Litsy

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I wasn‘t going to read this, but then it made the #ToB shortlist. I still wasn‘t sure but thought if I borrowed it from the library, I could bail.

I ended up really liking it and it didn‘t feel (quite) as long as it looked.

Thanks #ToB - you made me read and enjoy a fantasy book about teenagers, with ghosts, magic and weird creatures, where I didn‘t always understand what the heck was happening!

Henry liked it too! 🤪

LeahBergen Hello, Henry! 😘 5d

ChaoticMissAdventures Oh this is good to hear! I am not hearing many enjoy it, I might give it a shot 5d

Hooked_on_books This is my last one left from the shortlist. I hadn‘t planned to read it initially but put the audio on hold in case I changed my mind. I don‘t have it yet, but several of you all now liking it, I feel a little more hopeful about it. And I love that Henry is a goof! 😆 5d

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youneverarrived I love when a book surprises you and you end up liking it more than you thought! 5d

BarbaraBB Wow! Kudos for giving it a chance and continue reading it! 5d

Readerann 🐶 😍 5d

squirrelbrain Henry says snoof! @LeahBergen 🐾 5d

squirrelbrain @ChaoticMissAdventures @Hooked_on_books @youneverarrived @barbarabb - the more recent reviews on GR are awful and it‘s not my thing at all but I was pleasantly surprised. (edited) 5d

sarahbarnes I‘m glad you liked it! I liked it more than I expected, too, but it did often feel long to me. Cute pic!! 😍 5d

ChaoticMissAdventures @squirrelbrain often times when reviews are overly terrible I read the book and think well this is fine, IDK what these people are talking about. They can really skew (either way) how I feel about a book which isn't always good but sometimes my expectations get so low I can say really pleasant things about a book! 4d

squirrelbrain I probably did skim it a bit @sarahbarnes as I often do! 🤪 4d

squirrelbrain In this case @ChaoticMissAdventures reviewers on GR either love it or hate it. But the last few reviews on here were good and I trust Littens more than GR readers so I gave it a go! 4d

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squirrelbrain

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

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I clearly didn‘t love this #ToB book as much as other Littens (looking at you in particular Holly, @Hooked_on_books ). I mean, I loved the writing style and all of the bookish references but I found it really depressing and the Book Censor‘s life was so ultimately futile.

I‘ve been trying to figure out why it felt more so than 1984 and I think the MC was actually likeable and, of course, there‘s the inclusion of his daughter in this one.

Hooked_on_books I wish you had loved it as much as me! I thought it was magical. And, quite frankly, I loved the fact that the attitudes in a Middle Eastern country were echoing those of right wing book banners here, as I know that would rankle the conservatives. Do you have people trying to ban books there that‘s escalating like we do? 1w

squirrelbrain It‘s nothing like as bad here @Hooked_on_books - there have been protests around eg drag Queen storytelling and this article ⬇️ shows that there *are* requests to ban books, but not at the scale in the US. Didn‘t it feel too real / close to the bone for you? 1w

squirrelbrain https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/19/uk-school-librarians-asked... 1w

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Hooked_on_books I feel like when things are real they need to be shown in books so that they are validated and also so we can see a more nuanced view. So I think books like this one are vital. I hate to tell you this, but it started here as a protest about drag queen story hour (I think drag queens are awesome, so I really don‘t get the issue) and slid into book banning, so my guess is that‘s where you‘re headed. 1w

Hooked_on_books It looks from the article that the exact same books are being targeted as is happening here; unsurprising as many trying to ban books follow an online playbook. If your library association at the national level is smart, they‘ll get ahead of it by looking at what‘s been effective here in fighting the bans. Based on the article, sounds like that hasn‘t happened yet. 1w

BarbaraBB Great review and discussion. I get why you love it so much @Hooked_on_books and also why you did less Helen. I am with with you that book banning doesn‘t feel like reality here. I get scared by what you say Holly about the way it started in the US. Fortunately I haven‘t seen any protests around storytelling whatsoever where I live. For now the book feel like a modern, Middle Eastern version of

Fahrenheit 451

squirrelbrain Yes @BarbaraBB @Hooked_on_books - I get the feeling that it‘s less of an issue here in the UK - our political parties are less polarised I think. Rachel @rockpools is probably better placed to comment though. 1w

rockpools Interesting discussion Helen and @BarbaraBB and eek @Hooked_on_books - I hope we‘re not going that way! The drag time story hour protests sadly are a thing. To the point that we‘re told not to promote them on socials, because they tend to attract an out-of-area pile-on. The book banning - ugh. So many things. Schools Lib Assocn and CILIP put out a statement last year about bans/censorship: https://tinyurl.com/5m749jf3 1w

rockpools However, as library staffing is deprofessionalised, it‘s going to be much harder for individual librarians to stand up to removal requests, as they won‘t have the clout or the support networks around them. I think active requests for book removal are a lot less organised in the UK atm, which ais helping right now. 1w

rockpools But with drastic funding cuts and everything else, libraries are going to have to work harder to provide a proper diverse range of books. Interesting times, sadly. I might give the book a go at some point though 😔 1w

BarbaraBB @rockpools I hadn‘t thought of the role of librarians in providing a proper collection. Thanks for adding that, it makes a lot of sense. 1w

squirrelbrain Thank you Rachel @rockpools - very insightful. I can send you the book if you like? It‘s very difficult to get hold of here, for some reason. @BarbaraBB sent it to me. 1w

rockpools @squirrelbrain That would be amazing- thank you Helen. 1w

Hooked_on_books @rockpools Sadly it sounds to me that you‘re heading in the same direction as my country (well, parts of it). It seems to be part of the conservative playbook at the moment. The upside for us is that people are aware of it now that there‘s a lot of pushback and it looks like those efforts might start being on the wane, though it‘s a bit early to tell. 1w

squirrelbrain I‘ll send it to you this week sometime @rockpools 1w

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Readerann

The History of Sound: Stories | Ben Shattuck

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Just loved this, especially with the unique way the stories are interconnected. The audiobook is fantastic, with different readers for each story.
#ToB25

sarahbarnes Glad you loved it too! 1w

BarbaraBB Yes, happy you loved it too! 1w

Suet624 I‘m really happy this is getting such love. 13h

Readerann @sarahbarnes @BarbaraBB @Suet624 Kudos to the #ToB for selecting this gem! 10h

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ChaoticMissAdventures

Ours | Phillip B Williams

#WeeklyForecast

Finishing the tagged (have a little over 100pgs to go) Reading SGJ's The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (I am about 75 pages in already and loving it)

Starting Real Americans which is due back to the library next weekend (#ToB), and Still Life With Bones (#NFReads)

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squirrelbrain

How We Named the Stars | Andr�s N. Ordorica

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One of my favourites (so far!) from the #ToB longlist. Daniel is a scholarship student at an elite East Coast university. His roommate, Sam, is the opposite - a popular, good-looking guy whose father also attended the college. Against first impressions the two become best friends and then something more, but can their relationship go the distance?

Be warned - it‘s a sad one. 😢

sarahbarnes Good to know you liked this one! 2w

BarbaraBB A favorite among all those good ones? That means I must stack! (edited) 2w

squirrelbrain It would definitely make my shortlist @BarbaraBB 2w

BarbaraBB Okay. You sold it. And I bought it. 2w

squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB 🤪 2w

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squirrelbrain

Help Wanted | Adelle Waldman

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I didn‘t read the blurb properly on this #ToB longlister and was expecting a wacky, unrealistic, maybe horror-based, attempt by a logistics team at Town Square (aka Walmart)to get their disliked manager promoted away from them.

Instead, the author plays it ‘straight‘, which is a good thing - I really felt I got to know and care for the characters and you really see the impact of corporate decisions on the economically disadvantaged.

sarahbarnes The blurb from Elif Batuman makes me want to read this one! 2w

Deblovestoread Your reviews are helping take the guess work out of the long list 🥰 2w

BarbaraBB I just got a copy of this one too! 2w

squirrelbrain I think you‘ll both really like it! @sarahbarnes @BarbaraBB 2w

squirrelbrain Oh, the pressure! 🤪 @Deblovestoread (edited) 2w

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sarahbarnes

Poor Deer: A Novel | Claire Oshetsky

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These are the books I love the TOB for! Such a strange, brilliant story. Told perfectly from the perspective of a child as she grows up grappling with events from her young life in a way only children can. A fantastic read. I‘m sad this didn‘t make the #TOB2025 shortlist.

squirrelbrain Exactly why I love #ToB too! ❤️ 2w

BarbaraBB Can‘t wait to read it! 2w

sarahbarnes @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB it‘s one of the gems on the list this year I think. One I‘m so glad to have read. 🩵 2w

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BarbaraBB Oh wow, that is quite a recommendation! 2w

Suet624 Well now I‘ll be stalking my local libraries for this one. 1w

BkClubCare Yay! I was excited when I first heard of this one and it didn‘t disappoint- an author who is now a must-read for me. 5d

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Megabooks

The Book of Love: A Novel | Kelly Link

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This was a huge surprise hit of the #tob25 shortlist, but it is loooong! Finding out January LaVoy was the narrator pushed me to listen to 23.5 hours of audio, and I don‘t regret it.

It‘s a complicated plot involving three teens who are brought back from death through a key they‘ve found. They find themselves tugged between forces who need the key for themselves. Loved the characters and not YA at all.

BarbaraBB That is super encouraging! 2w

squirrelbrain I‘m reading this in print but I‘m not very far in yet. I‘m undecided whether to go audio as well, but I have a few other #tob longlisters lined up on audio as well. 🤷‍♀️ 2w

Hooked_on_books Interesting! I have the audio on hold and it‘ll be a while before I get it, but this is encouraging. I‘m totally ready to bail on it, but hopefully I‘ll end up liking it, too. 2w

Megabooks @Hooked_on_books January just did such a fantastic job with the narration! I was really engaged! 2w

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jenniferw88

Martyr!: A novel | Kaveh Akbar

For those doing #ToB, Martyr is 99p at the moment!

@BarbaraBB

BarbaraBB Thank you Jenny for this thoughtful post! 💚 3w

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Megabooks

The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards | Jessica Waite

Last wrap up post! I started and ended the year with some #tob reads. I‘ve already finished my first book of 2025, but I hope to get to some of my missed reviews tomorrow. The tagged is my best nonfiction of the year. The Wedding People is my best fiction; although I developed a new appreciation for Fates and Furies. Here‘s to a great bookish year! 🎉🥂 May your 2025 be filled with more amazing books! 🫶🏻💜

sarahbarnes Happy New Year!! 🎉📚 3w

Deblovestoread Happy New Year 🎆🎇🎆 3w

Ruthiella Happy New Year to you! 🥂🍾🥳 3w

BarbaraBB Great stats! Your favorite fiction you sent to me. I feel grateful and am looking forward to it! Here‘s to another year of books and friendship 🩷 3w

Megabooks @BarbaraBB yes! I hope you love it, too! I‘m so very glad we‘ve become friends!! 💜💜💜 3w

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