Welcome to Litsy!

By chance, this was the second P&P retelling I‘ve read this month and I by far preferred this one. It was creative and fun. I felt drawn in by both of the leads and liked the way she played with changing it up a bit.

August stats! I finished my massive SKIP BEAT! reread at long last and caught up on all the LEGEND OF KORRA comics my library has, which gave me a bump.

No new-to-me 5-star reads last month, but I did find three 4.5ers: the tagged book, GENDER QUEER by Maia Kobabe, and SKIP BEAT! VOL 42 by Yoshiki Nakamura.

I‘m disappointed with my TBR reduction. Gotta focus in September so I can hit my goal of 250 unread books or less by 2020.

Next up...
#AustenAdaptation

I‘m a Sonali Dev fan rather than a P&P addict, so I approached this loose, gender swapped retelling a little differently than many of y‘all—and oooh boy, did Dev ever deliver for me!

PP&OF reads more like a family drama with romantic components than a full-on romance. Dev‘s characters deal with complicated sibling relationships and familial strife in ways reminiscent of their Austenian forebears but still firmly rooted in their own emotional ⬇️

Same old breakfast, plus a bit of leftover bacon and some tomatoes from my neighbour‘s garden.

I still feel crappy, but this great book‘s helping. I want to hunker down and finish it today, starting with a looooooong reading session on my bike. Gotta get some endorphins.

My reading buddy has made me feel better about the whole world. This guy is a seriously good snuggler.

It looks like PRIDE, PREJUDICE, AND OTHER FLAVOURS is destined for the Loved It column on my Sonali Dev checklist, too. I‘m a little less than halfway through and I‘m totally into it.

I‘m having a sad night. My cousin‘s son got married this evening and I‘m the only local on my side of the family who wasn‘t invited. The decision made sense, but it‘s shaken loose a bunch of longstanding family-related woes. Especially since the protagonists of Sonali Dev‘s latest also stand outside their families‘ inner circles.

So I had sorta-poutine for supper, and I drank a nice little Red Roof Lager, and I‘m gonna read all night.

New book over breakfast. Traditionally, I either love the hell out of Sonali Dev‘s books or find them disappointing. No in-between. It‘s too early to see which side this one‘ll fall on.

This made me hungry. So very hungry. You could almost smell the food coming through the pages. I always complain about the lack of dessert options at Indian restaurants. Here we have a chef making glorious Indian feasts that end with things like Saffron Creme Brulee. Yes there are some problematic moments, but then DJ would cook and I was in love. It's inspired me to cook. Appropriate on Julia Childs Birthday. 👨‍🍳🎂👩‍🍳
#austeninaugust2019

This was my favorite retelling of Pride and Prejudice to date. Super fun. Definitely recommend.

Happy #austeninaugust2019!
I've been saving these Modern Day Retellings of Pride and Prejudice for this month. Looking forward to seeing how the story works in different cultures. I've got Gin Austen for Cocktails and Be More Jane for Inspiration. (I'll tag them in the comments.) This month's Classic will Sense and Sensibility. I'm will be listening to it on Audible. Rosemund Pike has such a lovely voice. I'm sure it will be delightful.
#tbr

This book made me hungry. Craved Indian food for days. Cute take on P&P. First time I read Sonali Dev, will not be the last time. Especially if she writes more about this family.

I feel like p&p retellings are big right now. This one had an twist of people whose family come from India, but are American and dealing with that cultural difference.

Book five done for the #24in48 readathon. Thank you @DGRachel for sending me this book!

#24in48 #readathon
Book # 4 complete & closing in on 13 hours. I got waylaid a bit on the phone tonight but I'm going to move to an e-book & try to crank another few hours out before crashing.

I really enjoyed this one. It definitely has the P&P spirit & some originality too. I'm excited for the upcoming books in the series that will be based on other Austen works to come out. I especially liked the characters, SF setting & of course the food.😋

#24in48 #readathon
Hour 18: Romance Challenge
I grew up on my aunt's 70s-80s Harlequins. In junior high I took home bags of them with a few eyebrow-raising bodice rippers hidden at the bottom when we went to her house for dinner. Nowadays I still like romance as a pallet cleanser especially if it is humorous (Molly Harper's series) or is a Pride and Prejudice modernization or retelling. 😍I've read the bottom 3 & the top 2 are current #TBR picks

Great library haul today! #romantsy #graphicnovel

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I love Sonali Dec and she is a must-read author for me. Her first 4 books are among my favorite #romancenovels . Her newest didn‘t quite rise to the same level for me. There was much to like here, but two things brought it down for me. One, it was a little too on-the-nose about being a P&P retelling. Secondly, I felt like it needed a bit more editing. While this one didn‘t blow me away, I will definitely read on in the series.

So unlike quite a few of the other reviewers, I loved this book and the retelling. No spoilers, but I do think this is something you should read for yourself and then decide how you feel.

My feelings are...complicated. The descriptions of food were mouth-watering and I was interested in the gender-swapped aspect of the retelling. But this book left me cold. I didn‘t buy the chemistry between the two leads and some of the storylines were troubling (including a truly terrible #metoo take). I‘ve enjoyed Sonali Dev‘s previous work so this was disappointing.

Today's soup & #soupersundays blog post is a Middle Eastern Leek & Veggie Soup with Dilled Yogurt & Sumac, heavily adapted from a Diana Henry recipe for steam leeks with the yogurt sauce. Even though it's a steamy day here, the soup isn't too heavy & the zucchini, lemon, spices & dilled yogurt topping keep it fresh & cooling. Link to recipe👇🏻

I am just starting this one & I am excited because P&P variations & retellings are my catnip! 😉😻

A little gem of a read, guaranteed to pull at your heartstrings. Except for the annoying thing I posted about just before, I really liked it! #romantsy

This constant that's-what-he/she-wanted-to-say-but-this-is-what-he/she-said-instead is annoying as hell. Done once or twice would have been okay, but not all throughout the book. It's violent thoughts-inducing. #romantsy

I hardly ever like Pride and Prejudice adaptations, I can't resist reading every one either. I had no high hopes for this book. But I absolutely loved it. One of the best PnP retellings I have ever read. It had the original spirit of Austen without trying too hard. All the elements of PnP that I love were there, but it was still unique and natural. It was sweet and funny. I would recommend to fellow Austenites.

Book mail is the BEST mail.❤️📚❤️

This was an intriguing homage to its namesake and I was interested in the character development of the players. I‘m giving this a pick that is precariously close to a so-so because
1. HIPPA rules, y‘all.
2. Trisha was a bit wonky for how well-educated and cultured she should be.
3. It was unnecessarily repetitive in parts

Day 7 of #WanderingJune with #californication #CurrentReadMatchesDailyChallengeAgain
 @cinfhen @BarbaraBB

Not a great exercise week as I had a small surgical procedure done, but almost made my two hour goal before it. I did finish another audio book though. #unpopularopinion I did not love this book as much as I wanted to. The main characters were just so unpleasant for the majority of the book I almost dnf. I enjoyed the ending though! An interesting twist on P&P. @wanderinglynn #BFC

After I finished Sonali Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, I still felt as if I was in the world she'd built. She took the most essential parts of Pride and Prejudice and transformed them, building a modern world in the midst of an Indian family living in America. Dr. Trisha Raje, the protagonist, has been (sort of) disowned by her family after a mysterious mistake that threatens her brother's political career. (continued in comments)

1. Listening to tagged, also reading The Promise by R L Mathewson.
2. Next up is Beauty by Robin McKinley
3. The Bride Test by Helen Hoang, a great book
#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

I had a little trouble getting into this, which annoyed me as an Austen fan. I think it‘s because Dev introduces SO MANY characters at once, so we‘re trying to sort out who‘s who and who has history, etc because it‘s very expansive instead of insular. But once I got past the first 40 pages I was able to sink right in. I loved how Dev did a “remix” of the characters so that (Wickham aside) none of them are direct analogues to their originals.

#JAbookAdaptation

A modern take on the classic Pride and Prejudice.

Just started this one and I‘m already loving it.

Slowwwww burn, kind of enemies-to-lovers romance. I really enjoyed and so did my cuddle buddy 🥰

BOOK MAIL CAME TODAY! Can't wait to read these!

I see other people calling this a slow burn, but I think it‘s just the first 500 pages of a like 2000-page story about the Rajes, so I have a little more patience. That said, I will never forgive the dad or the mom, and I am not so fond of Trish‘s siblings either. That woman needs some distance from her hell family, but she is not gonna get it because ... MANY MORE BOOKS TK. Yes, some Austenian (& Dickensian) flavors/ influences in a modern tale.

📚 Tagged, plus four nonfiction books from which I keep posting quotes. 😂
📚📚 🤔 I literally have no idea? Maybe Sharon Levy‘s The Marsh Builders? Will put in comments (a wonderful #science book!)
📚📚📚 Love the ferns and firs of our area, the camas, and most of all, the trillium. #PNW #FernGully

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

Thank you @DGRachel for sending me this book along with your sweet note on the City Lights Bookstore postcard. You‘re so sweet and the best!!!

Such a cute read so far! Predicable but enjoyable.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and i am so excited to start reading it! It has two of my favorite things: retelling of Pride and Prejudice and a book set in San Francisco!

Just starting this one. As I‘ve said, I‘ll read ANY P&P adaptation or retelling, and I have read many - last month a Pakistani one, this month an Indian one! Always appreciate Sonali Dev‘s books too. #PrideAndPrejudice #romance (bought it on Kobo)

This is a reluctant pick. It is the slowest of slow burns, and while it shares some key elements with P&P like issues of class and privilege, misunderstandings, and an evil Wickham character, it‘s painfully slow in the beginning. It takes 400 pages to get to the details of the terrible thing Trisha supposedly did 15 years earlier. But, the last 100 pages make up for the s l o w start, and it left me with a warm, fuzzy feeling, so it gets a pick.

Do I know how to party on a Friday night or what?
#bookandbailey #readingbuddy #dogsoflitsy #pitbullsoflitsy

I love a book with Jane Austen flavor. This wasn‘t really a retelling of Pride & Prejudice just more like lots of gentle nods to the great work. That being said this book was a wee bit disjointed. There were some confusing parts where it seemed like Trisha had been estranged from her family for 15 years but no they are close? I didn‘t understand that part. And the romance felt a little forced and I wasn‘t that interested in it. (con‘t in comments)

Apparently I entered and won a giveaway for this book and managed to completely forget about it. 🤦🏻‍♀️ This was a welcome, pleasant surprise after a day at work where I wanted to murder a project manager. 🤣🤣
#bookmail #surprise #austenretelling #bollywood

#spiceupyourlife with another P&P retelling! I‘m not sure I‘ll find a retelling that can impress me as much as Eligible but I‘ll give it a shot. #anglophileapril

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the romance I like best are inspired by Jane Austen. This one is not a retelling, but had fun references to Pride & Prejudice as well as other Austen works. Trisha Raje, of an elite Indian background, finds herself falling for Darcy, the cook who was hired for her brother's political dinners. Excellent fun which made me want to read more by Sonali Dev.

I read an eARC; the book is due out in May.

Continuing my streak of fluffy books with this Pride and Prejudice retelling.

I love #Netgalley. I downloaded these four books tonight. Anthony Horowitz‘s and Balli Kaye Jaswal‘s new books. The other two just looked fun! 😀📚📖