Welcome to Litsy!

70 pages in. As a woman feeling many of these things at a certain age in life I really thought I would like this. But Sam‘s response to feeling like this is to be able to move out of the family home (not a spoiler) and just buy another house- helped by the family savings.
No mention of privilege etc. Just like that‘s what most people can do. Whether that‘s addressed later I don‘t know but I can‘t bear anymore.

An interesting look at mothers, daughters and navigating the Trump years as a well meaning white liberal. I can see where the book and the 50 something, menopausal main character might get on one‘s nerves, but I found it compelling and thoughtful. No real answers provided but a lot of questions are raised about 21st century America-where we‘ve been and where we‘re headed.

Glad I found a 1 word title for #TBRTarot
My last book for #AwesomeApril

Wayward felt like a snapshot of 2016. I didn‘t necessarily want to go back to those days - they give me anxiety 🙃. I finished this last night, and it‘s going to take time to process before adequately reviewing. It poked at uncomfortable points - who I am and who I will be as a white woman, mother/daughter relationships, etc. Lily‘s home felt like respite for me as a reader, as it was for Sam and Ally. I‘ll be thinking about this for a while. #ALS

Starting this #ALS read tonight. This paragraph is the whole first page, and I‘m intrigued.

My #Bookspin and #DoubleSpin books are two that I want to read very soon, so I‘m excited for these picks!

While I am looking forward to reading both of these for #AuldLangSpine, they were going to be library borrows until I came across these UK editions that I couldn‘t pass up on 😍 #bookmail #coverlove

A story about a stumbling, middle-aged white woman, after the 2016 election, who is doing her best to be self-aware & socially-conscious. She is sometimes insufferable in spite of this, sometimes insufferable because of this, sometimes delightful, and often relatable (whether this causes the reader to feel gleeful or shameful vacillates). She is struggling to be a good mother, a good daughter, and to belong to herself.

*cont‘d 👇🏻

Sam loves seeing the possibilities when wandering through open houses, and when she comes across a historical fixer-upper, realizes she wants to change her life with the house and so leaves her family. I loved the exploration here of being a woman in midlife and re-examining life choices. I didn‘t love all of the plot choices and I thought the ending was a little weak, but overall I really enjoyed it.

This was the last book I read in 2021, and I liked it quite a bit. Excellent writing and a really interesting main character with relatable strengths and issues and good intentions and missteps. Loved the mother-daughter relationships and the ways in which aspects of American women‘s history/waves of feminism were explored and brought to life through them.

Sometimes a book really strikes a chord, and this book definitely did that for me. I was less taken in by the events of the story, but the main character resonated so much with me it was a little scary. But also beautiful - a gift of a good book is that it makes you feel less alone. ❤️📚 Tagging you @merelybookish - I loved it too!

I LOVED it! Does it help that I'm a well-meaning, White, middle-aged, middle class menopausal woman who never sleeps through the night anymore like the protagonist? Sure. Does it help that I also have an aged mother and teen daughter? Yes. Did it make me want to pack up and move into my own cozy fixer-upper? Maybe. Basically I COULD RELATE! BUT I also think it's a layered novel about aging and grief and how to be a good person. All the ⭐s

I started this yesterday and am LOVING it so far. It's giving me Fleischman is in Trouble vibes. (Which is high praise!)

When did I start being able to relate so well to middle-aged women losing their minds? #perimenopause

It‘s 2017 and Hillary has just made ⬆️ speech and, like many liberal white women, Sam didn‘t see it coming. She feels betrayed and buys a run down but architecturally beautiful home in a bad neighborhood. As the plot unfolds, you find out the other factors that led to her breakdown and flight from suburbia. Part of the book follows Ally ⬇️

#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz

1. Yes; I love having maps! You can't have too many maps. 🗺❤

2. No

3. I kept interrupting my reading of this to look up locations on Google Maps (which I love!) It does take you out of the book, though, and I would think an author/publisher wouldn't want that.

And women report their “blow-by-blow election night story with the same boring annotated specificity with which women report their labor narratives after giving birth…”. I love this dark humor novel making me laugh at myself….How many times have I told my story? 😂😬🥲🥲

As a Samantha who has always gone by Sam, I don‘t think I‘ve ever read a book with my namesake. And from the descriptions, this one could hit close to home in other ways. While I‘m not a mother or a housewife…oh menopause. I love Dana Spiotta!!!

#falltreasures #midlifecrisis after the 2016 election, Sam cracks.She seeks a rundown Syracuse cottage to flee her suburban home & husband.Sam is not the most likable character, but the dark humor & larger questions of 2nd acts in middle age, & curiosities of contemporary culture still has me thinking about this book.

My English prof friend says her students hate Chopin‘s “The Awakening.” I wonder what they would make of Sam? Menopause & mid-life changes: divorce, new house, new friends. Sprinkled with phrases like “midlife misogyny,” “bourgeois vanity,” “faux po,” “potential optimization,” “Hardcore Hags.” Just cause Sam is self-aware doesn‘t make her interesting. I like an unlikable character, but couldn‘t root for OR against here. 90 pages in, I bailed. 2021

This one lands squarely between pick & so-so for me. There are really insightful thoughts shared throughout the novel. There are also multiple story lines introduced that seem to just fade out without resolution. The author addresses a lot of timely issues. As a mother with a teenage daughter, there were many feelings & situations that I could relate to. I think this one is influenced on what stage of life you're in when you read it. ⭐⭐⭐💫

Drove about 45 minutes from my house in Vegas to the Spring Mountains. Found a meadow, brought snacks and a chair, and read for two hours in the fresh mountain air. Even was able to observe wild horses, burros and chipmunks. It‘s a therapy of sorts.

Picked this up from the library today.

Loved the midlife issues, the grandma/mother/daughter relationships, the Syracuse history & details. Not so much the obvious privilege of the main character, the digressions, & lack of resolution to any of the plots. I mostly enjoyed it, but would hesitate to recommend it except to people with an interest in Syracuse. #fiction #upstateNY #syracuse

Just started this one; not sure yet if I like it. I do like the premise of a 53 year old woman striking out on her own and buying a run-down but charming house. #fiction #syracuse #upstateNY #jurysstillout

The author put a lot of thought and reflection into this short novel. The writing was simple but flowed beautifully. I had many, what would you do in this situation, moments while reading this book. In the end, I absolutely loved this book. It is very quiet, but I think it will stay on many people‘s minds for quite a long time.