Welcome to Litsy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I don‘t want to say too much before #CampLitsy, but I really enjoyed this! It was suspenseful and surprising and dramatic but not overly so. This is probably more about me than about the books I‘ve been reading, but I actually had the thought that this was one of the least annoying fiction books I‘ve read recently! 😂

I loved this book! It's the most immersed I've been in a book in a while. Like all of McConaghy's books, the setting is a character in itself, and this setting is beautiful, wild, unpredictable, and dangerous. The family dynamics and the mystery of what has happened on the island kept me wanting more. This might be my favorite of hers so far. This was May's #Doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

A woman washes ashore an island not far from Antarctica, and finds herself at odds with the mysterious family appointed as custodians to the island‘s seed bank.

Ghosts ✨ Claustrophobic ✨ Environmental

The last 50 pages almost made up for the dragging pace of the book‘s initial 2/3rds….almost.

I read a number of good books in May, several of which I haven‘t reviewed yet on Litsy. The one I‘m going to say was my favorite is a dark horse, coming in from out of nowhere. It‘s The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan. Sadly, I won‘t remember the name of it in a month or so. 😊

2. I‘m looking forward to reading the tagged book for #CampLitsy25

@TheSpineView

Thank you for the tag @kspenmoll !

1. Favorite book in May is a tie between Tom Lake (on audio with Meryl Streep narrating) and Audition - for very different reasons. I loved the melancholy sweetness of Tom Lake and the unsettled feeling I had when reading Audition.

2. Very excited to read the tagged book in June for Camp Litsy! 😀

Tagging @Suet624 and @Cathythoughts if you haven‘t played yet!

Rowan washes ashore on a remote island, where Dominic and his three children live in an old lighthouse and maintain a priceless seed vault. Both Rowan and Dom are secretive and grief-stricken, but the comms are out and it will be weeks before a ship arrives, forcing them to work together. The deep appreciation of nature made this book worth it, but I found the portentous writing style and inexplicable failure to communicate grating after a while.

1. Erasure
2. Tagged book

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

There's much love for this book but it didn't quite click for me. There was a lot I liked, especially the descriptions of island, the ocean, & the animals. I even liked all of the main characters, which I thought was impressive for so many. But it all became #toomuch - every one of those 5 characters was burdened with grief & secrets. And the sense of oppression, while well written, wasn't for me. Still, I was mostly enjoying it till the end. 😩

It's porch reading season again! 🥰 Starting this while enjoying tea and a breeze.

This was a fast read (power outage, nothing else to do), and I enjoyed it very much. I know not every book has a happy ending, but this one could have. It was a bit of a let down. The book is a bit of an emotional roller coaster, and I enjoyed the different chapters told by the different characters, none of whom were without their issues. This was also a microcosm of global warming. All in all, a solid story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I definitely get the hype here - this was emotional with a lot of (sometimes heavy handed) metaphor regarding climate change. While the set up was strong, some of the plotting felt awkwardly placed and I don‘t love how mental illness was handled.

I‘d give this a 3.75 out of 5.

@TheSpinecrackersBookClub #Two4Tuesday

1. I just read and enjoyed Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy…only yo learn after this was nominated for #CampLitsy I own another of hers on my shelf that I have not read - Migrations.

2. Tagged

Thanks for the tags @TheSpineView and @Kshakal

repost for @squirrelbrain:

Summer is here, campers! 🏕️ Thanks to all 71 of you who voted - we have our top 6 books for #camplitsy25!

In June, we‘ll start with Audition, followed by Wild Dark Shore.

I‘ll be back in a week or so with the page breaks for Audition, which we‘ll discuss over the weekends of 7th/8th and 14th/15th June.

In the meantime, keep an eye out for Meg and Barbara who pop up over the weekend with the remaining 4 books!

A third in and I totally get the hype around this book. 🥹

I loved the set up and the isolated setting for this novel about a father and his three children on a research island near Antarctica who are harboring a secret. A secret that is at risk of being exposed when a woman washes up on their shore.
Despite figuring out the major plot twist towards the end, we have great world building and fleshed out characters you truly care about that make this a riveting read.

I cannot understand the hype around this novel. The beginning was good, the writing ok but overall it was dreadfully saccharine. Why I read to the end? I was hoping it would get better but it didn‘t. The ending is really the icing on the cake of lame “twists”. Character decisions at times made no sense and felt contrived.

April Reads

A slow-paced, atmospheric read that‘s a blend of character studies and a bit of mystery.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

#botm

1. No physical library, just books on shelves and wall units and tables and sometimes the floor. Maybe 100. I‘m on vacation or I would go count.
2. Wild Dark Shore was amazing!

#2forTuesday. @TheSpineView

Up next on audio…already so atmospheric! 🎧

#bookspinbingo

#DynamicDs I loved this #dark eco suspense story!
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Dominic and his three children have lived on a small isolated island near Antarctica. They are finishing up some work and await the boat that will come for them in 6 weeks. But then a mysterious woman is found near their shore. As she is rescued and begins to heal, she discovers that the family may be keeping some secrets. Atmospheric and haunting, this story takes some unexpected turns and keeps the reader on edge. Engrossing reading.

Moody sock and a broody read. Very good, suspenseful, characters you want to root for.

Wild Dark Shore is likely to provoke some climate anxiety in sensitive souls. Even if the climate anxiety doesn‘t get you, the traumas the characters are reckoning with will. This book has A+ nature writing, and a fascinating premise, but it‘s a huge bummer, overall. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/wild-dark-shore-charlotte-mcconaghy/

This is such an amazing book! I've recommended it so many times at my library, and everyone has enjoyed it.

It's dark, it's emotional, it's mysterious, and it's a novel that only Charlotte McConaghy could write.

I have loved all her other books, and this one did not disappoint.

#WeeklyFavorite

I finished 3 great books this week but the tagged gets all the stars. I usually am hopeful that the summer #CampLitsy books are new to me but I think I‘d love this one to win a slot so I can reread it and discuss.

@Read4life

This book is amazing, truly! A family lives alone on a remote island off the coast of Antarctica, protecting a seed bank until the next supply ship arrives. When a woman washes ashore, all their lives are changed forever. It‘s a story of hope, of secrets, of lies and of course of love. Narrated one chapter at a time by each character, we slowly learn their stories. My favorite book of this year so far. Highly recommend!

Still thinking about this one a week later.

#CampLitsy25 @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @Megabooks

Loved every little thing about this book. The setting, characters, atmosphere, plot, all the things. 5 🌟

“There is incredible love in every word, as there must‘ve been in every movement of her hands, every nail she hammered. I am taken from this bleak and stormy Island to live for an afternoon among her snow gums, I imagine myself waking to the morning fog and the sun rising over the hills, the glorious view from her bedroom, and before I know it, I am in her bed, and then, accidentally, she is in this bed beside me.”

Slow build, big ending! Some mixed feelings about it but it did pack a punch. Listen to the audio if you like Australian accents 😂 #BOTM

Work has been turning my brain to mush so it took me some time to get sucked into this book but when that switch flipped I was tearing through it because I had no idea where it was going and was so excited to find out. I think this is my favorite by the author so far.

It‘s no surprise to me that Wild Dark Shore was my March favorite. I had to add the Shadow and Bone trilogy as my first Wild Card though. Yes I‘m counting the whole trilogy as one complete work. 🙂📚 Cuz I can.
#bookbracket

“Here is the nature of life, we must love things with our whole selves knowing they will die.”

I absolutely devour anything Charlotte McConaghy writes ❤️

I will read any book this author writes. I read her first two voraciously and have waited for this one to come out impatiently. Did not disappoint. Highly recommended.

#Coverstories #waves
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

This story is going to stay with me a long time. It was educational, entertaining, suspenseful, and haunting. I learned a lot about the islands on the outer banks of Australia. I also learned a lot about botany and seed vaults. This was my Book of the Month club pick for March 2025. I‘ve read so many books I would never have otherwise heard about thanks to this book club. The end of this book was especially good. I couldn‘t put it down.

I mean this was near future dystopian but in some aspects felt like a current-day living off-the-grid family drama. I liked it. It was unique and I had no idea how it would end or who would survive. I loved the short 9-yo Orly chapters filled with his scientific knowledge and take on life.

This is a wonderful tale set on an isolated island between Australia and the Antarctic. It is there that a father and his 3 children work to save the seeds in a seed vault that climate change is destroying. This is a beautifully told story of family secrets, grief, tragedy and love. The environment and wildlife are also lovingly depicted. I loved the characters and the story, and it will stay with me. Thanks to Edelweiss+ for the ARC 4.75/5

What a great book!

Very atmospheric.

Towards the end, I was flipping pages as quickly as I could while mysteries were being revealed and questions were being answered.

This atmospheric book steadily drips in the desperation as different characters seek out their goals on a remote, ravaged island. I felt like I was there and could feel the cold and urgency as these characters circled each other. Really good.

I love this author, and this one is another winner for me.

Near future climate fiction.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book beautifully exposes the expansiveness of love, etching itself right into the heart. How we can choose to add to destruction or choose to care for one another. How it‘s worth the fight because sometimes things can survive despite all odds. How loss is a painful reality, but we keep loving anyway. How love doesn‘t dissolve with the body - it carries on. #BOTM

Oh Lordy this was good. First 5⭐️ of the year.

My March #botm and #aardvark picks!!

I‘ve never read Stephen Graham Jones before, so I‘m going to try this one and hope it‘s not too scary!

Look at all those unread books. And yet I can't imagine that I haven't read my favorite book of the year already. Charlotte McConaghy did it again.
Dom and his kids live on a remote island and look after a seed vault with all kinds of species in it for when the world needs them. But the water rises and then a woman washes up.
Again, nature is the main, awesome character. But the human characters, dialogues and the plot are fabulous too ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved ONCE THERE WERE WOLVES, so I was thrilled to dive into the audio of McConaghy‘s latest and one of this month‘s #BOTM selections. It‘s a riveting premise— a woman washes up on Shearwater Island near Antarctica where the seed bank there and island is crumbling into the rising seas. A father & his three children remain— along with their secrets, as it all comes to light in the wake of their new arrival. Heartbreaking yet beautifully written!

I was so excited to see the Book of the Month choices today! 🥳🎉🎉🎉 I absolutely could not resist the pretty page edges of The God of the Woods! Do I already own a copy of it? Yes! 😂 But that's okay, because the new one will have pretty pink pages! 🤭💕 What did everyone else end up ordering? #botm

Shearwater Island will exist forever in my mind. This desolate, cold, and doomed island with its isolated inhabitants, its treasure trove of seeds which hold the hope of a future world, seems as real as Antarctica. Atmospheric, tense, and incredibly well-written, this must be one of the "it" books of the year. Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for an advance review copy.