This was a pick for the back half more than the front half. Asher gets dumped by longtime bf, Clint, at the airport right before they were supposed to go compete on the reality show, Epic Trek. Enter Theo, a pilot who‘s been grounded because of too many flight hours and a bet on some marinara sticks, Theo agrees to be fake bfs with Asher to compete. The writing, some of it read awkward first book. Idk. It eventually made me cry so it gets a pick!

I loved this translated book from South Korea about an alien whose planet exploded and they crash landed here on Earth. They go on the dating apps and shapeshift to become desirable to whoever they‘re talking to. This alien has a lot to say about human relationships, how lonely we can be, and how utterly impossible life feels sometimes. This was so funny at times because this alien is so OVER IT. Big time and stairs are their nemesis. I wanna 👇🏼

I loved this book. Chuck Tingle is so good at writing horror that deals with an issue impacting the queer community. And the evils of capitalism. Hollywood out but closeted back home, screenwriter Misha is trying to write a real queer season finale to one of his shows but comes up against the powers that be. Like all his previous monsters from his queer coded movies. This was at times creepy and funny. It talks about the importance of rep. Pick!

Ughhhh. This had so much potential. Talitha Velkwood still reeling from a tragic event 20 yrs ago gets an offer to go back to her haunted street she left. That piece of haunted street that exists in its own reality separate from our own. One only Talitha and 2 other girls can enter. It could have used more characterization, I‘m not a fan of going back and forth between places where nothing really happens or gets moved forward. I did like her 👇🏼

I liked this book very much. We read about 5 survivors of a cult, 120 of whom disappeared almost 15 years ago. DiLouie weaves their present and past together giving them this tortured and tragic, kicked out of Eden vibes mixed with “what did happen to us? Maybe we should go back and find out?” I loved it all and really wished the best for these people. I listened to it on audio while roadtripping and was hooked the whole time. Pick!

I was pretty upset that this was only 160ish pages. It was like reading the 1st issue of a really awesome comic book. It‘s a Black, adolescent coming of age as we follow 12yo Sean in Bostonian the 1970s. Things are changing in his life. He is seeing girls different, he‘s doing things he‘s never done before, and seeing his parents with new eyes. A couple who met after the bombing during a protest where his mom says she came from Saturn. Did 👇🏼

A rec I got from the Podcast Books in the Freezer. I listened to it on audio and it was cute because the narrator sounded like a young Melissa McCarthy. We meet high school junior, Camilla “Mila” Flores at the funeral of her best friend, Riley. The 3rd alleged suicide in their small town. Mila and Riley were Wiccan besties and Mila knows better about her death which is why she uses a spell to bring her back with unexpected surprises. Mila is 👇🏼

Excuse my language Litsy but holy fcking shit! What a fcking gangster Greek tragedy of a book set on the streets of Jefferson Runs, Virginia. This is why I don‘t lie. One secret can lead to a whole fcking apocalypse of events in one‘s life. This was good, I kept just wanting to get back to this book. A 5 star summer blockbuster of a book. I finished this at the Speedway library in Speedway, Indiana.

Listened to the audiobook narrated by the author. We meet Maria, a 20 something trans woman who is finding out she likes her freedom more than being with her gf. The 2nd part of this book is Maria meeting James in Nevada, a trans person who doesn‘t know theyre trans, yet. This book is quite a peek into the mind of a trans person. I hate the ending but love that the author uses such exact language to express every thought and feeling. A pick!

Litsy what would you do if you were gay, hooked up with a guy on the apps, had sex with him, and then went out with him drinking and dancing until all hours of the night because you are a failed writer but then, the next morning you wake up and he doesn‘t? That‘s this book. This was gay Weekend at Bernies for a minute and I laughed a little but then we kept taking detours into the “why me?!!!!” And I could barely stand the self victimization. 👇🏼

#5joysfridays
1. Walking along the Arkansas River to breakfast. The cloud cover that kept me cool the whole way.
2.The delicious biscuits and gravy that FED my soul after that walk.
3.The topiary unicorn at the Witchita Botanical gardens.
4. The peach margaritas I drank after a hot day while waiting for some togo bbq.
5. Clarity. I wanna be a witch who lives in a forest. I walked into the children‘s garden portion of the gardens and 👇🏼

From the getgo you are hurled into this frenzied sea with a shipwrecked woman tangled in kelp. A family of four finds her and cares for her. They are caretakers of an island meant to have a doomsday seed vault. But due to rising sea levels they are just waiting for a ship to come get them and the seeds. The family and the woman all have secrets. I thought this was good. McConaghy can write the hell out of nature but sometimes it was a bit 👇🏼

This was very cute. Dylan works for his Auntie Jade‘s struggling takeout restaurant. He enters a mooncake competition in hopes of saving the restaurant. Enter Theo, a dashing Ritchie rich character. This was so fun. It‘s about family, has some fun wordplay, has a dash of Pretty in Pink, Crazy Rich Asians, and Dynasty, lol that sounds like a lot right? It was so good and if you can get me to laugh and cry on the same page- you got me. Pick!!! 🥡

I love this book so much. Erica, a teacher in her 30s has just realized she‘s a trans woman. She befriends Abigail, the only trans girl at her high school in a small South Dakota town. Their friendship will change their lives forever. This was hilarious, Abigail makes this book, touching, messy, so messy. It highlights the importance of community and support from one queer person to another. The importance of living an authentic life. So good!

This book is freaking hilarious. Just for context. Erica is a trans woman not fully realized yet as when we meet her she is still presenting as male. In the book she‘s always called Erica and her deadname is grayed out. It‘s all fascinating.

I had heard it but never believed it. I mean I‘ve read at least 20 of his books. But when I hear people say he coulda cut 200 pages about one SK‘s books, I thought they were outta their minds. I loved the first 200 pages. Pages 200-450, what a slog. But in the end I cried. That emotion does not erase that snooze fest of a middle. A young man finds a portal to another world and sets out on an adventure with his dog. Hurts my heart to do this-meh.

Today we had training on an update to one of our systems and this guy was one of the trainers. When he got up he asked if we had any questions. I asked if anybody had ever told him he looks like Stephen King. He said all the time. The photo does his likeness no justice. In person for a minute I thought Stephen had Schwarzeneggered Chloe. He looks like Joe. Fairy Tale is my bookclub book for this Friday, so it all felt serendipitous. He was so nice

I loved this book so much. I started off thinking I wouldn‘t like the book because of the writing but the narrative is so strong simple sentences later in the book emotionally hit deep. We follow 2 timelines. One is the future where there are no humans and it‘s all robots. The other is us following Zelu, a Nigerian American author who is paraplegic. This is a love letter to culture. This is about the frustration of just trying to exist when 👇🏼

He closes the book. He imagines what he‘ll say in his Litsy review. Smirking, contemplating that maybe what he is actually doing, posting his Litsy review is synonymous with the title of the book. With every review he is auditioning for the role of reader in other people‘s minds-Lololol. I loved this book. The wtf is happeningness of it all. Loved her writing, the language, how it was able to dissect everything. I did think it lost a little 👇🏼

Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner. lol, this book. I seriously have had to go watch scenes from that movie, Carol, with Cate Blanchett, because the vibes are similar. All air cracking with energy but not a lot of action.

This. Was . Hilarious!!!!! This was Otessa Moshfegh and all her gruesomeness but with humor. Miss Notty is hired to be the governess at the Pound estate and nothing will ever be same again. She has a darkness inside her that is just itching to get out. One would be afraid for the family of the Pound estate until you meet them. Then, maybe, you‘re rooting for Miss Notty. Litsy this was great but for a lot of you it might not be. Take care. Pick!!!

There is this gentleman that comes in almost everyday and plays the same machines at my casino. He‘s a Navy veteran who worked on submarines. He lent me 2 books and this is one of them. Was it on my 2025 bingo card to read about life on a 1960s submarine mission? No, but here we are. And as someone who has never read about submarine navy life I found it fascinating. I wouldn‘t say this is narrative but slice of life. Pick!

Shell, fresh out of a breakup in her young 30s and just having moved back home with her parents, takes a job in the mall as an assistant florist where there is a sinister plant. I wanted to like this more than I did but it lacked forward motion. There was a lot of stutter stopping. The story was sprawling in ways where I just ached to get back to any kind of main story. I just wanted the plant to kill people. Is that too much to ask!!! Low pick.

#haikuaday

#haikuaday

This from a plant in the bouquet of flowers the girl is holding.

#haikuaday for yesterday.

I didn‘t expect to be bawling my eyes out on a Friday night but should have known better with Abby. Hot Veterinarian Xavier meets Mustard PR woman, Samantha. They have an imperfectly perfect 1st date. When he drops her off at her apartment he finds out she‘s moving 2000miles away. They decide to make it work long distance. This is sweet and funny, but man, there is a dementia storyline in here that ripped my heart out. Jimenez is always a pick!

Livia finds out her controlling husband is cheating and realizes when she left her childhood maybe she left one prison for another. Her and 3 girlfriends take a girls trip to recover and along a shortcut called The Devil‘s Driveway they come upon a stretch of this malicious unreality. It reminds them that the past will always haunt you. I loved, loved, loved his first book so I had to read this, his 2nd book. This is a bit wonky and 👇🏼

#haikuaday

#haikuaday Sometimes while I‘m walking the floor at my casino, no one is waiting for the elevators, I don‘t push the button, and as I‘m walking by it will open by itself and no one is inside and I like to freak myself out. lol And now that I‘m thinking about it, maybe it‘s not about someone getting off the elevator, it‘s about someone calling me to get in. Ooooeeeeoooo 🥶5 months until Halloween, kids.

#haikuaday inspired by the book.

#haikuaday

#haikuaday

#haikuaday I had such a good time at bookclub today.

#haikuaday years ago a Litten named Tobey called out for haikus for Halloween/autumn. It was so fun. I‘m in for the rest of this month. It‘s been so much fun reading the ones written this month so far.

A book about a man who is struggling with the guilt that 30 years ago he was camping with his best friend in his backyard, he wakes up and finds the best friend is gone. What a snooze fest. So repetitive. If I took a shot for every time I read I woke up and there was a slash on the tent and Billy was gone in the first 100 pages I‘d be dead from alcohol poisoning. Also, in horror movies there‘s that scary sound at the window during the storm 👇🏼

This takes place 7 years after The Announcement. Human beings were told that we are living in a simulation. A group of people board a bus for a tour of The Impossible Wonders from the Canterbury Trails company. The Impossible Wonders are testaments to the fact that the simulation is not a lie. They are contrary to the laws of physics. Gregory is such a skilled writer. His characters really shine. There was a moment when it felt like there👇🏼

Litsy, I went to the library today because I don‘t have enough neglected books I own staring me down at my place. Excited to see a new Gregory I went to self checkout where it says the book is on hold please see front desk. I took it there where the lady says yes it is on hold, where I let out a playful,”booo.” But then she says we have this finders keepers rule here, I‘ll check it out to you. The Good Samaritan in me was about to say no, no, 👇🏼

Driving to see his sick Bubbe, Abe stops at this middle of nowhere Rest Stop in the middle of the night where nothing is right. Cassidy writes one of my favorite things. When a character is in a high pressure situation, those closest to them start talking to them subconsciously. In this case, it‘s his horrible Bubbe and his golden retriever bandmate Ty. There‘s creepy crawlies, a killer, some Yiddish, and a surprisingly poignant moment. Pick!

Reading these stories made me think of something someone like Quentin Tarantino sprinkled with Rob Zombie would have written. But that would be unfair to this female author. Most violence that happens in the world happens to women so why wouldn‘t she be able to write this? It is raw, gritty. She doesn‘t flinch when telling these stories. It was me who flinched. 13 loosely related short stories, told by different women from Mexico discussing 👇🏼

I loved this book. Annie is in an IKEA when an earthquake in the Pacific Northwest strikes. She‘s 37 weeks pregnant, miserably pregnant, and we follow her on her journey to find a loved one and home. This is broken up by chapters depicting her life leading up to this day. The whole time, she‘s talking to Bean, her unborn baby. This book was a rollercoaster of emotion for me. I was horrified, I laughed, cause Annie is funny, and I cried. Pick!👇🏼

What a book of horror. I‘m not a parent but sometimes I wonder how ya‘ll let your children out into the world. We follow Vanessa in alternating timelines. In 2017 set against the #MeToo movement where she‘s following all the allegations against a former high school English teacher. In 2000 where she‘s 15 and enters a sexual relationship with that teacher. In 2017 she‘s barely coming to realize that she herself was a victim. This was sad and 👇🏼

So my normal bookclub which took place yesterday had to read a Kate Atkinson. I just feel she‘s way above me. We read another book by her and I didn‘t know how to feel. A guy next to me might as well have given his doctoral thesis on it and I just sat there thinking-am I stupid? So instead of reading another Atkinson I went with this book for a mashed up horror scifi group. I didn‘t care for it or the bookclub. The grass isn‘t always greener 👇🏼

If this book was a color it would be a periwinkle or cornflower. The blue that hasn‘t seen the sun yet but has just risen from complete darkness. Sal and Charo are living in NYC, the year, 1999. They‘re friends from the Dominican Republic. And they are lost in life. Sal lives in fear given to him from a tragedy on the island. Charo is in a relationship that‘s starting to feel like a prison. The writing was good. I just wanted more in the end. Pick

I loved this so much,Litsy! 36 six tales of terror written by the same 4 authors pertaining to certain subjects like Cake, Love, Luck, Flowers, Song. Sounds like a charm bracelet right? But no, these are scary, disturbing, well written. I was surprised by how many of them had strong voice, or to encounter a paragraph describing the nature of something and nodding along to it. There was the one about the whalers finding the live boy in the 👇🏼

On my way to Albuquerque, I was listening to Books in the Freezer podcast where one of the guests was saying that her cozy horror pick for her chilling obsession was reading this book. That the first story was about a village who on the 2nd Tuesday of every February spends its day baking cakes for this swarm of fairies that come and eat them. Well this year the supply truck doesn‘t come and the fairy swarm comes and kills, KILLS, all the 👇🏼

This is a haunted house novella translated from Spanish. This house has been inhabited by 4 generations of women some of who are witches. A granddaughter returns home after spending time in jail after being accused of kidnapping the boy she nannies. This is intergenerational trauma, domestic violence, class warfare. I kept thinking of that Mean Girl‘s quote-I don‘t hate you cause you‘re fat, you‘re fat because I hate you. But instead it‘s- 👇🏼

Um, okay, awesome, haunted house book, first paragraph, come through!!!!!

This was so much fun. Jane and Dan won a raffle to eat at an ultra posh restaurant to celebrate their 19th-maybe 20th wedding anniversary. Jane is a failed novelist who finds herself dissatisfied with life and a soon as she mentions she wants a divorce to Dan, that‘s when the ecoterrorists (eco activists depending on who you ask) show up shoving a gun in Dan‘s face. Can they survive the night? So funny and oddly touching. Oakley does this neat👇🏼