A coming of age story about a trans woman in Madrid, from the opening sentence I knew this was going to an unforgettable read. Bursting with love and pain, this journey from a confused child to a woman who has been guided by the kindness and understanding of the community she finds was beautifully told. These characters leapt from the pages, from Eugenia to Margarita. They broke my heart and repaired it into something stronger.

A novella about a woman who goes along with her partner‘s desire to have a child even though she doesn‘t want to be a mother. Her intentions are good but of course everything changes in their lives. Powerful emotions run throughout these pages, from isolation to desire and back again. An undeniably strong story that I liked but didn‘t quite love.

A human girl raised by a Vampire, a tournament where the prize is a wish granted, alliances made with those she isn‘t sure she can trust, challenges that test every part of her,and of course an attraction that she would very much like to deny, is it any wonder that I devoured this book like candy? Perfect for the mood I was in and I am trying to not immediately jump into the sequel.

I would‘ve skipped over this one if it hadn‘t been on the #tob25 shortlist and I would have missed out big time. A coming of age story about Adina, a girl who never quite fits in. She knows why she is different, she is an alien sent to earth to report to her superiors. It sounds gimmicky and in other hands it could have been but instead this is a story that balances the loneliness and the beauty of growing up and experiencing the world. Loved it.

I hope that you had a wonderful birthday @wanderinglynn and I appreciate your celebrating with us in such a fun way. This book is currently the one I most want to get my hands on.

As someone who frequently struggles with short stories I was ambivalent about this #tob25 title. Lots of love on Litsy for it but I often find short stories unsatisfying. Not the case here. Each story feels well fleshed out and complete with enough time to break my heart or make me feel as if I had walked with the characters and understood them in a slice of their lives. I loved the connections between stories. Great addition to the short list.

Reggie! You spoiled me rotten with this package- an amazing selection of books and more Reese‘s than I could fit into the photo ( I also honestly ate some immediately). This was so thoughtful and generous. I was truly overwhelmed by your kindness. I am so grateful.

Emma has reached one year of sobriety in AA. Instead of feeling like a completely different person she still has struggles like how to tell her coworkers she doesn‘t drink, how to handle her relationship with her alcoholic father,, and on top of it all how to even think about dating again. Yes there is a bit of romance and a bit of comedy but this is really the journey of a character finding confidence in herself in this new chapter of her life.

Well you certainly know how to brighten a Monday @CBee ! Thank you so much for the surprise! This book looks so good and it being added to my long weekend TBR. You are the best!

Essie is a teen who has grown up on reality TV show centered around her religious family. Now 17 and pregnant, her mother and the production crew want to plan how best to handle her but Essie has her own plan. I liked this book so much more than I suspected I would! Told in three perspectives which added more substance to what could have just been a light page turner. I rooted for Essie to finally get the escape she needed.

A short, autobiographical story that packs a punch. I haven‘t read Kinsella in years but I am so glad I picked this up. A author receives a devastating diagnosis and faces medical challenges, the need to share painful news with her children, and the worst kind of uncertainty. I definitely shed some tears.

There are lines and moments that this book that made me want to love it but overall this #tob25 title left me cold. An incredibly unreliable narrator reflects on his upbringing by his immigrant Ethiopian mother and her life long friend who may be his father . There is a lot about the immigrant experience that was well conveyed but everything else was too much of a jumble to make me care. This wouldn‘t have made my shortlist.

Breakups can make anyone go a little crazy but that doesn‘t mean I want to spend a lot of time reading about the mindset of a wallowing and completely unself-aware man trying to figure out his life after the unexpected end of his relationship. Hearing the other side of the story was clever but too little, too late to make this a pick.

When Zora chooses to stay behind in Sarajevo in the Soring of 1992, letting her husband escort her mother to the safety of England, she has no idea what the future had in store for her or her city. As the war escalates she and her community must find impossible levels of strength and resilience. This book was quick to read but I know many of its scenes will linger in my mind.

This was a light pick for me. I found myself wishing that McCannon had just written a straightforward memoir because this book trying to be two things at once meant neither aspect was totally satisfying. The interviews with other exevangelicals felt less in depth than I would have liked and the book never seemed to delve into Information I didn‘t already know. It was still interesting and thoughtful and j am glad I listened to it.

Nothing will ever be able to compete with the Thursday Murder Club but this was still fun and I will absolutely check out the next book in the series whenever it comes out.

This book is a lot. There is a lot going on, a lot of it is quirky, a lot quirky but there is also a lot of heart and charm as well. Once you find your footing you get swept away as part of the chorus of voices in the vivid town setting as the Starling family deals with issues big and small that threaten to divide them. I had to go to work today with only twenty pages left to read and raved home to finish it.

Veterinarian Dimpna returns home after more than two decades after both her parents end up suspects I a murder. She finds her father struggling with dementia, her brother avoiding her, and the past she desperately wanted to leave behind not at all ready to let her go. Lots going on in this mystery set in Ireland@and I appreciated all of the secrets and twists and characters I hope see more of in the following books.

Another ebook sale on a book that I keep seeing on everyone‘s favorites of 2024 lists in case anyone still needs to pick it up.

When a man chokes on a grape during his daily commute other passengers spring into action to save him starting a chain of actions that take them far away from being just strangers. This was a perfect palate cleanser- light, charming, and heartwarming

I really wanted to finish this one last night but just couldn‘t stay awake so I was happy I woke up with enough time to get an hour of reading in before work.i don‘t think I would have picked up this book without all of the praise on Litsy. It was everything everyone said it was -a joyful balance of a closed door mystery and romance. I enjoyed every page.

I can see why there is so much love for this book. It is a heart wrenching story of two best friends whose lives are shaped when one of them is abducted by a serial killer but it more the story of devotion and deep love than it is a thriller. There are so many amazing characters and beautiful moments. At 600 pages it did seem long and at times a little too much. I said, “What now?!” more than once but would quickly be put back under its spell.

A book topping many a Litten‘s top reads of 2024 list (it is certainly high on my list) and the ebook is on sale for $1.99 in case anyone has been waiting to grab a copy.

Out 4/15/25. A true crime writer in need of a second chance agrees to ghost write a book about the abuse that took place at an orphanage. Accounts vary but she is sure there is more to uncover. The more she digs the more the past creeps into the present, murders included. This was a really absorbing debut with a flawed but strong main character and a mystery that wouldn‘t let me rest until it was solved. Highly recommend.

Married couple Millie and Stan head to Africa on safari m. Stan doesn‘t want Millie to come along. He doesn‘t really want Millie at all any more but once they embark the oddest thing happens, Millie no longer cares what Stan wants. She comes into her own with new friends, new talent, and new love. That is just the start of their journey.After reading Mrs Caliban I knew I needed to read more by Ingalls. This was just as strange and marvelous.

Before this book I had only read (and enjoyed) the YA Tiffany Aching series by Pratchett and had a couple of false starts with his adult novels. I found this one easier to read than my earlier attempts and chuckled to myself a time or two but Pratchett remains an author I feel like I should like much more than I do. I will keep trying with couple other books on my shelves but I may have to give up eventually and admit that Pratchett isn‘t for me.

Wow, this was unexpectedly good. A look at Qanon and people sucked into believing their conspiracy theories and also the lives of the loved ones affected. I didn‘t realize how deeply invested I was until something good happened to one of the people and I was so excited I got tears in my eyes. Nonfiction does not often hook me that way but this was interesting and so empathetically told. Definitely one of my top reads of the year.

This book could have been written five days ago just as easily as 50 years ago. Fonny is in jail for a crime he didn‘t commit and Tish is pregnant and working to get him out. Everything seems stacked against them except for their love for each other and the faith of Tish‘s family. It is infuriating how little things seem to change at times. A heartbreaking but often lovely book.
#24in2024

I started this while feeling a bit down and had to take a couple breaks before it really hooked me. It didn‘t start out as the light hearted read the cover suggests. A struggling woman checks into a hotel and becomes entangled in the wedding taking place on site. The interactions push her outside of her herself and her sadness but she also changes those she meets. Balancing both depth and humor this book was surprisingly delightful.

Not a book I would have ever picked up for myself but my friend sent it to me in a care package. I was intrigued by the premise but felt let down by the end. It became predictable and boring and left the most interesting bits unanswered. A very quick read and always nice to read outside of your usual comfort zones.

What a fantastic surprise! Thank you so much @AmyG ! I needed a pick me up and this package has delivered. Now I know what I will be reading next! Your kindness is so appreciated!

Finally getting my reading mojo back. Having this collection of essays to dip in and out of helped. A lot has already been said about this book and I don‘t have anything to add to the conversation except to say that it was an interesting and powerful read and I am glad I finally pulled it off my shelves. #24in2024

The past few weeks have been filled with more medical stuff and other disappointments so even though things are improving, I have been having a really hard time reading. It was lovely to have the #authoramonth excuse to pick up a cozy reread. This was exactly what I needed, a feel good read filled with magic and charm.

A young girl who doesn‘t want her life with her widowed father to change attempts to sabotage his new relationship after he announces his engagement. Such a slim novel that manages to still be weighty. Famously written by a teenaged Sagan, the main character may be juvenile but the examination of human nature is unflinching.
#24in2024

I love retired Chicago detective Cal and Trey, the teenager who essentially adopted him when he retired to an Irish town. This sequel reunites us with the unlikely duo as they deal with the return of Trey‘s unreliable father and the scheme he wants all of the locals involved in. Slow paced but so well written, French can hook me with a single sentence. Would love a book three if only to watch the relationships continue to develop. #authoramonth

I wasn‘t sure at first if I was going to read this. The House in the Cerulean Sea didn‘t really need a sequel to me and a poorly done one had the potential to damage something beautiful. Luckily nothing was ruined by these pages. Instead I got to spend more time with characters that I just love.

I recently read Mellors‘ debut and loved it but wow has her writing only gotten stronger. I really adored this book about three sisters and their grief for their fourth sister that they have all been trying to avoid in their own ways. They could not be more different in personalities and life styles but they have the way they love and wound each other fiercely in common. They also all have experiences with addiction which also cannot be ignored.

I love Louise Erdrich so it pains me to say that I did not love this book. There are some important points in here about farming and the environment but it all gets buried in a clunky plot about the lives of people in one small town including a tragedy in its past, the ill advised marriage of recent high school graduates and a string of bank robberies. The characters don‘t have Erdrich‘s usual magic so it was harder to understand their choices.

Thank you @AmyG - I really needed a book I could easily escape into while San Francisco is in the midst of a heat wave so this book was a gift in more ways than one. I love a messy family drama and really enjoyed that aspect of this book. I tend to be hard on mysteries and I was less enchanted with that aspect of the book especially the ending. Overall a really entertaining read that helped me forget I was melting while I was reading.

I see now why so many people thought this was a sure bet for the Booker shortlist. This is the story of a man exiled from his homeland of Libya and living in London and his two closest friends who both share his experience but also show how uniquely alone they are all too. It was a slower, more meandering tale and let me so gently immerse myself in Khalid‘s story that I was surprised to look up and realize how deeply entrenched I was. So good.

Glad that this ended up being my final read of the Booker shortlist. Nice to end on such a high note. A woman retreats to a convent after she decides her life is no longer working for her. Her lack of faith isn‘t a hindrance as she finds comfort in the simplicity and meditative repetition of her new life, Things happen in her community like an infestation of mice and a visit by an activist nun, but the plot is not the draw her inner thoughts are.

I have spent some time trying to figure out why I loved this less than everyone else seems to and haven‘t come to much of a conclusion. I liked the beginning with all of its fraught anxiety much more than I did the part after the revelation in the third act (which was not really much of a surprise). I liked it but I expected it be my new favorite from the Booker shortlist and it didn‘t live up to that for me. Still a pick.

Not your typical Pym- his one is darker and more cutting but still marked by her keen eye and wit. I honestly didn‘t like it at first, the main character is vain and manipulative and the love triangle she gets involved in wasn‘t especially interesting at first. Then the triangle becomes a square and as the players switch around and the winners become losers, it all became both comedic and tragic. Unexpected but still so good. #24in2024

I know many Littens are just as horrified as I am about the wave of book bans cropping up across US. Amanda Jones, an award winning school librarian in the South, spoke up against censorship in a town meeting and was then subjected to a massive hate filled smear campaign. She was called a groomer and a pedophile. She lost friends. Her story is scary and infuriating. The telling of it in this book does get repetitive but her point gets driven home.

One beautiful summer Eve and her son, Daniel,live next door to Sherry, Leslie, and their daughters and they both find something vital in the relationships they forge. Years later while struggling Daniel seeks out the former neighbors and the time in his life that felt the most secure. A lovely story filled with complicated relationships and empathy. #24in2024

My 6th book from the TOB long list and my first by Kushner. There is no denying that she is very smart; I just couldn‘t bring myself to care about anything in this book. Not for me but getting rave reviews elsewhere.

Loved the first book so much that I couldn‘t wait for the my library hold to come in and ended up buying the sequel. I should know better by now because this just didn‘t have the sparkle of the first book for me. Too much quest, too little everything else. I am hoping book three is better.

The book from the Booker long list that I thought sounded the most interesting has ended up the one I have liked least so far (although I still have several to go). Eight teenaged female boxes competing for a title, we get glimpses of their thoughts during their matches, what brought them there, and what their futures hold. But that is all that is, glimpses- not enough to be satisfying or give this story much impact.

I have been a lot of historical fiction lately but this book still managed to surprise me in the best way. A young mother in WWII trapped into living with her disapproving parents and who only wants to raise her daughter as best she can. Faced with a horrible choice and even worse consequences she must face her past and fight for her future. I don‘t want to give too much away and I enjoyed that this book felt unexpected and fresh.

Was this super angsty and a touch overlong? Yes. Was it also nearly impossible to put down? Also yes. I have already put the sequel on hold at the library. I loved these characters and can‘t wait to see what happens to the pack next. #authoramonth