I‘m enamored with this series. I feel it‘s higher-level writing than most novels in the crime genre.

I liked this a lot, although could have done without the heavy-handed foreshadowing. Too much “Given everything that came later, I wish”… or “I should have…” blah, blah, blah. Fascinating subject matter, though, and I‘ll think about communication in a new way.

Great story, stellar writing, and interesting. characters. Historical fiction at its best. 5*
ETA: the audio was excellent

Not without its implausible moments and some work to keep the characters and sub-plots straight, but overall an intelligent and satisfying read.

I probably should have “Panned” this, but it had me intrigued for a while. I became less and less enamored and felt the ending meandered around, trying to find its way. You warned me, @BarbaraBB !
#LitsyToB24

I found this gem on the #ToBLonglist and it‘s right up my alley. I‘m quoting a blurb from the GR description because it‘s perfect:
“Fernandez braids astronomy and astrology, neuroscience and memory, family history and national history into this brief but intensely imagined autobiographical essay.”

A soft pick. If I think of it as poetry, it makes a real impact. As a novel, too much magical realism for my taste.
#LitsyToB24

I do love my British murder mysteries.

I‘m in the minority on this one, but I was still surprised to see the 100% pick on Litsy. I felt there was nothing to really sink my teeth into. (Omg - I can‘t believe I just used that phrase. I apparently can‘t get my brain beyond Room 101.) Retelling a classic is a daunting task and this just didn‘t work for me.
#LitsyToB24

Yes, it was long but as a fan I found most of it very interesting. The audio book is 48 hours, but Babs talks SO slowly you can easily listen at 1.5 speed. I do recommend the audio since there are “extras” and music.

When most of your library holds come in at the same time…😩
#Litsytob24

Powerful and heartbreaking.

I‘m not much of a mythology fan, but this was so beautifully written I became totally absorbed.

Pretty scary at how spot on Eggers was with the direction in which social media is going. There were some eye-rolling moments which weakened the book‘s effect on me, so it‘s just a soft pick. My last completion in a somewhat dismal reading year. 😞
#1001books

I found this clever and entertaining, but it‘s not one that will stay with me too long. I don‘t see it winning the #ToB24.

I‘m going to look for more books from this publisher after reading this short little gem. The back cover says: “Storybook ND: the pleasure of reading a great book from cover to cover in an afternoon”.

It was totally worth the library wait to listen to Meryl Streep read this. (I like to also have a hard copy of the books I listen to.)

I am really in the minority on this one. Although I can appreciate dark humor, it didn‘t work for me here. I thought the light-hearted treatment of the serious subject matter crossed the line into silliness.

The stack is ready to go for #DeweysReadathon this Saturday (10/21)! It starts at 8:00 a.m. EST (6:00 a.m. for me). I can‘t wait to ‘unplug‘ for a day. 😀
#Deweys24hourreadathon

Maybe reading this just now wasn‘t the best idea as I am feeling overwhelmed at how evil people can be. I plan to see the movie, but am wondering how 2 hours can do justice to this complicated story. By-the-way, the book is very good!

Oh my, this swept me off my feet. I don‘t always love Oprah‘s picks, but this was a winner.

I enjoyed this tale of a brilliant young woman fighting to practice medicine in the early 19th century.
A local library “group read”.

This was my 4th James and the toughest one to get through. It felt like too much work to figure out the complicated, dare I say shallow, relationships and aspirations of the characters.
#1001books

I‘ve been working my way through the Smiley novels and I think this is my favorite. In addition to his stellar writing, I appreciate le Carré‘s unflinching look at the world of espionage. No sugar-coating here.

It‘s always fun spending time with Amelia Peabody and crew. Also, Barbara Rosenblat might be my favorite narrator.

This book is indeed a strange new thing. I like Faber‘s writing but my overall judgment is still unclear. I‘m 70% done and I think I know what‘s going to happen, but I hope it doesn‘t. 😗

Update: I‘d have to give it a so-so. After finishing, still not quite sure how I feel about it.

Not my favorite by this author, but still a solid 4*. Native American culture fascinates me, and Erdrich is a masterful storyteller. (She also has a lovely reading voice.)

I read most of this in one day - couldn‘t put it down. There were a few things that bothered me but after this and Babel, I‘m adding everything Kuang has written to my TBR.

Lovely essays about the importance of maintaining our close ties to the natural world.

I wasn‘t sure how I felt about this until I finished it. I thought about it…then I thought some more. And I decided the structure and all the layers were really kind of brilliant (imho). Another winner from the #Tob2023longlist #Pulitzer

SO good. Barbara Kingsolver is a master at combining sadness and beauty.

🤔 The writing is impressive, but I‘m giving it a tepid “pick”. I read the whole book with a sense of uncomfortable anticipation - like watching what you suspect might become a horror movie.

I seem to have found yet another Japanese author I like. Plus, I learned a lot about sustainable forestry. 🌲 🌳

I finally got to this after 10 years (!) on my TBR. It‘s very good, although by the end I was a little weary of the time jumping.

Books like this clever sci-fi thriller (middle-grade) remind me why I continue to read the Newbery winners. The audio was wonderful.
#Newbery

Reading all day. Yessss!!!
#deweysreadathon

As usual, I‘m enjoying ToB longlist books more than some on the shortlist. Historical fiction may be my favorite genre, and this one has great characters and atmosphere. Even though the narrative jumps back and forth in time (that seems to be a trend for authors these days), I didn‘t have trouble following it.

It was time to mix it up, and jump into Smiley‘s world for a while. I think I‘ll try to finish up this series. I‘d forgotten how good Le Carré is.

An ambitious novel, which I thought flowed really well. I also appreciate there were some glimmers of hope amongst all the tragedy. An apt summary from a blurb on the back: “Imagine a mash-up of Stranger Things and Salman Rushdie”. 🤔
#ToB2023 (I do realize the tournament is over - hashtag is for my reference 😁.)

I won‘t finish this before the start of the tournament (100 pages in), but I am so disappointed. I love mysteries and I love the violin, but I do not love this writing. I‘m surprised the book made the shortlist. Oh well. Expectations were too high.
#ToB2023 #ToB23 #LitsyToB23

While I didn‘t love this as much as “A Constellation of Vital Phenomena” (it certainly didn‘t flow as well), I‘m a sucker for meticulously researched historical fiction with interesting characters. I grew up in Utah and didn‘t know about German Village!
#ToB2023 #ToB23

This story had the perfect author to tell it. I think I will try some of Wilson‘s short stories next. I‘ll bet he comes up with some interesting stuff.

This was just the book I needed right NOW. I couldn‘t put it down - was awake half the night finishing it on audio. 😁

I have to let this percolate for a while, but my first impressions are: great writing and character development, although there were periods where I didn‘t like either Sam or Sadie much. I‘m not a gamer, so that maybe kept me from LOVING the book. I will also have to read some other reviews to see if I can get a handle on the purpose of a particular plot twist.
Overall, I did enjoy it.
#ToB2023 #ToB23

I liked this a lot, despite never having a full grasp on the powers of a match-pair. 😬 Also a tad long.
#ToB2023 #ToB23

Weird and fascinating and I‘m loving it so far!
#ToB2023 #ToB23

Michelle inspires me to do better and be better.

I‘ve always enjoyed books about time travel and this is an especially intelligent one. An extra plug: it‘s on Pres. Obama‘s best-of-2022 list!
#ToB2023 #ToB23

Especially delightful on audio. 4 1/2*
#1001books