Welcome to Litsy!

I love books set in small town America. This book has a feel of John Irving around it, and I‘m already obsessed with the main character. Quite by coincidence it‘s also the second winner of the Pulitzer Prize, I‘ve read this month.

Oops, I went to pick up my comics because it‘s #NCBD and somehow found myself in a bookstore along the way. 😬 So, umm, yeah…I came home with a few comics, a few books, and a whole lot of good reading!

And I accidentally ended up back at the bookstore before I left Seattle. Whoops.

I loved this slow story about a small mill town that has seen better days. The character's storylines are woven together seamlessly to bring the reader into the town and the plight of its inhabitants. Some leave some stay. Some with hope and others resigned to a lifetime of hopelessness. Anyone who has lived in a small town will have waves of nostalgia and find characters to identify with or recognize. Trigger warnings: assualt, gun violence.

My high school AP English teacher gave me this book right before graduation with a few other books she wanted me to read. I haven‘t gotten to this one! Has anyone read it?? #LittensWantToKnow

This was a good, slow read to get lost in. The ending was devastating 💔

So long as the pool can fit my float life is good.

Love all of Richard Russo‘s books

My first Richard Russo and what a treat. I loved getting lost in Empire Falls, a sleepy Maine town that felt authentic and honest. This book made me nostalgic for my youth, for Dairy Queen, for Friday night football games and hanging out at the Sherwood Diner. I loved the LARGE cast of characters with their interwoven storylines. A tad long, but still a quick read for almost 500 pages. Should provide a lively bookclub discussion.

My first Russo and it won't be my last. Engrossing, often very funny tale of ordinary lives in a small decaying Maine town. Miles Roby is a protagonist we root for, but it's his ne'er-do-well father Max who steals the show. Great read.

#FirstImpressions #FuckingFantastic #IRLbookclub #SoManyCharacters

#BookClubBook for December 📚

This was a really good book!! I found out it's been made into a two part miniseries back in 2005 on HBO, and I'm very interested in watching it.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
I have to complain a bit about the super small print-especially when he flashbacks to the past and the small print gets even smaller when in italics. I'm not *that* old, but would of been SO much better if the print was larger.
Definitely would recommend. Great story

Reading this book was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You can appreciate the story but you know it will end in disaster.

I‘m posting one book per day from my ever-increasing TBR. No description. No explanation. Just books to read. Join the fun if you want.

Day 11.

#fromthetbrstacks

I first read this maybe 17 or 18 years ago and while I‘ve always considered it a favorite, remembered very little about it. I have been re-reading this slowly over the past few months with a group of my colleagues and remembering why I fell in love with it so many moons ago. Just a wonderfully rich, layered story of small town Maine and its inhabitants. Still a favorite. 5🌟

Just started this classic and already loving the writing 📔🖌

I really enjoyed getting chapters from the points of view of a number of central characters, as well as the flashbacks. It's a really good story, and it was a quick (as quick as 480 pages can be) read. Probably a little longer than it needed to be, but worth reading.

As always, Russo hits the perfect notes of humour and irony while weaving a tightly knit narrative filled with memorable characters, who are in equal parts slapdashedly funny and outlandishly exaggerated, but also true to essential human nature.

This Pulitzer winner is funny at times and tragic at others. It is a long audiobook, but the narrator is good and the story is good as well, so I never tired of the story. There‘s an HBO miniseries based on this book for those who prefer not to invest the time. I‘ll read more from this writer. Overall rating: 4.53 stars

I read this 15 years ago.

“Russo writes with a warm, vibrant humanity.... A stirring mix of poignancy, drama and comedy.” —The Washington Post

Welcome to Empire Falls, a blue-collar town full of abandoned mills whose citizens surround themselves with the comforts and feuds provided by lifelong friends and neighbors and who find humor and hope in the most unlikely places, in this Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Richard Russo.

#adventrecommends

Spent some time out with my favorite people hitting up a couple local used bookstores and walked away with these. Quite happy with my little #bookhaul ☺️

I‘m already a big fan of Eggers & Russo and I‘ve heard of American Dervish so I figured I‘d try it out since the deal was too good to pass up! Got all these & 5 movies for @BookBee89 for free with a gift card. 👌🏻

For me this was quite slow going at first but once I was invested in the characters it really came to life. The writing is witty and insightful and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Richard Russo is quickly becoming one of my favorite writers for character development. Miles Roby is certainly one of the best characters I‘ve met in quite some time.

Gertie loves people watching while I get some porch reading in. ❤️

I can see why this won the Pulitzer Prize. It was a fantastic, multi-generational story about a dying town & its eclectic community. The characters & the town were so vividly depicted that I felt like I was right there with them. And there were so many layers to both! In the hands of any other writer, it may not have worked. But Russo is master of his art & succeeded in creating a very rich literary experience. 5/5⭐️

The problem with the contemplative life was that there was no end to contemplation, no fixed time limit after which thought had to be transformed into action. Contemplation was like sitting on a committee that seldom made recommendations and was ignored when it did, a committee that lacked even the authority to disband.

I'm not sure why I enjoyed this book so much. For the first 350 pages, nothing terribly exciting happens, and the ending left me with a lot of questions, but I still loved it. I think it was the characters. There are a lot of them, but they're all interesting. Perhaps because they're all so hopelessly flawed. Miles, Max, Tick, Janine, even Walt Comeau...I found myself emotionally invested in them all.

I didn‘t come close to making #25infive but I had a lot of fun trying 😉

This week‘s food prep is accompanied by Russo‘s Pulitzer Prize winning Empire Falls.

One of my favorite books of ALL time. I've been having a crush on Miles Roby for almost a decade now. Grab it if you haven't already, you can thank me later.

This is a great book! The characters are very real, and the story makes the reader want to read and find out how everything will turn out for the characters. It is very interesting how the author intertwined the story with the town and its history.

This book has been on my bookshelf for ten years and was one of the first books I added to my #goodreadstbr list. Can't believe I waited so long to read this. Loved it! Great character studies. Gave us lots to discuss in #bookclub. #bookclubaddict #mounttbr2018

Sometimes you just need a change of scenery and lots of coffee when starting another book club read. Awesome bookmark from @aroc ! #MountTBRchallenge #bookclubaddict

My first Richard Russo to get a taste of his style. Will I find a writer to stick with throughout his works? 3 1/2 hours into this audiobook and I‘ve had enough. Mundane negative back and forth dialog. Ahhhhg! I won‘t be picking up more Russo. Sorry.🙁

Day 9: #smalltownboy #decdays
I think Empire Falls qualifies as a small town.
@Cinfhen

A touching and hysterical look at life in a small Maine town. I laughed out loud at certain points but found it ultimately very moving. The MC is having a midlife crisis but despite his age I see him as a #SmallTownBoy

#DecDays

This book was...fine. I didn't love it. Deep character development is usually my jam, but this was SO detailed and dense that I often felt like I was slogging through it. So why is it a Pick? Because ultimately it was satisfying and edifying.

Yesterday‘s wonderful meeting of #ThePoconoBookClub , at a local charcuterie! We sampled cheeses and meats while we discussed this excellent book. 😊🧀🥓

Another meeting of #ThePoconoBookClub is in the bag 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻! Richard Russo's book is unanimously praised by everyone, some even suggesting that a couple hundred more pages may have even made it better.

#BookNDinner! Crispy chicken wings, garlic knots, antipasto salad, mozzarella sticks, and mineral water! Yum! 😋This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats!

I'm doing this book on audio, but I snagged
 @MrBook 's copy for the pic. We need to have it read by Saturday for book club. Loving it, it's hilarious!

#BookNDinner! Accompaniment this warm and slightly humid evening: garlic-parm wings, garlic knots, antipasto, mozzarella sticks and Stewart's root beer! MMMMmmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 😎👌🏻

#BookNDessert! Accompaniment: a fresh-out-of-the-oven caramel apple tartlet and vanilla caramel tea. MMMMmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 😎👌🏻

#BookNDinner! Accompaniment this chilly, clear evening: maple-glazed pork tenderloin, potato and green beans in a light butter sauce, and sparkling mineral water. MMMmmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats 😎👌🏻! #HalloweenGoesPostal and #AllHallowsReadBookExchange package openings to occur thereafter. 😁👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

#BookNDessert! Accompaniment this cool, water-logged night: vanilla ice cream wrapped in a thick blanket of real Oreo crunchies, all ultimately clinging to their destined ride--a stick. MMMMMmmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 😎👌🏻

#BookNDinner! Accompaniment this fine and pleasant night: double-mushroom pizza; mozzarella sticks; garlic knots; garlic-parmesan wings; antipasto; and Coke. MMMMmmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 😎👌🏻

#BookNDinner! Accompaniment this pleasant night: meatball parm and chicken parm sub, salad, and lemon seltzer. MMMMMmm 😋! This has been another presentation of: #MrBookBookBabeKitchen. Happy reads & happy eats! 😎👌🏻

This was my first Richard Russo and it just blew me away. I now have a book hangover. I will definitely be picking up his other books!

Some pool time in Las Vegas. (If you think that's water in the bottle, guess again.) ⛱

I've only read Empire Falls but I like the covers on both
#anditsaugust #drinksoncovers @RealLifeReading

You can't possibly judge your ability to control something until you've experienced the extremes of its capabilities.