Welcome to Litsy!

I start every year by making this my first read for the year. Normally I finish it in a couple of hours, but this year is different. I‘ve not read a book in weeks, including audiobooks, so it‘s an accomplishment to complete this little jewel of a book.

Grief is hard; we all know that. I‘m adjusting to suddenly having so much time on my hands. I had limited downtime, especially with the extensive caregiving needs the last 2 weeks of December. ⬇️⬇️

Stopped in my tracks after spotting this sign. #iykyk

It seemed for a time that everyone on Litsy was reading this book. I‘m finally getting to it. Such a sweet read. The NY author begins writing to a bookstore in England in order to find rare secondhand books at a good price. She ends up becoming very fond of the employees, sending them packages of food that are unavailable to them during wartime and staying in touch with the employees and their families for years. It‘s a quick and touching read.

What an absolutely lovely little book! I‘m not crying —YOU‘RE crying.

This collection of letters between an American scriptwriter and the staff of a British bookstore in London restores my faith in humanity and confirms my belief that book people are the best people.

Listen to the audiobook —the narrators are delightful.

😭😭😭My husband & I were recently displaced from our home by a fire. No one was hurt & our things were fine, we did have to look for a new home. He knew how difficult an experience this has been, including having to seriously downsize my library. As a housewarming gift, he found something I I have been searching for- an Italian translation of my favorite book! Next Jan 1st, when I do my annual read it will be in Italian! 😭😭😭

My first read every year is this slim epistolary collection between friends. I love viewing the progression of the friendship, and the ending gets me every time.

#SebastianKitty is kindly modeling the book for me. #CatsOfLitsy

#AboutABook #YouGifted I used to grab copies when I found them I gave it so much. If people say they love books , it‘s hard to go wrong. It‘s not too long , has a fun & breezy style , yet it‘s sometimes serious. Great Britain struggled after WWII. Hanff starts a correspondence with a British bookstore owner to find books for her collection. Better prices than the USA. They probably didn‘t imagine it would become a wonderful friendship!

What a charming little book!

#readaway2024
#24in2024

After hearing about this book for years, I finally bought a copy and read it yesterday. I enjoyed the epistolary format. It was a different and fun way to get to know the characters. I‘m glad I finally read it. 5/5 ⭐️

I needed something sweet, non-cloying, and warm this evening. I‘d read this years ago, liked it, and thought it would fit the bill. It did. I decided to listen to it. This version has several narrators, and they do an excellent job of catching the spirit of the book.

#Letters #MayMontage

@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Just lovely. Hanff is charming, witty, touchingly generous, and enthusiastic about books, her correspondents are grateful, skillful at their trade, friendly and welcoming, and offer tiny windows into 20th century British history (i.e. post-WW 2 rationing, screaming Beatles fans).

Hard agree.

“If you happen to pass by 84 Charing Cross Road, kiss it for me? I owe it so much.”
This book was charming and bought back fond memories of writing physical letters to people. The difference between the British (stuffy and formal) and the American (playful and brash) was entertaining. Thanks again @CarolynM for gifting me this book.
I also enjoyed the second book The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street.

The last 4 weeks have been rough. My brother passed peacefully 10 days after having his first stroke. He was the oldest left of my siblings and had been more of a father to me than a brother since our parents died 40 years ago. His death has left a big hole in my family. I turned to this gem of a book, which always brings me comfort. The process of dying and of grieving is something....

Very cute. I could have read more

An annual re-read for me. It's a perfect book, in my opinion.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘ve had this one on my radar for years now, but this month‘s #TBRtarot pick (choose a book…whose title starts with a number) brought it right to the top of my TBR! It was a very cute read, letters going back and forth between a writer/book lover in America and a bookseller in England. I‘ve loved epistolary stories in the past for their ability to allow the reader into the heads and hearts of the people in the letters. This one didn‘t really ⬇️

Well, it‘s back to work day. This books aren‘t going to buy themselves, apparently! My pace will obviously slow down this month, but this is what my reading flow for the week looks like-
Finished 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff en français for my annual New Year‘s Day reread with lovely people all over the globe. It‘s always a highlight of my year.
I hope your reading is going well to kick off the new year!

Book two from my #aussiesecretsanta package finished ✅. Thanks @Lizpixie . Thought I‘d never heard of this book, but then as I started reading, realised I had either read it or seen the movie years ago…🤔. Beautiful 🥰🙏

For the last several years, I‘ve started the new year with this book. It is such a celebration of friendship, filled with humor and just a bit of real life situations (rationing, for example). And, inevitably, I‘m always crying by the end. A wonderful book that shows books can connect people, even across oceans. So much like Litsy!! #192025 #1970

Finally! I saw the play almost 40 years ago at Tacoma Actor's Guild, back when my parents made me usher for season tickets. It was my favorite of many. I ordered this copy from Powell's and relished it today. Do I need to read Qs Legacy? How easy is it to find? I've been visiting England on Google maps street view this holiday. Almost as anti-social as Helene. Beezus tucked her head in while I was trying to get a picture. 🤔 🌧? #dogsoflitsy

If Litsy was a book, it would be this book. ❤️📖❤️

I've just finished reading "84 Charing Cross Road" ???
Onto "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street".

The photo is allegedly of Frank Doel, though I find it in only one place so can't be certain of its authenticity.

I'm rather ashamed to say that I've never read 84 Charing Cross Road, even though Mrs Bookwomble had a copy of it in the '80s and recommended it to me (I was too busy reading Arthurian romances to take her good advice 😏). Belatedly, I've got myself a copy, and am pleasantly surprised to find this edition includes the sequel, The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street. I hope to squeeze it in this year 📖
⬇️

Picked up this short read, a series of letters between an American in NY and a Brit in London. The letters describe a friendship between the two and their love of books.

📚💗 short read and definitely ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ loved it.

July stats! I didn‘t find any 5-star reads last month, but 84, CHARING CROSS ROAD was a stellar 4.5er (even though it‘s FULL of comma splices and I cringed at every single one).

This was also my least nonfictiony month since 2022 began, for which we may blame the operatic history text I‘m still plugging along through. Since I‘ve now read more nonfiction in 2022 than I did in all of 2021, I‘m cool with it.

Pain day outdoor reading. One of the people who read this ahead of me did so with a very fluffy black cat on their lap and Casey is INTERESTED. Little dude loves cats.

So far, I find the book charming but also weirdly rude? Like, I‘m not sure why these booksellers befriended Helene Hanff instead of getting mortally offended at her complaints. The notes she included in the care packages, which didn‘t make it into the book, must‘ve been something.

I wasn‘t gonna go to the library this week, but their opening hours matched with my bike ride so 🤷‍♀️. My haul features Guy Gavriel Kay‘s latest, more HEARTSTOPPER (finally!), a seminal epistolary work I‘ve never read, Maureen Johnson‘s second boarding school mystery, and some cinematic Spider-Man. Good times.

This is a charming read for book lovers, as it celebrates the joy of finding the right book, the right edition, the right author, and bookish friends across the miles. This was the inaugural book in a #readoutloud project I‘ve started with my mother. I read to her every day, and we are enjoying this “live” version of audiobooks.

New issue of Oh Reader! I am especially excited to read the article “In Search of Helene Hanff: The Decline of the Charing Cross Road?”

As good as advertised! What a sweet, yet heart-wrenching, book! I love epistolary novels.
⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A quick flight = a short book! Been looking forward to this one for a while, & this was my #jolobokaflodswap present from @BookNAround !

#SavvySettings @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

One of my top ten favorite reads ever and it's set in a #Bookstore. Plus, the movie has Anthony Hopkins. 😁

Beautiful little novella of letters passing between Helen hanff and Frank doel starting in the late 1940s. A wonderful pen pal friendship arises , Helen hanff was a wonderful correspond her letters are witty and warm showing she had a great career as a writer . I‘m now going to watch the film with Anthony Hopkins and next time I‘m in London at the end of the month I‘m going to go and have a look at 84 Charing Cross road.

Just as lovely as everyone claims. I'm looking forward to Q's Legacy now.

#weekendreading in the hairdressers, am I the only person to just discover this little gem when it‘s world famous ! The film 🎥 will be next ; it makes me want a pen 🖊 friend 😆it‘s like dipping a thick chocolate 🍫 biscuit 🍪 into a cuppa ☕️ 🥰

My husband is in London today and just sent me this. So fricking jealous.

He‘s now in Daunts. Not fair.

This slim book made me feel warm & fuzzy about people, & our ability to form generous friendships. It feels redemptive.

However, I held some mistaken assumptions about the nature of the story. I thought the letters exchanged would end in romance. It‘s quite alright that they didn‘t; platonic relationships are beautiful, too! But due to my expectations, the ending took me by complete surprise & was so much sadder than I knew to prepare myself for.

This was a great way to kick off my reading in the new year. A book about books and helping others.

3rd book finished for #NewYearSpecial #20in4
@Andrew65

My yearly tradition of beginning the new year by reading 84, Charing Cross Road. I laugh, I cry, and I fully immerse myself in the epistolary banter about books and friendship. ❤️

First book of 2022 complete!

What a delight for my last book of 2021!

Short and quick, it‘s a charming collection of real-life letters sent between an American writer and the British bookseller who tracked down old, out-of-print tomes for her over their 20-year friendship, which was sustained solely through letters and a shared love of books.

I want to go to Charing Cross Road so much now! This was a lovely book, what a fantastic story.

#wondrouswednesday

1. Well I read 64 books. My greatest challenge was (is) recovering from pneumonia and covid at the moment.

2. Tagged book along with Something Is Killing the Children and I Hate Fairyland.

3. A lot more reading - making the time to sit and read. Work on a reading journal. Creativity.

@BookNAround I *adore* my #JolabokaflodSwap gift! Thank you so much!

The Penguin edition of 84, Charing Cross Road is so lovely! The milk chocolate covered Gingerbread Tree is CALLING MY NAME & the S‘more‘s Bar is perfect (the amount of love I hold in my heart for graham crackers is probably unhealthy). I‘m sure the Potato Chip bar will be great, too — if my husband doesn‘t steal it under the cover of night. 😅 And you had no way of knowing this…