Welcome to Litsy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 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.

#firstlinefridays
#firstlinefriday
#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 ☺️📚

This could be a beach read- light, Uber rich women, class, etc. It wasn‘t the extreme wealth and unlikeable characters trying to be likeable that turned me off, but the ending. I‘m not sure how this one is on the best of lists, other than readable and quick witted at times.

This is a completely character driven book with very little action in the story. It follows a tightly knit, extremely wealthy family who avoid discussing anything uncomfortable or emotionally fraught. I disliked all the characters in this book, although I warmed up to them a bit towards the end. The pop culture references are weirdly archaic.(Bo Derek?Father of the Bride movie with Steve Martin?) It is a light read and I enjoyed it.

Fluffy read containing characters with depth. Some humour. Read it in two days.

A light, breezy book that does make you ponder about wealth and the impacts of children growing up in a bubble where they have so much money, it starts affecting their perspectives and decisions. Class differences in a marriage were also a major theme which I enjoyed reading about! Overall entertaining , might not be the mist memorable but perfect timing to read this during a crazy weekend!

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4-19 Apr 23
#Bookerlonglist 11
Initially interesting, but ultimately unsatisfying. The text tells a story of Collins Braithwaite via 5 notebooks, some of which appear to have been written by a young woman who posed as his patient after her sister committed suicide. It is an interesting premise for a novel but ultimately the two main characters, Braithwaite and the unnamed woman, are both awful and I was not that engaged.

16-9 Apr 23 (audiobook)
Certainly no masterpiece, but it was entertaining. The dangers of societies that enable inherited (and largely untaxed) wealth to be passed through generations is a bit of a favourite topic of mine and obviously also a concern for Jackson. Although this book also capitalises on our fascination with the wealthy 1%.
Ultimately it is rather light but not terrible and does at least raise some questions for its readers.

Next book off my tbr pile .I‘ve been reading rave reviews looking forward to reading it.📚❤️

I picked this book up when I did for the sibling relationships and the socialist aspects. It provided quite a bit of insight into both. I liked the growth of all the characters and enjoyed the family dynamics. I would give it 3 stars.

Book 50/100. I am halfway to reading goal for this year.

I was lured into trying this by a couple of podcasts, and I ended up really liking it! Familiar unlikable rich people territory, but some of the characters were uniquely drawn, and I appreciated the social commentary. The writing and humor worked for me, too. Marin Ireland elevates anything she narrates, so I‘m sure that shaped my experience. 🙂

This is proof that timing and mood are everything when it comes to my enjoyment of a book. I‘ve been busy reading in the past so this piece of contemporary fiction was just the ticket. Another time these same 1%‘ers and their first world problems might read overindulgent to my eyes, but today I loved reading this! This worked for me because it was a family story rather than an old money rich family‘s power in business and politics.

Overhyped and underwhelming. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It‘s in a similar territory as The Nest, but I didn‘t enjoy it as much.

The Stockton family turned intergenerational wealth into real estate investments, and each child has a different ideas about money. Cord married artist Sasha and has been bit by the baby bug. Darley met her husband in business school but quit work after back-to-back pregnancies. Georgiana dithers along in nonprofit work until an accident.

THIS is the book Jane Austen would have written if she had lived in Brooklyn Heights in the 21st century! I loved it!

This book is ok but it took 170 pages before anything really happened. And even then there wasn‘t anything original or special in the story. This book got a ton of pre-publication buzz but I have a feeling once readers start reviewing some of the sparkle will begin to fade out. It‘s rich people behaving badly and the author preaching about the dangers of generational wealth which I found condescending. #MoreMehThanYeah

Good Morning Littens 🌞Starting my day with another divine cup of tea ( curtsey of @Bklover ) and a few more chapters of Pineapple Street. Also sending BIRTHDAYS LOVE to one of my FAVORITE people on this planet @Megabooks 💜I hope your day is full of birthday happiness and bookish joy 📚🎊🎶

#BookAndBeach - gorgeous day, gorgeous book cover but after 100 pages nothing is really happening yet 🤷🏼‍♀️ not sure why all the hype but it‘s an easy breezy read 😎

I really liked this one, and it‘s a great debut, but it‘s not really anything out of the ordinary. If you like reading about ridiculously rich people, some of whom are slightly obnoxious and the rest *really* obnoxious then this is the book for you. (I‘ve seen comparisons to Gossip Girl but that all passed me by so 🤷‍♀️)

For me, I would say it‘s a bit Liane Moriarty and TJR with some more acerbic Danielle Steel thrown in for good measure.

Look at all the books coming out next week. There are some more non-fiction on the other side too. My cart is all set to get them into our catalog on Monday.

Calling all New Yorkers, or those in the know about NYC! 📣

This book is set on Pineapple Street in Brooklyn Heights, yet this is the third time they‘ve referred to the house as a ‘limestone‘. I wondered if that was interchangeable with brownstone, but on looking it up Google tells me that brownstone is a type of sandstone.

So where is ‘limestone‘ coming from. Is it right, or am I right to be getting annoyed by it?!

This month‘s pick + Free birthday pick. Yay! #BOTM

Bedtime reading. And it‘s fantastic.