Welcome to Litsy!

I just finished PS while vacationing in FLA. I enjoyed this read so much and remain in awe of Kingsolver‘s writing acumen! 3 interwoven stories taking place in a mountainous valley of Appalachia. I found myself tearing up and laughing out loud. Kingsolver‘s ability to put me in the setting is perfection itself! I felt like I was in this lush green world! A little late but I‘m mailing it on to the next person in #Round20 #LMPBC #GroupC 4.5/5⭐️

"She needed to listen to this: prodigal summer, the season of extravagant procreation" p. 51. For Deanna, it's the birds. For me, it's noisy frogs as my tiny pond fills with eggs, then tadpoles.This mama (or daddy?) seemed to enjoy my new little solar fountain last year. #SetInYrFaveSeason #NewYearNewBooks @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I love, love, love my #nlws package! My daughter and I sat and just smelled the open box before pulling the items out. Scrumptious!!! I adore the winter months for the quiet hibernation, but your gifts make me want to start garden planning or starting some seedlings soon! Who cares that we‘re getting a foot of snow on Sunday! Those knee-highs will keep me toasty! 😂 thank you so much @Chrissyreadit for your generosity! 🌿🌸🌿🌻🌿🌺🌿🌼🌿

I read The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister at the peak of summer so it‘s only fair that I read Prodigal Summer when it is freezing outside. 😅

Three MCs and I love all of them. This is a book to be savoured. 💚☀️

1. I'm going to Chicago with my daughter to attend the Pitchfork music festival. Can't wait!!

2. Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver, one of my favorite books. 🌞

@TheSpineView
#Two4Tuesday

#adventrecommends day 1

This book was probably my favorite read in January. It lifted me out of a reading slump (I had 2 bails in January! And I almost never bail!!) AND I wouldn‘t have picked it up if it hadn‘t been for #aam. So this post is as much a rec for the #aam challenge as it is for the book 🥰!

Now that Kingsolver is on my radar - does anyone have any favorites I shouldn‘t miss?

Recommended by @HOTPock3tt , I just finished listening and I want a sequel. I want to know what happens to all of the interesting characters. The audiobook performance by the author was very well done. 3.5🌞s

I may have found my next favorite author. As soon as I finished this one, I ordered most of her previous books & her upcoming book Demon Copperhead. I really loved her writing. I feel like her books age beautifully in my head. They develop & unfurl in a way that reminds me of Claire Fuller. Lots of character development & beautiful scene creation. ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

This is very much a #summer book. Aside from some backstory information, it takes place from mid May until roughly September. There are thunderstorms and baby animals and an exuberant growing season. I started it in winter and finished in late spring. The pace of my listening corresponded with the leisurely pace of the book, and I especially liked the birdsong between chapters.

#BigJuneReadathon
#authoramonth #betterlatethannever

Prodigal Summer is the enthusiastic regeneration of nature with respect to balancing predators and prey. The strong women were inspiring. However, the tone bordered on lecturing at times. Still, beautiful descriptions of the bounty of nature.

I truly adored this book for so many reasons 💕

January was a good reading month according to the #bookspinbingo board! 🎉 My average ratings were low, however, and one of my #bookspin bingos is by virtue of dnfs 😳
Good news, though, is that I think the #aam pick (tagged) was my favorite of the month, and Kingsolver is a new author for me. I also finished my bookspin, doublespin, and #roll100 picks! Yay 😁

Set in Appalachian mountains this book perfectly combines intimate stories of people into the bigger story about nature and how fragile/sensitive eco-system is. Very nice story that makes you think about your own attitude towards nature …
#Booked2022 #EcoFeminist
#AuthorAMonth
#19822022 #2001

This is my third Kingsolver for #authoramonth (after Unsheltered and Flight Behaviour) and, whilst I‘ve really enjoyed them all, this one is my favourite. I liked the all of the MCs in the 3 different storylines, and there was a bit less of the political/environmental didacticism that the author usually employs, although it was definitely still there. My only frustration, as with all of the author‘s books, is that the ending always feels rushed.

So far I‘ve ✅ off two Pantone colors! #pantone2022

And I found a picture that goes well with my latest reviewed book! Summer sun, barns and hay bales are a frequent occurrence in The Prodigal Summer.

#AestheticallyMatched

A book about summer surrounded by my winter decor.🤣

This novel is a beautiful meditation on summer in the Appalachian mountains. At times I could almost smell the crisp mountain air, hear the rain in the trees & birdsong in the air. It‘s also a story about the forest, trees, wildlife, coyotes, moths, birds, life on a family farm. And love. Love in all its many forms.

#authoramonth
#booked2022 #ecofeminist
#bookspin
#pop22 #pastprompt

It‘s my first quiet day home alone since before Thanksgiving! 🎉🙌🏽

Although I do have some chores to do (and a 60 min work out), I‘m really looking forward to some downtime to read my #ecofeminist pick for #booked2022. Anyone have a suggestion of where this could fit for #pop22, doesn‘t seem to work for any of those prompts. 📖

#authoramonth

Wow. Another book I did not want to end. It chronicles one summer in three strangers lives living in southern Appalachia. The way Kingsolver gives so much imagery in her details and weaves intricate relationships is always so mesmerizing. Every time I read a book by her, I crave more. This book had so much animal, bug, and plant love and knowledge I was so completely enthralled.

Ahhhhh - this book! Enjoyed it and then didn't. I'm a bit disappointed because I expected more. There was so much potential in the characters, writing and plot, but - Alas! Forced myself to finish the last pages... that's how bad it got for me.

I am such a fan of Barbara Kingsolver, and this did not disappoint! Three fierce women, live on their terms in the forested mountains and small farms of Appalachia. It takes place over the course of one Summer. Their stories connect,and at the heart is a den of coyotes that have migrated into the region. Beautifully written. Characters that will capture your heart. Captivating.
Loved the audio. Read by the author.
Photo of the book‘s endpapers.

“Thanks for this day, for all birds safe in their nests, for whatever this is, for life.“ 🙏🏻

“Me,I‘ll take one snake over fifty mice any day. A snake in every roof.” 🐍

“Her body moves with the frankness that comes from solitary habits.”

#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

Finished today‘s audio walk and started a new audiobook!

1. Yes, some when I was young like Anne of Green Gables, A Little Princess, the Ramona books. As an adult, I‘ve read Wuthering Heights, Handmaid‘s Tale, some of the HP books, A River Runs Through It, A Wall in the Woods, maybe some others. I don‘t reread as much lately because of the length of my tbr.
2. Yes, but not the only factor.
3. Tagged
#thoughtfulthursday @MoonWitch94

Thank you for the invite @EadieB ! #ThankfulThursday @Cosmos_Moon

1. My parents came up with an original spelling using an e and an i instead of an a and y for Meribeth so I have been Beth, Beth Ann and Meribeth throughout my life and “Meribeth Ann!” When I was in trouble as a little one.

2. A colleague gave a glowing endorsement of me and my work to our new office Director who has been very positive and enthusiastic so far (day four🤓)!

I sought out this book after finishing “Where the Crawdads Sing.” The audiobook is narrator by Kingsolver and transported me straight into the heart of the story. I loved this intimate, beautiful look at nature and humans.

Thanks for the tag, Danielle! 😘

🍉 Tomatoes right off of the vine, cucumbers, and sweet corn

📚 Prodigal Summer (tagged) & Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

🐳 Yes, both in the Pacific Northwest ❤️

If you‘re reading this and haven‘t played, I tag YOU!

#ThoughtfulThursday

I want to be like Nannie Rawley when I grow up! In some ways she reminded me of my grandma. I loved that most of the main characters were women and they each slightly overlapped each other, but still maintained very distinct storylines. This might be my favorite book of Kingsolver's, even more than The Poisonwood Bible!

Thank you @KarenUK This has not been a year of 5⭐️ reading so far, but these were my faves🤓

If I have to pick a favorite Barbara Kingsolver book, it would be this one, but I haven‘t read one by her that hasn‘t been a keeper so far.
Prodigal #Summer for #BoundTogetherJune
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@OriginalCyn620

This seemed an apt title for the so-called first weekend of summer. Happy Memorial Day, friends!

Look at these beautiful end papers!

This book was beautiful. I‘ve had it on my kindle for a few years and decided to finally read it during this quarantine. I‘m a fan of Barbara Kingsolver already so I had high hopes for this one. At first I wasn‘t so sure about it, but my enjoyment of it steadily grew right up until the very end. 💚

Currently reading on my kindle.

Second time around liked it even more!

I read this for the #ReadingWomenChallenge prompt for a book set in Appalachia. Prodigal Summer takes place over the course of a summer as three narrators face changes in their lives. Deanna lives alone in the woods and relates more to nature than people. Lusa is navigating a new marriage and family in the country. Garnett is a widowed old coot who dislikes his organic grower neighbor. Nature in Appalachia is another character in the book.

It‘s been years since I read this, but I believe she was living in a #cabin. #letstravelaugust @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

Serious book hangover from this one. Honestly, a wonderful book, characters that live with you and three interwoven stories that are beautifully written. Loved it.

Currently reading. What wonderful descriptive language!

Finished this last night! Loved loved the storylines with Lisa, Garnett and Nannie. Didn't care so much for Deanna's.

These end papers! 😍

It's like walking through water colors.

Got out early for a good long walk this morning - it was overcast and the heat hadn't come in yet. Prodigal Summer is a great book to walk through nature eh? ☺️☺️

On offer in the UK today for Kindle... I enjoyed the other two Kingsolver books that I‘ve read so why not...?!

People in Appalachia insisted that the mountains breathed, and it was true: the steep hollow behind the farmhouse took up one long, slow inhalation every morning and let it back down through their open windows and across the fields throughout evening—just one full, deep breath each day.
#appalachianread #prodigalsummer #hicklit #southernlit