Not bad!
Not bad!
You have to care about the Ivy League, books, the east coast & I think to be a certain age of reader to appreciate this. But appreciate I did! It was like a rom com and coming of age story with your college and childhood reading list threaded throughout. Deceptively simple & charming. Would love to adapt this into a play.
Everything started out fine, and then suddenly I kind of hated where this was going.. summer 90s vibes, and cape cod plus literary figures- all a big yes!! And then some weird stuff slipped in and I just wasn‘t into it anymore.
#falltreasures #adnf
I really need to give myself permission to dnf more. I‘ve read some real clunkers. This was one of the few that I just couldn‘t get into.
An easy breezy, light summer read. Yes, it was a bit cliched, but I found it went down easily and perfectly evoked summer.
Happy for a day off so I can start this book! It's been on my TBR ever since I saw it on a few BookToks. 🤓
Book 2/4 for #20in4 @Andrew65
Between a pick and a so-so
This was a quick read and kept me interested. But the ending was too abrupt and a bit of a let down
Eve leaves her job as assistant in a publishing firm in NYC to go to Cape Cod and become assistant to an established writer for the New Yorker mag. Her parents have had a summer home in Truro for years and she loves the Cape. Enter writer's son, ⬇️
If your looking for a quick summer read to escape the heat look no further....THE LAST BOOK PARTY is a lightweight love story, the book is a genuine coming-of-age story. I really enjoyed all the characters and the surroundings of Truro, it really was a page turner. The perfect literary companion to a relaxing day on the sand. This was Karen Dukess debut novel and I look forward to seeing more from this author.
This was an enjoyable, easy read. A familiar story but deftly told, if a little weightless somehow. Somewhere between a so-so and a pick for me, but I‘ll give it a thumbs up for the perfectly understated 80s of it all. Exhibit A: the font chosen for this particular cover. If you were around in 1987 & reading lots of books as, oh I don‘t know, let‘s say as a pretentious 18 year old for instance, then you know it‘s absolutely dead accurate.
Well, that was underwhelming. The writing was fine; I just didn‘t care for the characters. I also thought the ending was a little abrupt. I had just planned on reading all day but it was too beautiful, so I went for a walk and finished up the book. #audiowalk
Our protagonist is an idiot and I‘m having trouble drumming up any sympathy for her. These trails in the pic are new to me. I‘ve walked past them several times but only noticed them today. #audiowalk
It was a cold and gloomy day for a walk, but I enjoyed getting out. The Last Book Party is my new walking book; I‘m only a couple of chapters in, but so far, so good. #audiowalk
I wanted something to listen to for a couple of days while I did some housework and I found myself really getting into this. It‘s nothing profound just entertaining.
Fun, quick one sitting read. Not the deepest book I‘ve ever read but the author does a great job with the setting and just what I‘m looking for when it comes to vacation reading. Book 2 of winter break. #vacationreads #beachreads ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I found this a enjoyable easy read. Set in the 80s publishing world in NY, Eve is working at a publishing company not too happy. She goes to a party to a famous writer couple on Cape Cod. She then is offered and she accepts to be a research assistant for Henry Grey. There is a bit of adultery, coming of age story. #books
Really enjoyed it, books, writers/writing and Cape Cod. Gorgeous maps in the end papers.
Sorry for sharing this #ReadWithMrBook #debut a day late ?! So, I‘m torn between a pick & so-so with this shorter read. If you love books, the publishing world, Cape Cod, this‘ll work as a good beach read for you! The coming-of-age story kept me engaged but wasn‘t a wow, if that makes sense; maybe it moved too slow & seemed a tad cliché. It‘s worth a read for any bibliophile regardless ?. #PairWith: a Cape Codder (vodka & cranberry w/ lime) ?
I finished listening to this audiobook today. I quite liked it - set in the 80‘s, the main character working in publishing in NYC, then as an assistant to an author in Cape Cod. It is light, a coming of age story, a bit predictable, but engaging none the less due to a very likeable main character. Basically, it‘s a perfect beach read.
This line was a reminder that if your hobby becomes your job, you need to find a new hobby.
"The truth was, the business of publishing had not complemented my love of books or inspired me to write. Bookstores, once welcoming havens, no longer offered a sense of discovery." ?
Today's pick for #read99women, recommended by THE LOST VINTAGE author Ann Mah: http://www.greermacallister.com/blog/2020/2/29/read99women-ann-mah
@Come-read-with-me is finally back so we exchanged our #bookmas gifts. I was stunned! Everything in this package has a story. Thank you so much Paula. So glad to have you in my life ❤
#auldlangreads #party
This story opens with a snooty party that I really wasn't feeling so I returned the book back to the library without finishing.
What an awful bunch of assholes. The plot of this was predictable but I still loved it. Literary bastards sleeping around and being pretentious about it is one of my favorite tropes. I also enjoyed the familiar Cape Cod setting, having worked a couple summers there in undergrad.
A great start for my first readathon! #24b42020
“Why families so often act if there‘s only one role each child can play - the smart one, the nerdy one, the pretty one- and if an older sibling claims a certain territory, the others have to look elsewhere to find their niche. “ #quote #endpapers
I enjoyed this more than expected given the mixed reviews I‘ve been seeing. I thought the ‘climax‘ and ending were a little weak but up to that point I was really into the summery Cape Cod in the 80‘s vibe.
I really wish I‘d been reading this on a lovely beach rather than gearing up for Canadian winter. I‘ve only been to Cape Cod once to visit a cousin, but this book makes me want to angle for another invite.
😊☀️⛱🌊
#booksandbooze #catsoflitsy
I‘m missing this reading weather
I didn't like this one. I saw all of the rave reviews, but it didn't grab me.
10-16-19: My 84th finished book of 2019! #thelastbookparty #karendukess 👍🏼📖#️⃣8️⃣4️⃣😻
10-15-19: My reading partner for the afternoon. #thelastbookparty #karendukess #catsoflitsy #readingbuddies 📖😻
It was a lovely day to sit outside my library and finish this one up (and try to avoid buying books at the book sale). This was between a pick and so-so, but I enjoyed reading it. I liked the summer Cape Cod setting in this story of finding your own voice. 3.5⭐️
I really liked this book. A young woman looking to find her way in the literary world. She takes a summer job. She meets some men. She learns about herself.
#TBRtemptation post 3! Set in 1980s #NYC. 25-year-old aspiring writer Eve feels stuck in a low-level publishing assistant job. She gets invited to a Cape Cod summer party for renowned writer Henry Grey and his poet wife Tillie. She lands a job as Henry‘s research assistant and falls for Henry‘s artistic son. By the time of H & T‘s famed Book Party, where guests dress up as literary characters, she discovers 😳 truths. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎
Do you ever feel like starting over and being anonymous in a place you've never been before?
I may be in the minority, but I found this a perfect, little end-of-summer read. Nothing groundbreaking, but charming and enjoyable. An 80‘s set, Cape Cod location, a young bookish protagonist trying to find her way as a writer, a summer fling with an older man.... culminating in a Labor Day party where guests dress as favorite literary characters! Fun and throwaway but just what I needed after the storm stress of the last couple of weeks! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Why had I thought that the way things appeared—or even the way people said they were—had any relationship to reality? 📃🐚📚
I think I‘m in the minority‘s here but I really liked this one. I have tried to limit my review to the allotted space and just can‘t do it so I‘m skipping it. Suffice it to say I enjoyed it and if nothing else, it has a lot of bookish references and is a quick read!
Well, I love the cover even though it lacks an 80s feel. Except for some fun name-dropping of 80s titles, this was less than a meh for me. The author didn‘t develop Eve or Frannie into characters I cared about. Henry and Tillie‘s marriage or lack thereof was of no interest. Jeremy‘s story and the underdeveloped why of it could have been the most interesting aspect to unpack, but he was a secondary character.
"The Last Book Party" is just a giant cliche. I found the plot and the characters to be utterly predictable. The only surprising revelation revolved around Jeremy and what I found out about him only made me dislike him as much as the rest of the characters. Glad this was a quick read. ?
the author lost me with the faulty Cape Cod reference on page 30-something and never really redeemed herself. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I really thought I would like this book and I did not. I found the main character annoying and unrelatable. The narrative of the story felt very disjointed. I was grateful it was a relatively short book.