Welcome to Litsy!

Happy Thursday!! Tux 🐾 approves my drink of the day! It‘s hurricane party from kajun loaded tea! Pineapple 🍍 🍉 and it matches my book!

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Hoping to start this one this weekend!

Flowers from my hubby 🌺🌸🌼🌻

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Family drama & personality differences are absolutely one themes & topics I enjoy. In that sense, this did not disappoint. Generational wealth, class difference, in-laws, heart break, real life, purpose seeking, laughing eye rolls…didn‘t feel like there was really a plot other than the tell of a specific period of time for the Stockton family...but that too is ok for me!! Crazy what money can do 😂

Didn‘t think I was going to like this story about two super wealthy girls and their sister-in-law who‘s married to their brother. But the writing style was good and the characters were realistic. All three girls evolved in a natural way and I liked where the book ended up.

Apparently I only have the stomach for the ultra-wealthy, old money types if they are the Crawley family of Downton Abbey.

A heartfelt contemporary novel about the relationship and family struggles of an ultra rich family in New York. It is a soft pick at 3 of 5 ⭐️.

A kind of low stakes Fleishman is in Trouble. The pages turn themselves.

This was.. ok I guess? I did finish it. But I didn‘t connect with any of the characters and the story was very far from being relatable or meaningful. It was more some kind of emotionless reading. Which was ok as well, as it still soothed my forever-thinking head for a moment. #bookspin

A low pick but nonetheless an easy read. This book is what I call an escapist novel where you can barely be conscious reading it and it all still makes sense and it gets you away from the doldrums of the day.

Just ok

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I‘ve heard great things on this podcast about this one! Have you read it?!

https://www.instagram.com/literally_reading?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Wealthy New Yorkers faffing around and complaining? Yes please! I kind of enjoyed this at surface level; it‘s easy reading, it‘s knowing of its characters privilege, although at the same time it was mildly…disappointing? It didn‘t really go anywhere, the snarkiness wasn‘t snarky enough, the dramas not dramatic enough and it didn‘t hit the heights of Fleishman is in Trouble/Succession as I‘d hoped. A pick, but a low-ish one…

Lovely rich people book where they grow more likeable and kinder as they should. Great dialogue and setting! Highly recommend!

Life! Events! Things!

Reading the tagged for #RealLifeBookGroup - I wasn‘t loving it at first, but I think we‘ve just turned a corner… 🤔

Went to my favorite local bookstore and got this fun stack… note that bottom book that looks like it fits in is, in fact, non-fiction 🤭

And got this lovely sweet v-day card/stickers/bookmark from the ever thoughtful @Chrissyreadit - thank you!! Mal loved the stickers ☺️🥰💖💝💘

Trying to find peace.🧘🏽‍♀️

This book follows the stories of two sisters and their sister-in-law in Brooklyn. It explores themes of class, wealth, family, career, and how two people can be in the same situation but have totally different perspectives. This book is a character study, following a few people for a period of time. There wasn‘t a huge point. There was a plot, but it meandered. If you enjoy delving into characters, just for the sake of it, you‘ll like this.

Rich People Problems are right smack-dab in the middle of my wheelhouse and this one did not disappoint. I love yelling at people while they make questionable choices - and there were a few in Pineapple Street - plus this had some great humourous moments, with my absolute fav when Tilda made a few calls to the country clubs!

Perfect night for the well written hilarious Pineapple Street.Im a Brooklyn girl who married a Brooklyn boy a book set in Brooklyn with a great sense of humor is a delicious read.

Like an inflatable Santa, this book falls a bit flat after its peak. Still, a fun read and engaging characters. I‘m always a bit skeptical of middle-class depictions of the 1%. I never know how much is realistic vs caricature. Book‘s/author‘s backstory is just as interesting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lots of rich people & old money problems in Brooklyn, with a bit of an under baked storyline.

I liked the idea of this story better than I actually liked the story. The characters are mostly unlikable but some get better as the book goes on. The book moves very slowly, and although I wanted to finish it, to find out what would happen next, it was hard to stay engaged. It was a real tug and pull situation. Just an OK book for me 🤷

Enjoyable, breezy, rich people problems read. I was interested in the story but in the end I didn‘t feel like it really went anywhere. The commentary about privilege and excess at the end was pretty heavy handed and didn‘t really feel built out of the narrative.

This was entertaining but at about 75% I just wanted it to be over 😅

3.5 ⭐️ Book 100 of 2023!!! 🥳🥳

Another right book, right time! This was a great book to read while hoping off and on the subway and set in Brooklyn, where we wandered around through the brownstones. It‘s a straightforward story which I often appreciate while traveling. About three siblings, their significant others, and rich (out of touch) parents. I was entertained! The main point is wealth inequality/class divide and who belongs in which circles.

As if I needed more books at my home. Latest #libraryhaul

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Looks like there are some differing opinions on this, but I enjoyed it. It‘s told through the POV of two sisters raised with generational wealth and that of their sister in law who was raised in a middle class family as they all grapple with the role of money and family in their lives, what it means to them, what it provides and what it can take away.

What is it like to marry into a 1% family when your upbringing does not come with a trust fund? Sasha is finding out when she becomes a member of the “old money”Stocktons and moves to the Brooklyn Heights Brownstone on Pineapple Street. She doesn‘t always know the rules, but she does want to make it work. Interesting characters who share a love of family.
Written with kindness and humor. Enjoyable read.

A fluffy, super easy read about rich New Yorkers, but with a Brooklyn twist. A decent palate cleanser but pretty mediocre in terms of writing and character development. #botm

New audiobook.

I‘m conflicted on this one. On one hand I kept wanting to read it and was interested. On the other hand nothing was really going on and I hated most of the characters. If there was a little more plot I would have liked it much more. It was very character driven and I didn‘t like the characters. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was good! I love a peek into the lives of the rich and how they move through the world. This family is fascinating, full of quirky characters that are interesting and exasperating. I appreciated that their lives weren‘t perfect and they (most of them) grew to see their privilege and a couple even managed to make the world a better place. Thoroughly enjoyed on #audio. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Curtis McCoy was early for his ten o‘clock meeting so he carried his coffee to a table by the window, where he could feel the watery April sun.

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#currentlyreading

Came for the cover, stayed for the characters.

This was a good, quick read. It touches on a few heavy subjects and pulls at your heartstrings, but the majority of it is lighthearted and your typical family drama. If the typical family was extremely wealthy.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Worst book of the year so far. The characters weren‘t relatable. The vague plot was highly predictable & it was like reading propaganda of publishing houses nowadays.

While I found it challenging in the beginning to really connect with the characters, I‘m glad I pushed through. This book features a family coming to terms with the pampered world they have inherited, and what generational wealth means. Good read.

A middle class woman marries into an uber rich snobby family, only to learn things about her own class ideology. Reading it was like drinking a table wine: basic. It won‘t make you vomit or make you happy.

The author is a fiction editor IRL. As a result, this is clearly written. It, though, is not artistic. While it tackles Old New York class themes, it is not a modern Edith Wharton novel as some claim.

3.5/5 ⭐️ started out slow with character building but picked up as it went and the characters were established. I wasn‘t a fan of the narrator so that probably contributed to half a star being deducted 😂 if you are a fan of family dramas this one fits the bill.

I have been slumping hard core over the last few weeks and wanted something on the frothy side to try to snap out of it. This fit the bill perfectly. It almost read as satire at times because the characters were so over the top awful but it was a fun read for a summer‘s day.

A wealthy elitist Brooklyn family deals w/complicated family dynamics. The 3 adult children & their spouses find themselves struggling in different ways. The audio version was excellent. I loved that the characters show growth, recognizing their strengths (or lack thereof) & learning to speak up & communicate their needs. Many novels w/a similar theme get trapped in descriptions of whiny behavior & have no forward momentum. This one worked for me.

4⭐️/5⭐️

It could be easy to hate the Stockton family, they‘re the characters at the center of this tale of multi generational wealth, wills, trusts, and prenups, but I very much enjoyed it. Jackson‘s characters are more complicated than you might expect and although they are “high net worth Wasp buccaneers of New York real estate,” (NYT) there‘s something hopeful about their collective trajectory. Certainly a fun summer read.

Honestly I enjoyed it

I liked this book! It was an easy read, with storylines that were easy to follow…perfect for a long weekend! Nothing deep or complicated here though, so not great for a book club pick.

Decided to read Pineapple Street, will be a quick easy read. After reading 📚 Hanya Yanagihara, and Cormac McCarthy at the same time I need a palate cleanser 😜

Happy Friday Eve 📖🍷despite seeing this on lots of “great new book to read lists” every single person I know has not liked it 🤦🏻‍♀️ unfortunately I‘d already bought it so here I go #notputtingitoffanylonger #howbadcanitbe

So I was in Brooklyn recently visiting my daughter when we saw this cover in B&N. She said “I get my coffee to go on Pineapple St”, a block over from her dorm. I thought this would be a fun read set in a location I would know and recognize. Nope! I knew after the first chapter that this is not a book for me. I knew the writing style and the white, privileged, snobby characters would irritate me. 🪂 Thankful it was a #BorrowNotBuy #libby

4/5 ⭐
This story is about three adults, brother and sisters and how their life is. We follow Darley and Georgianna, sisters, and Sasha, the brother wife. It was an easy and fun read. A great escape. Nothing complicated. Just entertaining.

Character driven minimal plot. You enter the lives of an elite wealthy family as some of them come to terms with their privileges, how their wealth sets them apart and the consequences of their choices due to their status/expectations/wealth. It was good if you like character driven books, but none of the characters were really deeply developed. Shallow. More like snippets of rich people misbehaving. 3 🌟

Currently reading ☺️📚