Thanks for the tag! @Mitch

1. The tagged book will be on my favourite list for 2024 as well as just for August.

2. I prefer paper books, but read all three types - they all have their place!

3. Probably literary fiction.

#wondrouswednesday

Whew, this was a tough read, but definitely worth it. The author, whose previous book was about her own experience of sexual abuse, focuses on the 4 women who told their stories during the trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as the defence‘s attempts to discredit them.

A slight quibble would be a couple of areas that seemed repetitive - sometimes it was clearly deliberate for emphasis but there were some points that needed better editing.

I loved Profile K by this same author so bought this, a previous novel, at the Crimewriting Festival where I saw her speak.

I‘ve realised that my issue is that I‘m not a huge fan of ‘locked room‘ mysteries / crime - they‘re not expansive / wide- ranging / as full of opportunities for me.

That said, I did enjoy this one for the most part and at least I‘ve learned what style of crime I like. 🤪

I had high hopes for all of my holiday reads - that‘s why I chose them to take - but, whilst they were all good, they didn‘t live up to my expectations.

This one, failed to pull me in completely, I think because none of the characters were very likeable, and it was a bit Rooney-esque in that they were all failing to communicate properly. It had a bit more bite than a Rooney though, hence the pick.

This was the first book I read on my hols and, probably because I had such high hopes after seeing the author speak, I was ever so slightly disappointed that it didn‘t quite live up to my expectations.

I still liked it, but it was very violent and I didn‘t feel particularly connected to either the characters or the setting so it felt like I skimmed along the surface rather than being engrossed in the story.

Content warning below ⬇️

Thanks for the gift, Jess @jhod ! We just got back from our hols today and it was waiting for me.

Henry had a fun time in Keswick - visiting The Pocket Bar twice and being made a fuss of by the staff in there!

It sounds like a fascinating book and I‘m sure I‘ll love it - I‘ve looked up the reviews and they‘re not *that* mixed - pretty positive, I think.

Thank you for your lovely gifts @Caroline2 @Cathythoughts ! 😘

Sorry I didn‘t post pictures of the *actual* gifts - this morning was rather hectic as we hadn‘t packed much ready for our hols.

Pic is the view from our pitch in the Lake District.

Thanks for all of my wonderful birthday gifts! (Not featured here, vouchers from @julesG @TrishB @MicheleinPhilly @Hooked_on_books )

@quietlycuriouskate - The Wonder sounds fabulous, as does Fifteen Wild Decembers @youneverarrived and I love the notebooks and bookmark too.

@BarbaraBB - both books sounds fabulous - isn‘t These Silent Woods a strange shape though?!

@Megabooks - I‘ve been looking forward to reading Pomegranate ⬇️

I said I wasn‘t going to go book shopping today but happened to be walking past Waterstones and got propelled in by an unknown force.

I couldn‘t revisit this beautiful copy, and it‘s signed as well, so it was lucky that I had a birthday voucher from @julesG burning a hole in my phone! 🤣

Thanks Jules! 😘

❤️❤️❤️

Lovely article about how well The Open Book in Wigtown is doing. This is the bookshop where you stay and run it for a few days / weeks at a time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5y844905n9o

❤️❤️❤️

I still really liked this, but it‘s not my favourite ‘Lucy Barton‘ book. As well as Lucy, Bob Burgess is highly featured, as is Olive Kitteridge.

Early on, there were too many disparate threads and inconsequential stories about characters we‘d never met before. The book soon picked up though, as Bob becomes involved in a murder investigation - I wished this had been the whole focus of the book.

#netgalley
Published 19th Sept in the UK.

#camplitsy24

Well, here it is….! Your final winning book of this year‘s camp is BEAR! 🐻

No huge surprise there, I don‘t think, but we did have some votes for The Alternatives too - Bear won by 27 votes to 6.

Look out for Barbara posting the final vote shortly… I‘m excited to see what we choose for our overall winner of #camplitsy24!

#camplitsy24

It‘s time to vote for your favourite book from August!

Will it be The Alternatives or Bear going up against Clear and James?! Let us know in the comments below ⬇️ with reasons why (if you want to!).

I‘ll announce the result once everyone has had the chance to vote, and then Barbara will be along with the vote for the overall favourite of #camplitsy24.

And our last question of #camplitsy24 for this year…. Let‘s talk about the ending of the book - what did you think?

Tomorrow we‘ll vote between Bear and The Alternatives and then Barbara will post shortly asking you for your #camplitsy24 favourite.

We hope you‘ve enjoyed August‘s books - thank you all for your valuable and insightful contributions! ❤️

#camplitsy24

This part of the discussion is all about the 🐻.

We looked at fairy tale elements last week, but do you think that the bear is ‘just‘ a bear or is it an allegory for something else or a particular message to the reader?

Do you think the events surrounding the bear would have actually played out like this in real life? (note that we'll discuss that ending in Q3)

#camplitsy24

Well, here we are in our last week of camp! 😢 Time to think about rolling up your sleeping bag, and exchanging friendship bracelets before we leave.

But not before we have a few more questions about Bear.

A few of us touched on this one last week - we only saw Sam‘s perspective throughout the book. Did you wish you could have seen Elena‘s POV too- and how would it have differed?

Here‘s my #booker #longlist in order of favourites (without Playground yet, of course). I actually enjoyed almost all of the list this year - only Held got a so-so.

I don‘t think this will be the judges‘ list - I think they‘ll have Orbital, Headshot and perhaps Wandering Stars in there.

I was torn between Creation Lake and TSEH for my final shortlist place - I think the Kushner is a bit more Booker-y which is why it won the spot in the end.

#booker #longlist 12/13

An odd book, but I rather liked it. ‘Sadie Smith‘ is a spy sent in to infiltrate a group of French provocateurs. Their shady leader, Bruno, sends emails to the group which Sadie becomes fascinated by. These emails are rather an excuse for the author to expound on topics such as pre-history, anthropology and philosophy but weirdly I didn‘t feel talked down to, unlike The Alternatives. It kept me hooked all the way ⬇️

#camplitsy24

‘They made magic. They were the girls at the center of a fairy tale, and they, along with their mother, would live in such bliss all their days‘

It‘s often said that this book is a fairy-tale retelling. Did you see that in this first half of the book? What elements from fairy tales were included?

#camplitsy24

Elena and Sam caring for their mother is a central part of the book - how has this impacted on their relationships with each other and with the wider community?

How do their caring roles differ? Who do you have the most sympathy for?

Welcome to our final book of #camplitsy24! But watch out, there‘s a 🐻 in camp!

As ever, if you‘ve read to the end please don‘t include any comments that may spoil it for others.

The book has a real sense of place on San Juan island in the Pacific Northwest - how did this influence the storyline and the sisters themselves?

Thanks for the tag Holly @Hooked_on_books 😘 and sorry I‘m so late @monalyisha !

It‘s going to take me another 10 minutes now to type this out as one is REALLY long. 🤣 I‘ll start with the shortest first, which also happens to be the one I read most recently, then working my way backwards from there…. 🤔

1. Thoroughbreds.
2. I come back to the apartment and find the worst thing in the world.
3. Elwood was a prefect, so his room that year was ⬇️

I was so torn as to whether to give this a pick or a so-so. I went into it expecting not to like it, as I didn‘t enjoy The Essex Serpent at all, which many say is the author‘s best.

There was nothing that I loved about it, but I didn‘t hate it either. I‘m glad I listened on audio as it just burbled away in the background whilst I was commuting, but then I could have skim-read more in print.

My biggest issue was that it still felt very ⬇️

I took my two Booker books back to the library and somehow came out with five more. 🤔

I mean, I definitely need more books to read because:

a. I don‘t have 300 unread books on my shelf at home. 🤪
b. I‘m not working 7 days a week right now, so I‘ve got plenty of time to read.🙄

Anyone read any of these? They were all on the ‘new in‘ shelf - fortunately I didn‘t get any further into the library than that! 🤣

#bookerlonglist 10/13

Loved this - it‘s up there at the top of my list with Stone Yard Devotional. I don‘t want to talk too much about the plot - you need to read it for yourself. I had a little inkling partway through but the denouement was still devastating.

Isabel lives a friendless, neurotic life alone in her family house in The Netherlands in the 1960s, until her brother‘s new girlfriend comes to stay while he is away, upending her life.

#bookerlonglist 9/13

As with There, There, this was a tough read although, I think because I knew what to expect in terms of the author‘s style, I found it a little easier to read.

I preferred the first half of the book - the more recent sections (based in the aftermath of the Powwow in There, There) became rather repetitive.

This will be borderline, I think, for my own personal shortlist although I can see why the judges may shortlist it.

#camplitsy24

That ending…! What did you think?! And what happens after that?

That brings to a close our discussions of The Alternatives. Thank you for joining Barbara, Meg and me.

We look forward to next week‘s book - make sure you don‘t leave any food about camp and keep an eye out for the BEAR! 🐻

#camplitsy24

Last week we explored each sister‘s background and working life.

Now that the sisters have met up and spent some time together how did you find them as a group? How did the family dynamics play out?

Did you change your mind about any of them as a result of learning more about them?