Welcome to Litsy!

I have conflicting feelings* about the story itself, but am not at all conflicted about the quality: it‘s an intricate, powerful observation of family relationships & of the false, or at least fragile, security offered by social roles, rules, & constructs.

*Wondering if anyone else had really emotional reactions to the way adoption was handled?

I really enjoyed this one. I was a bit late to the game with it, just didn't “get to it“ when everyone was so into it, but so glad I picked it up eventually. I also enjoyed the show of this one too.

#July 2022 Pick

@12BooksOf2022
@Andrew65

I loved this one! This was one of our first buddy reads! 🔥

#DivineDecember
#fireplace

Meh, this book was okay. I think it was really hyped up for me, which is why I was a little disappointed reading it. I know there is a TV show and Reece loves this book, so I expected it to phenomenal (like many of her picks). But I just didn't find this book as spectacular as others did. I thought the story took a while to get going and then came to an end. I was expecting the ending because it was discussed in the first chapter.

I listened to the audio. The first half didn‘t catch my attention all that much; it was pretty slow moving. It picked up in the second half, though. I really did not like Mia. I‘m not sure there were any characters I liked, actually. I would have rated the first half “ok” at 3 stars, and wanted to up it to 3.5 stars due to the second half, but I dropped my rating just a touch as I was very unhappy with one of the things that happened near the end.

This was excellent - heartfelt, heartbreaking, frustrating, honest.

Absolutely amazing. With so many characters and unique challenges amongst all of them, the ease in which I could follow it all is 100% attributed to the authors talent. This is a very real, emotionally raw book that I would definitely read again. Why did I wait so long to read this???

Really loved reading this and then watching the series. They were super different in my opinion but I appreciated the book a bit more for the increased focus on motherhood.

Been trying to get into this Hulu Original, but it‘s a little rough. It‘s not a breezy show that I can lose myself in. I have a hard time binging this one.

Overall not my go-to read; but loved the ending where we get future dives and future speculation. Someone had lamented that the story just ends, I know what they mean but I felt that was the strength. Our time (this is pretty meta) as readers prying into the lives of others (as Mrs. R does), making their business ours is done. Life goes on (as it does for Mia) and we readers have to go on living with that too- really good summer read 4&1/2 stars.

I‘m well into the first half- pretty smooth read and liking it BUT feeling the cringey factor BIG TIME. So much so that reading this alternately makes me want to put the book down while also motivating me to read on. Strange.

So this one was good. Just didn‘t really have an ending. Like just stopped. Nothing really happened at the end.

I am gonna start the Hulu show this afternoon. Hopefully it will have more of an ending.

Might end up finishing this one today while I do some #LightChores

I decided to pick this one up for my next #AudioCommute book. Bonus is the whole Hulu series (I am enjoying the Nine Perfect Strangers Adaptation, so I am excited to finish and start the Little Fires Everywhere one).

:)

This was an easy read and fairly enjoyable throughout. But I can't help think about what is the point of the book?

There were various relationships at play between mother and daughter - biological and unbiological, but I was left unsatisfied at the end feeling a little lost. Maybe that was the point - since relationships are so complex. But I felt I wasn't given enough insight into these dynamics and just saw the surface. And then the end.

“What made someone a mother? Was it biology alone, or was it love?”

#Single
#MayMoms

Shout out to all of the single mothers! You‘ve got this! ❤️❤️❤️

Very good. This author, in my mind, has a very good idea of presenting and writing characters very accurately to the world around us. From the strict parenting style to the problematic children to the struggling friends, the author displays the idea that everyone has difficulties whether one realizes this or not. Not only this, but some things are kept hidden for a reason.

My February wrap up. A couple chunksters and some really excellent books. My favorites were Little Fires Everywhere, Unseen Academicals, Maid, and The Maid (Ha!)
I got a kick out of reading two books back to back with almost the same title. They are vastly different though!

I loved this book! It‘s been sitting on my shelf for a while, bookclub finally made me pick it up. The siblings and their different relationships drew me in immediately, and all of the parts of the story were equally intense.

Is the tv (Netflix?) series just as good?

So it turns out I don't hate all audio books. I'm finding I need a little mystery or thriller type action to keep me interested. All of these were fun listens.

Life in the Shaker Heights community seems normal until Mia and Lexie Warren move in. Some of the neighbors are cordial, while others are a bit bothered by their moving in. There is some class and racial differences as they begin to settle in and are forced to deal with them as the story progresses.

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with this second book by Ng. There were some parts and chapters that I liked and others I couldn‘t wait 👇

I didn‘t want to put this book down! It was so beautifully written, the words wrapped around me in a spell-binding cadence and the twists and turns were surprising. Unexpected goodness.

*****

“I'll tell you a secret. A lot of times, parents are not the best at seeing their children clearly.” This is so true!

#Secrets
#WishesandBlessings

I was sick and missed yesterday 😩

I enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere a lot. It builds up slowly, there are some excellent character studies, lots of thought-provoking aspects of human relationships and motherhood, and an ending that might not answer all the questions but still feels to me a proper place to leave these characters.

I really enjoyed Ng‘s second novel. I‘ll admit I wanted to read it before I watched the tv mini series. It took a little bit to get into it but then I really enjoyed the pace of the novel and the character development and interactions. I was satisfied with the ending.

I love character development in books and this book has that in abundance, the plot is slow however the character work is intense. I felt like I knew these characters on an intimate level, Izzy especially got under my skin. I felt her passion, her sense of justice and felt in my soul how misunderstood she was within her family unit.
These characters had me equally raging and heart breaking for them.
Easily five stars from me.

#bonfire #falltreasures @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I watched the miniseries before reading this, which has been both a hinderance and a help. I kept imagining faces of the cast, who did not necessarily honor the descriptions in the book. Also, the show expanded the storyline in unexpected, and possibly irrelevant, ways. Overall, a good read though.

I felt a little dissatisfied by the ending of this one, but I did really enjoy it for the most part. I really love the characters and how all of their stories intertwined so intensely. I also love what it had to say about mother/child relationships. Good stuff.

Really enjoyed the plot of this book, but it does feel slow at times.

I. LOVED. THIS. BOOK. It‘s an issue novel, but one that doesn‘t beat you over the head with a foregone moral position. It‘s a psychological thriller, without the hack writing or “plot twists” you can sniff out a mile off. It‘s a family drama with a family that actually feels like a family. One of those rare much-hyped novels that actually lives up. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/little-fires-everywhere-celeste-ng/

Thought this was decent, but did not love like so many did. @TheAromaofBooks my #doublespin for August!

This novel lands somewhere between a pick and so-so for me. While I loved the characters and their unique relationships and interplay I also sort of saw the ending coming. To be fair the book kind of lays out the ending in the first few pages. I guess I was hoping for something a little more climactic (aside from the fire). I did love how honestly this book portrayed the role of a mother and that even the best of them (or worst) are just human.

Wowza - what a book! This one had been on my tbr for ages and I was so excited to receive it from @melissajayne . I'm hesitant to read books that are very popular as they are often big misses for me (Crawdads is an example) but I totally understand the hype about this book. What a great story!!! The characters are so rich and complex and the issues that they deal with are big. This is one that will stay with me.

I did not watch the series that was made from this book.
I really enjoyed this book. I love the way Ng weaves the layers of her novels. Not all of the characters were likable, but that was essentially the point. I don‘t think I will watch the series because I don‘t see how it could possibly live up to the book.
Mia and her daughter rent an apartment that it owned by a wealthy family and their lives become entwined in unexpected ways.

Im not sure about this book. It just felt very disjointed and not my thing.
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Rainy day in Anchorage. Pausing for a few pages before getting back to the seemingly endless amount of garage sale items I‘m currently organizing.

Thoughts so far on Little Fires Everywhere (only about 1/4 of the way in): This is feeling like a fast read so far, I only started it yesterday but I‘m absolutely loving the character development and relationship between Moody and Pearl as well as her mother Mia. Can‘t wait to learn more about Izzy.

Finished my #BookSpin from February. When I was halfway through I couldn‘t resist starting the Hulu series. It takes some skill to simultaneously watch an adaptation and read the original work without accidentally spoiling it for yourself 😂 #BookSpinBingo

Favourite book Read in June. The TV series is also great, if not better.

★★★★
Juxtapose of reality and ideals, this book explores the life inside each characters, always balancing between living with what is expected and living with what is uncertain.

It turned out to be a good read when examined under the lens of race, power, and consequences. There's so much love too, but it wasn't what had me turning the page.

All her life, she had learned that passion, like fire, was a dangerous thing. It so easily went out of control. It scaled walls and jumped over trenches. Sparks leapt like fleas and spread as rapidly; a breeze could carry embers for miles.

- Chapter 11

Everything, she noticed, seemed capable of transmogrification. Even the two boulders in the backyard sometimes turned to silver in the early morning sunlight. In the books she read, every stream might be a river god, every tree a dryad in disguise, every old woman a powerful fairy, every pebble an enchanted soul. Anything had the potential to transform, and this, to her, seemed the true meaning of art.

- Chapter 13

On chapter 13

Jealous of Mia's passion for photography... I've only had such attitude towards books—nothing I regret—and writing, but I wish I was drawn towards other creative pursuits at that early age.

@melissajayne - Thank you for the wonderful #sliceofsummer package! I cannot wait to start the books! The socks are sooo cute and the notebook is so lovely I do not want to write in it - hah! Hope you like your parcel as well. @Catsandbooks

Now here was this Mia, a completely different kind of woman leading a completely different life, who seemed to make her own rules with no apologies.

“Well, I‘d love to buy one,” Mrs. Richardson said. “In fact, I insist. If we don‘t support our artists, how can they create great work?”
“That‘s very generous of you.” Mia‘s eyes slid toward the window briefly, and Mrs. Richardson felt a twinge of irritation at this lukewarm response to her philanthropy.

“Being allowed to do something and knowing how to do it are not the same thing.”