I really liked this #ToB longlister but, boy, is it long!

Ostensibly set in a boxing gym, but covering 10 or 12 main characters / POVs, we go off at all sorts of tangents as we meet teenage Nathaniel Rothstein in 1998, but also look back many years later after his unexplained disappearance.

The book also covers big themes - race, immigration, sexuality, sex, policing, so there‘s a LOT to think about, but it‘s worth the effort.

This gets a terrible GR score so I wasn‘t sure if I even wanted to read it, but I‘m a list completist *and* it‘s a NetGalley book so I can tick off that review!

The writing was completely overwrought and flowery - and I nearly gave up after the first two paragraphs that I had to read twice (see above).

I can‘t make other comments without spoilers so I‘ll post those below. ⬇️

This is billed as Welsh horror folklore. It‘s definitely Welsh - Carwyn and Rhian are sheep farmers on the side of a mountain in North Wales. When Carwyn finds a stone head in one of their fields he becomes obsessed with digging to find more.

There are 12 snippets of folklore, moving backwards in time.

I don‘t think it‘s horror in the literary sense, with the true horrific moments coming from the harsh realities of farming life.

Book haul from the Waterstones sale.

The Connelly is for hubby, the almanac is a birthday gift for my Mum. The rest are mine, all mine! 😝

The tagged is on the ToB list and I‘m on hold at the library, but it‘s been ‘in transit‘ since the longlist was published so must be missing.

I blame @TrishB for putting Eleanor on my radar - sounds fab!

I have a digital ARC of Buckeye, that I haven‘t read, but it feels like a book I should own. 😊

My top 25 of 2025, in no particular order. I don‘t think I could pick an absolute favourite, but if forced to pick a top 5 I‘d go with:

The Axeman‘s Carnival
The Story of a Heart
Heart the Lover
For The Sun After Long Nights
The Artist

But, ask me again in 5 minutes and I‘ll change my mind about that! 😜

Hello, fellow #wintercamplitsy campers! We know you like to see some of the ‘nearly-made it‘ books when it comes to camp voting!

The above 9 books are in order of voting, with The Road to Tender Hearts being the closest to making our top 3.

Interestingly, The Antidote was in the top 3 for the first half of voting, but fell away later on, whereas Good Dirt did the opposite.

What do you think of these - any you‘ve read or plan to read anyway?

My holds on BorrowBox for these two books came through at nearly exactly the same time…. 🤔

Is the library trying to send me a message?! 😜

Seriously though, I know a few Littens have loved the Ozempic one, and I‘ve seen the other on a few ‘best of‘ lists for this year.

Thanks to #picador #panmacmillan for their generous Christmas gift of 8 ARCs.

These include a forbidden love story, a tale of missed chances, unhinged K-pop, too much plastic surgery, enduring friendship, Welsh horror folklore, short stories of people far from home and a bar called Lemon in 1990s Tokyo.

Can‘t wait! 😝

Vera is an Armenian immigrant, struggling in post 9/11 NYC. We go back to her childhood in war-torn Lebanon, and then further back to her Grandmother‘s time. Although the book is described as fabular, this third part is the only ‘fable‘ in the book and doesn‘t meld well with the other two parts. I‘d have also liked to circle back round to adult Vera in NYC for more of her story arc.

Overall, I liked it but it didn‘t move me like it should have.

#ToB #shortlist

Arabella, a New York theatre director from a Palestinian family, is old at 35 to not be married (!). She has growing feelings for her Israeli friend so, when she gets the opportunity to direct a show in the West Bank, she agrees to meet Aziz, arranged for her by her grandmother.

This had a very similar underlying plotline to Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, but in the style of Xóchitl González books - I loved it!

It‘s time! Following publication of the ToB shortlist yesterday, here‘s your voting form for our very own #wintercamplitsy!

https://bit.ly/3MB5rGz

And here is our list to choose from. We also took out those books that we already read at #camplitsy25 in the summer plus a couple more that aren‘t available outside the US yet, but you still have 43 to choose from!

https://bit.ly/4oQvaZ8

Voting deadline is next Weds 17th December. ENJOY!

#10beforetheend - completed! 😊

This list was also all the National Book Awards longlisted books that I still had left to read. Thanks (I think! 😝) to Holly for getting me involved in reading this list. There were 30 books across 3 categories (Fiction, NF and Translated) and I read 24 in total.

Favourites were Raja The Gullible and The Wilderness (Fiction), For The Sun After Long Nights (NF) and Calculation of Volume III (translated).

I loved the first third of this NBA longlister for Fiction in Translation.

Then it got VERY repetitive and long-winded.

The final third was more interesting but I‘d already guessed what was going to happen, although not the ultimate ending, so that lessened the impact a bit. That, and the fact that i5 was all rather depressing, kept this as a so-so..

This is a collaborative book, with one author still living in Iran, risking imprisonment every day and the other living in self-imposed exile and unable to return.

All of the people profiled here, mainly women but also other minorities, are incredibly brave. As well as eye-opening accounts of what is it to live under the Iranian regime there are also discussions of what journalism *should* be.

One of the best books I‘ve read this year.

This #ToB longlister is very meta and I can‘t figure out how much of it is ironic. ⬆️

There are various POVs (confusing at times), one of which is a supposed submission for a Creative Writing MFA.

There‘s a lot of angsty conversation so, if you don‘t like that, don‘t bother. However, it‘s not like Rooney where there‘s no communication - here, they over-communicate in a very performative, affected way.

Weirdly, I didn‘t hate it, a soft pick.

This is a fictionalised account of when Penelope Fitzgerald, with her 6 year old son, travelled to Mexico in 1952 at the whim of two elderly sisters who supposedly have an inheritance to bestow.

I found this pedestrian - nothing much happened. It also felt very muddled, with many loose ends, cul-de-sacs and contradictions. (And not in a ‘work it out for yourself‘ way, more a bad editing way)

By far the most annoying thing, though, was ⬇️

Like many other Littens, I loved this!

I love how the author sprung surprises throughout - certainly there was a lot I didn‘t see coming. And, yes, I cried at the end.

I can‘t understand how this didn‘t make the ToB longlist. Hopefully, it will be on *some* kind of list - maybe the Women‘s Prize next year?

Not strictly book related….

But those of you who know me and my spreadsheet obsession (particularly for #camplitsy!) will know that my new sweatshirt is just perfect for me!

This is an INCREDIBLY violent book, but I didn‘t hate it - don‘t know what that says about me. 😬

There aren‘t many prisoners left in The Colony, because the governor releases 2 on each full-moon then pursues them to their death. What will happen if / when the authorities arrive to close the facility down?

I don‘t know if I should recommend this to anyone - just be prepared.

I‘m sure I‘ve missed someone who‘s reading the ToBlonglist - sorry!

The first story in this collection narrated by women and girls was fab - meaningful and understandable. After that things got a bit patchy - some were good but there were others where I just didn‘t get the symbolism and I‘m not even sure if I was meant to - the stories just fizzled out.

Overall, though, I can see what the author was trying to do so a light pick.

(Also, it‘s not really horror or body-horror - a few bugs is all. Oh, and a tail!)

I‘m not a huge fan of Smith (I‘ve tried the seasonal quartet and just didn‘t get it) but this is on the #ToBlonglist and was on audio at the library and it‘s short! 😜

It‘s set in a very near dystopian future as two siblings try to find their way. I ended up quite liking it - not sure what was going on at some points but I appreciated the wordplay and plays on words.

I liked it enough to try the companion book when it comes out next year.

Bit of a colour theme going on with my library #bookhaul!

3 of them are, of course, from the #ToBlonglist. I actually reserved Seduction Theory around 6 weeks ago and it‘s taken this long to come in - perfect timing!

I fully expected Heart the Lover to be on the longlist too. 🤷‍♀️ I‘ll have to read that one first anyway as it has multiple reservations against it, so I can‘t renew it.

Home from our holidays now, to book mail. It‘s all rather ToB-adjacent!

I ordered the top and bottom books yesterday, when the list was released. (The only two I‘ve bought so far from the longlist - I‘m behaving myself! 😝)

The Balle is a pre-order and was published this week. It was on the NBA list, as well as being on the ToB longlist.

And finally, I ordered The Turner House after loving The Wilderness, which is also on both lists!

Loved this, as expected! The MC is in Paris at the start of COVID lockdowns, watched by the ghost of Hortense Cezanne, as she tries to write a biography of her.

I really liked how the author played with memory and recollection, as the two women explored each other‘s memories.

Thank you for sending this to me! @CarolynM 😘

📸 Sunrise over Bamburgh Castle. Can you see the line of photographers on the beach, all after the perfect shot?! ☺️

This was…fine. The narrator‘s father dies when he is a young boy and we follow him through life, eventually taking a road trip with his own teenage son.

It just about held my interest, but nothing really happens. A light pick.

📸 The cluster of cottages on the far left is where we‘ve been staying.

Just me, starting another book, with my Lindisfarne (Holy Island) bookmark, whilst looking at *actual* Lindisfarne out of the window.

Looking forward to this book!

I bought this in the West Kirby bookshop, on our way to the Gladstone‘s reading retreat this year. There are a number of books re-released in this collection.

This was first published in 1950 and opens with Faustina Crayle being dismissed from her teaching post at a posh girls‘ school. She‘s not told why & there doesn‘t appear to be a concrete reason but this is the second time it‘s happened.

This is a gothic-y detective mystery - I liked it!

Not my usual kind of book, but I‘d added it to my TBR after seeing it rumoured for the Booker. I wonder if it will be on the ToB list?

I ended up really liking it and will try more by this author. Set in Tasmania, Dusk is a puma who is killing shepherds, but the book is more about the relationship between and the history of twins Iris and Floyd, who set out to hunt Dusk.

Thank you for sending this to me @Caroline2 😘

Yes, OK, you were all right - I loved it! ❤️😝❤️

It did take me a chapter or two to get into it and I was a *teensy* bit worried for a few minutes, but it all came good and it will probably be on my ‘best of 2025‘ list.

Pic: Henry being a little bit knackered after playing on the beach.

Book haul!

The top 4 are mine, from The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick. I love it there as they always have under-the-radar books. I‘ve certainly never heard of The Merge before, but it gets great reviews on GR.

Hubby got the next two, from the same shop. The Connelly is for him also, from Barter Books.

And, finally, the bottom two were Q9.50 each, from a charity bookshop in town.

A really fascinating read. It‘s not a typical, linear, true-crime book, so you need to know about the crime *before* reading.

Instead, it‘s the thoughts of the three Aussie authors as they attend the trial, including on why we are drawn to such terrible events, and whether we are voyeuristic in being so engrossed. (Which was really interesting as I felt this slightly when reading newspaper reports of the crime, and even when buying this book)

I loved that this launched straight into the drama with no introductions or preamble. Following the lives of 4 friends over the years, I found the non-linear timeline a bit distracting but otherwise I was completely engrossed.

I need to read the author‘s previous book now, if it‘s as good as this.

My TBR pile for my holidays and a little peek outside at our view.

Just in case I didn‘t bring enough, we‘re off to Barter Books (and another bookshop!) tomorrow to stock up on more…. 😜

Thank you so much for this lovely gift, Megan! @TheKidUpstairs ☺️

I bet you thought it was lost in the post, didn‘t you? It looks like you posted it in September! 🤨

I‘m glad you like it so much and that makes me look forward to reading it even more! ❤️

This one is a soft pick. The author writes an ‘autobiography‘ of her partner which doesn‘t really work as a structure. Some of the content is fascinating, or could have been, as the most interesting parts are skimmed over. The author‘s escape from Vietnam to Canada could have been a book in itself.

Instead we got a vignette of a leak from the bathroom into the flat downstairs, and the comment that ‘The names of fruit often reflect their color‘

My National Book Awards #10beforetheend is coming along nicely now, after a very slow start.

I‘ve only just started Sad Tiger and Autobiography and about a third of the way through The Remembered Soldier, which is the chunkster on the list.

I‘m still concerned that I‘m going to get sidetracked by the ToB longlist when that comes out…. 😝

I loved this NBA nominee. Raja is a 60 year old queer man, living in Beirut. His mother has just moved in with him and they have a rather fractious, but hilarious relationship.

Raja looks back over Lebanese history which, of course, is a rather serious topic. He intersperses that with his own relationship history, which also has a serious side, but he is witty and loveable throughout. (And his mother is an absolute menace! 😝)

This was fascinating. Starting just over 100 years ago it looks at the role of women in Russian society, both political and personal.

I was worried this would be too politics-heavy for me, but it wasn‘t at all - the author uses her own family history to great effect.

The book grew more compelling (and terrible) as it neared the present day, particularly on the subjects of VAW, the Ukraine war and Putin.

Highly recommended.

A genre-defying book…. Part whaling story / maritime adventure, part body horror, part dark fantasy, part polemic on the dangers of capitalism.

I certainly can‘t say I enjoyed it but I appreciated it and was compelled to keep reading, despite the very graphic depictions of whale slaughter.

There‘s a lot to process here and I‘ll be thinking about it for some time.

Another one from the NBA longlist and from my #10beforetheend list.

Just two books finished so far for #10beforetheend. 😬

Work is kicking my butt at the moment. 🙄

I am part-way through reading 5 others from my list though, so there‘s that! 😜

This was wonderful - thank you so much for sending it to me! @Caroline2

Jude, Wendy, Sylvie and Adele have been friends for years. After Sylvie dies, the other 3 gather for a weekend, to clear out her house. Sylvie was the glue that held them together, so tensions arise and fractures appear.

I spent the whole time holding my breath, hoping that something terrible wasn‘t going to happen, particularly with the dog, 😬 but still loved it!

My special edition boxed-set of A Little Life just arrived! ❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for putting it on my radar @TrishB and good job I jumped on it quickly, as it‘s now sold out!

I‘m afraid I just didn‘t ‘get‘ this, but it‘s probably a me-thing rather than the book itself. I‘m not in a very concentrate-y mood right now and need something that‘s easy to read or grips me from the start.

There was a lot of florid language and probably a load of metaphor that just went over my head.

It‘s based on a real-life trans man although I didn‘t see much queerness at all, but possibly that‘s me skimming rather than reading in depth.

A fascinating book from the NBA NF list. Jordan was studying for a PhD when he decided to become a ‘hotshot‘ firefighter, chasing wildfires.

The book blends his physical experiences fighting fires with his studies into how indigenous peoples managed the land through fire.

Most interesting (and infuriating) was the mis-information on climate change peddled by large corporations and taken up by (Republican) politicians.

I‘m reading some great books at the moment but still can‘t seem to concentrate so thought I‘d try to lose myself in a short book.

I really liked this - Shy is a teenager at a young offenders‘ institution. We spend time with the thoughts in his head through one dark night.

I‘ll be interested to see the recent film, which sounds like it‘s got quite a different perspective.

Thank you for sending this to me, Cathy. @Cathythoughts

Hubby and I had brunch with Mark Billingham today…. Well, us, and about 50 other people!

He‘s a very funny guy - he actually used to be a stand-up comedian.

At one point he talked about abandoning books he wasn‘t enjoying. He asked who reads books right to the end even if they‘re not loving them and I got thoroughly told off! 😝

It‘s a LONG time since I read Wild Swans and I wonder if this would have felt a little repetitive in places if I‘d read it more recently. This book is really a love letter to the author‘s mother and brings Wild Swans up to date. I particularly enjoyed the section where Chang first arrives in the UK, and found her most recent experiences with censorship in China rather terrifying.

I found the middle section, where Chang is writing her ⬇️

#10beforetheend

Excited to be joining in with this challenge! ALL of these are from the NBA awards longlists. Although some didn‘t make the shortlists I own them now so want to read them anyway…. @Hooked_on_books

My only concern is I‘m going to get distracted by the ToB longlist in the not-too-distant future. 😜 I‘m looking at you as well! @BarbaraBB 😉

Thank you for my surprise gift! @CarolynM 😘

This book sounds SO good - I‘ve been keeping an eye out for it since you read and reviewed it but, you‘re right, it‘s very difficult to find.

I love the coaster too - perfect! 👌

Loved this! I have Vol II on audio, and await the publication of Vol III next month.

I‘m reading Frankenstein at the same time and there are some intriguing parallels; Tara refers to herself as a monster and I‘m just at the part in Frankenstein where the monster is living in an annex and watching the family next door…. Sound familiar?! 🤔

Henry on his one night camping trip, supposed to be two but I have the lurgy so we came home early.