Welcome to Litsy!

This has been in my TBR for ages. Maria Popova writes about one of Zadie Smith‘s essays, among other writers,in an archived post Maria sent in this week‘s email. It has spurred me on to open the pages of this book of Smith‘s essays.

https://mailchi.mp/themarginalian/optimism-despair?e=f0bd056ccf

I really enjoyed this essay collection! Smith mainly focuses on the arts here—music, books, paintings, etc, in wide-ranging essays that injects just a bit of herself. I liked the balance and definitely want to look for Danzy Senna‘s 2011 short story collection now.

@Louise this is a very belated thank you for this book! Always a treat to find mail from you. Will write soon! #LitsyPenPals

At 7 hrs 15 min in this #20in4 I finished my #authoramonth pick. It was good. A lot of the reviews were over my head, but I love a well-written essay.

Also, this is my first book finished on my #Kobo Clara HD. It‘s WORLDS better than reading on my Kindle, and even better than reading on ny #Nook. This is an ereader made for readers.

Where I‘@at in #20in4. I‘m not maing 20c but 10+ is within reach.

Have to finish #authoramonth book Feel Frre today and any panels I want to listen to!

I‘m in! Goals below:

1. Finish Zadie Smith‘s “Feel Free”
2. Finish “Red, White, and Royal Blue”
3. Finish that collection of essays by the author of Heavy

Tangentially related to reading: Finish the panels I want to listen to from Boskone #20in24 @Andrew65

Last Zadie Smith of the month. While I didn‘t enjoy the entire collection of essays, I enjoyed quite a few and have decided that when it comes to Smith, I need to stick to her essays and bypass her novels. #AuthorAMonth #BookSpin #BookSpinBingo

[bailing at 24% (plus assorted chapters after)] I tagged items in three chapters. The rest that I read (either in order or by choosing random chapters) was completely uninteresting.

🌟🌟🌟

Long awaited library hold for the audiobook arrived on my Libby this afternoon! Switched over from the physical copy to audio.

Hi #AuthorAMonth readers 📚🙂

We‘ve still got about a week of reading NK Jemisin, but on February 1st we‘ll start on Zadie Smith‘s books. Here‘s an article from Penguin about where to start if you‘re new to her. Shared with me by @ValerieAndBooks , thanks Valerie!

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2020/july/zadie-smith-books-reading-guide-whi...

First 4.5er of 2021! I‘m mad at myself for taking so long to read Smith. She‘s introspective, frank about her biases, and committed to thinking deeply about whatever topic she tackles, whether it‘s pop culture, politics, or the most literary litfic. I didn‘t enjoy her quote-laden book reviews as much as the rest of her essays—they feel a bit EXPECTED—but even the pieces I wouldn‘t have sought out and might not agree with gave me tons to consider.

This book is fulfilling the need for more essay collections in my bookish life. ☺️📚

Went out to Tsutaya Books in Roppongi Hills (Tokyo) this evening. Haven‘t ventured out of my neighborhood in weeks, so to celebrate, got a minor haul, with the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Sight and Sound print magazines (which cost basically twice the price here. ) Little gift to myself❣️

This is probably another really good book but just not for me. #dnf

This is the first chance I‘ve had to read today. My son + family had been living with us for about 2 years. They moved out this week. He was over today finishing up cleaning up their bedroom & helping me make it into the latest iteration (I hope the last) of my home office. We‘re finally done, and I‘m settling in to read some Zadie Smith. Sorry about the blurry pic.

I‘m a new Zadie Smith fan girl. This is a pretty hefty book for an essay collection and I didn‘t necessarily connect with every piece but her writing is so smart and clean - you just can‘t help but marvel at it. I really admire and enjoy her use of language.🤩

Public Service Announcement: if you are like me and love free books you should join! Most Penguin Random House books, ebooks, and (I think but don‘t quote me on this because I personally don‘t buy these)audiobooks accepted. Might as well get rewards for something you are already doing.

#setyoufree

#redroseseptember

@Cinfhen @arlenefinnigan

I‘m biracial and this collection had one of the best essays I‘ve read on being biracial. It also had stuff I did not connect to, but it was very good overall, and is definitely a book I‘ll return to in the future.

National Book Critics Circle Awardees, 2018

This was an interesting collection of essays, I‘ve never read this author before
Some of it was a little slow, but I think it‘s because I was familiar with her previous work. Overall, very enjoyable.

I really meant to post this a few hours ago. I finished another book thanks to #24in48! It is my third Zadie Smith book this month, and my first essay collection. I really enjoyed it!

More than 1/4 through #24in48. Decided to get up and move, while there was a break in the rain. The sun even decided to come out a bit!

I tried, y‘all. I really did. But I just couldn‘t bring myself to care about this one. So much ink spilled on things I cared less than nothing about. And the narrator‘s voice was truly insufferable! I decided that even though I‘d gotten nearly halfway through and could push through to the end, life‘s too short to waste on lousy books! This is my second dud in a row, but good news! My current read is a winner. Be looking for that one soon.

I did a fifth of this collection of essays on audio and came up against the same brick wall that makes me deeply dislike her fiction: she is so stuck up in her head that I don‘t feel a god damn thing when I read her. I‘m glad Zadie Smith exists in the world, but she is not a writer for me.

Zadie Smith is one of my favorite authors because she (1) will write this sentence knowing how silly it is; and (2) completely back it up in the essay such that it is clear by the end that the sentence could not have been written any other way.

I always love Zadie Smith‘s writing style but I didn‘t enjoy this as much as her novels. I don‘t agree with her on social media, which she describes as unremittingly evil, and I find that quite reductive tho I wouldn‘t say social media is 100% good for everyone, it‘s a more complicated issue than that. There were generational differences between us on some other things, but her arts & literature commentary was fascinating and insightful.

I loved some essays and others went right over my head, but I enjoyed the whole book. Smith is so freaking smart and she makes me want to be more well rounded 😀 #nonfiction #essays #audiobook

This was a pleasure to read. The essays touch on a myriad of topics: libraries, Brexit/politics, social media, rap, comedy, music, literature, film, art, family, travel. Smith is so damn smart. I will admit that some of these essays were a little esoteric, but even when I didn‘t know much (or anything) about the topic she was discussing, I was still in thrall to her writing. She makes the inaccessible accessible, and the accessible special.

"Early on, for better or worse, I chose whose child I wanted to be: the child of the novel. Almost everything else was subjugated to this ruling passion, reading stories."

Zadie Smith is brilliant: I don't think there's any other word for it, and after reading this essay collection I have a new urgency to finally start trying her novels. She writes about art with lucidity and insight: these essays are well-structured and meticulously organized but they still feel unexpected in the directions they take. Her riff on Bieber vs Buber is one of many highlights.

❤

Overdrive, I love you, and the last thing I want to do is go all literary snob on you. But...I think you mean 'Rimbaud' 😳

I started this book like a month ago. Because it was essays, it was very easy to put down for long stretches of time. Some of the essays I loved. Others talked a lot on subjects I don‘t know much about or have a lot of interest in. But overall I think this collection was great.

#DiverseSpines | Day 7 Spine Poetry

I‘m loving my spine poetry either way you read it!

Where The Line Bleeds
The Perfect Find
A Kind of Freedom
Feel Free ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✨✨✨✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Feel Free
A Kind of Freedom
The Perfect Find
Where The Line Bleeds

#spinesvines #books #wine #photochallenge #day7 #spinepoetry

#QuotsyJune18 #competition @TK-421

Quite an interesting collection of essays, on all sorts of topics including changing cities, class structure, visual art, writing, film, philosophy, and personal themes. I enjoyed the ones about literature and the personal essays the most. I like how unpedantic her writing is and her meandering style that goes from one related topic to the next within one essay. Sometimes an essay starts out seeming to be about one issue but moves to another.

Uh-oh, better get going on this #audiobook!

So far the themes of these essays are very eclectic: gentrification and class in London, Brexit, Facebook, Jay-Z, Joni Mitchell, and Key and Peele. #AwesomeAudiobooks

This audiobook narrator has such a beautiful mesmirizing voice #AwesomeAudiobooks

My first Zadie Smith. Really enjoyed it!!

Book 8: A fantastic collection of essays covering anything and everything from London neighbourhoods, family, politics, race, dancing, art, and literature. Smith writes as though she is sat next to you sharing a story. A perfectly crafted story, yes, but one that is steeped in personality and authenticity you find in her novels - a quality that is often overlooked by your usual essayist.