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The Stone Diaries
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
27 posts | 75 read | 36 to read
The Stone Diaries is the story of one woman's life; a truly sensuous novel that reflects and illuminates the unsettled decades of our century. Born in 1905, Daisy Goodwill drifts through the chapters of childhood, marriage, widowhood, remarriage, motherhood and old age. Bewildered by her inability to understand her own role, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her own story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography.
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review
Delos33
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
Mehso-so

I like the first half of this book—the circumstances of Daisy‘s birth, her childhood, her young adulthood. But the second half really seemed to drag for me. And maybe that‘s the point? A kind of commentary on the early potential of girls that gets consumed by the obligations of being a woman (wife, mother, daughter, employee). But I still struggled to finish. There were parts I liked and parts I didn‘t. But overall I wouldn‘t read it again.

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Kristin_Reads
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

The writing in this is excellent… a story of a woman‘s life from birth to death told through her own point of view, her friends and family, letters, and photographs. I had a goal of reading 12 Pulitzers this year and this was my 12th. ✅ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BkClubCare One of my very favorites 10mo
jlhammar Loved this book! 10mo
Kristin_Reads @jlhammar @BkClubCare It‘s so well written… I can see why it‘s a favorite! (edited) 10mo
47 likes1 stack add3 comments
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shawnmooney
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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LeahBergen So awesome! 👏👏 2y
30 likes1 comment
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jlhammar
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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📕 The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
🖊 Strout, Elizabeth
🎬 The Shop Around the Corner
🎤 Smith, Caroline
🎶 The Seed (2.0) - The Roots

#ManicMonday #LetterS
@CBee

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AshleyHoss820
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

The writing in this book alone is worth it. This book follows Daisy Goodwill from her birth to her death. The way life can sometimes just happen to us, the way it can just slip right through our fingers. I love the addition of letters and snippets of dialogue from other characters to fill in Daisy‘s story. 222/1,001 #1001Books

BarbaraBB Happy to hear it is still as good as when I read it in the 90s 👵🏼 2y
AshleyHoss820 @BarbaraBB 😂🤣 The 90‘s still feel like just a few years ago… 2y
23 likes2 comments
review
Hamlet
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

Shields is a good writer. I enjoyed this chronicle of a family from Canada & the upper Midwest. The story centers on Daisy Goodwill as a child, mother, botany columnist, and old women. Shields uses more than an unreliable narrator to keep things lively: letters, multiple viewpoints in short narrative bursts, voices chiming-in when Daisy raises a subject but doesn‘t ask for any opinions. Lovely turns of phrase & moving insights make this a winner.

Suet624 I read that soooo long ago! Jeepers. All I remember is the main character‘s first name. When was it written? 2y
jlhammar Great book! I loved it. 2y
Hamlet @Suet624 I was reading the 15th anniversary edition, but it was really published much further back than I had realized—1993! (edited) 2y
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Auntynanny
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

It was interesting to read a historical fiction novel that took place mainly in Winnipeg. It's unusual to find such books that take place west of Ontario.

7 likes1 stack add
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Delos33
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields

“Things begin, things end. Just when we seem to arrive at a quiet place we are swept up, suddenly, between the body‘s smooth, functioning predictability and the need for disruption. We do irrational things, outrageous things. Or else something will come along and intervene, an unimaginable foe.”

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DreesReads
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️ I liked that this novel the follows the life of 1 character, Daisy Goodwill, through her birth, childhood, marriage, widowhood, decline, and death. But the last 2-2.5 chapters didn‘t feel in keeping with her character through the earlier parts of the book. I can, though, see how it won prizes. It feels different, with the “plot” being a fictional life.

#1001books #1000books #pulitzerprize #canadianlit

Lcsmcat This was the first Shields I read, and it sold me on her. I‘m reading one of hers right now: 6y
DreesReads @Lcsmcat I read Unless earlier this year, and preferred that one. Though they are quite different—other than the writing style. Both felt slow to me, or maybe calm is a better word? 6y
DreesReads It took me a while, both times, to settle in to the pace. And then I enjoyed it. It didn‘t surprise me the second time. 6y
Lcsmcat @AudreyMorris I liked Unless too. Also A Celibate Season, which she co-wrote with Blanche Howard, is amazing! 6y
24 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Lcsmcat
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Two favorite Canadian 🍁 authors, and the first book I read by each of them. #readingresolutions @Jess7

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego 🤔 I've never heard of Carol Shields. I must look into that. 6y
Bookbuyingaddict These are both on the queens 👸🏼 great jubilee reads 70 books 📖 Iv yet to read this one (edited) 2y
Lcsmcat @Karons1 I highly recommend her writing! What is the Queen‘s Great Jubilee list? 2y
Bookbuyingaddict @Lcsmcat Queen Elizabeth is having her jubilee year she‘s been on the throne for 70years ; we have a bank holiday in the uk 🇬🇧 to celebrate 2nd & 3rd June ; in honour of the jubilee year 70 books 📚 from across the commonwealth have been chosen for the great jubilee read ; this is one of them . If you Google it you‘ll see the list 😆 2y
Lcsmcat @Karons1 Cool! I‘ll check it out. 2y
63 likes5 comments
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KarynGood
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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When I think of #beautifulwriting, I think of Carol Shields. #readingresolutions

41 likes2 stack adds
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Bookalong
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

🌟🌟🌟.5/5
Fictional autobiography following the life of Daisy Goodwill from birth to death. Not knowing she was pregnant Her mother goes into labour and dies while having her. Set from 1905-1985 this seemingly ordinary woman's life was marked by death and loss from the beginning.
I enjoyed this read. The way the chapters were longer but broken up into sections of Daisy's life making the story flow nicely.
#bookreview #bookworm #booklover

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Loreen
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Another challenge that makes me think about the books I have on my shelves. #CanadianAuthors #MarchintoReading

RealLifeReading Nice collection! 8y
LeahBergen Wonderful! 🇨🇦 8y
CouronneDhiver Woo! ❤️🇨🇦 8y
51 likes1 stack add3 comments
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RealLifeReading
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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#marchintoreading day 27: #canadianauthors

So many fantastic authors are Canadian! Carol Shields will always have a special spot in my bookish heart because it was her book, The Stone Diaries, introduced during an A Level English Lit class in Singapore, that made me really sit up and think, wow this is what good writing is about.
Who are some of your fave Canadian authors?

LeahBergen Have you read 8y
PurpleyPumpkin Great picks! You've reminded me of some books I had forgotten about. 😳 8y
RealLifeReading @LeahBergen no not yet! I really should! 8y
PurpleyPumpkin All of the Guy Gavriel Kay books and The Stone Diaries. 8y
132 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Lcsmcat
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Carol Shields and Margaret Atwood, two of my favorite #canadianauthors. #MarchintoReading

Jaimelire Two of my favourites! 8y
26 likes1 stack add1 comment
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strangemelodies
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
This post contains spoilers
show me
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Such is life 😢😤

Loved this book. So deliciously and fulfillingly worded. The whole book.

💐🌸💮🏵🌹🌺🌻🌼🌷⚘🌱🌲🌳🌵🌾🌿

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strangemelodies
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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"Life is an endless recruiting of witnesses. It seems we need to be observed in our postures of extravagance or shame, we need attention paid to us. Our own memory is altogether too cherishing, which is the kindest thing I can say for it. Other accounts are required, other perspectives, but even so our most important ceremonies - birth, love, and death - are secured by whomever and whatever is available. What chance, what caprice!"

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DeborahSmall
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Book haul 1/2 📚📚📚❤️

LeahBergen The Stone Diaries! 8y
DeborahSmall @LeahBergen and an addition to my Harper Perennial collection! 💞 8y
70 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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shelbyy
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Starting this novel for my Canadian Literature class 📖🇨🇦

BookishMarginalia The cover is lovely! 8y
shelbyy @BookishMarginalia It's beautiful, isn't it? 8y
5 likes2 comments
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LeahBergen
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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#12DaysOfXmasPhoto ... and I give to you a few #Carols (of the Pulitzer Prize winning variety). 🎄🎶🎄🎶

Balibee146 I loved The Stone Diaries....read it many years ago :-) 8y
BookishFeminist 😂😂 8y
See All 8 Comments
KarenUK Nice! 😊 8y
BookishMarginalia 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 8y
Lacythebookworm ❤️🙌 8y
Hobbinol Very clever! 8y
Jaimelire Stone Diaries, so good! 8y
99 likes4 stack adds8 comments
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ValerieAndBooks
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Any of you use LibraryThing? I have, almost from the beginning. Same username as here. I know more people are on Goodreads. Now that there's an LT app it's easier to check for books I already have. But I'm way behind on adding my TBR books to LT, hence I ended up with an extra copy of one of the titles 😜 (I haven't read it yet). I hope I'm able to focus on reading again. Geek Love I've read before but lost my original hardcover many yrs ago.

KVanRead It was the first online bookish site I used but then I moved on to GoodReads and now my very favorite, Litsy. 8y
ValerieAndBooks @KVanRead oh yes Litsy is my fave now too! Part of the reason why I'm so behind on updating my LibraryThing database 🤓 8y
vivastory I used library thing years and years ago. I fell behind in cataloging my books. There's a few other sites similar to lt. I may have to check it out again. 8y
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LauraBrook I've used LT since 2008, and while I keep up with my virtual library there, I've spent more time here since the summer versus a lot of my free time there. I think my username is the same as here. 8y
ApoptyGina69 I've used LT for over 10 years. I don't review there, but I am always up to date with my cataloging. Username is unspuncapricorn. I have the app also, just started using it. I do review here-feels more like home. 8y
ultrabookgeek I have the app also and I love knowing exactly what's on my shelf. I did the Pirate Day activities and it made me love the site even more. My username is the same there. I'm happy to add a Litsy forum over there for specific booktalk! 8y
ValerieAndBooks @vivastory I've used it primarily for cataloging (it's fun knowing how many books I have) and some reviews -- but never "connected" with people there, just never found the time to regularly visit the various boards there. 8y
ValerieAndBooks @LauraBrook @apoptygina69 @ultrabookgeek I've been there since 2009 but never connected like here. Litsy is magic! @ultrabookgeek that's a great idea to set up a litsy forum. Count me in. And yes their PirateThing is fun. This year their clues were really hard! 8y
PirateJenny I've been on LT since the beginning. PirateJenny there. I like it much better than goodreads 8y
ValerieAndBooks @PirateJenny i agree, though I never really tried Goodreads or shelfari, just seemed easier to keep my books and reviews in one place. 8y
63 likes3 stack adds10 comments
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StephanieY
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

Bought this today for 50 cents at a library book sale. Pulitzer winner for #recommendsday: to borrow a phrase from Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie this book looks at the"lethargy of choicelessness" that came with being a woman born in the early 20th century.

review
rebeccagent
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Pickpick

I don't know what took me so long to read this book (maybe it was the terrible cover. Even the seal couldn't save it), but I wholeheartedly loved this life story - from birth to death - of Daisy Goodwill. I've been on a streak of only reading novels by women, and I am still processing how reading this just after Emma Cline's THE GIRLS influenced the read.

4 likes1 stack add
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nora_reads
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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This was a couple years ago, but still one of my favorite pictures and one of my favorite books.

8 likes1 stack add
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RealLifeReading
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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#funfridayphoto - it's so fun seeing everyone's posts and trying to think of what the first adult book I read was. It by Stephen King? Flowers in the Attic? I remember sneak-reading some Sidney Sheldon that my parents had. I decided to go with The Stone Diaries. It made me realize what good writing can be. (Also it could do w more Litsy love). And now I wonder what my kids' first adult book will be!

RealLifeReading (Photo taken at a fascinating light installation at the Art Science Museum in Singapore) 8y
BarbaraTheBibliophage Fantastic photo! 8y
111 likes7 stack adds2 comments
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BkClubCare
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
Pickpick

In honor of Canada Day, I mention that this book and thus author is one (two?) more awesome reason to ❤️ the neighbor to the north. I have so many wonderful virtual friends in Canada, it astounds me! And, this book, is incredible.

BkClubCare Whoops, I missed that we were advised to tag @Liberty ... Yay Canada 🇨🇦 8y
BkClubCare Second whoops - I have no photo to share ... #litsyfail 8y
RealLifeReading It's ok!! Still an awesome Canada Day Litsy post! 8y
23 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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RealLifeReading
The Stone Diaries | Carol Shields
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Happy Canada Day (and Fun Friday photo!)! I will always credit Carol Shields' The Stone Diaries (and my "A" Level English Literature teacher in Singapore who introduced it to geeky 17yo me) as the book that made me realize what good writing is.

TeR Yay Carol Sheilds! I was given this book by my first awesome female boss when I was really young & it got me hooked on reading good books! 8y
Liberty I wanted to include Stone Diaries in my photo, but it was buried at the bottom of the stacks in the back of the closet. 😂 8y
BkClubCare I thought I commented here - what happened to my comment? Oh well. The Stone Diaries is on my top ten ever bestest books. SO GOOD 8y
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BookishTrish We so seldom look on love!!!! 8y
RealLifeReading @Liberty ah closets, always wanting to keep the best books to themselves! 😀 8y
RealLifeReading @TeR that is one cool boss! 8y
RealLifeReading @BookishTrish ❤️me some Gowdy! 8y
Lauracastle Ah! I cants believe I don't have a copy of We So Seldom Look on Love because it is SO good! What a great collection of CanLit! 8y
Bakingbookworm I read The Stone Diaries years and years ago and remember loving it. Perhaps it's time to pull it out again and remember why I loved it. Thanks for the reminder. :) 8y
65 likes7 stack adds10 comments