Welcome to Litsy!

12-22-25: My 77th finished book of 2025! Thoroughly enjoyed this book about Rocky and her family spending a week at the beach. I loved reading about her empty nest syndrome and how having her grown kids with her on vacation made such an impact on her happiness. In turns, grief stricken over past losses and unbearably happy about new things to come in the future, Rocky is a fantastic narrator of life‘s highs and lows. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣7️⃣7️⃣

6-11 Dec 25
Amongst the recent books featuring the ravings of perimenopausal women, this has been my favourite. Our heroine does not abandon her husband for a lesbian affair (see All Fours, Lioness) but at times Rocky is exasperating, moody and unreasonable. Just like me (and I expect many other women hitting 50). Her musings on her changing body, her love for her almost grownup children, aging parents and said husband are relatable and funny.

Maybe I‘m not the right demographic for this book but I was just not able to fully love the main character, Rocky. It could be because I don‘t have twenty-something year old kids nor am I going through menopause. The story itself is heartwarming and a reflective look at aging, growing up and moving on from trauma in the past. Maybe when I‘m Rocky‘s age, I‘ll pick it up again and read it in a new light.

A delightful novel that focuses on the complexities of family life. I was pleasantly surprised by the humor in the story. Humor is a valuable tool when exploring the intricacies of middle age and family dynamics. I particularly enjoyed the perspective of a newly menopausal mother, which added depth to the narrative. The story beautifully captures the sense of family and the joy of three generations.

Full Review abookandadog.com/blog/sandwich

I just read the author's answers to the Oldster questionnaire and chuckled a number of times - thought I'd share. Also, I really appreciate this Substack column a lot. If you don't know of it, you might be interested in checking it out.

https://oldster.substack.com/p/this-is-57-bestselling-author-catherine

I have mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I found it overly sweet and was deeply irritated by it opening with a 50-something woman screaming because a toilet is about to overflow. (Really? At that age? Grow up.) On the other hand, there‘s some good humor in it and some topical moments. So I give it a low pick.

😂

I read this on a recommendation from a colleague. It‘s told from the point of view of Rocky, an empty nester on her yearly family vacation. The family has rented the same beach cottage in Cape Cod for decades. Rocky reminisces about various years at the beach while intertwining the currentness of where the family is this particular week as the reader gets a sense of the family relationships and a peek inside their lives.

57.2025

Character driven novel that takes place during a family vacation, told through 50-something narrator Rachel (Rocky) about that time in life when your “children” are young adults and your parents are elderly. This is an especially meaningful read for those of us experiencing this.

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #sandwich #CatherineNewman #bookbeast #bookbuds #bookclub #letsread

This book made me feel seen. I don't laugh out loud at books, but this one had me audibly chuckling. It also made me cry. I related so much to the main character, her stage in life, and her big emotions about parenthood, marriage, and watching her own parents age. This book spoke to my heart ❤️

👩‍🦳𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 ⛱️

𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐦𝐚𝐧 invokes uproarious laughter, & reduces you to tears of relatability & empathy a few pgs later in 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐡 (now in paperback). Thanks, Bibliolifestyle & Harper Perennial. She explores the often bewildering middle years of a woman's life -- she's sandwiched between her grown children & aging parents, life has become “so quiet.“ The sequel, 𝗪𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐤, publishes 10/30/25!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m envious of this family‘s ability to go every summer to this great house on the beach and just hang out for a week. But it‘s anything but relaxing- Rocky, the mom, is on a hormone roller coaster, bouncing between rage 😡 and sorrow 🙁. Family secrets are about to come to light. And the chapter called After made me teary. Rocky is the narrator and she can be annoying and a self proclaimed “little narcissistic “ I did like the book sort of 🐉

😖 I feel bad because I thought the premise was good, but the execution was too saccharine and in some ways just not very realistic. Throw in preachy, but at the same time desperately trying not to offend both prochoice & prolife readers.

The MC seemed to be rather childish and the narrator pulled it off because I was annoyed with her. 😆

A soft pick for this one. There were some laugh out loud moments and the short chapters helped propel the story forward. A couple and their adult children again return to a shabby rental at Cape Cod. The children are moving forward and the mother, the heart of the family is struggling to let go of the past. The MC fixation on her children is too intense for me. Only 2.5 ⭐️ for this angst-filled novel.

This novel is relatable in some ways, while also sappy and a bit tedious, as beach vacations often are. What's not relatable is why someone would go back to the exact same sub-par place for vacations for twenty years. I couldn't handle the sameness, although I guess it's comforting to know you won't have privacy or reliable plumbing year after year? And swimming in a pond is gross. I think I see why living in New England wasn't a good fit for me.

A hilarious book about a woman going through menopause. It‘s not just 300 pages of complaining — it‘s sharp, funny, and relatable. I really enjoyed it, even though I‘m not quite at that stage yet. My kids are still young, but it gave me plenty of laughs and things to think about for the future. Book #40 in 2025

This is a fun audiobook about a family trip to the beach. I enjoyed the fact that the family was very loving and also messy.

This short book packs a lot of emotion! Rocky and her husband and two adult children are vacationing on the New England shore for a week. Her menopausal experience and memories of having and raising the kids blend with what they are all going through in the trip to create a whole atmosphere. There isn‘t a plot to speak of, but if you‘re around her age you‘ll likely relate to the bulk, even if you didn‘t have kids. Excellent.

Every year for 25 years at least 15 members of the family-my kids, aunts, uncles, grandbabies-spend a week at the ocean in the same funky house. So much of this book reminded me of the type of stays that we have. (Although I have to admit that we have some grumpy times which this author did not replicate.) I break my days down the same way she does. (Monday I‘m so relieved that we have so much time and by Wednesday I start to get sad.) 🔽

My May #Bookspin and #Doublespin. I hope I‘ll have time to get to both of them. The next two months are going to be very busy.

I‘m at almost exactly the same stage in my life as Rocky, the narrator of this story but I just can‘t relate to her at all. She was so appallingly needy. Her constantly overflowing emotions were tiresome & her suggestion that her calm & steady husband & son didn‘t have feelings seemed just plain cruel. But I enjoyed the bright & breezy writing that brilliantly evoked the atmosphere a summer beach holiday. A low pick.

I really enjoyed this slice of life family story. Being close to the MC's age, there was quite a bit I could identify with.

26/80

April #BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks

#ReadingMyTBR #Reading2025 @DieAReader

I loved this book SO much! It just felt like such a real account of a family‘s life. Audiobook was excellent!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Picture this: a shorelined peninsula jutting into the Atlantic Ocean."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Current audiobook… Needed something a little bit less intense 😅

Starting my April #BookSpin

I‘m not sure how I feel about this book…I mean, I liked it but something about it also grated on me but I can‘t say exactly what. I kept going back and forth between liking the MC and not liking her. A low pick!

#bookspinbingo
#pop25 - book that features a character going through menopause

A great book, including love and grief, our family ties and memories of times past. Some profound insights mixed with sandwich fillings

#catherinenewman #menopause

I loved this book! It‘s about a family on summer vacation at Cape Cod, told from the perspective of the mom. The title references how she feels “sandwiched” between her young adult children and her aging parents. The characters grapple with things like menopause, sexuality, pregnancy, marriage, and more. I thought the writing was very witty, the topics were dealt with well, and the setting was a taste of vacation. Good book!

I expected to really relate to the MC here but I didn‘t like her much. It may be that the book was too much in her head. She was way too involved with her kids. I understand it was partly about having to let go and find your role once your kids were grown, but it didn‘t fully work for me.

My 4 choices this month. I fiction, 1 non-fiction, 2 historical fiction mysteries

I wish I could have loved this one! I DID love the first 2/3 so much, where I found myself identifying SO HARD with the simultaneous exhaustion and joy of motherhood and the conflicting feelings of watching your kids grow up to be successful and great and then moving out.

But I was so disappointed by the last 1/3. All of Rocky‘s issues and feelings just got to be too much. In the end I found her unbearable and I felt sorry for her poor husband.

This book captures all the emotions of this specific phase of life. It was perfection.

It was wonderful to immerse myself in the Cape Cod world of sun, sand, salt air, ocean breezes, picnics on the beach, sticky fingers, wet bathing suits,towels with their seaweed smell flapping on a clothesline, & family love & acceptance, while outside in my world, cold wind bit my cheeks, & fluffy snow covered what once was brownish grass.

So much heart packed into 226 pages. ❤️💔❤️‍🔥💗 #SoryGraph #FictionalTraveler #2 #APlaceYouLove #CapeCod
#52BookClub2025 #13 #TitleinTenLettersorLess
#TBR #ReadYourBooks #11 #TBRfromShelf

This book made me catch my breath more than once whilst reading it. I felt like the author was tapped into my thoughts and feelings about life, aging, menopause, family etc Many passages sent me back into the delight and despair of motherhood with small and grownup children. The smell of small children, of the beach and ocean. Many passages resonated with me so strongly that I shared them with friends. Newman is now a must read author for me. ⬇️

It snowed here in the South so I‘m calling a personal snow day and staying in to read. Ozzie is pleased with my decision. And because it‘s freezing outside, I‘m reading about a week on Cape Cod in the summer.

Gosh, very different to my expectations and very insightful into menopause and mid life and families. I think it's well written and the plot, as such, is inclusive of necessary backstory.
Nicely done!

An amazing portrait of womanhood in middle age in a beautifully mundane and relatable life.

Finishing up this slim but powerful novel recommended by @CBee and I‘ve been pondering how to articulate my feelings about it. Just a few pages before the end I came to this poignant, eloquent passage that I felt sums up [one of] the book‘s themes. I appreciate how well Newman‘s writing captures the feelings of family life in middle age, so that even though the details of my marriage & family are quite different than Rocky‘s, I can relate.

2 things:

1) I love this book
2) My husband bought me a pillow for the bath that I was very skeptical about for Christmas and now can‘t live without. If you, like me, are a chronic bath reader, treat yourself. It‘s worth it.

Enjoying this short book about a woman ‘sandwiched‘ between her grown children & her parents. A great read with great characters, family secrets, & family dynamics.
I can‘t remember which Litten love this book and triggered me to read it, but thank you!
#BlameItOnLitsy

This book is funny at the start especially for those of us truly living the sandwich generation experience (and menopause)But this book wrecked me in the end. It‘s good but proceed with caution.

It was a fantastic reading year!

Favorites: Sandwich, In the Weeds, Ask Not, From Here to the Great Unknown, Migrations

The few stats I like to track:
library books — 119
nonfiction — 73
five star reads — 26

I have a “best of 2024” shelf on goodreads if you want to take a look. If we‘re not already connected, I‘m britt_brooke there, too. 🩷🩷

Maybe love is grief imploding. Or maybe it‘s love expanding. I don‘t know. I just know you can‘t create loss to preempt loss because it doesn‘t work that way. So you might as well love as much as you can. And as recklessly. Like it‘s your last resort, because it is 👙⛱️🦞

⭐️⭐️/5
Decided to take a break from Christmas reads and thrillers…went with this one but it just wasn‘t for me, just OK🤷🏼‍♀️

Spent most of today reading this on the sunny deck (sun has gone now!) Felt like being on holiday myself. Newman writes in a conversational style that is easy to read and i felt a lot of similarities (age, an adult child). So this telling of a family vacation where she is sandwiched btw one generation and the next while going through menopause was a delight. It also delves into some serious stuff so potential for a few shed tears here too.