A quiet suspense novel with excellent character development. I loved this story and the authors obvious passion. The subject matter was difficult to swallow and at times hard to follow.
Overall, this is certainly one I‘d recommend to just about anyone. Well done, Ms. Dean.

I have never in my life cried because a book ended. This was probably one of the best books I‘ve ever read. Hands down my favorite book (predicted) of 2021.

I‘ve been finished with the book for 5 minutes and I already miss Eleanor.

I‘m still crying.

I quite liked this one. A short, fun, and interesting read that kept me guessing.

The twists and turns were well thought out and strategically initiated, plus I just loved that a great deal of the story took place in Lake Tahoe. 💙 My number one reservation about this book is that I had a hard time connecting with the characters, feeling that they fell a little flat throughout most of the story.
3.5 Stars

I loved it, I hated it, then I loved it again. I almost let it go.
We‘ve all heard the stories of the life and death of Ms. Sylvia Plath, but we‘ve never heard about it from the perspective of the man that loved her the most, Ted Hughes. This beautifully researched historical fiction at times made me second guess the love I‘ve held for Plath since I was a teenager.
A story made to feel like poetry. At times confusing and others heart wrenching.

A chapbook of poetry full of grit, passion, and everyday life. I feel lucky to have stumbled upon this piece of art.

Despite the mixed reviews, I enjoyed this novel immensely. Benjamin did an excellent job building the characters and teaching me to love each and every one of them even when I wasn‘t prepared to. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So so so good. A little bit of mystery, a little bit of gore, a little bit of fashion, and so much goodness.

A collection of stories about the simple day to day lives of those in small town Crosby, Maine. This story was simple, yet so very complicated. Olive was hard, yet easy to love. And the townspeople all had their share of grief, love and loss, death and sorrow. I loved this quiet, trying story and I can‘t wait to move on to Olive, Again. 🧡

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
I wanted to love it. I really did. So many good things have been said about this book, but something fell flat for me, something felt wrong and out of place.

I‘m not saying it was bad, it was well researched and the good characters were quite likeable. I just found myself rolling my eyes more than I should have. So this is a strong meh-pick.

Well, shit, that was amazing. A book of several short stories and one novella focusing on the haunting grief of US history - how it has built us, how it continues to evolve, and how it sometimes breaks us down. One of my top reads for the year. Highly recommend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Let me begin by saying, I love Fredrik Backman and have honestly never read a bad book from him. This book is no exception. The story was lovely. A sincere capture of the love between a grandmother and her granddaughter, how it‘s okay to be different, and a lesson in how we should live our lives to actually live rather than just existing.
At times the quirkiness was a little too much, but it wouldn‘t be a Backman novel without it. ❤️

My December @bookofthemonth selection is 🔥. Trying to speed through my current read to get to these pretty babies. #botm #readingissexy

Also, my good friends @Dynamo71 and @Jess2213 just joined Litsy, give these ladies a follow!

Not at all what I was expecting, not at all. A breathtaking account of the relationship of a mother and her children spanning over generations and two countries. The research and time taken to bring this story so much color is overwhelming. It was so easy to get lost in the saga, I am in love.

While I wasn‘t blown away, I enjoyed the calm sweetness and unexpected love. A dreamlike story to remind us that regardless of who you are, you deserve love, always.

What a fun and magical read! ✨ A well written love story with excellent character development. I‘m hoping to learn more about the lives of the aunts in the prequels. Highly recommend. 🖤

A beautiful short story about the choices we make as women that will make or break us if we allow it. This is book one from the Out of Line series through Amazon Prime.

I don‘t know why, something about it just didn‘t resonate with me. I only got about a quarter of the way through and just couldn‘t carry on. I feel bad because I almost never DNF. 😔

Ah, the back and forth with this book. It started out so very strong; the storyline, the characters, the possibilities! About midway through, the plot fell completely flat. I‘m not sure what happened, but it seemed like it turned into a completely different novel. One of the main characters became something that didn‘t match up with the rest of the story. Luckily the ending redeemed itself by tying things together nicely. Not my fave, but ⭐️⭐️⭐️.

I love a well written historical fiction and this one grabbed onto my heart from the first chapter. A beautiful story of Cussy Mary, a blue skinned woman and pack horse librarian, and her life living as a woman of color in 1930s Appalachia. Richardson conveyed the feeling of poverty, loss, racial injustice, the power of books, and first love so very well. I loved every teary eyed moment and highly recommend.

I‘ve never read an Alice Hoffman novel and for that I am embarrassed. I am now a fan for life.

I devoured this beautiful little novella this evening with both tears and love in tow. A sorrowful read with excellent character development.

This is book 1 of 5 from Amazon Originals “Inheritance”. Each book in this short story series is written by a different writer. I look forward to them all.

A very disturbing book of a true crime detailing the abuse of children and adults as well as murder. I was not a fan of the writing at all. The style that the author chose to write in read more like a piece of fiction. There was so much conversation and minute details that it made me wonder if some of the content was false. I was hoping for more but it kept me entertained during our move.

An excellent read with great character development of humans, animals, and plants (I cried over the zucchini). I adore a good southern novel with food, love, friendship, and mystery. I wish for more history on the cafe, Zee, and the blackbirds, but am happy with what I was given. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me!

Wow! SO IN LOVE with this book. What a fantastical kaleidoscope of vampires, newsies, drug addiction, and serial killers! Lydia Kang‘s storytelling did its job in making me love each and every character (even the unsavory ones). I cannot wait to dive into her other novels. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars!

A nice little page turner of a murder mystery with the right amount of gore and twists. My initial suspicions of the murderer turned out to be true but the way the story played out did not, and that was refreshing. A solid read that kept me on my toes. I‘ll certainly be reading the additional books in this series.

The storytelling, the emotion, the many many tears. Shit, what an amazing book.

I love Florence. So much.

Equally as amazing as the show. Sally Rooney does such a good job creating a sweet sadness that makes me reminisce of my younger days. There is so much love within these pages, making my heart ache. I greatly wish for a follow up novel, I‘m not done with Connell and Marianne just yet.

This is the final installment in a series of novellas through Amazon Kindle. Overall, I enjoyed the stories of a nameless man with no memory becoming a vigilante to get rid of the worst criminals. Some of the books were certainly better than others and there was at least one where I almost quit the series. The final book wrapped everything up neatly where we find the true identity of Nameless. It was a decent read to give my mind a needed break.

In my lifetime, I‘ve only read one other Dean Koontz book and I was not a fan. I found this little series while playing around my Kindle site that caught my attention as I was scanning for a book differing from my norm.
This is book one in a series of short stories. I must say that I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to the others. The plot is a little hard to swallow but not too grotesque and I was quite fond of the main character.

I read many of the reviews on Litsy prior to starting this book and almost left it on my shelf. I found this book in a spare bedroom of my recently deceased stepmothers home and stashed it away in my luggage. When I picked it up a few days ago, I could smell the faint odor of her cigarette smoke and was immediately transformed to my time spent with her. I‘m so glad I didn‘t leave it behind, it was a great book and well worth the read.

Absolutely amazing! Inspired by the tragedies of the Dozier School for Boys in Florida; the story telling in this book was superb and the subject matter haunting. This is my second Colson Whitehead novel and I can‘t wait to get ahold of his others.

So it wasn‘t the best book I‘ve ever read and it certainly wasn‘t the worst. The storyline was fantastic and the gore was just right. Personally, I thought there was too much banter and work up of the backstory and not enough of what happened during (or after) the end. I‘m gonna rate this a shaky ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for creativity and for keeping me at least a little interested.

What a sweet and beautiful read. ❤️ I loved the story, every character, and the outcome. The American dream isn‘t for everyone and this book shows us that that‘s okay.

An excellent read full of sweetness that we sure do need during this weird time. I loved every inch of Weylen and I already miss him.

Upon listening to the Lobster Shift episode (that‘s based on this book) of the podcast Family Secrets, I am quite interested in giving this a read. The sadness in the authors voice and his story telling unearth a feeling of sadness that intrigues me.

I was not a fan of the writing style or the very pompous son. The idea of this story was intriguing but wasn‘t conveyed well in my opinion. While this was a short read, it took me ages to finish as nothing within could hold my attention. But alas, I made it and am swiftly moving on to the next.

I probably read three other books while trying to make my way through this one. It‘s not that it was particularly bad, it was just incredibly drawn out and very predictable.

This is my second Liane Moriarty book and I must say, I quite enjoyed it. Her character development is right on target and the story lines are always interesting.

I read this book prior to beginning my yoga teacher training. A beautiful preparation for my journey that lies ahead. Donna Farhi takes an intricate, complicated subject and turns it into something the reader can grasp. Simply lovely.

I typically love a Kazuo Ishiguro novel, but I just couldn‘t get into this one. I tried really hard, I did. I loved the characters and the idea was fantastic but it was soooo boring. I kept waiting for something to happen, anything. It wasn‘t terrible, but it definitely wasn‘t a winner either.

I was truly concerned throughout this entire book. I wanted to know what was going on and was terrified to find out all at the same time. Great story and writing. Loved it.

I'm back and forth about this book. At times I found it entertaining while other times I hated its guts. I didn't like Elise until the last 30 or so pages. Jamey, the other main character, I found tolerable but felt like he left a lot to be desired.
I welcomed the vulgarity. Sometimes a lady just needs a break from the real world and step into someone else's sex life. 😑 A solid so-so book that I just might recommend to the right person.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. It's obvious that the author researched this era, the people, and the social commentary during this time in our history. The characters were easy to love and most times I battled the emotional ups and downs right with them. Highly recommend. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

While it took me forever to finish (I blame my new found love of cross-stitching), I have come to the conclusion that this was one great book. My ideas on religion are shared with Lib and I am pressed to wonder how often this occurred in our history and how often it continues today. A solid read in my book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I must admit, the quote from the judge swayed my opinion for #botm. I'm pretty excited.

I am so unbelievably in love with this book. A quiet mystery and a sweet love story mixed with Scottish history and landscape. Maine did a wonderful job conveying her love for this part of the Scottish Isles and left me missing Scotland more than ever.

What a great read! Three words: Bubba the Cat.

Post Thanksgiving relaxing time.

The poetry, the heartbreak, the beautiful journey it took me on. It's hard to beat literature like this. Well freaking done, Jacqueline Woodson, well done.