Welcome to Litsy!

Holy shit, fuck this book and this author. Whiny, self-obsessed, super privileged, childish bitch on a permanent ego trip. This is nothing like what it purports to be, no cohesion to it, it‘s almost entirely about the author herself & she‘s awful. The chapter on Tokyo is racist & offensive as fuck. See my Goodreads review for a few choice quotes & a lot of additional ranting. The couple interesting historical bits could not save this trash. 1/5 ⭐️

My final read for #NonfictionNovember — going very literal here for the “movement” prompt.

City walking feels so strange at the moment - empty streets with shutters down. A great time to connect to reading about cities we can‘t walk at the moment !

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2020/11/17/no-walk-is-ever-wasted/

“I walk because, somehow, it‘s like reading. You‘re privy to these lives and conversations that have nothing to do with yours, but you can eavesdrop on them. Sometimes it‘s overcrowded; sometimes the voices are too loud. But there is always companionship. You are not alone. You walk in the city side by side with the living and the dead.”

I love to wander, and this book is like a meandering exploration of a city street. Not in a disorganized way, but in the way Elkin overlaps ideas and concepts. YMMV for sure, and if you like your genres well defined, this probably won‘t be your jam. I love when memoirs and history and social issues and travel and opinions all come together in a giant mish mash. Sort of like a city street. Enjoy the ramble.

Waiting for the bank to open. I‘m frequently early for things (it‘s either that or late; rarely am I exactly on time), which is why I always have a book with me. 😂 This book has been floating in my purse for weeks and I‘m determined to finish it this weekend!

🚶‍♀️ Current read: Flaneuse: Women walk the city in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London

🔥 Best Book of March: Dreamland Burning. Firestarter.

📚 Most anticipated books of April: Continuing to read from the Women‘s Prize Longlist and reading The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

#weekendreads

I will never again live anywhere without sidewalks. I did it once and I never went for walks and part of me died. The end.

I feel like I‘m going to quote this whole book 😂😂

Walking, paradoxically, allows for the possibility of stillness. Yes! This is why I walk.

Not a bad month...#LitsyWalkers.

Tagged book is a great one if you love city walking.👍🏼

Excited to read this book that looks made for me. One of my favorite things is walking a city, any city.

Flâneuse: I didn‘t even knew what the word meant before I picked up this book at the Strand some months ago. Women walking in the city, strolling, wandering by themselves. We take it for granted now but this concept used to be reserved for men only, the flâneur. I love this concept and I‘m loving this book ❤️

Mirror of my 2017 trip to JP

Being able to walk alone and walk in new cities has become an important issue for me. I was recently in Paris & Barcelona alone. I found solace in getting lost & finding my own way in beautiful cities. There is something profound when women walk alone in any environment. It shouldn‘t need to be a political act, yet is due to the overwhelming sense of potential danger. I am enjoying this book, which explored deeply women who wander in cities. 👌🏻

Super interesting examination of women walking in cities and all the social and political factors surrounding them. Definitely makes you want to take to the streets!

First time I heard the concept of “flâneur” was in an Art History course in college. I liked the romantic idea of walking the city and actually seeing it (I am from a small town, moved to a city for college). But it seemed like only men could do it. Elkin explores women and cities and how they made them their own. Mixing essays about famous women and her own experience as a flâneuse, she does a thoughtful analysis about women place in the world.

My appreciation for this waned the further into it I read. Perhaps the concept was better as individual essays, without reaching for enough content to be a book.

I don‘t know. I‘m keeping it for all the excited marginalia I scribbled in the Paris chapters, and I‘m continuing to think about how it could have been a more successful full-length book overall.

More in comments.

Not wrong. ❤️❤️❤️

Airport book! Long flight ahead.

Splurged on books at the 4-storey Barnes & Noble in Union Square while waiting to meet my agent for lunch! Really looking forward to all three.

All that I‘d hoped it would be. Especially good on the emotional perils of living away from “home”. As an Englishman living in Missouri, I could relate! Highly recommended.

This book is not for everyone but it was definitely for me. It was warm and fun but also hits on a very real subjugation of women. How simply existing publicly is an adventure and also a nightmare. If men could walk a mile in our shoes they'd know it's an obstacle course. We make the most of it though.

Resist

This is brilliant. I‘ve lived in Paris and London, and it‘s making me yearn for those cities. And it‘s so damn smart. “A culture that does not walk is bad for women... think of all the rebellious suburban women killed off in literature, from Madame Bovary to Revolutionary Road. Dream big, end up dead. Thelma and Louise could never come home to the suburbs.”

I'm on the fence with this one. It was okay.

This book is incredible, I urge everyone to read it. Non-fiction but reads like fiction in many places, and has a academic feel but that's also incredibly easy to read. Gives you that warm and satisfied feeling that reading about places and travelling gives you. HIGHLY recommend 🗺

1. Walking or commuting to and from work- occasionally cooking
2. Audible, Hoopla and Libby and sometimes CDs from library
3. 1.25 at least- I think I read faster than narrators speak and I get bored if I don‘t increase the pace
4. Simon Vance, Stephen Fry, Jim Dale- cannot abide Kate Reading as her narration diction is too precise
5. The complete sherlock holmes read by Stephen Fry

@Chelleo

Latest commute book from Libby App, this one is on the shortlist for the PEN awards. #Femmeuary

One from ye olde TBR pile...
#walking #150pnpcoverparty @LeahBergen @CrowCAH

After a tough day (missing my brother so so much and dreading Christmas without him), I did what my sweet #penpal @jenniferw88 told me to do... And WOW!!! I absolutely LOVE everything!!! Such perfect gifts!! Thank you so so so so much!!!!! 💜💜💜

Two #powerful books from two amazing women writers #ReindeerReads

From my own "Flaneuse"ing.

Fascinating look at art, walking and the city.

Who *does* want to live in a tent?

It sounds like a wonderful concept! I‘ve been lucky enough to walk three of these cities streets and can‘t wait to read about the other two. It‘s a little beat up, but it was four bucks. Come on.

Read this book while flâneusing on Paris and it was the best decision ever. I felt connected to all the women in the book and their decision to walk over the cities.

P.S.: photo taken Café des 2 Moulins, where Amelie works in the movie ?

What if Shakespeare had a sister?

I wish I was. Instead, waiting for a lift!

I loved the concept of this book and was bummed that I didn't like the actual book as much! The photo here was at the end of the book.

Learning about Japanese #onnade #holdbackthemaleflood #SFPL

Both due back soon! #AccidentalTheme #duedate #french #SFPL

Here is the random #augusttbr I threw together before leaving for work this morning. Not pictured is my #augustmostanticipated- the new Penny Reid. I will tag it in the comments. #anditisaugust #booksacrossoceans

I had lunch with a friend today and she surprised me with a copy of this book. She said she saw it int the store and couldn't stop thinking about it until she went back to purchase it for me. I am so touched and looking forward to digging into it.

This book explores the history of women walking in cities such as Paris, Venice, and New York. The chapter on London opens with this excellent quotation from Virginia Woolf.
#londoncalling #rockinmay @Cinfhen

A love song to the city and a long article on the *derive*, psychogeography and urban walking ( https://aeon.co/essays/psychogeography-where-writers-should-now-fear-to-tread )led me to these three for #underthebridge this morning. The first 2 have been on the tbr since they came out, I think.

#lyricalapril

I've been excited about this book for a long time. Time to dive in!

Finished on #IWD2017 - seemed appropriate. Terrific read on women walking the city and being.