Welcome to Litsy!

The chokehold that Miranda has on the Australian psyche is absolutely fascinating (no doubt in part due to Peter Weir‘s 1975 film adaptation) - this was a reread for me and I was amazed at how much of the story I‘d forgotten and how few pages we have with Miranda (and Marian), given the extent to which her absence haunts the narrative.

Continued below :

What the most haunting reads that gives off a true crime fiction. During the 1900's, a group of Australian schoolgirls from affluent families head off on a coastal field trip to a place called Hanging Rock. Three of the girls go off to explore the caverns and vanish without a trace. What happens next is a deterioration of the community, the staff, and faculty as the mystery is explored. An atmospheric read of speculative fiction

#JuneSpecials #picnic

Normally, I would say that the story dragged, but I think in this case, the way the story meanders adds a lot to the atmosphere of the novel. To me, this wasn't so much a “whodunnit“ novel as a “What even happened here?“ Some scenes in this book border on the supernatural.

#SummerSouls #Picnic
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#picnic #summersouls @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

This book is so not what the cover implies! Loved it, but not a fan of the open-ended ending!

#summersouls #day1 #picnic

I read this oh so long ago…

8-13 Jan 24 (audio)
My eldest is entering Clyde House, named in honour of the school Lindsay attended which inspired Appleyard College. Hence, I bought her a copy for her birthday which I expect to remain unread. Still, I was interested.
I found the writing too flowery and the narrator almost comical. The ambiguity is interesting - I cannot help but search for answers and others‘ theories. But there are many better books to read.

Whilst at times the style was reminiscent of my much loved but objectively terrible school stories I am left, as I am sure many before have been a bit flummoxed by this one. 3 school girls and their teacher disappear at a picnic and then some folks reflect on it but nothing much happens. It‘s not a mystery per say and there is a hint of the otherworldly but zero sense of conclusion. Read for #booked2022

Book 111/2022. Finished 1/6/22 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Audiobook
I know this is an Aussie Classic but it is so dry & boring

🧺 You are going on a picnic. Where? Who‘s invited? What‘s in your basket? 🧺

Irvine Park in Saint Paul is a hidden treasure. Surrounded by mid-19th century homes, it feels like stepping back in time. My husband and I like to enjoy at least one picnic there each summer. A bottle of wine, some goodies from the Cheese Shop, our books and we are set.

Really enjoyed the tagged Australian classic. Very unsettling!

#ThoughtfulThursday @MoonWitch94

For the decade 1962-71 for #thebigjubileereadinglist and for the #travelthroughbooks challenge (set in Australia) I selected this story. For me it‘s a bold choice to not have a solid ending. I still found this classic to be an interesting read and I truly thought the characters truly made the story. #springread #classicbook

Ugh. For as short as this story is, it took me forever to get through it. The writing was flowery at times to the point of boredom and the pacing was slow. The mystery was interesting enough I guess though the ending was unsatisfying. I liked the connections between characters that were inferred, but aside from that I‘m not a fan. Though it would be easy to take parts of the plot and create a really strong story. Hopefully the Hulu show is better.

I twisted my knee a couple days ago and have been told to rest and take it easy (hahahahaha) by my physical therapist so...I‘m using that as an excuse to sit and do nothing but read tonight. Halloween ambience on the tv and starting this one for #scarathlon2021 and the “read the book, watch the movie” prompt for #screamathon #teamslaughter @4thhouseontheleft @Clwojick

Major snooze

Trying it this old classic for a bit of genre adventure. Horror, yikes!

#JulyJourneys #Picnic I think I might have read this book years and years ago. No actual memory just a feeling. Do you ever get that feeling? I am going to find a copy and give it a read see if anything pops.

An unfortunate picnic. #julyjourneys #picnic

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I finished my #bookspin this morning. If you like unambiguous endings, this may not be for you. But I loved it. The characters are so real that people have searched old newspapers for an account of girls gone missing. The writing is atmospheric while still breaking the fourth wall from time to time. @TheAromaofBooks

Started my April #bookspin today. Photo is Hanging Rock, NC - not the location of the book. 😀 @TheAromaofBooks

A group of girls sets off on a picnic for Valentine‘s Day. The events of that afternoon change the course of all the characters lives. Without spoiling there is a sense of the otherworldly that hangs over the book and adds to the tension. A few more loose ends than I‘d like and would have liked a deeper dive into Mrs. Applebaum. I felt most for young Sarah one of the boarders at the school. ⭐️⭐️⭐️#setinaustralia #booked2021

An atmospheric story of mysteriously missing schoolgirls in the Australian wilderness. What I admired most was depiction of Australia‘s natural environment in contrast to the fine, British inhabitants. #Booked2021 - set in Australia ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Wanted a non-series book so picked this up, been meaning to read this for so long. WOW. Australians do not write very interesting books at all, we have no decent genre novels, but this little mystery was amazing. The writing was superb, really captured the sense of the bush in a way only Colleen McCulloch has so far impressed me, and this was no boring sheep farm drama. Incredible. Captivating. Beautiful. Australian. Masterpiece. Loved it so much.

This book was the flight pick for the #modernmrsdarcy #mmdbookclub for October 2020. It is a peculiar little book. It is about the unraveling of the people and place connected to the disappearance of three girls and their instructor while on a picnic at a nearby landform. Definitely gives you a lot to think about!

• ModernMrsDarcy.com #MMD flight pick for October 2020

“It was a cloudless summer day in the year nineteen hundred. Everyone at Appleyard College for Young Ladies agreed it was just right for a picnic at Hanging Rock. After lunch, a group of three of the girls climbed into the blaze of the afternoon sun, pressing on through the shadows of Hanging Rock. They never returned. Whether this if is fact or fiction the reader must decide for themselves.”

A good read and an Australian classic but not worthy of study as a work of Literature!

If you hear about the central mystery in this novel and think (as I did), "Oooo, that sounds super creepy. I want to know what happens!"... Just don't bother. You won't. There is no solution. Reader beware.

(Quarantine book 44; read a classic)

#Picnic #JamminJune @Eggs

I did not think I was going to like this one as I fell asleep before page six two nights in a row, but I did. It‘s a strange little novel. Set in 1900, three girls and an instructor disappear from the group while picnicking at a local rock formation. The novel is really about how the disappearances affect those around the area. #Doublespin for May #Booked2020 #BookClubWorthy

This story about three girls and a governess go missing while at Hanging Rock, Australia, couldn‘t keep my attention. Partly because I was not sure what genre I was reading... horror? Mystery? I couldn‘t stop myself skimming much of the endless details to get to the end. I did laugh about Mrs Appleyard though, quite a character!

(Pic: A hotel room in Switzerland on our way to the Alps. The church bells kept tolling although the night 😳)

I didn‘t really mesh with this one. If it hadn‘t been an audiobook I probably would have DNF‘d it, but I liked the narrator. Glad I got it on #borrowbox rather than #audible .

Have acquired #borrowbox mwahahahaaa! And my #varieteas box has arrived. Peaceful afternoon incoming. (Also changed my username to be closer to my youtube channel, since I‘m planning to get my finger out and work on that next year. Formerly PlayingBonny).

Was it murder, a weird alien vortex or just a #fever that spread round the school?!

#MOvember

I‘ve got a sick kid today (nothing serious, slight fever from ear infection) and she is very concerned that I‘m writing in my book. 😆 I realized quite quickly that I had to explain that usually it‘s NOT ok to write in books. Especially library or school books. And to always ask mom first if you need to write in a book. She seems accepting of this. 🤞🏻 #darguschfamilymarkupbookclub

This is my pick for our next round of #darguschfamilymarkupbookclub and I‘m planning on starting it ASAP. A group of girls goes on a picnic in 1900 and not all of them returned. Did they die? Were they murdered? #howiwoulddie #soaringscores

#bookmail for today. 😊

I did not realize this was a play script. Writing was so odd and hard to follow. I DNF

Current read

Day 5, #7days7covers

#RedRoseSeptember Thanks to @EadieB I discovered Gracie Fields (today‘s artist) was born in 1898. Joan Lindsay, author of tagged book was born in 1896; contemporaries 😁 Which might explain why the use of word choice/song choice #TheThingummyBob 😉I‘m guessing it was a popular phrase in 1912 👆🏽
Also a big THANK YOU and shoutout to my September co-host @arlenefinnigan
This month‘s songs highlighting the music of Lancashire was AWESOME 🙌🏻🖤

A disturbing, odd tale about 3 schoolchildren and a teacher who disappear while on a school picnic. There are many dark undertones contrasting with the prim and proper life in a Victorian ‘young ladies‘ school. I don‘t usually like it when storylines are left unresolved but I expected it with this book, so didn‘t mind and I‘ve been thinking about it all day....

Thanks Cathy for this fab book!

Next up from the ‘birthday jar‘ - Station Eleven

I quite enjoyed this slim novel. For a book under 200 pages it really contained loads of gorgeous prose and plenty of juicy plot. A truly well crafted gothic mystery that would lead to wonderful book club discussion. Glad I finally read this Australian classic❤️

Day 3 #7days7covers #covercrush

This book has been on my TBR too long. Was feeling it & I gotta say, I‘m liking this intro...

This is one of the first things I considered putting on my fall seasonal reading list, so when I saw this I just had to buy it.

@Cathythoughts - thank you so much for the wonderful books! I‘ve nearly bought the tagged book a few times so Im very much looking forward to that! I put Case Histories on my TBR as it is The Leeds Library‘s book group read for October, so that‘s fabulous! I know lots of Littens love the series too...

And the chocolate looks lovely - I don‘t think we get that in England so I can‘t wait... 😋

Thank you @kaysworld1 for the lovely card!

It feels as if this book, and its film adaptions, are so well-known that I was sure I knew the story, but really all I knew about was the first couple of chapters, and I‘m not giving any spoilers in saying that a group of school girls go missing during a school outing the Hanging Rock.

Lindsay‘s writing is very atmospheric, and the storyline is intriguing, and very sad (almost distressing) in places

A group of students from a private girls‘ school near Melbourne have a picnic near Hanging Rock. A few go to explore the rocks on their own. Three of the girls and one of their teachers go #missing in unusual circumstances. A fascinating story.
#ayupaugust