Welcome to Litsy!

A tight knit mom squad develops fissures in their group during the competitive and high stakes entry rounds for their children ti be approved ti attend a new gifted school. Shocked at the lengths parents go to push their children into what they think is best for them. Tessa &Xander the chess guru was my fav! A slow start but fast finish as this story grips you!

This book was kind of good, kind of a drag, very reminiscent of Big Little Lies but not as good…

Read for reading prompts.

Library book 📖

3.75/5

A fun novel about parents lying and cheating to get their kids in the new ‘school for gifted children‘. It‘s recognisable at times, a bit too much Desperate Housewives at times and over the top most of the time. However,I listened to it on audio and that was perfect while doing other things. A light pick.

My #bookspin for Feb was The Gifted School, and I finished it tonight. I tried it on audio first but there were so many characters to keep track of, so I switched to print. A fascinating mess of a community. @TheAromaofBooks

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
While the ending maybe was a tad disappointing, I really enjoyed this one. It had major Big Little Lies (which I LOVED) vibes. I really liked Holsinger's writing style, enough to borrow his Displacements off Libby to start tonight.

#scarathlon points: 5+1+(10hours x 4 thons x 10)=406 #teamslaughter @Clwojick #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks #31by31 @Catsandbooks #spookaween2022 @TheSpineView

#SaturdayMorningVibes

This was an entertaining read about competitive parents and the lengths they would go to in order to get their kids into a gifted magnet school. It was entertaining because it was true 😬

#FallTreasures
Day One: School Days

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

This is my #bookspin for July. It's a good story, but
it's written in the 3rd person pov and I can't stand it. I like reading books that make me lose myself in them and the 3rd pov keeps me feeling detached, so I'm never able to get through these kinds of books. I read about 10 percent of the novel before giving up, but I was struggling to do so.
@TheAromaofBooks

Ehhh. It was an easy read and parts of it were interesting but the ending left me somewhat unfulfilled.

I have taught these kinds of children.
I‘ve had to deal with their entitled parents.
I can see cliché scenarios like these play out in real life.

I breezed through this one! It has a whiff of Big Little Lies, though the parents here are friends whose children are all vying for coveted spots in a new “gifted school.” Shenanigans ensue.

Next up! #ImmersionReading

Look what arrived today!!! Thank you SO MUCH @BarbaraBB I‘m super excited to #BuddyRead the tagged book with you. I do remember discussing this one way back🧡I‘ve already bit into the chocolate 🍫 I can‘t resist anything chocolate & mint!!! It‘s delicious 😋 I‘m so grateful for our friendship, I truly consider you a friend 👯‍♂️Happy Holidays and best wishes for the New Year/ much love xxx

Pick!
A tight-knit group of friends is torn apart when their wealthy Colorado community opens a school for highly gifted children who must pass rigorous testing for admission. The author hit on many parental insecurities and the stress of the children who bear their parents‘ expectations.
(I especially related to Emma Q. Did Holsinger see straight into my head?!)

Finally finished this book after several checkouts from the library. (Not having a lot of spare time ugh) The book was good and the ending I did not see coming. This book looks at the lives of several friends, the ups and downs of friendship. It was a long book but I did enjoy it!

Four close friends vie for a coveted spot for their children at Crystal‘s new “gifted school,” a quietly vicious competition that threatens to destroy their families and friendships in the process.

Read July 11-16
Rated 4.5/5 ⭐️
Book 28/60

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I cant believe I slept on this book for so long! It was definitely on the longer side, but the ending was worth it. Great fiction read!

I totally forgot this was coming my way, so it was such a pleasant surprise to find it in the mail today! 😀💕📚 Thank you so so so much, @InBooksILive !! You are the absolute BEST! 🤗 I can't wait to dive in!

Susan, Tara, and Meredith discuss Bruce Holsinger's The Gifted School, with its stressed-out parents, fascinating children, and tons of drama! Listen at
eclecticreaders.fireside.fm/85 or in your favorite podcast app under Eclectic Readers and let us know your thoughts!

The exclusive gifted school brings out the worst in the parents & at times their kids. It does so in different ways though, which was interesting to watch. The parents believe they're doing what's best for their kids; yet their mistakes are perfectly obvious. While we know the kids are the ones who will suffer from all this bad behavior, they're not quite as fleshed out. As interesting & compelling as I found the story, I wanted more of an ending.

#readyoursign #cancer
Published during Cancer

I read this one in a day - it hooks you fast & it hooks you hard.
The story follows 4 families, headed by the mothers who are friends, as a new school for gifted & talented students opens. Reminiscent of Big Little Lies, there‘s a big cast of characters with lots of secrets, big & small.
Maybe not life-changing, but resonates in today‘s parenting.

Starting this one since they had it available digitally at the library. 2 books going and one that I still need to finish. I need more time lol!! 🤣

New month, new book!

I had a small cup of Coke with dinner - the most caffeine I've had in literally months. Now it's 1 A.M. and 100 pages later... #Oops!

Interesting.

This book was fascinating—-and not all that shocking. The length people will go to in order to get their kids into “the” school, whether fictional or not, will never cease to amaze me.

Today, I intend to relax, read, drink coffee, eat shortbread, and set work aside. Be well, Littens. #flattenthecurve

Three stars for literary qualities, four stars for FUN!

I struggled to decide where this was a pick or so-so. I decided on pick because it is a very well done literary work with interesting characters and plot with insights on parenting and privilege. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped.

Lots of great reads this month: Dry, Children‘s Blizzard, Truly Devious were favorites! #swensonreads #swensonreads20

loved reading this book fourth in #homegirlsread, as K could read the comments, notes, and questions from my three high school besties in the margins. But I didn't buy any of the characters as real people. I wanted more ⭐⭐⭐

Checked this one out on a whim. Hoping to get some pages read during my weekend off. 🤞🏽

I listened to this book about the drama that ensues in a well-off neighborhood when a new school opens for gifted students. The idea is better than the execution. Very soap opera-esque, none of the characters are likable or even really despisable. The voice actor's voicing of the young boys was grating.

I have so little sympathy for the characters in this book I have been reading it for a month and now only read it at bars🤷🏼‍♀️ #booksandbooze

I didn‘t like anyone in this book. Everybody was a hot mess. That being said, I couldn‘t put it down.
#24B4Monday time: 17:51
@Andrew65 @jb72 @TheReadingMermaid

Morning start time and the books I‘m working my way through. The top two are audiobooks. The first two on the bottom are library books. The last one I‘m finishing up for the #MaeveBinchyBuddyRead Today looks very promising. So far.
#24B4Monday
@Andrew65 @jb72 @TheReadingMermaid

I'm the fourth (and last) one to read this and I cannot wait to see the thoughts of my three best friends while I do #homegirlsread #booksandbooze

This is a very slow burn for the first 50-75%. I had a hard time keeping all the characters/relationships straight (there are 2 girls named Emma!) so by the time things got interesting I was still a little lost. I think I would have done better reading vs audio. It was however hard to look away. #parentsbehavingbadly

1. Best thing-my sister @TerriGreen and my niece came to visit for a few days. It was so great having them here. I haven‘t seen them in over a year and we got to talk books 🥰. 2. Weekend plans-just set up a surprise trip to Legoland with my kiddos. Should be fun. Never been there before. 3. 20 minutes left in audio of The Gifted School Thanks for the tag @LibrarianRyan #thoughtfulthursday

Insidious, these false versions of superiority and ease we project onto other families: how often they blind us to the surer comforts of our own ♟♟♟

I really enjoyed this book, and I think it would make an excellent one to talk about at a book club of parents. I didn‘t understand why the distinct voices were chosen as narrators above some of the other options until about 35% in, and from there on out I couldn‘t stop listening.

Unrelated photo of a gift I received with me superimposed on it (the top part, which was cut off, read “you can‘t please everyone...”)

This give me Big Little Lies vibes. Anyone else get that feeling? Four families, all competing for a spot at the gifted school. Will they stay friends? (Oh I‘m guessing absolutely not. No spoilers please!)

This is the story of 4 families brought together 10 years ago by a chance meeting of the wives as they navigate their friendships, marriages, finances, & parenting trials while competing to get the kids into a school for gifted kids. Like the proverbial train wreck, I couldn't look away as I watched these relationships explode and implode. I'd like to see where these characters are 5 years from now. Maybe from different POVs.

Last read for 2019 finished just under the wire.

Happy New Year, Everyone!!!

Starting this one now. #SetInColorado

Thank you so much @MidnightBookGirl for the AWESOME book and chocolate! I am so excited and this gift (and my mimosa) are really putting me in the Christmas spirit. #jolabokaflodswap #litsyswaps 🌲⭐️💛🍾🎅🎁📚 @MaleficentBookDragon thanks for organizing!

Had to bail on this one. Too many points of view and too few likeable characters. Also, Tessa's reckless behavior had me cringing. Anyway, time to read "Instacrush"! I'm in the mood for a good hockey romance story. The fact that it takes place around Christmas? Bonus! ??❤?

I finished this #TBR read earlier today and it was better then I expected. I thought it would be all about the parents but I really enjoyed the perspective of the children.

#Teamfestivus @wanderinglynn

#WinterGames @Clwojick @StayCurious