Welcome to Litsy!

In September, I read a lot of ecru-colored books with waves on the cover. It‘s a vibe.

My favorites this month were Night Swimmers and Sleep (and Tuck, of course, but that‘s old news). I continued my HMRC (Her Majesty‘s Royal Coven) obsession and saw it through to the bitter (or sweet? No spoilers here!) end.

#AWreads2025
#personalreadingtracker

A man grieving the death of his infant daughter & the dissolution of his marriage rents a seaside cottage in Northern Ireland — just for a week, to give his wife some space until she can stand to look at him again. Then, COVID hits. A week becomes much longer. He goes nowhere, which turns out to be exactly what he needs.

Eventually, his 8 year-old son joins him. And nowhere is exactly what Luca — deaf, misunderstood, & lonely — needs, too.👇🏻

I have a new seagull friend. It‘s been hanging out with me for the better part of an hour, just a step away from the edge of my blanket. It slowly circled me and has now snuggled down and gotten cozy. Bud‘s got two different colored eyes.

Do you think it‘s a spirit bird with a message for me or is it sizing me up and I‘m actually in trouble?

…Only time will tell!

I thought the writing style was unique. This is a Covid story set in NYC with 9/11 still fresh with people who were affected. I thought this would be more of a mystery/suspense/thriller but it was actually about the people‘s lives during this time with a lot of background stories to fill the reader in. It‘s a quiet, character building story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

This one is tough to rate, I keep bouncing back and forth between pick and so-so. I loved much of this book, the sense of found family, finding community and healing after trauma, and the beautiful healing power of nature and the sea. But some things were just so frustrating, they take away from my enjoyment. And in the end the frustration wins out. I'll put further thoughts in the comments under spoiler warnings!

Recent acquisition for our personal library.

Every once in a while, you find something good at the dollar store.

When COVID lockdown forces Evan to extend his coastal getaway it becomes the catalyst for him to stop drifting around mired in misery. He begins to relate to others, and starts to face the traumas that haunt him and look towards the future. His stay also impacts the town eccentric, Grace,who hates tourists but finds herself opening her life up to Evan. Grief, forgiveness, and hope run through this taut book. Touching without being sentimental.

This book was especially hard to read due to the fact that it was written during a timeframe I and everyone else in the world would like to forget. I get it that the author needed to capitalize or get over her writing slump, but I could not fly by as quickly as I've done through her other novels because there is still a lot of pain and misinformation about COVID.

God, I love how she tells a story!
Without intending to, I ended up reading back-to-back pandemic books. The other was for library book group and had all the close-quartered sameness of that time. In contrast, ES delivers another of her quiet books and lets its rich and capacious interiority sing out.

Kate is struggling with self-isolating in November 2020, she breaks and goes for a forbidden walk in the hills of the Peak District. Her 16 year old son Matthew is home alone when he realises she‘s gone and turns to their elderly and vulnerable neighbour Alice. The fourth character is mountain rescue volunteer Rob, helping search for Kate. A third in, I was racing through this desperate to know the outcome. And when it comes, it packs a punch.