Welcome to Litsy!

“... explore something, even if it's just a bookshelf. Make a stab in the dark. Read off the beaten path. Your attention is precious. Be careful of other people trying to direct how you dispense it. Confront your own values. Decide what it is you are looking for an then look for it. Perform connoisseurship. We all need to create our own vocabulary of appreciation, or we are trapped by the #vocabulary of others.” #QuotsyApr20

I'm reading this for the third time and can't imagine not reading it again and again. This book changed the way I read, expanding my reading horizons immensely, and is one of only a handful of books on my "these books define me" shelf. I can't recommend highly enough.

You‘re a reader or you wouldn‘t be on Litsy. You owe it to yourself to read this book. Author Phyllis Rose decided to choose a random library shelf and read the books on it. What follows is a discourse on the books she read, the writers who wrote them and her personal adventures while she read them. Short but sweet!

Happy #shelfiesunday it‘s a beautiful cool sunny day here, I got rid of about 40 books and attempted a rainbow shelf. I also found out I don‘t like separating multiple books by the same author, so these are my singles. (Except for my Gaiman. He‘s all in the corner)

This $4 shot at the Goodwill Book Bar this evening was well worth it to me. I have no more book shelf space right now though.

"What I've learned from my experiment..."

I really enjoyed this book. The author randomly selects a shelf at the library and commits to reading through it. She then shares her thoughts on the work and the authors. Those who enjoy literary fiction will enjoy this book.

Wherever I go, I have to check out the shelves.

We got this set of shelves for free when a law office moved locations. You better believe it fit it in the van with two of the kids. #SPACEJAM

We went to Common Good Books in St. Paul and Wild Rumpus in Minneapolis, and each person picked out a book for purchase. Here is my pick! Others got Brene Brown, Pokémon, Wimpy Kid, and Philippa Fisher. So glad we went...was my only quiet time all day. #bookhaul #mallofamericaonsaturdayisnuts

And last but not least, a few bargain bin books from good old Chapters. Most of these were $5 and under. I may have been possessed by some sort of book buying demon last week. Went a little crazy but it's not hoarding if it's books, right? 😬

"Reading is almost always subversive.....reading is private; that's the most seductive thing about it."

Many people around the globe, of all ages, like Lerman, want to live in a world that never was, where the underlying ideas are rich and resident magic is everywhere. Even I, with my bias toward realism, want this.

(Kitty shelf pose, take two)

Thankfully the shelf is not a stunt but a device to hang all kinds of bookish thoughts off of. Rose talks about women and fiction, how physical books aren't the end all be all, how libraries decide what to keep and what to cut (it can be painful, guys).

A welcome addition to any #booksonbooks shelf.

Detective fiction set in all kinds of places. What would you add?

#recommendations

Suzu does her best shelf impression with tonight's read. Close, but...

#HelloOctober

This is my afternoon and I'm liking it. Good book, healthy breeze, hot tea. Also raised my chair up as high as it will go and am sitting cross-legged on top - feeling daring! 💃

Book mail is the best mail! This beauty was crammed into my mail slot but doesn't seem to be suffering any ill effects #phew