Welcome to Litsy!

Does it seem contradictory to can this one warm and prickly? Maybe, but it's what I'm going with to summarize this found family story. I really liked it.

I started out in love but it didn't work out for us. ☹️

My full review here: https://willaful.wordpress.com/2024/01/10/early-morning-riser-by-katherine-heine...

September Reads

I listened to this in a single day. I started first thing in the morning and while initially I was just feeling okay about it I soon got swept up and could not not finish before bed. I am discovering that found family is one of those tropes that, if done right, I will fall completely in love.

Loved this book, made me laugh out loud.

I agree with Marian.

I honestly don‘t really know how I feel about this one. It‘s definitely not what i expected it to be. It was fun but also had a really deep underlying sense of sorrow. This is one of the first adult popular fiction books I‘ve read that I don‘t absolutely hate

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

Jane is new to town and quickly falls in love Duncan who has seemingly been with every woman in the state. Loving Duncan also means having his ex and her husband as part of your life. It means having Jimmy who works with Duncan around all the time. It might just mean having another family, one that you didn‘t choose, but another family nonetheless. I was always happy to press play on the audio and hang out with this quirky cast of characters.

Am I going to read an author I see described as a “younger and bawdier Anne Tyler” and “a literary descendant of Jane Austen”? Oh yes! And I‘m so glad I did, this was just delightful; smart, tender and funny, the perfect offbeat love story. Yes, at the end a year may have trickled down my cheek. And yes, very much liking the cover too…

I totally misremembered my schedule and both of my work book groups are meeting this week - and I hadn‘t read the book for Wednesday! So I grabbed the audio and a puzzle and dug in yesterday & today. This was enjoyable (though the author‘s love of listing things got old with me fast). Funny in parts, but nothing super crazy. Now, onto the next audio so I can finish the puzzle! #audiopuzzle

Ready for February! I really want to try for a bingo this month. Let the board guide my choices. Maybe. #BookSpinBingo

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 I just loved this book. It‘s slow paced but sweet and charming. Funny too. It‘s a feel good novel with some depth to it - just what I needed right now. Her style of writing reminds me a bit of Laurie Colwin. I‘m interested in reading more from her!

If Frieda were taking requests for songs on her mandolin, meant to describe this book, I‘d ask her to play Thao Nguyen‘s “Chivalry.” Thao sings, “I am tired / I am through/ When I love, I will love so hard / Harder than I could love with you.” Early Morning Riser is about a woman who wants to love someone “so hard,” and her family, friends, and especially the lover, who often fall short of the mark — but (and this is important) not always. 👇🏻

It's been a long time since I've flat-out ENJOYED a book as much as this one. Jane moves to a small town in Michigan to teach 2nd grade. She quickly falls for Duncan, the genial town himbo, & then, well, not much happens & yet everything happens. It's a novel about life & making a life, & about the families we have & the families we make. It's (really) funny & often touching & beautifully captures the perfect extraordinariness of ordinary life.

What a charming, gentle, lovely story. She made ordinary life so funny and sweet and crazy all at once. Just what I needed.

And great read, it's about Jane and Duncan, their life, relationships, family commitments. It funny and sad, very moving.

This was an entertaining listen on a long road trip. The main character‘s life is super interesting and if anything, it will make you feel better about your own life. Lol. #chicklit

Another #NYWD winner from @Cinfhen that I wouldn‘t have read without her list. I hadn‘t even heard of this book. Even though it‘s set in the kind of town where everyone knows each other that only exists in books and on the Gilmore Girls, I really enjoyed it. I liked the MC and the quirky supporting cast. I am starting to really like books that jump ahead years as a good way to move the story forward. The kids in this book were my favorites.

My #CurrentlyReading stack is brought to you by a wandering attention span and some mood reading. The tagged book is from my #NYWD list and 1619 Project is a group read. The others are library books.

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#12BooksOf2021 My favorite from August
This book was gifted to me by the lovely @DivineDiana 💓💓💓 and it just gave me #AllTheFeels
Quiet & quirky
Would work for #FoundFamily #pop22

My favorites 2021 reads! I had two reading goals this year — read 70 books and focus less on reading new releases and more on books I want to read, regardless of publication date. I didn‘t meet my goal of 70 books (too many distractions, both good and bad) coming up rather short at 43 books, but I am happy to highlight multiple non-new releases as my favorites this year 📖📚

Here‘s to making more time for reading in 2022 ✨

Thanks @CarolynM You always give such pretty & yum things. I didn‘t get a chance to post this on Xmas eve. Do the early hours of Xmas morning still count?Have a wonderful day with your family. You were right, I won‘t be with mine but have planned a wonderful menu to compensate. It doesn‘t include any sweet potato from these vines that even thrive on the cement in the garden after crawling over the fence from next door. A nice big pumpkin has too.

Between a pick and a so-so for me. Sometimes I loved the MC and sometimes she frustrated me and sometimes I just wanted to yawn.
But I enjoyed enough to finish 😁

A big-hearted, charming book about a woman who finds belonging in an unconventional chosen family. A lovely feel good read.

I loved this - it was comforting every time I opened this book and returned to Boyne City to check in on Jane and her crew. Heiny is a great writer who is able to brilliantly capture mundane moments and ordinary people and make them memorable. “If she were a Crayola crayon, she‘d be Blue Bell.” For fans of Elizabeth Strout.

I have questions: I have no idea why this is the title of the book and I wonder why they didn‘t edit out about a third of the book. Other than that, the book was an easy read and the characters were fun to get to know. it was oftentimes humorous and made me chuckle. If you‘re looking for a story about life in a small town where everyone knows everything about everyone this is a book for you.

Going to give this one a whirl.

This book was such a pleasant surprise! I LOVED it! It‘s very rare that a book makes me laugh out loud, but that‘s exactly what happened (though it was more of a dry-humor, which is right up my alley). I think this was exactly what I needed to get me out of my “so-so” slump.

She thought that the worst part was not that Duncan had taken her heart…The worst part was that she‘d given it to him. Yes, that was always the worst part. You gave it to him. You carved out a crucial little part of yourself, and you not only gave it to him, you begged him to take it. You were sure at that moment that you would always have an endless supply, or at least more than enough. So you gave it to him 🪴🌤

#kindledailydeal
@Cinfhen spoke highly of this one 😁

Very good! Unconventional stories of relationships and families, in simple language with relatable characters

Thank you SO MUCH @DivineDiana I know you didn‘t LOVE this book, but I REALLY REALLY DID!!!! Thank you for gifting me the perfect book for my current mood. This book gave me #AllTheFeels ???I‘m so glad we were able to meet up last week. Just chillin with my sleeping grand-pup while my daughter and her fiancé attend a hurricane party

Early morning train travel 🧳 This book is the perfect companion @DivineDiana 😘

Delightful!!!

I‘m LOVING this one @DivineDiana 🥰Thanks so much for gifting me the book ♥️It‘s exactly what my brain wants at the moment 😁

Look at this wonderful gift from my lovely friend @DivineDiana whom I got to see this morning 🥰So nice to catch up on life and bookish talk💕💕💕I‘m excited for this book, which is signed and I‘ve heard so many good things about. Bookmark is FAB❣️❣️Thank you Diana, for meeting me on my home turf xxxx So happy to reconnect 😊

I don‘t normally need a “palate cleanser” read, as I just roll on to the next thing that pops up on hold for me — but I totally get that need right now. I listened to this on audio which turned out to be the light hearted and sweet entertainment I didn‘t know I needed. Jane is a second grade teacher new to a small town. She meets Duncan, an endearing man though he can‘t seem to keep it in his pants (sorry 🤷🏼‍♀️), and others who become family.

I liked these characters. They felt like people I might know: a school teacher, a guy who sleeps with everyone, a man with some disabilities. And they all come together as a family. A nice story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was … fine. Newcomer, elementary teacher Jane, bonds awkwardly with an unlikely group of small-town locals. Though there are several likable characters and complex situations, it all felt a bit too surface-level. There are snippets of several years, which I liked very much, but I needed more details and emotion. Meh.

I just kept waiting for something to happen. Even when it did, it felt so distant. Jane seemed completely detached from her life. She lives in a small town surrounded by endlessly exhausting individuals who are all so self-involved they aren't aware of how they impact the lives of those around them. I kept seeing this described as "cozy" & that just doesn't fit. I wanted Jane to do anything to change her life, but she never did. ⭐️⭐️

I had passed this over until @MicheleinPhilly gave it a positive review, and it‘s absolutely charming! Jane, the new 2nd grade teacher, gets involved with ladies man about town, Duncan. Their relationship evolves over years through a series of vignettes as Jane develops a life in her new community. Solidly in contemporary fiction, this novel reads like bingeing your favorite dramedy! Since it has great character evolution, no spoilers! 🤐

The main character in this book,Jane is a saint in my opinion. A young 2nd grade teacher, she starts a relationship with Duncan,older and former lover of nearly every woman who lives there. She is kind, polite and caring of everyone. I did chuckle at times, and could easily picture this as a TV series. Ultimately, it is about acceptance and creating a family that you choose. A quick read with interesting characters, but did not capture my heart.

I really enjoyed this. She was a BIT too heavy-handed with the character quirks but I thought it was a charming and funny look at the families we create for ourselves. 👍🏼

Good Morning! Yesterday was my birthday, and due to lack of space, not desire, I told my husband that I am not buying anymore books, unless they are special. You know, like signed copies. So, I wasn‘t happy when he ignored me and one of my gifts was a book. He said,“Wait a minute. Open it up.” It was signed. 🤦‍♀️ Also, he supported a local bookstore. 👏🏻

31 May-9 Jun 2021
A lovely story told with humour and heart about family and friendship where nothing terribly dramatic happens. It almost made me wish to be a primary school teacher - and not just to reduce the stress of 18 weeks of school holidays per year. Further, looking after a stranger‘s old, smelly, hairy dog whilst they are ill does not seem such a big ask - looking after Jimmy, as sweet as he is at times, is a far greater commitment.

Memorable characters. A solid book club pick about a teacher and the family she creates in her town.

Another smartly-written, light read. Love her insights and humor.