Welcome to Litsy!

At least the latte should be good ☕️

#Multicolored #CuriousCovers #TBR

Thanks for the tag, @Megabooks ! There are many covers I like, but this is for sure one of my favorites. It‘s so luscious! Funny enough, I‘ve never read the book and have no interest in doing so, but I could stare at that cover all day long.

#fridayfunwith451

What‘s one of your favorite covers?

Despite the gorgeous cover, this book is a total drag. So boring. I would‘ve ditched it if it weren‘t the book club book for this month.

Okay, final tweaking of my #bookspin list! I posted way too early 😂😂 I decided to add more physical and kindle books. So excited for tomorrow!!

Night all! 😴😴

#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush

Ok, @vivastory , I‘ll bite.

How about you, @Soubhiville , care to join? 7 days, 7 covers you love, no explanation. Try to tag someone new each day.

#kindledeals #kindledeal #ebooksale

Let me tell you, I felt for these characters. No, they‘re not sympathetic; and yes, they can be obnoxious, and make awful moves or questionable decisions. But the characters are real. They‘re very human, and that‘s what I appreciated about it. Because it was like a mirror, where I could see myself, or people I‘ve known, doing dumb shit, making mistakes, taking it into account, and then just going on to live more days, trying to do better.

Another that didn‘t last long in the #ToB2019, but I‘m gonna read it anyway, hopefully before it‘s due back at the library or before my self-imposed Library Month comes to an end in three days ...

Although I liked The Italian Teacher there‘s no doubt that Milkman must win today in the #ToB2019. It is such an original voice, this modern stream-of-consciousness. It is funny, it is poignant and it is important. I don‘t say it is my favourite and I actually had a hard time reading it sometimes, but it absolutely deserves to go to the Quarter Finals. Or don‘t you think so?

I won't dwell too long on my lengthy list of misgivings with this novel, suffice to say I found the characters both insufferable and flat (with the exception of a couple of neglected but complex minor players), and ultimately I couldn't bring myself to care about anything that was happening. Rachman saved himself from one star territory by touching on some interesting ideas about art, which could have been explored with much more depth.

⭐️⭐️

This book takes a lovely photo and that might be one of the few positives I have for it, sadly.
All the characters in this were frustratingly two dimensional and the writing style was not one that brought me joy. I think I might have enjoyed it a little more if Rachman had continued with more of Natalie‘s perspective. 300 pages inside the head of “Pinch” was just too much for me.

#ToB19 #indiebuddyreads

It‘s #indiebuddyreads time again 🎉

“Esther! Look at me, Esther look at me. Esther!!” #DogsofLitsy #EstherAssisting #Griff #Whpg

Lots I liked, lots I didn‘t. I thought this was about ‘Art‘ and how it affected people but it felt more like an ode to a bombastic, selfish, creative dude who overpowered all the other characters and themes. Natalie was a big part of the blurb but barely got any interiority at all and even his son did nothing but react and think about him. The writing was good but I didn‘t need another pen portrait of a cruel bohemian man who can‘t really love

#tob2019

I‘ve been desperate to read this ever since I saw the beautiful cover in hardback when it came out last year. So pleased to be getting to it now, I‘ve got high expectations I hope it lives up to them

A good story and a nice, light read, but I‘m afraid I didn‘t find it to be much more than that. Everything about it seemed only skin deep. From the plot to the characterization there was so much more to develop and explore that it feels like a missed opportunity. #TOB2019

I really enjoyed this- more so than I did his debut The Imperfectionists. The main character is not very sympathetic but I always felt I understood his motivations even if his actions were frustrating. Loved the settings (Rome, London, New York). #TOB2019

I feel the brackets are due any minute now. Bring it #TOB2019 #TournamentOfBooks #TheRooster

Our latest episode of ‘Books On The Go‘ is up: ‘The Italian Teacher‘. Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards to be announced 7 February, Amanda loved this one! #booksonthego 🎧

I love the idea of a book set in Italy but this was too slow-paced for me. The protagonist Pinch is unlikeable, small-minded & in thrall to his father Bear the artist. Bear is a fun though tyrannical character to begin with but becomes a caricature of himself & the story drags on & on. Pinch has failed relationships & failed careers but I didn‘t care as he‘s so unsympathetic. The women are sidelined. Much earnest detail. Interesting re art & ego.

I wanted to buy this for the cover alone, but now it‘s been shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards and we‘re doing it for the podcast- so I had to get it! 😍😉 #currentread

This is a book about art. And about a father (an artist), belittling his ever admiring son. Throughout the whole book I wanted to warn the son (Pinch) and talk him out of all the choices he makes, the life he lives, all out of wanting to gain his fathers respect, never choosing for himself. An intense read, the art as well as the father-son relationship.

#booked2018 #newin2018 #tob2019

Thank you, Leanna! I can't believe you got my name again! This isn't just a book, it's a book high up on my want to read list! And the cover is fabulous. #JustABookSwap

I tore through this novel and savored every page. It was exactly what I wanted to be reading every time I picked it back up.

I love art. I love eavesdropping on conversations (in real life or in books) about ambition and money and truth and choices and creativity and pondering WHAT IS ART!? And I love family dynamics that are infuriating and imperfect and help me feel a little less alone. Add in a beautiful cover and I‘m good to go.

Waiting for my chai + oat milk while Ian counts our change hah 😜.

I am LOVING this book. I feel personally affected by this story of Pinch and his passionate, charming, artistic father; a father he idolizes yet who is so selfish and self-absorbed that he destroys those around him without the slightest thought. I have struggled in this same way and I find this book completely enthralling.

Art for art‘s sake. Or, an exploration of the fissures between father and son.

I‘m ready to learn! 🤓🧐📖📚

Another gorgeous cover. #bbc

This book could be a little slow at times, but it had some interesting takes on the commercial art world and what it means to have a successful life. The book follows the life of a man who is always in the shadow of his artist father‘s success. His struggles to win approval from his narcissistic father shape his life. Lacking his father‘s charisma and self-assurance, he struggles to find his own way to making a mark on the world. 3.5⭐️

Up next.

I could stare at this cover all day! 😍 Book mail is the BEST mail. 📚🙌🏼📬 Have you read this? #TBR

#TheItalianTeacher is described as a “masterful novel about the son of a great painter striving to create his own legacy.. With his signature humanity and humor, #TomRachman examines a life lived in the shadow of greatness, cementing his place among his generation's most exciting literary voices.” #toberead #bookmail #coverlove #coverlover

Inspired by our upcoming Europe vacation, I put together a collage of books set in the cities we will be traveling to in June: #London, #Paris, and #Rome. I had the most trouble finding newer novels set in Rome.

Have you read any of these books? Do you have any recommendations for books set in any of the cities we will be traveling?

#EuropeVacation #FiveYearAnniversaryTrip #Celebrate #CheerstoFiveYears #UK #France #Italy #Vacation

So I picked this up after a few days‘ break. The section I put it down on was obvious, but I‘m enjoying the book overall. I can‘t help but compare it to The Heart‘s Invisible Furies because of the layout of the chapters and the age of the MC. I‘ve got to admit that in the comparison, Italian comes up short. 😕

Here‘s my handsome reading companion #HenryBoy. #dogsoflitsy #petsoflitsy #poodlesoflitsy

#TBRtemptation post 1! Do you like Italy? Do you like art? Do you like historical fiction? 20th-Century art and all its tumultuousness are seen through Pinch, son of the great controversial painter Bear Bavinsky and ceramicist Natalie. Pinch admires his father, trying to live up to the family legacy. How will they all fare in Bear's overwhelming footprint? Twists, turns, compromises, and unexpected decisions develop. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Hello, gorgeous 😍 #bookmail

This e-galley enticed me with Rachman, Italy, and art. But this book about living in the shadow of a famous parent, struggling to become your own person, and defining your own success was so much more. Pitch perfect, and full of that rare type of pathos that actually works, it was also full of genuinely interesting characters. Although the ending felt a bit abrupt, it ended as it should, without contrivance. #PenguinFirstToRead

#PenguinFirstToRead

Wow. I can‘t say I cared for this one at all. The content inside does not match the beauty of its cover. I found the story to be dull and bland and there wasn‘t one character I enjoyed reading about. So definitely not the love I had for his previous book The Rise and Fall of Great Powers. 🙁🙁

I don‘t know if I‘ve seen a more beautiful cover. Maybe Emily Bitto‘s The Strays? I love paint covers 🎨. I could stare at it all day.

This is new bookmail and I just want to sleep next to it and bring it to work to make me happy.

There is no better feeling than being the first person to crack open a library book!! #severebooknerdbehaviour. 😋☺️😋

Picked this up from the library today. Only 7 days to read it since a whole whack of others are waiting in line to read it too. Should be no problem, it‘s not as chunky as his last one (which I loved).

Congratulations @readinginthedark on your Litsy milestone! 🙌🙌💕🏆🍾🎉
#tbrforthewin a couple from my #tbr mountain!
Thanks for the chance to enter your giveaway... 👍💕

Oh boy! I won a #goodreadsgiveaway! I can‘t wait to read this book! Going to the top of my pile for sure! 😍 the cover.

SQUEEEEEE! #galleybrag

This book has one of the most satisfying endings that I have read in a long time. That alone would make this a pick for me. BUT, if this hadn‘t been an author I enjoyed in the past (The Imperfectionists is amazeballs!!) I would have bailed before getting to all of the goodness of the last third of the book. Overall, a pick. #netgalley

#netgalley

WHOOO-HOO!!!! This is totally a #galleybrag

I am soooooooo excited for this one. The Imperfectionists was one of my favorite books of all time!!!

Soooooo excited for this one!!!

This week‘s book haul #booksellerperks