Welcome to Litsy!

Jane Alison was a #newtomeauthor until this month. Now, I‘ll be on the lookout for her work. #auldlangreads @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

Not at all what I expected, and in a good way. The MC comes across at first as a 50 something Bridgett Jones, but as the short, seemingly disconnected, chapters unfold there emerges something beautiful. I love the writing, and it makes me want to read Ovid. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

So the January color scheme continues with my #BookSpin book. Maybe this will go to Florida with me for my conference later this month. @TheAromaofBooks

Books read in May. It's fun to look back and see what you've absorbed over the past month. And the range of experiences: from Shrill to A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. Only one of the books was a disappointment. How lucky for me. 😀🌹

The main character, an older woman, is, among other things, trying to determine whether she'll be single from this point forward-will she experience love again. She reviews her prior relationships throughout the book and you wonder if they were worth the effort. I have solved this problem by finding little ones to spend my days with. My grandson and I now spend time with this 15-week-old guy. Love feels very near when I'm with the two of them.

This book, for the first time, entices me to visit Miami Beach. At the same time it reminds me to never visit the place. The author is bending my mind a little bit and in the midst of it all nudging me to read Ovid. Honestly, though, I'm not sure anyone other than a single woman over 60 would truly appreciate this novel.

A woman debating whether to give up on love and sex, watching her neighbors, and translating Ovid's Metamorphoses. Intriguing, no?

First of three reviews of recently read books.

I really enjoyed this book which I finished at the end of December. It is definitely not plot driven, but rather a character study. The unnamed protagonist is a woman in later middle age who has retreated to a condo in Miami to determine whether or not she should give up on love or contemplate a solitary life. A slower book, with lots to consider. I can see myself re-reading this in the future.

New sneakers, on the treadmill, gonna knock off another lingering in-progress book before the end of 2016.

This book is absolutely delicious. A meandering wander through one woman's desires, I am not entirely sure where the story is going, but the language and her descriptions of the humid, bright world of Miami are simply succulent.

Edited to add: just realize this qualifies for #setonanisland for #seasonsreadings2016. Completely unintentional but serendipitous.

Excellent ("non-fiction") novel about an older woman dealing with her singleness, caring for her elderly cat, living in an aging building of concrete and glass, connecting with neighbours, feeding a stranded duck, and translating Ovid in Miami Beach.

One of life's great pleasures: reading in bed on a Sunday night, successfully not thinking about what Monday brings.

Catching up on #photoadaynov16 with a multi-day post. Here is my #latestbookishbuy (yesterday) with one of my four #readingcompanions (the three felines declined to be photographed today) where I am #thankfulfor the fact that I get to live this life - with an amazing, solid family and security - a life I never imagined as a child or my years as a foster kid. I am also exceedingly grateful for this community of fellow book lovers. ❤️❤️❤️

See my full review at http://bookloversnevergotobedalone.net/a-booklovers-journal/2016/10/3/september-...

Two people told me yesterday (at bkbf) that Nine Island is their "new favorite book."

A starred review in Publishers Weekly. A seemingly heartfelt blurb from Lauren Groff. I can't decide if that's enough to get me to try it or not.

Happy pub day to Jane Alison's NINE ISLAND! This Miami Herald review is a nice way to celebrate . . .

"Quite an achievement, a comic novel about a woman of a certain age as she contemplates embracing a not-altogether-unwelcome spinsterhood. . . . While these are not the circumstances that ordinarily beckon modern readers, even sophisticated ones, let me assure you that the pages of this marvel flow like water."

Reading in the waiting room.

Reading in the waiting room.

Making good progress on my TBR go this month. Just started Nine Island 🤓

"Wonderful. . . . With echoes of Molly Bloom's soliloquy and Iris Murdoch's THE SEA, THE SEA, Alison has forged a haunting and emotionally precise portrait, a beautiful reminder that solitude does not equal loneliness." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) of Jane Alison's NINE ISLAND, forthcoming SEPTEMBER 13th

I really, really loved this book. It surprised me in lots of inexplicable ways. She perfectly captures the slow decay of Miami, and our own little lives. I would call this a sleeper hit for fall.

So glad to get a copy of this from Catapult