Welcome to Litsy!

Doing some #audiocrafting with my little peanuts. #huey #lennox #catsoflitsy

This quote “My mom once told me that no matter where you stand, you‘ll think the Mona Lisa is looking right at you” is an allusion to the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The meaning behind the allusion is telling us that no matter what you do or where you are, someone is always watching you.

This book is absolutely beautiful. I have no other words for it!

#bookspinbingo
#booked2022 - about the AIDS epidemic
#pop22 - set in the 1980s

#12booksin2021 My June read was my first every buddy read and I ADORED this book. The characters were really well developed and the author tackled first love so well. My TV show of the year was probably It‘s A Sin and there was some similar themes here. A beautiful book that I can not recommend enough.

My #LMPBC has made its way back to me from the last round. I‘m looking forward to reading everyone‘s comments 💜

I am 50 pages away from finishing Like A Love Story, and then I will write down all of my reactions and thoughts on the book and final thoughts in the journal. I'm going to send the book back to @Soubhiville this week, and I'll be offically done with Round 12 for LMPBC for GroupP #lmpbc #round12 #GroupP @WanderingBookaneer @bibliobard

Hit the halfway mark for this book. There is a lot happening in this story that really pulls at my heart, and everyone's annotations adds a depth to the story--I can feel the emotion of the other readers from #GroupP who've read the book #Round12 @Soubhiville @bibliobard @WanderingBookaneer

I've been in a funk with reading lately, and I will be late in sending this pick back @Soubiville I am enjoying Like A Love Story though. I might not write as many comments in the book, but I will keep posting my progress. I have my bubble mailer ready! #lmpbc #round12 #lgbtq

Fair to good. The author‘s note at the end was better than the book. 2nd book I have read from Nazemian and my second lukewarm response. I like the characters and want to connect with them but never quite click. Enjoyable enough though, well researched and mostly believable.

#queer

Jumping into the last book for LMPBC, I've read about 10 pages so far, and it's cracking me up #lmpbc #GroupP @Soubhiville @WanderingBookaneer @bibliobard

I just woke @BookishMarginalia up with my sobs. #GroupP #LMPBC

@LibrarianRyan : Jace is getting a box, but I put one extra thing that didn‘t fit in your #LMPBC box. Everything is gift wrapped.
@phantomx : Almost done with tagged book and will ship both #LMPBC books on Monday.

I have trainings all day today and tomorrow, so I'm working from home. Hoping I can catch up on reviews for the month!

I loved this book so much. These are characters that I miss. Set in the 80s, a gay male Iranian teen moves to a new place and confronts his sexuality, develops relationships, gets a closer look at the AIDS crisis.

The audiobook was fantastic, as well!

Please look at the cover page and appreciate its beauty😍
Now, where should I even start, this book is all about loving each other no matter what your race, religion, color, identity & sexuality is, it was so diverse blossoming with those tender emotions & feelings which inspired me, A lot of respect & love to this beautiful book which it deserves indeed !!!

#bookspin read complete! I really enjoyed this book about 3 teens and their experiences with the LGBTQ+ community and coming of age during the AIDS crisis of the 80s/90s. It was such an emotionally rich book and got to the point I couldn‘t put it down! Good pick @Soubhiville #lmpbc #round012 #groupp 🏳️‍🌈

This got me trying to listen to Madonna again. My [redacted] had Madonna albums, and I remember being like 8 singing to Like a Prayer. But the version of Madonna I had from her was heavily sanitised, kind of the way Hozier's Take Me to Church got christian co-opted. So it was this weird nostalgia, as well as a learning experience, to see her centred as the queer icon she is.

I managed one Bingo in July, but I could have used a few more Free spaces 🤣. I quickly filled in all of those.

I liked every one of these books, so I‘d call July a win for sure!

#BookSpinBingo

This is my #LMPBC book for the new round. It‘s a beautiful friendship story, but incredibly sad as it takes place during the AIDS crisis. I needed tissues (but I cry really easily.)

I loved all the late 80‘s nostalgia, especially Madonna!

What happens when I‘m reading and marking up my #LMPBC book? Venkman steals ALL the things. My bookmark, book tags, and pen all belong to him now. Lol. Excuse my messy writing Group P, he likes to bat my pen as I try to write notes.

This was a favorite. Like a Love Story will get you right in the heart. It follows 3 teenagers in the 1980s at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic as they learn who they are and how to love in a period of immense fear and prejudices. The characters feel real. You love them and are frustrated for and by them at the same time.

4:5 for this one! This was such a wonderful hard read. It was sad and honest and great. There were points when I wanted to stop reading because I knew something sad was coming. I couldn‘t put it down though. I had to know what happened.

#Love
#ForeverNovember

I started this one for our #Book4Book but was in a reading slump!! Hoping to restart it!!

#Adolescence #AboutAugust
#Book4Book Slow progress, but great book!!

#Felix 🖤😽

Making some progress!! Maybe I should have gotten a bigger journal!! 💜 🐼

#Book4Book

“The most important four letter word in our history will always be LOVE.”

So true ❤️❤️

#Book4Book

Getting into this one!! Really enjoying it so far!!

🦥 🖤💜

#Book4Book

1) Like A Love Story, The Downstairs Girl, Verity
2) The Nightingale ❤️
3) Hmmm I only post books on Litsy!

#Weekendreads

“There should be a limit on how long any human being has to wear braces.” 😬

#FirstLineFridays
#Book4Book

1) Strawberries 🍓
2) All of Kristy Woodson Harvey‘s books
3) I‘ve seen dolphins 🐬 so beautiful!!

thank you all for the tags!! 💗💗💗

@dandy.punk @viirastus @j.rye have you all played?!

Slowly making progress... great, sad so far!! Trying to healthier ughh ignore the ranch dressing!! 🙊🙈

#Book4Book
#Friends4Life

Starting this one today for #Book4Book 📚 I may be a little behind!! 🤦🏼‍♀️ I‘ve been churning out #LitsyLove!!

Starting this one for a book exchange with an awesome group of friends!!

I love sloths 🦥

#Book4Book

I got your package today Misty! Thank you so much. This book sounds great, I‘m looking forward to it. I love that you matched the bookmark and card, too. You‘re the sweetest 💕

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it—I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me—I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want. This is day 5!

#TBR

It‘s 1989 in NYC and the AIDS pandemic rages on. Reza an Iranian immigrant is terrified of being gay and convinced he will die at a young age because of it. Art is a rich boy who finds beauty in the pics he takes and is trying to live his true self along with his best friend Judy. Judy loves fashion and her gay Uncle who is dying of AIDS and can‘t wait to fall in love.

This story about first love and friendship is just beautiful and amazing. ⬇️

Beautiful.

Bittersweet, with the joy and heartbreak of first love and coming out, set during the tragedy of the AIDS crisis in 1989 in New York City. I relived the emotions of that era, cheering the courage of activists in the novel while remembering the brave actions of real life people. A rich #audiobook experience with three narrators—Lauren Ambrose, Vikas Adam & Michael Crouch—interpreting the three first-person viewpoints. #LGBTQ #YA #ownvoices

This story is set in 1989. The music references—Pat Benatar, New Order, Blondie, and so much Madonna—are happy reminders of my younger days. I need those, because at the heart of this story is the AIDS crisis and so much fear. I remember that too. 😔

I‘m actually bummed how indifferent I feel about this one. It‘s an exceptionally important story to tell and for that I‘m very glad it exists, but it ultimately feels repetitive, forgiving of characters that shouldn‘t be forgiven, overly preachy, and more. I‘m thrilled to see a book where young queer kids find their way in the world, I just wish it had been more polished.

Love when I read a story that reminds me of someone I know...and admire.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

#librarybook
#cloudlibrary

🚨🚨🚨#KindleAlert #DailyDeal It‘s September 1...a whole new batch of books on sale 😊🙌🏻🎉I picked up this one because MADONNA ♥️ #OnceAnEightiesGirlAlwaysAnEightiesGirl

August Wrap-up

I read 12 books this month. The tagged book was my favorite! But I enjoyed most of these. I feel like this was a good reading month.

6 audiobooks
4 ebooks
2 physical books
9 women authors
2 authors of color

Sadly didn‘t live up to hype/expectations. I super appreciate a story about young queer ppl, & giving teens today an insight into what life was like in the earlier days of AIDS. But there were more cons than pros: overly long & repetitive, instalove & irrational instahate, characters w/little depth (& an example of a man not knowing how to write a teen girl, IMO), too heavy-handed at times. An important book, just wish it was more polished. 2/5 ⭐️

Sigh. I don‘t know if he gets corrected on this at some point later, but it annoys me when people think every place in the central Bay Area is part of San Francisco. Berkeley is a completely separate city, across the bay. There‘s not even a shared border! Why couldn‘t it say “near the city...”? Humph. The author lives in Los Angeles and I know there‘s a lot of weird overlapping down there, but not up here.

And I wish she knew that her ability to even utter all these doubts out loud means she thinks highly enough of herself to respect the emotions inside her.

I wonder if he‘s also thinking about that time he told me that Cher‘s voice is like a foghorn, calling all the queens to her shores and warning them of the many navigational hazards ahead.

[This line gave me an amazing image in my mind‘s eye!!]

A queer book featuring POC set in the 80s in New York? YES PLEASE. Also this cover is gorgeous 😍 #nowreading