Welcome to Litsy!

This book written by the author of Stone Yard Devotional has mixed reviews but I enjoyed it. It‘s possible that being closer to 70 years of age makes it more enjoyable. I think a younger person would undoubtedly find it either grim or dull. 3 women in their 70‘s gather to clean out the home of a friend of theirs over a weekend. Their crankiness, their reflections on aging and their place in the world, and a dog with dementia all made me chuckle.

Three women gather one last time in the house of a fourth one, who died earlier. They are all in their 70s and have been friends for over 40 years. You‘d say there is enough to reminiscence and talk about while cleaning the house. Yet I don‘t believe there‘s one decent dialogue in the book. They hardly speak at all, each too busy with herself to care for the others. This may be what Wood wanted but to me it felt a bit too shallow.

Making another appearance is The Vaster Wilds in print. Just can‘t find much time to read, but I am starting a new audio.

#weekendreads
@rachelsbrittain

Nice to read older female protagonists! The element that troubled me is the women don‘t seem to actually like each other much, even before the death of one in their circle. I wouldn‘t spend my life with such “friends”, so it was a bit unrealistic for me. It kept pulling me out of the narrative.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

2 physical books: Montana Sky by:Nora Roberts and the suite spot by: Trish Doller
Audiobook: the daddy diaries by: Andy Cohen

#WeekendReads

1. By the Book, Izzy Newton and A Grave Girls‘ Getaway
2. Audiobook (I only listen to one podcast)
3. Just finished The Recovery Agent by Janet Evanovich about 20 minutes ago.

The premise of this book really appealed to me, 3 older women (around 70) meeting to pack up their deceased friend‘s beach house. We need a lot more books about the complex lives of older women! I enjoyed that these three women were angry and frustrated with each other, each with their own vulnerability and strength. It suited my mood to read something sharp and insightful, and I enjoyed seeing each character ⬇️

1. Broken Harbor and Crying in H Mart

2. still reading but Broken Harbor. I think about it when I‘m not reading it.

3. Volleyball and laundry and reading in between

#WeekendReads
@rachelsbrittain

🎧Unsheltered
📔Broken Harbor

Hoping to finish Unsheltered traveling to a volleyball tournament tomorrow.

#WeekendReading

@Andrew65

1. Started Where I Come From (Rick Bragg) on audio today. Trying to finish The God of Lost Words this weekend.
2. As usual, read the books I own. Participating in my library‘s book challenge.
3. Taste (Stanley Tucci)
@rachelsbrittain #weekendreads

☑️ The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

☑️ Post-surgery visit with our puppy at ISU Small Animal Hospital

☑️ Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. I started it some time ago and it‘s going nowhere. I am anxious to finish it.

#weekendreads
@rachelsbrittain

The characters of 3 longtime friends, all in their 70s, are each so distinct & believable that I found it easy to follow the shifting viewpoints in this poignant Australian #audiobook read by Pauline Constantine. The women are grieving the death of a 4th friend who was the glue in their friendship. An elderly dog* is an important & fully realized character too. If you love character-based novels, this is exquisite.
#LGBTQ
*note: Dog does NOT die.

The 30s were the age you fell most dangerously in love, Adele had discovered, after the fact. Not with a man or a woman, but with your friends.

(Photo: taken when my sweetie grabbed my phone before the start of a Heather Bishop concert in 2017, is of me with a dear friend who I first got to know when we were in our 30s. I miss live performances and getting together with friends.)

View from my front step as I set off on a trip to the dentist with Australian summer in my ears. #audiowalk

Read it. Wish I hadn‘t. The story in my head surpassed what was on the page. Juxtaposition of sentences was odd. Disappointed.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

▶️ "Harry Potter and the Halfblood Prince" (I'm at the end, but I'm not ready for what is going to happen..) and "Le assaggiatrici" ("At the Wolf's Table).

▶️ I have a few memoirs on my TBR: "Born to Run" by Springsteen, "Scar Tissue" by Anthony Kiedis and "Cash" by Jhonny Cash

▶️ Reset Me by Nothing But Thieves https://open.spotify.com/track/03HKbFZUW8yi1FBRAN0XUV?si=j5mwuNcwS3OJTOIegTY5Lw&...

So really a 3⭐⭐⭐ read. It was good but only that. It was the same story on page 10 as it was on page 150 and again on 210. Three friends come together to clean out the house of their friend Sylvie who has died. Turns out it was just Sylvie they each liked - they dont like each other at all. And that was pretty much on repeat throughout the book. We don't get too in depth about Sylvie at all either so overall, it was just okay.

😉😊 My Friday night. 💖

Three women in their seventies reunite for one last weekend at the cottage of their late friend. 👍

I started off loving this but by the end I was lukewarm. It is great to find a story about older women and interesting to explore how the dynamics of friendship groups of change over the years, particularly following a member's death. The characters are well drawn and the tensions and irritations between them are very convincing, but I was less convinced about why they were friends in the first place. And a bit too much happened at the very end👇

This was very well written and I enjoyed reading it but now I'm trying to convince myself of a positive/uplifting message. I guess there doesn't have to be one. The characters are all unique and well defined and it was interesting, I just think it wasn't for me.

1. Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs & The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
2. Little Boy Blue by M J Arlidge ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. I don't like books with hardly any chapters, I like to be able to stop at the end of a chapter, it's my ocd 🤣 Also don't like the plastic sleeves on library books, I know they protect the book but they are annoying 🤔
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Gotta love it when your nail polish matches your book!
#Ozfiction
This was a gift from the lovely @JennyM Thank you my friend ❤️
I liked a lot about this book. I liked the old dog ‘Finn‘ even though it made me think of my dog Rocky who passed recently. I liked the fact that this book was about older women for once and I liked that they were all imperfect but very real.

Thanks @JennyM enjoying this book so far. 😊❤️
#Ozfiction

I have mixed feelings about this one. Wood is a wonderful writer which is clear here and in her previous book. Her characters are interesting and it‘s not often you find a book populated by almost entirely female characters in their 70s. But I found all three central characters intolerant, miserable, selfish and unkind humans. Why?! This is not the book I wanted and hoped it would be. But it‘s still extremely readable.

We‘ve brought the kids to the waterpark in lieu of our burnt out beach holiday. It‘s not really my thing so I‘ve rented a little hut with a sun lounger and am enjoying my version of a fun day... good book and lots of cherries. Everyone‘s happy!

I liked this a lot. 3 lifelong friends get together for a Christmas weekend to clean the house of their dead friend. It tenderly touches on grieving, ageing, friendship, and the secrets we keep. I loved the story of Finn the failing elderly dog that was woven into it. From the author of The Natural Way of Things. #australianliterature #fiction

🎄Our tree with decorations dating back to the 80‘s
🎄Rarely shop on line...always leave it too late..love browsing the shops at Christmas
🎄We always opened one gift on Xmas Eve because our boys were busting to open something and we often used to play cards🤪
🎄Merry Christmas from me here in Australia😘😘
Thank you for the tag @CarolynM and @Eggs
🎄#wondrouswednesday

Wow! Litsy people are the best people! Look what I came home to today. Thanks @JennyM for this book and card. It is very kind of you. I have had a terrible week but this has put a spring in my step and a smile on my face. I shall enjoy it over my summer holidays. And keeping with our little tradition I shall forward it to another Litten who would like to read it when I'm finished.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
😊🧡💚❤
#travellingbooks

Charlotte Wood writes confronting fiction. This novel starts out feeling like a bit of a departure in that it‘s a about a group of Australian women in their 70‘s clearing out their deceased friend‘s holiday home.

But of course Wood explores their lives, thoughts and friendships with searing honesty. The characters come to life. The tension builds...

Bloody excellent writing. Wow. Just wow 👏😍👍. #ozfiction

#booknlunch Thursday. Leftover cornflake chicken, slaw & sweet potato 😋. And some new #ozfiction. #currentlyreading

3 women go to a beach town near Sydney to clear out the house of their friend who‘s died. I liked this. I appreciate Charlotte Wood‘s prose: grown-up, direct & unflinching. She gives you the truth even if it‘s not pretty- she doesn‘t fudge it. The characters are complex & real - aged 70, facing their mortality, regrets & what lies ahead. Honest re being a woman w precarious health & finances. The dog was off-putting & the ending a little flat.

Im excited for this weekend! I love big Litsy events like this and will read my heart out in honour of the occasion! Well done @MrBook #mrbook1inamillion #litsypartyofone #24b4monday

I‘m at my parents for the weekend but have nothing on Friday night so I‘ll try to fit as much as I can in particularly while travelling!

Turns out I will even throw a Charlotte Wood book at the wall. #fuckableism

Top : just finished (and whoa, it's as amazing as you might expect from Tillie Walden). Bottom : about to start. The Natural Way of Things was incredible, so I hope I'm not going in with too- high expectations.

How wonderful to see the complex interior worlds of older women represented in fiction, their lives shown as being something other than “over“! Set in the quintessentially Australian setting at the intersection of beach and bush, three friends come together over one Christmas weekend to clean out the holiday house of their friend who has passed away. Full review available to subscribers at http://www.keepingupwiththepenguins.com/new-releases/