Welcome to Litsy!

A very good thriller. Read this on my holidays and thoroughly enjoyed it Shades of Ripley ……

#holidayreading #shannonriver #lazyafternoon

Finally on my summer holidays so it‘s thrillers all the way. First up is The party by Elizabeth Day. The writing is so good and the characters so complex and intriguing, that I‘ve lined up another of her books for seconds #summerholidayreads

This book was well-written but left a bad taste. It had strong Talented Mr Ripley vibes, and while I am a fan of Patricia Highsmith, this is not that. It also involved a negative trope that I found irritating. When the events of the night in question are finally revealed, I was a little surprised but not blown away.

Only 30 pages left!
I really want to finish it, but I have to cook... rice and asparagus!
I'm hungry of both, novel and rice 🤣🤣

#elizabethday #theparty #cook&read #novel #rice #cooking #reading

A smart story. It takes a while for me to grasp why the author keeps going back to their college and highschool days, but as the story progresses it becomes clear. The characters played out well. The events that transpire could be perfectly plausible in real life. A dynamic analyzation of friendship and the feelings people can harbor, with a keeping-up-with-the-Jones's complex added in. ⭐⭐⭐

Got these three beauties in the mail today from Florida although I'm not sure who sent this #Bookmail. Thank you soooooo much whoever did this! I am experiencing a lot of joy and I am going to start in on one immediately. Pls let me know who sent them. 😘😘🥳🥳

I'll have a birthday party this evening... I'm reading the right book! 😎

#theparty #elizabethday #japanesestyle #butterflies #black&whitecover

⭐️⭐️ Martin is the poor scholarship boy in awe and love with his rich aristocratic best friend Ben. With so much history between them, and a cooling off of friendship, things come to a calamitous head at Ben‘s 40th birthday party. A few too many stereotypes, the ‘intelligent and devoted poor boy‘ pitted against the ‘rich and arrogant son of a Lord‘, the story is told between the night of the party, flashbacks, police interviews and a diary.

Happy Litsyversary to me (and the other Littens listed above.)

It‘s been a wonderfully bookish 4 years. I‘m so happy to have found you Litsyverse!

A lot of words, too many words to tell a rather uninteresting story. ‘Drunken university poshos‘ is how the main characters are described once in this book. And that‘s exactly what they are. And that‘s not really interesting. Especially not when so many words are needed to come up with so little in the end.

“Brideshead Revisited meets Mr Ripley” says a blurb on the back. No way.

#WeeklyForecast 19/20

I actually just finished The Holdout, a more than decent legal thriller to escape reality. Up next is Weather, which I am looking forward to despite some disappointing reviews. Dept. of Speculation was just so good!
Also another one for #ReadingEurope2020 (thank you Cindy 🤍) and on audio The Party, that I‘m not enjoying much so far.

@MrBook is planning a party.

Rocked in the New Year with 9 15 years olds in my basement, what a great gang of kids! Now to set some reading goals... and a nap😊

Happy birthday, @LibrarianRyan!! And thank you so much for the tag, @Stacypatrice !!!

I‘m going to tag @Owlizabeth as she is one of the members of my very first LMPBC group book and receiving the book she chose and the extras she included as well as seeing her comments brightened my day and made me so happy to be a part of the group!!

My favorite childhood book is so tough but I‘m going to go with Anne of Green Gables! #ItsMyParty

Thank you for the tag @Bookwormjillk

I‘m going to tag @TorieStorieS for always sending #litsylove letters that make my heart smile. Thank you for sharing a piece of yourself with me Torie - you are wonderful!

My favorite childhood book was “Harold and the Purple Crayon.”
#itsmyparty
@LibrarianRyan
Newest followers: tagged

Lots of #Birthdaylove today to 3 fabulous Littens @DivineDiana @Marmie7 @OriginalCyn620 . We hope you all have wonderful birthdays (with lots of books.... and cake!)

📚🍰📚🍰📚🍰📚🍰

Hey guys!!! I'm having a Harry Potter Trivia Party that you are more than welcome to attend via Facebook if you live in the US!
I have some awesome Harry Potter swag and Color Street that is up for grabs if you win!
Check it out here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1984298225145554/

It felt laboured to me. The twists and turns felt manufactured rather than organic. There is some lovely writing and some interesting characters. I just wish it hadn't been shoe horned into a thriller.

The Party didn‘t turn out to be what I expected, but I still really enjoyed it. I would have liked a bit more glamour and a more Gatsby feel. The story was gripping and I really warmed to the main character Martin

Switching it up over here :)

The more I read this, the less I enjoyed it. I know the world contains people who are as weak and pathetic and predictable as these characters but they don‘t make for good fiction. The premise is one I love (awkward outsider in a prep school crowd of privileged fucks) but meh. I could have reread The Secret History instead.

Ok, something new!

This is another offering from Reading in Heels. The monthly book club I joined. It‘s a well written book but I took a while to finish it. I wasn‘t that impressed by the story or the ending.

True 📚📚📚

Last book of April, finished in the unglamorous setting of a train from Leeds so here is the beautiful Lake District from the weekend where I read most of it! A flawed character study - the murky landscape of class, money, privilege and being an outsider. Cringeworthy how much the MC tries to fit in. Worth a look.

I‘m guessing there will be someone that is #lasttoleave in this book. It‘s been on my radar since it came out last year so when I spotted it in the shop a few weeks ago for Qc I had to get it #aprella ??

Marchs reading in heels Box!

#ReadingInHeels

This book could have been great, but unfortunately it missed the mark. It was quite intriguing in the beginning but quickly I lost interest. They compared it to the Talented Mr. Ridley, not even a close second.

Going to give this one a try. Not sure about it yet...but it is from the library so no hard feelings.

I‘m struggling to get into this story and am still unsure where it is even headed at 60 pages in so I‘m bailing for now. It‘s the first time RiH‘s have let me down so I‘m hoping I‘m just not in the headspace right now for this. I‘ll try it again further in the summer! I‘ve now clocked 7:23:24 / 25:00:00 for #25inFive so not a bad timing considering it‘s only Saturday afternoon. #bookblogger #booklover #bibliophile #bookish #bail #dnf

So, I‘m now 5 hours into #25inFive and I‘m beginning to think I won‘t even make 20 hours this weekend with how things are headed. Also. This tea and this marshmallow bar were both TO DIE FOR! I need more of each in my life right now. I‘m getting crime novel vibes from this book which considering RiH‘s promise to not give crime books... I‘m like what!? 😬 #bookblogger #booklover #bibliophile #bookish #bookaddict

Okay, #25infive TBR has changed now I‘m one and a bit books down. I‘m putting The Munitions Girls aside for another day and attempting to read both of these before Monday. I‘m enjoying TMG but I‘m away all weekend now so these will be what I‘m reading. #classic #contemporary #currentreads #booklover #bookblogger #janeausten #janeite #austenite #bookish

Yay. April‘s Reading in Heels box has arrived and it is as perfect as usual. I am a lover of the stuff RiH puts in their boxes and these treats are no exception! I‘ve never heard of the book but I‘m yet to be let down by their book choices AND it‘s compared to Waugh‘s Brideshead Revisited. ??Seriously the best (c8 I spend a month. #readinginheels #readinginheelsuk #booksub #bookbox #subscriptionbox

4/5 stars

It was okay. Nothing exciting, I wanted more.

Some thoughts on unlikeable characters, and why I thought Martin of The Party was compelling. This was a searing take on class and sexism that kept me turning the pages! http://www.bornandreadinchicago.com/2017/10/on-unlikeable-characters.html

The new episode of the Brit Lit Podcast is up, and I interviewed Elizabeth Day about her literary thriller THE PARTY. I highly recommend you read it before making those "best books of 2017" lists because you might find it deserves a spot!
britlitblog.com/podcast

A very interesting book about a husband and wife and the husband‘s relationship with/secrets kept about his best friend. Literary fiction that keeps the pages turning!

I loved this book so much.

Hot off the press for your reading inspiration https://britlitblog.com/2017/08/31/10-british-books-out-in-august/

One of my very favourite reads of 2017 is out in the US today. Go forth and buy!

#letstalkaboutbooksbaby
1. Right now: Pasadena, California (usually Washington DC)
2. This is a tough one, but I think THE PARTY by Elizabeth Day
3. Startup, by Doree Shafrir
4. Treasures of the Snow, by Patricia St John
5. Brooklyn
6. Unravelling Oliver, by Liz Nugent is out in the US on 22nd August and I can't wait for people to read it so I can discuss it ! It has a lot in common with The Party and I'd put it at number 2 on my 2017 list.

Elizabeth Day's literary thriller is a state of the nation look at power and privilege in modern Britain which marries THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY and BRIDESHEAD REVISITED but while there's some sharp descriptive writing on show here, the twists are obvious, the rich characters little more than Bullingdon stereotypes, it's not clear what makes Ben so special and ultimately Martin comes across as needy, gullible and unsympathetic.

An absolute winner from Elizabeth Day that starts off very well and simply gets even better and better as it goes along. Read my goodreads review at: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33229393-the-party. #elizabethday #theparty #contemporaryfiction #contemporaryliterature #greatwriting

Really enjoying this novel. In fact, I am suffering that occasional dilemma that is attendant on marvellous books. I desperately want to carry on with it, and see how the story is resolved, but simultaneously I want to savour it and make it last as long as possible. #elizabethday #theparty #conflicted #greatbooks #currentlyreading #contemporaryliterature #contemporaryfiction #marvellous

Only just started this, but terminally hooked already. #elizabethday #theparty #greatbooks #currentlyreading