The Woman Next Door | 
Got my library haul of 5 books from SA, and one from Botswana 🙂💪🏽🥳 Bring on summer, I‘m ready! In August-September I will start very intensive writing projects and studies, so now it‘s time to #readthesummerof25 Something I just came up with 🤣 Read, read, read the books you want, about the themes you want, off your shelf, off your e-reader, help your library by reading their books. You know what I‘m talking about! ❤️
pickNo one is more surprised than me how much I ended up enjoying this reading experience. I phrase it that way because considering the book's trajectory and themes, I'm not sure 'enjoy' is the right word for the majority of the plot. 1)?
#BookReport 17/23
Still Born was fantastic. This week‘s favorite. Both others were just so-so reads for me.
so-soHortensia and Marion are neighbours in a Cape Town suburb. They have in common their age, both in their 80s, that they have achieved success in their careers, and that they are widows. But they disagree about everything.
An accident in which Hortensia breaks her leg and Marion‘s house is badly damaged brings changes in their relationship. I was hoping for more and felt a but underwhelmed 🤷🏻♀️.
#Booked2023 #FeaturingNeighbors
Well. Guess I won‘t be reading right now.
#catsoflitsy
I loved this page,I think I also "grunted my understanding" as Hortensia was telling the story,and I wonder how many other women did the same thing.To me there's not many things as powerful as telling someone"you can depend on me",it's even more powerful than "I love you",I can accept there might be waves or inconstancy in love,but if you tell someone they can depend on you,you'd better be there for them,for better or worse,otherwise it was a lie
so-soHortensia and Marion are next door neighbours in South Africa,both are successful woman, both widows; but one being black and another white they have constant disagreements rooted in racism.
The story has a good start but it fizzles out, the characters become less interesting as the story progresses. As a lawyer, I found the part about the Will unrealistic and kept distracting me. The writing is good and some descriptions remind me the great⬇️
My friday night plans: couch, tea, books!
Had my second Covid Shot yesterday and am feeling a bit mushy, so this is the perfect evening for me😍
“The habit of walking was something Hortensia took up after Peter fell ill.”
#FirstLineFridays
pickEnjoyed this book.
pickWhat a great way to start off the new year. I really enjoyed this book about two women who are complete opposites but find they need to rely on each other. #elfies #WinterGames
pickI heard this blurbed as “Golden Girls but woke” and that is bang on. Great story, I loved how details were slowly trickled in to constantly change and evolve the story.
pickI really liked this book. It was nice reading about older women where the characters were complex and showed growth. I have found myself really drawn to books set in post apartheid South Africa lately. It also filled a requirement for the Read Harder Challenge - book with a female protagonist over 60. #readharder
pickAbsolutely loved this book. The women are incredibly flawed but the author makes you love them and their complicated relationship. Marion's path towards change is a little rushed but that's a small complaint for a lovely book.
#readharderchallenge @bookriot
The stack of books I‘m bringing on vacation. Don‘t know how much reading I‘ll be doing but hoping for some relaxing moments on the beach. I love picking out books to bring. Decided not to bring any hardbacks so of course they looked extra good on my shelf. I have so many books I want to read. Really have to stop buying more 😀
1. All y‘all, oi you lot
2. 3
3. Litsy, Goodreads, Audible, Serial Reader
4. Watching Great British Bake.
5. Consider yourself tagged!
Pearls pick for the month of April. This title didn‘t have me at hello from page one, but I am certainly intrigued as to how this story will unfold.
pickI enjoyed this book. I know the author received mixed review for her first book but I enjoyed this one. It was easy to fall into the story and the riff between the main characters was almost comical at times despite the overt racist beliefs. Overall a good book and very fast read. It also qualifies for reading the world challenge. #litworld2018GB #southafrica
pickI loved this so much! Two ladies in their eighties, one white and one black, who've lived next door to each other in S. Africa for years. Their intense dislike has always been mutual, but they finally end up bonding over lives that did not turn out the way they expected. Hortensia is cantankerous and Marion is ridiculous 🤣👵🏿💛👵💕
#readharder #femalefriendships #oldladies #litfic #sogreat #privilege #widows #
Very much enjoying my current read. If you're looking for a book for the #ReadHarder "book about a female protagonist over the age of 60" task, this is great.
#femalefriendships #frenemies #RHchallenge #oldladies #SouthAfrica
pickI adored this delightful novel about 2 older women, neighbors for years, that have cultivated a deep and abiding distaste for each other. Circumstances force the two of them together and find that they have more in common than they thought. Omotoso has created two of the most realistic and fully fleshed out characters I have ever read. They are sharp, and sometimes caustic and as they reflect back on their lives, I fell in love with both.
Hortensia came to the realization that the quality of her life would have benefited greatly from more anger and less resentment. Anger was like a dragon burning other things. Resentment burned a hole in your stomach, burned your insides.
pickThe 2 MCs aren't immediately likable, but were excellent human stand-ins for the 2 sides of history presented in the story. Hortensia and Miriam are both angry, defensive, full of hate and purposeful ignorance. But as I began to see the world from their POVs I liked how they were both changing, even after losses & mistakes. They could still change & learn & help each other. I liked this as a story & a metaphor. #Booked2018 #ReadHarderChallenge2018
"It was known that the two women shared hedge and hatred and they pruned both with a vim that belied their ages."
pickBook 29: Last one sweeping up the 2017 shelves. Kind of annoyed not to squeeze in a round 30...!
Forget twee old ladies, knitting and happily reminiscing. These two octigenarians are both as cantankerous as each other in a refreshing and honest portrayal of ageing and the furies that come along with it! Add family secrets, race and the cultural history buried in the land and you find an insightful and surprisingly touching read.
pickA pretty good character study of two grouchy, older women neighbours, one black one white, in post apartheid South Africa. It looks behind the curtain as to why they are who they are. Reinforcing the fact you never really know a person just by what they show you, and how they act. It is long listed for the #ToB so I was I had pretty high expectations, and it was good, but I won‘t be upset if it‘s not on the short list.
Saturday night fun. #amreading #toblonglist #christmastree
pickI assume some people gave this book a low rating because they thought the main characters were unlikeable... but that's the reason I liked it. I wanna be a bitchy old lady when I'm near the end of my life because by then, you've earned it 😜 But also, I appreciate a story about old women. We rarely get three dimensional portraits of them in media. And I enjoyed the exploration of what it means to love someone even when you wish you didn't. 4/5 ⭐️
She tied a block of concrete to her ankle and let it drag her down. Hating, after all, was a drier form of drowning.
The medication took turns making Hortensia feel like a superhero and making her want to punch everyone. In other words, it had little effect on her.
🤣🤣🤣
pickI really enjoyed this book. Such a great exploration of life through the eyes of two old women who are arch rivals!
#junebookbugs day 27: #setinSouthernHemisphere
Love this book set in South Africa about two elderly women (one black and one white) who are neighbours and who develop a reluctant friendship.
#junebookbugs #setinthesouthernhemisphere
Set in Capetown, South Africa. I enjoyed this story of disparate neighbors coming together over time. Lovely thought-provoking read
bailedI'm interested in South African literature, so I was hoping the mediocre reviews were wrong. They were not: I bailed on this less than 10% of the way in because of the underwhelming prose.
pickThis book was a good mix of cozy and thought-provoking. Recommended. #setinAfrica #LRC5
Every month each member of the family chooses one book they'd like to finish that month. Every month May is included. Her book is always in cat language and it always cracks me up.
