Welcome to Litsy!

Grief and the power of having a pup by your side. I‘d avoided reading this for a while because of all the buzz and awards, but it I should have read it sooner. Not as much about the plot, but the conversation.

#Movember #rescueme
Had to go with the best kind of rescue today!
Tagged book is from my #TBR -I think it fits perfectly.

“A moving story of love, friendship, grief, healing, and the magical bond between a woman and her dog.
When a woman unexpectedly loses her lifelong best friend and mentor, she finds herself burdened with the unwanted dog he has left behind. But while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.”

⭐️
Tough book to read. Lots of trigger warnings for many reasons. Whoa, just, whoa!

I put off this book because everyone was like 🤔 when it won the National Book Award, and I don‘t like books about dogs because that often means they‘re sad or boring. But, you guys, this book is BEAUTIFUL!! It‘s an exploration of heartache and pain, primarily through the experience of a close friend‘s suicide. Trigger warnings, for sure, but it‘s so wonderfully done. For those who need to know about the dog, check the spoiler comment.

Just started this today. It‘s written in 2nd person and the narrator is talking to her deceased friend. I like it. #currentlyreading

Very interesting listen. This story has some twists I wasn‘t expecting. It has themes of friendship, loss, human & pet relationships and writing. Trigger warning for theme of suicide. 3.5⭐️

This felt like a series of diary entries almost. Notes taken in real time. Compelling.

I felt this book told two stories: one about how grief affects the writing process (for better, for worse). The other is about whether animals mourn their dead humans the way humans mourn their dead pets. I love being taught things when I'm reading a story, and Nunez teaches so much about writing, and famous authors, and their mental health issues. The dog story gave me all sorts of feelings. This is a book I'll never forget.

Not the best poolside reading (it‘s about a dog that helps a woman grieve and also a lot about being a writer) but still an interesting literary fiction.

At a friend's house in the most perfect reading chair.

Bedtime reading.

I found at the end, it was just an unsatisfying read, despite the promise of the premise.

But when is so at odds with the culture and themes of the moment, what's the point.

This had potential to be such a nice story.. if the author had just focused on the grief and healing and relationships.. but there was sooo much writing about writing and writers and i got pretty bored of it.

I really enjoyed this story of a woman looking after her (late) friend ‘s dog. It‘s writery - many references to authors, books & films throughout history - normally this puts me off as it‘s insular, but here the tone is warm & the narrator grounded by her solitariness & grief. Apollo the dog is a comfort to her (like in H is for Hawke). I loved the dry humour (‘maybe Apollo is a canine genus‘); & thoughtfulness re art, suicide, dogs & Me Too.

Woohooo weekend starts now! 🤪

Just finished this last night! It's probably the last of my #mayreads. It was so eloquently written. I enjoyed reading the perspective of a narrator whose best friend died from suicide. The book featured a wonderful range of emotions, such as anger and sadness. It felt as if I was reading a true story and not fiction. It has so many great lines in it. It will stay with me for a while. I look forward to reading more books by Sigrid Nunez.

Oh my heart! I loved this book, read it essentially in one sitting.

Another book club read for this month, hoping I‘ll like this more than the one I just finished.

I got 30 or so pages in and bailed. So many literary names dropped, so many quotations. Also when I encounter the word “flaneur” I translate it as “pretentious wanker”. Despite being ostensibly about literature and dogs (two passions of mine), this was not for me.

1. Literary fiction, magical realism, gothic/horror.
2. Science fiction and fantasy. Both genres that I used to read a lot of when I was a teenager.
3. Romance.
4. Historical fiction or *good* horror movies.
5. The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi (YA fantasy)
6. Tagged. This book was insufferable.
7. Some new followers 😘 @NeamhainHughes @looking_for_mikaela @CaliforniaCay

#bookishquestions. @Clwojick
Thanks for the tag @gradcat 💕

Enjoying this and yet, dismayed that it is much more than a book about loving a Great Dane.

Starting The Friend this weekend for our upcoming episode to be released April 23rd!

#nationalpetday #petsoflitsy #catsoflitsy #dogsoflitsy

Good morning (or afternoon/evening, depending on your location) fellow Readathonners! I am starting off my Dewey‘s RAT with this book in honor of my best friend, who read with me for so many years. I miss her terribly. Wishing you all many happy reading hours! #readathon #nationalbookaward
ETA: I finished this and liked it a lot!

How do you cope with the sudden loss of a dear friend? The narrator of this brief book speaks directly to the departed, a writer, never named, who has taken his own life. The result is an impressionistic and wide-ranging exploration of grief and loss, the impact of suicide, the life of a writer, the line between fiction and memoir, and the abiding love between humans and their dogs. This one will stay with me for a long time.

What do dogs think when they see someone cry? Bred to be comforters, they comfort us. But how puzzling human unhappiness must be to them. We who can fill our dishes anytime and with as much food as we like, who can go outside whenever we wish, and run free—we who have no master constantly needing to be pleased, or obeyed—WTF?

My local indie store, Quail Ridge Books did their bookclub bash tonight. I picked up this book, new pins, a NC Independent Bookstore Calendar and the tote for Independent Bookstore Day.

#unpopularopinion This is one of those books that makes me feel like I‘m not smart enough to “get it”. It won a National Book Award. It has to be amazing. It was just lost of me I guess.
It‘s about grief and dogs and writing/writers and suicide. A lot of author name dropping and some minor philosophizing. #readwomen #diversereads #librarybook #readharderchallenge - 2018 AOC award winner

I love a well done second person narrative #audiowalk

A novel, musings about the writing life, friendship, suicide, and a dog. Observational writing. Sparse at times. Dark and lonely, but with love and affection. A twist, sort of, at the end. Kirkus reviews said, “It is a lonely novel: rigorous and stark, so elegant—so dismissive of conventional notions of plot—it hardly feels like fiction.
Breathtaking both in pain and in beauty; a singular book”

1. Here's an old picture, but the yard is the same 😁
2. I LOVE it--no neighborhood, no neighbors, dirt road, lots of green pastures.
3. The Friend is the February read that will stay with me the longest. Interesting little book.
4. Night--the bathtub and in bed.
5. Whatever the husband cooks. Last night was grouper with white beans and kale.

#friyayintro. @howjessreads

This book is about friendship, loss, suicide, love, and a dog. While I enjoyed the first half of the book, and also all the trivia about writers, suicide, dogs... I didn't much care for the second part, which I found too long (or perhaps I actually didn't care much about the actual story). Another thing that annoyed me was the narrator's criticism of writers, younger writers... However, it's still an interesting, and well-written book.

The novella won the National Book Award and am not sure about it, midway between a pick and a so-so. Apollo, a Harlequin Great Dane is left to the author who has never had a dog. He was left after his owner committed suicide. The themes include owning and having a relationship with a dog and cats, suicide, the literary and academic worlds, friendship, and womanizing, among many literary quotes. Not everyone‘s cup of tea, loved the 🐶 sections.

It's a pick, but not an 'everyone needs to read this book' pick. I enjoyed the writing and thought provoking nature of the book. I did not enjoy her devotion and utter infatuation with the writer who was a womanizing jackleg. Then, the weird one chapter twist at the end threw me. Anywho...Despite my focus on the negatives, I liked it enough, I think. For now anyway...eh, that could change. 🤔Stay tuned 🤷‍♀️

I was highlighting almost every page; so much about the writing life, friendship, the impact of suicide, of love, friendship, creativity, dogness, our relationship with animals in a short but deep novel. Elegant, spare, style that omits nothing, says everything. A huge Harlequin Great Dane, Apollo, is left to the care of a friend of a writer who has killed himself. She never had a dog before. Apollo gradually helps her through trauma; hope

This struck me as not all that different from Feel Free — a series of literary musings, only this time woven loosely together with a plot line. The only reason I finished this one was because it was over at about the same duration that I bailed on the first one. What is it about writers not knowing how to write about anything other than writing and writers? And dogs. Bleh. Moving on.

#20k1kgiveaway congratulations on the milestones @Nessavamusic !

The themes here (suicide, writing, dogs, ex-lovers, academic power dynamics, walking, small apartments) suggest a novel I would devour, as they all influence my life as well. But in the #metoo era, I couldn‘t stomach a relationship between male professor and younger female student that seems sort of uninvestigated in terms of real power, left me exhausted and frustrated. I may pick back up to see if it does catch up with our political climate.

This book had a lot to it, more than I was expecting actually. It‘s not just about a love for a dog or grief. It‘s about the loss of a friend, a very complicated friend. It‘s about jealousy and suicide and fear of aging. It‘s about writing and authors. On another note, I will never understand how books are chosen to receive awards. While I certainly appreciated the book, I‘m not sure why it won the NBA.

First read of 2019!😄

I finished up the year‘s reading with some strong reads. My favorites were The Fact of a Body, The Great Believers, and The Friend.

#decemberwrapup #monthlywrapup #decemberreads

I think this will be my last completed book of 2018, bringing the year‘s total to 65.-15 more than the arbitrarily chosen 50 that was my GR challenge for the year (easy to achieve and not a number that would discourage me from choosing chunksters) but the least number of books read since ‘14, when I read 61 books (and 1320 fewer pages) than ‘18. Not sure why the decline (Bookstagram? 🙄🤷🏻‍♀️🙃) but it was still an excellent year of reading.

Haven‘t been reading or on Litsy much since we were blessed with a 2 month old pup on December 15th. ☺️🐾 Hopefully finishing up The Friend tonight or tomorrow.

Three seemingly unrelated topics weave together surprisingly nicely in this short book: suicide, a dog, and literature. The writing is lovely and I cried like a baby (while holding my kitty tight) at one particular part.