Welcome to Litsy!

I loved the writing and the main character! And this book has one of the most accurate depictions of anxiety and panic attacks that I have read. 4.5⭐️

This was just the book I needed right NOW. I couldn‘t put it down - was awake half the night finishing it on audio. 😁

Last #BookReport of 2022. The first 3 were 4 🌟 reads and Snowflakes was a sweet palette cleanser. I am really loving Disappearing Earth on audio for #AuldLangSpine. Hope to finish The Diamond Eye tomorrow with Peach Blossom Spring next up in print.

#BookSpinBingo #December features lots of books to finish 2022 challenges. Let‘s see how I do…

Absolutely blown away by this book. It spoke to me on so many levels.
Thanks to the hideous weather I've spent yesterday and today binge reading. Now I feel bereft 😏🙄😊

Super pleased to have found this in a charity shop!

Casey is just trying to find a place to retreat to and in this case it‘s in writing her book. King brings the angst, loneliness, grief and anxiety of a young woman, as well as the camaraderie of coworkers fully on to the page. Because I was reading this in the middle of the nap between catnaps I feel I missed the emotional piece but I definitely liked how King pulled it all together. A low pick/high so-so. 🙂

Writers & Lovers: A Novel was tough to get through for me. The protagonist, Casey, is mourning her mother‘s death and this overshadows all elements of her life. She is conflicted about men, both wanting and not wanting relationships with multiple men. Her writing career has been a six year slog to reach the completion of her first novel. This book dragged for me and I did not find Casey to be a character that I ended up rooting for. Tough read.

This book captures the dread of being asked what you're doing with your life when you're mostly just trying to survive as authentically as you can. It showcases what it feels like for a phase in life to end, and another one to begin and all of the complicated feelings that accompany it. I loved the messy, relatable Casey. AND THE ENDING. Amazing ending.

Casey‘s life is a mess. Her mother died suddenly. A love affair ended. She‘s got a dead-end job as a server and thousands of dollars in debt. She‘s been trying to finish the novel she‘s been writing for six years. She suffers from crippling anxiety. Then she meets Silas. And Oscar. A coming-of-age story that is quirky and thoughtful and wholly delightful.

I've had this sitting on my e-reader for a long time. Glad I was finally prompted to read it. I loved how it felt so relevant for 2022 but took place in 1997. If anyone has any recommendations for other books by Lily King, I'd love to hear them! #buddyread

Book club meeting today!

Anna Louise Kallas is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Anna Louise Kallas's Personal Meeting Room

Join Zoom Meeting

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Leslie, I ❤️ this #RecipeSwap package so much!

Excited to read this book, love the bookmarks and of course the chocolate, but I can‘t wait to make your recipe!

Thank you so much, and thanks for hosting, @BennettBookworm ❤️

Books 36 and 37 of the year.

repost for @litsybookclub:

New month, new book. We are zooming this month and post will be up next week. Questions? Ask @Graciouswarriorprincess .

We hope that you join us in reading this book this month.

Original post: https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2405811

New month, new book. We are zooming this month and post will be up next week. Questions? Ask @Graciouswarriorprincess .

We hope that you join us in reading this book this month.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ ½ • It‘s fine! But I‘ll forget about it.

I picked this up from #BOTM #BOTMBacklog but decided to listen to it on audio. I honestly had no idea what it was going to be about and it‘s not my typical read. However, I was so engaged with this book. I never once was bored or wanted to bail. I didn‘t relate to Casey even though we were around the same age. Great read.

#pop22 Cutlery on cover
#DecadesReadingChallenge - Set in 1990s

“I squat there and think about how you get trained early on as a woman to perceive how others are perceiving you, at the great expense of what you yourself are feeling about them.”

Early to bed tonight. 😴

Oh my, this one really got me. It‘s about writers and lovers, of course, and also loss and grief and friendship, and then all the messy life stuff. I might have done some sobbing. It‘s quite funny too. In the best of ways it left me wrung out yet smiling.

“I don't write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don't, everything feels even worse“ (3).

“When I was visiting her a few years ago she hugged me and said, 'Tomorrow after you leave I will stand here at this window and remember that yesterday you were right here with me.'
And now she's dead and I have that feeling all the time, no matter where I stand“ (83).

I haven‘t had a chance to sit down and write a real review for this one, but I was a bit underwhelmed by it. It seems to be one of those books that most people love, so I‘m sad that I didn‘t. 3⭐️

This was my #DoubleSpin pick for December. @TheAromaofBooks

I loved Euphoria and I loved this just as much. I shall now put Lily King on my Must-Read list. I love how the cover looks like a chessboard and how Casey's thoughts and actions reflect strategies and thoughtful plans. I love how it shows the real life of a person. When life just keeps throwing bombs at you (death, debts, job loss,...) I love the struggles and accomplishments.

I love how I finished #WhoDisNewYear @BookishBelle list @monalyisha

It's been a miserable cold rainy day here today. But perfect weather for reading. I finished 2 books.
Apples Never Fall ⭐⭐⭐ Definitely TOO long (as others have said) but I was engrossed. Moriarty excells at unpacking the sheen on upper-middle class white womanhood & family life
Writers & Lovers ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Story of a beleaguered would-be novelist trying to stay true to her art and heart while keeping her head above water. Grounded in the details.

Lyrical. :)

#bookspin #bookspinbingo

This was a library book club selection (discussion takes place tomorrow. I was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this book.

I have failed, failed and really failed you all! Before leaving this morning, I forgot to look at the card who the amazing person was that sent me this #FFFS package. Thank you for this cuter than cute blanket, the books and yummy candy❤️❤️❤️ I love it all so much 🥰
And again I'm so sorry for the late post. Hang with me, I'm almost divorced....LOL
@Avanders
#fallingforfallswap

In the end I liked this quite a bit. My first Lily King! Went in with high expectations bc of how loved she is here and elsewhere. For much of the book I wasn‘t sure I was fully engaged, in part bc sometimes the dialogue and characters‘ choices felt a little…I don‘t know, trite, maybe? But the way we real-life characters talk and act is often pretty darn trite, I suppose. 🙂 I really liked the new-to-me audiobook narrator Stacey Glemboski.

I still haven‘t read this so I don‘t know how well it fits the prompt. I also just want to note that the old Saturday Night Live skit with Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch ruined the word “lover” for me. The one where they get in the hot tub and talk to strangers? And repeatedly use the word? I guess this is about me vs Will Ferrell. 🤣

#PersonVsLover #ConflictedWorlds

Book 29 | ⭐️5/5
I might give out 5 star ratings like Oprah gives out cars but I loved this book. Which I really wasn‘t expecting based on my initial thoughts and being an audiobook (which I notoriously dislike). Something in this book about a struggling 31 year old clicked & I already miss Casey‘s way of describing the world & I have an urge to pick up a pen for the first time in years.

How do you feel about books that are about readers/writers?

Started WRITERS & LOVERS as an audiobook book on my way to work yesterday. Almost stopped after the first 30 seconds but the description of life as a server pulled my attention back in. Still not sold on it but I‘ll give it a couple more days to flesh itself out.

How long do you wait before deciding to DNF a book?

This was an easy read but disappointing. I knew it was nothing like “Euphoria” but still expected something more than an improbable story of a down-on-her-luck aspiring novelist who makes it with her first book. This was book #4 of the Jason-Steve-Bev book club.

I ❤️ this book. It sucked me right in like a great summer read should, and I couldn‘t put it down. A couple of moments where it felt like things worked out a bit too neatly perhaps, but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless.

May wrap-up!
Finished: 13 books (a LOT for me!)
ARCs: Neon Gods by Katee Robert (modern Hades & Persephone romance, really enjoyed!)
Faves: Writers & Lovers, Disfigured, The Body Myth, Rosaline Palmer
Least favorite: The Ex Talk

I have been on a roll lately with books I have labeled as picks. This one is a pick ➕!

I loved Casey's story. She's a writer who lost her mom (both things I can identify with), has two very different men in her life, and a lump under her armpit.

The reader discovers what happens right alongside Casey. We don't know anything she doesn't, which makes for a fantastic ride.

King tells this story with humor and heart.

Fresh mani looking good with the cover of my book 😄💅

May TBR! Adding in a re-read of Six of Crows since I loved the Shadow & Bone show so much.

I have no idea where April went, but I‘m ready for May and another round of #BookSpinBingo. Thanks for hosting and everything you do @TheAromaofBooks 💕🌸

“I like myself when I‘m with you” ... “I‘m not sure that‘s being in love with me, that‘s being in love with you”

Wow, wow, wow did I love this book! Casey is a thirty something year old trying to find her place in the world and not give up her dreams. Her mother died unexpectedly and her death really unraveled Casey.
I loved the prose of this book. I loved Casey. I have only had one other book speak to me like this one.

"My mother was a real person. I am not a real person" My mother just barely survived COVID-19 and this book really gets that relationship.

Nice way to spend the evening.

“‘So, you gonna write the Great American Novel?‘ I‘m tired of that question. ‘You gonna cure ovarian cancer?‘”

I snorted. OBGYN small talk really is the worst. 😆

I loved everything about this book!!! Everything. I want to read everything the author has ever written or will write so I have ordered another book by her this morning

A year after we ordered it, I‘m reading in this tub now

Trying to get some colour while I read ☀️

🤩😍 In the first half of this book, I would have rated this ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Between 50-75%, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. By the end, it was a rare ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. I think I identify with Camila (Casey) more than I thought I would, although we are very different (age and life circumstances). I, too, quit expecting a lot out of myself because of situations I found myself in. I gave up on my writing too. I am slowly finding my way back to my true self. I have hope again.