Welcome to Litsy!

Today, we are meeting at 2 pm EST. Please join us to discuss September‘s book. https://msngr.com/dxwqsirutwik

I enjoyed this book, but it didn‘t wow me as it has many readers. I thought the story was told in some interesting ways and I loved the friendships. Additionally, although I‘m not a video game player, I could very much connect to the time in which this story was set and some of the feelings of the characters in relation to that.

#LitsyBookClub #audiobook

Am I squeeze in one more audio book in September? #summerendreadathon

Good storytelling. As someone who loves video games it was fun to have video games intertwined with the story. Overall it's a book about hardship and friendship. People trying to make their way through the world and life pushing against them.

I spy our #LitsyBookClub book! at Carpe Diem Café Librairie in Bayeux, Normandy, France
☕️ + ? = ????
#TomorrowAndTomorrowAndTomorrow
#DemainEtDemainEtDemain

I'm trying to do it all but it seems like I can't do it all. I will strive to get back to writing questions in addition to our monthly Zoom meetings. This month, we are reading Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow. The monthly online meeting will be on Sunday, September 24th at 2 pm EST.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks and keep reading! :)

I'm so sorry for all who are part of the Litsy Book Club. I've been an active host since the beginning, one of four. Now, I'm the only host. I work as a circulation senior assistant/page supervisor at a library in my full time, currently am working on my master's degree in Library Science & also work a part time of approximately 15-20 hours weekly

I've been extremely awful at keeping up with the book club other than our monthly Zoom meetings.

It was a complete torture trying to finish this book! I am not a gamer, nor am I a fan of gaming. And 90% of this story are vivid descriptions of the gaming world and characters.

Library card as bookmark?
Seems risky to me.

Book number 2 from my beach reads. Very interesting story about enduring friendship; the kind that ebbs and flows throughout the years whilst dealing with many of life's big battles, including grief and disability. Also, there is an interesting insight into what goes into making video games. Definitely recommend if you are a gamer but also enjoy ( sort of) romance 😊

This novel felt not quite as depressing, but had a lot of darkness and trauma. But was quite interesting. I‘m not a gamer, but enjoyed the journey of this one.

Sitting with this book on my lap now, not ready to admit I‘ve finished. I‘m not sure I remember the last time I read a book that broke my heart like this one. A beautiful book, full of carefully crafted characters, flawed but beautiful. I loved them all. However Marx was one of my all time favourite literary characters. An outstanding book, worth all the hype. I adored it. I‘d give it 6 stars if it was an option.

Excited to start this, have only heard good things.

Just perfection. I read this in big greedy chunks, completely absorbed. When I wasn‘t reading it, I wanted to be reading it. I‘m counting this in with some of my all-time favourite epics - The Goldfinch, Great Circle, A Little Life - high praise indeed.

This book is so good! Best book I have read in a long time.

I took this photo when we were at the beach in NC at the beginning of the month. Everyone in my house loves video games but me (I get headaches from virtual reality or even 3-D). I liked the story, felt that some parts dragged & it probably took me longer to get through. I can see why it got the hype but not my favorite book I‘ve read this year. #bookspin book #14books14weeks (book 5/14).

A different book, but intriguing. There were parts that didn‘t go as I hoped, but that made it more realistic.

Started this but not very far into it. Too busy looking for seaglass when I‘m at the beach!

Not sure how to rate this. Took a while to get into it. Then loved it, then got frustrated with the actions of a couple of the lead characters. Was possibly expecting a bigger ending too. Although I have to say it had me on a bit of an emotional rollercoaster throughout it.

It had some mixed reviews, either brilliant or meh! On balance it was a very enjoyable read that was well written for me and sure will stay with me for some time.

Read this for #TBRTAROT - This is a book I wouldn‘t have picked up were it not for @CBee and looking for a book with “and” in the title. I‘m not a gamer, but I enjoyed this a lot, although I‘m not sure I see it as the best book of 2022. Very happy to have read it though!

Some of this I really loved, the friendships and relationships were really excellent and the characters were well rounded and at times infuriating. I really enjoyed the earlier part of the Sam and Sadie‘s story but didn‘t love how quickly time sped up.

As was the case with The Storied Life of AJ Fikry, Zevin‘s writing style is so engrossing. Definitely kept me reading but was rather dark throughout. A lot of depression. Centers around Sam and Sadie‘s friendship through time. Enjoyed the video game maker and player themes. It ended up not being a book I‘d want to keep but was interesting to read.

I really enjoyed this book, which is for me surprising as I have never ever played video games. The main characters I really liked, the story of their lives and loves I was really invested. A great read.

#bookspinbingo 3
#june2023

June 27, 2023 On April 12, 2023, I picked up this book BUT did not exactly take time to read it. I stopped on page 64 out of 397 which is not even half of the book. I feel like I can continue the book although the author focuses a lot on video games and I am not someone who is into them or even plays them. How did you finish the book if you are were not a video game fan?

What a wonderful novel about love and loss and play. I don‘t know if the writing was good, but it was evocative and very clever.

I‘ve always had a hard time evaluating books, because how do you distill something so complex? It‘s like trying to rank your friends, which is amoral (I think).

That said, I enjoyed every minute spent in this world and deeply connected to the theme, story, and Easter eggs. I have a feeling I‘ll be rereading this one.

This was not my favorite but it was well written so I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

🎧 I enjoyed The Storied Life of AJ Fikry.

I found this book a bit boring & overhyped. Sam & Sadie met in the hospital as kids and spent a lifetime playing & developing video games together. You get a feel for the culture and their growing relationship.

It was an ok story. I expected more. TBF I‘m not a “gamer” & maybe the book would be infinitely more interesting to one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have started this book and am liking it. Which is surprising as I am so not into video games.

I didn‘t really get the hype about this book. I thought it was an interesting story, but so long and too repetitive for me. I didn‘t really love the characters and the further in I got, the less it kept my attention. I just felt like nothing ever really happened. It was just okay for me.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I liked the story and the character development and relationships was good. I didn‘t find myself attached to the characters though so it was hard for me to buy into. I also felt like parts were tedious to read and the story felt like it was wrapping up numerous times and then would just keep going and going. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

"It wasn't much then. A glimmer of a notion of a whisper of a figment of an idea."

What gorgeous writing.

Today's word learned from reading.

I absolutely loved this book. It centers around the friendship of Sam and Sadie, who meet in a hospital as children and over the course of thirty years as highly successful video game designers. I am not a gamer, but that doesn‘t matter for enjoyment of the story. This was a terrific read.

Ok, I knew this book wasn't meant for me. But after it was named favourite book of the Swiss booksellers, I thought I might as well read it too.

And hey, it wasn't as bad as expected! I liked the insights into the gaming industry, the retro flair and the description of the lives of Asian immigrants in the US.

The rest, as expected, bored me. People meet, love, marriage, kids and since it's a book whole lot of drama. Meh... 🤷

I‘ve barely read anything in the past week or ten days, which is weird. I know it‘s because a ton of ebooks I had on hold from the library suddenly became available, seemingly all at once, on my Libby app. I‘m kind of frozen with indecision with a wealth of choices and it‘s total overload for my brain. Ack! Fifteen books that need to be read now—what to do? Apparently, I just don‘t read in my panic. My sister raves about this one…

This was a Litsy-Made-Me-Read-It. I feel like I should have been into it, but I listened to it on lunch breaks. Instead of it distracting me from work, work distracted me from this book. Also, I may have over-focused on female experience in male dominated workspaces & not enough on the relationships.

I am very late picking this one up, but I loved it and think it‘s worthy of all the hype. That being said, I‘m in a book club of 4 and we were split right down the middle. 2 of us thought is was five stars, the other 2 gave it a meh. So wild!

A So many great 👍 sentences and paragraphs Iv had to highlight in this book 📕 good job it‘s a holiday read on my kindle . “The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them , to know that one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time ,”

Overall, I liked this book and I am OK with the way the story ended. I firmly believe the an abridged version would have been the ideal audiobook choice for me because there were several stretches of the story that really dragged on.

It‘s cloudy ⛅️ but warm in beautiful Corfu , Europe is having some seriously weird weather ! 😒 still any chance to lay outside and read is a bonus , I wasn‘t sure this months book club pick would be for me as I am so far removed from being a gamer ! But it‘s extremely well written and keeps you wanting to turn the page , I have a feeling something bad is going to happen …….

So incredibly grateful that a new independent bookstore opened in Indianapolis! We don‘t have many. I got to visit Tomorrow Bookstore for my birthday this week, and was absolutely delighted! Wonderful selection, and a perfect location. What a difference, a great independent bookstore makes for the community!

#holidaytbr and all@pn #maybookspinbingo happy 😃 reading 📖 folks 😎

My pick to read on our flight ✈️ today 😎whoop whoop 🙌 #holidayreads #holidaytbr who else has to pick a TBR for their hols ? And then keep editing 😆

I mostly enjoyed this one, listened to the audiobook.

Read for reading challenges.

3.75/5

Apr-13 May 23
There was so much to love about this book. The relationship between Sadie and Sam, their resentments, estrangements and tenderness towards each other were incredibly poignant. I envied their creativity and passion for work. I, of course, loved Marx and all of the ancillary characters, perhaps even Dov. It also made me want to play more games. I miss those days. Not admitting that to my husband though - a true gaming addict.