Welcome to Litsy!

Every year for 25 years at least 15 members of the family-my kids, aunts, uncles, grandbabies-spend a week at the ocean in the same funky house. So much of this book reminded me of the type of stays that we have. (Although I have to admit that we have some grumpy times which this author did not replicate.) I break my days down the same way she does. (Monday I‘m so relieved that we have so much time and by Wednesday I start to get sad.) 🔽

Georgiana finds a body outside of Kensington Palace, and has to figure out how it got there and why. The deceased has been a mistress to many, including some of the royal family and members of Parliament, so Georgie's investigating has to be very discreet.

I have really enjoyed reading this series, but didn't really like the previous book. So I was very glad that this one had an interesting storyline again.

Gordon returns to his hometown after spending 25 years in prison. He returns to a neighborhood that is riddled with crime, an elderly neighbor who is afraid of him, a teenager in desperate straits, a brother who has resented him for years, and a lonely woman who has visited him while he was in prison and hopes to have a relationship with Gordon. It‘s a lot for a guy who just wants to lay low and stay out of trouble. I couldn‘t stop reading it.

Ben rents a room from Winnie, who is elderly and a recent widow. Ben suspects that Winnie didn't really want him there, that she only agreed because her family thinks she needs someone there to watch out for her & help around the house. So Ben plans to stay out of her way, but then Covid lockdowns start. He and Winnie are forced to spend most of their time together, and a friendship ensues as they start to see life from each other's perspective.

Amy Tan's illustrations are beautiful, and her notes about her observations of the birds that visit her yard are so interesting! She also includes some information that she's learned from expert birders. Unfortunately not all of her observations are happy, and it makes me sad to think of birds getting ill and being in distress, but I guess that's part of nature, too.

#BookSpin & #DoubleSpin picks for March! These have both been on my bookshelf for quite awhile. @TheAromaofBooks

These are also the first #ReadOrDonate and #OffTheShelf books for the month @julieclair @Librariana

After finishing this book I went on to The New Yorker website to see how many of Janet Malcolm‘s articles I had read in the past and to my surprise there was a brief article in this recent issue about Malcolm and Eissler! Janet Malcolm‘s nonfiction writing about three men involved in the Freud archives - two of whom have massive egos and one wanting to believe in the brilliance of a protege - is so engaging. 🔽
#offtheshelf #bookspin

I loved this book and wish I hadn't let this sit on my bookshelf for so long!

Miranda inherits a Bookshop from her estranged uncle, that includes clues she has to decipher, just like when she was a little kid. I had to suspend disbelief a little, as it seems he left a lot up to chance. But the whimsical nature of it lightened the heartbreak of the story.

And I loved all of the references to Shakespeare and the classics!
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It took a few chapters for me to get into this story, but once I did I liked it for the most part. I thought there were a few flaws in the storyline, but it was a fun story of Lily, Nicole, Leo, Walt, Bradley, and Terry on a treasure hunt for the stolen money of Butch Cassidy.
#LitsyLoveReads
#OffTheShelf @Librariana
#OffMyShelf @Wanderinglynn
#ReadOrDonate: read @julieclair
#FourFoursIn25: shiver river @Lauredhel
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

A story of a convent and the community surrounding them told through letters from Sister B. It was delightful to see how much prayer actually worked for all the travails experienced by the nuns. If only that worked for all of us! It was sweet to watch how they relied on each other and continually learned new things in order to navigate fundraising for their convent. #NunLit

#offtheshelf