Welcome to Litsy!

#12booksof2023 November - had to pick 2 this month! @Andrew65

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 I cheated a bit and got an early start on the #AuldLangSpine recommendations from @JenReadsAlot and this was a delight. Loved the interwoven story of three women working in a book shop in post-war London and their fight to move beyond their limited roles and past being underestimated and overlooked.

Catching up with #12booksof2023!

I read this with my book club and I loved it, even though we didn‘t realize this was a sequel.

✅ girl power
✅ historical fiction
✅ set in a bookstore

Thank you for hosting @Andrew65 !

Thank you so much @dabbe ! I did really want this book! And I can‘t wait to try the chocolate, I‘ve never had See‘s but have heard good things! ❤️🎄🍫🤶#Jolabokaflod

Thank you for organizing @MaleficentBookDragon

1. Tagged!
2. Not sure since 95% of them are holiday books! I'm ready for #wintergames to start!
Thanks @peaknit @TheSpineView #two4tuesday

Loved this! Snuck in one more pick from @Jerdencon #auldlangspine list! @monalyisha

I‘m behind in posting, since I finished this on Friday. That‘s what happens when you‘re on vacation. An enjoyable read, very character driven. I haven‘t read anything else by this author, and I definitely want to check out her other books. Photo of one of the waterfalls we‘ve seen the past few days.

“…a midnight walk to the Orchard, the tea garden in Grantchester, falling asleep in green canvas deck chairs under the blossoming fruit trees…”

It‘s always fun to see a reference to a special place where you‘ve been. I‘ve sat in one of those deck chairs, among the fruit trees!

Started this today, and I‘m really hooked. Glad I brought this along on vacation. I don‘t usually bring library books when I travel.

I loved this book about three women who work at Bloomsbury bookshop and their lives. It continues on from The Jane Austen Society which I also enjoyed.

“The key my dear, just so you know, is to decorate English, eat Italian, and dress French.”

#TitleStartsWithaB #MarchMagic
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Another pick from my #AuldLangSpine partner @BookNAround - when I realized it was second in a series I figured I‘d start with The Jane Austen Society, low and behold it was already on my kindle. I must have grabbed it on a deal, serendipitous! Both were very enjoyable and had likable characters. 🌟

I loved getting to know Vivien, Grace, and Evie in October. Their stories were powerful and beautifully written. #12BooksOf2022 @Andrew65

This was a 2022 read I forgot to review!! I really enjoyed the characters of this book and will definitely be trying out the first book. #botm

I read 14 books in #April and 8 were 5⭐️ (a banner month!).

I loved this sequel to The Jane Austen Society…so good.

#12Booksof2022 #April

Getting ready to really dig in to #auldlangspine in the New Year from a list from @BookNAround - thanks for the match @monalyisha ❤️📚 I finished The Love Hypothesis, a fun little rom com.

Kind of annoying that the BOTM app reading challenge has already changed over to 2023. I'm still working on 2022 books and wanted to complete the 2022 challenge! Very unsatisfying way to end the year.

I really enjoyed this book. A light, heart warming (but not sappy) read.

It started slow but I soon found myself invested in Grace, Vivian, and Evie as they went about doing the actual work that made life easy for the men around them. Watching their plan come together so they could control their own lives was very satisfying.

I loved the premise of the book, but it ultimately fell a little short of my expectations.

My main issue with the book is the pacing. It is very slow. Getting through the first half of the book was a struggle. Once I was about halfway through, the pace (luckily) picked up.

Full review: https://oddandbookish.wordpress.com/2022/09/23/review-bloomsbury-girls/

Jenner writes such lovely novels. It was fun to see Evie again and watch her come into her own plus Grace and Vivien were delightful to get to know. This is the kind of book that you can just lose yourself in with a cup of tea and a plate of shortbread and not realise the entire afternoon has passed. It did wrap up a little too neatly at the end, even for my taste, but in a sweet way.

A delightful novel set in a bookshop in the 1950s, this is the story of women coming into their own. Full review at https://booknaround.blogspot.com/2022/05/review-bloomsbury-girls-by-natalie.html

Very late with my #AugustTBR because I was supposed to pick up a couple of library holds at the beginning of the month but one seems to have gotten lost between branches? Poor book…

Anyway. July wasn‘t a great reading month between work and starting a kitchen reno so the stack is high this month. But I‘m nearly done the to-do list for this weekend and am just going to veg with books!

Unpopular opinion but this was just a bit too neat for me. I enjoyed the post-war London bookstore setting and the inclusion of some real-life literary figures like Daphne du Maurier, Samuel Beckett & Sonia Blair, but the main characters' stories all read like versions of a feel-good movie. Not for me, but I'm a grump.
Pic of the first sunflower bloom. 🌻

I loved this follow-up to The Jane Austen Society.

#alphabetgame
#LetterB

@BookNAround @AutumnRLS @sarahbellum @ncsufoxes

I loved this! Such a great book!

📖 7-6-22 || This one was just pure escapist fun for me. I‘m glad I read The Jane Austen Society first because there are so many familiar characters. I do like this one even more than the first, though. Friendship, a bookshop, and a rare book mystery all rolled into one delightful story.

I have a soft spot for books where famous 1900s creatives make cameo appearances in a story - Daphne du Muir, oh yes! …I entered the workforce in the 80s, and I‘m so grateful for the working women of each decade prior! ↓

What‘s not to love about a book centered around an old, male run bookstore in post WWII London? Introduce 3 strong, but very different women, who work in the store & I am sold! Add a mix of mystery,rivalries,romance, book talk, and a crew of eccentric individuals, and I am hooked. The author‘s historical details are rich, accurate and authentic.

I cannot say enough of this book. It was so much fun to read this story, and I could not help rooting for these Bloomsbury Girls from the very first page. Jenner‘s description‘s are beautiful of this old book shop and the surrounding area of London. There is, mystery, romance and just about something for every reader out there. This will likely go down as one of my favorite books of this year.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Three very different women find themselves as employees of a male run bookshop in post WWII London. The bold aspiring-writer Vivian, smart, quiet Cambridge graduate Evie, and frustrated homemaker, Grace. The bookshop is filled with quirky characters, rivalries, and romantic longings among its small staff. Jenner hits all the right marks with literary undertones and historical details. This book is an absolute delight! 🫖🚺📚

My Sunday afternoon before I go into my pt cleaning job.

What‘s a girl to do when it‘s #nationaldonutday🍩 and you‘re off work for the day?

Read, coffee and donuts!!

However, which one should I start? Have you read any of these books?

Set in 1950, this book carries over some characters from Jenner‘s debut novel- THE JANE AUSTEN SOCIETY. Revolving around Bloomsbury Books & Maps, & sprinkled with real figures, this is catered to book lovers! Grace & Vivien have worked at the shop for years, wordlessly communicating their frustrations about the men running the shop. A new employee arrives, Evie, coinciding with other changes. Straightforward & entertaining- a great holiday read!

#mapswithinbooks #bookshop #BloomsburyBooks #BloomsburyGirls

Why have some many many book covers over the past couple of years portray headless women, partial heads, back of head‘s. I find it personally insulting. It feels like publishers want to silence us- it feels derogatory to me. Maybe someone in publishing can clue me in. Is it artistic style?
“End of story” (as a student of mine used to say when he finished talking), end of rant.

There were some moments where I felt the character development was told instead of shown, but GOD was I rooting for Evie, Grace, and Vivien the entire time. Loved all the female support networks! #historicalfiction

When I picked this book I didn‘t realize it was by the author as The Jane Austen Society and had a character from that book. It is a feminist story about three shopgirls and their friends working together to burn down the patriarchy.

I loved author's Jane Austen Society. This one is just as delightful! Books about books are always a favorite of mine. Especially so when you add in female friendships.

While one of the Bloomsbury Girls is a character from the previous book, it can definitely be read as a Standalone. Just enough call backs that will have you wanting to know what happened at Chawton. ⬇️

Review is up! Check it out!

https://reecaspieces.com/2022/05/19/the-bloomsbury-girls-by-natalie-jenner-macmi...

This book continues the story of Evie from “The Jane Austen Book Club“ as she, newly armed with her degree from Cambridge, encounters the inevitable sexism in the workplace in 1950 London. I loved the bookstore setting and the imaginary glimpse into the lives of some of the famous people of the time (Beckett, Du Maurier, George Orwell's widow, etc.). This book felt like 'cozy' historical fiction and I enjoyed it. 3.75/5

Full review here: http://girlwellread.blogspot.com/2022/05/bloomsbury-girls-by-natalie-jenner.html

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 / 5 - This was a delight, a very charming and a splendid read. I was so absorbed in their world I found myself not wanting it to end. Loved it!!

I am loving “Bloomsbury Girls” so much!! I‘m on page 265 and I cannot put it down! Jenner‘s characters are so well rounded and flushed out, reading is just *chef‘s kiss* I‘ll have it done by Saturday, just in time to pick up my two holds at the library 😆 I love having too much to read and not enough time!! 📚📚📚📚📚📚 (PS, should‘ve taken this pic before I started enjoying my wine, but c‘est la vie 😇)

#BOTM delivery! So speedy this month.

When I started reading this one, I had no idea that it was related to Jenner‘s previous Jane Austen Society (which I loved) as the reviews I read did not mention it. Set in post-war London (1950s), this story follows Evie Stone (from the previous book), a young women who is among the first class of Cambridge female students to earn a degree. Though more qualified, she is denied an academic position at the college in favor of a rival male 🔻

Sitting in my car waiting for my birthday boy to arrive from work so I can take him to dinner. It‘s his golden birthday so I figured that deserved special stuff from the mama bird. Starting this delicious book in the meantime.

Another wonderful story by Natalie Jenner! Loved it.