A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel | 
pick@birdie_gw have you read this one? If not, put it on your list. C and I are going to Chile in October bc Isabelle Allende inspired me - specifically this book - and I‘m going to reread it in Sept before we go. We can read it at the same time if you‘re game!
This was my favourite book read in #November for #12Booksof2023. This was an excellent read set initially during the Spanish Civil War, but most of the book takes in the lives of two people following their lives in Chile as a refugee. This book really will stay with me for a long time and is a strong candidate for my favourite book of the year.
Notable mentions also for Family for Beginners by Sarah Morgan (always love her books) and 👇
pickThis is the life story of Victor Dalmau, having served as a medic in the Spanish Civil War, fleeing to France when all is lost, and then immigrating to #Chile with his brother‘s pregnant girlfriend. This should be quite exciting, but it‘s told like a recitation of facts and the news (about the war and politics) in past tense. In a word, I found it dull. And hard to get through for that reason. Barely a pick for me. ⬇️
The card design for tonight‘s listen
#Chile #foodandlit #readingtheAmericas @Catsandbooks @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
I‘m making Christmas cards tonight listening to the tagged book
#Chile #foodandlit @Catsandbooks #readingtheamericas @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
pickI read this book to cover #Chile for #ReadingTheAmericas, and must admit I fell in love with the book, the story it told and the characters.
This covers the Spanish Civil war initially and the journey, and future life in Chile of two of the war refugees from that war War. It is a long and involving story but so beautifully told. Following this I look forward to reading more books by this author. ❤️🔥
@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
pickTwo people get married to flee the Spanish Civil War and migrate to Chile. They are not in love. He was the the brother of the deceased father of her child. However they agree to journey together for a chance to survive neither knowing what the future holds. This was a slow paced book that taught me about Spanish and Chilean history while I fretted about fictional characters. A soft pick but well worth a read.
pickThis is my first book from this author. I will be reading her others.
This was a soft pick. I liked the historical parts about the Spanish Civil War and the history of Chile a lot better than the characters. #ReadingTheAmericas #Chile
so-so2.5⭐️ Thought that the book was ok. While I really enjoyed the craft by the author, I thought that the story went by a little too slowly for my liking and I just didn‘t like it as much as I thought I would. #2022 #bookreview #bookstagram #historicalfiction #fiction #warfiction #literaryfiction #bookclub
pickLanguage that sticks with you and a story that breaks and mends your heart over and over.
Books 130-132 of the year.
bailedI have tried to get into this one a few times and am just going to call it. I'm not sure what it is exactly (a bit too slow in the beginning?...) Just not feeling it at this point and too many others I want to get to.
pickI rather enjoyed this historical fiction both for the story of Roser and Victor living in exile in Chile following the rise of Franco, but also because I learned a lot about this part of Spanish history that I did not know. I loved the appearances by actual historical figures like Pablo Neruda. #AuthorAMonth #BookSpinBingo
pickA beautifully written, sweeping story from the Spanish Civil War through the fall of Chilean dictator Pinochet. I'd say this is more a story of what happens on the world stage than a story of the individual characters in the book. There isn't as much character development, but rather the characters are a window into what was happening more broadly. The book beautifully sets up the parallels of dictatorship and exile across the world.
pickA soft pick for me. I learned a lot about Spanish and Chilean politics that I hadn‘t known, but I felt like there was more telling than showing so the characters stayed at a remove from me. #authoramonth @Soubhiville
“THE YOUNG SOLDIER WAS PART of the “Baby Bottle Conscription,” the boys called up when there were no more men, young or old, to fight the war.”
pickWow, that was a lot, and not always in a good way. There were sections I loved, but a lot of it felt like a detached summary of a life story. I think when it slowed down and focused on some character development and dialogue, I could see some beauty, but so much of it was hurried and shallow. Overall, a Pick, but I wasn't blown away. #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville
I started another Allende. The only one on my Kindle. #authoramonth
pickA sweeping epic that I didn't know I needed. From the Spanish Civil War to the Chilean Revolution of the 60s and 70s to modern day. Beautiful writing that made me fall in love.
Left me wondering - would there have been a successful socialist country that hadn't turned into a police state?
#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville
I‘m glad I was on Litsy this morning to see that sign-ups for #NewYearWhoDis are now open!
Tagged one of the books appearing on my list. Head over to @monalyisha ‘s post to sign up!
Since I've been so bad at posting book reviews this past year.... or so. Here's a list of books I would call easy reads to fill up your fall reading list.
https://onthebl.org/2021/10/21/easy-fall-reading-list/
so-soIn the acknowledgments of the last Isabel Allende book I read, she says she starts a book on the same day each year and finishes it within a year and that has really colored how I feel about her writing. While I valued learning about the history of Spain and Chile, A Long Petal of the Sea doesn‘t read like a novel but like a draft of a college assignment on family history.
pickMy first Allende book! I picked it up as an emergency read during a trip and I enjoyed this family saga so much. You also learn a lot about Spain and Chile in the 20th century - definitely something I needed.
pickA beautiful story based on real individuals. A story of exiles, identity, belonging and home. Gorgeous writing💚
pickThis is a story about civil war and exile. About love and loss. About family. The writing style took a little getting used to and there was a lot of history-from the Spanish civil war in the 1930s and the politics in Chili through the 90s. I learned a lot. I also loved Victor and Roser‘s relationship.
Have you read it yet @Cinfhen
#bookspin for August @TheAromaofBooks
pickA saga with Allende‘s rich language. Couldn‘t put it down.
pickMellifluous. It's a shame that I have not read Allende before, but I'm grateful that I've discovered her now. A Long Petal of the Sea is beautifully written, woven, and winding, through incredible circumstances that nonetheless closely mimic the experience of many people exiled from Spain, and then subsequently from Chile. Highly recommend.
"Listen, Ingrid, the most important events, the ones that determine our fate, are almost always completely beyond our control."
"Entropy is the natural law of the universe, everything tends toward disorder, to break down, to disperse. People get lost: look how many vanished during the Retreat; feelings fade, and forgetfulness slips into lives like mist. It takes heroic willpower just to keep everything in place. Those are a refugee's forebodings...No, they're the forebodings of someone in love, Victor corrected her."
"Reason is on our side, but that won't help stave off defeat."
so-soBook 71
I listened to A Long Petal of the Sea, the story of a woman and her brother-in-law, who pose as a married couple while fleeing Spain during a civil war in the 1930s. To be more immersed in the story and writing, I would recommend reading rather than listening to this novel. ⭐⭐⭐
I love this book so much. I couldn‘t put it down. I wanted to cancel all my plans to finish reading it. Isabel Allende is one of my favorite writers.
#BookMail #IRLbookclub we are now all set from June through December🤓I suggested this book after reading @4thhouseontheleft glowing review 😘and I‘m loving this gorgeous edition from Bloomsbury 🥰 #BookDepository
An indie bookstore near where I grew up (The Bookshelf in Thomasville, Georgia) had an Independent Bookstore Day preorder of this awesome tote and a surprise book handpicked by the owner! I was a little nervous they‘d send a book I‘d already read (common problem for any reader) but not only have I not read this but I‘m super excited to read it! And I can‘t wait to use my tote!!
1. Used to live at the 4th house on the left side of my street. We‘ve now moved, but the name stays 😃
2. Um, anywhere! Couch, bed, in the car at school pick up line, under a tree...
3. Tagged! Allende at her best!
4. 2 adults, 1 teen, and 2 cats. RIP Bun Bun 🐇
👩🏻👨🏻🦲👱🏻♀️🐈 🐈⬛
#wondrouswednesday
pickI love Isabel Allende. I‘ve read almost everything she has written & met her once. The Del Valle family books have always been my favorites, and this one feels like a return to those earlier novels. This is definitely Allende at her best. A sweeping saga of war and exile, family secrets, love, and loss. Many real people are woven into the story, including Neruda, and both his poems and memoir. I highly recommend!
#pop21 #setinmultiplecountries
I bet Isabel Allende didn‘t realize when she wrote this how easily most readers would be able to relate to a 🧻 shortage shortly after the book‘s publication!
Living in a neighborhood with a lot of new homes still under construction means that I don‘t sit and read on my front porch very often. But tonight is the perfect night for that! It‘s fun to listen to the frogs and coyotes in the woods behind our house!
This morning I had to attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new park, since I am on the Parks & Rec Advisory Board. Afterwards, I stopped by the grocery store, something I haven‘t done in person for months.
I think that was enough time with people for the rest of the week! 😂 I‘m out of practice. Came straight home and made some tea to have while reading and being a homebody again.
