Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m still months away on my library hold on the Libby app but thanks to Fast Reads - I snagged an e-copy - dropped all my other books and devoured this one. There‘s lots going on in this novel - there‘s time travel of course- there‘s rumination on immigration - the tragedy in Cambodia under Pol Pot - civil servants - the Franklin Expedition - a hot romance . Two thumbs up

I missed a week, so here's my mid-month #WeeklyFavorites post. @Read4life

I've yet to meet a time travel storyline that doesn't become tedious at some point, and this one is no exception. However, it's less tedious than most, and I really like the premise and the tie-in to actual historical figures. The steamy bits are nicely written but maybe a little more detailed than necessary for what the book is meant to be, but I really like the characters and was disappointed to say goodbye at the end. #tob25 longlist

I took time out from reading the tagged, which I'm really enjoying, to go see some live music. I'm kind of disappointed that the trumpet and saxophone players (and perhaps the others at times) were just pretending. I guess I've been going to the symphony too much and expect that if someone is on stage, they're actually going to be performing music. I probably could have listened to the album while reading at home, but it's good to get out.

While I didn't care much about the romance part, I liked how the book was constructed and the different themes: loyalty, time travel and the constant rewriting of the future, how history is written, etc. Good choice for a book club.

#Roll100 #BOTM

First up will be the tagged as it‘s on the Women‘s Prize longlist.

@PuddleJumper

Almost bailed on the book when I was only 10% in….then again at 50%….then decided to just finish the damn thing.
I think this was a “don‘t judge a book by its cover” except in reverse. The cover was so pretty, but the story itself was not.
Interesting premise, but thought it was overly long and at times confusing. Some funny moments and some interesting twists towards the end, but not enough to overlook the first 80% of the book.

Sounds good!

My journey
😀😀🥱😀🤔😴😵‍💫🥺

Loved the premise. Loved the beginning and as I‘d read other books about The Terror & Franklin‘s Arctic expedition I immediately connected with Graham, one of the MC‘s

But it got boring. I started not to care. Almost bailed, but had heard the latter part of the book was good. Not for me. Didn‘t enjoy the ending. Glad it‘s over.

Moving on…..
3 stars because parts were great. Sadly, the sum of parts was just so-so.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was really interested in the premise of this book and I enjoyed it up until the last quarter of it. The remaining quarter and ending felt sudden and abrupt, and felt like a bit of a let down. I also found the main female protagonist annoying and frustrating at times. Overall, I had high hopes for this book and it definitely fell short.

I loved the premise of this book and am a sucker for time travel stories, but this never held my attention.

January reading wrap-up 📚 I finished 6 books this month, 3 of which were 5⭐️ reads and one a re-read of an all-time favorite (In Other Lands).
🥇The Ministry of Time
🥈Stamped From the Beginning
🥉Potions, Poisons, and Policies

Thinking about time travel makes my head hurt.

Reading this made my heart hurt.

I loved every second of it.

#Bookchain2025 progress! #Bookchain @TheAromaOfBooks

I‘m halfway through this for my IRL bookclub and still not sure if I‘m liking it. 😆

I was a bit reluctant to pick this up because of the hype, but I'm really enjoying it so far. The first half had been basically a slice of life cosy with time travel, but the foreshadowing and ramp-up promises a change of pace and some higher stakes to come.

Early Connie Willis vibes.

Time travel is confusing. It‘s messy. It‘s run by the British government. This book uses a lot of sci-fi themes—character-out-of-time, time travel for starters—all dressed up as a political thriller and [redacted] twist to boot. While not fast-paced, the pacing certainly wasn‘t slow and allowed for the characters to each grow at their own pace. A definite book worth rereading.
.
Apparently, I forgot to post this when I actually finished the book.

Perhaps he‘ll die this time.
#firstlineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

In London ‘in the near future‘
#whereareyouMonday #timetravel
@Cupcake12

There are flaws in this debut novel, notably the wackiness of the fast paced “all is revealed” ending. Its power lies in the forceful condemnation of colonialism that Britain cannot free itself from, even in a time traveling future. A clever premise, worth reading.

“In this sense, the predicament of the expats was unique. But the rhythms of loss and asylum, exodus and loss and loneliness, toll like floods across human history.” p. 271

I pushed through and ended up liking parts. The tempo was weird, it was fun at times and slow at others. I felt like the mystery was introduced very late in the book so I wasn‘t even looking for clues until the end and I‘m not sure I would have been able to see them anyway. Sometimes the MC would ask a question I wanted to understand and the author wouldn‘t answer it which was super annoying. Overall an interesting read but not a home run for me.

Halfway through and debating whether or not to finish. I loved the start of the book where she was getting to know the time travel “expats” but I felt like it started to slow down when the mystery element was introduced. Did anyone else who read this feel that dip in the middle? Should I push through? Or if I‘m not feeling it at this point it‘s a sign to quit?

I do love a good time traveler book, and this had a slight spy/military edge. It was good, but the ending was a bit forced for me. The second part had a quicker pace, which it did need. Overall, good but not great.

Enjoyable!!! Not sure if it‘s bc I got the audio book that some parts felt clunky. And don‘t even get me started on the 🌶️ feeling awk. Overall, I loved the creative plot but it was a bit confusing. Actually enjoyed the writing style, very Donna Tart in its wordiness

Time travel without a DeLorean? We‘ll see about that. 😉

This has a lot of everything I like- it even gets me with the mushy bits- who knew I was waiting for something so spy/betrayal/intrigue/time-travelly?!? Well I was and I loved it. Five stars past, present, and future!

I enjoyed this novel for its super interesting concept (time travel tested by bringing a handful of people from the past into the present) and its depth of characterisation. It has been described as a combination of romance & sci fi mystery/thriller. For me the romance/introspection portion got a bit bogged down and the thriller plot happened too quickly with not enough detail. But there is such good material here ⬇️

A time travel-romance, a spy thriller and a look into workplace dynamic.

I was really enjoying this novel until the last 60-50p and then she lost me. Still a pick, but not as strong as it could have been.

Meh. First 1/2 was a super slow burn for me, setting up characters, back stories. About the halfway mark, the plot picks up a little. Someone gets killed, but the response is lackluster.

The last 1/4 of the book was more what I was expecting, but just too little too late for my tastes. Shame because the themes Bradley explored in that last 1/4 were definitely thought-provoking. Wanted more of that, less ponderous back stories.

#10BeforeTheEnd

😂 Not going to argue with this observation.

🙋🏻‍♀️Yep. Done this.

I don‘t feel this so much in my 50s, but I definitely felt this way often in my 20s and 30s. Now if time travel were introduced to my life, I‘m guessing I‘d start feeling this door slamming again. Makes me think time travel might be a pass at this point in my life🤔

November was a strong reading month (13 total books, my record so far in 2024), but the quality was only average. Hoping to continue this momentum in December; I am currently on track to hit 100 books for the year, so I hope I can still hit that!

The best book I read in November also happened to be my #Doublespin! I had a strong reading month, but did not finish too many off of my owned TBR, which are the books I use for #BookspinBingo.

This book was, honestly, not what I expected. However, overall, that was a good thing. I liked exploration of the characters through time and the impacts of climate change and time travel.

10-3 Nov 24 (audiobook)
In some near future the British government‘s Ministry of Time somehow finds a door to time travel and use it to rescue a handful of people from past eras to train them to live in our time. It sounds even sillier when I write it down!
The premise didn‘t make much sense to me but there were aspects of the book I enjoyed, particularly the difficulties the historical characters have adjusting to modern life, which were amusing.

The futuristic British Ministry of Time discovers time travel and brings expats from the past into the present.

Assimilation ✨ Complicity ✨ Alienation

For fans of Loki

I‘m excited for this month‘s TBR. I am trying in November and December to catch up on my BOTM backlog (which is very long lol). Really looking forward to to both my #Bookspin (Thistlefoot) and #Doublespin (tagged). I hope I can ride my reading momentum in October through the rest of the year!

I found this romance/science fiction novel both confusing and dull. It did not work for me. 2 🌟

Meh

DNFing this one. The entire premise makes no sense, why would anyone bring people from the past to the future and attempt to integrate them into society? It just seems cruel and I can‘t get behind the book‘s story. Also the audiobook narration is strange and stilted.
#hailthebail!

I was recommended this book because it was supposed to be similar in vibes to Natasha Pulley's The Kingdoms, which it's NOT.
I reckon there are two types of target audience: The Terror girlies and time travel fans. I'm the latter, and was disappointed, as it's 75% romance, 15% government thriller and 10% time travel nerdery, and I was firmly uninvested in the romance. There were about three really interesting sentences about diverging timelines.

Overall, this one‘s decent, yet the stages of reading went something like:
1) Ah yes, this is very good and will surely be engaging 2) Margaret is a feminist icon 3) Perhaps a bit heavy on the “filler episodes” in the middle here, boss 4) WILFRED OWEN 5) You really should‘ve told me this sooner… 6) The lady is the lady. Swell.

I love time travel and this book is great! Let‘s bring people from the past and maybe the future to fix what we have goofed up all ready in our time…everyone in every timeline is flawed. Love story in a time travel book.. I‘m here for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A nameless young woman gets a job at the Ministry minding "expats" from other times and helping them assimilate. Hers is Lt. Graham Gore, lost during Franklin's lost expedition seeking the Northwest Passage.
The narrative touches on colonialism, bureaucracy, climate change. But then we got sex scenes which didn't work for me, and I went from very invested to having lost almost all interest.
And Why did we have the scenes from the Terror at all?

Someone in the book world referred to this as “the book of her career,” so naturally I had really high hopes. This just… wasn‘t very good. I agree with @jlhammar that the writing itself was clunky, and the characters didn‘t feel genuine in their emotions. Then the last 10% became outrageously sci fi, but not in a “that‘s so clever I never saw it coming” way. More like “that‘s impossible and I don‘t buy it, this is stupid” way. Bummer!