Welcome to Litsy!

As we near the end of 2024, I‘m filled with gratitude for all the incredible books I read this year. I devoured the works of my favorite authors and discovered some amazing new ones. Reading them with my furry sidekick made it even more special. Linked below are my top 10 picks for the best books I read in 2024. ❤️📚🎉🍾🐾

https://abookandadog.com/best-books-2024

Brand new book- I guess I‘ll have to go backwards and read Vanderbilt next!

I‘m much more fascinated on history‘s take on influential American families of the 18-1900‘s than I am of current-day media coverage of today‘s influential American families. I‘ve always wanted to read an account of the Astor‘s so since Anderson Cooper went there of course I jumped in!

This was interesting in many ways: the Astor family is legendary in American history and the rise and fall of a wealthy dynasty is full of drama. But sometimes it was repetitive and there were some irrelevant tangents.

Astor is perfectly written and excellently researched by Anderson Cooper and Katherine Howe. The book follows the Astor family tree, illustrating members of each generation for their contributions or strains on the family legacy. Every chapter was stimulating. Anderson writes with such authenticity and appropriately placed humor, which makes the story engaging and fascinating.

Full review at https://abookandadog.com

I found the beginning of the Astor empire interesting as well as how it ended. I also enjoyed learning how the Astor‘s influenced the building of NYC. The middle was a bit dry and honestly, I really can‘t stand super rich people who have been handed a silver spoon at birth and have no concept of the other 99% of the population. With that said, I‘m curious about his Vanderbilt book.

Quick and compelling read about the rise and fall of the Astor family. Cooper is an engaging storyteller, presenting a full picture of the storied family - the good, the bad, and the ugly. An intriguing portrait of Gilded Age NYC (and beyond) that looks beyond the glitz and glamour.

Every year my son‘s online public school does an in person field trip to a Michigan cider mill and every year I take about 30 minutes away from the craziness to read a bit with a hard cider to decompress.