Welcome to Litsy!

Ben rents a room from Winnie, who is elderly and a recent widow. Ben suspects that Winnie didn't really want him there, that she only agreed because her family thinks she needs someone there to watch out for her & help around the house. So Ben plans to stay out of her way, but then Covid lockdowns start. He and Winnie are forced to spend most of their time together, and a friendship ensues as they start to see life from each other's perspective.

Amy Tan's illustrations are beautiful, and her notes about her observations of the birds that visit her yard are so interesting! She also includes some information that she's learned from expert birders. Unfortunately not all of her observations are happy, and it makes me sad to think of birds getting ill and being in distress, but I guess that's part of nature, too.

#BookSpin & #DoubleSpin picks for March! These have both been on my bookshelf for quite awhile. @TheAromaofBooks

These are also the first #ReadOrDonate and #OffTheShelf books for the month @julieclair @Librariana

After finishing this book I went on to The New Yorker website to see how many of Janet Malcolm‘s articles I had read in the past and to my surprise there was a brief article in this recent issue about Malcolm and Eissler! Janet Malcolm‘s nonfiction writing about three men involved in the Freud archives - two of whom have massive egos and one wanting to believe in the brilliance of a protege - is so engaging. 🔽
#offtheshelf #bookspin

I loved this book and wish I hadn't let this sit on my bookshelf for so long!

Miranda inherits a Bookshop from her estranged uncle, that includes clues she has to decipher, just like when she was a little kid. I had to suspend disbelief a little, as it seems he left a lot up to chance. But the whimsical nature of it lightened the heartbreak of the story.

And I loved all of the references to Shakespeare and the classics!
⬇️

It took a few chapters for me to get into this story, but once I did I liked it for the most part. I thought there were a few flaws in the storyline, but it was a fun story of Lily, Nicole, Leo, Walt, Bradley, and Terry on a treasure hunt for the stolen money of Butch Cassidy.
#LitsyLoveReads
#OffTheShelf @Librariana
#OffMyShelf @Wanderinglynn
#ReadOrDonate: read @julieclair
#FourFoursIn25: shiver river @Lauredhel
#ISpyBingo @TheAromaofBooks

A story of a convent and the community surrounding them told through letters from Sister B. It was delightful to see how much prayer actually worked for all the travails experienced by the nuns. If only that worked for all of us! It was sweet to watch how they relied on each other and continually learned new things in order to navigate fundraising for their convent. #NunLit

#offtheshelf

Not that it will happen, but every soon-to-be father should be required to read sections of this book. A woman explains what her life has become once she has become a mother. Her husband is busy at work and he abdicates all responsibility for the child. The exhaustion, anger, disappointment, loneliness, desperate love and raging anger toward a young child, all of it was perfectly described.

#offtheshelf

This is a beautifully written book based on a true story. A husband and wife decide to separate and seemingly have an amicable visitation schedule with their 6 year old twins. However, after one particular visit, the husband commits suicide and the children are never seen ago. The book creatively describes the ways in which the wife struggles to find her children and how she manages (or doesn‘t) to live with the grief.

#offtheshelf

Interesting book about the massacre of an isolated community by a band of Bigfoots. Loved the protagonist's journey and the format (diary entries mixed with interview excerpts), but the novel doesn't dig deep into its themes, especially the society breaking apart aspect.

#bookspinbingo #readyourtbr #offtheshelf @librarianna