Welcome to Litsy!

A sweet book which skewed a little bit young for my taste at this time. I have preferred her other books compared to this.

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#Friday56 #Instagram56 - @fredasphotos

A rom-com readers delight! 5⭐

Read my full review: http://www.fredasvoice.com/2022/05/from-twinkle-with-love-sandhya-menon-25.html

This was a sweet epistolary YA romance told through Twinkle‘s diary entries written as letters to her favorite female filmmakers, along with a few blog posts and texts with Sahil‘s perspective. I appreciated how encouraging and supportive Sahil was. Even when Twinkle was making bad choices, it felt authentic to a sixteen year old girl trying to navigate her feelings. 💖

This was a #roll100 pick for March I didn‘t get to earlier. @PuddleJumper

With fall-ish weather, I went for a walk around the lake. #audiobook

#AugustWrapUp: Things just kept appearing on my book radar and I just kept reading through them and most of them made me pretty happy! I think the tagged was my favorite. Read anything interesting in August?

Watching Twinkle battle btwn her crush on Neil & feelings for Sahil was sweet & fun. Who her secret admirer is & how that will end is obvious early on, so it was better to watch her growth as a character. She faces the changes of growing up, making new friends, and growing apart from old ones, all big parts of adolescence. Menon doesn't shy away from how it can be complicated & painful, but also shows how rewarding facing those challenges can be.

Something cringe-worthy is coming, I can feel it! Why does Menon have to write such great characters, and now I'm all worried about them! 🙈

I wish this had been more about filming the movie, but otherwise a pretty good YA romance. It‘s mostly about struggling with popularity and the ways friendships can evolve.
#Igor #CatsOfLitsy

I have to say, this was a really good group of books! Not one I didn‘t like. From Delicious Foods, told partly from the point of view of crack cocaine (no kidding!), to several terrific 🏳️‍🌈 fiction and nonfiction books, to environmentally minded nonfiction, to fave author rereads (McCall Smith and Pratchett). It really has been a nice reading month.

It‘s not as amazing as When Dimple Met Rishi, but I‘m enjoying it. It‘s definitely a light and easy read in these crazy ass times.

Alright my #readathon #deweyapril wrap up! I finished 3 books. Read most of Stung and half of From Twinkle With Love on audio. I had a great time cohosting on twitter and the blog and it helped me stay up. I was up early today and took a nap after playing with my dogs a bit and then finished my other two books!

Okay, it‘s official: I love everything Sandhya Menon writes. She‘s so good at writing such sweet, delightful YA contemporaries that everyone will relate to in one way or another. Twinkle was relatable (although sometimes I was rolling my eyes at the teen angst) in her want to be recognized and to do something meaningful in life. Highly recommend!

1. What do you read for pure escape? Usually YA, super quick- tagged books is one of my faves.

2. Comfort food right now? Breakfast casseroles. (Sausage, green chilis, potatoes, pepper jack cheese, and a milk/bisquick/egg blend. Best if let to sit covered over night for a day or two!)

3. Share a shelfie! Picture above is of my TBR bookcase in my bedroom.

A little behind on tags this week- catching up now! Thanks @Eggs #wonderouswednesday

My final book for the #teenangst category for #BBRC! #lollipopfiction

I didn‘t like this nearly as much as When Dimple Met Rishi. Cute story, but there was a lot of immaturity here.

#readingtheusa2020 #Colorado

I can‘t focus this week; this cutie isn‘t helping.🐰

I‘m stressed. Patients are cancelling left and right, so hubby‘s workload has taken a nosedive. Those who do come are stealing medical supplies from his office. 20 years in healthcare, he‘s never seen anything like this.

School just cancelled all field trips indefinitely. I see spring break travel policies shortly following (bye bye San Francisco trip, plus I have asthma, so 🤷🏻‍♀️).😫

It may be overcast and rainy outside, but my #currentread is bright and cheerful!

Happy Purim! 👑🥳

It‘s also daylight savings, which did not make it easy to get to the synagogue early for the last dress rehearsal for the Purimspiel. This year Maya is Mordecai, (after 3 years of being Esther)!

I have a full reading plate this week!

#weeklyforecast

I really like Menon‘s writing, and have enjoyed her other books so much...I really wanted to like this one too. Ultimately, it ended up falling a little flat for me. I would definitely recommend “When Dimple Met Rishi” if you‘re trying this author for the first time. I really enjoy that she‘s writing from a perspective that isn‘t explored much in Young Adult fiction.

Once again, our YA book club holiday exchange was a delight! I love you ladies! @Merethebookgal @AlizaApp @Nitpickyabouttrains @NAM99

I enjoyed When Dimple Met Rishi, so I thought I‘d give this one a try. But it‘s just reading far too young for my taste. So, 25% in, it‘s going back to the library! (The audio reader is doing a great job—I would love to read other books she narrates.)

I honestly didn‘t know this was signed. 😱

⭐️⭐️⭐️
#BookBingo2019

Once I got past the whole “written like journal entries to female directors” gimmick, I enjoyed this romance about a girl figuring out how to be her true self, and apologizing for mistakes she makes along the way. #bbrc #teenangst #lollipopfiction #readmyowndamnbooks

I can't handle how cute she is! This little miss turned 3 this week! #catsoflitsy

Great ya romance. Excellent characters

Far from perfect or even a well executed book, but I still enjoyed it for it's silly, tropey romance and its casual diversity (shout out to the black gay guy who calls out toxic masculinity and has a bi boyfriend, as well as Indian American and Japanese American characters). I appreciated how Menon allows Twinkle to make mistakes. I do have a quibble: the novel never actually shows Twinkle being a great director, even though it tells you she is.

This has so many romance tropes in it, I love it. #Romantsy #Romance #YA #WeNeedDiverseBooks #audiobook #AwesomeAudiobooks

This book would have been good, if not for the main character! I loved the love interest, Sahil, and the storyline was very interesting and captivating. I liked the backstories of all the characters, too. But Twinkle was too self-centered and childish for the majority of the story. Listened to the #audiobook on #Scribd

5/5 stars. Sandhya Menon is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She has amazingly diverse characters, and I was rooting for these main characters throughout the whole book.

I love a main character that makes mistakes.

What a gorgeous book?

Twinkle gets it right, then gets it REALLY, REALLY WRONG. Then right again. Then wrong again. Then REALLY REALLY RIGHT. I enjoyed the ride.

Also, grandmothers are really freaking great. Those of us who have them, care for them more. Love on them more.

Also, also, love me an epistolary novel. Never unhappy with that style.

1. Bet Me (But it always makes me hungry thanks to the decadent food descriptions.)
2. Going to Nashville.
3. So cute!
4. I can touch my tongue to the tip of my nose. 🤷🏻‍♀️
5.🖐

#friyayintro

I didn‘t like this as well as When Dimple Met Rishi. The characterization, inner monologues, everything was a little too heavy handed - even for YA...

Reading in the toddler‘s bed since both kids are asleep in mine...

I‘ve picked this room up twice today, went to the store and came back home to another mess. So I‘m giving up and sitting down with something light and easy

Ugh I loved When Dimple Met Rishi, but this was just not something I enjoyed. The epistolary fashion was unique, but that was about it. It felt too much like Dimple and the story arc was dull and similar. And I honestly just didn‘t like the characters at all. So disappointed in this one! I was hoping for a good one in this.

This book was great the relationship between Twinkle and Sahil was great the story was heart filled

Such a sweet story with good lessons about friendship and being true to oneself. Good characters and just enough rom com to be fun but not so much to make it silly. I also recommend her 1st book. 🎧 audiobook performance by Soneela Nanjani was excellent. Vikas Adam has a small part, but his performance also good.

This was delightful! I loved Twinkle, the romance, and the subplot about her friendship with Maddie (although that also infuriated me at times). Fun and funny amd sweet. A great #YA #romcom!
4/5 🌟

January Finale Pictured: My 6 Favorite Reads of the Month (3 new, 3 rereads)
Stats
Total: 16 New Reads: 12 Rereads: 4
MG: 4 YA: 6 Adult: 6
Fiction: 14 Non-Fiction: 2
Realistic Fic: 8 Fantasy/Sci-Fi: 6
#anewchapter

I had high hopes for this one after how much I enjoyed Ms. Menon‘s first book, but it didn‘t quite live up to my expectations. I like YA, but this was just a little too teenage angsty for me. It dealt with insecurities, fitting in, and figuring out who you are. I thought the premise was cute, and I liked how it was written in first person journal style. But the overall teenage drama of the story wasn‘t enjoyable to me. Ah well.

Too much setting my teeth on edge, not enough movie making. It got stronger at the end, I think, but not enough to make me like it.

These are going to be the worst dvd extras ever.

So good! That‘s two Menon books I‘ve loved now. She does such a great job at the relational aspect on all levels. I also like how are her teens make realistic teen choices even if as an adult you want to yell at them.

Day 15: Diverse Read
The next book on my stack was perfect for today‘s prompt.
#anewchapter

I‘ve been going slow with this one for some reason. Time for a little reading in bed. 📖🛌 #ReadingInBed

I‘ve been debating about what book to start, and I‘ve finally settled on this one. Something light and fun sounds great right now. 💖