Welcome to Litsy!

I‘d been ambivalent about the Kristin Hannah books I‘d read before this one, but I couldn‘t quite resist a bit of Russian history and the suitably wintery cover. And it was a good one! Moving between the present in an American apple orchard and the 1941 siege of Leningrad, I was thoroughly pulled into the family dynamics and awful backstory. Yes I cried. Easy yet gripping reading, a great one to hunker down with in a storm.

My grandfather was Russian and escaped. This story of the Siege of Leningrad brings light to the suffering that has happened in Russia forever. Sisters that want to know why their mother cannot love them. Kristin Hannah‘s books always deliver. The strongest of women survive.

What a story of heartbreaking and tragic loss. I shed tears and felt such sadness and pain for the difficult time in world history. Historical fiction touches us in different ways. Living in Leningrad Russia during WWII and surviving was huge indeed. 5/5

There seem to be thousands of books with gardens!

“How could any woman know her own story until she knew her mother's?”

#Garden 🩷🌸🌱💛🌼🌿🧡🌻🍃💚

#StorySettings

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I liked this one but the story felt very familiar as well as fairly forgettable.

Kristin Hannah tends to be hit or miss for me as far as the writing itself. I like her stories, but not always her writing style, though she has matured and her more recent novels are better. This one falls somewhere in between for me, actually somewhere between a pick and a so-so. The second half was definitely stronger than the first.

While not my favorite Hannah, I loved the historical bits about the siege of Leningrad. I had to knock off a star for the "lack of communication" trope.

#snowedIn @puddlejumper
An Unwanted Guest and Northern Lights

#BookedInTime early medieval January 2024
@cuilin @dabbe The Road To Jerusalem

#SeasonalCozies @JulieClair
Murder on New Year's Eve

#ChildrensClassicRead2024 @TheBookHippie
The Rescuers

#MiddleGradeMarch Book Club on YouTube
The Winter King

#JanuaryTBR #WeatherForecast @Cinfhen

Sweet

One of my favorites set in winter ❄️ Another one is No Exit 🥶

#SundayFunday

I made my #bookspinbingo #wintergames TBR stack! It‘s little eclectic but I‘m looking forward to trying to get them read!! I have some ARCs too, but I didn‘t include them. #snowflakesquad @PuddleJumper @TheAromaofBooks

Have some tissues handy. This one gets you hard in the feels…😭😭😭

I wasn‘t expecting the sadness in this book. WWII books take so much from me, as they should because we should NEVER forget the atrocities humans imposed on each other. I love KH books and while this one hurt, it was very good. Book #30 in 2023

My least favorite of the Kristin Hannah books I've read. A friend recommended this one, but I found the plot line too cliched and found the character Meredith annoying. The ending was too neat and tidy too.

#JanuaryJazz #Freezing
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#ManicMonday #LetterW @CBee
📖 Winter Garden, Wish You Were Here
🖋 Stuart Woods
📺 West Wing, Will & Grace, White Collar
🎤 Whitesnake
🎶 Who Says You Can‘t Go Home (Bon Jovi), Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi), Waiting on Superman (Daughtry), Walk Like an Egyptian (The Bangles)

#Wintery #JanuaryJazz @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

💙😢❄️

#12BooksOf2022 Day 2 #February @Andrew65

One of my favorites of the year.

#AdventRecommends @emilyrose_x

I forgot to post this yesterday.
Kristin Hannah has become a favorite author of mine over the last year and a half. I read this book in February and it‘s a finalist for my favorite book of the year.

Too many books to read, can‘t make up my mind what to read next, so I‘ll go for these five 🤣🤣 Only three are crime books, so feeling quite proud of myself! I‘m so lucky to live during a time we have an endless supply of great books! #WinterReadathon

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

1. I usually have multiple books going at the same time.
2. Winter Garden by Hannah has been one of my favorites this year. I bailed on The Silent Ones. I just couldn‘t get into the story and wasn‘t enjoying the narration.

I'm going to be the unpopular opinion here and admit I DNF this one. I read 48% of it and still just couldn't stay. Meredith and Nina were just a hamster wheel of the same emotions/excuses/lack of communication and I figured out that not having the mother's POV made me have no interest in her story. Having said that, Hannah's writing is great. Truly. It's what kept me reading for as long as I did. #sosorry #dnf

“To lose love is a terrible thing. But to turn away from it is unbearable. Will you spend the rest of your life replaying it in your head? Wondering if you walked away too soon or too easily? Or if you'll ever love anyone that deeply again?”

#AlphabetGame #LetterW

One of my favorites by Hannah. Just love this book.

There are so many good books that begin with the #letterW but I had to go with this one-it‘s one of my favorites.

#alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

All I can say is that you have to read this book,to feel the story,the pain...
I'm speechless.
It's one of my top 10 reads of all time. It's definitely a story you'll never forget.
📚 Macedonian cover and edition.

You can follow me on IG where I write book reviews.
https://www.instagram.com/stavreskad

Hannah pulls the heart strings again! What a story! Nina and Meredith‘s mom has been distant their whole life and it isn‘t until their fathers passing that the truth of why comes out. I‘ll admit the book starts out slow but the story that unfolds at the end is well worth sticking it out for. Make sure you have tissues handy if you‘re an emotional reader. Powerful story and awe for the men and women that endured the storyline of this book.

Here‘s my 2022 Reading Bracket through April. I read many really good books Jan-Apr. Kristin Hannah‘s Winter Garden just couldn‘t be beat.

#SavvySettings #Garden
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I had mixed feelings about this one. I actually loved the story, and loved the story-within-a-story. But the beginning was a struggle because I disliked all three women (and I hate it when people, in fiction or in real life, go around saying things like "I know I should talk about X with Y or else LITERALLY OUR WHOLE RELATIONSHIP WILL TANK but I just can't be bothered right now" just UGH), but I have heard many good things about Hannah's writing⬇️

My #BookReport is a little light on actual completions, although I did wrap up two of my not-pictured chapter-a-day reads this week as well lol I finished Priory (finally) and breezed through Coffin Road in a day. I struggled with In Other Lands before deciding it just wasn't for me (the MC was soooo whiny and annoying, and the story was just all over the place). My next draw was Winter Garden. I really had trouble with the first hundred pages ⬇

Tbh I would have bailed if it wasn‘t our village bookclub choice , it did pick up after 200 pages so towards the end , I seem to be in a minority with not enjoying this , personally I think the siege & the bronze horseman far superior

22 #20 I seem to have a theme going with these last two books. Missed opportunities. Live your like without regrets. Speak love.

4.5⭐/5⭐

Wasn‘t even a contest. Best read of the month for me hands down.

Ended February with 3 bingos.
11 of my reads were owned TBR books so I cleared out some space for new books. 🤓

#weeklyforecast - I whittled several books off the windowsill this past week, but a bunch of March "assignments" have been added! This pile doesn't even include my chapter-a-day reads (North & South, The Other Bennet Sister, Clanlands, and Ivanhoe). Several of these are carryovers from February, plus I have thrown in the next Bridgerton book into the mix. My current system involves doing a random draw for the next book in this pile to read, and⬇️

My reading list for the #20in4 Readathon hosted by @Andrew65
I‘ll have some travel time to read, but it‘ll be a busy volleyball weekend. 🚙📚🏐

#Booked2022 #weathertermtitle

I loved listening to this audiobook!
It‘s such a heartwarming and heartbreaking novel.

Woohoo!! @PuddleJumper announced the February numbers for #Roll100 !! I am reading Family for Beginners, which I'm excited about because I've really enjoyed every Sarah Morgan book I've read so far. Winter Garden was a gift from @AmyK1 over a year ago so it's definitely due to be read. I'm stoked!!

I still have one of my January numbers to read, but am definitely planning to get to it, hopefully this week!

Just finished my #bookspin pick with tears in my eyes. Of course Kristen Hannah never disappoints! What a beautifully tragic story! 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let‘s gooooo! #bookspin #doublespin

I finally finished this one last night. I started it last year, and just never picked it back up. Then they added it to Kindle Unlimited with the audio, SCORE! #WGWordsearch - 4,110

Everything Kristin Hannah touches is pure magic.

#WinterGames2021 #TeamGameSleighers @StayCurious

#Frosty #WishesandBlessings
@Eggs. @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

1. Tagged
2. When I am visiting a place, yes. I can't imagine living in an area that snows though.
3. Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman

#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz

Ugh I‘m so conflicted about this. First it was so slow to start and the ending seemed so random to me. I have enjoyed many of this authors books but this one just seemed to try too hard but couldn‘t deliver 100%.

I listened to this for my school book club. It was a pick but only just. I don‘t like things that are neatly tied up with a bow. Very predictable. Next!

Anya has spent her whole life avoiding loving her daughters. They feel despised by her and at fault. Upon the death bed of their beloved father, he makes them all promise to know one another. Only Anya's love for him gets her to reveal her true self to her daughters. In turn, they learn much more about who they are. For me this book had a slow start & a slow build, but by the end I was devouring pages.

To be truthful, I almost put it down at first because I didn't like many of the characters. The idea of two daughters with a Russian mother was intriguing to me. It moved SO slow. The book was extremely sad to think that these two gals went most of their life with a cold mother and knew nothing about her. The ending gave me WTF issues big time. How does it just do a 180 and get happy.

April Book 25/25 #LitsyLove #doublespin @TheAromaOfBooks

I loved this book so much. As usual, Kristin Hannah hooked me immediately with her writing style and drew me in with descriptive chapters. I could barely put this book down. I can‘t wait to read the next one of hers that I have for my book club.