Welcome to Litsy!

The first 70 odd pages are very slow going but once into the narrative about how yng actress Charlie is recruited into an undercover plot to catch the head of a pro Palestinian bombing cell the storytelling starts to improve. It's not my favourite Le Carre but an interesting shift away from the Cold War storytelling + particularly pertinent as the Middle East is the centre of the news every day. Looking forward now to watching the BBC series

#weremember #johnlecarre @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I am officially bailing. I hate myself a little for it, but not enough to suffer through the second half. I tried switching to audio and that‘s not working. I hate Charlie and I hate living in her head. Le Carré‘s books are always slow burns but this is ridiculous. 46% done and Charlie is still learning her legend. I‘m bored and annoyed. I surrender. ?

I have 4 books in progress and several books I *should* read. However, it‘s bedtime and I‘m stressed, so I‘m going with an old friend instead. I haven‘t read this Le Carré novel before, and I‘m looking forward to sinking into a new-to-me spy novel.

With the exception of the tagged book (the next in sequence for my Le Carré reread), this entire #bookhaul is Litsy‘s fault. I was just going to pick up The Little Drummer Girl from my local indie, but there have been so many good reviews for Ernshaw‘s book that I had to have it. My indie didn‘t have it, so I had to buy other books there and then stop at B&N for it (and another book…and a magazine). My budget hates you all. ? #blamelitsy

I started this as a buddy read over the holidays but my buddy got a bit overwhelmed by all the festivities and we ended up agreeing to read something else down the road. I decided to continue it because I‘m really enjoying the bird‘s eye view of the planning of an intricate spy trap, centering on the grooming and training of a young, wild, intelligent but self destructive woman. Interested to see where it will take me.

More of a so-so for me. I liked JLC's writing as always (there's a bit about an old airplane that made me 😍), and the emotional toll and aftereffects of going deep undercover are skilfully portrayed, but I found it exhausting to be on edge so much, and I felt a bit 😐 when the story turned to love scenes.

Set in the 70s, a spy story not dealing with the Cold War but Israeli/Palestinian politics. The story develops slowly, starting with a bomb attack in Germany, moving on to the recruitment of the female spy Charlie and finally her life as a double agent. It's well written, entertaining, Charlie's infatuation with Becker a bit annoying but overall a solid 'pre-technology' spy thriller.

@Izai.Amorim the new year hasn't started here yet. This is what I'm doing in the last hours of 2018: reading The little drummer girl 😁

Guys, The Little Drummer Girl on AMC is really good.

Because we don't have enough TV series on the go we started this tonight. Definitely need some binge watching to finish watching some things

#booktoscreen

1. Lilac, teal, turquoise, delft blue, aran white
2. Scary movies, Stranger Things, Benedict Cumberbatch, crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, old maps
3. The Quincunx by Charles Palliser
4. Horror, True Crime, nonfiction history especially WW2 or Victorian era, microhistories
5. Knick knacks (unless they're funko pop).
6. I lived in Seoul Korea for almost three years #goarmy
7. 6dollarshirts.com has some great literary shirts for $6
8. @Kaye

There is a certain irony in that a BookExpo and its satellite events force natural introverts together in large, crowded venues; and that very little actual reading gets accomplished over the week! I have to head out today; and will be picking up 'The Little Drummer Girl' where I left off, about 1/3 of the way in. Contemporary when written, deemed historical fiction by many now, still insightfully relevant today... 👇

A few years ago, I started reading Le Carré's novels in publishing order; but stopped at the end of The Karla Trilogy. Last night's flight was grounded owing to a spectacular lightning storm; so I was able to go home, grab a little sleep, and pick up 'The Little Drummer Girl' off of my stacks ?✈️