Welcome to Litsy!

There is no explaining this simple truth about life: you will forget much of it. The painful things you were certain you‘d never be able to let go? Now you‘re not entirely sure when they happened, while the thrilling parts, the heart-stopping joys, splintered and scattered and became something else 🍒

Between a so-so and a pan for me. I found this story to be incredibly plodding and slow. An almost actress takes an entire summer to tell her adult daughters the story of her relationship with a man who went on to become a famous actor. Supposedly she has told them this story before, but they didn‘t know how their mother met their father? 🍒🍒/5

In the span of a dozen pages, Ann Patchett‘s referenced Sandra Boynton‘s “Hippos Go Berserk” and Melville‘s “Bartleby the Scrivener.”

I didn‘t know it was possible for my already abundant estimation of her to grow. Yet here we are.

1. My Grandparents (on my Moms side)
2. My Grandson
3. My latest favorite was Lara and Joe and daughters in Tom Lake.

@Eggs #WondrousWednesday

I loved the plot structure of this book and its slow unravel. Recounted as a story told by a mother to her daughters and layered up with their contemporary opinions all set in the recent timeline of the 2021 pandemic. I particularly loved how the narrator held back some of the more personal truths, precious memories she‘d saved only for herself but lucky you (the reader) is let in on these. 💗

Turns out "Tom Lake" isn't a person, but a place. Was I the only one who initially thought that?

The story is about a woman reminiscing with her grown daughters about her past experiences in summer stock theater and her romance with a fellow actor who went on to become a famous movie star. The plot moves slowly, with the narrative switching back and forth between the past and present.

Not exactly a page-turner, but a sweet and nostalgic tale.

Thanks for the tag, @Deblovestoread !

1. Burn Out: How to Walk Away and Heal - even though I left my job in September, there‘s a lot, physically & mentally, I‘m still unpacking, diagnosing, & overcoming. It definitely takes time, & it‘s been a very slow process. Stress is no joke (maybe that‘s a chapter title).

2. I don‘t read many uplifting books, but the tagged book was such a quiet and beautiful read. So much love and growth. #Two4Tuesday

So far I‘ve been late with every single one of my # #2024ReadingBrackets. #Consistency! 😊 For my March FICTION bracket, I went with a two-fer. Before reading “Tom Lake,” I took @dabbe ‘s advice and read “Our Town.” And I loved them both. You don‘t need to read “Our Town” first—but I believe it adds an even richer, deeper dimension to an enjoyable reading experience.

Tom Lake is a bit of a slow burn to start with but it warms up so much, and really is a warm-hearted novel. Patchett writes beautifully about families, and this novel expertly blends the dynamics of a family with a story about growing up and being on the cusp of adulthood. As always, a story told with insight into decisions made, paths chosen and rejected, and how our lives are shaped piece by piece over time.

So beautiful in its seemingly simple premise: a mom telling her 3 grown daughters a story of her youth while they‘re all home at the family farm during the pandemic. I loved it so much. A bookseller put this in my hands and I‘m glad she did! 💗

Absolutely loved this book. Despite the fact that I have not loved some of the author's prior novels, and despite the reviews that make valid points about the simplistic tokenism of the one Black supporting character, I nevertheless read this book voraciously and was all in for the whole ride.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs
#springskies #bookclubread

The last book I enjoyed with a bookclub sticker

#TopRead2024 #ReadingBracket2024

I have a love ❤️/ meh 😏 relationship with Ann Patchett. (The Dutch House: ❤️; Bel Canto, Commonwealth and State of Wonder: 😏). Add this to the ❤️ pile. I adored this story—how it unfolded, the characters, the plot, everything. Read it! And take @dabbe ‘s advice and read “Our Town” first if you haven‘t already —it definitely adds a richer dimension to the experience.

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

It is wonderful.

My new bookcase - don‘t tell my husband, but I think I need to go on a buying spree to fill it up with books instead of cats 😂 (Current book club read tagged ♥️)
#shelfie

A lovely tale of a mother's “carnival“ past in summer-stock theater at Tom Lake, Lara feeds her three-robin-daughters with stories of her 20s actress life and first-love affair with Duke, a fellow actor. Set during the 2020 pandemic at a cherry farm in northern Michigan, Patchett weaves Lara's story between the past and present to show how to come to terms with the choices one makes and how to live an intentional life. Time now to reread OUR TOWN.

#WondrousWednesday
@Eggs (Thanks for the tag!) 😘

1. I'm on a cherry farm in northern Michigan. 🍒💚🍒
2. I would have loved to have been a teacher at Hogwarts. 😍

Play? @AmyG @Aimeesue @bthegood

#BookSpin #DoubleSpin
@TheAromaofbooks

Here are my two choices! Thanks again for hosting, @TheAromaofbooks! 🤩🤩🤩

4⭐️/5⭐️

Well, if you're going to write a pandemic novel it's a good thing to be Ann Patchett, I guess. Oh, you know, the apparent *ease* of the thing!
I was afraid this would be a little too sweet for my taste but there were enough sharp cherries amongst the harvest that I ended up loving it. 🍒
(I especially loved Emily!)

This is a great pandemic book. The story is not about the pandemic, and though the plot is because of it, it is completely background noise. I liked this look back at Lara's time at Tim Lake, the TL scenes felt very Dirty Dancing to me, this summer in a picturesque Midwestern camp, the staff running around putting on a play, while quiet debauchery goes on. Normally I am not a fan of book with multiple storylines but this is very well crafted 👇

This last week I finished 2 incredibly different books. Both American but of 2 different Americans, and yet both are set in and around Lansing and Detroit Michigan! I just thought it was interesting, Michigan is not a place I read about often and to be reading such wildly different books both partially taking place there was unexpected.

Ann Patchett‘s writing is gorgeous and skillful. Meryl Streep‘s narration is equally brilliant. If family stories, contemporary/literary fiction are things you gravitate towards, I think you‘ll love this. I can see the appeal and all of the positive reviews are totally justified. I got a third of the way through the audiobook. It‘s just not for me, and that‘s okay.
#auldlangspine

#FirstLineFriday
@ShyBookOwl

“That Veronica and I were given keys and told to come early on a frozen Saturday in April to open the school for the OUR TOWN auditions was proof of our dull reliability.“

Love, love, loved every minute of this one.

I've heard mixed reviews on this one, but I found it lovely. The daughter/mother relationships, the quiet, beautiful love story of Lara and Joe, contrasted with the story she tells her daughters of her summer at Tom Lake when she dated a now-famous actor, Peter Duke, worked on many levels. This is my 5th Ann Patchett and my 2nd favorite, behind The Dutch House. This was my #Doublespin for February @TheAromaofBooks

Liked not loved this one. It‘s a bit too sweet to my taste, all of this loving family in the cherry orchard. In the midst of the pandemic but why use that setting when it hardly adds to the story? I liked Lara‘s story of her past a lot though. I was charmed by Duke myself too lol 😜

#Roll100 #Pop24: 24-year-old character #ATY24: botanical cover

Book mail is the best mail!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Patchett‘s writing is so smooth and lovely, but this story didn‘t do it for me. Though I‘m generally over pandemic novels, I would‘ve preferred more of the Covid isolation story than reminiscing on mom‘s very brief acting past. I get what Patchett was doing, I just didn‘t like the story. I couldn‘t give a damn about Peter Drake. Our Town holds no significance for me. A whole novel about this? Oof. I didn‘t love Streep‘s narration either.

#WeeklyForecast 08/24

I am in the midst of Roman Stories as well as The Sparshold Affair. I am loving the Lahiri (thank you Helen!) but about to bail on the Hollinghurst. I loved other books by him but this is just boring so far (at 30%). Many Littens seen to love it though. We‘ll see. Next will be the tagged, a very hyped book. I am always a bit disappointed by Patchett‘s books but have high hopes this one will change that 🤞🏽

Reminded me of Bridges of Madison County. Beautiful prose and themes.

Once we started making the hopeless rounds of oncologist appointments, the past broke away. All the things I‘d thought about myself before—I am an actress, I am not an actress, I was in love, I was betrayed—disintegrated into nothing.

So true.

The past need not be so all-encompassing that it renders us incapable of making egg salad.

We are swimming through eternity, my daughters' bright mermaid legs kicking out towards deeper water. I stay beneath the surface and marvel for as long as my lungs can hold.

"Swimming is the reset button," Pallace used to say. "Swimming starts the day again."

Emily needs lifts up a branch to be tied. "I'm starting to understand something here," she says, and all of us think she's talking about the tree.

"Every thing leads to the next thing."
Maisie stops to look at her sister. "That's called narrative. I guess they don't teach you that in hort school.'
"I understand narrative, idiot, but when you see it all broken down this way, step by step, I don't know, it's different."

Listened to this read by Meryl Streep which was fantastic. The set up here is a mother telling her grown children about her past as a young actress. There was so much i could recognise in having an adult child and talking to them about your past - Patchett made me laugh so much and feel so much for the joys and frustrations in those relationships. Its a contemplative book with a lot of heart. Image is a river rather than a lake! Waipapa River

Just a few pages in and I'm not feeling it. Is it worth continuing?

Very sad to return this to the Library, such a lovely story. It was overdue, but I needed to finish it first!
Highly recommended.

1. As far as I know, I‘m named after myself.
2. Two siblings
3. Tagged
#wondrouswednesday

Thanks for the tag @julieclair

1. I thought it was going to be North Woods but Tom Lake weeks later still keeps talking to me.

2. Just looking forward to a bunch of horror. The long list for the Stoker Awards came out so there‘s a lot I want to get to. Also- #justiceforMariannaEnriquez She didn‘t get nominated and I‘m pretty upset.

That Veronica and I were given keys and told to come early on a frozen Saturday in April to open the school for the ‘Our Town‘ auditions was proof of our dull reliability.

Loving this novel - makes me want to watch/read Our Town
#FirstlineFridays @ShyBookOwl #TomLake #sharreadathon

The beauty of Patchett‘s prose combined with her ability to immerse you in another place and time are enough to recommend this novel but I‘m also at the point in my life where I truly appreciate a mature main character reflecting on her youth. I was going to read this book but could not resist listening to Meryl Streep give voice to it. Outstanding.

#Midwintersolace Sunday #Hyggehugs

After a day of painting my new, cosy bedroom, I'm looking forward to settling down to finish Tom Lake for our #Hyggehour readathon.
I'll start the wallpapering tomorrow. 😊

@Chrissyreadit @TheBookHippie @jenniferw88

I blazed through this like a comet. I could so relate to MC‘s midlife reflection on paths taken & not. On doors closing that were blessings in disguise. On your kids realizing you‘re not just their parents, you‘re actually human beings with rich/fascinating (pre)histories. On rootedness in people & place. On reckoning with decisions & finding peace & contentment amidst pain & regret. Pure perfection. Meryl on audio is the cherry on top! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay am I the only one who spent the first one-third of this book waiting for a character named Tom Lake to enter the story? Lol so confusing! Wow this is so the right thing for me right now. I usually can‘t do audiobooks on my route but this one is an exception. Less than 24 hours since I started and I‘m more than halfway done!

I‘m starting this one on audio today (because Meryl Streep) and realized the only Patchett I‘ve read has been The Dutch House, which I loved. Looking forward to diving in!

After reading 2 debut novels, there was a mental relief in returning to Patchett, whose narrative ability is like a warm, strong hand guiding you confidently through the cherry trees, youthful memories, and that early pandemic experience. For the first 1/3rd I found I was unconsciously smiling, charmed by her wit and gift at conveying familial love. Loved it, obviously.