Welcome to Litsy!

When my father was dying a friar at work would check on me and tell me stories about when he was a hospital chaplain. I am not religious but those stories provided me much comfort. I thought of them as I read this. Clover is a death doula and ensures a positive end of life for her patients, whatever that looks like for them. Her own life could use help as she has cut herself off from the world. Reflective yet still light, this was a joy to read.

Thank you so much @AmyG for the birthday gift. I just finished packing for a couple nights away and am tempted to switch out the books I am bringing because I have really been wanting to read this one. I am already bringing another book you gifted me that I part way through! I am so grateful and excited!

1. Sunflower! 🌻🌻🌻

2. Loved the tagged book!

#Two4Tuesday

Thanks for the #Two4Tuesday tag @TheSpineView ! 🤗

1️⃣ I can‘t just name one favorite spring flower but my Top 5 are probably lilacs, pansies, daffodils, cherry blossoms & violets.🪻🌼🌸

2️⃣ The tagged book was one of my favorite books I read last year & I‘ll recommend it until the cows come home.🐮 I also love the big bouquet of flowers on the cover. 💐

Anyone want to join in & share your favorites? Consider yourself tagged! 🌺

5 Stars • The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer is about Clover Brooks, a death doula in NYC who helps dying people while collecting their regrets. Her work with an elderly woman named Claudia forces her to face her own isolated life, past losses, and fears, leading her to new relationships and a chance to embrace living fully.

#Bookish #TheCollectedRegretsOfClover #MikkiBrammer

A lovely book about a death doula, a woman who helps ease the passing of one‘s life into the next. Clover has always lived her life as a loner, with her only friends being her grandpa and his friend who lives upstairs. Can she ever open herself up to new experiences, to living among the living and not just the dying? Very thought provoking and I am so happy I read it. Thanks so much @DebinHawaii

#25Alive!

TBH, I changed my mind multiple times today about my pick for my favorite book of 2025. I read SO MANY great books this year (James, What Moves the Dead & Zorrie were just a few of the contenders) but as I said when I picked it as my December #12BooksOf2024 this book just came off my #BOTM TBR at the last minute & stole my heart. Touching, about loss, grief & regrets—it still made me smile & feel uplifted. It‘s my #FaveBk24 💙💐💙

It will make you think about your life. Not depressing - pulls you in.

Thanks, @ChaoticMissAdventures

“20 Day Cover Challenge - As we start a new year and think about what we want in a book.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.” 7/20

#20covers

Some great books read in December but The Collected Regrets of Clover really stole my heart & is my final pick for #12BooksOf2024 Had I not read it after, it would have made my #AuldLangSpine list.

Honorable Mentions: A Wizard‘s Guide to Defensive Baking, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year, The Rivals, The Bones Beneath My Skin, A Botanist‘s Guide to Society and Secrets & Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You

Thanks @Andrew65 for hosting! 🤗

#12Booksof2024 Day 11

My favorite book of November was The Collected Regrets of Clover, which I read with my IRL book club.

@Andrew65

I like books that deal with death and grief and how to process it.

I found this book interesting since it focused on helping the patients and their loved ones prepare for death and come to terms with any regrets they‘ve had in their life.

Even though I enjoyed the book, I found it slow at times, but I am glad I put it down and came back to it. It ended up being a story that will stick with me for a while.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#ReadAway2024

I finished this one yesterday & just loved it. I had put off reading it because I was thought it would be sad based on the main character being a death doula. Instead it was sweet & touching & a good message about living life so you have no or (at least less) regrets. There were sad moments but also happy, hopeful ones too. Charming & engaging, it snuck in at the end of the year as one of my favorites of the books I read in 2024.

#SaturdayChatterday

Hit up the local craft fair/makers market this morning for holiday shopping & then had lunch & some reading & work time at the coffee shop before heading out for more errands.

Hope everyone‘s Saturday is a good one! 💜

I was not even planning to start this book anytime soon, but somehow stumbled upon it while browsing for something else on my Kindle and decided to start it.

I‘m so glad I didn‘t wait any longer to read this poignant book about Clover, a young NYC death doula. It was moving without being cliche, and I liked the character development. Definitely a Pick for me.

Not sure how, but this book is both heavy and light. It‘s both happy and sad. It‘s a very different book then anything I‘ve read

As a grief advocate I loved this book. I liked how it handled grief, dismissed the clichés, didn't shy from the reality.

But mostly I loved the acknowledgement that sometimes, those witnessing death close up, aren't the ones throwing caution to the wind and living life to the max. That while you know personally that life can be short, it's frightening to live that way. Fantastic representation.

#coverlove
#multicolour
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
A wonderful story written by a distant cousin

I absolutely loved this book and the concept of death cafes intrigued me… was I surprised when I walked into my library this morning and saw this! I think I am going to go to one to check it out!

#favbkofmarch #springskies @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I am not sure I have words to describe how much I love this book… so beautifully told in a way that I could see glimpses of myself within the pages! Everyone needs to read this book!
“The secret to a beautiful death is living a beautiful life”

Remarkable debut novel about a death doula who learns how to live her life & to face her regrets.

I was captivated by the writing & had a very hard time putting this down. I recognized some of myself in Clover. Her compassion is also very inspiring. This is a quiet novel with a lot to unpack & reflect upon, how to live one‘s life, how to face regrets, and how to take that leap. Tissues needed!

“Grief is just love looking for a place to settle.”

What an important book. This was so beautifully written and truly unique. I don‘t think I‘ve really read anything like this before. I love Clover and how insightful she is. The growth in this book is so beautiful and touching. This book is one that really makes you think and reflect and will inspire you to live each moment like it‘s your last.

I really loved this book. I had never read anything about a death doula and it was very interesting.

“The secret to a beautiful death is living a beautiful life. Grief, I'd come to realize was like dust, When you're in the thick of a dust storm, you're completely disoriented by the onslaught, struggling to see or breathe.”

#LuckyinLove
#Bouquet 💐

“Maybe we just need to appreciate that many aspects of life— and the people we love—will always be a mystery. Because without mystery, there is no magic.”

#NewYearNewBooks
#Grandparents

💐💐💐

This book tells the story of Clover, a death doula in NYC. Her work is spending time with people in their final days to sort through their affairs, thoughts, feelings, regrets, and more. She has lived a reclusive life, so the story is about her blossoming and embracing her life, as she helps her clients with the end of theirs. If you like stories with quirky characters, unlikely friends, redemption, and exploring deep topics, this is for you!

I finally finished this!! It was really good. Hanging out in AZ, waiting for the arrival of our grandson. 🩵

My November reads part 1

This was an impressive debut novel because it dealt with death and grieving in an open and positive light. Clover is a death doula by profession who is wonderful at helping people cross over, but she is very isolated and not so great at living her own life.

Grief comes in waves for me. I liked that this book addressed it as not something a person will simply "get over" within a set period of time.

This book got me thinking. Who wants to die with regrets? So many of the passages in this book hit home. Clover was a bit of a loner and a lover of books. Sound familiar? I know I can relate! She‘s also a death doula, so she got to hear the regrets of many. There are things we can do while we‘re living to avoid regrets. That‘s what this book is about. And it‘s a good one which I highly recommend.

Such a sweet book. This was lovely to read.

The first time I watched someone die, I was five.
#Firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

Mikki Brammer lives in New York, and her debut novel is set there. However, Mikki is from Tasmania, her extended family are from the small town I grew up in, and we are also distantly related!

Tea time.

Mother-daughter reading time.

Started this but reading time has been limited. Our daughter is in town so we threw her a baby shower!

I wasn‘t that excited about the September #botm books but I appreciate that they let me choose a member favorite instead! I‘m going with the tagged book. The reviews are really positive! This box is my 11th so after my next one I become a “BFF” and get the tote bag and some different extras. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#anticipated5⭐️read #bookbinge @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I totally forgot to do my #2023readingbracket for July 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ First book finished last month was the winner! @chasjjlee

I found this book about a death doula touching. #bookbinge #involvesfuneral

Finally doing this after having been faithfully tagged by @The_Penniless_Author a million times 😂 My favorite book of July, hands down, was the tagged. I read it not really knowing what to expect, but was super intrigued by the concept of a death doula (former hospice nurse here). If didn‘t disappoint! Beautiful book 💚 @TheSpineView

Clover has always been a loner, which suits her job as a death doula well. She loves books and her pets and finds most of the companionship she needs from 90‘s Rom-Coms. Then a new neighbor moves into her building, and she starts feeling like maybe her life was missing something.

I enjoyed this, but it was a bit more fluffy and less serious than I was hoping. Still good, I just wanted a bit more depth.

This is a very sweet story. About finding romance, losing romance, and death.
Clover is an interesting character with a wonderful job - a death doula.
I love the way that this novel talks about death. Will you have Advice, a confession, or regret to get off your chest as you are dying? Clover collects them in her journals. And I love that Clover is obsessed with 90s rom-coms.
A charming read 4/5⭐

Death Doula Clover hides from living life by caring for the dying. She follows up on a last wish of one of her clients that leads her right to a life of her own. It was and enjoyable 3.5 stars.

A remarkable novel that makes you think carefully about your own responses to living life and death. The characters are well-developed and interesting. Clover is a very amenable MC and I really did empathise with her.

Bk20 of my #BookMail is a debut by an Australian journalist turned author. Clover Brooks has always felt a connection to those at the end of their life, she has become a death doula in NYC, ushering people through their final days. Then she meets Claudia, a woman who‘s had a life Clover only dreams about. But she has one regret,so after her death Clover goes on a journey to help close that door & finds herself learning to love life in the process.

Instead of constantly asking ourselves the question of why we're here, maybe we should be savoring the simpler truth: We are here.”

I just keep thinking about this book 💛 so beautiful 😍

#LitsyLoveReads
#LitsyLove

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“Grief, I'd come to realize, was like dust. When you're in the thick of a dust storm, you're completely disoriented by the onslaught, struggling to see or breathe. But as the force recedes, and you slowly find your bearings and see a path forward, the dust begins to settle into the crevices.” Cont‘d ⬇️

For UK Littens….. lots of US Littens, whose opinions I value, have loved this one!

Looks like it‘s not even published in hardback in the UK for another 4 days.