Welcome to Litsy!

Interesting

I had really high hopes for this but it did not meet them. I found the beginning really slow and somewhat confusing. While it picked up, I didn‘t ever really feel like I knew what was going on. Maybe I needed to be better versed in the real life history? But I don‘t want to have to read a bunch of history books to enjoy fiction.

Excitedly, though - with this, I finally got my first bingo of the year in #bookspinbingo!

I liked this book. It‘s been sitting on my TBR for a bit, but it was a #Roll100 pick. Vera is a spy stationed in Argentina in the 1960s. It also flashes back to her time as a teenager in MD and then NYC. Vera is spying and trying to uncover/stop a bombing. She gets stuck in Argentina when a coup happens. She has to figure out how to get away.

#thingsincommon - woman on cover

Has anyone listened to this on audio? It says unabridged but I‘m pretty sure it skipped like 50 pages. I was so confused as to what was happening, I thought I wasn‘t paying close enough attention… but then I looked at the print version and realized there is no way I missed that much!

It also repeated a chapter, which I did notice and thought I went back by accident but then the chapter after that was different..

So what do I do now?!

I had a surprising amount of trouble focusing on this one. The back-and-forth between Vera's past and present was intriguing but it didn't feel like it added much to Vera's current situation. The setting and characters were interesting. #LGBTQ #Spy #HistoricalFiction

Okay, here are a bunch of choices for #LMPBC Round 17 #GroupH

The top 2 rows are books I already own. The bottom 4, I would have to buy but no big deal. They‘re all on my TBR regardless!

My #libraryhaul for the New Year. I‘ve read the first few pages of the tagged book, Cranford, and The Secrets We Kept, and those are the ones I‘m leaning toward. But I‘m also feeling in a #chunkster mood, so maybe Bleak House?

Decisions, decisions…

Happy New Year all!!! 🎉🎊🥳

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I have no idea when or why this got put on my tbr list, and didn‘t have any expectations going in, but I ended up really enjoying it!
Medium-paced and showing Vera‘s current life as a CIA spy in Argentina paired with flashbacks to her child/young adulthood, this was a fun spy read without being over the top. I didn‘t realize it was the first in a series, but I‘m definitely planning to read the other books!

#libraryday #supportyourlocallibrary

We went with boxes of books to donate for our libraries upcoming September‘s huge book sale, & of course, we had to check out the library!

It‘s difficult trying to define who you are as a young adult. It‘s exceptionally more difficult when you‘re doing it while working for the CIA undermining some radical activists during a political coup in Argentina during the Cold War.

A slowish start & very twisty. Vera really can‘t catch a break. She‘s a clever & adaptable narrator, but the situation really doesn‘t make her too likable, good thing the flashbacks made me feel for her. 🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑

I actually picked this one for the cover, and was pleasantly pleased. Short and fun

This wasn‘t exactly cozy and it wasn‘t exactly a mystery. I‘d call it a light espionage character study?

I wasn‘t blown away, but I really enjoyed the descriptions of Argentina and found Vera to be a compelling MC. I felt like this was a good set up for the series, giving lots of background info on and insight into Vera. Has anyone read books 2 and 3?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, @ozma.of.oz and @Mollyanna ! #diversecozy

Reading outside for a bit on this lazy Sunday 😎

Almost a third of the way into this spy novel for my #diversecozy monthly buddy read. So far, it‘s a bit slow, but I have a feeling it‘s going to pick up soon!

How‘s it going, @ozma.of.oz and @Mollyanna ?

Look at me reading a spy novel!

Vera is many things - but a survivor most of all - she changes and adapts to whatever misfortune has come her way - which eventually sees her in Buenos Aires, pretending to be a student while actually working for the CIA - cue a military coup and no longer being able to trust anyone around her - she has to work out how to get out of the country.

🙌🙌🙌

I‘m not sure what I would have to read for it to irritate my mother 🤔

While living in Greenwich Village during the 1960‘s, and struggling to pay her rent,a young woman is recruited by the CIA. Eventually, she is sent to Buenos Aires in anticipation of a coup. The Argentinian story is told with flashbacks to her life in Maryland, growing up and accepting her sexuality. I sympathized with the character of Vera, and could feel the panic of trying to escape from a hostile country.

New audiobook! #blameitonlitsy Love the Cover!

Sale on this great book! Historical fiction/noir about a lesbian spy abroad during an international coup

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07957HHBW/ref=as_li_tf_il?ie=UTF8&tag=boorio-...

Well @squirrelbrain we certainly got snow this time.
How are things a bit further north?
I cannot wait to curl up by the fire and finish this lovely book!

I‘m relistening to this wonderful book in prep for chatting with its author on Monday over on Instagram. I‘m so excited! I‘ll post a link to the feed on the day of if you‘re interested in joining.

The Vera Kelly novels hit so many of my favorite notes: historical fiction about under explored eras and perspectives, noir, spy, lit fic, plus LGBTQIA+ themes. So good.

The modern soy novel with a smart, complicated lady as its hero that you‘ve been waiting for. Try it out, if you don‘t like the first 20 minutes, it‘s not for you. :)

“With women, I always felt like we were the first two people to ever do what we were doing, that we were inventing it, that we decided in each transaction who we were.” Vera Kelly invents herself as a spy working for the CIA in 1960s Argentina, while keeping her lesbian self deeply secret. A suspenseful, thoughtful #audiobook read by Elisabeth Rodgers. #LGBTQ

I pretended I was like the great ladies of the nineteenth century who sent each other genteel letters when they were apart about how desperately they missed each other. When we read those letters in history classes, or came across that kind of talk in books, our teachers would explain that what read like passion was just the natural affinity of women for each other and there was nothing out of the way about it at all.
(Internet photo)

I may have went a little overboard at Barnes and Noble (online). I have no regrets and only spent $40 of my own money. The rest were gift cards.

Now that I justified my purchase 😂 (not that I need to), I‘m so excited to read all of these books! I tried to be diverse when buying and not buy all white women. I kind of succeeded 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was just sick of not having new books and my library not having anything. So now I have plenty

#bookhaul

Just what I was looking for - a spy novel with a woman at the center! Set in the fifties and sixties, this fascinating character study delivers thrills.

This was a great little read that I heard about from @ReadingEnvy and a nice change after being immersed in a long classic. In one timeline Vera is a young American spy in Argentina in 1967. In the other we get glimpses of her past as a troubled teen and how she ended up in such a place. It‘s simply told but really compelling. I loved the 60s setting with its low fi tech and learnt a bit more about Argentina. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Book #25: A queer CIA operative in Buenos Aires in the 60s, posing as a graduate student. All my favorite elements in one book!

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. It‘s a book that slowly sucks you into its web, and before you know it, you‘re hooked and can‘t put it down. 😍 Told in alternating chapters of Vera‘s current experiences in Argentina as a CIA surveillance tech and her personal life 10 years earlier, it takes a while to see how her teen years led her to where she is in the book‘s present, but I think it‘s important to know her backstory. 4 1/2 stars.

Enjoying this book so far!

Day 5 of #7days7covers

#covercrush

Loved, loved this book about a fictional female spy in Argentina at the height of the Cold War. The chapters alternate between her time as “Anne” in Argentina, planting bugs and listening in on dissidents, and her life in Maryland and New York as Vera that leads her to the CIA. 4.5⭐️

#politicalintrigue #booked2019 14/24 #fall

@8little_paws didn‘t you really like her first book, too?

And now for a little bit of #Booked2019 #PoliticalIntrigue 🎧

I feel like there were a few parts of this book that were missing tension they should have had. It was strangely cozy when it probably shouldn't have been. But I enjoyed it, anyway.

#LitsyAtoZ (W) (I guess I should start tagging these.)

Well, I can't disagree with that.

I've had this on hold since August but it's finally here; let's hope it's worth the wait.

Vera is a young spy in Argentina. Book jumps back and forth between present and her past that leads to her working for the CIA. It was an interesting character study and portrayal of what daily life as a spy is like but there was nothing particularly compelling. ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Picture at our local library where I finished listening to this one.

A story about a woman spy during 1960s in Argentina. I liked the historical aspects of this book, aka the political intrigue of Argentina. I do appreciate the attempts at characterization, the set up shifts between the events of her mission and her childhood to paint an image of Vera. But the plot was sort of anti climatic and while good elements are there I didn‘t find that it came together as well as I would hope.

Here is my best of 2018. I couldn‘t figure out how to make a collage. I tagged the above book because I felt like it was very underrated this year. And Hey Ladies! Was a good damn book in a very dark year for me. It brought me light.

This was a meh for me. The basic idea of the story was good and the time period and setting were interesting, but it just wasn't that exciting for me.
★★★☆☆

I started this book a few days ago back when we were on holiday. I was sitting on a rock in the middle of a rivulet. I'm already halfway through and enjoying it so far ❤️

What an absolute delight of a book this is.

Another book that did nothing for me. Very meh.

I have some good things about this one. We shall see.

I enjoyed this spy novel just as much as I expected. I rooted for Vera the entire novel. This book is full of compelling women. Additionally, it‘s pretty. That helps.

The second #ATB readathon commences for me at 6:30am here, good morning Across the Bookshelves crew!!!! I am kicking off with LGBTQ themed Who Is Vera Kelly. Happy reading to all 📚🌴⚓
#ATBWeekendReadathon
@Erin7
@ReadingOnRoam

Different, enjoyable, I liked the protagonist. I had been hoping for more from the resolution but worth a read.

A quick read, interesting and vibrant. Vera is an intriguing MC and the author gives us a peek into both the strained environment of the Cold War, and the challenges faced by the gay community in the 50‘s and 60‘s. #spynovel #queerreads #librarybook #girlscandoanything

My #library haul today! Went with some that aren‘t my usual flavor, let‘s see how it goes! #bookstack #readallthebooks #tbr