Welcome to Litsy!

For my 2026 #BookSpinBingo, here are my personal rules to fit my life!

- #BookSpin & #DoubleSpin are priorities.
- The #BookSpin book is replaced by my book club's monthly pick. Original book in that spot moves to #25.
- NetGalley reviews go in #24 & can swap with any spot. No NetGalley means #24 becomes a free choice that is fixed.
- #23 is a mood read. I can swap it with any other spot on the board, but I can only do this once per month.

#ToB26 #25

A son has been living in Tokyo for twelve years when his mother suddenly comes visiting him from the US, after they‘ve been estranged for all those years. Their relationship is a complicated one, their conversations always cut short. Their past is filled with unsolved business, their current lives a search for meaning I think. The Tokyo setting is what I loved most about the book. A light pick.

📸 Chatel, France

#Top25of25
It was another year of, honestly, very dark books. But that is what I like, so not shocking. And there is some variety: Medium dark (Lucy, The Safekeep), funny dark (Hell of a Book, The Devil's Larder) and dark dark (When We Cease to Understand the World, The Bluest Eye). One not dark: '60 Songs That Explain the 90s'. Full list in the comments: *audio, **re-read, non-fiction (nf), story collection (sc), poetry (p); the rest are novels

Book #25 of 2025: “poetry and pearls” by n.r. hart

I really liked this a decade ago but it no longer speaks to me.

#BookerLonglist #3

I really liked Szalay‘s other books but I can‘t make much of this one.
István doesn‘t live his life, it just happens to him. He doesn‘t make choices or decisions. He just says okay to everything that is decided for him. There‘s just one time he does takes action, and it changes the course of his life. Yet it doesn‘t have any real impact on him or on me as a reader. So. Not very impressed.

And can someone explain the title?

#25 of 2025! The Gray Man No. 12!
Started: 7/31/25
Finished: 8/13/25
14 Days

An absolutely amazing, well written book!!

I was recommended (told) that I MUST read the second book in this series immediately. That it was better than the first, and I'd regret having waited to get to it. That recommendation wasn't wrong. It was definitely not a waste of time. I'm hoping I can get to the third book very soon. #25-2025

February 2025 Book #7

Sorry, unpopular opinion here. I think this book was overhyped for me. That situation at the hotel was so unrealistic to me. Then, we have a character not only with suicidal ideation but also a plan to do it and it was ignored? I have read books with morbid humor like Hagman by Maya Binyam but from the beginning you see the absurd tone. I didn‘t see that in this novel. It was tragic so sad her situation but ignored⬇️

#25
Would read this author again..pretty good

I‘ve finally made it to book #25 in the Jack Reacher series! The Sentinel marks the first book where Lee Child collaborates with his brother, Andrew Child, to take over the writing of the series. I thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Child‘s contribution to the series. Reacher remains the same character who finds himself entangled in familiar predicaments while assisting those in need.

Full review abookandadog.com/blog/the-sentinel