Welcome to Litsy!

I want to thank #foodandlit2024 for encouraging me to choose a book from Finland. One of my best friends growing up had a Finnish dad and a Swedish mum and I was exposed to all of the best things from each culture and continue to love Scandi style above all others. This novel is a love letter to summer and Finland told in short vignettes that flip back and forth through the main character‘s , Sophia, childhood summers with her grandma and father.

What a lovely start to Sunday morning. Brought a wee tear to my eye.

#foodandlit for December is Finland not sweden 🤦🏻‍♀️ and I‘ve started this to close out the year with because I knew that when I went looking for books to read! my husband‘s family is from Sweden and we go to a Swedish fair in Toronto every year to stock up in Swedish treats for Christmas- these Polly candies were new to us. They taste like a cross between a rum ball and a milk dud. I will do better with food choices going forward

A slow moving narrative spanning from the protagonists childhood to current age in midlife - there is no real plot arc or storyline other than insights to the ups and downs of friendship, sibling and parent relationships. Love Atwood‘s style of writing, but this was a bit bizarre and long-winded overall.

Dexter laying on another book. This guy is too funny.📖🐶
#DogsofLitsy

#Two4Tuesday
1. Yes. I am the type of person who has a plan A, plan B and plan C. I make lists, maps, schedules, etc.
2. I am currently rereading a book from childhood called Tallahassee Higgins. This book is filled with things not going how Tallahassee planned.
@TheSpineView

A child that has superpowers and as soon as she starts to walk, she becomes a blur. How does the family deal with her. This is a second grade reader book. #ISpyBingoJuly @Clwojick @TheAromaofBooks

One of my closest friends (pictured) received news that his mother has terminal cancer. He‘s amazing & so is she.

She had him when she was 16. She worked to give him & his 4 younger brothers a full life. She‘s 54-years-old, & a hospice nurse. She lost her mom young & volunteers with kids who know that same loss. She teaches yoga. She goes zip-lining. She dances freely & grows beautiful flowers.

There‘s a GoFundMe to help with medical bills.👇🏻

I‘ve been hearing huge praise for this book for about 15 years so I think my reading experience suffered a bit from sky high expectations. But it is charming, with some lovely nature writing and the relationship between the little girl and her elderly grandmother is touching. Sophia Jansson‘s delightful afterword underlined the strength of the connection, both to the people and place. The photo is an outer island in the Stockholm archipelago.

The dark wood was green and gold, green where the oak trees stood crowded together with misshapen twisted trunks, red-gold where the great smooth beeches lifted their branching arms to the sky.
#firstlineFridays
@ShyBookOwl