Welcome to Litsy!

This book is so good. All I want to do is sit and bed and read it. I‘m so tired. But…must…carry…on…

I will be buying the next used copy I find.

Playground reading season has begun!

Really excited to be starting this book.

"The Best of Everything"
RONA JAFFE
"Wandering Stars"
TOMMY ORANGE
"The Road to the City"
NATALIA GINZBURG
"We Must Not Think of Ourselves"
LAUREN GRODSTEIN
"Close to Home"
MICHAEL MAGEE
"The Splendid and the Vile"
ERIK LARSON
"Coleman Hill"
KIM COLEMAN FOOTE
"The Fraud"
ZADIE SMITH
"A History of Burning"
JANIKA OZA
"Martyr"
KAVEH AKBAR
"A Quitter's Paradise"
ELYSHA CHANG
"So Late in the Day"
CLAIRE KEEGAN
"The Bee Sting"
PAUL MURRAY

This is 65 years old and rereleased and supposed to be like Sex & The City so now I must read it.

"The people who are part of our past and help to make our present what it is always stay in our minds, if only because we always wonder what would have happened if things had been different so long ago."

A new penguin classic edition coming out in a couple months prompted me to finally read this. Like MadMen if it had focused on the women instead. Yes there‘s a movie, but read this first! Then see it🍿

This forthcoming Penguin Black Classic sounds really interesting. The linked New Yorker article described it as Sex & the City set inside of Mad Men:
https://www.newyorker.com/recommends/read/rona-jaffes-the-best-of-everything-is-...

@Avanders Thank you!! I absolutely LOVE my #staycationintimeswap - none of these books were on my radar but as soon as I read the blurbs I was like YES PLEASE!! The candle smells amazing and I‘m super excited for a bath and a cup of coffee (dark roast is my jam). ♥️♥️
#Staycationswap

Wow, @Amandajoy …what a generous, gigantic gift you‘ve given me! I‘ve got one more load of laundry to do today; the Out of Print t-shirt‘s going straight in it & then right on my body! The tumbler is a feast for the eyes: such magical, pastel goodness! I love that we gave each other pencils; the snacks are right up my alley; & in a New England winter, the lotion & lip balms are both a necessity & a luxury. As for the books…👇🏻

@Amandajoy Would it be weird to say that perhaps my favorite thing in my #BestOf2021Swap box is your list? How can you go wrong with a match who includes “pink skies” on her list of favorite things, & ends with a message as wholesome as “not everything beautiful in life can be bought”?

You‘re a treasure. Thank you so much for your thoughtful, curated gift!

Final photo incoming…

Me, staring at my hands while opening gifts : “I wish I had some lotion. Look how dry my skin is!”

@Amandajoy , hearing me in the past, from approximately 1,500 miles away: GRANTED. 🧞✨

#BestOf2021Swap @candority

I‘ve never been gifted a cigar before…but there‘s a first time for everything. What is it Freud says? 🧐

With any luck, there‘ll be some lotion in this package (really, I have plenty) but WOW, my skin is dry! Look away! 🙈❌👀

#BestOf2021Swap @Amandajoy @candority

Exclaiming/drooling over this exciting, monstrous pile! 😍 @Amandajoy @candority #BestOf2021Swap

Will I be posting copious photos of my #BestOf2021Swap gift from @Amandajoy ? You bet your booty…🍑

@candority

I‘m so excited to open my #BestOf2021Swap gift…but even more excited to sleep. This is New Years in your 30‘s. 😉😅😴

@Amandajoy (& @candority ), I‘m looking forward to tomorrow!

1. Gone With the Wind
2. The Help
3. Daisy Jones & The Six

Honorable mentions go to The Midwife of Hope River and The Best of Everything.

Thanks for the tag!! @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 🤗
#Favs

Re watching MadMen (Don flips thru it in bed)I realized I never read this book about single girls in the city.Written in 1958 ,Ms.Jaffe ,in some ways,writes a cautionary tale of wolves in the office & grungy first apartments yet describes the city so beautifully it makes you long to try your luck in New York.If you enjoy books like Valley of the Dolls & Peyton Place you will like this.Lots of bad behavior all around ,but like candy,irresistible.

#bookmail #surprise #sisterlove
Lovely unexpected surprise mail from my Nebraskan sister-all my sibs share a love of books. ❤️❤️❤️ 📚📚📚

#QuotsyJune18 #father
#ReadingResolutions #bookishfathers 📚

My 'bookish father' read to me almost every night until I could read on my own, then he let me read to him. He shared his favorite books with me and was instrumental in giving me my love of reading and books. I don't know if the quote I picked is true in every case, but I know my dad thought I was special and that we had a special relationship.
I miss him every day. 💜

I recently re-shuffled my bookcases. Meet my new/old TBR. 🙄

Day 21 - #workplacesetting - I immediately thought of one of my favorite books, The Best Of Everything. This book has a very Mad Men feel to it (and incidentally here we have Don Draper reading it), and even though it came out in the late 1950s, it could just as easily come out today. It was very racy for its time period. Consider it Mad Men completely from a woman's point of view. Excellent book! #feistyfeb #madmen

#readJanuary- Just a few of the many books #SetInMyCity

I can't believe it's the last day of #photoadaynov16 🙃Thanks for organizing @RealLifeReading 🙂My November stats were actually better than I expected...and I read some good books 💙My #favoritereads #bestofnovember
were Mischling, We Need to Talk About Kevin & An Untamed State📚As always, I credit this wonderful community for inspiring and encouraging my reading 🙌🏻

Something that might not be as well known, I absolutely LOVE this book! The movie was unfortunately very disappointing. Pictured below are Don and Betty from Mad Men (greatest show in the history of ever) discussing the book as Don reads it in bed, then Betty talking about the movie version with Joan Crawford and her hideous eyebrows. 😂 What's not to love? #septphotochallenge #bookintomovie #madmen

Written in the late 50s, Jaffe tells the story of 3 girls who move to New York and all work at the same publishing company. The book was revolutionary for its portrayal of working women and the struggles they faced. Despite sexist and racist tones (given its time) I loved the book because I saw so much of myself in the characters. I just moved out on my own last week and I drew some courage from women that were just as scared as I am. 3/5.

"Summer is the worst time of year in New York. The hot breeze blows soot and sticky blackness in through opened windows, offices are running on half staff for staggered summer vacations, sidewalks grow soft and tempers short..."

I rated this a pick, but with caveats: it's a product of its time and is best read as being wildly progressive and transgressive for the 50s, not present day. That being said it was engaging and compelling, a lovely quasi trashy summer read. I didn't know it was on Mad Men till after I finished.

I appreciated this book because it's clear that it had an influence on so many things that came after it. It was like reading an archetype for the "inexperienced young woman moves to NYC" story. It was worth it for that alone.