Welcome to Litsy!

1. I think Arthur Less (from Less and Less Is Lost by Andrew Sean Greer) would be a great roommate--he goes off on long trips and comes back with entertaining stories. Plus we could practice German together. 🙂

2. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

@TheSpineView #Two4Tuesday

Such a clever, quiet campus novel and perfect for autumn. What I loved about this was how it really really felt like being with someone as they grew up, across four whole years, and the narrative let the things that mattered to Lee matter to us. The prep school wasn‘t paradise and wasn‘t awful, failed maths tests caused genuine and massive angst, sex was so cringe I skipped past it. This made me feel 17 again in a very balanced well written way.

After a slow start I couldn‘t put this down. Main character Lee is so self-absorbed and most of the time she‘s just plain awful, yet at the same time the entire awful awkwardness of those teenage years comes rushing back, it‘s so perfectly described here. I was constantly nodding or wincing at the author‘s understanding of Lee, and of being a teenager. “I always worried someone would notice me, and then when no one did, I felt lonely”. Loved it.

Last night in Warsaw and so I've taken myself on a book date. Been working straight through the weekend, and so having a little treat.

I‘m 56, more than 30 years out of HS and yet Curtis Sittenfeld managed to bring me right back to those awkward, anxious, angsty, euphoric days. I viscerally experienced being 16, in love and questioning every moment, comment, reaction to everyone and everything. I so acutely understood the young protagonist, Lee as she navigates her New England prep school with a sense of trepidation and awe. #TBRbacklog

After starting & stopping several books and audios this afternoon I‘ve settled into this book that‘s been sitting on my shelf for ages. I‘m loving the authenticity of a middle class midwestern girl trying to navigate her way at a NewEngland prep school. #DarkAcademia #Booked2022 @BarbaraTheBibliophage @alisiakae

My heart feels a bit empty. Sharon was a sweetheart and we shared a lot of letters via #Litsylove 💛

#12Booksin 2021

I picked this up years ago after liking American Wife by Sittenfeld and let it gather dust, as we readers often do. So glad I finally got around to it. I loved this up close and personal story of a fish out of water, middle class teen at an elite prep boarding school. The protagonist isn‘t likable always, but I found her real and believable. This book also made me very glad that my adolescence is far behind me.

i read it on a recommendation from a friend. lee is truly an insufferable main character which made the book hard to read at times but it was entertaining. and i really liked the last page where she realizes how big the world is, it‘s a good reminder

Honestly, Lee‘s constant self-consciousness really annoyed the crap out of me. I put down and picked up this book so many times, I kind of wish I had bailed. Her character is as likable as limp lettuce.

The most interesting part of reading Curtis‘s latest and her debut in back-to-back months was seeing her evolution as a writer. Rodham just has a life and verve that are so missing in Prep. 2.5⭐️

Got my center square #bookspinbingo 🥳

An in depth look at the life of a midwestern teenager who goes to a wealthy East coast boarding school for high school. Being immersed in the life of a teenage girl who is both terrified of being noticed and longing to be noticed was realistic but sometimes annoying! #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

Just finished Prep which I enjoyed but it was a slow read. I‘m in need of a page turner and hoping You Are Not Alone will do the trick 🤞

No better combination! 🐈📚

"I always worried someone would notice me, and then when no one did, I felt lonely."

I've been meaning to read this for a long time, but somehow I've never got around to it. Seems a perfect fit for #SchoolinLife. Love that cover blurb. #NoFemmeber

#RedingResolutions #🍁@jess7

I love reading seasonally and nothing says falling leaves to me like boarding school books!!!!

So close, @Moray_Reads !

Going on vacation and trying to pick a few books from my shelves. Any favorites here to get lost in?

I “borrowed” this photo from Lucy Worsley‘s Twitter account. I‘m dying to read this historical book about a famous British #mammamia. And I also want to read the tagged novel, one of Lucy‘s favorites, because I love boarding school stories and “slightly odd, introverted women.” 😊 #agameoffavorites #ABBAinAugust

It took me a long time to get through this, but the story eventually grew on me. The writing is not perfect. But the way she writes about the awkwardness of high school, esp if you tend to hover on the periphery like I did, I felt like I was thrown right back to 9th grade in a slight horrifying way, since I never want to relive those years!

One plot hole bothered me, I‘ll put in comments ⬇️

#booked2018 #setatschool #booksandbreakfast

Lazy days at the pool are one of my favorite parts of summer! 🏊‍♂️ 📖 ☀️

Well, this is incredibly frustrating to come upon in my library copy of Prep. 😫😤

Still working on my June #wrapup, but I have my #JulyTBR ready to go!

My public library is getting a major renovation this year. 🎉🎉 Which means that my branch will be closing for 9-12 months. 😫😭😩 5-12 on my #tbr are all holds that I hope come in this week before the holds shelf shuts down.

Any of your favorites on my list?

Slower read, so much secondhand embarrassment, but a crucial read for sure

What is your favorite book trope? Mine are kids going away to boarding school and fake relationships that turn into love matches.

Read books

I have so many feelings about this book. At first, I was not sure where this story was going, but realized quickly this entirely character driven. I laughed, got angry and had many other emotions, and then I knew that the author had done her job. Well done!

About to dig into this one. It is one of my books that my secret santa picked in #summersantagoespostal. I am so excited.

One more book challenge...because why not?
Oh Lee! The main character is so anxious and awkward and makes such dumb choices. It's almost painful to read except that it feels so true.
@TobeyTheScavengerMonk asked a while ago what makes something YA versus a book written about teens for an adult audience. I don't know. But I think Prep is the latter.
#smellsliketeenspirit #junetunz @Cinfhen

With the exception of American Wife, Sittenfeld is often accused of creating #unlikable characters. They aren't evil like Dolores Umbridge, but they tend to be women who can be whiny, passive-aggressive, petty, etc. I would even argue that Sittenfeld made Lizzie Bennet somewhat unlikable in her version of P&P. But these so-called unlikable characters are why I enjoy Sittenfeld's work so much.
#aprilbookshowers @RealLifeReading

I can read horror, thrillers, and detective stories until the dawn of a new age, but nothing gives me a pulsing, slow-burn anxiety quite like reading about high school.

I am really f***ing sick of having trouble seeing on Lyrica. I'm having to blow up things on the screen at work, and I can't look at Litsy at night. I'm having a bit more luck with print.

In better news, I got some #bookmail today! Prep and Barbara the Slut plus some magnetic bookmarks. @faelinwolf got me obsessed with them!! Anyway, I really really miss all of you!! 💖 My sciatica is overall improving, but today was a bad day with extra meds. ☹️

#bookhaul
This morning's book haul from the charity shop 😀

Almost forgot today's #riotgrams #onewordtitle! Pulled one of my all time favorites from the shelf. I love a good boarding school novel and Sittenfeld's writing of the teenage experience is heartbreakingly accurate. Lee is not exactly a likeable character, but I could certainly identify with a great deal of her emotions. It would be an interesting read, now that I am a parent, thinking toward the future teenage girl in my home. Or maybe not...

Clearly in the minority but I found this book incredibly boring. Nothing happens. It's the mundane story of 4 years at a boarding school - just 4 ordinary years in the life of one girl who is crazy insecure. I couldn't relate to Lee at all, even thinking back to my own teenage years. Her incessant agonizing over what everyone thought of her drove me nuts, and I found her unlikeable. Kept waiting for the story to get some legs, but it never did. 😕

This book is on my tbr list. I picked it up at a used book sale when I couldn't resist the cover blurb. I thought of a bunch of books set in school but I don't have them anymore 😞#booktober #bookssetinschool

Pretty solid month for me considering it took almost a full week to get through A Storm of Swords! 😄

Loved finally getting to a stack of books I'd been meaning to read for a while, and had a hard time picking favorites 📚👌🏽🙌🏽

Never have I ever related more to a character's adolesence! Lee's hilarious inner monologue while she deals with social anxiety, her overanalyzation of every choice she makes for fear of how she'll be perceived, and that constant feeling of being an outsider, is spot on. I wasn't ready to let Lee's world go. Finishing left me bereft, slightly nostalgic, and wishing there were a sequel so I could see what she's up to now.

Loved it!
#recommendsday

Ok, so not to muddy Litsy with politics... but this instantly made me think of a certain orange presidential candidate 😂 ✋🏼

Started this one on the subway this morning and have been antsy all day to get back to it. Giving me major Gossip Girl vibes (the TV show, not the book) and I love it!

Read this on ebook so here's a pic of some lovely summery hydrangeas. I loved this so so much; it always surprises me when a book with minimal plot is as compelling as this book is but I couldn't put Prep down & I couldn't stop thinking about it & I haven't stopped thinking about it since. This is the 3rd book of Sittenfeld's I've read & it's definitely my favourite thus far - I can't believe it was her debut.

I think I just caught this one at the wrong point in my life. Just like I can't relate to Holden Caulfield, I didn't really "get" Lee. Still, I liked the format and writing.

My Fun Friday: fun reading while getting my nails done for a luau tonight. Where are you reading today?

I really liked the writing in this, the concept and the setting, but oh my goodness Lee drove me bonkers. I identify with some things about her, but I wanted to shake her for living in her head and overanalysing; being so passive and not stepping out of her comfort zone. Hence the so-so.

I didn't love this book. Maybe I'm too old but I didn't relate to any of the characters. It was well written but I felt it just went on for too long.