Welcome to Litsy!

S.A. Cosby, You owe me nothing and have made my entire year! Thank you for being so humble, kind and transparent. Your journey has lead to many blessings and I cannot wait to see it on the big screen.

Such #tragedy needs a trigger warning about the incredibly horrific details of physical abuse and murder of young black people. But, it is so deserving of accolades for Cosby's abilities to create an engaging, suspenseful story and remind readers of racial injustice and hate that continues to plague us. An important lesson for anyone who still thinks confederate monuments represent "history, not hate." #SpringSkies @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Such #tragedy needs a trigger warning about the incredibly horrific details of physical abuse and murder of young black people. But, it is so deserving of accolades for Cosby's abilities to create an engaging, suspenseful story and remind readers of racial injustice and hate that continues to plague us. An important lesson for anyone who still thinks confederate monuments represent "history, not hate." #SpringSkies @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

We have our #LitsyToB24 winner! All the Sinners Bleed takes ways the turkey 🥇 🏆
Thank you all for participating in our very own tournament of books, thanks to you we‘ve read a bunch of very good books!!

Meg, Helen and I hope to see you all again at #CampLitsy2024 in a few months time!

What a great read! Tautly plotted and very well written.

A young black man kills a white school teacher in the aptly named Charon County, VA. As he leaves the scene he is killed by the police. As Sheriff Titus Crowne investigates, terrible evil acts are revealed and they must hunt a serial killer. All in the midst of racial provocation by Confederate apologists.

I loved Titus‘s final redemptive act at this end of this highly recommended novel.

Today we had our 1st Zombie match: Hello Beautiful vs All the Sinners Bleed. HB easily won each match so far and seemed a serious candidate for the 🦃 .
Never underestimate a Zombie though; with 53% of the votes we‘ll see Sinners, that left the tournament in the opening round against Rachel, back in the finals! @Suet624 @jas16 @Bookpearl @decalino @well-readNeck and @bookwormjillk will be happy, Sinners is their favorite book of #LitsyToB24!

This was the first book I‘ve read of S.A. Cosby. I found the novel kept me turning the pages. It had some good characters and some not so great. Racism is very much alive in many places. I often hope I will awaken and find it was just a nightmare. It will always break my heart. I gave this book a 4.25/5.

What an excellent read this was. While the story is thrilling and keeps the reader turning the pages, the heart of the story is its depiction of small town rural America, the struggles of Sheriff Titus Crowne (conflicted, full of quiet anger), and the interactions (volatile, tense) among the white and Black residents. Crosby tackles issues of racism, white supremacy, religious fundamentalism, and violence skilfully.

A significant win for All The Sinners Bleed in today‘s #LitsyToB24 bracket - by 17 votes to 4, meaning Sinners had the most votes of any book in our first round. Are you surprised by this outcome?

We put these books together due to the element of mystery in them, and also the question of whether crimes had been committed. Did you feel that either book was a typical mystery or crime novel?

We‘d love to hear your thoughts on both books!

This book by #AuthorAMonth author for June is currently 99p in the U.K. for Kindle and Apple Books.

Seen great reviews for this book and looking forward to getting to it in June.

@Soubhiville

Hubby and I started listening to this one while we traveled Saturday and I finished it with Sherlock (🐶) during the #hyggehourreadathon last night.
It‘s dark and intense with a strong main character. The audio was very well done.

Sherlock and I listened to this audiobook while relaxing under blankets in our recliner. A perfect #hyggehourreadathon

A crime thriller set in Virginia, where a small town Black sheriff must confront a serial killer and his county‘s own twisted history. I couldn‘t put it down.

This is probably the last #LitsyToB24 entry I‘ll manage before the voting starts. I liked it, though it was more violent and brutal than I expected. I didn‘t realize it was about a series killer. It felt overstuffed with issues that Sheriff Crown is working through and the plotting was occasionally awkward IMO. Titus Crown is a great character, though. That‘s where I think Cosby excels. This could easily been the start of a series.

Cosby does it again. This book is thrilling, upsetting, evocative, and impossible to put down while still hard to read after dark. The protagonist is a flawed lawman who is trying to serve his community in a dark and violent time. Check the content warnings, this book may have the scariest serial killer ever. And Cosby‘s writing is so tight, so perfect, that he puts you right in the moment. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So good! #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Such a lovely day to be reading outside. Helps to be in the sunshine when reading a book this dark, too.

A small Virginia town with a black sheriff is rocked by a series of murders. I enjoyed but wasn't blown away by Razorblade Tears. I devoured this book, though. It was like a Sidney Poitier movie made today where he didn't have to tiptoe around racist white folk. Some of the scenarios could have felt cliche, but the sheriff's jaded attitude helped them feel different. Dark and violent, but easy to get sucked into. Highly recommended.

PSA—Kindle version of All the Sinners Bleed is $2.99 today… #LitsyToB24

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9KWRYKP?_bbid=197433254&tag=bookbubemail1-20

This was a low pick for me. I feel like not much happened in the first half of the book, but it did make me want to keep reading it, interestingly enough! Too many side characters to keep track of. Lots of death and drama in the end though. (8)
⭐️: 3.5/5

I loved Razorblade Tears so I knew that I was in for a treat with this book. S.A. Cosby is the king of Southern Noir. His characters will get under your skin, you will feel all their emotions and you won‘t want to put this book down!

Book 35 of the year.

#bookly #goodreadschallenge #sacosbyauthor #allthesinnersbleed #southernnoir #booknerd #booklover #librarian

I looked so forward to celebrating Feb with books by Black authors that I started this grid in Jan. How can I hand out so many 5⭐️, you ask? Because they are that good!

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

#TLT
Tagged by @dabbe
1. Um. The Bobbsey Twins. Those kids were master detectives and I LOVED them when I was a kid.
2. The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew
3. Titus Crown from the tagged book.

Feel free to play!

S.A. Cosby has yet to disappoint. This has been my best read of the year so far. A school shooting leads to the discovery of a serial killer in small town Virginia.

I saw someone describe Cosby‘s writing as gritty, and I think that‘s an apt description. This was a great police procedural that is so much more faceted than just a typical mystery novel. I probably wouldn‘t had picked it up if not for #LitsyTOB24 and so I am grateful for that.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I could not put this down! I‘ll read anything by S.A. Cosby
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Wow! Just WOW! I searched for “thrillers by authors of color” for our library‘s winter reading challenge category “author of a different race/religion from you.” This book came up. If you like southern noir crime fiction, definitely give this a go! It‘s disturbing but if you like authors like Greg Iles who are honest about social issues in their crime writing, SA Cosby is another voice in that vein. I sure hope we see more of Titus Crown! 5⭐️s

#Two4Tuesday

1) Tagged
2) The Rachel Incident

Tagging everyone.

This is the second book I‘ve read by this author, and he‘s now an auto-read author for me. The majority of books I read are written by female authors, and reading SA Crosby is a great reset for me. He‘s raw, real, and reminds me how privileged my American experience has been. I hope there is more story for us about Titus Crown.

I finally got to finish this one and it‘s Miss Priss approved! Definitely 5 stars ⭐️ there are some trigger warnings and it is really graphic at times, but I enjoyed it! Seems weird to say that! This will be an auto buy author for me!

If you have read it who do you visualize as Titus?? I will put my thoughts in the comments!!

#LitsyLoveReads
#LitsyLove
#Sharreadathon

💙📚💙

#ReadAway2024 #LitsyToB24 Excellent story and a great ending.

I like the setting of this novel and how well Cosby puts the reader inside the MC's thoughts. It's a little difficult to keep track of the many characters at times, and Cosby uses a LOT of similes (and the content is a little intense to read so soon after I read The Reformatory), but otherwise I found this mystery/thriller highly enjoyable. I can see myself checking out other books by this author.

“Waiting for the world to shed tears for your pain was like waiting for a statue to speak.”

Football 🏈 and fiction 📚 Titus is so bada**

#Sharreadathon
#LitsyLove

S.A. Cosby is a great writer. I read Razorblade Tears but thought it was a little too violent. It took me longer than usual to finish this one because it was too disturbing to read close to bedtime. I really liked the lead character and his family dynamics. I felt like this had maybe one or two too many things going on but I enjoyed the story overall. This was another pick from my #AuldLangSpine list from @Amiable

Today I worked my last full-time day for the foreseeable. I officially go back to part-time tomorrow. I'm glad to have more time to explore other interests, prepare food, read, and sleep. Camille is glad that I'll have more time now for her to lie on my chest and pat me on the face while I'm trying to read.

I love S.A. Cosby‘s storytelling and this one is no exception! His books are great to listen to, too 🎧

Trying to get in a few pages in between calls at work.

#Sharreadathon #LitsyLove

🕯️❤️

Lots of hookyitis these days!! 😂😂😂

“Evil is rarely complicated. It‘s just f****** bold.”

This book is so good! Titus is badass 😎

This book was so gripping that I‘ve been sneaking any bit of time I could to read it today. The way Cosby writes about small towns in the South reminds me of how Stephen King writes about Derry. Great story. It all came together impeccably.

The sheriff's uniform in this novel is described as including a "brown tricorne hat." I suspect the author means something different not only because it's also described as a "Smokey the Bear Hat," which is a wide-brimmed hat, but also because I can't imagine a modern law enforcement body having its officials wear a Jack Sparrow hat.

The ice is still here! I will have to drive to work in the morning so say a little prayer for me 🙏🏻❤️ so ready for this to melt! 🧊 ❄️

January 18th 2024

“We all choose to be skeptics when the truth is inconvenient.”

This author is phenomenal! I will definitely read his backlist! Yes, his books can be very graphic, but damn they are good!

I am loving Titus so far! Can‘t wait to see what happens next!

I had such a hard time putting this book down. It was so good and so intense -- a serial-killer mystery with loads of depth in the characters and its exploration of guilt, grief and racism.

This book filled prompt 30 for #52bookclub24: “picked without reading the blurb“. I saw so much praise for this book and it was chosen for #LitsyToB24, so I figured I couldn't go wrong in reading it … and that was absolutely true!

I‘ve only heard good things about this one!!

#NewYearNewBooks
#MoonCover 🌕📚

#12Booksof2023 ⭐️ Favorite Audiobooks ⭐️

First book of 2024 finished yesterday while taking down all the decorations. It should be as easy to take down as to put up but it is not. Another intense story from Cosby. His characters jump off the page and his plots are tightly woven. Razorblade Tears is still my favorite. #52Bookclub24 #GrievingCharacter

#12Booksof2023

This book has appeared on a lot of year end “best of” lists and with good reason. If you like mysteries/thrillers/crime fiction, Cosby is a must read. He writes great stories about complex, flawed, engaging characters. He‘s an auto buy for me and the tagged book was my favorite in September and one of my top books of the year.

@Andrew65

#lastfirst @BookNAround

I‘m about half way through on audio. Hope to finish this afternoon as I take down all the holiday decorations. It‘s so good but hard and intense.

Happy New Year friends. 🍾🥂🎉 I wish you all peace, good health and a better world for us all.

On the last Sunday of every month, I get to read as I listen to my daughter play traditional Celtic fiddle with a group of musicians at a coffee house near our hometown. We‘ve done this since she was in 6th or 7th grade and next fall she‘s going off to college. It‘s one of my favorite things and I‘m going to miss it so much.

#12Booksof2023 @Andrew65