Welcome to Litsy!

Normally, I don‘t like character driven novels but I was pretty engrossed in this one! It is a good book, but Queen Meryl‘s narration put it over the top. During the pandemic, Lara‘s 3 daughters return to the family‘s cherry orchard to help with the harvest, and they beg her to tell the story of the summer she dated a famous movie star and worked as an actress.

#bookspinbingo - free space and got a bingo!
#fictionaltraveler - trees

Totally absorbed. This was my first Anne Patchett book, and now I know what all the fuss is about. I‘m more of a fantasy reader and don‘t tend to love stories that go back and forth in time. But this story was woven so beautifully I was hooked from chapter one. There‘s no real plot just an emotional journey. Having seen Our Town previously did help. Add this to your book club list!

Wow, how lovely to read a compelling story about middle-aged people who are happy with their life choices! I was afraid I would feel let down or betrayed by the end -- literary fiction can really turn on you! -- but I was completely satisfied and crying happy tears.

#DoubleSpin #BlameItOnLitsy

#TurnThePage readathon book 2.

How clever is Ann Patchett to find a way to write about a happy family without sacrificing dramatic tension? The warmth of the family relationship and the angst of Lara‘s coming of age are so beautifully balanced. I‘m really glad I waited until I‘d read Our Town (serendipitously chosen by my play reading group last term) to read this book. While I think I would have enjoyed it anyway, it made the story much richer. I loved it.

Captivating and charming and wonderfully simple… a book about all types of love and how love changes through the years!

Even if most don‘t include a romance with a future Hollywood star, I think every family has their own lore — those colorful stories that hint at who the parents were *before* …or who they might have been had things gone just a little bit differently.

In this novel, Lara‘s trip down memory lane to clarify her lore for her 3 adult daughters made for a charming read.

(Plus Patchett absolutely nailed the behind-the-scenes drama of summer theater.)

A captivating story that shows the reality of show business through one young actress' experience and early retirement. And her beautiful and ordinary family life that follows, told to her adult daughters during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The audiobook, performed by Meryl Streep was a masterpiece.

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
What are you reading?
#boleybooks #tomlake #AnnPatchett #bookbeast #novel #bookbuds #bookclub #letsread

I think this is my second dud from Reese‘s Book Club. This book was written well but just boring. Soooo boring. Set during Covid with all her daughters home, a mother decides to tell her girls her life story and all her glory playing Emily in Our Town. I think I made it 100 pages in and was just over Our Town at that point. I would definitely try this author again but just couldn‘t get through this one. #hailtothebail