Welcome to Litsy!

New podcast on the BBC sounds app.

Happy New Year! 🥳 tagged the first book of 2024, a pick from @Birdsong28 for #auldlangspine - I‘m grateful to shut the door on 2023, plan some new goals and plans.

Hubby went out, all on his own, and bought me an early Valentine, without any guidance at all. I think he did well.

#ThinkPositiveBePositive @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView

Gratitude usually helps me stay positive 😉

#SuperSeptember @EadieB @Andrew65

Going to finish tagged book this week, not by end of readathon though.
Then I have to find a filler until #Scarathlon2021 starts!!
Make a great day everyone 🎃

Thx @EadieB @Andrew65 (get well soon) #SuperSeptember
My goal is to finish the tagged book.
Make a great day everyone😊

A perfect February day to curl up with a book.

I know many of us on Litsy *loved* this book so this online event should be really interesting.

I‘ve signed up - anyone care to join me? @Mitch - I seem to recall it was one of your faves but I can‘t remember who else liked it.

https://harrogateinternationalfestivals.com/salon-north/the-five-the-untold-live...

I finally started this one....
I‘m slowly trying to get into the rhythm of my reading again. The pandemic really has left me in a slump. #books #reader #reading #happiness #truecrime

Next up...

So my friend sent me this photo this morning....she wanted to show me her new reading corner😁But the best part...I spied a book on her shelf that I own and can use for #PoP21 #seenonsomeonesbookshelf

I want to like this book so much as I like the idea. Unfortunately, Victorian England is incredibly depressing. A lot of the narrative is limited facts in cultural context and assumptions of how the women felt about their lives. There are a lot of assumptions about shame, guilt, and sadness, rather than letting the reader think about how the women might feel. Sadly, can't recommend. TBR 16 pts #WinterGames2020 #MerryReaders

Well-written, researched and presented, I loved how these women were brought to life. I feel I got to know them and I appreciate having the names of the victims at the forefront and ignoring that of the killer. Also, her positioning them in their time, in the challenges they faced, it‘s pitfalls and their lack of opportunities, made them even more human. Oh but their lives were desperately bleak and that was hard to read. Solid 4.5/5

I read this from library book club, and I don't think I would have chosen it otherwise, but I loved it. It's a nonfiction about the five women murdered by Jack the Ripper. The author starts out by stating that this is not a true crime story, and she's not trying to figure out who the Killer. In fact very little of the crimes themselves are mentioned at all. Rather, it's a biography of each of the five women.

While this book was different than what I expected, I really enjoyed it.
The author sheds light into the lives of London‘s Victorian era poor and pieces together the stories of Jack the Ripper‘s victims. Spoiler alert: they weren‘t all prostitutes.
#history #nonfiction #jacktheripper #thefive #victorian #london

This may be the best nonfiction book I‘ve read this year. I couldn‘t stop reading and crying for what these five women survived, only to be killed by one of the most famous killers of all time.

I always thought the women killed by Jack the Ripper were sex workers, but I was wrong. That is, of course, an assumption made by the men investigating the murders. Because any homeless women must be a prostitute 🙄

First I tried reading. Then I switched to audio but I‘m still bored. The level of detail is impressive but soon gets tedious. The title is misleading, it is not a Jack the Ripper story. It‘s a social history of five women in Victorian London who happen to have been killed by The Ripper. I love history, but this is dry!!!

I‘ve read a lot of books about this case & this is one of the best. This is not about the murders. It puts the lives of Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, & Mary Jane Kelly front & centre.

The author has obviously done lots of biographical research & it shows in the rich detail of the lives of working class & poor Victorian women. 5🌟

I really wanted to love this one but will admit it was a struggle for me. I appreciated the authors attempt at humanizing these five women that were violently murdered by Jack the Ripper without glorifying him further, but I found it to be a depressing and dry read with so many details about their lives that it almost read like a history book. I finished but just wasn‘t for me.

This was a really fascinating read. So many books on the subject focus on the killer rather than the victims so this was a refreshing read. I loved learning about their lives and how they ended up in their various situations. This book is heavy on details of the times and locations but I enjoyed the history. A brilliant read for any true crime or Jack the Ripper fan. #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2020
@Clwojick 16pts

Reading times for both readathons so far. Day 3 of #October20in4 and total is 15 hours so that's another 5 hours read. 50pts.
Day 2 of #OutstandingOctober and I'm at 9.5 hours so thats another 5 on that one too and another 50pts.
So total for Sunday is 101 pts for #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2020
@Clwojick @Bookgoil @Andrew65

"Fallen women deserve to be punished"...this is Victorian mores in a nutshell. It doesn't matter if their "crime" was to become victims of circumstance; women who were in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

This book is brilliant! It turns the prejudiced and maligned accounts of the victims' lives on its head and reveals the truth.

This is a must read. It's time we restored these women their humanity and gave them the respect they deserve.

Another readathon but a long one which is great fun. I'm aiming for around 30 hours and 4 books. Plus it brings more points for #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2020
#OutstandingOctober
@Andrew65 @Clwojick

So day 1 of #October20in4 went well and racked up over 5 hours of reading. So thats another 51pts for #TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2020
@Clwojick @Bookgoil

"I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We've been taught that silence would save us, but it won't." Audre Lorde

#TheFive #FirstLineFridays #nonfiction
@ShyBookOwl

I tried. I bailed after #1. It just didn‘t interest me at all. I was 20% in, and in my opinion, this story wasn‘t going anywhere. Perhaps I need to stick to fiction.

Well this is my #TBR for #Scarathlon2020 for #TeamSlaughter. Its only provisional and doesn't include any netgalley thriller reads. Only a small list as don't want to stress myself out but may be higher. Looking forward to this. 26pts.
@Clwojick

Super excited to start this book. I love true crime and like most, have been fascinated about Jack the Ripper. So, when I came across the chance to learn more about his victims and how they were as much victims of Victoria mores, as they were of their assailant; I just had to know more.

“The victims of Jack the Ripper were never 'just prostitutes'; they were daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, and lovers. They were women. They were human beings, and surely that in itself is enough.”

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper takes a different view on the women know only as victims of Jack the Ripper. Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine and Mary-Jane are give back their identity which was taking from them once Jack took their lives.

What if Jack the Ripper was not killing prostitute but homeless women or alcoholics. I found my view on what I thought I knew change, I happy that there story is been told

Like everyone else, I have always thought that the victims of Jack the Ripper were prostitutes. In this book Rubenhold, shows how wrong that assumption is and how the attitude towards women who were homeless and who had left their husbands, colored this view.

Many a you said this it a good book and you were right! It was so fascinating and interesting all the details and history of the women and the times they lived in. I found it sad that these women were label as fallen women or and/prostitues just because they had no man to support them. #nonfiction

I‘m on the story of the second woman now. @Butterfinger I devoured Polly‘s story- and will respond to the discussion as soon as I finish the book. If you are a non fiction reader this author is incredibly talented at research and telling a story. This will not take me long to finish- even with reading two other books at the same time 😂

I never did get around to post my weekly forecast last weekend, but here‘s my #BookReport

I finished The Vanishing Half, read a chapter a day in P&P and continued reading the tagged book.

Don‘t think I listened to my audio at all (Eleanor Oliphant).

It is SO EASY to tune in for panels of the online Edinburgh International Book Festival! I just watched the Hallie Rubenhold panel. It also appears the panels are available to watch after they end, so if like me you‘re tuning in from the US, you don‘t have to be up at 4 am to catch that morning panel you want to see. 😊📚❤️

This is my non-fiction read for August, just started. I think I will enjoy it! #nonfiction

I have been reading this for the second time recently and it is still as good as the first time. I got this paperback edition as it features a wonderful interview with the author in the back. This is a must if you want to see how a myth of a certain stereotype can be fed down the generations and have consequences for all women as it shows how we shouldn't take people for granted and that we shouldn't judge them whatever their situation in life. ⬇️

Rubenhold presents us with a new narrative that puts the 5 female victims at the heart of the Jack the Ripper murders. An insightful & important journey back to Victorian London shows the truth of these five women's lives. Rubenhold delivers a powerful message on the treatment of women in the 19th Century that sadly is still relevant to this day. A true eye-opening book & a must read that hooked me from the first scene setting chapter.

Stories about Jack the Ripper have always fascinated me for some reason. Although this book isn't about him, I loved getting to know each of these women and seeing the world they were a part of before they were tragically murdered. I think telling their stories is a great way to let them live on in history instead of simply being labeled a victim of Jack the Ripper.

Incredibly well-researched and well-written account of the lives of the five women who were murdered by Jack the Ripper: Polly, Mary Jane, Annie, Kate and Elisabeth. I‘m impressed by how much detail the author was able to uncover. Highly recommend. 👍🏼👍🏼

#lockdownlowdown
1. Just outside Boston MA
2. The tagged book, which I read for #lmpbc #round8
3. Long enough to be interesting and short enough to keep my attention. I have two small children stuck in lockdown with me — 350 pages or so.
4. Thank you @PaperbackPirate for tagging me! I hereby tag anyone who‘d still like to play.

#Bookreport #WeeklyForecast. I liked Bookworm but wished our reading had intersected more 3 🌟 The Ballad was disappointing 2 🌟 I am glad I finished The Five. It is well done and the victims should be the story, always. 4 1/2 🌟Check off April #BookSpin. What Alice Forgot was a fast paced, entertaining listen. 3 1/2 🌟. Besides my 3 next up for June books I will also read at least one recommended book on racism and white privileged monthly.

What an amazing book!! I've read several books about Jack the Ripper, but nothing was ever made of the victims, they were only prostitutes. So wrong, their names need to be remembered. They were daughters, sisters, friends, lovers and wives, so much more than history has pidgeon holed them. 5 💥💥💥💥💥 Two thumbs up 👍👍 I highly recommend this to everyone.

Book 3 for the #24B4Monday readathon

@Andrew65 @SumisBooks @jb72

Books read in May. The Rick Riordan books were re-reads because I love them. My favorite for the month is probably the Five. Very good if you are interested in historical accounts of peoples‘ lives.

This wasn't a book for me. I think I assumed it would be more about the events leading up to the deaths of these women and not just the history of the late 1800s.

A fascinating read about the lives of Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly. History has remembered these women only by their deaths, Rubenhold focuses on their lives and the lives of the poor in Victorian England. Highly recommended reading! I was struck by how little, unfortunately, society's attitudes towards the poor and towards female victims have changed.

This was a very interesting book dealing with the biography of the women killed by this serial killer and a hard look at Victorian life in a London in the slums. Highly recommend this one.

The latest #Hayfestival podcast is with Hallie Rubenhold and they will be discussing "The Five". I really loved this book. Podcast should be very interesting https://open.spotify.com/episode/1BbuozrtufDgdARELmdqDo?si=yqyoROOYQ3Kx4LYJs66Rf...