Welcome to Litsy!

Not the strongest start but what a beautiful story of a mother-son relationship.

#12booksof2023

And we have a #ReadingBrackets2023 FICTION winner! My December pick by Thrity Umrigar was very good, and moved into the quarterfinals where it met a fierce competition with “Dear Edward.” In the end “Edward” moved into the finals because it grabbed me from the start while “Museum” took a while to get revved up. But in a head-to-head with “The Covenant of Water,” the winner was clear. Congratulations to Abraham Verghese!

I wasn't too sure about this for the first 75 pages or so but once this turned into a book about the relationship between Remi and his mother, it really took off. What a way to unravel a complicated relationship with a huge secret at the root of things!

According to the hen-scratch on the backsides of my #indexcard collection, these are my #Top230f23. I disqualified from consideration rereads, one 5* novella, and nonfiction. My favorite is tagged, and the first 10 (by row and in no particular) are my #Top10of23.

@Cinfhen my heart aches from this war and for your pain. @BarbaraBB you are the best for continuing this tradition in Cindy‘s honor.

Oh, man. When I started this book I thought it was going to be a perfectly pleasant, perfectly predictable story. I should know better than to doubt Thrity Umrigar. In her deft hands a tale of tension between a mother and son becomes an exploration into how secrets harm relationships, the power of forgiveness and how the heart can expand to envelop others around us. Definitely recommend. And also read all of Umrigar‘s other books. She‘s fabulous.

I don‘t know if it‘s the books alone or my timing when reading them but 2023 has been a really good year for me. Tagged the book I think might be among my overall favorites of the year!

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

When I say this book gave me all the feels, I mean it literally. Seriously, my insides were in knots over the anguish I felt for these fictional characters. It is such a beautiful, compassionate story and kudos to the author for considering so many aspects to a story. I cannot imagine that I‘ll ever forgot this one - that‘s saying a lot because I can forget a story I read the previous week! Thrity is auto-read for me after 2 books.

This touching story about a distant mother and son reuniting in Bombay pulled at my heartstrings. Umrigar shows she understands the deep love and heartbreak parenthood brings.

Remy has returned to India to meet a young girl whose unborn child he hopes to adopt. This seemingly falls apart quickly, but he finds his estranged mother is very sick in the hospital. As he nurses her, he learns truths about his childhood that change their relationship.

Loved the character development in this book and the plot itself was remarkable. I was just a little turned off by the slow pacing. #arc ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Full review at: https://erinkonrad.com/2023/09/16/the-museum-of-failures-book-review/

The latest book I‘m going to read the first 100 pages of.