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This book was a nice and sweet love story. Sad and tragic in parts, too. I enjoyed the time I spent with it but I didn’t find it as amazing as many of the reviews seem to have.
“No one,” Fig giggled. “I’m just saying Mom’s mad now, but I still think calling Lewis was the right thing to do. Sometimes less is more, but not with family. With family, more is more.” Laurie Frankel’s “This is How it Always Is” was my favorite book of the year when it came out and ever since then I’ve been an avid fan. I could not wait to get my hands on “Family Family” and not only did it not disappoint but I am confident it will be my favorite read of 2023 alongside one other novel. This story was incredibly beautiful. “This is what parenting is, India. Solving impossible-to-solve problems while also experiencing deep crises of faith while also being kind of annoyed while also never getting enough rest. These problems only ever go away by changing into different equally impossible problems. This is how it always is for all parents, no matter how you came by your children.” I could easily quote the entire book. I love the way Frankel writes. I love the parents she creates. I love the combination of vulnerability and strength they always display. I find myself wishing deeply that these were real people and in my life. I love them so. “Normal parents who have their kids from birth so there’s no mystery, nothing about their children they don’t know or understand.” “In the entire history of time, India, throughout the wide vast universe, there has never been a parent for whom that is true.” This is the story of a super-famous actress, India whose life starts unraveling as a result of some comments she makes about a movie she was recently in. The story goes back and forth between two timelines, the present day after things start unraveling and the past when India is in high school all the way to present day. “You were five. Everything you did was gross. Then you’d cry because your fingers were cold. So I gave you a fork. Then you ate out all the strawberries and cried because it wasn’t strawberry ice cream anymore.” “What did you do?” “Opened a bottle of wine.” “About me?” “Waited for you to grow out of that phase and hoped the next would be more rational.” This book is about adoption, parenting, siblings, parenting in all of its forms and of course it’s all about love. It’s about all the ways we can love our kids, all the ways we can love each other, all the ways we can create family and we can support and be there for each other. “Not to,” her mother said. “With. Talk with them. Discuss what they’re scared about. Discuss what you’re scared about. Be honest with them. Tell them everything you can think of.” “Why?” “They’re family.” She could hear her mother’s shrug over the phone. “They’ve got a right to know.” It is one of the most beautiful books I’ve read. It broke my heart open multiple times and I fell in love with these flawed and loving characters over and over again. I don’t think there’s any way you will not absolutely love this book. Make sure to read the author’s note at the end, too, it made me love Frankel even more. Now I have to pray that she can write quickly because I can’t wait to read more of her stories. with gratitude to netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
What an unusual story full of magic that is bled into books and then read by the non-writers. I loved the premise of this book and really enjoyed the characters and the world that was built. I can’t wait to read the next ones in the series but this one was also fully satisfying on its own. Loved it.
I’m not sure why I postponed reading this book for so so long. It was interesting, lovely to listen to and touching in all the right ways. Friendship, love, betrayal, family. All of what makes a novel wonderful.
This is the story of Cam and Jules who go back to Cam’s birthplace in North Carolina. He is from the richest family with a notorious adoptive mother, Ruby, who has “lost” all four of her husbands to different accidents. Cam has never wanted to go back but Ruby’s death and his cousins imploring finally bring the wedded couple back to Cam’s childhood home and, as expected, things unravel, secrets emerge and things are never what they seem. While I enjoyed reading this story, I didn’t like Jules’ voice or the way she spoke. I wasn’t crazy about any of the characters and the revelations, when they happened, were interesting but because I just wasn’t invested in the characters, I found myself not caring too much. It was a pleasant enough read, just not one of my favorites. with gratitude to netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review 
Sketching: today’s house. Liked drawing this one.
#art #sketching #sketch #drawing #houses
“You look great in everything else. Trust me about that, too. You’re beautiful in your own skin…. You brought with you into the world some kind of human amazingness, and you can depend on it, always.” I was beyond excited when I saw that there was a new Michael Cunningham novel. His writing is always, always exquisite and this novel is no exception. “Nathan has, for as long as Robbie can remember, felt like a bit of an outsider—loved, welcomed—but here for now, until he vanishes into his own private future, whereas Violet is here, a member of the family, forever.” The premise of this novel was very interesting to me. It takes place over the course of a specific day for three years in a row. So we can see how much (or how little) can change for this one family in one year. The years in the story are 2019, 2020, and 2021 so there’s also the added element of the impact of the pandemic build into the story. It’s hard not to fall in love with each of the characters and root for them individually and as a family unit. I loved all of the interactions so much. I loved Robbie and the love he brings into the family and the love everyone has for him. I loved reading Cunnigham’s beautiful words again. Never underestimate how much can change in one year. with gratitude to netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review
I loved the author’s previous novel “The Push” and wasn’t sure she could match the intensity with which that story was told. But I was wrong. she absolutely could. This is an excellent novel about several families who are neighbors and one of the kids falls out of the window, so the story winds back in time to let us know what happened leading up to that moment. It’s excellent all the way to the very last words.
This story looks like a mystery story on its face. Several families are at a private school tour when one family doesn’t show. They all find out later that the mom died under mysterious circumstances. It sounded to me like it was going to be a drama around what happened. And it maybe a little bit is. But it’s much more about how this death impacts all the other moms in the circle and a peek at their lives and a detailed study around how what you see is not the truth. And how every person, every marriage has secrets that aren’t visible from the outside. And sometimes the richer the person, the bigger the secrets and scandals. This book mostly read like a character study of the rich to me and I enjoyed it. It was fast paced and hard to put down. with gratitude to netgalley and Little A for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review 
Watercoloring: rainbows today. Learning all the flags. The instinct to add more was strong for this.lage but I know I will journal all over it so I am refraining.
#art #watercolor #rainbow #willajournal #lgbtq? 
Lettering: love this little quote because it encourages grit through curiosity. How lovely.
#art #lettering #loveyourimperfectletters #willajournal 
Five things: these questions were harder to come up with than I thought this prompt would be. Loving the challenge.
#art #fivethings #lizlamoreux #willajournal |
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