There are so many layers to this short, compelling novel, I feel like I could read it 5 times and discover something new and different each time.

When a woman is found, battered and malnourished, on the side of the road near a small Australian town, she becomes "The Unknown Woman" - a sort of cipher for the fragile hopes of too many who have lost a loved one.

Cont'd in comments

"Geordie never just cried. He wept the uninhibited, noisy tears of filterless mourners, shrieking and thrashing the way the rest of us want to but learn much to early to control."

I loved every single page of this marvelous book. Reminiscent of some of the best CanLit, I couldn't help but think of Margaret Laurence and Ann-Marie MacDonald while reading.

One November day in 1967, two women disappear from a small community in BC. The book that follows is about the lives lived in the wake of that disappearance. It is beautiful and melancholy, with just enough glimpses of beauty and joy to maintain balance.

Cont'd 👇

Not much to add to all the wonderful reviews of our latest #CampLitsy25 selection. It was a lovely, quick read about found family and finding yourself, and pushing back against a society that forces people into conventional pigeon holes. I enjoyed it, and loved catching up on everyone's discussions from last weekend!

I wanted a light crime novel to bring to the cottage, and Thomas King didn't disappoint. Great lead character, intriguing secondary characters, an interesting enough murder to solve, and a nice sprinkling of humour (to be expected from King!). Will definitely return to this series!

This was very different than I expected, but it left me questioning (in a good way)!

Faced with an unexpected inheritance and some strange accompanying rules, Cerys moves to an isolated house in Wales and is forced to contend with everyone's views on her windfall, including her own. I was expecting a lighter comedy, but this one goes to some darker places. Would be an interesting one to read with a group!

Such a lovely read, perfect cottage book. Sybil is such a fabulous character, and I loved getting to know her through her correspondence. The ups and downs of life, the difficulties of aging, and the power of connection 💕📫

This was one of my reading spots for the past week. We were at a cabin in Ontario's Near North, with essentially no internet or phone connections to the outside world. I spent a lot of time on the lake, and a lot of time reading on rocks. 6 books down for the week, all great reads, tagged was one of the best. Reviews to come!

Love love loved this! From start to finish, I loved all three different layers and levels. This is one that will stick with me for a long time. I'm packing for a cottage trip, will try to be more eloquent at a later date!

#CampLitsy25
@Megabooks @BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain

“Hope, even a small, new hope like mine, can be a heavy weight to carry when you've grown unaccustomed to its heft.“

I'm trying not to spam your feeds with quotes from this one, but some are just too much not to share.

I am two essays/stories into this collection and I just pre-ordered a paperback copy because I just know I'm going to want to revisit this on the regular. I'm reading it through Libby and my fingers are itching to underline and annotate. It's beautiful. Thanks for bringing it to our attention @JamieArc and for seconding that with your review @Chelsea.Poole

Meh. I skimmed the last 1/3. I'm all for this being widely read, if only because they tried to stop it being published. But really, while there's plenty of vile behaviour, there's not really anything all that revelatory. I'm not at all surprised that Meta/FB is run by a bunch of power-hungry children with little to no concept of tact, morality, or diplomacy.

Cont'd in comments

Cutest bookstore ever? It just might be! A really good selection, too, for such a small place.

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!

Can someone help confirm for me that I'm not Mandela-effecting my brain right now? I've just started the tagged, and she's recounting the shark attack she survived at 13 (I don't think it counts as a spoiler here, it's in the first few pages). I SWEAR I've read/heard this exact story before. Has she told it elsewhere? In an article or on a podcast or something? Does anyone know?

I'm reading ahead for #CampLitsy25 as my holds on this one all came in early! I had a physical, digital, and an audio copy of this one at the same time 😂 Audio is definitely the way to go (if you can do audiobooks and have an option) - Ariel Blake is the narrator and she is fantastic. I didn't find it as effective in digital or print formats. Cont'd in comments

A thoughtful, beautifully crafted novella that carries a lot in its few pages.

Part One sees a writer working on a book about Hortense Cezanne (wife of the artist), traveling from Australia to Aix-en-Provence to Paris, accompanied by the ghost of Hortense herself. It plays with classical ideas of the muse, as Hortense watches and occasionally contributes to the writer's efforts to unearth the story of the woman behind the famed artist.

Cont'd

"It was then that I became aware of the sea. Though not visible through the window, I could smell its seaweed smell, I could hear its roar of outrage - for the sea is a constant agitator for change, for resetting, for rewriting old rules."

After a horrific act of violence in her teens, Babs Dionne reclaims her power and rules over Little Canada with an iron fist, unafraid to use all those around her as workers, or weapons. She loves her family as best she can with the same fierceness. But some threats are just too big, and things begin to unravel.

Cont'd in comments

"I should really take a break from borrowing new library books and read some from my own shelves"

Oops!

Our Makerspace Associate left to take up a great opportunity at another library, but before he left, he printed us all these adorable little book people. I'm sure mine will be featured in a lot of upcoming Litsy posts! What should I name him?

What a ride of a book! I absolutely loved it, and will be thinking about it for quite some time, just trying to wrap my head around it! The first part is fairly straightforward, but thoughtfully wrought. Then that second part comes in, full of questions and a growing sense of unease. Like many others, I am left wondering WTF exactly just happened, but in a really delicious way.

cont'd in comments

(I couldn't fit the full image, credit to @Lindss_tastic on X)

To Littens in California and across the US, sending you love and strength for the fight ahead, whatever it looks like for you.

I'll save the detail for the #CampLitsy25 discussions, but the quick review is this:

I loved it. One of the best I've read this year. And with an ending that is infuriating, and beautiful, and ultimately perfect.

I was rather unimpressed with Migrations, so i went in with low expectations. I'm so glad camp convinced me to give this one a try!

Super excited for the first weekend of #CampLitsy25! Read (and loved) Part One of the tagged, so I'm all ready for this weekend's discussion.

There's a big hold list for Wild Dark Shore, so I'm reading ahead to get through it before it's due back. I'm about 50 pages in, and so far, it's fantastic. Definitely better than I was expecting after being disappointed in Migrations. But isolated islands are always my jam!

A couple days of warm weather has me turning on the summertime #TuesdayTunes

Childish Gambino and Brittany Howard - Stay High https://open.spotify.com/track/1bwDF6AU1iWPp8h6gDS8Ps?si=70Uok-byTlyenE00ntgDUg

Billy Ocean - Red Light Spells Danger https://open.spotify.com/track/557cxXIeiwh03kI2F2jKdh?si=8Z9Ri__oR2Sa0IKixkYjVQ

Pure Sunshine-y vibes 🌞

@TieDyeDude

The short review: @monalyisha you were right ✅️ I loved this.

The longer review: I read this slowly over the last month, and it was a joy to do in and out of. This is a beautiful, thoughtful, poignant, emotional, fascinating, joyful, sorrowful, hopeful collection of essays. Imbler explores the lives and unique attributes of, often misunderstood, sea creatures, and....

Cont'd in comments

When I say I've got a little bit of everything on my bookshelves, I do mean EVERYTHING!

ETA: I was able to gently catch this little fledgling and release it outside safely. Didn't seem injured in any way, just a bit freaked out from being trapped inside!

Backman has an amazing ability to tap into my emotional core, laughing and crying in the same sentence. His latest is no different, a story about finding your people, the ones who will stand with you always, who make it okay to not always be okay.

It is far from a perfect book, I had some issues with the pacing in the first half, and there was some convoluted trickery towards the end -

cont'd in comments

This was a selection from last year's Women's Prize NF Longlist, I think I've been on the hold list for at least 8 months for the audio! Pleasantly surprised at just how worth the wait it was!

Equal parts fascinating, infuriating, and sometimes downright terrifying, Murgia dives into the possibilities, perils, and pitfalls of our growing use of AI technology.

Cont'd in comments

#MentalHealthMonday

1. Overall, rather anxious and disregulated. Having a hard time focusing on much at all. But the sun is shining, so that's something.

2. Binge watching Taskmaster Series on YouTube. There is very little that makes me cry tears of joyous laughter as readily as that.

@Kerrbearlib

Still reading the tagged, and it has provoked both tears and uncontained laughter in public spaces.

#SundayFunday @BookmarkTavern

This one recently won the Edgar Award and was available on Libby, so I thought I'd try it out. A solid, engaging mystery - not a gory thriller, but not too cozy and cute - with great characters. The second in a series, I'll definitely be going back to check out the first one!

"Not to brag, but Louisa did have a perfect plan, it wasn't the plan's fault that she didn't stick to it. Because sometimes Louisa is a genius, but sometimes she isn't a genius, and the problem is that the genius and the non-genius share a brain. But the plan? Perfect."

My mom and I decided to meet for lunch today in a small town halfway between our homes. I got there early and went for a stroll along the river and then through the downtown and - oops! - found the lovely local bookstore (and yarn shop!), Happenstance. Charming little shop with a wonderful selection. I was a very very good little bookworm and only added one to my collection. Can't resist these McNally Editions - will tag in comments.

In other incredibly cool music news for #TuesdayTunes, one of my favourite rap artists/MIT professor Lupe Fiasco found inspiration in the “plein air“ artistic movement to record music in outdoor settings, allowing for the ambient sounds to inspire and collaborate with the music. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/may/01/lupe-fiasco-new-art-project

@TieDyeDude

#TuesdayTunes @TieDyeDude

Just in time for Tuesday I discovered this initiative from the Museum of the United Nations - UN Live. Sounds Right brought artists into the studio to record songs using nature sounds, and Nature gets an artist credit. Nature's artist royalties (and donations) are then directed to conservation and restoration projects.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX7C5zJGrQEji?si=RbNCww-SRrqL3eQLJvev...

We'll see how long this moment of peace lasts...

Unsurprisingly, given all the Litsy love for this one, I loved this book! I love how Espach took contemporary comedic fiction tropes and found genuine humanity underneath. The day drinking mother of the bride, the uptight sister of the groom, the perfectionist verging on bridezilla? They are all wrestling with their own vulnerabilities and trying to get through their days.

Cont'd

Reason 654 to love independent bookstores. Yesterday my son went to our local indie (tagged), armed with a list of books I was interested in. Unfortunately, they didn't have any of them in stock. So the clerk helped him pick out a few titles, let him bring them home without paying to double check that they weren't on my shelves, then being them back to the store and decide which to pay for.

Cont'd

"If a whale's life is a marvel, its death is its legacy."

It's a beautiful day to read outdoors!

My feelings on this one are complicated and still a bit muddled. While overall I really enjoyed reading it, and deep diving into a lot of the music talked about, a lot of the time I just really didn't love Percy and Joe themselves. Percy's college age/post college self absorption was often grating, but it did feel very genuine, and there was just enough self awareness (and side characters willing to call her out on her BS) to shake it off. cont'd

In perhaps the least surprising book news of all time: James by Percival Everett has received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction! https://bookriot.com/here-are-the-winners-of-the-2025-pulitzer-prize/?fbclid=IwY...

Totally deserved! But so unsurprising that when I saw the article, I honestly thought, "Didn't it already win?"

"I was wearing the plain black T-shirt and skinny jeans that I had started wearing every day and would wear some version of for the next several years, having decided that my bangs could do the heavy lifting in signifying the existence of a personality."

It has been a rough couple weeks, but there's still lots of joy for #5JoysFriday

1. Independent Bookstore Day! Always a favourite 😍
2. A beautiful Sunday in the city with the kids to watch Cat Kid Comic Club: The Musical, followed by patio beers with good friends
3. Canada voted 🗳 🇨🇦
4. My washing machine FINALLY got fixed
5. Maple Leafs are through to the second round!

@DebinHawaii

A mother and her child come to a small town in Saskatchewan, desperate for help. Their presence sets off a shock wave through the town and its residents.

A story about finding one's place, even within one's own body. About honouring each other and respecting everyone's lives and struggles, even when you don't understand them.

Cont'd in comments

Code Noir by Canisia Lubrin won the 2025 Carol Shields Prize for Fiction yesterday, beating out some incredibly strong competition. Definitely boosting it up my TBR!

1. I have books everywhere in my house! I wish I had one room that could be a purposeful library, but I'll take shelves wherever I can get 'em! I don't have a count, but there must be over 1000.

2. Tough call. I didn't read as many books as usual this month, but I read some excellent ones. Runners up: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips, and The Followers by Rebecca Wait.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

It is Election Day here in Canada, and I've been oscillating wildly between cautiously optimistic and absolute bundle of nerves weighed down by the boulder of dread in my stomach. I may or may not sleep tonight. Wish us luck!

#MentalHealthMonday @Kerrbearlib