Welcome to Litsy!

Quite glad to be at the end of this one!

Set myself a challenge to read 10 books from my shelf per month. Three books to go, so it's not looking good...

#ReadingTheAmericas2023 #Colombia 🇨🇴
As a work of literature this is a brilliant evocation of colonial decline, religious zealotry & the warping of character by dogmatism. Whilst empathy for most of the characters is possible, only two, the abused child & the atheistic Jewish doctor, approached likeability, the former from compassion, the latter from sympathy.
Why, then, having conjured an enthralling scenario, does Márquez introduce👇(TW abuse)

#ReadingTheAmericas2023 #Colombia 🇨🇴
I haven't read Marquez before, but Mrs. B has and says I'll probably enjoy him. I was going to read Love in the Time of Cholera for this part of the challenge, but I came across this in a second-hand book shop today, and it's less than half the number of pages, so... 😏📖 If I like it, I'll see about squeezing the other book in.
@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

Coffee shop reading with my love 🥰☕ My mom-in-law bought me this cool edition from Bell's Books the day before Thanksgiving! I love that my husband's family is just as into books as my family. ❤️📚 I'm totally off-list with my reading right now, but I'm having fun! #coffeeandbook #currentlyreading

This short, often humorous, complex and dramatic story told simply takes you to eighteenth-century South America where a twelve year old girl is mistakenly thought to be possessed. Unfortunately I didn‘t connect with the story or characters and found the love between the girl and middle aged man gross. It‘s well written and I can understand why it‘s highly rated, but it just wasn‘t for me.

“An ash gray dog with a white blaze on its forehead burst onto the rough terrain of the market on the first Sunday in December, knocked down tables of fried food, overturned Indians‘ stalls and lottery kiosks, and bit for people who happened to cross its path.” What are you reading @bernatime @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego @Cupcake12 @4thhouseontheleft @Branwen #firstlinefridays

Wow did this make me uncomfortable!!!!!! 3.5/5📚

I picked this up from a resort book swap in Mexico. It was a deep read. Some of the names and places had me conjuring up my Spanish classes.

I‘m in love with this magical adventure. Nearly completed I‘m slowly absorbing the skillful mastery of Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

#7days7covers #covercrush
Day 4
To play along all you have to do is post 7 covers for 7 days, no explanation needed.

You can also nominate others you think would like to play as well.

She asked him whether it was true that love conquered all, as the songs said. “It is true,” he replied, ”but you would do well not to believe it.”
•
When I stand and contemplate my fate and see the path along which you have led me, I reach my end, for artless I surrendered to one who is my undoing and my end.

#GabrielGarciaMarquez #ofLoveandotherDemons

Working through Márquez, I had in my mind that maybe he was at this point too safe a writer. A slow start seemed to confirm that, but this book evolved into something special. It‘s a Rapunzel story in pre-Bolívar Caribbean Columbia, with exorcisms, atheists, over-educated heretics and a melange of imported cultures.

My next book. The pup thinks I should get out more.

Of all the narrative/literary techniques of story telling, I find magical realism to be the most enthralling and convincing; and Márquez as it's pioneer. For an oxymoron to exist so closely- 'magic' and 'realism' intertwined in language, and for a story to be narrated using such a paradoxical mechanism, captures the real essence of life itself. We are afterall a paradox of living and dreaming. #Reallymagical

English translation was a bit rough to read. The story tended to beat around the bush. Very light but difficult read.

I was looking through old pictures & I found a couple of me & my hubs reading with our bun. 🐰📖💖 He‘s not super into reading, but sometimes he gets invested in non-fic books that are approximately 1,000,000 pages; when that happens, all I can do is stare, agog, & try not to embarrass him with how excited I am about it. 😚

#SouthAmericanWriters #fallintobooks

I was introduced to Gabriel Garcia Marquez in college--I read Of Love and Other Demons and found it surreal and beautiful and so different from my usual reading. I later read One Hundred Years of Solitude and loved it. That opening! That ending! Then I read Love in the Time of Cholera with a book club and we all hated it. I have yet to find a person who has read and actually liked that book. Anyone??

My first novella by Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez! Gifted writer, his sentences are poetry! This tale begs readers to consider the distinction between fantasy & reality may be hazy. Can we really know the truth? How do we account for what we cannot explain? Some people will find answers in science, others in religion, & perhaps some will admit to the uncertainty of life. #ReadingAroundtheWorldChallenge #LetterO #LitsyAtoZ #ReadHarder

Such gorgeous writing and a rich evocative story ~ a dark tale of love and religious superstition #readingaroundtheworldchallenge #colombia

I'm going to try and give this a go for @JenP #readingaroundtheworldchallenge. First stop on the world tour is Colombia 🇨🇴 will also work for #litsyAtoZ #letterO

My love with all of my "love" books (and a couple of his - bet you can guess which!). Before I took this I said, "Look like you love me." ?

Happy Valentine's Day, Littens!

'When I stand and contemplate my fate and see the path along which you have lead me, I reach my end, for artless I surrendered to one who is my undoing and my end.'

#Read: Feb17

This was the first Garcia Marquez I read, for a class in college. I gave a pretty major presentation on it, but now I can't even remember what that presentation focused on! Maybe it's time for a re-read. 😊

(Another late one for a photo challenge!) #flowersoncovers #feistyfeb

This is going to haunt me. I feel like a so-so rating is unfair, but I can't recommend it. The writing is compelling and I couldn't put the book down, but I feel almost dirty now that it's over. The majority of the characters are pathetic and/or despicable. I'm glad the book was short (147 pages), as I don't think I could have stomached much more. Question-would this count as O or L on #LitsyAtoZ for title??

Despite what my Goodreads #currentlyreading shelf would have you believe, I try not to have more than two books actively going at one time (audiobook + one), but I think I'm going to give this one a shot tonight and save The Gunslinger (kindle) for lunchtime reading at work.

Great tragic love story.

Okay took a break to make a quick snack and get some iced coffee. Can't wait to finally dive into this book! ❤️ him. #24in48 #readathon

Like all great love stories, this book is tragic, magic and indelible. It is like a ghost that walks by my side, haunting. In a good way.

"..Non c'è medicina che guarisca quello che non guarisce la felicità"

One of the master's most beautiful works

Meraviglioso