Welcome to Litsy!

#readingbracket2023 #2023readingbracket I cannot believe how close we are to making our top 2023 picks 🤯😱 Last month (Oct) I couldn‘t decide between “The Last Devil to Die” by Richard Osman or “The Lady from Burma” by Allison Montclair, but I ultimately decided on Osman‘s book. It‘s the last one (for a little while) so it only seemed fitting. This month (Nov) it had to go to the tagged book, it was so much fun getting swept away in Sira‘s story

This was an unintended PangoBooks find🤪 I was buying a book from a seller and saw this. I read the summary and gasped - it checks alllll my boxes:
✅ Historical fiction {and bonus points for it being from a region and a time period I‘m not familiar with (Spanish Civil War, Madrid & Morocco during the late 1930s and 1940s)}
✅ Strong female characters
✅ A chunkster!!
I ordered the sequel when I still had 200 pages to go, I knew I wanted more!

“A typewriter shattered my destiny”

#firstlinefriday from one of my all-time favs!

Finding the next book to read after finishing a very good one is such a struggle! I‘ve had this one my shelf for so many years and it‘s such a lovely book - beautiful cover, gorgeous endpapers, beautiful part/chapters - it could be the sweeping saga I‘m longing to get lost in!

1. Goodreads said the tagged book was the longest one I read last year. I actually listened to it (MANY hours), but the page count is 615.
2. If it‘s from the library, chunkster reading requires special planning. Especially if it‘s popular with a lot of holds.

#two4tuesday

I loved it! And a facet of World War II I knew nothing about.

Recommended by Anne Bogel on her One Great Book podcast. As she said on her Goodreads review, the dialogue is a bit clunky, which may or may not be a function of the translation. It‘s also quite long and could have used some edits. BUT the story is very compelling and sent me down many google rabbit holes. It makes me want to go back to Spain! The main character is very memorable, and so are the side characters. More in comments.

We had a very busy week at work, and this morning we did some mandatory training, so the boss gave us the afternoon free! When I got in my car, the outside temperature was 86 degrees! Good day for a walk and an audiobook to help cure #springfever. I have library books backed up like the Evergreen barge, so I‘m definitely going to try for #20in4 and just read as much as I can. Tagged audiobook is 22 hours long so we‘ll see...
#windsofMarch

#weekendreads with @rachelsbrittain

1. Severance by Ling Ma and Stamped From The Beginning by Ibram Kendi

2. The Time In Between by Maria Duenas. The cover is a painting by one of my favorite artists Jack Vettriano

3. Yes. No shame yes.

Turmoil in Europe. Sira leaves with her new bf to Morocco. He leaves her high and dry. The only thing she knows is how to sew. This is how she gets to know all the rich and famous women who need new dresses. A secret and dangerous mission takes her back to Madrid, and she gets involved in the war as a spy. It is a nice story and the setting is interesting, but the book was too long, 600 pages. #Spain #readingtheworld

“One of the effects of being crazily, obsessively in love is that it dulls your senses, your capacity for perception, till you no longer notice what is happening around you. It causes you to focus your attention so much on a single person that it isolates you from the rest of the universe, imprisons you inside a shell, and keeps you at a distance from other realities, even those right in front of you. “

Good characters

This was my selection to take on our cruise last week and it was not a mistake. Beautifully written and translated, the characters grab hold and take you in an adventure. Brings a bit of a new slant to both WWII and spy literature. Author is a university professor and it shows in the quality of writing. A great new discovery. Also increased my desire to visit Spain.

I swept away by this marvellously well told story. I travelled with the characters. "The inspiring international bestseller of a seemingly ordinary woman who uses her talent and courage to transform herself first into a prestigious couturier and then into an undercover agent for the Allies during World War II." Entertaining level: ????? #2015Sha

Midyear and I'm ahead of schedule, woot!!

Today's view is almost too distracting to read (almost).

Ribbon bookmark to match the Vintage bookzleeve...both now available in the shop along with a couple other new things👍🏼😃 #bookmark #booksleeve #bookzleeve #ribbonbookmark #sewing #singer #bookprotector #reading #reader #booklover #gift #etsyshopowner #Etsy

Loved diving into this sweeping historical fiction about strong women. A beautiful page turner.

New bookzleeve coming to the shop, probably tomorrow, if you love vintage style things then this is the one for you 👍🏼 find it in my Etsy...link in the bio
#etsyshopowner #Etsy #bookprotector #booksleeve #booklovers #reader #reading #gift #bookzleeve #booklover #sewing #vintage #new #protect your books

The main character in this novel is a dressmaker and a spy #dressesoncovers #readjanuary #translatedbooks

I always like to see an underrated book I enjoyed out in the wild. #bookstorebrowsing

This is good choice if you want escapist historical fiction set during the Spanish Civil War and the early years of World War II. I enjoyed the likable characters and the fairly unpredictable plot.

"Witty and sensual, indifferent to the political asperity of the times, as though he were not quite of this world." Beware anyone who is indifferent to politics in this age and happiness that is found by characters by page 28.

And a #shelfie #shadesofblue #somethingforsept

And a #shelfie #shadesofblue #somethingforsept

My #recommendsday pick is The Time in Between. This was the first selection in my best friend book club. We walked the aisles of B&N and noticed the beautiful cover. A few pages in and we were hooked. A wonderful story with WWII as the backdrop and a strong female character.

The kids are in bed, the dishes are done, the trash has been taken out and it is time to get in bed and READ! What is your current bedtime read?

Loved this book! A story of a young Spanish woman in the era leading up to WWII. This perspective was new to me and the author puts you right there in the thick of it.