Welcome to Litsy!

In order - # 85: All Adults Here by Emma Straub
# 74: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
And # 41: All Good People Here by Ashley Flowers

My September #roll100 list awaits!!

This book didn‘t grab me the way I thought it would. It is well written, with good character development, and does an excellent job of exploring the themes of family dynamics, sibling rivalry and parenting styles. The family relationships are depicted realistically, and there is plenty of food for thought and discussion in the scenes depicted. But I just couldn‘t connect with any of the adult characters, ⬇️

This book is about a woman looking back over her life as she, her grown children, and grandchildren find their places in the world.

She realizes mistakes she made and owns them.

This hit home on several occasions for me.

I'm glad I took the time to listen to this story.

My January choice for #ReadOrDonate is All Adults Here, which has been sitting on my shelf forever. Every time I see it, I think, “Ooohhh… I really want to read that!” Well, the time is now! 😀

I‘ve been battling with vertigo this week so I‘m a bit late with my brackets for September. Although my FICTION reads weren‘t much to cheer about anyway. All of them were more “meh” than “yeah” so this one won by default. It‘s a multigenerational novel with complicated family dynamics, which I normally love. Maybe it was my mood, maybe it was the book. But it meandered too much and I‘ve already forgotten most of it. It likely won‘t move on.

Interesting & a quick read

When autumn is knocking on the door and you‘re mentally preparing for winter in New England, you take advantage of every opportunity to stockpile as much Vitamin D and beach vibes as you can.

Ladies, I have had some health and life issues arise in the past few weeks, and I just don't feel like I can keep this commitment to continue in #LMPBC.
Therefore I need to back out. I am so sorry.
If you would like to keep the 4 book cycle, I am happy to receive books and ship them on at the appropriate time, but just don't feel like I will be able to commit the time to reading and commenting in them. I hope you all can understand.
Thanks

1. Water is so important during the hot summer months, but fun drink would be margaritas.
2. I am a big comfy chair kind of girl, so inside reader it is.
#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

working on my #lmpbc book.

#lmpbc

This is just what I needed at the moment. An easy yet thought provoking read that I was eager to keep reading. Centres around the Strick family, in small town America. The matriarch, Astrid, kind of reminded me of Olive Ketteridge a bit. As did the whole book. Little secrets revealed a long the way kept me hooked. Nice read.

This is my least favorite Straub. While I didn‘t bail this time, it didn‘t charm me either. It was all mess and not as fun as Modern Lovers.

Astrid is the widowed matriarch of a Hudson Valley clan and has fallen in love with a woman. Her three adult children‘s, businessman Elliott, former-actor Nicky, and goat-farmer Porter, reactions are as different as their jobs. Add on Porter‘s solo pregnancy and Nicky‘s daughter moving in with Astrid = mess!

I sort of enjoyed this book. It was one of those slice of life stories which was satisfying and boring at times. I was overjoyed by the bisexual/lesbian/trans representation in it. It made the story much more relevant and interesting. Even though I hated Elliot‘s character I loved he AND Porters character development. Just wish more happened in this book- the plot was dry.

I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would but wouldn‘t recommend it to any of the readers in my life. January #Bookspin #Doublespin

The ideas at the center of this book are not new or surprising: Families are complicated; Disappointing those we love, and being disappointed by them, is inevitable. But Straub‘s characters pulled me along and made me care about their complicated family, their litany of disappointments…made me care about them, even as they exchange boneheaded mistakes and clumsy apologies.

Honestly, a pretty fitting read for Thanksgiving weekend?

This book was so much more than I expected it to be. I wanted something light and it did make me laugh. But, it‘s about decisions and regrets and things you wish, as a parent or a child, you‘d done better. It‘s about family and how you love them and how they annoy the hell out of you. It‘s about figuring out who you are and finding love and knowing that it‘s all gonna be OK. I was really touched by this book.

Join in at Freda's Voice: http://www.fredasvoice.com
#Friday56 #Instagram56 - @fredasphotos

I like the writing more than the story. ⭐ ⭐/5

Read my full review: http://www.fredasvoice.com/2021/09/all-adults-here-emma-straub-37.html

I enjoyed the family…..easy snd quick read. I read this book since part of my local book club otherwise I don‘t think I would have picked up.

#man
#CuriousCovers
#TBR

💜💗❤️🧡💛💚💙

I liked this family saga more than I thought I would. Straub somehow made the characters likable even as they messed up over and over.

This was a fun, easy novel to read. Some teenage drama, some middle age drama, and some old people drama. It shows how easily complicated family relationships can get, how easy it is to get stuck in the ‘what if everything was different‘ reveries, and even has some awesome gay and trans story lines and coming out triumphs.
“This was the job of a parent: to fuck up over and over again. This was the job of a child: to grow up anyway.”

I liked this one! So refreshing to have an easy and somewhat relatable book. I enjoyed the dynamic between the family members. Their stories are complicated in a way that everyone's relationships to their family members are complicated. I'm at that age where I'm not so young anymore, and my kids are (pretty much) fully capable adults. I can see things from Astrid's point of view, as well as Porter's.
Engaging and entertaining.
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Such a great read. I couldn't put it down all weekend. It's a good reminder that we're all just doing our best at playing grown-up. And that we all fuck up. But grow anyways.

I had to recheck this book out 3 times so I had the time to finish it. One reason is because I‘ve been busy but also because while I didn‘t want to bail on it—I didn‘t immediately find it THAT interesting, just interesting enough. But about halfway through, I connected with the characters and all their flaws a little more and I‘m glad I finished it! It‘s ultimately relatable, with a diverse lot. Not a new love, but recommendable.

I‘m down to reading only one book so decided to add my March #bookspin book, which was a swap gift from @Kappadeemom recently.

A good, well written look into a family and family relationships. Nice that it switched narrator perspectives every chapter within the family.

I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn‘t connect with any of the characters. I‘m trying something new to me this year— not finishing a book if I‘m not totally into it. So, I will be moving along to some others on my TBR list! (📷 Snoqualmie River)

This just made me smile. I enjoyed spending time with 3 generations of the dysfunctional Strick family, warts and all. I think Straub always writes her characters with such great affection, with all their flaws and their mistakes, and it just makes me warm to them all the more. Yes, there‘s a ton of storylines to wrangle but for me it worked. And the Upstate NY small town setting gave me a Gilmore Girls updated vibe but with LBGTQ representation!

#audiopuzzling this morning 🧩.... this puzzle was a gift and I am in love with it! The packaging is beautiful and the Julia Heffernan illustration is 😍😉...
The book is a re-read for #irl book club (I read it in print last time....) I love the author Emma Straub so much. She writes characters that feel real, and in this novel, they are written with such affection and I‘m loving it. The narrator is great too 🎧💕

I love Emma Straub and her latest did not disappoint. A grandmother in upstate New York sees her “rival” die, and then begins to reevaluate her relationships with her own adult children, each of whom has issues of their own.

Second book I'm trying to read by Emma Straub and second one I'm bailing. I wanted to like this, but even though it's dealing with important issues, it's too fluffy and I can't connect to any of the characters.

Donating blood and starting this audiobook. I recommend both 😋❤️

Wow! Thanks so much @Meaw_catlady ! There are so many yummy new teas for me to try. Fall is the perfect time to try them! I‘m excited about the book and it is moving to the top of TBR as soon as I finish 1 I am currently reading! I love stickers/bookmarks & the bun warmer is beautiful! Is he local to your area? I love breads so it is perfect! And the necklace is so pretty! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness! 💕 Cleo 🐶 helped me open it! 🧡

Enjoyable. Modern characters. Satisfying from beg to end.

⭐️
I got 25% of the way through and this book did nothing to grab me at all. I think I‘m figuring out that this version of fiction—the attempt to throw a bunch of modern liberal agendas into one storyline and normalize them all at the same time—is definitely one of the reasons I‘m not a huge fan of contemporary fiction. This book is not engaging and is poorly written. Maybe I‘ll try to get through the rest of it again sometime. Probably not.

3.5

Enjoying this last summer days.

A great take on complicated family relationships. Examining moments where we need to admit our parents are just people and how those relationships shape our adult lives. I appreciated the siblings having varying emotional distance from one another, but still demonstrating that uniquely loyal sibling relationship. First #bookspin book done @TheAromaofBooks

I didn‘t fall in love with this one the way I did The Vacationers. It felt a bit two dimensional and the characters didn‘t feel completely fleshed out. That said, Straub has a way of describing the human condition in an authentic way. So many sentences had me nodding my head in agreement. #botm #bathandbook

In honor of #independentbookstoreday I thought I‘d share my favorites that I recommend everyone support and order from. These are just some of my favorites that I normally love to visit and continued to order from throughout NYC stay at home orders. Excuse the potentially illegible handwriting, but I knew I couldn‘t fit this in a blurb. What are some of your favorite independent bookstores to support?

If she hadn‘t learned anything else, she had learned this—say it. Say it now, while you have the chance 🍂🐐🚸

I enjoyed this book/audio but it‘s another #Fluffernutter
Tasty but lacks nourishment
Absolutely fine but not memorable or indecipherable from most other contemporary fiction novels set around multi generational family dramas.
#BorrowNotBuy
Narration was 🙌🏻🎧
Three stars but still a pick, because I didn‘t roll my eyes and the writing was sharp.

Enjoyable enough story, but I didn't really feel there was a point to the story or a point to me reading it. I didn't get anything new out of it, but could have also just been the moment in my life I chose to read it. I may have enjoyed this one in print more as I appreciate literary writing more in that format. I did love August and Cecilia's storylines, and their friendship was just beautiful.

I‘ve read SO MANY similar themed books in the past few months, but so far I‘m enjoying this one ♥️Audio narration is pleasant🎧

I'm not as far along as I'd like for 24 hour #MBCReadathon this weekend, but continuing to push forward! I couldn't do it without audiobooks! #MBCGiveaway7