Welcome to Litsy!

My husband and I are traveling in Romania right now. I love looking at books—even in languages that I can‘t read!

A sweet book, partly read digitally and partly read by audiobook.

Read for reading challenges

3.75/5

#CoverStories Day 6: #Clouds - had to pause my reading of this book as I go over the #ToB25 shortlisted titles. Wait for awhile, Fredrik Backman, I will get back to you soonest. 💕

Every time I finish a Fredrik Backman book I‘m sure it‘s my favorite. This one was no different. While some have found it convoluted, I found the grandmother‘s stories incredibly worth the time once their connection to the real world Elsa inhabits was revealed. I also loved Elsa‘s references to super heroes and fantasy series - she reminds me of my own wee girl when she was small. This one hit me in all the feels, y‘all. Five stars from me!

Très mignon ??

Oh Fredrik Backman. How I love you. At first I wasn‘t liking the fairy tale pieces to this one, felt it convoluted the story too much then he did what he was always does - he reveals the connections and the reasons and I was left with many tears while finishing. Loved it.

I‘m hoping Backman gives me all the greatness I need to finish out my reading year with an excellent read!

Fredrik Backman pulls all the feels from you …. Within a story that consist of a beautiful relationship between grandmother and granddaughter… this will have you wanting to fight for the main child character, engaged in the story, laughing at some of the antics, and crying all within the covers of this read. Loved every word and this author is in my top 5 loved authors list

This is one of those books that I‘ve been trying to get to forever. I started it years ago, and just finally finished it. I found it to be very sentimental. Everyone probably knows someone like Elsa‘s grandma, who did so much for Elsa out of love. I found the portions (and there were many of them) about the fairy tales to be a little much. I think I would have gotten the point with less. I am glad to have finally finished this book.

The story follows seven-year-old Elsa, a bright and imaginative girl who has a unique relationship with her eccentric grandmother. When her grandmother passes away, Elsa is tasked with delivering her grandmother‘s apologies to various people in their community. The end of this book had me in tears thinking of how horribly I miss my own grandmother. This book was a journey!

Better late than never? #two4tuesday
1- What is sleep? (PS normal sleeping kids aren‘t real) 😂
2- gosh I loved this book!

Here's a rare thing - a Fredrik Backman I didn't absolutely adore. I enjoyed it, I just wasn't as enraptured as I usually am. It has FB's familiar ultra-readable flow, but I failed to fully connect with it emotionally. It was, for me, perhaps a little too whimsy-mimsy - the imaginary land device got a tad tedious/repetitive & all the personal connections were a bit contrived. And the MC is just out-there unrealistic/unconvincing. But still a Pick!

#NewYearNewBooks @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#CloudsCover

#Grandparents 👵🏻 #NewYearNewBooks 🎆🥳📖

#BookNerd 🤓📚💙

#NewYearNewBooks Day 15 #Grandparents

I want to read this book, my grandmother was so special to me❤️❤️❤️

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I adored all the characters in this story; each of their eccentric personalities will stay with me a while. I loved how the story unfolded, how Elsa learns about and befriends her neighbors and the connections the neighbors have to one another. Elsa‘s emotions are raw and real in dealing with so much. I also really enjoyed the fairytale aspect of the story. And the ending is the typical feel good Backman ❤️ #pop23 ~a book you bought second hand

Love Backman but this wasn't a hit for me. A little too fantastical, way too many Harry Potter references [I've never read them, don't come at me] and I guess it just wasn't really my kind of story. I've read and enjoyed most of his books and this one was just so-so. 2.5 stars

I just started this book which I received from a fellow BookCrosser. This book had me in tears by the second chapter so that means it‘s a keeper (except that I‘ll release it through #BookCrossing when it‘s completed).

#TemptingTitles #With5PlusWords

It took me a while to warm up to A Man Called Ove and it‘s the same with this one. Hoping it pulls me in soon.

It's really weird how much I loved A Man Called Ove but can't stand this book. Something about the petulant too-smart kid trope just grated my nerves. I got 20% in and decided this wasn't a book for me.

Unfortunately I didn‘t like this like I wanted to. It was just so exhausting. So many Harry Potter references! Like SOOO many! And I‘m a HP fan!

This was a #trappedonanisland book and I‘m using it for #pop22 - board game in title (Sorry) !

#wondrouswednesday

1. I cry easily so I could name a dozen or more. But this title popped into my head first.

2. Urban fantasy - I love seeing this world with a twist, whether it be that magic is real or werewolves and vampires exist, but they exist in Atlanta or Chicago.

3. It‘s impossible to name just one. Some of my fave UF authors include Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Kevin Hearne, Jim Butcher, Darynda Jones, Charlaine Harris

I'll bet anything & everything that nobody has a grandmother as kooky & eccentric as Elsa does. Nor do they have one with as many fantastical stories to tell. This tale interweaves reality & fantasy &, more importantly, fantasy into reality, until the two worlds collide spectacularly and send us on an epic adventure. This plucky little protag & her loyal Wurse (mainly Wurse) are responsible for the endless amounts of tears I shed over this book.

Stopped at an antique store on the way home from GA where books and puzzles were buy one get one half off! Couldn't resist such a good deal 😁

Elsa deals with the loss of her grandmother by going on a hunt for letters left behind from her grandmother.

I enjoy the authors writing style immensely, he tends to make all the characters connected in a way to where each character no matter how minor has some kind of tug at your heart.

I wasn't quite sure at first if I'd enjoy this novel given all the woven in fairy tales, but about a third of the way in I began to truly enjoy it. There is so much empathy and the theme that everyone feels different and just wants to be loved makes this such a universal message. Great character development and an unpredictable plot.

I love the author‘s storytelling normally but this has been my least favorite so far, solely because of the fantasy angle. I‘m not a fan of world building but if I was then it would have been spot on. The narration of the audiobook was really well done.

Death‘s greatest power is not that it can make people die, but that it can make people want to stop living.

It‘s strange how quickly the significance of a certain smell can change, depending on what path it decides to take through the brain. It‘s strange how close love and fear live to each other.

My Grandmother Sends Her Regards And Apologises is a step above A Man Called Ove in literary terms, fusing stark Swedish realism with childhood imagination and fairy tales. While I didn‘t find Elsa quite as endearing a main character as darling old Ove, she still provided a humourous and poignant insight. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/my-grandmother-sends-her-regards-and-apolog...

Love all his books, and this lovely story was no exception.

#You #BeginsWith

This book was not what I expected but it was an okay read. I thought the relationship between grandmother and granddaughter was so sweet. It did tug at my heart in several parts.

I bailed on this book. I really tried to like it since I liked A Man Called Ove. Unfortunately, the fantasy parts of the story ruined it for me 😟

My beautiful grandparents, all in Heaven now. 💔

#GrandparentsDay
#FallTreasures

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs
#FallTreasures

Day 12 - #Grandparentsday

Another Backman read! I love his writing, every single one of his novels has enchanted me wholly. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this just because it was my last Fredrick Backman. I enjoyed that it took a long time to get into because it lasted longer. Overall, I do think it was ok. I hope he is still writing & releases a new book soon.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Backman‘s books just tug at my heartstrings. This wasn‘t my favorite (it‘s hard to compete with Ove), but I did like meeting pre-“Britt-Marie was here” Britt-Marie.

Not my favorite Backman, but I enjoyed it. I love his quirky and eccentric characters. What I loved most was the intense love seven-year-old Elsa's grandmother had for her, and all the ways she tried to protect and guide her. That was beautiful.
The last little bit at the end made me cry. So typical of Fredrik Backman, he gets me every time. 😅

I wanted to like this book, but it just fell flat for me. The writing was good, but the story bored me to pieces. I found I was forcing myself to read it each time I picked it up, leading to more time spent on it than I cared for. I threw in the towel halfway through. This wasn't the book for me, but I'm sure it could be for others.

I am still tackling, House of Leaves, but I have found it to be a rather challenging novel. It has proven to be very dark, heavy, and thought-provoking. I can honestly only take it in short strides, reading a bit at a time, it is rather dry too. So I went with a Backman book to read as well . . . Hope to even the playing field with these two very different novels. One is much more portable, bonus. 🤓

I finished this last year, after being given it by a colleague. I am now picking up another of his that has been sat on my bookshelf, 'A Man Called Ove'. I found the style of this 'My Grandmother...' book an adjustment because it rides along the borders of fantasy and imagination, blurring reality. A heartwarming grandmother/granddaughter relationship. ❤

Book 3 of 2021.
3rd Fredrik Backman book, 100 pages in.

This was so, so good. I wasn‘t expecting to cry at all reading this book but alas, I spent the last 50 pages or so crying.

This may be the last book I finish before the new year. To me, it started out pretty slowly and I didn't love it as much as other Backman books, but it ended up being a really lovely read.

#TeamReadNosedReindeer @StayCurious