I couldn't figure how to link my Goodreads review of this, so here's a screenshot of what I wrote there. I really dislike Litsy's limiting review length, which is why I don't usually write one 😶😬
I couldn't figure how to link my Goodreads review of this, so here's a screenshot of what I wrote there. I really dislike Litsy's limiting review length, which is why I don't usually write one 😶😬
670/776
Almost there! 😅
I'm surprised how quickly I've been going thru this 700+ page book. Currently 594/776 pages
Hoping I can finish it this weekend, and it'll be the first book down of 2024... started it out with a banger, and a biggin.
Every year, I consider matching myself with @BarbaraJean . Looks like 2024 is finally the year! Here‘s her full list: a little Lit Fic, a little Fantasy, a dash of Children‘s Lit, and surprisingly (for me) even some Mysteries! I‘ve read 3 titles already: Thank You for Listening, When Women Were Dragons, & The Agony and the Ecstasy. The first made my list this year, the second *almost* did, & the third was a formative title in my adolescence! 👇🏻
I bought this book at a library book sale while I was in grad school. Almost 20 years later, I finally tackled the chunkster & thoroughly enjoyed it! The writing felt a little dated at times, but the depth of research that went into this is staggering. Michelangelo‘s life is fascinating. I loved reading the historical and biographical background for his art, as well as seeing Renaissance Florence and Rome through his eyes. #ChunksterChallenge2023
Having reached page 328 of 650, I am halfway through this chunkster. I split it across two BookSpin slots, so this means I have completed my February #BookSpin (and am halfway to completing a Chunkster Mini for the #ChunksterChallenge2023). 🎉
And just in case there was any doubt: yes, I intentionally chose the Tattered Cover Bookstore bookmark (which itself is rather tattered) because of the tattered cover on this library discard copy. 😁
“The Florentines reinterpreted the S.P.Q.R. of the Roman‘s Senatus Populus Que Romanus to read, ‘Sono Porci, Questi Romani. They are pigs, these Romans.‘”
🐖🐖
“…he dug into the mass, entered in the biblical sense. In this act of creation there was needed the thrust, the penetration, the beating & pulsating upward to a mighty climax, the total possession. It was not merely an act of love, it was the act of love: the mating of his own inner patterns to the inherent forms of the marble; an insemination in which he planted seed, created the living work of art.”
Well, then. That‘s one way to describe it. 😳
“Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.”
“Ham and pork had been made into ravioli with cheese, flour, clove, ginger, and laid with the chicken sausage between layers of pastry, dates and almonds. The whole dish had then been shaped into a pie and was being covered with dough…”
I don‘t understand this dish!! Ravioli and sausage layered with pastry, dates, and almonds, and made into a pie?! What is this carb-laden extravaganza?!
Here‘s my next #ChunksterChallenge2023 pick, and this month‘s #BookSpin! At 650+ pages, this is a “Chunkster Mini” (but it definitely doesn‘t FEEL mini!). I picked up the huge old library discard copy at a library book sale when I was in grad school, in the early 2000s. Then a few years back, my husband bought me the paperback, not realizing I already owned a copy! The hardback will be my “home” copy and the paperback for reading out & about.
What a phenomenal story. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni truly is a master artist & architect without an equal.
And Huzzah! I finally finished this is nearly a 34hr audiobook. 🎉 First book & goal finished for #FabulousFebruary #reads thin! 🎉
Since it‘s nearly 800 pages, I‘m counting it for #AlmostAChunksterChallenge & I found a color that matches the cover for #pantone2022
#fabulousfebruary #readathon starts Saturday, 12 Feb! 🎉
I love these mid-month readathons, hosted by the amazing Andrew, because it helps me re-focus my monthly reading goals.
My goals:
* finish the tagged (only 6hrs left!)
* read my #bookspin & #doublespin books
* finish my Jan #roll100 roll 2 book
#audiopuzzling 💚🧩 #24in4 update
I‘ve made it to ~25% of the tagged, I‘m on section 3. I‘ve listened to ~5 hrs of 26 hrs. Good thing I have a lot of puzzles to work on!
The amount of work Irving Stone did on the book is amazing. Living it Italy, working in a marble quarry, even apprenticing to a marble sculptor. Incredible.
Tagged book was apparently very popular around the time I was born. A friend of mine went to Europe and brought me this print, so being the smart ash that I am I tacked it to the ceiling.
#publishedtheyearyouwereborn
#falltreasures
Okay, let‘s do this!
I‘m starting this chunkster audiobook. A bit over 28 hrs on 1.2 speed.
January has mostly been a bust for me, as RL interferes with reading plans ... But I did finish the bestselling novel of 1961, a dramatized biography of Michelangelo. It's not bad but dang is it long, and this month probably was not the best time for me to tackle it, a thick leisurely ambitious novel with such attention to detail that it comes with a bibliography.
#day4 of #7days7books We present here 7 books that will always remain in our minds, because they touched us so much, changed us.
No further comments! @rather_be_reading care to play along?
This book was one of the best sellers the year I was born. It‘s on my #TBR but at 700+ pages I don‘t know if I‘ll be getting to it anytime soon. Rex Harrison (!) played the Pope in the movie. (Charlton Heston was the artist.) #AuldLangReads
I forgot to post yesterday's walk. Oops!
#audiowalk
#2019kmin2019
#105mileApril
#overdrive
#LitsyWalkers
Ugh... I moved so slowly today that I may as well have been wading through mud.
#audiowalk
#2019kmin2019
#105mileMarch
#overdrive
#LitsyWalkers
Short walk today. I fell asleep on the couch and napped right through part of my walking time. Oops!
#audiowalk
#2019kmin2019
#105mileMarch
#overdrive
#LitsyWalkers
# 11 of 100
The Agony and The Ecstasy
By Irving Stone
On TBR forever...I hope it's as good as Lust For Life!
Wondering how this book is. Sounds good, but is so long. Has anyone read this? What did u think?
The tagged book isn't actually the book I read, but the titles are similar. Agony and Ecstasy by Linda Burson (my momma!) is from the independent publisher Class Act Books. This is the third book in The Marcy Series, and it throws an unexpected curveball. The second half reads easier than the first and actually ends on a happy note, which is a change for this series! Now on to #4!
This is my readimg corner with the book I've owned since 1969. It was required reading before our English teacher took us to Europe right after graduation. The sights im Florence and Rome were so much richer because of this, even though it is fictionalized. I still try to read a novel set in whatever city I'm visiting. There is truth in storytelling. #bookyouveownedlongest #Riotgrams
In keeping with my Michelangelo theme, I chose these two books for #fictionnonfictionpairings. The first book is a novel of the artist's life and work and the second is his autobiography. I also thought that this would be a good pick for the #thisshouldbeamovie prompt. But I looked it up and a movie was already made! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Agony_and_the_Ecstasy_(film) #day9 #day10 #seasonsreadings2016
This is on my TBR shelf but I have been told it's quite good! #artrelatedbooks #SeasonsReadings2016
"The skills with which men handle stone tells how civilized they are."
Brilliant????
This looks fascinating...please has anyone read it? Do tell!!!!