Welcome to Litsy!

Fifth candle of the #Hanukkahchallenge: Two heroines move in some strange parallel four hundreds years apart and tell a story, reveal the history of people, history of Jews.
I cannot be objective judging these stories, because at some point of my life I have experienced some measure of it all: the awfulness of being addressed "you, the Jewess", the heated discussion of rabbis and the scorching sun at Masada. #reread #iamthatjew

Finally reading this book feels like a big accomplishment for me. It's been sitting on my Kindle for a few years and I've always been too intimidated by its length to read it. But I did and it was very good!

#firstlinefridays

You have to be in the right frame of mind to delve into this chunky book. It was one of those that requires dedication and perseverance. It was rewarding, but not something I would recommend to just anyone. Ultimately I decided to give it 4 stars. The characters, their growth, the relationships..so good, but a lot of philosophy, religion, and history. *It did win the National Jewish Book Award.
I'm glad I read this, I learned so much.

This book sat on my shelves for too long because I was daunted by the size of it. I shouldn‘t have been concerned because I was easily drawn into the story and the pages flew by. It was an overly long parts but I didn‘t much mind. Two timelines, one modern with scholars rushing to discover the secrets held in a trove of newly discovered documents, and one set in the 1660s about a female scribe. I found it all fascinating. #24in2024

I've seen a lot about this book in some of my fb book groups 👀

Two timelines:London at the beginning of the 21st & London in the 17th century. Characters and story are imagined but historical events (Sabbatean movement, the pest) & philosophers are real and very well researched.I went back&forth btw loved,liked &disliked the book.But overall, I think combining history, Jewish thought&philosophy with an entertaining plot is an amazing achievement and the author rightly received the National Jewish Book Award.

I picked this one up today too. It has deckled edges which I love, but others might want a warning about.

A beautiful story of a female Jewish scribe in the 1600s who grapples with philosophical questions and stops at nothing to find answers. This is a dual timeline book, so it also follows Helen Watt and Aaron Levy, historians, as they uncover letters and documents written by the scribe.

Just finished my last fall book for #booked2021 @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Jewish author - tagged book
Characters are frenemies - Local Woman Missing
Book of poetry - You Can Not Burn the Sun
#HiddenGem - Admissions: A Memoir of Surviving Boarding School
New in 2021 - Cloud Cuckoo Land
Heart in title - The Heart's Invisible Furies

I just meant to see if there was a book on hold… #haul #library #toomanybooks #notenoughtime

My #20in4 #Readathon went well! I finished 2 audiobooks, started listening to The Weight of Ink in addition to reading it in print, and read a few pages of A Psalm for the Wild-Built with #Pippin at my side on my one day off. I haven't had much energy or time for reading in print, but my commute gives me 3 hours of reading time a day! I got 10 hours in this readathon. 😊 #20in4Readathon @Andrew65 #DogsOfLitsy #BostonTerriersOfLitsy

546 He‘d always pitied those ensnared in the time periods he studied—people captured in resin, their fates sealed by their inability to see what was coming. The greatest curse, he‘d thought, was to be stuck in one‘s own time—and the greatest power was to see beyond its horizons. Studying history had given him the illusion of observing safely from outside the trap. Only that‘s what the world was: a trap […] And what you did within it was your life.

Who knew an academic rivalry could = such suspense? Masterfully interwoven stories of historian Helen Watt & her lost but charming grad student as they research a trove of 17th century Jewish documents. Long? Yes. But so many threads & voices resonating across eras.Tough history: Inquisition, plague, Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Historical fic at its best: sophisticated structure, perfect sentences, memorable characters, impeccable research. 2017

When you can't pick just one book for a video call reading date 😍 (I ended up reading from the tagged for this particular date!) @CounterfeitNickel

Have any of y'all read The Weight of Ink? It's my church's book club pick for August, which will be the only meeting I've been able to make since 2019 and will be the only one I can make for the foreseeable future. I'm reading it mostly to connect with them!

... in the biting hush of ink on paper ....

Oh my, that is gorgeous

This was full of interesting history but unlikable people. In places it felt too long but I don't know what I would cut.

This novel covered a lot of ground. Life and societal requirements of the 1660‘s, the plague, and a young woman‘s drive to converse with philosophers (Spinoza in particular) about God. This story progresses alongside the story of the historians who try to discover the scribe of the rabbi who has been writing the documents they‘ve found. At almost 600 pages it feels a bit too long, but it‘s immersive and very well written.

This book has been waving to me from my stack of books for at least 2 years. Despite really wanting to read it, I kept postponing. Today is the day!!! I‘m going in.

Historian Heather and her grad student Aaron find the papers of a rabbi in 17th-century in London, unearthing the extraordinary story of Ester, the Portuguese Jew who was the rabbi‘s scribe and who developed a philosophy of her own.

Read February 14-23
Rated 4.5/5 ⭐️
Book 12/60

Not even halfway through and the multiple storylines are kicking my ass. Language so beautiful, pathos so tight—UGHHHH.

No. 1 step daughter came in with a cup of Earl Grey and gave me some time to read in peace while they made pancakes. Happy Mother‘s Day to all you Mother ducks out there. Especially to @Freespirit who chose this book that I adore.

Oh, my.
I don‘t think I‘ve ever come across a better description of what it feels like to be a lover of history, to feel it in your bones, that excitable frisson of discovery, of listening. Gorgeous! And only on page 16!
#dualnarrative #17thc #histfic #jewish #femaleprotagonist

Finally finished my Litsy postal markup pick! Sorry @LapReader @thegreensofa @Sarz for the delay. I will pop it in the post tomorrow after work.
I did very much enjoy this story of a young Jewish girl in 1600 plague ridden London and Helen and Aaron who discover her secrets. It‘s a long story, but worth persevering!
Now onto The Book of Days to try to catch up !!

Thank you @julesG for tagging me😘
1. Dark Emu- important read
2. The Count of Monte Christo - one of many
3. Abbeys bookstore Sydney, Aus
4. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins❤️
5. Rebecca by Daphne de Maurier
6. The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
7. Prince Edward Is - with Anne of Green Gables
8. Lanny- loved it💕
9. 60 books on Goodreads🙏🏼
10. My verandah looking over my garden🌺
11. The Magic Faraway Tree 🌲
12. @KendallHershey @Nute 😘😘

What a lovely, thoughtful book. Set alternately in the 17th and the 21st Centuries, we are told the story of Ester Velasquez, a remarkable intellectual in an era when her gifts remarkable and dangerous. We see her through the eyes of historian Helen Watt who, working with a student Aaron Levy, discover her papers. Both are profoundly changed by what they learn.

Highly recommended. I‘m so glad to have found it on Libby;and so glad to have Libby!

Hello to my lovely Litsy friends. My apologies for being absent these past few weeks and possibly over the next few weeks. I am thinking of you and sending hugs and positive thoughts to everyone as we deal with Covid 19.
This pic is my special area in our loft where I sew, paint, read and think❤️ As an ICU nurse working full time and often overtime I won‘t be tucked away in it as much as I would like. Stay safe everyone. Wash your hands✌🏼🤗

Hi Aussie group @LapReader @Sarz @thegreensofa I have received my latest book purchases and just wanted to check that my choice for #LMPBC The Weight of Ink is ok with you. It‘s 560 pages. I‘m conscious we all have busy lives and this may not be do-able. My other alternatives are Night ( Nobel peace prize winner) and Ghost Wall... all sound excellent and the last 2 are less than 150pages each.
Let me know what you think😘😘😘

#LitsyLove #LitsyBirthdayLove

When I arrived home today, a box greeted me on my doorstep. Thank you Diane for you thoughtful birthday gift! It was completely unexpected! ❤️❤️

Historical fiction with a subtle mystery. It was good but a bit metaphor-heavy and tedious at times. I'll make it a pick since I learned a lot about the 17th century Jewish community in England. 3.5 ⭐s

I enjoyed the book a lot, even though it was a pretty slow read. Mostly because I had to stop and look up so many things about history that I wasn‘t familiar with. That‘s a good thing, but it slow down the reading and this was a pretty long book to start with. Overall the plot was good and most of the characters were well developed.

“People go through life trying to please some audience. But once you realize there‘s no audience, life is simple. It‘s just doing what you know in your gut is right.”

#QuotsyJan20 | 06: #Weight

📷: Made with Typorama

Absolutely love my #LGPOG #secretsanta package from @cupofjo! Jodi, you are amazing and generous. Love this group! Thanks to @bookworm83 for organizing again this year! Merry Holidays to everyone!

Extremely interesting historical fiction. Documents are discovered in a house in England. The book jumps back and forth between the people doing research and learning about what happened and the past when the letters and documents were written.

Can‘t believe it‘s the final day of #wanderingJune 😱I enjoyed traveling the globe with all of you awesome Littens & special thanks to my amazing cohost @barbarabb for such a great playlist 🎶♥️Don‘t forget tomorrow is #LilithJuly with the delightful @KarenUK ☮️💟☯️ I read the tagged book for IRL bookclub which takes place in 1600‘s #Amsterdam & in contemporary UK - a story of buried manuscripts & the secrets they hold. Philosophical & detailed!

The author must have spent a decade researching this book. It was so interesting & dense that I was grateful I read it on my kindle so I could look up words as I read it. Had I known what a challenge it would be I might not have picked it up when I did. It was a fascinating glimpse into 15th century Europe & the Jewish experience. An incredible story. Definitely read it, but make sure you have the brain power available because it‘s rich & complex!

I loved this book, hated for it to end. Two parallel stories about a girl who is the scribe for a blind rabbi in London in the 1600s and the researchers who find the writings. So many things I didn‘t know about Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, the plague, etc. Just terrific.

I wish I loved this, but it felt too long. I enjoyed the back and forth between the 17th century and present; I liked the storyline of historical writings; I loved the strong female characters. However, the book felt too long and there was just too much philosophical detail.

This has been on my #tbr since prior to its publication but at 560 pages it may be awhile before I get to it.

#theweight #timbittunes

#TheWeight #TimbitTunes @Cinfhen @TheKidUpstairs

This book was just a bit too much. The Ester story would have sufficed; the modern day academia rivalry, the young scholar and his love life and relationship to Helen was just too much, too many stories to finish. I didn‘t care much for any of the characters except for Ester, so I would have struggled to finish this if it hadn‘t been an audiobook.

This book was a bit of a chore. I appreciate the vast research & amount of time Rachel Kadish poured into writing this book. The time period was fascinating, but it was a bit too slow of a buildup for me. I think some editing would have made a difference. Had this not been for bookclub I‘m pretty sure this book would have ended up in #hibernation 🐻 It‘s a so-so do to length, the writing skills and attention to detail are well crafted.