Welcome to Litsy!

The extra snow and closed roads over Christmas provided a great opportunity to read more than usual. Between my usual slow reading pace & the fact that I am trying to savor this one & take it in slowly, I'm still chipping away. Being able to curl up with this cozy blanket I was just gifted & this perfect #jolabokaflodswap book is living the life I dream of for months leading up to Christmas holidays! Thanks again @ReadingRachael - perfect choice!

While my husband is outside snowblowing trails for our dog, I'm yet again curled up inside reading. (There were banks 8-10 inches higher than our Berner's back so he kept getting stuck 😄) 3 full days with all roads/highways closed, and even now on the 4th day some are still closed and travel is not recommended. This is the most reading time and least pressure I've felt over Christmas is a long time. Very thankful for a working snowblower though!

Could not be more excited about the #jolabokaflodswap. Thank you so very much Rachael! This is the one book that I had decided if it didn't magically get chosen out of my giant TBR, I would buy myself in the new year, so I can't wait to curl up in my blanket. Plus the chocolate & gorgeous metal bookmarks! There is so much snow that the roads have all been closed, so no pressure to go away tonight.
@ReadingRachael @MaleficentBookDragon

So behind on reviews 😅
This was an excellent and moving memoir written by a woman who suffered from Bell‘s palsy after giving birth to her twins. An examination of the way our face is central to our personal identities as well as communication. A great memoir that made me contemplate the way we see each other and how much we use our faces in all parts of life.

#Booked2022 #makeyourownprompt “about an illness”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This book was so good! It‘s not just about Ruhl‘s Bell‘s palsy, but also what it means to be able to smile in the first place. It‘s a story of loss and grief, and how she has processed it all. Highly recommend!!

Listening to this because I love Ruhl‘s plays and I also had Bell‘s Palsy—though thankfully recovered with only some nerve tenderness that lingers. So idk why I am shocked to hear one of our greatest living playwrights casually recount being chastised for not being present enough during rehearsals as a new mother but the dramaturg in me is enraged and it reminds me of all the problems in an industry I love and sometimes hate.

Emotional, honest, raw…she courageously holds nothing back. She discloses her feelings of shame, of guilt. She describes the treatments she went through trying to find a cure. She acknowledges the support she receives from her family, especially her husband. I realized that she was going through the stages of grief…grieving the loss of her face as she knew it.

An extraordinary story about the author/playwright‘s experience with Bell‘s Palsy. But it‘s about so much more. A physical, emotional, and medical journey through the ways in which a smile does and does not define us. A memoir of illness, motherhood, beauty, disability, family, and storytelling.

Sarah, a playwright, developed Bell‘s palsy following her second pregnancy. Unfortunately, she was one of the people for whom it didn‘t go away. This memoir is the story of her reclaiming the use of and love for her face.

In the midst of it, she found out she has celiac, which I also have, and that was causing poor nerve growth due to vitamin deficiencies. I didn‘t know that about nerve growth, but I had poor healing after my spinal fusion. 🤔

A book by the wonderful playwright Sara Ruhl her ten year battle with Bells Palsy her marriage ilife family A book that‘s getting rave reviews