I liked this book and I‘m pretty sure all families have their secrets and divisions.
Nora did tend to get on my nerves though. I was never sure if I was supposed to like her either!
I liked this book and I‘m pretty sure all families have their secrets and divisions.
Nora did tend to get on my nerves though. I was never sure if I was supposed to like her either!
Thank goodness for book clubs! This one was a selection for a mainly non-Litsy postal, and I‘m not sure I would have ever come across it on my own.
Historical fiction saga spanning multiple generations and told from multiple POVs, it‘s an immigrant story, an American story, and a very well-written story of a messy, very real-feeling family.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
I‘ve gone with the band name for this one....
The Utah Saints, a dance /Electronica band, were formed in Harrogate (my hometown) in 1991.
I really enjoyed this book, gifted to me by the lovely @Cinfhen , you could say it was #somethinggood !
#ayupaugust
My friend and I are headed to Boston for the weekend to visit our other friend that lives there so we decided to read this one together. Just wonderful so far. Theme reading at its best!
Really enjoyed this book. Initially it felt like the standard ‘Irish family emigrating to the US‘ saga but it was much more than that. This is a new-to-me author and I definitely want to eat more.
It will also fit Massachusetts for my Reading the States challenge, as it is set in Boston but also the author is from Mass.
Thanks so much for sending it to me Cindy @Cinfhen ! 😘
Just got home from working in the Florida Panhandle and came home to my #swapoween package from @bullbunny
These books have been on my wishlist for a while, and so glad to get a nice surprise today after seeing such depressing devastation today. The hurricane area still needs so much. It looks like a bomb has gone off and it‘s so heartbreaking.
Sooooooooooooo I don't enjoy Irish immigration books. (The stories of actual people are great, though.) There are so many books just like this! I don't know why we needed another one. But once the story moved more into the contemporary family, I was much more invested. I wish the beginning had felt fresh, but I've read the same thing too many times.
#readingwomenchallenge #bookwithanimmigrantorrefugeeviewpointcharacter @thereadingwomen
I read a BUNCH while we were away and there wasn‘t a stinker in the bunch:
Blindsighted - #StartASeries Thanks @swishandflick
Gruesome and gory and a great introduction to these characters that I am looking forward to following.
Saints for All Occasions - J. Courtney Sullivan‘s best yet. An Irish Catholic family saga that had me nodding along in recognition. One of my favorites this year.
👇🏼
Some Sunday morning tranquility before I slather myself with SPF 40.
“Taken together, the small choices anyone made added up to a life.”
“One of life‘s contradictions: how human beings were at once entirely resilient and impossibly fragile.” 💕
Truths scattered throughout this book.
I always read at least one nonfiction and one fiction book at the same time -- it means I always have something that will suit my mood. Just finished two books this weekend, so it's on to the next pair. This is what's up!
Sullivan was obviously raised in a great big boisterous family. Her depiction of family gatherings and squabble are so genuine and intimate you‘d swear she was a fly on the wall. This book spans 50 + years and centers around two sisters from Ireland who come to the United States until an unforeseen decision shatters their relationship. The storyline is predictable and the ending weak, but I still fell hard for the Rafferty‘s. 3.5 🌟🌟🌟#TBRbingo
Time Traveler‘s Wife wasn‘t really clicking with me so I‘ve switched to this book❣️‼️❣️WOW😄it‘s wonderful, only 4 chapters in but I‘m hooked. Thanks for reminding me about this book @Blaire ❤️
#GetMovin My #TBRbingo has sat #Untouched for months 😔Although I realized this morning I read two books and forgot to check them off #progress 🤓So my goal this summer is to finish my board along with my #GARbingo #summergoals ☀️🏖📚You guys, it‘s almost June 1.....
Surprisingly good book. I liked the alternating POVs because the characters had distinct voices that required little effort to remember. #2018 #bookclub #bookworms
About half way through my 2nd Book.
I wasn‘t sure if I liked this one at the start but now I‘m riveted and just want everyone to know everything
#readathon #teamanz2018 #familysecrets
This family puts the fun in dysfunctional! I think we‘ll have a good #bookclub discussion next month. 3.5 ⭐️ but rounding up to 4 since it‘s #StPatricksDay 🍀
A nice accompaniment to my morning #coffee
#MarchMunchies
Also, how about those Retrievers! 🐶
For me this book was between a 'so-so' and a 'pick' This book is well written but I just wasn't enthralled by it. I did enjoyed it the more I kept reading it. I still think 'Maine' is her best book
Many of the characters in this book were highly well-developed. Without spoiling anything, there were several settings throughout the story that helped me empathize and truly understand the point of view of the character in such a way that hasn‘t been done before or I haven‘t encountered before. The author wrote of an Irish Catholic family in a modern manner that I found myself relating to. I plan on reading another one of Sullivan‘s books.
I loved this author's book 'Maine' which I read a few years ago. So I'm trying this one now.
I really enjoyed this book- the characters were believable and also complex. About half way through- had to have the tissue close by- just really touching! Needed that! It ended rather abruptly to my liking....something‘s left hanging....but I still enjoyed it.
UGH SUCH a good day! Took a writing masterclass with
J. Courtney Sullivan this afternoon... she is AWESOME.
I‘ve read each of her other books over the years and they‘re quite special to me. Her latest is still on my TBR so brought it along hoping to get it inscribed and she was over the moon when I asked her! And she says (above) she looks forward to reading my bookS (PLURAL). Her confidence/support for new writers is lovely.
Amazing how the people and places that once mattered most would vanish, and still you carried on ⛪️
This book starts off in 1950's Ireland, ends in Boston and goes through to 2009. It's a story of secrets and it spans 50 years of a family and its ups and downs and it goes back and forth in timelines. It's beautifully written and you can picture yourself in Ireland and Boston. Having lived on the west coast of Ireland and know Boston, it was all so familiar to me. Loved this one.
Starting this today. This will complete my Goodreads challenge of 100 for the year.
Loving this one. It was recommended to me by a friend at work. Great choice as my first read of vacation!
I am honestly not sure I enjoyed another book more this whole year. I have Irish ties and an estranged mother-aunt relationship in my life. It hit home, and it was so beautiful.
The narrator did a good job with the multiple accents in this audiobook, but the story itself was a little flat. The story deals primarily with two sisters who come to the US from Ireland in the 1950s and the secrets and resentments they harbor towards one another. The book opens with the death of an adult child of one of the sisters. We hear from his other siblings, but their stories are only tangential to the story of the sisters. 3⭐️
#NovemberByTheNumbers #TuneintoNovember Here are #14 random books from my TBR that I hope to read in the first half of 2018! No #promises though...I'm pretty much a moody reader who gets easily distracted by shiny "new" books?Darn 3 books got cut off?See comments below??
I️ love that this book calls into question how much we know about those we love, and how much we really want to know. It‘s an immigration story about two sisters that spans decades, and the way their life‘s choices impact the trajectory of their lives. There was great peace but also great turmoil, and I️t was difficult to unravel the layers of the years in order to make sense of how it all turned out. Very visceral and genuine.
I really enjoyed this story. I liked being witness to a family drama that unfolds over the years. I did think the ‘big secret‘ that drove this family was a bit overdone.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2: Wow! This book gave me all the feels. I found that I was mesmerized and couldn't put this one down. The characters are so well drawn and this broken family saga is exactly the kind you'd find in your own closet. Bravo!
With work/school starting I didn‘t get a lot of reading done. Hoping October will be better.
I'm having a hard time putting into words why I liked his book. It has a well-developed plot and great depth of characters. It is also a fascinating look at how secrets can drive a family apart. I really liked the descriptions about the convent and the lifestyle of cloistered nuns.
Desperately needed a pedicure-toes needed some love and I needed the relaxation! 💅💅 Stayed at work late and also cooked a bunch for Rosh Hashanah, I needed a break! Also decided that I can read 2 books at one time because I'm an adult and I make the rules😂😂
Just what I needed. Although I have a million things I should have done this weekend l couldn't stop reading this book. Thanks @rebeccaschinsky for the recommendation.