Welcome to Litsy!

Not my usual Christmas fluff that I read this time of year but a wonderful historical fiction novel with a Christmas backdrop. Written in epistolary form, this story will have you cheering for the characters and reaching for the tissues!

Driveway and sidewalks are shoveled and it is now time to warm up with a cup of hot cocoa and a good book!

I‘m so glad I picked this book from a Little Free Library back in June while I was in Illinois. So far, I‘m really enjoying it.

Little Free Library 27571 in St Charles Illinois where I picked up the tagged book.

At first this book was a little hard to get into the groove of reading. It‘s told through letters between friends during WW1. But after sticking with it for a little bit, the voices of the characters began to come to life. I couldn‘t put the book down. It‘s not a typical “female doing her part for the war” book. But rather a love story that unfolds before our eyes, through letters. It was a very moving book. Big ugly cry at the end.

This book was quite the tearjerker, whew. Luckily this little pup has been following me around since I got to my family‘s house in Ohio so I had some company.

Last Christmas in Paris is a WWI book and is mostly told through letters. It was a good, quick read.

A beautifully perfect story of the relationship between Evie and Tom, the effects of war on love, friendship and family (and so much more) - told through their letters to one another during WWI.

#GangstaWrappers team book (well worth the read everyone)
#WinterGames
Make a great day everyone 🎁

This is how I feel as I spend a lot of time trying unsuccessfully to #wgguessthebook

#WinterGames #GangstaWrappers

Make a great day everyone 🎁

Getting close to some #BookSpinBingo and #ISpyBingo and have 2 read from #CloakandDaggerChristmas - so far so good!

#WinterGames #GangstaWrappers

Make a great day everyone 🎁

I think I'm a little of all of those (although I would buy not bake cookies 😂)!! Grades are in - taking a day for just reading today!! Life is good - so grateful!

#WinterGames #GangstaWrappers

Make a great day everyone 🎁

Finished our team read #gangstawrappers
Enjoyed it a lot - liked that it was in letter form.
Also - ended up with 3106 points for week one!
#wintergames @Bookwormjillk

Twenty Fourth prompt completed for @melissajayne #readyourTBR challenge.
#2023challenge

Which means I have completed the challenge 🎉🎊. Thank you for hosting this Melissa 📚📖

Good. Not really a Christmas book but it does have some Christmas elements to it. Full of romance and heartbreak. Told mainly through letters so it's a quick read, but it still manages to convey its powerful message of true love.

#PS
#HarperCollinsPublisher
@HarperCollins

Finished one book and started reading a few others - thanks for hosting #20in4 @andrew65 🙂

#BookSpinBingo #GangstaWrappers #WinterGames

Make a great day everyone 🎁

Started this for our team read for #wintergames #gangstawrappers and loving it so far.

@Bookwormjillk @Traci1 @MidnightBookGirl @fandom_hellspawn99 @Alora @bthegood @Pigpen_Reads @JessieKB

Off to catch up on my photo challenges and advent calendar and games. Went away for the weekend to Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania so not a lot of reading but I did watch 3 hallmark movies too this weekend so need to tally up my points!

Thank you @dabbe for the beautiful interactive advent calendar !! A perfect way to start #WinterGames with #GangstaWrappers -

Make a great day everyone 🎁

I like that the story in this epistolary novel is easy to follow, made easier because it‘s a full cast narration. Takes me back to when my husband was deployed in war zones - the never being sure, the home front news cycles, the friends lost. At least they can call on satellite phones these days, which helps a bit. As ever, war is hell.

Combining my #BookSpinBingo for #WinterGames team #GangstaWrappers and my #CloakandDaggerChristmas list :
1. The Christmas Appeal 2. Nine Lives 3. One Corpse Open Slay 4. The Case of the Deadly Toy 5. Girl in the Blue Coat 6. Christmas Candy Corpse 7. Mrs. Mohr Goes Missing 8. A Nancy Drew Christmas

@Bookwormjillk @Ruthiella @TheAromaofBooks

Make a great day everyone 🎁

Tough to rate. I had eye surgery today so I put the earbuds in to listen. I fell asleep here and there …
It was good but not earth shaking. I‘d say above-average HF, dual time line WWI and 1968 with themes of women journalists, war, long distance love (epistolary).

#RushAThon Day 30
#20in4Readathon Day 4

@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

4.5⭐️
This epistolary novel is the perfect holiday gift for fans of historical fiction. The letters back and forth between Evie and Tom and a handful of their acquaintances reveal far more than a budding romance; they reveal much about the impact of World War I. (Cont'd in comments)

Of all the holiday books I'm racing to read, this one is my favorite so far! 200 pages to go. ❤️

Sad but beautiful novel. Well written in epistolary form where you follow these characters during the war and 50 years after the war. It took me time to read it because it motivated me to seek information about WWI. I even watched a video about Battle of the Somme. What a tragedy. It was hard to read it, about the soldiers, their PTSD which is called now, the family losts, the grief, how life change during these events. Sad😢 but beautiful 4/4.5⭐️

A WWI novel written in letters between childhood friends. A young woman stuck at home in England, writes letters to her best friend, and her brother and his best friend who are at the front. A sweet story and a great road trip read since it‘s so easy to stop between letters if needed. Technically a Christmas read, but much more somber than most. I felt like the depiction of a soldier‘s time in the trenches was realistic.

This one was so good and so sad but also happy. It‘s told through letters during WWI. It was great on audio. Each person was a different narrator to help keep track. It wasn‘t so Christmasy as I thought it was going to be but they still mentioned and experienced 3 christmases.

#TeamGameSleigher +26pts
#AVeryMerryReadathon
#AVeryMerryBingo
#WrapitupReadathon
#CosyReadathon
#ChristmasMyWay
#BookSpinBingo

My ‘Christmas‘ Reads from #WinterGames in 2020. The tagged book was one of my favourite #FestiveReads bit so many good books amongst this list.

#FestivePhotoChallenge

Ebook on sale today. #wintergamesreads @TheAromaofBooks @Clwojick @StayCurious

Aletheia!! You are too sweet!! It was dark, but I thought I saw a box on the porch! Such a nice surprise after a long week! I love everything! The mug is awesome and the postcards are gorgeous!! Love the books and stickers! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness my friend ❤️❤️ sending love and hugs 🤗

If you are looking for a book with a Christmas link, then look no further than this book. Great romance story set during the First World War told through letters. Even had the Christmas truce as part of it. Felt quite emotional in the last part of the book. I do like books written by Hazel Gaynor. #Bookspinbingo

Totally recommend especially for those that loved The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

4⭐️ A really sweet story told through letters and telegrams. #epistolary #ww1 #historicalfiction #christmasfiction #romance #bookreview #bookstagram #fiction #wintergames2020 #readnosedreindeer

#WinterGames2020 @StayCurious #ReadNosedReindeer

A sweet historical romance story. The story is told through a series of letters between Evie, her brother and friends during WWI. They share despair, love and hope for the future in their letters. A great feel good book. Well written and historically correct. 4⭐

#Wintergames #12colorsofDecember. 12/14. Snow White. #TeamReadNosedReindeer

One of my favourite poems. Here is the full poem: In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

#lastchristmas #decembersong @Eggs

#DecemberSong @Eggs
Day 5: Last Christmas

Beautiful book told mostly through letters between friends during the war. The letters start out so hopeful that the war will end by Christmas as many newspapers has predicted at the beginning of WWI. But as the years go on you see the hope falter and the strength of the friends as people die and the war presses on. It‘s a beautiful book that definitely pulls on your heart strings!

#SassyBookworm😏 #Hoopla #Audiobook #HistoricalFiction #WWI

What a wonderful book. Usually I don't like stories that take place during WWI or WWII... But this one was heartwarming and perfect for a december read.

I wanted to read at Christmastime. Funny thing is it's not exactly a Christmas book. Christmas in Paris is a dream that characters hold onto throughout the story. Good book for Audio. Most of it is told in Epistolary style which can be a bit hard to read. Changing narrators helped.Also from time to time it stopped the letters & moved forward to live in 1968. Descriptions of war. Perhaps not the best thing to read right before bed. #coverlove

Two more holiday reads. Merry Christmas Rabbi was a short novella which fell short of the mark for me 2⭐️ I enjoyed Last Christmas but it dragged a bit in places 3 1/2 ⭐️. Watched TSO‘s The Ghosts of Christmas Eve while cooking dinner Sunday. 46 pts

#WinterGames #TeamFestivus

@wanderinglynn @Clwojick @StayCurious

I‘m not opposed to epistolary novels, but this one really didn‘t work for me. It was a whole book of telling instead of showing—which is kind of how letters work—but there are ways to show the action rather than just talk about it. I felt like someone was telling me about a great story, but they never actually told me the story. If you‘re after a really good wartime epistolary novel, read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society instead.

Last Christmas In Paris tells the story of of Evie & Thomas, through a series of letters written during WWI. I love novels set in epistolary form and this is a good one. They start off as friends, with Tom being her brother Will‘s best friend. They grow closer over the years through their letters. I shan‘t lie, I teared up at the end. It‘s an excellent historical fiction novel. 4⭐️

#WinterGames
#TMSkellington
#HolidayRead
#HistoricalFiction
#WWI

For December, our Unabridged Book Club pick is Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb. We had a great time discussing the book: its cover, the dual authorship, the fact that it's an epistolary novel, and so much more!⠀
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Take a listen to the episode, and join us all month to talk about Last Christmas in Paris.

Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb's epistolary World War I novel Last Christmas in Paris was a pleasant surprise. I began the novel with some skepticism--World War I is better (for me, right now) than World War II, and I do love epistolary novels. But I'm not big on Christmas books, I'm wary of over sentimentality, and the first few letters felt pretty stilted to me. Fortunately, the book soon turned a corner for me, ⬇️

I need to put this away for a few weeks. I‘m not in a super positive space right now ((lots of things going on with family & myself...we all seem to have breakdowns at the same time)) & this was NOT the best choice in book. It is setting me up for heartbreak, I can feel it. Maybe in December I can revisit. I like it though....even though the story is mostly told through letters, which can be irritating. #lastchristmasinparis #dnf #laterread

Today, I (Jen) am starting Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb's Last Christmas in Paris, our Unabridged Book Club book for December (our episode will release on December 4. We hope you'll join us in discussing this book on social media all throughout the month.⠀
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I have to admit that, unlike my dear friend Sara, I'm not quite in a mental place for Christmas yet, but I'm working on it! 😂⠀(continued in comments)

A novel about WWI told mostly through letters between several characters. It's bland and largely forgettable.

https://onthebl.org/2019/01/29/last-christmas-in-paris/

"I know you are convinced that my heart was stolen by Tom Harding years ago while I wasn't paying any attention, and I'm beginning to think you may be right, darling.”