Welcome to Litsy!

This one had me at the Oscar Wilde quote in the front of the book. While it's a little superficial at times, the humor is excellent and tempered well with moments of authentic-feeling connection. I enjoyed laughing out loud and then tearing up, and I appreciate what Rowley has to say about the role that acting can play in giving one the opportunity to feel, explore, and express difficult emotions in a controlled environment.

I was late to this one. Not sure why. I loved these characters! 4.5 ⭐️

I know I‘m in that minority of unpopular opinion about this novel. Yes, it has heartwarming parts and has funny scenes. I don‘t know what to think about some supposedly funny parts. However, there were some parts related with the uncle‘s life that I felt disconnected with the general story and made me lost interest to continue reading🤷🏽‍♀️Should I read the sequel? Is it worthy? For me it was for okay, please don‘t shoot me 😳3⭐️

I was sooo late to the party on this one, but as the saying goes, right book at the right time. I was looking for something to escape into and lift my spirits. This book did that for me.

Roadtripping to Cooperstown! ⚾️

Up next!
#bookspinbingo

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ~ delighted to sneak this in as a final read in June

This one grew on me. At first I thought it was a little bit cheesy, but somewhere around the time when Patrick fired his first agent I started to get invested and ended up liking it.

I have had this forever. It is my favourite kind of easy read, sweet, funny with a bit of sadness. Just like life should be if we are lucky

Started this, finally 🤣

Sad, but heart warming. Funny but meaningful. This one runs the full gamut of emotions.

I ADORED this book! Patrick‘s a Hollywood star taking a hiatus when his best friend and sister-in-law passes away from cancer. His brother informs him he‘s become an addict during Sarah‘s illness, is checking into rehab and wants Gay Uncle Patrick to take the kids to California during his rehab. It‘s a story about love, family, relationships and moving forward AND it‘s delightfully comical. Rowley narrates the audio and it‘s the best!

22-26 Jan 24 (audiobook)
This is lots of fun but still manages to impart some interesting ideas about grief and family.
Patrick, a former sitcom star and Golden Globe winner, has not dealt with the grief of losing his partner to a drunk driver. He lives an isolated existence in Palm Springs until his recently widowed brother enters rehab and asks Patrick to look after his two kids.
This will make a great film - hope it gets made.

3✨ This book had humor and raw emotion balancing it out. I liked the story and Patrick. The kids were really cute. Plus their relationship was so sweet as it developed. A lot happened to create drama, but by the end I was feeling underwhelmed from the hype I‘ve seen. It was hitting on so many different topics by the end that for me it just seems too much. Overall, a great read with good messages normal grief, and just being you. #snowedin

Such a heartwarming story of a gay uncle helping his niece & nephew through a really terrible time. The “guncle rules” are great life lessons too.

“There shouldn‘t even be boy things, and girl things.” Yes!!!🙌 💯

This was a huge year of reading for me! My resolution to just read every single day really paid off! Although there were days I read as a little as one poem or one paragraph, I never missed a day. That resulted in 88 completed books! I normally do a Reading Roundup over on Facebook but I have no idea how to do it for this many titles!

I think my favorite book was the tagged title. It wasn't the best book, but it was so good and so heartwarming.

My husband and I loved this heartwarming, funny, dealing with grief book. The audiobook narration was fantastic. I‘m looking forward to the sequel next year.
#RoadTripReads #BookSpinBingo #readyourTBR #Roll100 #RushAThon #SummerEndReadathon

2 out of 5

So a new cover reveal of an upcoming sequel just made my day a bit more fabulous!

#BookReport
Managed to get back on the audiobook for the commute wagon and was pleased with the tagged as my first book back. Still keeping up with GoTChapterADay as well

#Weekly Forecast
My goal this week is to get deeper into the Orphan's Tales and maybe start Immortality Thief as well as it's my book club pick for the month.

This was a humorous look at grief of a loved one and coming back into oneself. I did this in the audio and the narration by the author was fantastic.

Book 152📚 5⭐️

I loved this so so much!! It is so cute and heartwarming😭❤️

Gup is amazing and the kids are so adorable it hurts!

Everyone should read this one, it totally deserves its hype.

The sun is shining!!!!! Quite the rarity this summer. Hoping to finish this lovely, summery book today. Ready to start a new book for my holiday in France 😊

#UncleAunt (gay uncle in this case: Guncle)

#SummerSpecial

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I have never laughed so much while reading a book. I have also never had to long tap so many words to find out what they mean while reading a book.
Patrick takes his niece and nephew for the summer and has no idea what he is doing. But also knows exactly what he is doing. A lighthearted read with a darker undertone. This was so enjoyable, I didn't want it to end. Loved this story and Patrick as a character.
🦩🦩🦩🦩

07.12.23

This was so well written! With themes of loss, regret, sibling tension, friendship, grief, hope, acceptance, and love. Rowley creates credible characters, and authentic dialogue and emotions. It has universal appeal and a poetic feel to it, with neither cliches nor stereotypes 🩷🩷

#Pantone2023 @Clwojick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
"Some things come back to life."

Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, affectionately), a former TV star, finds himself caring for his niece and nephew after the passing of their mother. By helping them navigate their grief, he learns to navigate his own. He soon begins to question the choices and excuses he's been hiding behind.

An adorable & touching story! I wanted to join this family in their star-gazing, pool-floating, and heart-healing fun.❤️

This was my first book I‘ve read by Rowley but definitely not my last. A fun, quick summer read. There are lots of lighthearted moments but does touch on a lot of difficult subjects (death of parent, death of partner, others not being accepting of a relationship, drug addiction). Patrick is caring for his niece & nephew after the death of their mother. He worries that he is not taking care of them like their parents would or helping them grieve

After Black Butterflies I needed something lighter, and this fit the bill perfectly. Sweet and touching, I laughed a lot and cried a little.

6-20-23: My 68th finished book of 2023! I loved this one! When Patrick‘s brother finds himself dealing with a major loss and then some, he enlists Patrick to watch his two children for the summer at his Palm Springs home. Patrick, a famous sitcom actor, has been living out of the spotlight for the last 4 years, then Maisie-9 and Grant-6 come into his life and change it for the better. They call him GUP-Gay Uncle Patrick or Guncle. Heartwarming 💖

🎧📖 I loved this so much. A heartwarming story about family and grief. I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit, a lot of hilarious quips. #pridemonth

WHY did I wait so long to read this? I just loved it and wanted it to go on forever. Heartwarming, heartbreaking, hilarious, and just a balm for my weary soul. I‘d love to read more of his work (but not Lily and the Octopus, because I have an elderly dachshund and just, no thank you 😢😢).

Loved this one! Lots of funny moments as this family works through grief and family discord.

I adored this book. I felt like I grew to know and love the “Guncle” character. I have two sibling grandchildren who are the same ages as the children in this story, so I could really relate. They also happen to be a boy and a girl. I listened to part if this book via audiobook. The narrator was wonderful. I can easily see this book made into a television series someday.

Patrick takes in his niece and nephew for the summer after their mother dies and their father goes into rehab.

I suspect this book wants to be this generation's “Auntie Mame“ but it can't make up its mind whether it's a screwball comedy or a “grouch redeemed by kids“ story. I nearly abandoned it a couple of times when it teetered on the edge of the super-saccharine. It did have its amusing moments but it's not as funny as I thought it would be.

4.5/5
Light, funny read. Perfect for a beach/pool read. Lightly touches on family interactions, grief, death, drug addiction, and persecution. Loved the theme of being true to yourself and living out your life without fear.

Oh this book ❤️❤️ the audio was amazing - I was laughing and crying everyday driving too and from work. So much fun and so much heart.

Loved The Guncle and looking forward to Rowley‘s new book The Celebrants. #LGBTQasMC #MarchMagic

Perhaps it is unusual to post a recipe (in comments) for Snowman Pie to review a book set in Palm Springs CA. However, this book has been placed in contention for Care‘s Books & Pie “Pie in Literature” Award for 2023. Silliness, right? The best kind! I adored this book - smartly done, hit all the buttons that makes a great reading experience: humor and heart. And pie!
#LitPie #ReadICT category LGBTQ+

#CaresPieShow #PieinLit #iLovePie

Even with her unorthodox taste in desserts, pie seemed like a bridge too far. “Pie is hot. Too hot for summer.”

“One of every cold pie we can find and then everybody will have a choice. Satisfied?
Thnowman pie.
Snowman pie? What‘s that?
Grant shrugged. “It just sounded good.”

#DogsofLitsy #CopperWPG #ReadICT category #LGBTQIA+

@Deblovestoread gifted me this book eight (eight!) months ago. It was this month's #doublespin. I enjoyed the story about gay uncle Patrick tasked with looking after his young niece and nephew after their mother's death. A bit schmaltzy, but lots of fun, too.
@TheAromaofBooks

Tagged by @dabbe ❤️
1. Tagged book. I have also been reading Redemption Prep by Samuel Miller
2. Carolyn Slaughter, Helen Dunmore, Helen Humphreys, Nikki Gemmell, Kathryn Harrison, Lisa Reardon, Lisa Jewell, Ann Patchett, Celeste Ng
3. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

@rachelsbrittain

Current situation on the second to last day of my March Break. 😢

#Heart #InQuotes
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Little dude is really into Curious George, giving me time to finish this #AuldLangSpine read. What a glorious gem of a book. It has a charm to it. It‘s tender in ways you wouldn‘t imagine, it‘s written lighthearted even though there are moments of heavy grief. It‘s about love, passion, finding your way through dark. The characters, the story, everything about this I loved entirely. Thank you @BarkingMadRead ❤️
Bonus: this is a #Roll100 for Feb!

I won‘t be surprised if I read more because @BarkingMadRead has some amazing picks, but here is what I am committing to for SURE. Thank you for such a phenomenal #AuldLangSpine list, I am looking forward to diving in!

This, on the other hand, was delightful and the most perfect holiday read. I haven‘t read Rowley in the past because I‘m fearful of how animals fare in his stories but this was the perfect blend of snark and sweet.