Welcome to Litsy!

Book 11/100 2023
It is a quiet tragic book with frustrating characters. A story about loss... most of it unnecessary due to LACK OF COMMUNICATION. Which frustrated me. Lol.
On the eve of her daughter's wedding, a tragic accident takes everything, and everyone June loves. A story about connections, regret, and loss.
🏠🏠🏠🏠

Wrapping up my 2021 reading with a look back at my favorites for the year. If anyone is a Brandi Carlile fan, I suggest listening to the audio version of Broken Horses… you‘ll be treated to a concert at the end of her memoir. 🎵🎶🎵🎶 Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2022!

Damn, I am not doing well with my reading at all lately 😞 maybe it's just because of the current state of the world, but this was another one where I just couldn't connect with the characters. It seemed like something I'd love, but it's just not working. Hoping I can find something I like for the long weekend coming up!

A great story of relationships & family. Reading during the covid crisis meant I had to re-read sentences over & over again ( I‘d say I‘m not the only one ) ... A really engaging book... I could feel the pain & sensitivity & hope of this author coming through in his writing , a lot of feelings around . I‘m looking forward to his next one already 👍🏻❤️

I‘ve had a few non starters, but I‘m really liking this one
Im finding the characters & stories I‘m reading have a different feel now , a new gravitas as I read them now in this covid time. ...
Does that make sense ? Anyone else feeling this

#ReadWithMrBook #Tearjerker
#Jennyis30 #Family

This is a beautifully written novel about loss, consolation, grief, friendship, and family. In a sense, it is bleak: a woman (June) wakes up one morning to find her entire family, plus her house, plus most of her personal items, lost in an all-consuming fire caused by an explosion, the cause of which is unknown, for now. June gets in her car and starts driving across the country, seeking either ⬇️

Intriguing story. Makes you wonder about your own family dynamics

Really loved it. A beautifully weaved story of loosely connected people dealing with the weight of what it looks and feels like to have a family. It's not always how you think it should be and it's not always fair. But sometimes things work out in such a way because someone else needs you, needs what you've been through, or you need someone else and didn't realize it.

#July2019 #stats #12books #6mysteries #2nonfiction #3fiction #1blend #2audiobooks
Lots of escape into mysteries this month.
5 star ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ book: Did You Ever Have A Family, by Bill Clegg
Close contender, The Book of Dirt by Bram Presser.

I am stunned by the beauty of this novel.

#lovearrives

Spent the last couple of days mercilessly pulling books to donate to our town library book fair. For whatever reason, tagged book spoke to me. Too huge a TBR. I keep finding books at the library & in stores (B & N 25% discount on most everything in stores this July & August.)
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/thank-you-teachers-barnes-noble-presents-aug...
My husband made this amazing strawberry cake yesterday. 🍓🍰

I loved this book! It reminded me a lot of Ann Patchett in how he looked at all the little details that led up to the cataclysmic event that starts the book, and then the aftermath of that event. It‘s told from multiple perspectives, which isn‘t at all confusing in print, but I imagine it would be as an audiobook. This is a beautiful meditation on love and family and the fact that we are all flawed human beings.

This audiobook is read by the author.
He‘s monotone. He sounds like Tina from Bob‘s Burgers.
And there are like 30 characters whose stories are all loosely linked together. And Im falling asleep, confused, because every single person sounds like Tina.

This is the list for my second Litsy 🎄 exchange buddy...I‘m finding some cool books looking at other folks‘ tbr lists! 🥳

Book mail!

My LMPC book came back to me. No one else liked it as much as I did. 😬 You won some, you lose some.

Also, thanks to @LeahBergen I found the missing book to my president set. Thank you Leah!!!

Finally done with this one!
My son inspecting my work 😂
Sending it to you tomorrow @Reviewsbylola

First real bath Iv taken in almost 3 years 😍 moved into our new home this week, so much to do, but I may just bury myself in here and wait for the fairies to do it for me. At least for tonight. ❤️

I‘m really enjoying this one so far! Isn‘t she adorable? Her shedding is killing me so I‘m taking pictures to remind me she‘s cute and so worth it 😂😍

This book was so depressing! Everyone had a heartbreaking story. Almost everyone had something tragic happen to them. There are no happy endings in this book.

There were so many different point of views, it was tough to keep track. Luckily @Mdargusch made a chart in the front of the book that helped me keep track.

Very interesting pick @Reviewsbylola

#LMPBC #bookaweekchallenge - Book 3

Wow..what a beautiful book. Told from differing perspectives, I was unsure at first how they were all connected. But slowly, slowly each character‘s story is woven into one tale of grief, loss, and love. I loved it!

Thanks for putting it on my radar @BarbaraBB @Mdargusch @Reviewsbylola @Reviewsbylola

The past week has been library book sale season here in Lancaster! In addition to a few books I‘ve already read and posted about, here is my haul! Any favorites?

31!!!! | #ABBAInAugust 🕺

#ThankyouForTheMusic and the book recommendations this August you fab five! I‘m intrigued by this book from your reviews.

This is a beautiful family saga told from multiple perspectives and stems from a tragic event. The various storylines at first seem unrelated, and then slowly start to enter-twine and build off each other. I loved each storyline and could not get enough. A plus for me is that part of the story takes place in Washington state, from where I recently moved and am deeply homesick for.

#theflame ignited in June's home kills all of the family members she loves. This book, told from alternating perspectives, weaves together the lives of those involved in the tragedy both directly and indirectly. I had high expectations for this book and while it didn't disappoint, I felt impatient during some chapters and didn't gain as much hope and insight as I was expecting. Cissy's story was a highlight for me 🔥
#heatofjuly

Really liking the story. But the author should have had someone else do the audiobook. So flat and same voice for all characters. 😕

Most recent purchase........pretty excited to start this one!!

Wow, what a book. This one ripped me apart. So visceral and haunting, it looks at the tragedy affects us, as well as so many other things. How our choices lead us to certain places, how families can fragment and become strangers to one another. The book has an uncanny way of making the reader reflect on their own life and choices. I hope the other members of #lmpc love this one as much as I did. #groupD

Annotating a book for #lmpc is not easy in the bath, but look at all my glitter! 🙌🏻🙌🏻 #bathandbook

My favorite book of 2016. How do you heal after a fire? We see the different ways people try to heal. One of those books, that when the pieces finally come together, you are blown away. Highly recommended. #GetMovin #BurnittotheGround @Cinfhen (seems like a lot of us are getting errors, so no picture)

Really enjoyed this book, took awhile to get use to so many characters, but effective way to tell the story.

This book could've been twice as long and it still would've ended too soon. It was simply beautiful.

My heart was broken and put back together all at once. I miss being in college because this would have been a great book to discuss in class. The heart-breaking realities of family are laid bare, even when it‘s not family that breaks your heart. Definitely pick this up if you like interwoven character stories and meditations on what it means to love and be loved. #didyoueverhaveafamily

I love when I see my school mentioned in fiction #universityofpugetsound

Loving this in a way I didn‘t expect. I‘ve been reading more YA and fiction lately and I‘m glad I‘ve found my love for #literaryfiction again. #didyoueverhaveafamily

I found this to be underwhelming and slow. There were so many characters and it was a lot to keep track of throughout the book. The story just fell flat for me.

Reminded me of Everything I Never Told You (which I also loved). Themes of family, grief, communication and honesty (or lack thereof), and healing. Not a book for everyone, but if you have experienced trauma and grief, many of the lines and descriptions will likely resonate with you. It‘s not a fun book, but for me it rang true.

The writing is so beautiful it makes my heart hurt.

I wish I could do nothing but read this book, but life interferes unfortunately 😢

The morning of her child‘s wedding, everyone a woman loves dies in a freak accident. Clegg explores her odyssey of grief with beautiful prose, and I was right there with her and with others directly affected by the tragedy. But by about a third of the way in, the novel had lost me with its trauma-leaden back stories of too many incidental characters. It became calamity porn, and my ability to take it all on and in stalled out.

#QuoteOfTheDay

#QuoteOfTheDay

This is going to be a tough read, the writing sure is gorgeous!

#QuoteOfTheDay

“When you see someone every day for a while, you settle into a rhythm and you come to count on them even if for nothing more than the fifteen minutes each morning they spend sitting at your counter, on one of your stools, talking about the weather and giving you a big smile and thumbs-up when they sink their teeth into a poppy-seed muffin.”

#Family #QuotsyNov17

About halfway, and I really like it so far. It's been a lazy Sunday. Hooray for #overdrive.

#SeptemBowie #AshesToAshes 🔥🔥🔥I haven't seen much Litsy action for this powerful debut about a woman who loses everything & everyone in a fire. Emotionally gripping, both sad & hopeful as we come to discover what it truly means to begin again...I've seen a few reviews where people have commented on the horrible narration for this book, so I definitely recommend the print version!

After a few tries I finally bailed. The narration was so dull. 🎧📚

I tried. Dull. But it could be the author's narration of the audio. His voice was pretty monotone.

Just started listening to this on my walk to work. Anyone read it?

A book about #family on my #TBR 📚😊
#jubilantjuly

I tend to get detoured by other books, but I think this portion of the #TBR mountain will be my July stack. I also have a couple of #overdrive holds that may come in soon, and I'm still wrapping up a couple of current reads.