Welcome to Litsy!

How have I not read this before?? Such a perfect novel, potentially a new all time favourite. The writing style was much easier to get used to than I‘d heard and it helped me feel completely immersed in Janie‘s life. Janie has to be a new favourite mc for me as well, seeing how she changed so much over her life and understanding all of it so closely. So many moments will stay with me that I can‘t even list. The ending almost made me cry

Lovely cosy winter day and this book is 5/5 fantastic so far. I can not believe I haven‘t read it before it‘s so perfect and exactly my taste.

I had a lovely veggie sausage pasta lunch, read some of this and then went to meditate on bankside. Holding up as best I can against the dark and the cold!

How‘s Monday treating everyone else? Dark and cold where you are? At least it‘s crisp and gorgeous as well as cold here in London

#mrbook1inamillion readathon total: 4 hrs

Not breaking any records but I knew I‘d be busy and just wanted to take part! I was visiting family so I‘ve fitted this in around: 3 meals out across 3 different cuisines, a movie, a sewing lesson, a serious plumbing problem and planning my dads birthday so I think I‘ve done ok.

#litsypartyofone #24b4monday @MrBook @Alisnazzy @Lynnsoprano @Clwojick @Andrew65 @Rachel.Rencher @jb72 @TheReadingMermaid

#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

1. Tagged book and once upon a river

2. It was like seeing your sister turn into a ‘gator. A familiar strangeness

3. Nothing that special! I think today I‘ve drunk earl grey tea, a Diet Coke and water. Very exciting day! Yesterday I had a German coke/Fanta mix which I‘m obsessed with and get whenever I eat German food but some people think is awful. Don‘t knock it till you try it!

I‘ve wound up at about 3.5 hours so far for the #mrbook1inamillion readathon - I was expecting to have more time but I‘m home visiting my parents and we‘ve wound up having a lot of family things! Few mins with this in the morning before we head to the national gallery together.

#litsypartyofone #24b4monday @MrBook @Alisnazzy @Lynnsoprano @Clwojick @Andrew65 @Rachel.Rencher @jb72 @TheReadingMermaid

I first read this book more than a decade ago, while I was in high school. Reading it now brought back the memories of then, and I realized how culturally insensitive my teacher taught this book to us. I learned more from it now than I did then! I'm so glad I decided to pick this back up. I loved it in high school, and have a deeper appreciation for it now. 💚
Also, isn't this a gorgeous cover?!

I'm so excited for this re-read! I read it first as a freshman in high school and fell in love with it, but I can't wait to see what I get from it this time.

I had to be peopley this weekend at a wedding, which means that now I need to decompress and recharge. I‘ve got Cup of Calm tea and a reread of a classic that I‘m assigning next semester. #introvert #selfcare

This is one of my new favorite #classics

This is so beautifully written. With vernacular dialogue and lyrical prose she illustrates the story with her words. As soon as I shut this book I wanted to read this all over again.

#PBSGreatAmericanRead
#Florida

“They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”

I finished this book earlier in the week but I needed some time to take in the ending. I loved this book. I feel like it will be one that I‘ll want to re-read multiple times throughout my life.

This book works on multiple levels so summarizing it is difficult. However, I‘d say Hurston‘s book is about a woman who ultimately refuses to be bound by the expectations of others.

Coffee date with my sister to start the holiday weekend ☕️ 📚 Also I‘m in love with this cover! 🌳

1. Tagged ☺️
2. Family cookout
3. Anything with brownie mixed in!
4. I play cello in a community orchestra and I play piano 🎼
5. Got it!

#friyayintro
@howjessreads thanks!

A classic for a reason. It‘s got such a sense of time and place but it still feels like quite a modern novel. I loved the writing, so many beautiful sentences. The dialogue took a bit getting used to but it definitely added to the novel. One I won‘t be forgetting in a hurry. Thanks for starting the buddy read @Cathythoughts ♥️ really glad to have read it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you @cathythoughts for getting the group read going & I can't add much to the lovely reviews by the rest of you. I have to borrow from Zadie Smith's intro to capture the magic & essence of this novel: "It is about the discovery of self in and through another". I love that Smith points out that Janie's ancestors include Elizabeth Bennet, Dorothea Brooke, & Jane Eyre. It's about Janie's quest for autonomy & self-fulfillment outside of ⬇️

A wonderful book that will stay with me for a long time, and I think it will need some time to process properly.

I thought I might struggle with the dialect to start with, but it really wasn‘t an issue. The writing was beautifully lyrical and there were many quotable passages.

The one below just made me laugh - a great way of saying you can keep a secret...! 🐓

What a love story. And it‘s much more than that. A story about a resilient young woman who has a great passion for life and independence, who refuses to be intimidated by social norms or be content with comfort and status. Took me a little while to get used to the dialect/slang, but you can‘t miss the beautiful prose and poetic language. A multilayered novel and a beautiful read. ❤️
Thanks for spearheading this, Cathy.

I had to keep reading till I finished, after Tea Cake arrived things really got moving. A lot of the rhyming lines & the story made me think of Bob Dylan‘s writing too. A powerful story on every level. I feel shook up inside. Look forward to hearing everyone‘s thoughts whenever all are finished. Feels like a book that will be bonding. Must think more about it myself now ....
#TheirEyesWereWatchingGodBuddyRead2019

I‘m also about halfway through - this is my favourite quote so far. I just love the idea that thoughts can be turned into pictures by talking about them - beautiful!

#TheirEyesWereWatchingGodbuddyread2019

I‘m halfway till tomorrow.... ( wish I could read tonight ) Storyteller ! So quotable... & what she really does for me is that she brings it all home. We are no longer talking about issues & points of view out there ... I find myself thinking of my family history & of the pain , of people I loved ... of how they were hurt , In ways that were seen as nothing & in more visible ways .. #TheirEyesWereWatchingGodBuddyread2019

This first paragraph sets the stage for the story and the difference between men and women. And what an opening line!
@Cathythoughts I‘ve finished the book, so many good quotes and I‘ll have a think how to review. Look forward to our discussions to come.

Got my coffee now going to sit and read this for a bit 👌

Like other classics, this book has achieved a certain reputation to the point where I had a vague idea of what the book is about, but no idea what to expect. Sly, playful, and deeply rich in language, allusions, and the ideas percolating in the background—it is hardly at all what I expected, even though I didn't know what to expect.

If that makes sense 🙃

@Cathythoughts

I have this down in my diary for tomorrow... so I plan to start in the next couple of days .... @TrishB is already finished ( our very own speed reader extraordinarie 😘) so a gentle reminder to everyone else @erzascarletbookgasm @batsy @youneverarrived @Crazeedi @squirrelbrain

Finished yesterday and absolutely loved it ❤️ can‘t wait to discuss when the rest of the gang get there.
So much in a little book.

Started this morning and I‘m loving it ❤️ would have normally finished as it‘s only little, but fighting a migraine thats slowing me down!

I‘m wondering how ye are fixed for starting this one ? We can start , or wait till mid - August.... thoughts buddy readers ?
@erzascarletbookgasm
@batsy
@TrishB
@youneverarrived
@Crazeedi
And all welcome ofcorse ♥️👍🏻

My third time reading this one and still loved it!

#reread

My morning coffee just got very interesting, when I checked the post ... some lovely Litten has sent me this book ♥️... who is it ?? So very kind, please tell me who you are 🙏🏻

#JulyTBR

A friend gifted me Their Eyes Were Watching God and I‘ve been waiting read it for a while. I‘m most looking forward to it.

1 - tagged. I did not enjoy this in high school, but had to reread it in college & LOVED it.
2 - peach
3 - Good Omens - SO GOOD! I made it last three days, but I need more. 😢
4 - Does Snuffalupagus count? He was imaginary when I watched Sesame Street, but I saw an article where they were worried about they were teaching kids that they wouldn't be believed if they told about abuse, so they finally made him “real“ in the 80's
#friyayintro

Yes, I can draw faces sometimes! 😂 This is a comic I drew based on the books I‘ve read in my high school English classes. All the characters are specifically meant to be children—Janie‘s panel is from the second chapter of Their Eyes Were Watching God, before she becomes an adult, and Pammy Buchanan is Tom and Daisy‘s daughter.

Sometimes the best part of classic literature is poking fun at it! 😂

Dawn sunshine and a beautiful cover.

This edition of this brilliant book has both an introduction and afterword that added my understanding of the importance in American writing of a black woman's life in relation to society and 3 very different men. Janie tells her strory through telling her friend and as alice Walker stood up in a lecture to say " women did not have to speak when men thought they should, that they would choose when and where they wish to speak... "

⭐️5/5
This classic novel by and about women blew me away. After getting use to the use of dialect, I was absorbed into the story, following the main character as she tried to find and understand love in a world made against her.

My book club chose this as their #classic for this year. I‘m very excited to read this for the 1st time. I‘m an English major; how was this never an assigned read??

Our #bookclub loved it! I was pleasantly surprised because I feared that many would find it too challenging with the dialect. This is one of those books that I'll never do justice to in a small review space like this one. It simply is an American classic. One of self discovery, love, and struggle. 🌳

If I were judging the story alone, it'd be 4/4.5⭐. But the flawless writing bumps it up to an indisputable 5.

For anyone studying the craft of writing, this book is a perfect specimen. Hurston often includes such detailed micro-descriptions of scenes that in theory are unnecessary but add SO MUCH to the story's experience, tone, & meaning. She gives life to inanimate objects that pull the reader in & hold on tight.

Cont'd in comments #blackathon

Then you must tell 'em dat love ain't somethin' lak uh grindstone dat's de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch. Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore. #blackathon

And in only a few sentences, this book manages to be a better romance than many entire romance novels. Not to mention showing Janie's increasing empowerment. #blackathon

I fell completely into this almost over the top, flawless description of an approaching hurricane. #blackathon

She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making. The familiar people and things had failed her so she hung over the gate and looked up the road towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman. #blackathon

There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought. #blackathon

She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun & the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace & the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom & frothing with delight. #blackathon

#blitsyhistorymonth #BHMSwap

Ann! Thank you!!! I cant wait to see myself sipping cappuccino, eating shortbread, and partaking of chocolate truffles while settling in with one of my new books! I have been wanting to read both of these, you made great choices! TEWWG is one of those missed classics that I haven‘t managed to swing back and pick up yet. And Beale Street I bumped up my TBR since they‘re making the new movie. The bookmark is beautiful!

Beautiful and essential classic American novel.

Our next #bookclub pick at the library's IRL group. I can't wait to dig into this #modernclassic 🤗
Also, isn't this cover so lovely?

1. My Ginger kitty 🐱
2. Chillin‘
3. Traveling, theatre going, baseball spectating (Let‘s Go Mets!) and Disney obsessing
4. DC, Chicago and Denver but most likely I‘ll do DC and revisit Miami and/or Disney World
5. What‘s your fave literary destination? I‘ve visited Faulkner‘s house in New Orleans, seen Hemingway‘s in Key West and worked next door to Hamilton‘s grave. I really want to visit York, England someday!

#friyayintro @howjessreads

“Ships at a distance have every man‘s wish on board.” Oh, delighted to sink back into Zora Neale Hurston‘s masterpiece again!