Welcome to Litsy!

I finally set the date for our July book club (it‘s a summer book club so only meets June-July-August and June got away from me so we didn‘t meet). This is July‘s book and since my mother will need to read it too, I thought I should start it now.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Bittersweet story of two middle-aged women suddenly finding themselves agreeing to pilot an elderly lady‘s narrowboat for the summer. They are all at a crossroads in their lives, & take this time to figure out their next steps. #50in50

Looking for those family boat trip pictures for my previous post on this book, I also came across these two, proving we did have some good weather on our English river journeys! There‘s my dad at the helm, and my mother flapping a pair of my brother‘s jeans in the breeze after that time he fell in the river 😂

For part of my childhood, I lived in an English market town along the River Great Ouse. Narrowboats were a common sight, moored along the river (just a short walk from our front door). Several family holidays were spent navigating hire boats up the River Ouse, and I remember the process of going through locks up and down the river. I‘m the tiny one in the pic on the right, and on the left, you can see my dad guiding me through steering a boat. ⬇️

#ThingsInCommon @thearomaofbooks

I'm glad #bookspin and @robinb got me to finally finish this because it really is a quietly lovely book. I wish everyone feeling at a crossroads in their lives got such a chance to contemplate life while finding a new family. (And by everyone, I especially mean me.)

This was my first #BookSpin of 2023, and it was a good way to start out the new year.😊 Eve and Sally, two complete strangers, meet one morning by chance and end up offering to navigate another stranger‘s (Anastasia, a fiercely independent and somewhat crotchety narrowboat-dweller) narrowboat on a summer-long journey to be serviced. Eve and Sally are both at loose ends and in need of reflection to figure out what path to take forward in their 🔻

So close to a bingo! But I did read my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin (yay!) Onto September. #BookSpinBingo

This is a character driven book which moves gently but surely through the canals of the English countryside. It's a story about kindness and friendship and pausing to assess one's life before deliberately starting down the next path. It's beautifully descriptive while being both soothing and uplifting but in a serious way; this is not fluffy. An excellent second book by this author.

I had to look up canal locks! Loved this story.

What an utterly charming book! I am ready to quit my job, and move to England to live on a narrowboat.

Did I love the setting and characters in this? Definitely. Do I have any idea how canals work even after 300+ pages? NOPE. #contemporaryfiction

A gentle, charming novel that gave me the same feelings as a Phaedra Patrick novel. This had such a lovely languid feeling to it while keeping my attention with strong character development. Sally, Eve and Anastasia seemed almost like caricatures in the opening pages but Youngson spun them into three complex, interesting women who go from strangers to caring deeply for each other. A comfort read, best enjoyed with tea and a warm spot of sunshine.

Day 2
Book 6
#24in48

Bailed on this but, it really was a sweet story. I made it about halfway and realized that I just shouldn‘t force myself to read books I am not excited about. I was trying to slip something light and sweet in before reading more horror but I have tried with 2 different books now and I just can‘t get through them. Oh well I tried. These characters really are great though, so far it was a sweet story! I hope this doesn‘t bring down the rating. 👇🏼

Joining in this #readathon this weekend hosted by @Andrew65 ! I am about 1 hour into the tagged title so far and I am really enjoying it. Trying to cleanse my brain from all the horror for a minute but every time I try to do that I end up bailing on the book. Hopefully this will not be a bail. Here we go! #20in4

Wonderful story of three woman coming together to meet a goal. Lots of adventures, so much fun.

http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2021/01/16/the-narrowboat-summer-book-review/