Welcome to Litsy!

Frances is the car pool queen of this little niche in suburbia. When one of the carpool kids forgets something Frances is tasked with running back to their house to pick up it up but unwittingly walks in on her neighbor being pleasured by someone that is not her husband! As rumors float through this little community many couples question their relationships and what their wants and needs are. This was a typical domestic drama but had a few laughs

10-21-22: My 105th finished book of 2022! Frances is the carpool mom in her neighborhood. She and all her neighbors have kids at the various schools and Frances has been designated their driver. Then one morning she walks in on one of her neighbors in a delicate moment with someone other than her husband! It‘s a case of how much should you get to know your neighbors. Another story with a lot of heart told from various viewpoints including the kids

10-20-22: I woke up like this 😂📖😻

There was a point in my life when I moved into a newly built house with my All-American family to an emerging suburb. It was full of families similar to mine, and it was everything I ever wanted. Oh my gosh, this book reminds me of that because that picture of perfection is just a snapshot taken at an exceptional moment in time. Things will go awry, and one can never really know another household.

I ❤️ Abbi Waxman! She will be an auto buy author for me. I love her characters and the humor she infuses into her domestic dramas. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️s

A querky quick read that made me giggle often. It was a less dramatic desperate housewives novel.

February #BookSpinBingo Hope to read more in February than I did in January. No real chunksters on this list.

#wreath
#WishesandBlessings

I really enjoyed this one! You never know what goes on behind closed doors…

Goodreads reviewers love this but I'm disappointed. I suppose comparisons are unfair but given that The Bookish Life Of Nina Hill was one of my absolute favorite reads last year I had high hopes for this one too but it fell short. It's certainly funny in places. Heartwarming. True to life. But it was also depressing. Most of these relationships just made me sad & served to remind me that I'm less interested in realism than escapism in my fiction.

I'm wishing I'd brought ear buds to work. I just started it this morning and discovered this is very NSFW. 😬

“People did weird shit, usually for boring reasons, and Frances tried not to judge people without knowing all the facts.”

She #meanswell 🤣
#MayCharacters

Thank you @britt_brooke for the reminder to reread this fun book! If you like contemporary fiction about neighborhood drama, this is a damn near perfect example. It reminds of those network dramedys; it takes on some issues, but there‘s not the darkness of a Perrotta book. And Saskia Maarleveld is one of my favorite narrators for these books. She does women, men, and kids so well. Really underrated narrator!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It‘s damned nearly like Frances and I were separated at birth. I enjoyed this reread more than the first time. Waxman has solidified a spot among my favorite contemporary authors. Her books are simultaneously light and heavy, often satirical and flat out funny. This one delves into the personal lives of a few neighbors. One gets caught in a rather precarious position and the dominoes fall. Very upper-middle class problems, but relatable.

The author makes the ordinary captivating, and the overall message is an important one about community, balancing the tension between being independent and dependent, and our perceptions of other people.

Other people's houses is a cute and refreshing read. An affair, cancer, and family issues are all discussed. Abbi Waxman does this in her typical lighthearted way. I recommend Other People's Houses.

Full review: https://justreadingjess.wordpress.com/2020/10/11/other-peoples-houses/

Starting my day off right. Is there anything better than a good book and a delicious cup of tea (or coffee) in the morning?

This book is definitely believable. When something happens in one home and the gossip starts, it can definitely affect a whole neighborhood.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I love Abbi Waxman. This one wasn‘t my favorite. It felt like 100 pages too long to me.

Lots going on in this neighborhood!!

#Doors
#MagicalMay

This was the perfect post-Vanessa palate cleanser. Upper middle class people behaving badly novels are my kryptonite. This was reminiscent of Liane Moriarty but with more biting wit. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Its was like a season of Young and the Restless. Like those good ole 90s tv soap operas. I really enjoy the dynamic between all the families that lived in this neighborhood. It really drives home the notion that you really don't know whaat happens behind closed doors figuratively and literally. I enjoyed the quirky and funny aspects of it as well.

This book is delightful. It‘s a perfect way to end the week- reading in bed 😍.

Bailing at 34%/3:26:01. As much as I dug the two other Abbi Waxman books I read, this is not for me. I'm really not a domestic/neighborhood angst kind of gal.

**** Wasn‘t ready for it to end.

Borrowed this one from my fave cousin and I‘m super excited to start it! I‘ve heard such great things about this author 😊

Abbi Waxman has become one of my favorite authors. She really nails dialogues - those between characters and, even funnier, the ones inside the characters minds.

Desperately wishing it was the weekend so that I could just stay curled up on the couch with my book 📖

Still really enjoying this one! Abbi Waxman is quickly becoming one of my favorites so I‘m going to have to do some backlog reading.

The #24in48 has gone...NOT WELL. As in, this is the first time I‘ve been able to read this weekend and it‘s 9:30 on Sunday morning. But that‘s okay. While I‘m not going to end the weekend with a 24-hour timer, I will have ended it having gone to a local Cherry Festival, spent some time on the lake, and bought a new bed frame.

This wasn‘t terrible! Overall, I liked the story, but I think the conclusion was a bit rushed.

It‘s such a light read! Not as funny as expected to be, but a super easy simple read. Definitely enjoyed it and can‘t wait to talk about it at book club!

Next up

1 Other People‘s Houses
2 Home Alone
3. Our House in the middle of Our Street
#manicmonday @JoScho

This book was good, not amazing. I really related to Frances on a lot of levels (though she is a much better mom than I am). But the other characters were just meh. It reminded me of Big Little Lies, a bit.. lots of domestic drama.

Parts of these books are really really real! Socks and cat hair EVERYWHERE

I don‘t actually read one star books because I usually just stop reading them. So of the ones I actually finished, Other People‘s Houses was a 2 star read for me. I went in with high expectations because I love this kind of book. But I just found the whole thing really cringey and poorly written.

Of my DNFs, Meddling Kids by Edgar Cantero is the one I hated so much I could only get 50 pages in before tossing it.

#worstreads

You've probably read or at least heard of The Book Thief...but what about The Bookmark Thief?!? Well here she is in action! Hearty apparently wants me to lose my spot in my current read 😹

Sounds interesting. Let‘s dive in!

Genius. Instant favorite. Reminds me a lot of Liane Moriarty! I couldn‘t tear myself away!
@LiteraryinLititz

I ❤️ this.

I really enjoyed this one! Thank you @Samplergal for being able to read it!

Totally enjoyable! This book wasn‘t groundbreaking, but I like stories that are small in scope sometimes. This one focused exclusively on a small group of families in one suburban neighborhood. The parents and kids are all involved in each other‘s business. It‘s about the effects of one person‘s choice on everyone. It was humorous at times with a good amount of character development. I found the characters believable and fun to get to know. Pick!

Done and done, and thoroughly enjoyed it! ♥️

I liked this book! I loved all the interactions in the neighborhood! This book had me laughing, angry and sympathizing with the different characters. Over all a good read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 3.5/5 stars. This book was fine, not amazing, but fine. When Frances sees one of her neighbors cheating on her husband it shakes the neighborhood. While the story was OK, I loved Frances and seriously want to be friends with her.

I know summer‘s almost over. But you need to get to a beach with this book in your hand soon. This is a great weekend read. You learn about the neighbors and the secrets they keep. Narrative and story are woven well. #lovetoread #alwaysreading

Sometimes life is just what it is, and the best you can hope for is ice cream 🍦

About halfway through and I'm enjoying this light, fun read!

#Mother
Lots of mothers in this one! The “fix it” mother, the “cheating” mother, the “absent” mother and the “two” mothers! I‘m hoping to finish this one today 📚 🏠 🙎‍♀️

#ReadingResolutions