Welcome to Litsy!

I read this book for book club--it's actually the community reads pick for Lexington for June. A gripping account of one family's nightmare when the father and youngest son leave for their daily walk and only the son, a non-speaking 14-year-old diagnosed with autism and Angelman's syndrome, returns home, clearly in distress. Narrated by his older sister Mia, this book explores family, happiness, disability and the mystery of the minds of others.

I really liked this one! It wasn't a straight-up mystery. It had so many other elements. About how nonverbal people are treated not only by society but by their own family. Racism against Asians. What happiness means, and if we could change that, should we? And also a mystery woven into all of that. I liked how deep this book went into different subjects but not enough to lose me. I thought it was all beautifully woven in and written. 5/5

A father‘s gone missing and the only witness is the nonverbal son. I appreciated the exploration of how happiness works, and how we align verbal skills with IQ, often incorrectly.

Was constructing one of those red-yarned detective boards in my brain the entire time I was reading this one…trying to keep up with the mystery‘s twists and revelations, the narrator‘s supplemental memories and observations, the layers of added complications from a pandemic backdrop, a nonspeaking witness, etc.

On the whole I really enjoyed this family mystery (and much more besides). There were great elements and I was largely kept guessing in a good way. I really enjoyed the thoughtful exploration of language, race and happiness. Only complaints were it felt long with some points overly laboured, particularly the science-y bits. It was a great one to discuss in our book group. Will definitely read more from this author and just bought Miracle Creek.

Bailing at about 120 pages.... I may return when my mood is lighter but I'm not reading much this week because I don't want to read this right now.

#readyourkindle @CBee

Insomnia alert ⚠️
Sleep Not Found 🙄

4 am emergency #readyourkindle new title started. Inadvisable cup of tea also accessed ☕😜

@CBee

An interesting read

Read for reading challenges

4.25/5

#Multicolor ❤️🧡💙💚💛❤️

#CoverLove

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The story was a roller coaster in terms of really good and meh. Nothing bad, per se. I expected a missing mystery, as the cover mentioned, for their dad. I did not expect a story about a non-verbal child and happiness experiments. This was where my whole attention was focused. Learning about the uses on baseline happiness affecting how other things make someone happy. Then there‘s Eugene. I know Mia‘s telling the story, could barely stand her.

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

This is a somewhat hard book for me to review. The reason being that I found it infuriatingly aggravating and intensely frustrating in places. That being said it's a great story. Just getting from point A to point B seemed to take forever...

Full review: https://lsmoore49.blogspot.com/2024/06/happiness-falls-by-angie-kim.html

This novel gave me some really great insight on non-verbal communication and a better way to empathize with those with verbal and motor difficulties. The happiness part of it was probably my least favorite, but it did have some good twists.

I mostly kept reading just to find out what happened to the missing father. Mia's rambling digressions were charming at first but then became tiresome. I skimmed a lot. Good writing, interesting characters, not my favorite plot structure.

On the Mt TBR shelf!!

#FallInTitle

#SpringSkies

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I liked this a lot, although could have done without the heavy-handed foreshadowing. Too much “Given everything that came later, I wish”… or “I should have…” blah, blah, blah. Fascinating subject matter, though, and I‘ll think about communication in a new way.

This is sort of a mystery wrapped up in a family drama. A father goes missing, and his nonverbal son Eugene is the only one with answers about his disappearance, but the boy is unable to communicate. The family rallies around Eugene to protect him while trying to find the Dad. There were so many issues around disability and communication and family dynamics that made this book especially fascinating.

I absolutely loved Miracle Creek so this was definitely a “sophomore slump” for me. While I appreciated the care she took in portraying Angelman Syndrome families, I think centering the novel from Mia‘s perspective was a mistake. I wanted insight into John and Hannah‘s thoughts too. The footnotes were a distraction.

#LitsyToB24

A soft pick. The story was great and while the narrator, could be annoying, she does show growth by the end. I didn‘t mind the footnotes. I think Mia is also neurodivergent and this helped demonstrate it. But for such a propelling plot (a dad goes missing and the only witness is his severely, non-speaking autistic son), it was too long and I really disliked the foreshadowing - just tell the story- the reader can figure out the rest.

#weekendreads

Hoping to wrap up my two #LitsyToB24 books this weekend. Still plugging away at my #ClassicLSFBF but considering DNFing it. 🫢 Continuing with #TheBros chapter a day read along. 👍

Up next on audio 🎧

My book club‘s February pick! This one will give me a bingo!

#bookspinbingo

This is a qualified pick. I listened to the audio and while the diversions were maddening because it slowed down the pace of the “mystery” plot, I give it a thumbs up for having an intriguing character who is nonverbal. That aspect of the novel was interesting and so was the author‘s afterward.

I recall DNFing Miracle Creek.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I enjoyed this novel about a family reacting to the father going missing and what‘s uncovered while searching for him. I found the middle 70% or so the strongest—it was a little slow to grab me and then meandered toward the end, but overall I liked it and appreciated some of the things it left me thinking about related to disability and language. I probably wouldn‘t have picked it up if not for #LitsyToB24, but I‘m glad I did!

While a mystery, this reads more like a contemporary family drama. I was pulled into the Parson‘s lives &their search for their dad as well as their somewhat difficult family dynamic. Eugene has Angelman Syndrome &as the last person 2 see their father, I felt for both him &the others as he had seemingly no way 2communicate what happened.
Mia as a narrator grated on me. Her endless tangents & immature decisions made it hard 2 enjoy or stay engaged.

Another #LitsyTOB off the list. This was slow going and a bit convoluted. 3 🌟

I‘m about one third of the way through this and have absolutely no idea what is going on. #huey #catsoflitsy

I keep going back and forth on my rating for this one. I think I appreciate this book more upon reflection than I actually enjoyed reading it. I expected more of a mystery and liked that it was a much more than that but had issues with the pacing and found the narrator really annoying. An unlikable character can be great but I really needed a break from her. A light pick. #litsytob24

#ReadAway2024 #LitsyToB24 This is the story of a family. There‘s a mystery inside but this is not a mystery. I‘m going to give this book 4.5⭐️ Points off for chapter 33. Mia, the narrator of the story, spends a lot of energy with analytical introspection. The chapter is 35 minutes long and I almost skipped to the final chapter after the first 10 minutes. The final chapter redeemed the book, but it was a close thing.

I adored this book! From Goodreads: “When a father goes missing, his family's desperate search leads them to question everything they know about him and one another--both a riveting page-turner and a deeply moving portrait of a family in crisis from the award-winning author of Miracle Creek.”

3.5/5 🌟

I found the first half more enjoyable, starting off well with the narrator's youthful voice and perspective. I appreciated the insight into the experiences of non-speaking individuals and their treatment by society. However, the mystery surrounding the dad in the second half disappointed me.

Heads up U.S. #LitsyTOB24! #KindleDailyDeal

I love seeing people‘s roundups of their favorite reads of the year, so here are some of my favorite fiction reads in 2023! Lots of #BOTM and #Aardvark picks! 🙂

Plus a few favorites that I read via ebook:

Midnight is the Darkest Hour
Big Swiss
Tell the Wolves I‘m Home

Wishing everyone lots of five star reads in 2024! 🎉

I like the story but I wasn‘t a fan of how it was written. Too much “fluff”.

@Megabooks @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain

Well, the bad news is that I got Covid (after the husband and 10yo), and the good news is that despite the exhaustion and cough, I started and finished this book yesterday. It is absolutely brilliant, very smart, and also a whodunit. The pages flew by and I just marveled at how engrossing this story is.

#ToB24

I absolutely adored Angie Kim‘s earlier novel, Miracle Creek and was very excited to pick this one up. Firmly recommend this one as well, but it still plays second fiddle to her earlier novel for me.

Happy Thanksgiving! I couldn‘t quite finish this ambitious plate, but made room for some pie anyway, and then started the tagged book post-second dinner (we ate early so we could go back for more later!). Hope everyone else had a similarly relaxing day (whether you celebrate this weird holiday or not) ♥️

So many shades of Red
❤️💄💋🎒🌹🌺🍎🍒🍓☎️⏰🧲🎈📕🖍️🛑♥️

#RedStack

#HumbleHarvest

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#audiopuzzling
I found these Christmasy Puzzle Snax at Lewis Drug. They call them "Snax Size" puzzles at 100 pieces. I picked the cupcakes and the ice skating flamingos. Super cute.
I have 3 hours left of this audiobook.

I read just a chapter or two at a time from this book because the single POV of 20 yo Mia was so over-analytical. I didn‘t want to read too quickly and start skim her thoughts and felt I owed it to Mia to remain engaged in her telling. Both she and 14 yo Eugene intrigued me.

Took advantage of Spotify's new audiobook feature on my road trip to visit friends this weekend to start this book. I really like the narrator and I'm enjoying this family drama/mystery story. Five hours to go!

I love the premise & the thoughts on communication, immigration, language & what it means for us if we cannot communicate because of language barriers or because of who we are. But the narrator‘s voice was irritating, worse was the going off topic especially at the beginning when I felt it needed to pick up pace…even though I‘d love to know what happened, I don‘t think I‘ll pick this up again. Not for me.

Finished:A Dirty Death & A Shameful Murder. Plan to review both books soon

In Process: On ch 8/34 Happiness Falls; Started Her Lost Words; Finished the Victorian and Edwardian (British) section of Big Book of Female Detectives

#bookreport
Finished the top row, 3 books,& am at various stages with the bottom row, 3 books.

Mia‘s father is missing, and only her nonspeaking brother, Eugene, knows what happened.

Voice ✨ Neurodivergent ✨ Analytical

This is a great mix of mystery, family drama, & also an important message about intelligence connected to verbal communication.

#weeklyforecast #porchlife
this is the view from my porch. Autumn is here, but very few trees have turned yet just some yellow and some like mine have a lot of brown leaves already. I hope we get some red and orange eventually. 🍁🍂🍁
Cindy I hope you & your family & friends are safe. I am sending love and prayers and I‘m sure many of us are.

Incredibly well thought out. I loved loved loved this book.

This book pushes the reader to question everything in this story. This mystery delves into topics like immigration, disability and ableism, family secrets and trust. What an incredible work that made me look at my own ideas of truth, lies and protecting your own. Fantastic read!

While I liked the story overall, I found much of the dialogue to be bloated and technical to the point of boring. Also, it takes place in 2020…far too much talk of Covid, masks, etc. I lived it…don‘t care to live it again. It‘s just an “eh” book for me.