Welcome to Litsy!

What a beautiful book! A touching story about friendship, with many thoughtful - even profound - quotable sentences. The main character is a botanist, and I enjoyed learning lots of interesting facts about trees as I read. I closed this book with a newfound respect for trees, and a reinvigorated appreciation of the importance of friendship in our lives. Great pick for #LMPBC, @Reggie ! It will be on its way back to you soon.

While I identified with the MC in some ways I felt we only got the surface layer of the other characters. I did enjoy the botany lessons and learned a different use of the word nesting. A soft pick as I likely won‘t remember it.
#LMPBC. On its way to you tomorrow @julieclair

2nd book done for #20in4 @Andrew65

I loved this book (taken with 2 of the 3 plants I‘ve managed to keep alive in the past few years - no green thumb here at all!).
Great choice @Reggie and it‘s on its way to you tomorrow @Deblovestoread @julieclair #groups #lmpbc

It‘s a warm hearted story mostly about reaching out to old friends and dealing with changes that come in life.

What I liked: the plants, the thoughts on friendship, the narrator's growth as a person, the awkwardly realistic interactions, the plants. What didn't quite work for me was how light this novel feels overall. The lessons all feel like they come too easily, and there was this weird thing in the second half where multiple times it felt like the author was ending the story, then it kept going, like stop-and-go traffic within sight of the destination.

@Reggie the book arrived today! Excited to start it! #lmpbc #groups
My book will be in the mail by the end of the week! @Deblovestoread @julieclair

This was lovely and touching. After reading all the stellar comments by friends on the death of an author, university gardener May Attaway starts to evaluate her introverted life and along with a carry on named Grendel she will visit her 4 friends. There is some etymology, some mythology, and some great observations in here. If you liked the first half of The Overstory, you‘ll love this. This will be on its way to you tomorrow @Jerdencon

A botanist who has spent her life mourning her mother‘s death & doing her job, one day realizes she‘s out of touch with friends. She embarks on a plan to spend a fortnight with a few of them in an effort to share their ordinary lives. It‘s a story that rambles gently through sensitive & alarming features of aging. I came across this novel at a time when I felt compelled to buy luggage. Sometimes you pick the novel; sometimes the novel picks you.

🚨 kindle deal 🚨

Worth the read. Quick, concise, and tender.

This is a very quiet book about a very introverted person & about halfway through I wasn‘t sure if it was going to be a so-so or a pick. But then the book, like its MC & narrator, seemed to find its footing & I enjoyed it more & more. So a solid pick although it took me a while to get there.

A book about friendship, the families we have & the families we make, what makes a home, and trees 🌲🌳🌲🌳🌲.

🧚‍♀️✨ Sometimes books find you at the right time, and this slow, meditative book about friendships was one of those. I resonated with so much - I even share a birthday with May, the MC - which made it such a comfort to read. So thankyou book fairies for knowing I needed this, and for sprinkling your magic and getting me to randomly pick it up

This novel had quite a slow start in my opinion, however it was an enjoyable read for me as I felt some for of relatively to the protagonist May. I also thought that the imagery of this book was nice and all these names of botanical plants was rather educating to me for I also garden as a hobby.
Overall, I found that this was a cute decent read.

#fiction #friends

A woman who has no close friends goes to visit and reconnect with four people she used to be close to.

Since our rules for visiting are that we can't! 😔 I'll give this audio a try!

This is not historical fiction but the title kind of feels like it right now, doesn‘t it? And rules for visiting? Don‘t. Just don‘t. (That said, I‘m enjoying this very much so far.)

#MarchMadness #rain ☔️

I loved the imagery in this book & there were several scenes involving rain including this quote which I think describes a rainy day well & appeals to my slower-paced reflective side.😉

After an unsure start, I quite liked this book & came to like the quirky & awkward May Attaway & this story of friendship. May‘s musings on friendship & plants were interesting & her visits to reconnect with 4 friends were entertaining. There were moments that had me tearing up & moments I was laughing to myself. The picture is of the Fortingall Yew in Scotland that is believed to be at least 3 thousand years old & plays a big role in the story.

#QuotsyMar20 #hell

Playing catch up on prompts. One of my current reads, I‘m finding this book quirky & intriguing.

“Certainly thank-you notes don‘t require thank-you notes; that would be a never-ending hell.”

Poignant and thoughtful, this would be a great read for a book club. 👥📚 May Attaway considers her friendships, the nature of friendships, and what it means to visit others. A botanist who finds plants easier than people, she nevertheless attempts to cultivate her relationships. A quirky voice and unique yet relatable story.

After a slow start this book got more interesting. Revisiting old friends, May‘s mother‘s illness, and lessons in botany were intertwined throughout. I learned that the gingko tree has more than 3x DNA letters than a human, that tree was the only living thing that survived the Hiroshima bombing and the meaning of mast year.

A gentle and singular story about the value of friendship. This is a nice, comforting read but was a little slow for me (it takes 80 pages before she visits anyone). It‘s written in the first person with many of her thoughts & literary references spelt out. But I liked her as a flawed character who feels lost at 40 and realises she needs friends. If it were an artwork it would be a watercolour.

Fighting a sinus infection. Snuggled with Sabrina and reading are just what the doctor ordered. ❤️🤓

It wasn't horrible, but I wasn't particularly engaged by the characters or narrative. Meh.

Library books due tomorrow that can't be renewed. To be overdue or to returned unread? It's still up in the air ...

A 40 year old “prickly, but in a soft, long-needled way” woman‘s story of friendships and it‘s place in her life. For a quick review of my thoughts on the book: https://recommended-4.com/blog/2019/06/01/rules-for-visiting/

i loved this story so much i listened to many parts of it twice! single gal with a cat who likes plants and literary references? yes, please!

Next up, Rules for Visiting. ARC from NetGalley with a publish date of June 6th!

Excited to read Jessica‘s new book! And it has illustrations by Edward Carey - you know how I love him. 😍