TLDR: young love in between a black man and a white girl in a NY private school

Good:
Beautifully written
Strong characters
Surprising elements
Confronts stereotypes
Considers race in complicated ways
Makes you cry

Bad
Makes you cry

Woodson‘s new book is as good as her others with characters that feel like you know and situations and push your understanding of the world. But read it with Kleenex. #ya #yalit #romance

TLDR: two kids suffering through loss find each other accidentally.

Good:
Well-written
Strong characters
Emotionally complex

Bad:
Poetic outsider is a little cliched

This is a thoughtful look at the challenges of dealing with loss and alienation (as well as love) through the eyes of two teenagers.
#yalit #ya #contemporaryfiction #romance

TLDR: two people make an unlikely friendship through texts.

Good:
The voice of the characters are clear.
The situations are so palpably real.

Bad:
The characters are so intensely numb

This is well-written but the characters were grating.
#yalit #ya #fiction #yafiction #romance

TLDR: a choose your own up for grown ups about regency romances

Good:
Well-written
humorous

Bad:
A little bit gimmicky

This book lets you create your own regency love story using a series funny, well-written vignettes. #fiction #romance

TLDR: In 1200s France and England, a French princess has adventure that could charge the state of monarchal affairs.

Good:
Great writing
Strong female characters
Well-researched materials
Atmospheric details
Mystery but not a murder mystery (exactly)

Bad:
A bit slow to start

wonderful historical fictional book will a smidge of mystery and romance The main character is one tough royal bird #historicalmystery #historicalfiction #romance

TLDR: a quiet smart track girl falls for the cool track star.

Good:
Judy Blume like honesty
Good characters
Honest ending
Honesty about sex

Bad
Derivative

Nostalgic language about kids going through their first love.

Listening to this and enjoying getting ready for the week ahead. #dogsoflitsy #audiobook

TLDR: a man relates the events leading up to his best friends drowning and death.

Good:
Wonderful writing
Great characters
Well-described settings
Surprising plot twists
Thoughtful and original

Bad:
Nothing

An exceptional novel filled with suspense and meaning. I picked this bc it was about #ohio, but I think anyone would love it. Highly recommend to the #literarymystery readers. #mystery #fiction #whodunit

TLDR: Young girl attempts to break out of the family business, Crime, and fails by pulling of a heist.

Good:
Strong female character
Good reader
Funny turns of phrase

Bad:
Feels derivative
The whole crime thing is odd

For the Adamms family lovers amongst us #elementary #humor #kidlit #mystery #whodunit

This book was surprisingly thoughtful with great insight into human nature. #quote

TLDR: A young boy gains a sister and step mother thanks to his widower father‘s relationship, and finds new personal strengths.

Good:
nuerodivergent character done well
Good writing

Bad:
Obvious points in the plot

While this book‘s plot is somewhat derivative the characters are appealing. #ya #yalit #contemporaryfiction

TLDR: The classic Austen tale is remixed and set in contemporary Ohio with Darcy being a wealthy woman, and protagonist, of the story.

Good:
Holiday charm
Not every element was slavishly included (as happens in some remixes)
Darcy as a woman places the woman in the power position

Bad:
writing is so so
characters feel flat
Certain scenes feel forced

book only works if you know P&P but if you loved P&P it might annoy you. #romance #romancelover

Oh my god! All my holds are flooding in faster than I can read them. I feel like I have become a tactical reader—triaging my list based on length of the hold list after me (ie if I can recheck out)...

what‘s your tactic library lovers? #dogsoflitsy

This book just made me laugh out loud but given this quote I think I have a dark sense of humor. #quote #ya #yalit #contemporaryfiction #humor

Great #quote but not a great interpersonal strategy.

TLDR: Three high school aged birth sibling find each other and themselves.

Good:
Well-drawn characters
Strong female characters
Good use of multiple point of view
Truthful look at foster care

Bad
Nothing

This is an exceptional book about love and family and the ways that blood and so many other things can define family. #yalit #ya #contemporaryliterature #contemporaryfiction

Churned through scores of romances when I got the flu this weekend thanks to my sick kids. Now that my body doesn‘t ache, I‘m switching gears. That said teen romances are ideal for when you are sick. I am sort of new to the genre. Will need to store up names for the next plague.

TLDR: girl and her two male best friends hatch plan to escape bullies.

Good:
Poc main character
Strong smart female character

Bad
Fairly derivative

Like every teen movie everywhere...and the characters just did not appeal to me. #ya #yalit #romance #romanticcomedy #humor

Tl/dr: study respondents who at first seem adversarial find a connection

Good:
Believable dialogue
Great premise! Based on the well known 36 questions study (look it up :))
Interesting well-drawn characters
Feels very original

Bad:
Characters don‘t feel like high schoolers

Very fast read and enjoyable but the characters read a bit too adult. #ya #yalit #romance #romancelover #humor

Tl/dr: teenage boy, when avenging his PTSD-affected dad, starts feud w/ his jock neighbors.

Good:
Literary
Super funny language & hilarious
Appealing non-cookie cutter male character
Wonderful personal insights.

Bad:
A little mannered
When you get to Catcher in the rye reference you almost feel like author is winking at you

Whiffs of Igby Goes Down & Every John Cusack film...& that really works for me. #ya #yalit #summerreads

Tl/dr: girl and boy have a summer love affair that becomes much more

Good:
Fab characters
Surprising moments
Film motif was charming
Storyline that evokes a Cary Grant movie works so well
Well-drawn setting in Cali Small town

Bad:
The cover are for this and the ebook are totally misleading.

Adorable story with real problems and authentic voice. #ya #yalit #romance #romantic #summerread

Tl/dr: Poor girl and rich boy fall in love.

Good: terribly well-described characters, thoughtful situations, well-written, good dialogue

Bad: somewhat derivative and cliched, but honestly not detrimental to the tale

Terribly enjoyable love story with vague elements of Gilmore Girls and Where‘d You Go Bernadette #ya #yalit #humor #yahumor #romance #romancenovel

Tl/dr: good girl finds herself walking up in the bad boy‘s bed, and they eventually fall in love.
Good: well-drawn characters, enjoyable situations
Bad: fairly expected and derivative

This is a good read if you loved PS I love you and need a similar fix. Not nearly as good. #ya #yalit #romance #romanticnovel

Tl/dr: Fan fiction writer finds love and heart ache.

Good:
Funny turns of phrase
Some surprises in situations
Well-drawn main character

Bad:
Feels a little derivative of Fan Girl

Enjoyable, fast, light story with a strong female main character.

Tl/dr: Two high school seniors go through some challenges before getting together

Good:
The boy voices are pretty authentic.
There are some funny turn of phrases.

Bad
Fairly regular situations
Characters are fairly simply drawn

Kind of like a Porkies movie as a book. Really just so so.

Tl/dr: Two girls in high school have one love but two very different takes on politics
Good: strong characters, charming details, sweet romance
Bad: a little heartbreaking how the one out girl is strung along by the closeted kid

Sweet light romance that is worth a read

Tl:dr: girl finds a fill in boyfriend when dumped on prom night, which sets off a series of events that change her attitude and love life.

Good:
Likeable characters
Cute situations
FAST read

Bad:
Extremely light

I read something like 4 teen romances yesterday, even though now my kids are closer to this age than I am. #ya #romances #yalit #chicklit #lovestories

Loved A Separate peace which was quoted here in Holding up the Universe. Wonder how that book holds up? Is it just all privilege and angst?

Ahh! It‘s a great library haul today

#Truth #mystery #mysteryreader #ya #yalit #yaromance

Hooray! Just in at the library. Anyone else starting this one? #mystery #mysteryreader #ya #yalit #yaromance #romance

Surveying her TBR... #dogsoflitsy

1. Hard to say—The Ramona series, babysitters club, and Nancy Drew were the first one that I read obsessive. With lifetime love of mysteries, read a lot of series over the years: inspector Gamache, inspector Kubu, Precious Ramotswe. Outlander got me back into series read a couple years ago.
2. Plenty of mysteries, Maisie dobbs
3. Most read library books
4 Yup. But we aren‘t good at meeting. So busy!
#weekendchat

Please please please talk about the ending with me. I am desperate to discuss

Neil Gaiman was amazing in #Cleveland

Exceedingly happy that my Read Pile is double my TBR

TL:dr: 16 Girl meets her dad for the first time and goes on a road trip to meet her dying grandpa—oh an her dad is a famous rock star.

Good:
Teen voice seems authentic
POC character (Arab)
Female author

Bad:
Characters are somewhat thin
Short time frame of story, over a handful of days, makes connection seem unrealistic

This is a gentle, enjoyable story; short, light, and nice.

Tl:dr: Dying man looks back at life and family at mother‘s funeral, which is on the eve of his last birthday party.

Good aspects:
Well written, with such carefully crafted descriptions of human nature
Philosophical but not stuffy
Thoughtful, generous, and bittersweet
POC characters (Latino/Chicano family)

Bad aspects:
NONE

Amazingly good book. Find it!

The smallest my TBR has been in weeks!

Wonderful so far but bittersweet for an Indian. Colonialism sucks.

Great quote about empathy

Wooh. Any book with a Pregnant woman with challenges always stresses me out. But enjoying it. #amreading #readingenvyreadalong #historicalfiction

Tl:dr: old man is still creepy at the end of his life.

Good: clean, well-constructed language.
Bad: misogyny and creepy characters.

One of my favorite authors of youth creates a well-written book about creepy/ empty people. But it does match my bookshelves

Tl:dr Historical 19thc mystery with a female undertaker as the protagonist.

Good: strong women, good historical details like the safety coffins, appealing characters

Bad: a little slow

tl:dr: An invisible library connects many worlds and protects books. One librarian and her Dragon apprentice are constantly trying to save knowledge while fighting fae and vampires.

Read this if you love the series and need to keep up.

Good: vampires, fae, books, zeplins, and magic, gangsters, prohibition Boston/ new york

Bad: not quite the goodness of the first two books. But better than third. Suspect next book will be good.

Adorable book
Ideal if you want a romAnce novel with a strong not foolish POC female protagonist and a non-Neanderthal male character.

Fast read!

How did I not know about Jenny Han! Asian protagonist! Smart girls! Sweet dad. Great.

My TBR is like the Tower of Babel. And I have a longer one on my kindle.

More murder tonight! #mysteries #mystery #whodonit #amreading

Ahh...this is so good