Welcome to Litsy!

#25Alive! Day 20: My #FvWinterDrink is peppermint rum chata - but this one is a close second. Thoroughly enjoyed our final book for the #EuropaCollective. Scheduled my post at GatheringBooks in two weeks‘ time. 💕

#25Alive! Day 11: Belle‘s #TakeCharge attitude when it comes to JP Morgan‘s collections totally impressed the brilliant man - and the rest is history. Review is forthcoming. Finished reading the book and absolutely loved it. #ReadTheWorld2025: France (translated from French) - although setting is mostly US based. #EuropaCollective

#25Alive! Day 7: Belle Greene lived a most #Prosperous and charmed life, as she served as a personal librarian to the illustrious and obscenely wealthy JP Morgan during New York‘s Gilded Age in the early 1900s. I can see this #EuropaCollective December pick being made into a riveting TV series. In my last few pages of this fascinating story. So happy to be part of the #EuropaCollective book club. Any 2025 edition, @jlhammar ? 🤩😍

This is the second in the De Luca trilogy. Again, it is a book that uses a mystery framework to offer a slice of Italian history, this time set just after WW2 and the fall of Mussolini. Commissario De Luca is on the run and hiding his identity, fearing reprisals for his time in the secret police. He is discovered and he must help solve a crime in exchange for his release. The shifting morals and allegiances are quite interesting. #europacollective

Interesting short novel, the first of a trilogy, set in Italy just prior to the end of WW2. The story is a mystery, but what is far more interesting about Commisario De Luca‘s story is its setting, where Mussolini and fascism is on the verge of falling and the elite and other supporters are desperately attempting to build relationships to survive the upcoming transition. A fascinating slice of history wrapped in a mystery. #europacollective

#25Alive! Day 2: A strawberry mojito #Toast to our #EuropaCollective pick for December which I have not finished reading yet, unfortunately. 🙈

#12booksof2024 @Andrew65

This is a quietly powerful novel in stories following the residents of a small Maine town, their secret hopes and fears, the ordinariness of their daily lives and their major turning points. Beautiful read and my second of the year that I owe to #Europacollective

I really enjoyed this and it didn‘t matter that I‘d already read The Personal Librarian previously - yes, I knew the general outline but the books are quite different stylistically, and complement each other.

This one felt a little bit more NF (even though the author doesn‘t claim that it is) and I thought Belle herself came across a bit more mercenary and unlikeable in this version.

Thanks @jlhammar for being a great host! #europacollective

This is a short novella by a grandson of Che Guevara that expresses the disillusionment and lost promise of the revolution in Cuba. Playing on the theme of a “scratched record” that repeats, it is written as 33 very short chapters. While I thought it had potential, I found the repetition of the scratched record theme somewhat annoying. #europacollective #booksintranslation

Eye opening in so many ways! 😲 I have mixed feelings about Bella and some of her decisions. Ultimately, they cost her dearly and the question is whether it was worth it.

The weird thing is no mention is made of whether & what Belle liked to read recreationally! It appears her real passion was collecting & organizing & preserving treasures.

My only quibble with the book is it‘s a bit long in the detail at times. #Europacollective