From my #14Books14Weeks stack, I picked this up after loving Ducks, Newburyport. The same writing characteristics are here, too, and I can see the path from this book to that one. Lots of thinking about sex here 😆 but the writing is fabulous. I‘m not sure how I feel about the ending, but I definitely enjoyed it (Ducks still being my favorite 🦆).

@Liz_M

Thank you for the tag @kspenmoll !

1. Favorite book in May is a tie between Tom Lake (on audio with Meryl Streep narrating) and Audition - for very different reasons. I loved the melancholy sweetness of Tom Lake and the unsettled feeling I had when reading Audition.

2. Very excited to read the tagged book in June for Camp Litsy! 😀

Tagging @Suet624 and @Cathythoughts if you haven‘t played yet!

An enthralling, if at times infuriating, book and entertaining on audio (even though the narrator paused for too long at times 😆). I truly hated some of these characters throughout the story, but the ending was satisfying. Thanks for the recommendation @Librarybelle !

This was such a sweet, funny book and just what I needed in the midst of my usual heavier reads. The writing is laugh out loud funny much of the time and the story is quite endearing. The end felt a tad rushed with all the various storylines, but overall definitely a pick. 💕💕

So glad I finally got around to reading the first book in this series - I loved it! Can‘t wait to read the others. 😁

I have a million library holds so who knows if I‘ll get through all of these, but here is my stack for #14Books14Weeks. From my shelves and one library book. 📚

@Liz_M

Another great book by Kitamura. Her sparse, detached writing style is perfect for this story. I‘m a fan of David Lynch‘s films, and reading this felt like watching Lost Highway for the first time - I could never get my footing in the story before it shifted and blurred again. So good. Excited this will be our first book for #CampLitsy this year!

Took myself to a local used bookstore this afternoon and found these gems. 😍

After loving The Dutch House on audio with Tom Hanks, @Billypar let me know that Meryl Streep is the narrator of Tom Lake and I had to listen. I loved the story of mothers and daughters and how we become disillusioned about what we believed to be true or important in our youth. The book portrays their relationships as adults as they look back on the past, experience the present and look toward the future. The pandemic is there but subtle.

A very slim book and a powerful take on living with mental illness and living with someone who has a mental illness. Also an interesting spin on fiction and writing - the role of an author and a narrator, the function of a story and who gets to tell it. I liked its creativity.

I‘ve been having trouble staying with a book these days. It‘s a tough time to work in public policy in the US and I‘m distracted. But, it was a gift to read the next book in Smith‘s seasonal quartet this week. She manages to write frankly about the terrible flaws of humanity while still infusing hope into the narrative. The focus on immigration in this one is so timely now, again.

This book had been on my list for a long time and I thank Litsy for bumping it back up on my TBR. It was even better than I expected it to be. I‘m excited to read her other books including the new one just coming out. And, I‘m also excited about this New Yorker profile of Murata written by one of my favorite writers, Elif Batuman: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/04/14/sayaka-muratas-alien-eye

A quick read that doesn‘t hold back any punches. I liked the unapologetic nature of the narrative - it throws you right into the story and then spits you back out at the end, and doesn‘t wait for you to catch up. It ends as abruptly as it begins and I wanted it to go on longer. But I liked this one from the Booker Intl. longlist a lot.

A deeply unsettling story of what might happen if Palestinians simply disappeared. Told alternately through diary entries of a character who disappeared and the perspective of a Jewish journalist. His processing of the event and his actions, as well as those of the Israeli government, felt to me very close to what might actually happen. My fifth read from the Booker Intl longlist.

This was an entertaining listen after a bit of a slow start. I may have liked The Searcher better, but it was enjoyable to be back with these characters for another story.

I loved the subtlety of the story and the humor in this book. There are several phenomenally good sentences in here. The story is a simple one at its heart, but it rings so true. Turns out I‘m definitely a Nors fan.

I‘m very excited for Camp Litsy this summer and will nominate these four books that have been recent adds to my TBR. Many thanks again this year to our fearless leaders! #CampLitsy25

A sweet book about grief and family members moving through tragedy in their own ways and dealing with their different feelings of guilt. The multiple points of view made it harder for me to get into the story and at times it felt too sterile, but overall a light pick.

Well, I‘ve only read the tagged from the Booker Intl shortlist so far although I‘m on the list at the library for the others except for Small Boat, which isn‘t available.

I loved this introspective work of autofiction detailing a year in the life of the main character after she experiences a sudden onset of hearing loss. Lots of Rachel Cusk vibes here but Callahan brings a unique voice. I love the ways she details what she sees in the world when her hearing is failing her.

Brilliant book! There are so many layers here, expertly approached. An exploration of racism, colonialism, feminism, homophobia and Virginia Woolf, as an example of a revered writer (including by me) with very problematic beliefs. Such a great book. My first by Kretser and now I want to read more.

A good portrayal of the impact of a family member‘s mental illness on everyone, and more broadly the messiness of dysfunctional family dynamics. I like that the story doesn‘t tie itself up with a bow at the end. It felt realistic in its uncertainty. A topic that hits close to home for me, and it felt authentic.

Getting sucked right into this book. Perfect tea and reading spot on a cold rainy day.

I had to take this collection back to the library before I got through it, but I read enough of these stories to know that I must read more Mavis Gallant short stories! I can‘t believe I haven‘t before now. They are brilliant.

This book of linked short stories is really a gut punch, in a good way. It mixes grief and humor and love to tell these poignant individual stories of women in Mexico against the backdrop of politics, religion and the horror of femicide. A great read from the Booker Intl list.

I didn‘t love this one from the Booker Intl. longlist, but I liked it enough to finish it. I think it was mostly the MC‘s mother that kept me invested; the MC himself is somewhat of a letdown, although I think that‘s intentional. I haven‘t read Kracht‘s other work, but his family story in the book is atrocious. By the end, I almost loved his mother for her moments of hilarity and poignancy as she tries in her own way to come to terms with that.

An entertaining read. Definitely a page turner - I love psychological thrillers. Like others have said I don‘t really know what happened at the end, but a pick nonetheless.

I agree with the Litsy reviews - I adored this little book! So clever and funny! It was best that I didn‘t know anything about the story going in so I‘ll leave it at that, other than to say I want to read more of DeWitt.

My second book from the Booker Intl longlist and one I wanted to like more than I did. Most of the time I just felt confused. The story got most compelling toward the end, but even then it fell short for me.

I will miss hearing Tom Hanks read this story to me on my commute every day!! The audio version of this books was fantastic, and I enjoyed the story of Maeve and Danny making their way through their strange life. Thanks @Reggie for reminding me I wanted to read this!

I waited so long for this book from the library and it was definitely worth it. Such a beautiful book about coming to terms with loss and grief and finding some sort of peace. The sparse writing matched the feeling of the setting and the narrator‘s sense of having been stripped down to her core well. Our Kelpie mix like the one featured in the story pictured here.

I really liked this book; it reminded me of science fiction in the style of Ishiguro‘s books. It‘s a clever and powerful statement on human nature and our undying capacity to work against ourselves in the name of self-interest. A line that feels especially poignant right now: “Oh you…dear humans…won‘t you find some way to help one another?” 💔

Happy Saturday! Really enjoying this first read from the Booker International longlist. Lucky for me to have two works of Japanese fiction on the list this year. 😀

A bleak portrait of Ruth‘s life as a wife and mother. Her relationship with her daughter makes it even more clear and painful as her daughter is able to make different choices. I found this really dark and heartbreaking.

Such a terrifying, unsettling book. The lack of details only makes it more so - we only know what the narrator does, which is not a lot given that she has lived her life in captivity. The whole book is like a nightmare, as the back cover aptly points out. Nevertheless, I was riveted and like the narrator, looking for answers and meaning until the end.

I‘m so excited about the international Booker long list this year! I‘ve only heard of two on the list and haven‘t read any. I placed several holds at the library yesterday. Thank goodness for good book news these days. 📚

Very enjoyable to read Cusk‘s first novel that really deftly captures the experience of being a young female adult. Some lines were so spot on: “She strove not to please others but merely not to disgust them.” An accurate portrait of growing into female adulthood in the 90s from my perspective. Agnes is a little trying at times, but I loved to see her find her way.

I‘ve loved every Strout book I‘ve read and this one was no exception. I love her books on audio - the narrators are incredible and I love the feeling of being told these stories. She can write people like no one else. ❤️

Given the mixed reviews here, I liked this better than I expected to. I think Harvey used the premise of the astronauts on their mission to capture well feelings of powerlessness and insignificance in the face of enormous forces, and feelings at times of the pointlessness of it all. And yet, we continue to believe in the purpose of our lives in spite of it all - it‘s what makes us human. Not the kind of book I look for on the #TOB shortlist tho.

Thank you Sue for this lovely gift! This books sounds very good and I‘m excited to read it, especially after your review. Thank you thank you for sending it my way! ❤️

@Suet624

I‘m officially a fan of Armfield‘s writing after this book. Even better than Our Wives Under the Sea, which I also loved, this story is equally claustrophobic. She really knows how to get under your skin. Her theme of water shows up again here in ways that hit very close to home and form the foundation of this disturbing and compelling story. I couldn‘t put it down.

This collection of short stories is fantastic - the kind of stories that make me want to write short stories. 😁 I‘m now off to read everything else Nors has written. Thank you @merelybookish for this wonderful gift! ❤️

This is a powerful story of the impact of a grief the weight of which I can‘t imagine. I struggled to hold the different threads of the story together - maybe the audio didn‘t work well for me - and it felt like perhaps the writer was trying to do too much in one story. I loved the beautiful descriptions of gardening and cooking throughout the book.

Another incredible book from Lively. This was so good - a story that starts in one place and ends up in entirely another. And devastatingly sad - looking at the ways we sometimes avoid fully seeing and knowing the people in our lives for lack of courage or ability to see very far beyond ourselves.

This held up to all the great reviews here - I loved it. A very creative approach to a story of a marriage and everything below the surface, which changes one day when Kathleen gets into a pool and doesn‘t come out.

I love the type of Japanese fiction that makes you feel just a little bit off balance and this book is one of those. Seemingly mundane, straightforward events unfold in a way that is increasingly unsettling. The narration is matter of fact but the narrator is quite the character. This was a fun read. Thanks to @Night_Reader for putting it on my radar.

I‘m rereading Smith‘s seasonal quartet this year in order of the seasons. Given that we‘re back in a world similar to the one that existed when she started publishing these, it felt poignant to finish Winter today. Art can help lead us through the darkness and give us hope. 🩵

Maybe it was all the hype around this book before I read it, but I‘ll say I liked this but didn‘t love it. The characters felt artificial and manufactured to me at many points in the story, doing what you‘d expect them to do. It just didn‘t come together for me and I didn‘t feel any of the characters as authentic enough versions of themselves (likeable or not). 🤷🏻‍♀️ A low pick.

Such a creative approach to writing about a topic that (obviously) terrifies and infuriates me. I went in expecting one kind of story and was very surprised by the twists and turns of this one. A fun read and a light pick for me. #TOB2025

I liked this so much more than I expected! Despite the plot line, it‘s not at all cheesy or sappy even though it‘s such a heartwarming reading experience. I loved the dry humor throughout and the characters are fantastic. I honestly related to Lila‘s predicament so deeply, and was rooting for Phoebe the whole time. 🩵