One of my little pleasures, waking up early on a Sunday to make it to my favorite coffee/breakfast place to read before the crowds show up

I‘m not a huge reader of non-fiction and when I do read non-fiction, I tend to prefer books that read like stories rather than a list of facts. This was not a book that read like a story so I struggled to stay engaged. I did learn a fair amount about a subject for which had zero knowledge.

This was Jan‘s pick for our partner read this month (little known history) although which it was little known to me, it‘s not an obscure topic.

This was a book I picked mostly bc I liked the cover and I was having a weak moment in a bookstore. Robots, AI, and some complicated sibling relationships. I didn‘t find it particularly novel and the first half dragged on for me. Generally not my sort of book.

I do love his books and this was no exception. I do admit that it was challenging to read in this moment in time - although published in 2021 it echoes everything that is happening today. A government hostile to climate change initiatives, war on science, revoking visas of foreign nationals. This book deserves all the accolades it received beautifully written, emotional, and thought provoking.

Long distance relationships require some creativity and my partner and I alternate picking books to read and discuss each month. March was “dystopia” and we picked this book. Difficult read in the best of times but challenging to read nowadays as some of it touches too close to home. This book is powerful, well written and thought provoking.

Im giving this a pick although not normally the sort of book I read. I very much needed a light read and this was a cotton candy sort of read that required minimal thought or emotional energy. It‘s fluff and cutesy and the writing is okay but it certainly transported me to a fun adventure and was a distraction from life and the darker books I‘ve been reading.

Our partner read for this month. Category = dystopian.

Jan is visiting this week. When he entered the US and went through immigration he was asked “what are your political views” by the immigration officer

This book is beautiful. So excited to read it. Ignore my background. I‘m on a zoom meeting 😂

Loved this book. Book within a book featuring a blend of literary fiction and science fiction. Protagonist Zelu is a disabled Nigerian American author who experiences a wild climb to fame (with her novel about robots) which comes with its consequences. This is a touching book that covers themes of art, love, identity, and humanity. Power of stories and storytelling is central to the novel. Would make a great book for discussion.

Not book related but I‘m struggling these past two weeks and want to scream from the rooftops. Every day I‘ve been getting emails like this at work - deleting whole groups of people. I‘m a psychologist and researcher. I work for the federal government. What is happening is immoral and outrageous. There are words I can no longer use in my grant abstracts including “women because “DEI.”

I want to read but it‘s hard to see through the tears.

I‘m doing the American cancer society read every day in Feb fundraiser. Normally would feel a bit like cheating since I usually read every day. But as you can see I had some days last month where I didn‘t read anything. I‘m a federal employee (psychologist and researcher). Last few weeks have been chaos.

Halfway through this book. I love this author and the book is really solid. Book within a book that blends literary fiction and science fiction

I‘ve been sick for the past week with the kind of cold that gave me so much sinus pressure, I couldn‘t really read. Finally emerging headache is gone and I can get to this. It‘s so pretty and I love this author‘s work. After struggling with Caledonian road (hard to read about narcissists and corruption right now), I‘m hoping this one will be all that I expect it to be

So I think if I had read this book at any other time, I would have really liked it. This book reminded me of like a British version of Franzen‘s novels. It was a Dickensian portrayal London post-brexit, rife with politics, corruption, hypocrisy. I normally enjoy books that dig into these topics but it hit too close to home and I‘m frankly exhausted by everything that is going on in my own country. So I found it hard and unpleasant to read

I went to Barnes and noble to buy the new Okorafor which they didn‘t have 😭. How is it they don‘t have it in store but I can buy 500 copies of fourth wing? 😑

I was annoyed but I left with three other books.

Debut novel about a small Welsh island community right before World War II. This was one of the books I had predicted would make the booker last year (I was wrong). Quiet novel about island life that is beautifully written. Fairly similar to The Colony. Story follows 18-yo Manood who is conflicted between traditions of her community and desire for modernization on the mainland.

Libraries, jazz, literary references, ambiguity, cats. A very Murakami-esque novel but not one of my favorites. If you love his writing you will probably appreciate it. But some of the themes, reality vs dreams, consciousness, loneliness, love etc are tackled in better ways in his other novels.

3.5 stars. First read of 2025

First book of the year

Every year my partner and I pick a book, read, review, and discuss it together. I asked for help selecting the categories and entered all the suggestions in to the randomizer along with a few of the book root read harder categories. This is the list the randomizer picked for us this year. Thanks to all who suggested genres/categories

Visited one of the cutest bookstores in Boston. Beacon Hill books and cafe. Cafe downstairs with high tea options. Three floors of books, a children‘s section with a tiny door for kids to enter, fireplaces, and cute decor. And of course I bought a book (tagged).

Enjoying Christmas gifts and a visit from my partner to round out the year. Long distance sucks but having a partner you can sit and read with is priceless. I‘m a big fan of Levy‘s writing and my book twin sent me this one for Christmas.

Litsy Hive mind: my partner and I do a monthly joint read where we alternate picking books that fit a category/genre, read said book, and discuss it.

I‘m looking for genre/prompt/type of book category for our 2025 selection. We will draw winning categories from the randomizer. What genre/prompt/category should we add?

Our joint read for this month (science fiction). Sneaking in a few minutes of reading while waiting for my daughter‘s basketball game to start. This will wrap up our 2024 joint read - my partner and I alternate picks each month to read and discuss.

this book is a book about storytelling - the stories that get told during our lifetimes and those that remain untold. The protagonist is an author who, at the end of her career moves back to her homeland of DR where she buys a plot of land and builds a cemetery for her unfinished/untold novels. But some stories don‘t want to stay untold. With a touch of magical realism and a mix of historical & cultural elements from DR, this was my sort of book.

Thank you so much @Kar2b for the awesome package. I can‘t wait to start reading. I love it all ❤️❤️#stuffedstockingswap

I came home from dropping off my match‘s box at the post office only to find one waiting for me. Thanks so much to my match. It‘s here and can‘t wait to open it!

And it‘s off. Life has been crazy per usual but managed to ship this off in time 🥳 should arrive on Monday. I hope you love it! #stuffedstockingswap.

I feel an overwhelming sense of sadness this morning.

Our Booker predictions are on the blog

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/09/14/2024-booker-shortlist-predictions/

My predictions don‘t match the ones I most want to see on the shortlist.

Our panel had mixed reviews for this one but I quite liked it. An interesting exploration of friendship, belonging and identify in exile. It was well-written and finally a book with a. plot #booker2024

Our panel reviewed it here: https://thereadersroom.org/2024/08/31/2024-booker-longlist-my-friends-by-hisham-...

I hated most things about this book. In fact I believe my ratings of other books were based on comparison to this one 😂. Our panel reviewed it here

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/09/02/2024-booker-longlist-this-strange-eventful...

If you liked it, do me a favor and drop a comment in our blog with your review. I like there to be a diversity of view points in our reviews but none of us liked it. #bookerlonglist2024

The Booker judges are trying their best to kill me

As someone who dislikes terrine, this makes me laugh. #booker2024 10/13

I‘m not very far in but I do love her writing style and humor

This was just okay for me. It is beautifully written but very loose/lacking in plot and character development. This is a book about reflections and big ideas. Repetitive and ultimately boring for me.

Our panel reviewed it on the blog here:

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/08/23/20024-booker-longlist-orbital-by-samantha-...

This was a mixed bag for our panel. I loved it but others not so much. Beautifully poetic and full of emotion (which I found lacking in the Messud‘s book I had read prior to this one.

Read our panel‘s full reviews here: https://thereadersroom.org/

#bookerlonglist2024

This was a solid pick for me but not sure how it made it onto the longlist. At least it wasn‘t dry and repetitive which seems to be a theme of this year‘s longlist.

Our panel‘s reviews are here https://thereadersroom.org/2024/08/16/booker-longlist-2024-wild-houses-by-colin-...

I liked the concept and enjoyed the ways in which the author described the intersections between women‘s bodies and competition/physicality in a different way. But it became repetitive for me and halfway in I found myself bored.

Our panel‘s full reviews are on the blog. I‘ll be tagging everyone who has tagged me in our final blog post.

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/08/12/2024-booker-longlist-headshot-by-rita-bull...

Loved this one (read it before the longlist was announced). I generally enjoy Everett‘s writing and this was a brilliant reworking of Huckleberry Finn. I did reread Huckleberry Finn prior to reading this one. Our Booker panel reviewed that here https://thereadersroom.org/2024/08/14/2024-booker-longlist-james-by-percival-eve...
#bookerlonglist2024

So far, I‘m quite liking this one. #bookerprize

My current reading location

The irony of this title. 120 pages in and nothing has happened. Mundane details that go on and on and make me want to poke my eyes out with a pencil in order to have some emotional reaction. #booker2024

It‘s here and once again I failed miserably, predicting 3 (I posted my predictions before the leaks). Anyway our panel is reading the longlist like every year and posting our reviews. Follow the blog to see what we think of each book. And please join us in reading the list. If you tag me in your reviews, I can add highlight a few of them. What do you think of the list?

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/07/30/2024-booker-prize-longlist/

Our booker predictions are up (I forgot to post here but better late than never). Take a look and drop us a comment with books you think will make the list. Rumors and potential leaks everywhere. I made my list prior to the rumors and if rumors are true, I will fare poorly 😂

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/07/24/2024-booker-prize-longlist-predictions/

I loved Solar bones and I very much liked this one too which is considered part 2 in a 3 book “series” with solar bones. You can read my review on the blog (link below). I hope this makes the booker list

https://thereadersroom.org/2024/07/19/this-plague-of-souls-by-mike-mccormack/

I am really trying to get through this. Trying being the key word here.

And if the circumstances of his being alone in this bed at this hour rest within the arc of those grand constructs that turn in the night — politics, finance, trade — it is not clear how his loneliness resolves in the indifference with which such constructs regard him across the length and breadth of his sleep.

Long Island, the sequel to Brooklyn just came out this month. Unlike Brooklyn, this was a strong pick for me. It picks up 20 years after Brooklyn. Brooklyn was very Hollywood for my tastes (I didn‘t see the movie) and Long Island was more literary fiction (aka gloomy and depressing). I‘m a bit concerned about what this says about my personality 😂

Full review on my blog. https://thereadersroom.org/2024/05/06/long-island-by-colm-toibin/

Nor surprise that I liked this book since I stacked it from @vivastory review and several other Litsy friends with similar tastes also like it. Jan and I decided on two books for our joint read (my pick this month) and since I couldn‘t decide o picked two. This is a short and quick read with some good twists and turns. I generally love Japanese literature (Japan is at the top of my travel list) and this was no exception.

Definitely this one hands down: Ding Dong song.

https://open.spotify.com/track/2LELFaNglE9B5xlcmd4qtQ?si=9AOLpz-BROOPoiIAQVcqQA&...

#tuesdaytunes @TieDyeDude

Toibin is one of my favorite authors but this was not one of my favorite books. It was a soft pick (more of a so-so). At the risk of sounding like a book snob (sorry 😭), this one read more like commercial fiction than the ones I‘ve loved (Heather Blazing being a favorite) although it was shortlisted for the Booker. He is quite brilliant at writing the voices of women though. It follows the life a young Irish woman who moves to the U.S.