Welcome to Litsy!

#Two4Tuesday
Thanks for the tag, @TheSpineView! 🤗

1. Not to brag, but I was pretty good in high school; I graduated 3rd in my class of over 600 students (thank goodness, for I would have hated to give a speech!). But then I discovered college and was legally okay to drink at the age of 18, so partying interfered with my scholastic abilities for a while. 🤣
2. My students loved the tagged book! Who wouldn't want to kill their English teacher? 🤩

I didn‘t love it…which honestly, comes as a surprise because everything else I‘ve read by Russell I really enjoyed. It has the right ingredients—interesting setting (Dust Bowl), a witch, a sentient scarecrow, a mystery, but…BUT, it‘s ponderous & slow moving, told in multiple POVs which aren‘t all that distinctive, & somehow (impossibly) devoid of emotional depth. I really should have cared about these characters & I just didn‘t. Just a so-so read.

It‘s not summer yet but I‘m in the mood for a gossipy summer read anyway.

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I was looking forward to this one and am a little disappointed by it. It tells the story of a series of murders but the organization isn‘t great, making it disjointed. It also tells it to some degree from a social justice lens, which I loved, but I think it would have been better if that was the focus and the murders and attitudes around them were illustrative. #WPNF25

Olivia was 3 when her mother was killed. Her dad was missing. She spends time with her grandmother until the grandmother dies in her 50s. Olivia decides to try to discover the facts after hearing that her father‘s jaw bone was found. She goes to the funeral and decides to stay to solve the crimes. Set in Oregon. 4/5⭐️

I can see why Helter Skelter has enjoyed such enduring popularity. It‘s gripping, it‘s scandalous, it‘s horrifying, and Bugliosi‘s role gives it a ring of authenticity that you don‘t get with an outsider‘s perspective on a crime. I wouldn‘t recommend it blindly, though – you need to have a stomach for graphic detail. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/helter-skelter-vincent-bugliosi/