Welcome to Litsy!

Recent acquisition:

📖 Mudkark: In Search of London's Past Along the River Thames by Lara Maiklem

I found some chapters more interesting than others – the one at Greenwich, which looked at some Tudor history (the Greenwich Castle was one of Henry VIII‘s favourite residences), along with animal bones and utensils found (and thus meals and utensils used during Tudor times). Oddly, the other chapter that held my interest more than others was the one of current day garbage. Cont in comments...

This story meanders like the mighty river itself, cutting through personal stories of mudlarking and the history of the river itself. From before the first humans, through Britons & Romans & Saxons, Kings & Queens, the industrial revolution and artifacts from all of that activity have found their way into the river either dropped or tossed as rubbish. The river claims all indiscriminately and only shares its stories to those with a keen eye.

The river has claimed all manner of objects over the years.

I love these history parts about how the river has changed as human transportation and shipping has changed.

😂 Criminals are crafty! So clever and smart....

The history of the “box office” - the office where the boxes were turned in.

And thank goodness I‘m in this era, I‘d never survive history, no matter how much I like a good time travel story. 😂

Love some of the word origins here along with her finds.

I love that the depth of stuff to find in the area is so prevalent that England has laws on how to handle finds.

So that‘s why there is so much history floating around, not only what was tossed in by locals throughout the ages, but everything that was scooped in, en masse, to built up the sides for the barges of the past...and now the river slowly washes free one tide at a time.

I‘m sure many people would hate this book for these tangents, but I love them...things found by Mudlarkers, and then the history tied to that object. And who lived on that area back before it was the thriving center of London we think of today.

And now you know where codswallop came from walloping the Codd‘s bottle.

Oh my #NonfictionNerds, Mudlark finally came through from the library! 😂. It‘s only a few months behind, but since I‘m still waiting on this month‘s pick, I think I‘ll read this one first! 😉 @dariazeoli

This caught my attention because of the clay pipes pictured on the cover—my mother used to turn up very similar pipes in our Cambridgeshire back garden & I was curious to find out more about similar objects found along the Thames! This is an interesting account weaving together the author‘s experiences as a mudlark & the history of the Thames as seen through the objects found on its banks. (Continued ⤵️)

#BookReport / #WeeklyForecast: This was a heavier week, finishing up Caste and reading This Is My America. Chilbury Ladies‘ Choir was nice to have in the mix for a lighter read.

I just started Mudlark yesterday & am really enjoying it. If I finish it & The Last Piece this week, I‘ll have 2 lines for #BookSpinBingo.🙌🏼I‘d like to read Just Mercy as a follow up to This Is My America, but I may have to return it & get back in line (library holds!).

Didn‘t expect to like this as much as I did. Maiklem makes wandering in the mud along the River Thames sound charming and enjoyable. Although she admits to falling in cold mud and getting soaked with rain. Still, her “aw shucks” approach to her finds is admirable. I mean, who finds and preserves a shoe that‘s hundreds of years old? Unique narrative history/nonfiction!

Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com
#nonfictionnerds #thebibliophage2021

#NonfictionNerds is reading the tagged book in February- if you can get your hands on a copy, please join us!

The poll to select our March read opens at midnight EST and will last through Feb. 7th. The theme is Women in History, and we have some great choices, as shown.

Goodreads link below, if you‘re interested:

https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1061034-nonfiction-nerds

Votes have been cast and #NonfictionNerds will be reading the tagged book in February! Join us then, or join the January discussions: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show_book/1061034-nonfiction-nerds?group_book_id...

Hoopla & Libby don‘t show this one available for me, so I may have to sit it out! Will have to look into how borrowing physical books during Covid works around here...

It was ok.