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.

⭐️⭐️💫

I enjoyed the cozy spice shop setting in Salem and liked learning more about Ayurvedic practices. I also appreciated Tulsi‘s journey to learn more about herself and her family. It just felt overly long to me and fell a bit flat. #amazonfirstreads

1* I like to put up the tree by mid-November and leave it until Epiphany in January.
2* tagged. I can‘t focus on tangible books right now so I borrowed some audiobooks yesterday from Libby.
#two4tuesday @TheSpineView

Play? @Deblovestoread @Vansa

https://youtu.be/S3GvosWzuhI?si=U5EMMpr3ri3neTZH

I finished this book while driving to Thanksgiving celebrations. I don‘t know that I would‘ve made it through a print copy as I took me a long time to become invested in the family. I liked how the chapter titles were all transitional words, and it had some interesting things to say about writing, women, and mother daughter relationships, but it never had enough plot for me.

#audiobook #1001books #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #FoodAndLit #Canada

A great example of duality perspectives puzzle piecing the story together. It was interesting until the end!

I liked it, especially when things finally started coming together toward the end. Multiple POV‘s, multiple timelines, and a lot of redirecting meant it took me a while to get my bearings. I had a suspicion about halfway thru that ended up being correct! The characters were not easy to like, they were all fairly unbearable actually. But I was kept entertained thru a particularly busy workweek, which worked well for me.

This is not my typical book, but it was a book club pick…and I loved it! And now I want to expand the teas I drink 😆. At its‘ core, this is a book about a mother‘s love. (52)
⭐️: 4/5

After 1 major reveal I could see about how this was going to play out, but it was a really good family drama/suspense story!

This book was a great read for me at this time as my mother is her her final hours or days. The suggestions from the mother are pretty good. I don‘t think many people are ready to say goodbye that final time. The feelings of loss are real. They never go away, but they get easier as we accept our new normal. Some of the suggestions actually made me chuckle. However, many of them will be used in the coming days. 4.5/5