Welcome to Litsy!

Visited one of the cutest bookstores in Boston. Beacon Hill books and cafe. Cafe downstairs with high tea options. Three floors of books, a children‘s section with a tiny door for kids to enter, fireplaces, and cute decor. And of course I bought a book (tagged).

#12Booksof2024

My favorite book in March was another one from South Korea. The titular story in this outstanding collection is about a serial killer in the early stages of Alzheimer‘s who also believes his daughter is dating a serial killer. Wild premise but the author pulls it off beautifully and the story is one of the best I read this year. I really enjoyed all the other stories in the collection too. Excellent read.

@Andrew65

https://apps.npr.org/best-books/#view=covers&year=2024

I am always excited to see NPR‘s yearly favorites list. It does tend to explode my TBR.

Quite different to the other Ogawa books I‘ve read, this was very sweet and whimsical and not very ‘challenging‘ or complicated at all.

Tomoko, aged 12, is sent to live in her Uncle‘s opulent mansion, where she makes friends with her cousin Mina who is one year younger and in delicate health.

It did read like a children‘s book at times and I loved it whilst reading it, but it‘s immediately gone out of my mind since I finished it.

4/5 🌟

This short, intriguing and brilliantly crafted novel follows a family's grief after the brutal murder of a young girl, told through three perspectives. As the victim's sister seeks closure years later, the story reveals the impact and consequences left behind.

“I've got a neighbor who blacks out after a night out drinking. Maybe death is a stiff drink that helps you forget the boring night out that is your life.“
-“Diary of a Murderer“

“Words are slowly escaping me. My head is turning into a sea cucumber. A hole is opening up. It's slimy and everything escapes through it.“
-“Diary of a Murderer“

This sweet, slow burn romance puts a spotlight on the pressures put on high achievers in high school. The friendship between Sadie and her best friend was amazing. The bitterness between Sadie and Julius, her nemesis and love, became almost cruel at times. While Sadie had some resolution with her family, Julius had none. I wasn‘t always wishing for a HEA for these two.

From today‘s Outdoor Reading With Schnauzers session. I think novella-length is my sweet spot with Yukio Mishima. I got tired of SPRING SNOW, a novel, a fair ways before it ended and none of the shorter pieces in this collection wowed me, but I really enjoyed both the novellas included here.

Light & lovely coming-of-age story, Tomoko lives a year w/ wealthy extended family. Girlhood, crushes, friendship, fantasy. Strong trans. Stephen Snyder 2024
81 “If you wanted to describe Mina in a few words, you might say she was an asthmatic girl who loved books & rode a pygmy hippopotamus. But if you wanted to distinguish her from everyone else in the world, you‘d say that she was a girl who could strike a match more beautifully than anyone.”