Welcome to Litsy!

I just loved this story of a family learning the story of their mom and dad during a magical time and place of youth and acting- the magic of Our Town and The Cherry Orchard. Beautifully paced and written by Patchett! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think Ann Patchett might be my favorite author. Her newest book, Tom Lake, feels like the kind of book you could read as a teen, a middle aged person, or a crone. It‘s a timeless, yet very modern, story of love and family; spanning from New Hampshire to Hollywood to Michigan. Gorgeous storytelling and a captivating structure. Wowza. I just finished it and I feel like starting it again!

Icing a sprained ankle while knitting my sweater and listening to this fantastic podcast with Ann Patchett. Tom Lake is my knitter group‘s inaugural book club to prep for next Labor Day‘s Traverse City stay. 🧶 📚 🥳

A simple storytelling story of a mom who tells her grown daughters of the summer she spent at Tom Lake in a theater production and her relationship with a special someone who became a famous actor. The story also ties in with her chosen life on a farm. Extra points for Meryl Streep‘s narration. #Pop23 ~a book that comes out in the second half of 2023

I have not read many of Patchett‘s books so I don‘t have a great knowledge of her books. I did adore this one probably because of Meryl Streep‘s narration. The story takes place during the pandemic lockdown where the Nelson family is staying & working on the family‘s cherry farm. Lara shares the stories of her early acting career & life with her 3 young adult daughters. All stories they are familiar with but now revisiting them as adults

12-3 Sep 23 (audiobook)
I had been patiently awaiting my hard copy of this novel to arrive but then saw that Meryl Streep had narrated the audiobook and I caved. And it was wonderful.
I loved The Dutch House but this was such a delight. The mother‘s love for her daughters, the cherry orchard, her husband, the bittersweetness of the pandemic, whilst carrying a nostalgic torch for the past, was poignant and perfect.
Just beautiful.

I love Ann Patchett. I don't love stories about the theater. I enjoyed most of the novel set on a Cherry farm in MI during the pandemic in which a mother tells her three daughters about her long ago affair with a now famous actor. The Chekhov references are everywhere in the novel. It was when "Cricket" told the last encounter with Duke without the maternal fliter that the book worked for me. Not my favorite Patchett, but well worth a read. 4 ?

Started the physical book but had to switch over to audio after reading all the praise about Meryl Streep‘s narration. And what a performance it is…definitely enhanced my enjoyment of this pandemic novel. The setting is dreamy: a cherry farm, no less! A mother reminisces to her 3 adult daughters about her time as an actress, in her early 20s. It reads like a family sitting around telling stories from the past. Gave Little Women vibes. Just lovely!

Patchett has such a way of letting her stories grow. I get pulled into each character‘s life so slowly that I don‘t recognize the moment when they become old friends I don‘t want to let go of anymore. This tale of a woman working on the farm with her three daughters turns into her telling her life story to them, including her affair with a young movie star and the different paths they followed. A slow build but a solid recommend.

Fall vibes today! Pumpkin spice chai tea, pumpkin spice cookie and a new book! 🍂☕️

I feel like I might have been living under a rock. I had the pleasure of seeing Ann Patchett in conversation with Cheryl Strayed live last night and it was delightful. During the introduction I found out about The Archive Project. I believe last night‘s event will be available on the website after Sunday‘s airing on OPB radio. Thought those loving Tom Lake might be interested and there‘s tons of other great conversations on this site as well.

Up next. Went with the audio book on this one just to listen to Meryl Streep‘s narration.

Wonderful. Just finished this outside on a perfect spring day. I was born in New Hampshire but raised in Western Australia so I‘d never heard of the play Our Town which features in this book.
Two stories run through this book. One is the past , the other almost present day, various references to the pandemic. Family United during lockdown.
Just reading in the article that the audio book is read by Meryl Streep. I think I would enjoy that.

Here‘s my #Top10SummerReads2023!

Hello #NashvilleLittens, Let me see yours! @LouLouLane @britt_brooke @Booksnchill @ferskner @mom2bugnbee @adnama82

Inspired by many of you and the hashtag #TopTenSummer2023 which I‘m shortening to #Top2Summer2023Reads AND @marleed ‘s #indexcards , I created this postcard of my faves between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Mailing to @AFridayFriend 😁

#LitsySummer

So I read this book for BN book club—I would not have been a book I would have just picked up. The author is new to me-the scenery is well described—I understood the Our Town reference. I felt it sort of dragged at the end but then there was some peaks of the story at the end that were interesting. Overall nice family story. 3.5 out 5 stars

#Top10Summer2023Reads

I stretched it a few days to include through Labor Day. Tagged was my favorite audiobook, the rest are pictured.

This was one of the most mundane books I have ever read. It bores the hell out of me. I am not big on theater so reading too much of it makes me sick. I tried to find spoilers online but to no avail. I only read somewhere that this book is also set amid the Covid-19. As soon as I learned that, I decided to bail. We have already experienced years of the pandemic, I do not wish to read more about it.

My book club meets later this week to discuss this one & as always, I am looking forward to the discussion! Meryl Streep does an amazing job with the narration performance- as if there was any doubt about that going in! Honestly, I was more excited about her than the blurb describing the book— storylines about famous actors don‘t really grab my interest but this one is handled well & balances a bit of the present with the past in an inviting way!

Enjoying that long weekend lake life…..

A quarter of the way in and narrated by Meryl Streep no less, but the latest Ann Patchett only feels pleasant at this point. Not nearly the emotional connection that I felt with The Dutch House or her other works.

Lovely and charming come to mind when I think about the family at the heart of Patchett‘s latest. Her words describing them are beautiful as ever.

A couple‘s three daughters return to their family cherry orchard during the pandemic and help with the sweet cherry harvest. While they work, mom shares the story of her brief acting career and the summer she spent working with and dating an actor who later became famous and won an Oscar.

Really enjoying this story of a woman telling her story to her three daughters as they‘re picking cherries on the family farm one summer during the pandemic. I appreciate that the pandemic is the reason they‘re all together, but that it doesn‘t take such a central plot piece of the story. Interesting to see how authors are beginning to recognize the pandemic without relying on it as a core element of the story.

Not my favourite AP publication. I was often bored. Not that I need a lot of action. But the characters were flat and the story predictable.

I had the pleasure of attending Ann Patchett‘s event and book signing! She is a delightful speaker and a gracious author. I loved the book with its connection to Our Town and its setting in my home state. The novel explores the relationships between parents and children, the challenges of becoming an adult, and friendship.

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors so I wanted to love this book. There was nothing wrong with it, it was enjoyable enough, but not interesting or exciting enough for me to want to keep picking back up, so it was a DNF for me 60% into the book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ listen to the audiobook of you can. Meryl Streep is incredible. This is a beautiful book - I would give it all the stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

While working together at their cherry orchard in Michigan - an idyllic setting even amidst the pandemic - a mother tells her three daughters stories from her life, savoring the unexpected togetherness. It‘s a comforting and hopeful read, poignantly capturing both the beauty and despair of life and love. Meryl Streep‘s narration is (unsurprisingly) exquisite. 🎧 #reesesbookclub

#BookBinge
#Anticipated5⭐️Read
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I hope the tagged is 5 ⭐️s--once I get around to reading it! 🤣

It's sunny and hot today - which makes it perfect weather to read Ann Patchett's deliciously lush and dreamy new book! 🥰🌿📚 Rumpel is trying to pay attention but keeps falling asleep! 🤭😹 #catsoflitsy #rumpel

I loved everything about this book. A quiet pandemic novel of parents isolating with their adult daughters. They pass the time doing farm chores and listen to mom tell the story of her young life as an actress. It is wonderful and Meryl Streep‘s narration is fantastic. All the stars.

So I picked up a summer cold in Nashville and came home to a broken AC, but fortunately I‘m better, and it‘s fixed. It was a long week! 😂

However, it was totally worth it to go to Parnassus and get a signed Tom Lake that came with this cute postcard! I got the top novel-in-stories too.

My library is on point with a lot of recent releases. I‘m starting with My Murder because there is a line behind me. Jello was on the $1.50 rack and I bit!

I‘ve started Tom Lake by Ann Patchett. I‘m a fan of Patchett. This novel is off the a slow start for me but I suspect it could be because I‘m still connected to Bill Furlong (the MC in Small Things Like These). There should be a word for that feeling - when you remain connected to characters long after the final paragraph of a novel.

Ann Patchett is one of my favorite authors. Her writing never seems forced, always has excellent character development & her descriptions make me feel as if I'm actually in the setting. In this novel she's telling her three adult daughters about her life before them when she was an aspiring actor. It's a story about love - first love when Lara was swept off her feet, unconditional love for her daughters & everlasting love with her husband Joe.

I usually love Ann Patchett but this one didn‘t do it for me. It felt a little scattered and disjointed with the way the shifts happened back and forth in time. There was just something off to me in the current timeline with the daughters but I can‘t put my finger on it.

I absolutely loved the experience of reading this novel, helped by the fact that I was sitting next to a river as I read the many descriptions of rural landscapes. A nice reflection on how our plans, our loves, & our lives, rarely take the course we had wanted, but the journey can still lead us to the best imaginable places.
This random paragraph about the fair has little to do with plot, but I love it because it rings so true to childhood.

I always enjoy Patchett's writing and this book is no exception. She weaves words into wonderful stories where the characters are the star. I loved how she depicted the three daughters coming to appreciate that their mom had a life prior to having them as she shared some of her stories. I loved the mom's appreciation of the differences in her daughters. I loved how the novel drew me in and how I wanted to be friends with this family. 5/5 stars.

Another winner from Ann Patchett. Covid sends three adult daughters back home to their family cherry farm, and as they work side by side, the mother shares the story of her own young adulthood as an actress. Just loved this. Very character driven. Listened to the audiobook, narrated by Meryl Streep, which was excellent.

DO NOT MISS THIS BEAUTIFUL BOOK! One-time actress Lara is telling her three daughters of one summer when she did summer stock and had an affair with a now famous actor. In between telling that story we get to know who she is now, and who her daughters are now. I loved it and hated getting to the end.

Perfect spot to start reading a new book. I've heard great things about Tom Lake, so starting with it.

Super duper unpopular opinion about the COVER, which I think is actually prettier in this picture than in real life. It‘s not enough for this novel. I‘m only three chapters in and am liking the story, but the font on this cover and the cover art just being some daisies is not enoughhhhh for an author of Patchett‘s level. I love a simple cover but this looks like something grandma would pick up. It‘s just my opinion and we all get one, right?! 🤪

I love Ann Patchett and have been anticipating this greatly, but after starting I wondered if it would be too charming and sweet for me. It was not (it *was* charming and sweet, but also complex and a bit juicy), and I loved it. Obviously the Meryl narration was bliss.

A woman shares stories from her youth with her 3 adult daughters. It's a mix of quiet reflections about what you think you want vs. what actually makes you happy & the realization that every adult has when they discover their parents had lives long before they were born. All of it is told with Patchett's skill for getting to the heart of the matter. I loved seeing Lara's observations about the 3 girls' vast differences & her vulnerability w/them.

Creative way of telling a story of one‘s life- the mistakes that you learn from- to luckily end up where you are. It‘s Ann Patchett and she delivers on perfectly timed prose using imperfect characters.

Had some kindle points to spend.

🎶‘S wonderful, ‘S marvelous 🎶

Seriously, this was so very good. I started listening this morning and just didn‘t want to stop. Exceptional audiobook. Do yourself a favor and let Meryl Streep read you a story!

This is SO good. So very good.

Suffering book hangover right now. I just want to cry, good cleansing exhausting tears. Wow

(Last pie I made. It should be a Cherry Pie but alas, I present Lemon Meringue)

Rumpel is really loving Ann Patchett's new book so far....and so am I! 🥰📚 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #rumpel

I celebrated #bookloversday by buying 3 books at Costco ❤️❤️ fun fact: I have started talking to myself ( muttering under my breath) whenever I go to Costco “you aren‘t going down the book aisle. I know it‘s over there, you aren‘t going. You are reading the books you have. I know you read 3 this week, you aren‘t even off the floor TBR yet. Just push the cart.” And then, like I‘M POSSESSED, I‘m in the book aisle! & 3 books I need are there 🤷🏻‍♀️