Welcome to Litsy!

Something about the way this is described as quiet, dreamy, & timeless had me always passing it by on the shelf even though it‘s been glowingly recommended my entire life. Those descriptors are certainly accurate, but this is also more. It‘s full of contradictions & quirky characters. I love that this revels in the painfully awkward stage of growing from girlhood to womanhood without being either painful or awkward.👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼

My reading plans this weekend. Today I‘m reading I Capture The Castle, which has been on my reading list (and my bookshelf) a good deal longer than 5 years so I‘m thrilled for the push to get to it! I should finish it this weekend, I may or may not get to some of the others after… #LitsyLove Readathon @StayCurious @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @LitsyLove

I write this sitting in the kitchen sink. #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

This classic has been on my shelf for a while, and it was worth the read. The narrator is perhaps a little too self-aware, but the story itself was heartfelt and full of feels.
Using this for #quietyabook for #booked2023
#192025 #1948

This month‘s #bookspin and #doublespin selections. The tagged book is also one of my #Roll100 books this month and has been sitting unread on my bookshelf for years, so I think the universe has spoken. @TheAromaofBooks @PuddleJumper

Next month‘s #Roll100 selections. Guess it‘s time to get to work on my February reading list! @PuddleJumper

“I know all about the facts of life and I don‘t think much of them.” 🤣 Cassandra Mortmain, 17

Soft pick for me. It took forever to finish (life, not the book‘s fault) and I really liked the voice but was disappointed in the love…octagon? Whatever it was. I hated the shiftless father and thought Rose was pretty awful, too. Topaz was mostly humorous, and I liked Stephen pretty well. Overall good but I hoped for more.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” I was so confused when I first read this, but now that I‘m more than half way through, it makes me smile. It‘s so totally the main character, Cassandra and her obsessive need to write (the kitchen window brings in the day‘s last bit of light).

🤷🏻‍♀️Can‘t believe I‘d never heard of this amazing book until a few months ago on Litsy! Quirky family, warmth, a feisty young writer in a crumbling castle… 😍 I‘m like 60+ years late to this party! 🤣 What a great read!

#manicmonday @CBee
#LetterI

📕 Tagged

✍️ Kazuo Ishiguro

📺 I dream of Jeannie

🎤 Iron Maiden

🎵 In my darkest hour - Megadeth

Dreamy and romantic with a interesting main character!

#alphabetgame

I capture the castle is my pick for the letter I. Such a lovely read that I wish I‘d read sooner

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This book is ridiculously charming, if a little short on believable romantic developments. The Mortmains and the Cottons have such VITALITY, though. #classics

Another of my favorites is a #kindledeal today. #kindle #ebook

This classic would have resonated with me more if I'd read it closer to the protagonist Cassandra's age (17). But it was a wonderful reminder of how I thought and experienced life at that age, despite being set in 1930s England / written in the 40s. What an interesting cast, portrayed honestly but lovingly by Cassandra. I loved how the story played with a Pride and Prejudice setup and then turned it upside down. The ending truly surprised me!!

Picked up my new kitty today. Settled in for a book while she ignores me. 😹 #catsoflitsy

11 Nov-20 Jun 22
Not the best circumstances. Started reading to Polly at a time when she decided she would rather me not read any more. Eventually switched to audio, but Polly had lost interest and I only persisted because I wanted to watch the movie. I did not pick the ending, possibly because we lost the thread on the way through. A very soft pick as it was us, not the book. I did like the characters, particularly the narrator. And Topaz.

I see you, adult men on Goodreads giving this book negative reviews because a) it's about a young woman and you just can't take any young woman seriously or it might erode your manhood (did it occur to you this book isn't written for you?)

or b) asserting your enjoyment despite yourself, joking ironically (you're not being sexist it's a joke ladies!) about how its femininity might rub off on you.

FYI guys, this is what sexism looks like.

Unpopular opinion o‘clock! I loved the first half. I absolutely hated the second half.

I was unquestionably charmed by this book, but I got annoyed by Cassandra‘s melodrama near the end. I think I would have absolutely adored this book as a teenager when everything had *meaning* and was full of *possibility* and you thought nonstop about your first kiss. As it was, the love triangles pushed this a little off the rails for me, but the other plot points kept me very interested and entertained. So glad I finally read this gem!

Today‘s #BookMail
BOTM and I couldn‘t resist this copy of I Capture the Castle for a reread for #NYWD.

Current reads: listening to H. Jon Benjamin‘s memoir (didn‘t know he wrote one until I found it while browsing Libby last night!) while I finish stitching this belated Christmas present for my grandma. Finally, finally, finally starting I Capture the Castle after many, many years on my TBR! #audiostitching #crossstitch

This book has been on my tbr shelf for probably 20 years and my reading radar for way longer than that. It is the charming, delightful story of 17-year-old Cassandra who lives in a crumbling castle with her eccentric father, stepmother, older sister and younger brother. Their lives change when the American grandsons of the castle‘s owner arrive. Loved it.

Why did I wait so long to read this book? It‘s a very nice story, I loved Cassandra. I had to look to see when this was written, it was hard to place a time period on the story at the beginning.

This is the copy you sent for my LFL @AmyG . I‘m so glad I read it before putting it out there. Now someone else in my neighborhood can enjoy it 🙂.

Venkman‘s favorite character was Heloise. 🐕🐈‍⬛

I'm really behind in posting reviews so I'm combining these two since I read them back-to-back and and they both have British rural life as the setting for the action. And both have naive narrators. “Self-consciously naive“ in the case of Cassandra and perhaps a bit self-deluded on the part of Leo. The Go-Between is set at the turn of the 19th century and I Capture the Castle is set in the 1930s.
#BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks #nyrbbookclub

Quirky and enchanting!

#castle #julyjourneys @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

It's very ambitious for me, I know. But I've already finished two of the books in the top row, which are my priorities. The Sherman Alexie is a re-read. I should be able to finish the top row and maybe a couple of others! I can do it! I can do it! I can do it! 😂

#WeeklyReport
@cinfhen

Very happy to have this tagged book as my July #bookspin! It's been on my #TBR for so long! I also have hundreds of short stories to check out, so it's not going to be a problem finding one to read for #doublespin. Looking forward to July reading!
😀 👍

How can it be July already? Here is my #BookSpin list. Getting even two books read will be a challenge given my long list of reading commitments and going back to in-office work. I find I'm really resentful of that commuting time! I know, first world problems! 😬

@TheAromaofBooks

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved this book. Charming and poignant with a wonderful young narrator. Definitely a must read

📚 Hoping to start this one today
Have you read it? 📚

I haven't posted a #bookspin in over a year. The whole last year just threw off any plans or moods I might have had. But I'm back to try again! I've added in some random mood read choices and short stories that should fit my current reading aura better.

I did manage to read about half of my #bookspin original list. So this is a mostly new list and I'm looking forward to reading ANY of the titles on it! Let the spinning begin!

@TheAromaofBooks

Hello! Realized my #reread matched my outfit for tonight‘s Zoom meeting. I finished boxing up the kid lit shelf and now working on the bigger adult shelf. 20 days in counting before we‘re Missouri bound. Also! My future library was kind enough to send me a digital library card until I move over. Who does that?! Certainly not the system where I am currently.
#bookmail #currentlyreading #springreads

There were a few books featuring castles in the story or title that I could have used for this prompt, but this novel from Smith is a real favorite. A bittersweet story of first love and adolescence. ❤️

#LitsySpringBreak. Castle 🏰

Okay: I'll admit it. I'm in a reading slump. I think I know the *kind* of thing I'd like to read...but I've been wrong before. 😅

Now seeking: I Capture the Castle read-alikes.

Charming & quietly eccentric characters, strong setting, bucolic. Something sort-of gentle & wandering & thoughtful.

Any suggestions for me?

I am really enjoying this 1948 classic. And, you might notice I have also been traveling vicariously through my Viking River Cruises brochure. 😔

At 11 hrs 22 mins for #20in4. I won‘t get to 20, but hoping to add a few more hours today.

Cassandra is an English teen living in a rundown, rented, castle with her eccentric family. She records her life in her journal and things start to get interesting when they meet 2 rich American brothers.

“I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.”

#firstlinefridays @ShyBookOwl

A truly enjoyable book about a “quirky”, money-strapped family living in a rented castle. The fun begins when the new neighbors arrive. I loved Cassandra, the young narrator.

Thank you @Soubhiville @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
I got two copies and one went to my daughter...who seems to be enjoying it, too!

I shall begin this while the husband watches football. Win win for us both.

I forgot who it was, but someone or two on Litsy said it was their most favorite book. So I had to read it!

Grabbed the audio version of this and what a fun experience! It turned out to be an audio play and was only 2 hours. The story is very quirky, the characters interesting. And I just found out that Smith also wrote 101 Dalmatians.

When the sun hits just right ✨

A woman on the brink of finding herself & love lives in a ruined castle where splendor & failure abound and hope springs with every midsummer‘s eve ritual. Many stories are so gently told: the longing for a childhood place; sibling jealousy; the carousel of unrequited love; the tricky benevolence of rich people & the despair of the poor; & the loss of what was never yours. Superb. (more) https://www.facebook.com/1082882538/posts/10221570329822587/

The most wonderful thing about Litsy is the friends I‘ve made. Thank you, my dear friend @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for this lovely box if joy. I have been dying to read both of those. And all the goodies...you are too generous. I love the halloween “jar” of clips, pushpins and bookmarks(very clever)! And Chapstick- I have an unhealthy love for lip balm. I love it all. 🤣 You‘re the best. Thank you so much. 😘

Hello new favourite read!

You all, this is one of the most beautiful diary/journal entry i have read.

✍️: Fantastic narrator (one of the best I have come across). She is FUNNY (among all the other things)
👨👩🏼: A brilliant cast of characters
🌃 🏞️ 🌄: Lots of great descriptions of architecture, nature, English countryside, weather etc.
🧬: Great observations and experiences about life, its sorrows and joys

I am so glad i read this.

LOVING this.

#tarottakeover @Meaw_catlady @ErinSueMreads

Today's other tarot prompt is the Page of Cups which symbolizes creative possibilities. I can't think of any book more suited to creative possibilities than I Capture the Castle, which is a story about a young woman who throughout the course of the book discovers the depth of her love of writing! 🖋💖

I found myself relating strongly to Cassandra: her love of history, nature, family, journaling, music, &, most of all, her desire to talk about & examine herself & her interests all felt familiar & friendly to me. Her family members are one absurdity after another &, since I don't have to live with them, I felt all the affection for them that she did. But the last third, while still enjoyable, ventured a little too much into farce for me. ⬇️