Welcome to Litsy!

The problem with diagnoses is that they're mistaken for answers.

A moody and dark memoir. While a chilling exploration of abuse, Weiss‘s memoir also touches on the underbelly of wealthy prep-school kids, many seemingly unencumbered by parental supervision. The “contemporary” chapters felt comparably antiseptic (perhaps, deliberately so?), Weiss‘s writing as a memoirist outshining her as a crime writer.

This read fell into the “wanted to like it more than I did” category. It hits some high interest content ( crime, rich people problems, & the adolescent psyche) but it struggled to capture me. That‘s not to say that there isn‘t some excellent writing. There are some incisive moments (the section on cutting, the analysis of Weiss‘ relationship with her mother in the latter half of the book). I think this memoir struggled to be a cohesive story.

Camping this weekend so going to get a lot of reading done! This book is a bit slow, though. #dogsoflitsy #jackthedorkie

Current read

Snack time ! 💙

Headphones in, listening to the tagged book, and happily eating some cheese. #BookishWeekend

Next up! #BookishWeekend #audiobooking

You know how it goes sometimes. It was at the library. Sounded intriguing. Some of her writing was 👍🏼. But I was disappointed that I had spent time on it when I finished the book.

This quote made me chuckle. The author is discussing the fact that women change their last names when they marry. Despite being married three times my last name has never changed. I have four children and they don‘t have my last name, but everyone important to me knows that I‘m their mom. 😀

This book doesn't have the greatest reviews, and I can see why. Many felt that the author focused too heavily on her own life and not enough on the crime in this book touted as a "true crime" work. I went in expecting to read about the author's teenage years and less about her tennis coach who committed the crime, so I enjoyed it. More below ??

Today is my birthday...31. I'm celebrating this morning with a book, a cup of tea, and macarons from Bouchon Bakery in nyc courtesy of my sister-in-law 😍 ☕️
Everyone is still in bed from a late Christmas night and I'm enjoying a quiet moment before the boys come down the stairs. ♥️

This doesn't have great reviews but I'm going to give it a try anyway. I love true crime. Seen here with my favorite Christmas cookies -- Russian Tea Cakes from my mom 😋

I feel like this attempt at writing memoir and true crime simultaneously results in failure at both. Neither teenage Weiss nor the crime she is focused on interested me enough to like this book. For a much more successful attempt at this specific genre read Maggie Nelson‘s ‘Jane‘ and ‘The Red Parts‘.

This book starts off with the 2 scariest child stalking pages I‘ve ever read. This is Piper Weiss‘s memoir about growing up in the early 90‘s NYC and being an insecure and self loathing girl so much so that she juxtaposes this memoir with the account of a tennis coach, who she took lessons from, who kills himself after a failed kidnapping of a student he was obsessed with, solely for the purposes of her to say, “I wasn‘t loved by him enough👇🏼

@minkyb Thanks so much for the cute Pick!! pin, the very neato card, ( does he know that other spaceman? Is it just a hallucination? Maybe that is his alter ego fighting for control of his mind while he‘s in a coma? Did the guy facing us kill everyone in the new space colony except for this guy who is thirsty for revenge? Is it even a he? Lol) and thank you so very much for the book which I will be reading during the readathon this weekend. ❤️

The 1st thing people need to realize is that this is a memoir of the author's life & although it does connect with this man and his crimes, it is *not* a detailed look solely into him. And I absolutely LOVED it for that exact reason. She puts you squarely in the experience of a privileged private school teenager. Amazing! The 2nd thing I will say...reading the last 50 pages in an isolated place as darkness came, not the smartest idea I've had. Lol

Made it through my work week! Reward is flashlight powered reading in the trailer while listening to the rain outside #heaven 📚 🌧 🌲
Although this may not have been the best choice of book to read in an isolated area in the woods. Lol

Some intriguing bits. But, ultimately, focused on Weiss‘s memories and her wresting with her feelings about this past crime without any real resolution. The journalism aspects were not very strong. #LibraryThing #EarlyReviewer

#bookmail

This just in from LibraryThing‘s Early Reviewer program.

#librarything #arc

This book...woooo...I need a minute.

An appropriate choice to bring with me to #CrimeCon I think.

This was an interesting #audiobook but not what I expected. Still extremely readable! I thought it‘d be a true crime book, but it was a memoir wrapped around a crime that was perpetrated by the author‘s tennis coach. Really angsty and insightful, and a throwback to the early 90s. I wasn‘t raised in Manhattan‘s Upper Eastside and didn‘t attend private school, but after reading this through I‘m relieved I wasn‘t! 🎾🎾🎾
#libby

Sweeeeeeet! Excited to be receiving this ARC from #LibraryThing #EarlyReviewer !!!

#Aprella #SelfishLove ?It's a selfish stalkerish love & twisted obsession that Gary Wilensky had for his teenage tennis students. He fixated on one in particular, stalked & tried to kidnap her, failed miserably & took his own life but he "groomed" others like Piper Weiss (author of this memoir/true crime account) winning their affection by doing things like sending them handmade valentines, buying them candy & treats & paying attention to them.

This is a true story about a tennis instructor who was obsessed, stalked, and attempted to kidnap one of his students. Told in a back and forth type style, jumping in time, and narrators. The difficulty is it is a short story, but fluffed out to fill more pages, so lots of telling and retelling of candy shop outings and the like. The good was it all took place around where I live and visited, so I knew the locations.

Chilling. Beautifully written.

Unique & compelling mix of coming-of-age memoir & true crime story. Piper Weiss is 14 in 1993 when her beloved tennis coach Gary Wilensky's obsession with another student results in a botched kidnapping & his violent end. One of "Gary's Girls"-Weiss weaves the 90s with present day, her youthful devotion to Gary with who he truly was & her confusion with her feelings about not being Gary's 'pick.' With a Fuzzy Navel inspired by the book--link??

This memoir is fantastic! Weiss writes of her privileged NYC upbringing in the early 90s and her tennis coach who killed himself after a scandal destroyed his career. #williammorrow #TLCBookTours

#Aprella #CleaninOutMyCloset I totally should be cleanin' out my closet & other areas of my house but I ran errands, put away groceries & thought I needed a quick nap. Apparently I was more tired than I thought as I just slept 3 hours. 😴Now I'm camped out on the couch in non-matching pj bottoms & tee-shirt, starting this memoir/true crime #ARC for a book tour review next week. I'm only about 30 pages in, but it's interesting so far. #lazysaturday

Listening to You All Grow Up and Leave Me with this lunchtime view. Not always a bad place to work 🙂 #currentlyreading #audiobook

I thought this was quite good. As a memoir/true crime mash-up, it feels in some ways like an incomplete version of both, but I‘m okay with that. Especially if it means the author is saving material for more memoirs/essays - because her writing was impressive and definitely the highlight of the reading experience for me.

Do you see my self control? Yes, only one book, and that took a lot of control. Even with that kind of control, I did have to sneak it in the house inside my appropriately book sized purse!

Morning reading. 📖