Welcome to Litsy!

4½✨

The thing about TJR is she makes you believe you are reading about a real person. Every time I finish one of her books I end-up on Google looking for the person I've just read about.
I don't know anything about tennis, but my husband did quite well when he was younger and when I told him about Carrie and the things I was reading about, he also thought I was talking about a real tennis star. That's just how gifted TJR is.

Giving myself permission to not really like the first person protagonists is still odd to me but I'm getting better at it with the help of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Liv Constantine.

I do feel like I'll be more interested in tennis now if I ever cared to watch, but like most sports it doesn't really hold much appeal to me. Captivating read though!

I have loved every TJR book & I‘ve read them all! I can‘t really describe why I enjoyed this book. Truthfully, Carrie is an unlikeable character, and I wouldn‘t have been rooting for her if it wasn‘t for her dad. Javier is a gem! The audiobook is stellar w/ multiple narrators. However, it‘s mostly a walk-through of multiple tennis matches. But TJR just has some sort of magic in her writing that just works even when it‘s simple.

#AboutABook
#YouFinishedIn1Day
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#gobblegobble 🦃

Boom

Bahaha yes

😂

1. I don't think so 🤷‍♀️
2. Tagged and Boys in the Boat!
Thanks @TheSpineView @Kshakal #two4tuesday

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView #two4tuesday

1. Nothing super serious but I have done the occasional friendly bet
2. Done

@BethM @peaKnit @JenReadsAlot

Happy Tuesday! Today's #Two4Tuesday questions are inspired by the Olympics which will began in a few days. Everyone is welcome to play. Thanks to all those who ayed last week and to those who took the time to read the posts.

My answers:
1️⃣ No, I am just not a gambling person.
2️⃣ Tagged

@Eggs @dabbe @Read4life @Cupcake12 @DebinHawaii @BethM @Kshakal @JenReadsAlot @peaKnit @kelli7990 @Gissy @PageShifter

#summersport
#summersouls
🎾🎾🎾🎾🎾

“My older self knows that you must stop—in the middle of the chaos—to take in the world around you.”

I have tennis on my mind from watching French Open live. This book was a favorite ❤️

#SummerSport

#SummerSouls

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#womeninsports
#springskies

#SpringSkies Day 15 #WomenInSport

I don‘t read many novels with this topic so this is a popular book mentioned in this prompt.

I have the English edition but I saw the translated title and it was curious, quite different 😳 Perra (female dog) is used the same as- b#%$& woman 🤷🏽‍♀️Well, how would you describe Carrie in those first chapters?

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#SpringSkies @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#WomenInSports

I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. I was not a fan of Malibu Rising or Carrie Soto in it for that matter. I was so sure I would not like a book about tennis. But in the end I actually did like Carrie. She grew on me and matured considerably during the story. Carrie really learned a lot about herself during her comeback. Still my favorite characters were Javier and Bowe. The plot was well written and engaging.

More than I ever thought I wanted to know about tennis, but through a great story about a fictional tennis star from the 70s-90s. Full of heart and wonderful. Carrie is def a b, as noted throughout, and hard to like but given her upbringing I get it. A tribute to all female athletes who blazed the hard fought trail!!! Book #18 in 2024

#SundayFunday
@Bookmarktavern

I have many fond memories during the summer as a kid when I would stay up until I finished a book. Now that I'm retired, I'm able to do the same, but my ol' body ain't what it used to be. 😂 The last book I just had to stay up and gobble in basically one sitting was CARRIE SOTO.

1. 🩰 , 🩰 and more 🩰 only 6 hours this week though also tickets to the local writer‘s festival come on sale this week so that‘s exciting. I got some limes off a colleague so it‘s margarita and hammock time on the weekend. 2. Stew and I are off to the local Italian restaurant at the RSL for a weeknight treat of 3 courses of yummy food… bruschetta, gnocchi and panna cotta. 3. Tennis champion in the tagged book. I love tennis so I am ok with that.

I loved this book on audio and the reference to Nina Riva and the book Daisy Jones & the Six. The father daughter relationship between Carrie and her dad was beautiful. The way the book was written you could easily envision yourself there - the moment Carrie sees Princess Diana in the stands at Wimbledon - and says to herself "they can't make us go away just because they are done with us"was powerful!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tennis is my favorite sport to watch, so I was excited to finally read about Carrie Soto‘s comeback to tennis in her late 30s.
I thought making Carrie a Hispanic character was a strange choice. If there wasn‘t Spanish used frequently throughout the book, her race could have been interchangeable with any other & racism in the sport was never addressed.
That said, I thought it was a great look at a wonderful, hyper-competitive sport.

#12Booksof2023
@Andrew65

August: CARRIE SOTO IS BACK by TJ Reid

Sometimes you need a book that you can just gobble up in one day. This was that book. 🤩

My entire life‘s work rests on the outcome of this match.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

#12booksof2023

#12booksof2023 @Andrew65

This might be my favourite TJR. Carrie is unlikeable, but there is something compelling and empowering about her drive and focus. She makes me want to dust off my shoes and fight. Her dad is the hidden star of the story, I‘d like to read it again and focus more on him. Loved it.

Loved this book! I really resonated with the competitive nature of Carrie and I think it helped me realize it‘s okay to be competitive. It‘s always empowering to read about strong women, and an athlete in a man‘s world made it fun!

I read this over the summer and it really stuck with me and I was already feeling the need to revisit it. Did the audio this time which was amazing.

unlikeable characters that grow without changing their core 💛

Taylor Jenkins Reid is just the best. After daisy jones and the six and Everlyn hugo, I just had to dive into the world of Taylor. Does Carrie Sotto dissapoint? Nope not one bit, the novel is fast paced and a must read for tennis fans. Role on Malibu rising!

Thank you @dabbe for the book and note! Much appreciated! ❤️
#book2book

Despite the fact that I do love tennis and Taylor Jenkins Reid, this wasn‘t my favorite of hers, probably due mostly to Carrie Soto‘s unlikeable character. Still a good one though. I do enjoy Reid‘s writing style and will probably read anything she publishes.

#1 St.Louis Cardinals baseball is the only sport I watch and follow closely! ⚾️ Well, also the Olympics!
#2 the tagged book even though I‘m not at all a tennis fan! 🎾

#Book2Book @ALLDEBOOKS

Open to all who signed up using the form in #AllDeBook's original post. 🤗

@LiteraryinLawrence, @Soubhiville, @Cuilin, @TheBookHippie, @Lizpixie, @Clwojick, @Chrissyreadit, @BookwormAHN, @CSeydel, @julieclair, @Catsandbooks, @bcncookbookclub, @TheAromaofBooks, @Tineke, @Bookish_Gal, @KateReadsYA

4.5 ★

Despite not knowing a single thing about tennis, Carrie Soto Is Back is a phenomenal read. An elite female tennis player fights her way back to the top despite being written off by the tennis world due to being considered “too old” and called a bitch by many others. The audio version is amazing and brings this story to life even more so than just reading. Highly recommend the listen! #LitsyLoveReads

This author is hot or miss for me but I enjoyed this one. I listened to this one and after finishing I realized I wouldn't have kept going if I read it instead. Taylor did a really good job shaping and designing the characters.

Another quality read by TJR! I think her characterisation is just so good, she creates the best mental pictures and her characters are so likeable.

August 21, 2023 I had this book as a tbr. I finished the book but did not feel that it was that good. I had higher expectations bc Taylor Jenkins Reid's previous books were SUPERB. I was a bit bored and it took a while for me to reach the good part of the book. 3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

August 21, 2023 I am on page 296... omg I only have like very little pages left to read. sigh I mean just by reading the title of the book, Taylor Jenkins Reid gives the outcome of book right away. There is no need to really read the book tbh. A quote that I liked was, "Carrie Soto is human. But she's superhuman" (page 296)

Gosh this book had a lot of tennis in it! Compellingly written the vast amount of tennis helps set the scene for the single mindedness of Carrie - a retired tennis great determined to renter the game for one last season to regain her most grand slam title but does drown out some of the arguably more interesting relationship building. Loved Gwen the agent and would have loved to see more of her.

August 20, 2023 Last time I had updated was on August 6. I thought it was time for a new update. I am on page 216 out of 364 - more than halfway and I am not feeling like I reached the climax. The author is basically talking about her playing tennis and practicing tennis.

Having lost her world title in tennis, the “Battle-Axe-Bitch“ comes back to try to win it back. I inhaled this book in one day. I adored the relationship between Carrie and her father, Carrie and Bowe, and Carrie and Gwen. The way TJR wrote the tennis matches was heart-pumpingly fun and kept me turning those pages. I came to love Carrie and cheered her on not to win her title--but to find out who she really is. Another TJR WIN for me.

TJR‘s books never sound like something I‘m interested in, but they‘re always fantastic. I‘m consistently amazed by how she can make me so deeply invested in characters that are so unlikable/difficult. This was another home run—or rather, an ace. 🎾 Carrie is right up there with Daisy Jones and Evelyn Hugo. Thank you @Karisimo for including this on your #AuldLangSpine list! This was my July #DoubleSpin.

Another TJR for me next! #carriesotoisback #taylorjenkinsreid. Ok, every time I read another of TJR‘s I think ‘this is my favourite.‘ I thought Carrie was such a strong character, didn‘t want this book to end!

August 6, 2023 Not sure when the last time I posted something was but here is another post! I am on page 117 and I am enjoying the book so far. There is a lot of tennis lingo but the whole book revolves around tennis and tennis players and tennis moves... not surprised. Just wish I could reach the climax of the book a little faster bc the part I am on is a bit slow

A good fun holiday read, whether you like tennis or not. I loved that as a main character we don‘t have to like Carrie Soto, and the way her female relationships were developed was refreshing. I don‘t particularly like tennis, yet got really invested in the blow by blow account of each match Carrie plays during her comeback.

*extremely John Mulaney voice* Carrie Soto is a bitch and I like her SO MUCH. #reread #historicalfiction #sportsfiction

OMG I absolutely LOVED this. Devoured it in a day, I‘m a bit of a TJR fangirl anyway, but this was absolutely brilliant. Carrie was a great, flawed, and oh so believable character. Possibly my favourite book of the year so far. This one‘s for my book club, so looking forward to hearing what the others thought!