Welcome to Litsy!

The historical novel The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara masterfully depicts the Battle of Gettysburg from June 29- July 3, 1863. Through character-driven narratives from both Union and Confederate perspectives, it explores themes of family, decision-making, friendship, and slavery. Vividly portrayed historical figures allow readers to connect with them, while the fictional format enhances the novel‘s appeal.

Pulitzer 1975. Battle of Gettysburg

As much as I want to give this a thumbs up, this Pulitzer Prize winner fell flat for me. I appreciated the weariness portrayed on both sides of the conflict, but the “characters” never really came to life for me. Often the author seemed to have major generals forgetting why they were really fighting, which I found puzzling. I was searching for something more.

#alphabetgame #letterk

1. Tagged book changed how I look at history: from dry and boring (as I‘d been taught it in school) to lively and relevant and personal.
2. More or less. I‘ll probably wear green and add a splash of Jameson to my ginger ale.
#two4tuesday

It‘s the 157th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address and I‘m watching a Facebook Live commemorative event. (Much more engaging than the purchase card training I had to watch earlier!) One guy says he‘s been busy banning trolls. 😤

1. Raspberries/summer squash
2. Tagged
3. Yes! They were playing in the ship‘s wake on the cruise I took last year.
#thoughtfulthursday

You know, this book doesn't go as easy on Lee as I was worried it might. I mean, it still goes easier on him that he probably deserves (it opens with the factoid that he "didn't own slaves" without mentioning that his wife totally did) but post-Little Round Top, you're mostly left with the impression that his previous victories may have had more to do with Union failures and his men's loyalty to him than his actual leadership. #CivilWar

What I really love about Kilrain here is he's cutting through to the real hypocrisy of the Founders, putting aside such grand Enlightenment ideals as "All men are created equal" and just saying "you can't have a nation with 'no aristocracy' and also have a permanent, legally-created and sustained underclass." #CivilWar #AmericanCivilWar

Goddamn, now that's a thesis statement. #CivilWar #AmericanCivilWar

Day 4 of #7books7days

This book introduced me to the Civil War as a personal and intimate story while also keeping sight of the big picture.

It's official now: I know more about the history of the US than I do about the one of my own country (Switzerland). Maybe because there are no such books like this one about our own past? Or maybe Switzerland simply doesn't have a past worth writing about. Doesn't change the fact that this was an impressive book and helped me understand US history a little better.

Honestly one of the best books I‘ve ever read. Ever.

I love that we hear from Northern and Southern officers throughout the Battle of Gettysburg. I feel like it gives more insight to their perspectives than school textbooks ever did and I appreciate this new empathy so much. I want to know more about Col. Chamberlain and Lt. Gen. Longstreet, and I‘m curious about some of Robert E. Lee‘s motivations and why he did some of the things he did.

I‘m just starting the last part of this book, which is the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and I just HAD to come tell y‘all that I‘m in tears over the thoughts that some of these Generals were having. On both sides. I cannot imagine what it was like to be in this place, at this time.

The audio is so good, so good. Stephen Hoye is narrating and I‘m just moved.

“A short while after that he saw the enemy come out in the open, line after line, heard the guns open up, dozens of guns, watched his own line disappear in the smoke. The big attack had come.”

My heart has been racing since the first chapter. I keep realizing that I‘m holding by breath. Having the perspectives of the men issuing and carrying out orders on both sides is just WOW. So incredibly riveting.

1. Beading and exploring historical sites
2. Piano
3. Postcards of night scenes
4. It‘s a long story, but the short version is that I started exploring CW battlefields after I read the tagged book.
5. My sister and a friend from church are quilters. I‘m not interested in doing it myself, but I‘m fascinated by the creativity involved.
#hellothursday

I scrolled WAY back to find my first post on Litsy from 3 YEARS ago! I mostly posted quotes intermittently back in the early days and didn‘t interact a whole lot back then. I got @Saknicole to join shortly after I did.

#litsyfirsts

One of the reasons I generally avoid NF about the Civil War is that writers tend to info dump numbers and data to the point that the battles become statistical events rather than human ones. But Michael Shaara‘s book conveys the scale of The Battle at Gettysburg in terms of acreage, the body count, and the ethical costs by leaning more towards historical fiction than military fiction in style and tone.

I may or may not have spent the morning crying over the death of a man who passed away over 155 years ago....

#ShutUpImNotCryingYoureCrying

So, I may have gotten a little excited at dinner time: I was yelling, "Why in the hell didn't Lee have Longstreet go right? Stuart better be dead because he's really screwed over Lee now!"

My husband calmly looked up from his plate and mentioned that if I really wanted to know, that this *is* a fairly well documented battle and I could look it up.

Well, yeah. But I still have 80 pages to go and I don't want to spoil it! ?

#gettysburg

I honestly can‘t remember if I read this or not! It seems like I must have and yet, I don‘t really remember it, which puts it on par as an unread book...

Tackling this Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel about the Battle of Gettysburg next

#auguststats #augustwrapup

completed: 18
nonfiction: 8
audio: 9
ARCs: 2
pulitzer: 1
from series: 3
short stories: 1
essays: 1

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My husband‘s been nagging me to read this book for many years. I finally did, and damn, it‘s so good. I hate when he‘s right. 😬 I don‘t know how to adequately describe it, so I won‘t try. Absolutely worthy of the 1975 Pulitzer. It‘s a shame Shaara didn‘t live to see its commercial success.

Stephen Hoye‘s audio narration is emotional and absolutely fantastic.

A great book about the civil war. I especially appreciated the historical fiction.

- General Lee (fictionalized)

#TheKillerAngels #MichaelShaara #historicalfiction #civilwar #pulitzer #audiobook #libby

Finally reading this. My husband has been asking me to for years. 🎧📖💪🏻

#currentlylistening #pulitzer #multitasking #liftandlisten #mindandbody #audio #audiobook #libby

I really enjoy historical fiction. I am definitely going to make it a point to read every book written by the Shaara family.

Read this after visiting the battle fields at Gettysburg and felt as if I was actually walking amongst the men who fought there

Taking a break from our work in the garden, this lovely sunny day ☀️
#currentlyreading

The best Civil War book I have ever read. I loved the different perspectives.

This is the book that‘s been on my #TBR the longest. My husband‘s been begging me to read this for 10+ years, and while we own the mass market paperback, I‘d rather read it on my #Paperwhite so I snagged this deal. #ebookdeal #pulitzer

Is there a single book that‘s been on your TBR for an eternity? What is it??

I don't read nearly as much as many littens but even so I have been having a slumpy summer! Pictured are 5 books for my #augustwrapup. I really enjoyed most of these books (sorry to the gringo champion it just wasn‘t to my taste) so I still count this month as a win! #booksacrossoceans

Thanks for the tag @jess7 ❣️

1️⃣ Paris
2️⃣ Normandy and NYC
3️⃣ Loki
4️⃣ my husband
5️⃣ 🤷🏼‍♀️
6️⃣ kindle paperwhite
7️⃣ 2 months
8️⃣ to read 100 books this year
9️⃣ Lincoln in the Bardo
🔟 Killer Angels

A detailed account of the battle of Gettysburg. I loved how Shaara wrote each chapter from a different point of view from both sides. It made them human to read their emotions and thoughts instead of just a name in a history book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

$4 haul ?I've wanted to own Cutting For Stone since I listened to it on audio last fall. Can't wait to "read" it all over again. I blame @BarbaraTheBibliophage ?

#maybookflowers #war. This was an amazing book!! A book about the battle of Gettysburg that looks like someone chewed on it! Hope you are all having a great Saturday!!

This is the small part of my TBR that I actually own. I check things out from the library much more than I buy books. #savethefloorjoists @Liberty

Day 9: #seasonsreadings #fictionnonfictionpairings Gettysburg the non-fictional account and The Killer Angels, the novelization of the event.

The book that sparked my Civil War interest! On the day I finally got a Gettysburg quarter amongst some change, I also made reservations to spend a weekend there for a winter getaway in a couple months.

Touching novel. Really humanize both sides of the Civil War emphasizing the sacrifice and tragic loss in one of the most famous battles of American history.

#ReadInSchool #nov6 #photoadaynov16 I loved this book then- might need to read it again. #Macbeth was my second choice. Also, #TheOdyssey ❤️🤓

#aphotoadaynov16 read it in school. not for English class, either - we read it in social studies my sophomore year of high school. years later it still sticks with me and I had to get my own copy when I saw it used. brings the battle of Gettysburg to life with empathy and interest and humanity. even if you aren't a war books person, you'll enjoy this - it reads like regular fiction and is very character driven.