Welcome to Litsy!

What would happen if you skipped from your 20s to your 40s, from all of the hard work starting out at your job to being successful at your career, from dating to find the right person to being married to a wonderful husband with 2 great kids? That's exactly what happened to Lucy after she made a wish on an arcade game, a wish that she could just get to the good part of her life already.

I have a problem when I read a historical fiction novel, I always go down a rabbit hole. The Keeper of Lost Art was no different. Morelli wrote about something I knew little about. During WWII, the museums in Florence, Italy moved the most valuable artworks to villas in the countryside.

Morelli based her story on a real villa (though she changed the name) and the caretaker. She tells this amazing story through the eyes of Stella, ⬇️

I was delighted to pick up this lovely hardcover/library discard edition of this book, which is the sequel to The Alley. Both written and set about 8 years after the original story, the main character is one of the younger siblings of The Alley's characters. This one was a little more implausible, but still a super fun story and one that I would have LOVED as a kid. These are both fabulous read-aloud books and as cute as they can be.

I have a lot memories of Dad reading this one out loud to us when we were growing up, but I don't think I had read it since! It's a pretty adorable story about a group of kids who live in a little cul de sac alley neighborhood. The main story is that there is a robbery, but there are a lot of little side stories and it's all such good fun.

#Roll100 @PuddleJumper
#ReadtheUSA - New York
#ISpyBingo (Bare Feet; “Author of“) #BookSpinBingo

If you ignore the fact that these people have only known each other for, like, two weeks, this was a perfectly fun read. Violet's off to Alaska to talk to a grumpy guy who could help her fix her job, but he isn't interested in having an Outsider tell him what they should do with their land. So he challenges her to see if she can handle an Alaskan winter. Violet seemed like she should annoy me, but I actually found her can-do attitude to be kind ⬇

Managed one bingo in January

#ISpyBingo @thearomaofbooks

Rachel and Drew are dealing with the care of their aging mom who has Alzheimers and often doesn't recognize them. On one of Rachel's visits, her mom tells her about a book she wants her to find. The sisters find the book hidden in their mom's sewing room, a book about a woman named Tomoe Gozen who was a samurai warrior in Japan in the 1100s. They wonder what it has to do with their mom, and why she wanted to make sure they had it.

It felt right to go back to this series. Kathy Reichs doesn't disappoint. A human smuggling ring with twists I didn't see coming. My first #ISpyBingo for February @TheAromaofBooks #SeriesLove25 #Read2025 @Andrew65 @TheSpineView @DieAReader

#ISpyBingo #January

Not too bad for my first time. Using StoryGraph to keep track of which books had which prompts. 20/25 with 3 bingos. Hope to clear the board in February.

@TheAromaofBooks

Laura is a lifestyle reporter who focuses her work on love stories and how people met. She travels to the island of Jersey to visit all of the locations featured in her parents' love story. However, shortly after arriving she realizes she got the wrong suitcase at the airport... but hopes it might lead her to her soulmate, because this suitcase is full of the things she loves, including To Kill a Mockingbird and Phil Collins music. ⬇️