, Fiction mirroring Reality, Excellent character building!!

Wow. I think this is the most original piece of Fiction I have read in a really long time. I loved it, I have zero critiques and I cannot wait for my IRL bookclub discussion on Sunday!

#FridayHappyReadingHour The sun has set, the curtains have been drawn, but Happy Friday!! We made it 😅 I‘m sitting down to some cab, some of the Halloween candy that I bought strictly for myself to enjoy (😋) and my IRL bookclub book. Huzzah!

Tagging some friends here, but feel free to tag yourself too if you want to play 😍
@kspenmoll
@tamara
@mcctrish
@thebookhippie
@BarbaraBB
@CathyThoughts
@dabbe
@Ruthiella

“Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” —Matthew 7

An intriguing premise in this novel, that starts with all citizens 22 and up receiving boxes with a string inside - its length determines the length of one‘s life. Who doesn‘t wonder how long his/her life will be…moral and philosophical questions ensue…⬇️

Excellent in the beginning and the end, okay in the middle. I‘ll be thinking about making the choice to live life to the fullest for a long time. The characters were developed well and I enjoyed their connection. And the end was so emotional!

But the middle part was politically heavy-handed, without any real levity. Politics and social issues are not a bad thing in books, but it just felt like so much, densely packed into the middle.

It has rained nonstop all weekend, and I‘ve done almost nothing but read and snuggle with my pups. It‘s so nice to have days like this every now and then. #dogsoflitsy

My current read, and I‘m almost halfway thru. My mind keeps wandering as I‘m putting myself in the position of these characters. Would I want to know when my life will end or not?

Little late to the party, but sure enjoyed THE MEASURE by Nikki Erlick.

Book #13 of 2025: “The Measure” by Nikki Erlick

It presents an interesting question: if you could know when you‘d die, would you? And how would you live life differently? I enjoyed the premise and that Erlick didn‘t overlook the inevitable social problems that would come with a new way to discriminate. The writing wasn‘t my favorite. A bit too staccato with a few too many cliches.

I just realized it has been several months since I posted on here. Still reading and keeping up on seeing what others are posting but I've been not mentally able to come up with posts to share. So for now, enjoy my cat Olive who is unsure of her new treat lol. Reading tagged book this weekend

A different book with focus on “strings” giving the recipient a chance to see how long they would live. I found the way individuals reacted interesting. I like the characters and think this book will remain with me for a long while. 3.75/5⭐️

I‘ll read all weekend to help bring the average up…🤣😂

But sometimes I think we forget that it also takes strength to be able to let go 🧵

#ReadingBracket2025 Fiction update - first half of the year!
June's pick was The City We Became, which I really loved, but ultimately The Measure just hit me the right way and it has stuck with me. So it is moving on to the next round

#sundayfunday @BookmarkTavern

I think everyone should read the tagged book… it will make you think and is a book that has stuck with me since I read it!!!

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.

#Coverlove #yellow @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

My favorite book club discussion came from this book!

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.