Welcome to Litsy!

#AuldLangSpine @JamieArc @monalyisha
This is my third Ann Patchett, and like the other two that involved semi-utopias cut off or estranged from the outside world (e.g., opera hostages or Amazonian tribe/scientists), Tom Lake features two: a Michigan cherry farm during the pandemic and a theater community by the lake of the title. There's always trouble threatening paradise, but unlike most of her literary peers...👇

I took the day off work and cleaned my house and had a smidge of this story left so opened a new Lego set to get to the end. What could this be? I loved listening to Meryl Streep tell the story of Tom Lake ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Despite owning this book in print I finally gave myself permission listen to it on audio. My Libby hold came in and today I listen while I take down Christmas. Meryl Streep is making this thankless task much more enjoyable ❤️

Screenshot of my 2024 GR challenge - I read 151books!

Day 4 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

Quietly touching.

A mother tells her daughters about dating a famous movie star (before he became a star.)

Usually, this kind of slow-paced, deliberately heartwarming, nostalgic type of storytelling is not for me. I steer away from the saccharine.

Ann Patchett creates a wonderful sense of place, her characters are believable, and her writing is lovely.

By the end, I did have an emotional response and it wasn't the one I was expecting.

Thank you very much @Cupcake12 for my #jolabokaflod treats! Merry Christmas and thanks so much for organising @MaleficentBookDragon

I enjoyed it in the end. Would have enjoyed it more if I'd not been in a bit of a reading slump

A story of a woman‘s acting and dating past, enfolded in the story of her current family life during the togetherness of the early COVID months

November #bookspin

Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

This has everything I usually love in a book…and yet, I didn‘t love it. I have no idea why really. Wrong timing? I know nothing about Our Town, the play the story centres around (but I never want to read about Emily or the Stage Manager again), I felt nothing much for the characters and just felt distanced from the whole thing. In fact I nearly gave up. The last 50 pages or so kind of won me round but I still feel ambivalent.

Next kindle read

I just reread this one and loved it just as much the second time. This time I listened to the audio and it was as wonderful as everyone said. Since I knew the ending, I was able to focus more on the characters and less on the plot. The reflections of a woman to her adult children is beautiful. It‘s about memory and nostalgia, the secrets we hold and the experiences that shape us. I know it will stay with me.

I needed a leisurely story and this is what this is. A story of a family during the pandemic, working on their farm, with the mother telling a story that the kids have asked for of her past with a particular actor. Patchett doesn‘t always hit the mark for me but I really appreciate her inspirational book buying IG posts. Therefore I‘m giving this a pick.

#schoolspirit
#play #ourtown
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks #eggs

September #bookspin started❣️

@TheAromaofBooks

I really enjoyed both books I read by Ann Patchett (The Dutch House a few months ago) - both were audiobooks with Meryl Streep (Tom Lake) and Tom Hanks (The Dutch House) as narrators, so that did contribute to my enjoyment!

Hope September starting off well for everyone - make a great day 🍂

Lara is on her cherry farm with her 3 adult daughters and husband during the 2020 pandemic. The kids ask her to tell the story of her past - when she was an actress and the summer she worked at Tom Lake and dated Peter Duke (now famous actor). Story goes from past to present. Felt like I knew Duke, Sebastian, Palace and Uncle Wallace.⬇️

August #BookSpinBingo - thank you for hosting @TheAromaofBooks -

Make a great day everyone 😎

#AboutaBook
#published2023
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#Two4Tuesday Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView -

I went to Universal just a few years ago and I am going to Kings Island Friday for my grandsons 4th birthday - no books at the amusement park 🙂

Finished 2 books at end of July - so here is my updated #BookSpinBingo - thanks for hosting @TheAromaofBooks -

Make a great day everyone 🎢 (I think that is a roller coaster emoji 🤣)

Finally getting to read this, a lovely summer‘s evening is the perfect accompaniment ❤️

Close to a #BookSpinBingo this month 📚

Make a great day everyone 😎

late night reading with the pup, finished but it was like wadding through marmite (which I think Is thicker than mud ) so disappointed i had high hopes for this but my goodness not a patchon commonwealth which was one of my favourite books of the year.The premise is great but the story just didn‘t grip me & there was no chemistry at all between Lara & Duke, and a cosy almost brotherly relationship with Jo her husband. Not her best and v overrated

can someone tell me why this book is so popular? reads like a tradwife manifesto so far...

Sometimes you just need a book that‘s comforting, not every story has to have that WOW factor. If you are looking for that, read this!

I loved this story so much. It took me a bit to really get into it, but once I did, I wanted to know what would happen next.

Meryl Streep‘s narration was superb, of course.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story is starting to really grow on me. I‘m glad I‘m listening to the audiobook, the narration is perfect.

Lara tells her three daughters the story of her past.

Dreamy ✨ Inevitability ✨ Timeless

A simple tale within a tale with a solid ending.

This was excellent! I read and listened to Meryl Streep read it (she is so good!). A family stuck together during the pandemic, looking back at the past. I loved the couple of weeks we were locked down together, my boys with me 24/7. I chose my cloud oodie as the backdrop of this photo as somewhere in the book they are lying on the grass in the cherry orchard looking up at the clouds and deciding if they are ducks or rabbits. ⬇️

Late to the party, but happy just to be here 😉

Up next on audio…

I went back and forth between just liking (so-so) and really enjoying (pick) this. Meryl Streep was a great narrator for this #audiobook, but for the one young 20 something year old daughter who sounded like she was one of Homer Simpson's sister-in-laws with her old lady smoker voice. 😂

⭐⭐⭐⭐

#SummerSouls #Lake
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Has it really been 3 years since I‘ve been here? What did I miss?

This was a beautiful read and only cements what I already knew - Ann Patchett is one of my favorite writers. I found myself thinking more than once how lovely it would be to live in an orchard, or near one - but I think I‘d be disappointed to find that I wouldn‘t be living with the Nelson family 😂 #tbrtarot #flowersoncover

Long languid days of actual cherry picking, and learning that your parents had fulfilling and interesting lives before you were born. #sundayfunday

#WeeklyForecast

I‘ve started some books that‘ll take a longish time to finish; Dissolution #ShardlakeSeriesBR, a 2 month buddy read and The BookShop Book

I‘ll undergo surgery tomorrow and not sure how much reading I‘ll get done

Tom Lake returned from Libby and I want to continue that

I want to finish The Switch

The rest are possibilities; The Secrets of the Stormforest, Slemme Jenter (Bad Girls) and the Icelandic author Jon Kalman Stefansson

Patchett never disappoints, and this is no exception. I finished it outside, with a bowl of cherries by my side. Knowing Our Town and The Cherry Orchard add depth, but are not necessary for the enjoyment of this warm novel. Highly recommended.

So fun to recognize #StorySettings. Petoskey, Traverse City, and "Washed Cherries" signs bring back great memories as a #MittenLitten. As a teen, hubs worked landscaping at Grosse Point Yacht Club where Sabatian plays tennis and where I grew up on Lake St. Clair. Pic of the #lake where I currently live from outside our small town library. @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This is a slow moving story. I enjoyed most of the characters. The locations were beautiful in my imagination. I listened to Meryl Streep reading this. I loved her narration. 4/5

Easy read

Excellent. Beautifully told.

Meryl is a dream, but 80% of the way through I realized that I felt no connection to any of the characters (or a really strong grasp on any of them?) and I felt incredibly bored. Sped through the rest. I wanted to like this more! 2.5 ⭐️ 🎧

#FirstLineFridays

Although listening to the voice of Meryl Streep was delightful, I think I would have enjoyed the book more had I read it instead.

I finished Tom Lake and was left wondering if I should read Our Town.

On my commute the next day, I remembered that I‘ve been meaning to dive into Iris DeMent‘s catalog. A friend introduced me to her song “Let the Mystery Be” (linked below) & I was instantly hooked.

Guess what I found upon listening? Her most popular song on Spotify is called “Our Town.” Another, from her newest album, is “The Cherry Orchard.”

OK, okay. I‘ll read Our Town! 😅

🙌 loved this book, absolutely recommend you get the audio Meryl Streep just does such a wonderful job
5⭐️
#readaway2024 book 14
Goal 2 #awesomeapril readathon