Litsy

pick

Penelope sits in her role as magistrate while a man is tried for theft. At the same time, she puts her own life on trial as she reflects on her decision to leave her husband for her lover. A taut, well-written account of how we show up in relationships and what it means to be a 'good' person. Maude would approve. 😆
Published in 1976, it means I've completed my first decade for the #192025 challenge! @Librarybelle

Librarybelle Hooray!! I still have a bit to go for the 1970s. 5d

BarbaraBB Wow impressive, finishing the 70s! 5d

merelybookish @Librarybelle I have a bit to go in all the other decades! 😁 5d

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merelybookish @BarbaraBB Thanks! It feels like progress! Are you doing the challenge? 5d

BarbaraBB Yes I am but I am not doing good. After a decade of reading the classics (obsessed by the #1001books list) I now mainly read contemporary books. The #192025 challenge came a bit too late for me 😉 5d

merelybookish @BarbaraBB Interesting! I think I've gone The other way. For a long time I mostly read contemporary fiction and was obsessed with the #tob. Now I am more drawn to the old and obscure. 4d

BarbaraBB That is interesting indeed. I think I‘ll be going there again too. I notice I am often annoyed by US contemporary fiction and am shifting my focus to the rest of the world. 4d

merelybookish @BarbaraBB I think I started to find contemporary fiction limited in its scope. But I still read a few things but am maybe more selective 3d

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BarbaraBB

The New Rooster | Rilla Alexander

#TOBwaiting

In a recent post of @BkClubCare we‘ve been guessing about the ToB longlist, which will be published sometime in November. I thought why not make the most of our anticipation and share the six books we hope to see on that longlist?

It‘ll definitely give us some inspiration for books to check out - whether they make the longlist or not.

These are mine, I hope you‘ll share yours!

(Tagging the #CampLitsy24 participants for a start)

Megabooks, squirrelbrain, LitsyEvents

BarbaraBB @Addison_Reads @Amiable @AmyG @BarbaraJean @batsy @bennettBookworm @Bkclubcare @Bklover @Bookbuyingaddict @BookNAround @Bookwormjillk 1w

BarbaraBB @BookWrym @cariashley @Caroline2 @CarolynM @Catlass007 @CatMS @Cbee @ChaoticMissAdventures @Chelsea.Poole @Christine @CogsOfEncouragement @Cseydel 1w

BarbaraBB @Cuilin @Cupcake12 @dabbe @Daisey @DebinHawaii @Deblovestoread @decalino @DGRachel @elizamarie @ErikasMindfulShelf @Flaneurette @GatheringBooks @Gissy 1w

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BarbaraBB @Graciouswarriorprincess @hes7 @Hooked_on_Books @ImperfectCJ @JamieArc @jas16 @jenniferw88 @JenReadsAlot @Jess @jhod @jlhammar @JoyBlue @julesG 1w

BarbaraBB @julieclair @Julsmarshall @KarenUK @karisa @Karisimo @KateReadsYA @Kimberlone @Kitta @Kristy_K @kspenmoll @kwmg40 @Larkken @Laughterhp @LeeRHarry @Leniverse 1w

BarbaraBB @Lizpixie @maggie4483 @mcctrish @Merelybookish @Meshell1313 @MicheleinPhilly @monalyisha @Nessavamusic @Oryx @peaKnit @prairiegirl_reading @PuddleJumper 1w

BarbaraBB @quietjenn @RaeLovesToRead @Read4life @Readerann @RebelReader @Roary47 @rockpools @Ruthiella @SamAnne @Sapphire @sarahbarnes @sblbooks 1w

BarbaraBB @Soubhiville @Suet624 @Susanita @TEArificbooks @Texreader @TheAromaofBooks @TheBookHippie @TheKidUpstairs @TrishB @well-readneck @willaful @youneverarrived @yourfavouritemixtape @zuhkeeyah 1w

Ruthiella Thanks for the tag! I‘ll take a crack at it! 🎶 It‘s the most wonderful time of the year 🎵 Rooster time! 🐓 1w

Bookwormjillk I don‘t even know where to start, but I‘ll give it a try! 1w

Hooked_on_books I like this idea, but like the others, I‘ll have to think about this a bit. I notice 5 of your books seem to have a color scheme theme. 1w

Bookwormjillk What are the guidelines for the tournament? Is it anything published in 2024? 1w

CatLass007 Thanks for the tag. What does #ToB stand for? Several of these books are on my wish list. 1w

cariashley Yay, I‘ve been waiting for TOB news! I‘m hoping to get back into it this time after not being able to do it last time (life…). Will have to think about this! 1w

Suet624 I rely solely on other Litsy recommendations and you all have never steered me wrong. 1w

BarbaraBB @Bookwormjillk Yes! Just books published in 2024. All choices are arbitrary as they say themselves! 1w

BarbaraBB @CatLass007 You can read all about it here: https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/about 1w

Bookwormjillk @BarbaraBB thanks! I wasn‘t sure if they removed the books from Camp TOB but couldn‘t find anything on their website. I‘ll have to go back to my #CampLitsy lists to see what I missed. 1w

BarbaraBB @cariashley I hope you‘ll be there again, we‘ve missed you! 1w

AmyG Thanks for the tag! I need to think about this. 1w

Susanita I‘ll have to think about it too… 1w

squirrelbrain Exciting! I‘ll post mine later (or tomorrow…. Or the weekend!) ❤️ 1w

Cathythoughts These all look good. I must investigate 👍🏻♥️ 1w

Larkken Ooh, fun! I‘ll have a snoop… 1w

sarahbarnes Fun list and fun idea! 😃 Mina‘s Matchbox is definitely on my list of books I‘m excited to read. I tried reading If Only recently and couldn‘t get into it, but I think it was just me at the time because I loved her other book. 1w

BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes Wow, you did try If Only already! I just discovered its existence 🤩. But I loved her other book too so I have high hopes. I hope it just wasn‘t the moment to start it for you 🤞🏽

Is Mother Dead

sarahbarnes Honestly I think I had a book hangover from Intermezzo when I tried to start it. I‘ll likely try again. 1w

Deblovestoread Thanks for the tag! Will give it some thought! 💜 1w

CatLass007 Thank you for the link! 1w

Meshell1313 Ooh fun! I think James for sure will make the cut! 1w

Chelsea.Poole Very exciting! This will be fun! 1w

Chelsea.Poole Also, great guesses! I really want to read Liars. I‘m on hold for the audio. 1w

dabbe Thanks for the inspiration! 🤩😀🤗 1w

Caroline2 Ohhh exciting!! 😃 1w

BkClubCare Oh MY!! 👏😆🎉 1w

CarolynM All the books on the ToB list are usually new to me. I‘ll have a look at these that you have chosen🙂 7d

Megabooks Liars made me so angry!! I think you‘re right on target with Fruit, and I enjoyed it. I checked out Mina‘s again today. Hopefully I‘ll get to it this time!! 5d

85 likes37 comments

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian

Boys Weekend | Mattie Lubchansky

pick

More satire and less horror than I expected, this was painfully real in its portrayal of immature tech bro masculinity and so-called allies who can't be bothered to get something as simple as someone's pronouns right. It had me cringing. I loved Sammie as a character and the art style was fun! #TransBooks #QueerBooks #HorrorBooks

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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian

Boys Weekend | Mattie Lubchansky

Halloween season TBR! 🎃👻🏚

I'm thinking of starting Boys Weekend first, since it's a graphic novel and from the library

The middle book is Withered, by A.G.A. Wilmot, a queer psychological horror about a haunted house and small town.

On the lighter side, If I Stopped Haunting You by Colby Wilkens is an enemies to lovers story set in a spooky Scottish castle with bi+ Indigenous characters!

#Horror #QueerHorror #Romantsy

26 likes

BarbaraBB

Books of the Century: A Hundred Years of Authors, Ideas and Literature | Charles McGrath

Thanks to the #Bookerprize, the #ToB and the #1001books list I‘ve read a lot of them yet I do think it‘s too America focused. I do love American fiction, but I‘d expected a more international list.

Amiable Good point! 4mo

TrishB Agreed! But well done. 4mo

Ruthiella Yup! So many I‘ve read because they were in a list or part of a challenge. 4mo

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staci.reads Impressive! 4mo

vlwelser I think you're probably the winner. 4mo

vivastory 53! Very impressive 4mo

Megabooks Wow! You definitely have me beat! 4mo

Suet624 Fantastic. 4mo

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sarahbarnes

Dayswork | Chris Bachelder, Jennifer Habel

pick

I‘m so glad @merelybookish pointed me toward this book! I agree with you that it definitely has Ducks, Newburyport vibes. 🩵 I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this story about marriage, life, getting older, finding meaning, and yes, Melville. With poignant pandemic moments throughout, which felt timely as I read this almost exactly four years later. A #TOB long list gem this year for sure.

Liz_M Ok, I've wanted to read this because Moby-Dick, but Duck vibes?! 😍 Now I think I need to own a copy!!! 7mo

sarahbarnes @Liz_M I loved the flow of the text. I hope you like it! 7mo

merelybookish I'm so glad you liked it too!! It doesn't seem like it should work, but it does! 7mo

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ImperfectCJ

Blackouts: A Novel | Justin Torres

Well, the results of the "official" #ToB are out and Blackouts won by a landslide over The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, which is interesting to me because I DNFed Blackouts pretty early on. I guess I like the "tyranny of narrative," which judge Kyle Chayka says Blackouts resists. Now I feel like I should give Blackouts another attempt, maybe in a different format, but the thought makes me want to go back to bed.

ImperfectCJ https://www.tournamentofbooks.com/2024/championship-blackouts-v-heaven-earth-gro... 7mo

BarbaraBB I have read such mixed reviews of the book that I am not tempted to read it even though it won the ToB! 7mo

38 likes2 comments

TieDyeDude

Boys Weekend | Mattie Lubchansky

pick

I really enjoyed this exploration of navigating personal growth and toxic friendships through the lens of a bachelor party weekend and an apocalyptic cult. An excellent LGBT graphic novel with very fun, stylized art. #comicscount

43 likes

BkClubCare

Boys Weekend | Mattie Lubchansky

Look what I picked up from the library! Via ILL ❤️

I have gotten away from posting my readings 😢 Let‘s get back to it.

Updated later: found it confusing, but I am glad to have read it. It was a MUCH quicker read than I expected!!!!

AmyG Hahahaha for a split second I thought-a dog???? 8mo

BkClubCare @AmyG 🤣🤣🤣 8mo

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 8mo

dabbe @AmyG I did, too! 🤩😂😃 8mo

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Larkken

Boys Weekend | Mattie Lubchansky

pick

Newly transitioned, non-binary Sammie goes on a debauched bachelor‘s weekend for their best friend from before they transitioned. They contend with micro- and macro aggressions as they try to figure out if these relationships are worth saving - literally saving, as it turns out, since the weekend happens at the site of an apocalyptic cults‘ bid to awaken their eldritch god. So… lots going on. The part with the clones felt most thought-out. ⬇️

Larkken I am confused (? Conflicted?), however, by this book‘s inclusion in #tob2024. What were the judges thinking? It‘s unlike anything else on the bracket, is uneven in its dealing with some themes, and is really unlikely to go far, given the historical decisions made by judges. This feels like a one-off, a “hey, why not?” And I feel like it deserves better than a footnote in a literary contest. Or is that unfair, and placing these kinds of books in ⬇️ (edited) 8mo

Larkken The public discourse should be a POINT of the #tob? What do y‘all think? I don‘t think it‘s a perfect book, but that also shouldn‘t necessarily be the point of the tourney, and it does have some great themes even if I think other authors/books/formats have done them in a way I thought held together better or at least that I appreciated more. 8mo

TieDyeDude I've never heard of the Tournament of Books. Is that a new thing? I have the same conflicting thoughts about the Oscars, though. Is it patronizing to put a movie on the ballot that has no chance of winning but deserves recognition, or is it “an honor just to be nominated“? 8mo

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Larkken @TieDyeDude Tob has been around for a while, but I've only started reading books from it in the past couple of years bc they are always outside my comfort zone and I usually find a new author to obsess over from every year. Here's the website if you're curious https://www.tournamentofbooks.com. However, I've been enjoying even more the ersatz #LitsyToB crew that's been active... Due to general disaffection with the official short list, 🔽 8mo

Larkken @Megabooks @squirrelbrain and @BarbaraBB organized a vote and a separate shortlist ? and a mini readalong camp last summer. It's been fun integrating my "find authors outside my go-to list" quest with the comradery of the litsy fam. (edited) 8mo

Larkken @TieDyeDude but also, yes! You're right, my feelings are very similar to how I feel about the Oscars. I'm impatient with both groups for having "go-to" authors/directors but then annoyed at the token genre picks that are elevated to being worth recognition -why just them? 8mo

Hooked_on_books I liked seeing this on the TOB list because it‘s topical and different. I‘m glad they included it. But I agree, I don‘t want it to suffer from tokenism, and I‘m concerned it will, especially since it‘s going up against the National Book Award winner in the first round. That seems a little unfair. I‘m really curious to read the judgement for the pairing and see how the judge deals with this. 8mo

Larkken @Hooked_on_books oh man, I didn‘t realize Blackouts was a winner in other award venues already. I hadn‘t gotten to it yet myself. That will be… interesting 🤨 8mo

BkClubCare The ToB is unashamedly absurd - the whole point is that you CANNOT pick a “winner”! Read the history and explanation; I never try to take any of it too seriously. Yes, highlighting obscure offerings to the “battles” is somewhat what they want to do to make it all very interesting to discuss books for book-sake. I am enjoying the tourney this week very much even if I was half enthused about a few titles. 8mo

Larkken @BkClubCare yeah, fair, the absurdity is fun, also I like to read the judgements and feel inadequate in how think about books (🙃 kidding! Mostly). But also I think tokenism in any form is damaging. To me, it‘s like saying that the majority of *something* that is like the one example chosen is generally forgettable, but this one thing can be elevated as somehow worthy. And to that, I absolutely balk. (edited) 8mo

BkClubCare @Larkken - okay, I can accept and ponder that. Or,also,maybe? I would have zero exposure and most of the ToB crowd, if you will, would welcome the introduction to these works of art. I appreciate the opening of my mind, introduction to new ideas and perspectives. I certainly understand that this is not meant to be “hey look, this is the best of Xyz”! Celebrate it as an example. (edited) 8mo

BkClubCare Plus, the commentariat really tends to try and keep it informed, respectful, considerate of all angles of analysis. I learn so much and this challenges me and my reading motivations. 8mo

Larkken @BkClubCare the judges and the thoughtful interaction with the books is def my fav part! No complaints on that score - I love how much I learn about the books and even why I engaged with a book how I did just by reading the judgements et al. Even when it‘s a genre or a book I know fairly well, my reading is always deepened by the experience! 🥰 8mo

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