Welcome to Litsy!

I saw a blurb that likened Pizza Girl to Convenience Store Woman, but that wasn‘t the vibe I got from it. The tone reminded me more of Jamie Marina Lau – it‘s very Melburnian (even though Frazier is from Los Angeles, the narrator is from Los Angeles, and the whole story is set in Los Angeles). Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/pizza-girl-jean-kyoung-frazier/

All I can see are the eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg… 👀

I wondered what animals lived under the shadows of my bones. I hoped they were animals of nobility—lions and eagles and horses with long manes—and not what I feared—vultures and wolves and drooling hyenas.

This is a perfect book and was such a pleasure to read! I can‘t wait for more from Frazier.

Love.

What a quirky little book!

That time you pick a “wryly funny” novel to take your mind off social issues but forget that phrase usually refers to using dark humor to tell a dark story, so instead of a getaway you‘re plunged into reality because as the character makes ever increasingly troublesome choices in your ear holes you are processing another alcohol-dependent friend through the ER to get them into the behavioral health unit. For me, the timing was wrong for this book.

Despite the fact that this gets really cringy and awkward toward the end, I definitely enjoyed it. It works well as an #audiobook.

I was tired of being a smiling size-two who never broke curfew and was described by all her teachers as 'quiet, serious, a dream come true.' Mostly, I felt small everyday and blamed the city, thought maybe if I went somewhere unlike anywhere I knew I could be fixed and new and like I'd always wanted to be.

#unpopularopinion
The best part was the idea of a pepperoni & pickle pizza. 🍕

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The long unnamed “Pizza Girl” is in a tough spot. Eighteen, pregnant, and grieving her father. In a bright, if bizarre, moment, she latches on to a quirky new customer and becomes a bit obsessed with their pseudo friendship. Depression, denial, grief, addiction - it all pieces together. This is a sorrowful, yet endearing coming of age. Frazier finds the humor amidst the damage. An impressive debut! #coverlove

Another day, another park. So grateful for decent weather ⛅️ so I can get my summer couch potatoes 🛋🥔 out of the house!

Really enjoying this read so far. 👌🏼

Very weird, very charming

Just started. I have NEVER had pickles on pizza and now I am a little curious...

I really liked this book, it was honest and raw.

The characters were flawed and had their problems but the story embraced it and didn‘t pussyfoot around it.

The struggles of being young, pregnant and starting out in the world are laid bare but Jane manages to find her way with an unlikely older mum who she befriends whilst delivering her weekly pizza.

This one is about a pregnant, eighteen year old pizza delivery driver called Jane who becomes obsessed by a customer called Jenny, a mum desperate to help her son settle in a new town by getting him his favourite pizza.

When Jane shows up to deliver the pizza and meets Jenny, a story starts of two lonely souls - connecting.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3775832459 👈 Full Review

But some days, I don't even make it an hour. I get out of bed, go downstairs, and I need to pour myself a drink. Because you know what I've learned, no matter how long I wait? That I will never be someone that is effortlessly good, it'll always be hard work for me, and I'm not that strong. I think some people are just born broken.😥

You don't get it yet, but you will. Soon, you'll have your own beautiful boy or girl who will look at you with their perfect little face and you'll feel love and hope and, mostly, you'll feel the weight of everything that's ever happened to you and everything that will ever happen to them and you'll want to run.

Because the reality is, I've been to so many places and not a single one has saved me

Mostly, I felt small everyday and blamed the city, thought maybe if I went somewhere unlike anywhere I knew I could be fixed and new and like I'd always wanted to be.

Library haul! Have two days of work to meet deadline then reading reward😎

It doesn't seem like we get to choose who we like. I wish we could, it would all be a lot simpler if I could just decide to like someone

I nabbed this at the library yesterday solely based on the cover! It has a low goodreads rating, so I'm interested to see what I think of it! 🍕📚

Totally taken off guard by how much this strange piece of fiction touched me. Judging the book by the cover, as I undeniably always do, I figured this was going to be quirky, maybe funny and nothing too deep. That wasn‘t the case, as our Pizza Girl moved me with her painful observations of life as she faces depression as a pregnant teenager in LA. I needed pizza, but ended up with this veg chili while I listened to the #audiobook.

Couldn‘t put it down- a great novel.

Pizza Girl is not a lovable character; she is flawed, she is lonely, she feels real. Perhaps a bit hyperbolic of a flawed character, but she is a young 18 year old woman embarking on an unplanned stage. She is fragile and imperfect. She does some stupid stuff along the way, too.

Unexpectedly, Pizza Girl is a story about addiction, depression, & grief. The neon colors & 80‘s vibe of the cover art, along with the blurb that references “obsessive outcasts & lovable screw-ups everywhere,” belie that fact. The main character is not always lovable. In fact, she‘s *rarely* lovable. Though she notes “I knew so many good people,” she hurts ALL of them. But that‘s what addiction is. 👇🏻

I think I‘m far too old for these angst-y character driven novels. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2020/12/review-pizza-girl-by-jean-kyoung-frazie...

“Stained glass demanded to be viewed. I liked how the colors were both bright and dark, colors I would‘ve happily bathed in.”

Is there ANY way I need this many books?
Absolutely not. But what can I say?

The approaching holiday (& news of the snowstorm) has got me in *serious* nesting mode. 🤷‍♀️

My daughter‘s Christmas present I‘m about to crack open and pre-read.

Found this randomly on a best summer book list for 2020. Read the summary for this and said to myself that this sounds pretty good. Pregnant 18 year old girl that works at a pizza place meets a middle aged mom who‘s son loves pickle and pepperoni pizza and their lives intersect. Essex Serpent got put on hold and since starting this earlier today, already read half of it.
#PizzaGirl #JeanKyoungFrazier #book #ebook #kindle #reading

Up next! Snagged this one from the library!

This was fine? An easy, quick listen but ultimately pretty forgettable.
#tob

21 books in November!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻

12 physical books
1 @SerialReader
8 audiobooks

4 books I‘m counting toward #classicschallenge2020 (Sense & Sensibility, The Scarlet Plague, Mansfield Park, and The Shuttle)

The titular Pizza Girl is 18 and pregnant, living with her mom and boyfriend, working in a pizza joint, and slowly, slowly unraveling. She meets Jenny, a suburban mom with a long ponytail who orders a pepperoni pizza with pickles, and she unravels even more. At its heart, this is a story about dealing with the emotional fallout when life doesn't go as planned, something none of the characters are very good at. (But are any of us really?) 👇🏼

Growing up is really hard. I know that sounds obvious, but this gem of a book reminded me of the fact in such a fresh and relatable way, it seems that I had nearly forgotten it.

"Shitting was one of my simplest life pleasures. Before I was pregnant, each of my mornings would start off with me stumbling to the bathroom, plopping on the toilet with the lights off, and having one quick shit before my eyes were even fully open. It had been a little over a week without this routine and I was slowly going insane."

"My chest twisted at this muted, muttered thank-you. A part of me wanted to shake the kid, change his face, and the other felt achy, bruised, a flash of recognition and fear. I remembered being a quiet little kid, constantly aware and uncomfortable with the ways grown-ups talked to me, how much they seemed to want from me."

"I was sitting on an empty table, turning paper napkins into birds and stars and listening to my iPod at a volume that allowed me to think, but not too deeply. I couldn‘t remember the name of the boy I used to share Cheetos with in first grade. I wondered if I had ever used every drop of a pen‘s ink. All shades of blue made my chest warm."

This book is so dark and depressing. I‘m not sure I could have gone more than 200 pages without being in complete turmoil. That said, it is well written, and Jane, aka Pizza Girl, although she has a lot of faults, is also someone you can empathize with and relate too. This emergent author is definitely one to watch.

I listened to this on recommendations from my #audioqueens @Cinfhen @MicheleinPhilly and @Megabooks and I‘m so glad I did. Definitely listen rather than read.

The MC is a pregnant 18 year old pizza delivery driver who is struggling not to be like her alcoholic father. She‘s simultaneously older than her age and incredibly naive. It‘s not as quirky as the Convenience Store Woman comparisons suggest - it‘s much darker than that, but just as good.

This book was fine, hard to follow on the heels of Severance (also took place in 2011 with a female protagonist). It‘s short, so it was a quick read, but I wasn‘t invested in any of it. I did appreciate the snapshot of characters who were struggling and their attempts to appear better than they were. But not quite compelling enough to make this a pick.

So excited to open this up soon!
#litsylovefallswap
@Bookishgal71 @rsteve388 @Bookgoil

Depressing and meh.

Jumping on the bandwagon to sing this book‘s praises. This portrait of a young, pregnant girl feeling trapped in her life and the poor decisions she keeps making as a result kept me riveted. The writing was lovely and it was great on audio.

Since I had a long break between classes I decided to listen to this short book since my hold came in. With @MicheleinPhilly review I am glad my hold came in! I needed a little taste of something different. It‘s heartbreaking. I enjoyed it even with the kindred spirits of people who are lost trying to find their way. I want to hug this girl!

Thanks, @MicheleinPhilly - your review made me stack and seek this out at the library immediately! Really enjoyed the writing, characters, audio narration, and LA setting and will be waiting for more from this author. 🍕❤️

I wish I liked it more. I did enjoy the foul language, and some passages were so incredibly well done. But overall, it leaves me with a ‘meh‘ and it probably won‘t stick with me. That cover tho 💯🤩