Here I Am: A Novel | 
pickSo I was unsure how I would feel about this book, but it's actually really good, especially if you really like domestic fiction, which I do. I particularly loved the dialogues, they seemed so real. The ending is very emotional.
This is book 12 out of the 14 I won in Picador's fall giveaway in 2017. I can't wait til I've read them all, I feel guilty for taking so long.
Only a man would write this
98% of the time I read books by women authors. Reading books written by men is a different experience. I don't know if it's just me but almost always there is mention of certain female body parts.
Just something I noticed.
bailedI'm bailing on this one for now. It's not doing it for me and I know I'm just not in the right mood. I'll try again later.
The whole of Melbourne is going back into lockdown for six weeks☹️ I guess I'll just have to stay reading by the fire.
I think I'm going to start this one next.
I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don't judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 5
#bookstoread #tbrpile
pick“Without love, you die. With love, you also die. Not all deaths are equal.”
Wow I loved this book. The first 50 pages were hard to get through and the last 50 pages were also hard to get through, but the story was beautiful. It told of a family‘s unraveling over a short few weeks. I loved the history and the religion that was not so subtly woven into the story. I loved how the book was about teenage characters, middle age characters, and
I was wondering today how much progress I‘ve made on my TBR shelves since the beginning of our shelter-in-place order (left-hand pile). Then I wondered how that stacked up next to the number of books I‘ve added to the TBR shelf since the beginning of our shelter-in-place order (right-hand pile). There you go. At least I‘m not making negative progress! (In the middle are books I‘ve acquired that I‘d already read, so they don‘t count.🤪)
On my morning take-a-break-from-work walks, I often walk by the Little Free Library in my neighborhood, just to see what‘s there. There seems to be quite a bit of turnover as far as what books are there—which I love to see! I couldn‘t resist picking these up for myself this week. There were 3 copies of Here I Am, so I took that as a sign that I needed one. 😁 And I‘ve read & enjoyed Binti, so I couldn‘t resist picking it up for my husband to read.
L👀k what I found at The Dollar Tree! The Minecraft book is for the Little Free Library 😉
#QuotsyJune19 Day 16: A tribute to all the #Dad(s) out there. Here is a photo of daughter with her #dad in Bali. Not very convinced though about the hierarchy mentioned in Foer‘s quote. I mean, really? Above and below? How archaic.
so-soThere‘s a lot of beautiful writing in this book. However, I could never quite staunch the feeling it is overlong. Nevertheless, it is a worthy read.
I did not know that David Foster Wallace and Chuck Palahniuk we‘re both born on Feb.21st 1962.It‘s Jonathan Safran Foers Birthday too , but he‘s much younger.Anais Nin and W.H.Auden too ! Very writerly day.In 1925,this was the day the first issue of the New Yorker was published.
#MusicalNewYear This was a bookclub selection a few years back. I loved it for it‘s comic appeal and deep satire musing over modern Jewish identity. It was also a very thinly veiled implosion of JSF marriage to novelist Nicole Kraus. Most members of my bookclub HATED this book. They found JSF pretentious and incredibly self indulgent. #ImHere for this novel but can‘t say it will appeal to most. Hmmmm, I wonder if you‘d like it @britt_brooke
pickExcellent read. This explores the differing cultures of a a family separated by geography. All on the verge of completely falling apart because of foreign conflict and personal problems. I love how the author explores the minds within the family as the tumble toward divorce. So many excellent lines.
so-soFoer is a wonderful writer, but this novel threw me. I was enjoying the storyline of the dissolution of Jacob & Julia's marriage, as much as you can enjoy being a witness to something so painful. It started to unravel anytime their children came into a scene–are there really kids that precocious? The natural disaster is incredibly distracting-it draws the reader‘s attention away from Jacob & Julia and draws the reader right out of the book.
@Libby1 I‘m not sure how US Postal squeezed it into my tiny NYC mailbox, but it has arrived and I look forward to diving into it. #LitsyGiveaway
pickI don‘t know how much I liked this book, but it had so many parts that were so good. There were some lines that blew me away. It seems to be the story of a marriage falling apart, but it‘s so much more. The kids were my favorite part and I‘m going to need a light read after this one.
@Awk_Word_Smith - you‘ve won! Did you see this?
Has anyone else had a #Giveaway where the winner didn‘t respond? What did you do?
Congratulations to @Awk_Word_Smith for winning this book in my #Giveaway .
Winners for this Giveaway were selected at random.
. @Awk_Word_Smith - please send your postal details to me at lib62376@icloud.com .
A for me. Thanks @Libby1 for the giveaway opportunity! Follow if you see this and you‘re not already.
What a fab giveaway! Book A would be awesome pleaseeeee! @Libby1 😃
pickAn examination of a Jewish American family as well as the politics surrounding Judaism in the world, this book is strongest during its focus on the former. The arc of the family is absorbing and the moments when all three generations are together are terrific and quite funny. The audiobook narrator, Ari Fliakos, is terrific. I‘ve never read Foer before and I would definitely read him again.
pickListened to this on audible and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It was extremely engrossing and has a lot of depth. The narrator did a great job.
🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏼♀️ I just found this signed first edition in a $2 clearance bin at B&N!! I love #JSF!! And I loved this book.
On a sad note, though, the layoffs hit my store hard. There were hardly any employees. A manger had to price check this book for me, and there was no designated cashier, just the man working in the music department who jumped on as needed.
#spinepoetry #riotgrams
Here I Am
the book thief,the great failure,
passing through the gateless barrier,
In search of literary L.A.
Just found this in The Little Free Library at my local organic grocery store! Grocery shopping and a book!
pickThis book is so cathartic. I absolutely felt it in my being. Insightful. Memorable. Remarkable. I will take many lessons from this book as I embark on my journey towards becoming a better human. The ending is a tear jerker.
so-soDisappointing, considering how wonderful #EverythingIsIlluminated and #ExtremelyLoudAndIncrediblyClose were. I found a lot of parallels to my own life in Here I Am, but at it's heart this book felt far more cynical than Foer's previous works. This removed me from the characters and left me without anyone to root for. Perhaps that was intentional, but it kept me from being invested.
so-soFoer's writing is undeniable, however, this book had its moments. I had heard him in an interview on NPR about this book and was intrigued by the Jewish family roots which were the best parts for me. Foer is overindulgent at times and opens up many plotlines that I think could have been more tied together. And this is really judgy of me, but I heard of his divorce with Nicole Krauss who I like and it's hard not to wonder if this reflects that.
It's been a minute since I've had time to read. Finally quit my second job and have a weekend to myself for the first time in a long time. Going to see one of my all time favorite bands tonight in a city I haven't been to in a while with some time for this book I started forever ago= a perfect Saturday!
Love the writing shown here but ultimately couldn't get into the pages and pages of dialog and conversations. For me, the second DNF of NPR's Top 10 of 2016.
pickSafran Foer at his most Safran Foer. What does it mean to model being a Jew while being an atheist? Can we still give meaning to traditions we don't ourselves believe in? This one contains beautiful but isolated laments on love, life, God and sacrifice amidst a story that ambles toward nowhere.
pan
