Welcome to Litsy!

Yoojin Grace Wuertz is a local author for me! Saw her speak at a BooksNJ panel, and liked her so much that I bought her book the same day. I had no idea about this time in SK history, and the story interested me enough to continue looking into it. It‘s a real page turner, I couldn‘t put it down!

Finished this month‘s #readaroundtheworld book 🇰🇷
I‘m interested in #southkorea so I might try to fit in a translated book this month too 📚

Everything Belongs to Us chronicles the lives of three Seoul National University students, starting in 1978. It tells the story of Namin, Jisun, and Sunam as they navigate friendship, family, and activism during a period of political and economic change.

Books I hope to read this month! #junetbr #readingresolutions
📚This One Summer
📚We Have Always Lived in the Castle (book club pick)
📚Alif the Unseen #ramadanreadathon
📚Everything Belongs to Us #readaroundtheworld #southkorea

The writing and storyline do not live up to the setting and characters. But still recommended if you, like me, can't get enough of books about Korea.

Feeding my Korea obsession. Also, one of the novels on the First Novel longlist this year.

One of my favorites of 2017! It's a little slow going at first but this is a wonderful debut novel from Yoojin Grace Wuertz. It's about class, love, money, motherhood, & family as three young people try to change their lives in Seoul in 1978 during a time of political change and social discontent.

The story seems quite interesting, but the writing was not good enough for me to continue past around page 35.

Hi. My name is Blair and I eat a lot 😝

I am fully taking advantage of a night with nothing planned for tomorrow morning. I thought about sleeping...but then I looked at my bookshelf! Yay late night reading 🤗

Hmmm. I really wanted to like this one. I wanted to walk away having broadened my horizons to new culture and authors. For me, this was a slow read. The characters needed​ some polish and depth. The story was a little disjointed. The author keeps pushing us around the timeline and its hard to keep track. Overall it was okay. Nothing about it was bad however, nothing about it was wonderful.

Enjoying this book so far, but I have a hard time classifying something that takes place in the 70s as historical fiction. I know it's 40 years ago now but it just feels too recent!

Such a beautiful description!

Starting this that came in from Penguin Random House. Check out that bookmark! Love it.

Here's the fiction portion of my library book haul!

Second LitHub giveaway this year (third overall!) I seem to be acquiring more books about Koreans and Korean Americans; exciting new subject for me!

I can't get into this book. I tried and couldn't do it right now. Maybe at another time in my life, when I have more time to devote to it, when I want a slower, more sprawling read. But for now, I DNFed at 15%.

On All The Books this week, Liberty totally sold me on this debut novel about a pair of young South Korean women, friends despite their class difference, living under the dictatorship that South Korea still was back in 1978. Sounds incredible!

Afternoon reading. Wildly in love with this cover. ❤💛💙 #catsoflitsy

Excellently written debut novel about three students in 1970s South Korea. Namin, Jisun, and Sunam are all very different characters, with differing motivations - and up until the very end you're never quite sure who is the "main" character. They're all also extremely unlikeable at times which makes them particularly fascinating. I wasn't especially tickled with how Wuertz decided to use an epilogue but overall I really liked the book.

Seoul, SK 1978: 3 coming-of-age tales mirror the growing pains of a nation. I enjoyed the first 30%, but became disinterested in the college drama and romantic escapades. If you're looking for a story about college students navigating relationships during a tumultuous time in history or you like Sunam, you‘ll probably enjoy this one more than me. Thought-provoking commentary on the corrupting power of money & the barriers between economic classes.

Advanced readers copy from Random House! Out on the 28th! ❤📚 #arclove

Yoojin Grace Wuertz's debut novel tells the story of three college friends in Seoul, South Korea in 1978. All students at the very best university in South Korea, their futures look bright. They have a lot of hard work ahead and families to please, but the path ahead seems clear. Until, it doesn't. Full review soon on http://www.novelvisits.com.

I made pancakes for supper because I am a grown-ass lady and I wanted some. (The book is pretty good, too!)

#litsypartyofone

Day 6 of #riotgrams - #currentreads 📚 I got a little worried because I finished my book last night but fear not, I'm in the middle of the story collection and I started @gracewuertz debut this morning 🤗 #currentread

This is a good story that explores the complex struggles between class, expectations, families, & friends in the lives of Jisun, Namin, & Sunam. I found this an interesting look into a culture I'm not familiar with. There were times I found it hard to stay fully engaged but overall I found it worth the read.

This is my first five star book of the year! (I'm stingy with ✨) I loved the characters - friends in South Korea in the late 1970s - and the alternation among their different viewpoints and experiences (very rich and very poor). The timeline centers around their years in college. It's not action packed, but it's not purely in the characters' heads either. (Comes out Feb 28 and the cover is gorgeous!) 😍

Day 2 #riotgrams - #whereiread 😻 I'll read just about anywhere (bus, desk at work, audiobook in car, couch in the living room) but at night you can find me here. Reading in bed. Only it's morning right now and I'm dressed for work with a very hungry cat wondering what's going on. 😜

I read this as part of Penguin's First to Read. This book was a look at Seoul in the 70's, dealing w/ college students, protests, and familial expectations. I have never read a book that was set in this part of the world before, so I appreciated seeing a new perspective. I thought that the characters were well done & had different identities, goals, and motives. This book is part of my goal this year to read more diversely & I enjoyed it.

I've been sitting on this digital galley for a while now. Gonna try to get through it this weekend 😊
#LitsyAtoZ #letterE
#LitsyReadingChallenge #setinthe70s

This is a gorgeous first book that knocked me out in so many ways. It surprised me by smooth prose and by inventive plotting. It had such style and strong voice that lingers long after the last page is turned. I am looking forward to more from Wuetrz with utter impatience.