Welcome to Litsy!

In the world of 1970s ballet, Joan is coming to accept she is only a good dancer, will never be a soloist. She falls hard for Russian star Arslan, to the extent she helps him defect to the US. Joan‘s then must accept her average talent and the story follows the compromises she makes for contentment, prior to her world again being thrown into disarray by her son Harry‘s emerging talent, and collision course towards Arslan. Quietly beautiful

Now that was good. It was wonderful.
Plot, characters, writing. All kept tightly together and spanning the necessary time and outline.
Need to read more by her.

Loved Great Circle so thought I'd give this a whirl.
Plus it's about a ballerina and I started adult ballet in January 😊🤗

This book is about ballet, a topic that I‘m not very interested in. I don‘t remember why I decided to put this book on my TBR list. I think it‘s because somebody from my monthly book club Facebook account recommended it. At any rate, this story didn‘t bore me at all. It had everything. A bit of romance, a bit of scandal, a bit of suspense. I am glad that I took a chance on this book, it was pretty good.

I loved this one and can‘t wait to read her new one. #Dance #JulyJourneys

It's my favorite time of year: reading outside weather! I just finished a pretty dramatic, kind of scary, rather heavy novel, and this has been in my TBR stack for an unknown amount of time. Ballet? Long lost love? Yes please!

#Bleeckersays mommy, it's cold outside and there's white stuff in all my places. #snowpocalypse2018 #RaleighNC #pugsoflitsy

I am completely astonished here in #RaleighNC today. 5 inches of snow and it's still falling! #snowpocalypse2018☃❄
#bookandwinepairing 📚 🍷
2015 Marchesi Di Barolo 'Maraia' Barbera Del Monferrato
#MOUNTTBR2018 #MtKilimanjaro here I come

I opened Litsy this morning and look what greeted me! I'm so glad @Booksnob introduced me to this wonderful community. Everyone has been welcoming and helpful in expanding both my reading and my technical skills. 😁 I will announce a #giveaway in the next day or two to celebrate a milestone I never dreamed I would achieve when I joined. Thanks everyone for enriching my life! ❤️❤️

@MeganAnn My date was so beautifully wrapped I didn't want to open it! Thank you so much! #blinddatewithabook #lgpog

I just loved this book. I did not want this to end at all. It was not long at all, but read so slowly so I could take it all in. Highly recommend if you like literary fiction.

This is been on my shelf forever. It is about time I read it.

I really liked this book because it centered around the ballet. The characters were likable and I enjoyed how they developed over a few decades. It also brought back cherished memories of dancing during my childhood.

Day 20 #TinyDancer Today's book title is definitely appropriate because yesterday you all blew me away with your creative choices for #UmaThurman😁🙌🏻 and though I haven't read Astonish Me, I'm pretty sure I stacked it when @Soubhiville reviewed it a while back. I know it involves a former ballerina, an ex lover and her dancer son...sounds good! Does anyone remember the movie, The Turning Point?!? Only 10 more days left in #LyricalApril 😧

My essay "Dance: On Ballet And Impossible Love" is up on Catapult today. https://catapult.co/stories/dance-on-ballet-and-impossible-love #ballet #essay #amwriting

Taking care of two prompts in one post! Not only is this #signed for day 27 of #ReadJanuary but it also meets the criteria for #FunFridayPhoto because it starts with the first letter of my first name and is unread.

#BookMail Look what came today! Thank you so much, Soubhi! This is going to be my "A" for #LitsyAtoZ (and I can hardly wait). ???

I loved this! Subtle, complicated, beautifully told story of tricky relationships entwined in ballet. If you're into dance, I recommend it. 💃🏻❤

I'm almost finished with this, and while I am enjoying it, I won't keep it in my bursting home library. Would anyone be interested in it? It's about ballet, or more so a woman who retires from a corps and her family and friends. I'll send it to the first person to comment, just email me your address: magicbelly@gmail.com.
#balletbooks #balletfiction #danceypants

Here's my #A for#LitsyAtoZ! I'm starting with the A to Z challenge and cross listing as many books as I can with Litsy Bingo and Book Riot's Read Harder, then I'll go in and fill the blanks. This also fulfills #LitsyBingo's #RecommendedBy... as it was by @ChrisBohjalian and Vintage books at TX book Fest. 😊. 49 pages in and enjoying it.

It's coming you guys! I just got my email to sign up for #24in48 readathon! Jan 21 and 22. I don't know if I'll get the full 24 hours this year, but I'm game to try 😊📚. And my #LitsyAtoZ stack just got repurposed too! I love this #readathon. (They haven't posted on Litsy yet, but follow them and I'm sure it'll be up soon.)

I should be wrapping presents, but instead I'm making fancy lists with fancy pens. these are my picks for the #LitsyAtoZ challenge! I'm pretty excited about my choices, because most of them have been on my TBR list for ages. I feel like I cheated a little with my D choice since I went by the author's last name, but I needed some fluffy romance in the mix. to be continued... #readingchallenge

This book is fantastic. It's not super exciting but it is so beautifully written. I am very excited that I bought Seating Arrangements on my kindle awhile ago so I have more Maggie Shipstead to read as soon as I am able. I'm could not have asked for a better 100th book of the year! 💯

Just starting my 100th book of the year. 2016 has been the year of the ballet book for me.

My haul from #TXBookFest this weekend! I wanted to buy so many more! I actually already owned The Guest Room, but got it signed by the author, and Astonish Me was a giveaway from Vintage/ Anchor Books. I can't wait to read them all! (Saw all of the authors except Maggie Shipstead speak! What a blast!)

I loved this book.

Loving this one.

The story reminded me a lot of the movie "The Turning Point", with variations. I like the movie much more.

Here it is! my #firsteverlitsypost I was just pushing buttons to see what would happen. Shout out to the first comment as well! #booktober #octphotochallenge (and I'm still working on the #readmyowndamnbooks , too!)

#textonlycovers these are the ones I found on my shelves. I love how they color coordinated 🤓 #booktober

Astonished at my self-control. Stopped at B&N today and only bought one book. From the bargain area no less. 🙂

So good. Jumps around a lot between narrators and time frames. The ending was perfectly precise and left me so satisfied.

Astonish me this book did not but it was still a stunning and engaging read. Shipstead really plunges us into the drama and rigors of ballet, and you can tell she really knew her stuff. There was also a lot of dramatic nuggets, but as soon as I was ready to get the popcorn, it fizzled out. This book spans thirty years in 250~ pages, so it was very hard to get a close read on the characters and how certain things impacted them. Gorgeously written!

Double post on this one tonight because our cat, Ouija, came up and wanted to read with us and he is too cute. It's like he knows what we find adorable (he also has a little habit of climbing into the bookshelf...because he knows we hide his toys behind the books.). 😻

The city seems like an offering that has not been claimed. It's beauty is suspenseful.

I started reading this yesterday evening. 20 pages in and I already feel the insane desire to watch Center Stage as soon as possible.

When you bring 4 books to dinner with the BF because you just finished your last read and are filled with dread because you're not actively reading something.

Yay for book mail!! 👏 📚👏📚

An American ballerina helps a Cold War-era Russian dancer defect, but there are still consequences decades later for everyone involved.

I STRUCK LIBRARY GOLD TODAY

A lovely story that winds through time and revolves around ballet. A perfect summer read!

Russian ballet superstar defects for opportunities in America. But the novel is really about the good, but not great, dancer, Joan, who in her youth aides the defector but now, older and retired, is living a much less astonishing life. Maggie Shipstead Skyped into my book club tonight, it was great!