Welcome to Litsy!

Finished this book on Christmas Eve and it was a good end of year book. It is a gently told story of Irish immigrant Eilis Lacey who seems to passively greet most of the happenings in her life, both good and bad. While she can be frustrating at times, I think that‘s because Toibin draws her so realistically, flaws and all. His writing is utterly absorbing and made Eilis‘s experience very vivid. I think the sequel will find its way onto my TBR!

“Back when the world was ours, and nothing could stop us.”

“A vibrant ode to childhood and togetherness.“

A nostalgic celebration of summer in Brooklyn, where kids find joy in the streets and community.

Bit of a rainy day but the Brooklyn Book Festival is on!

Great as always, even in the rain. Came home with 5 new books for the TBR pile!

I don't know what I expected but I was pleasantly surprised and intrigued.

#SummerSouls #Rollercoaster I am fascinated w/all things NYC & Coney Island in particular. This book is a tale told in postcards from its grand times in the 1880s to WWI . There were 3 large amusement parks that eventually were lost to fire. Nicknamed Sodom by the Sea w/ rail connections hundreds of thousands would come per day.There is a record that 1 day in 1906 200k postcards were mailed from Coney. I treasure this book I‘ve had for decades .

Think someone is trying to make up for the desiccated mouse I found on my meditation cushion when I woke up? I can‘t very well wake such a cute snuggle kitty just because I can‘t reach the book I wanted to read. Good thing I have a new audiobook all cued up to start.

Brooklyn is a gentle story about the challenges of being alone, far away from home, and making big decisions about the direction your life takes, who you want to be, and where you want home to be. I didn‘t always love, or even like Eilis Lacey. At certain points in the novel she‘s hopelessly naive, a bit prejudiced, thoughtless, or helpless. But I think that‘s what makes her such a real character and so I never begrudged Eilis these imperfections.

Toibin is one of my favorite authors but this was not one of my favorite books. It was a soft pick (more of a so-so). At the risk of sounding like a book snob (sorry 😭), this one read more like commercial fiction than the ones I‘ve loved (Heather Blazing being a favorite) although it was shortlisted for the Booker. He is quite brilliant at writing the voices of women though. It follows the life a young Irish woman who moves to the U.S.