Welcome to Litsy!

It is FREEZING in southern Idaho right now. We got so much snow last night that I was hoping for a snow day today, but nope. It almost almost melted by the morning. 😭

I'm starting this book today. I picked it up at a library sale a long time ago because of the cover, but I know nothing else about it. I'm excited to jump in. 🤓

Loved the writing.

This is the first book I have taken advantage of free Kindle through Amazon Prime. I just started it, but am completely hooked. It‘s so funny. The narrator‘s voice sounds how I want to be at 72( and is nearly how I sound now). That alternating mix of optimism and cynicism; of caring and not. I love it and I don‘t know anything yet but blue hair and red wine!

There are two kinds of people in this world: people who want to be desired, and people who want to be desired so much that they pretend they don‘t.”

we are constantly explaining and excusing ourselves; life itself, that inexplicable complex of being and feeling, demands explanations of us, those around us demand explanations, and in the end we ourselves demand explanations of ourselves, until in the end we succeed in annihilating everything around us, ourselves included, or in other words explain ourselves to death.

I long ago abandoned myself to a blind lust for the written word. Literature is my sandbox. In it I play, build my forts and castles, spend glorious time. It is the world outside that box that gives me trouble. I have adapted tamely, though not conventionally, to this visible world so I can retreat without much inconvenience into my inner world of books.

Currently reading

The Kindle edition of this excellent book is on sale for $1.99 right now.

https://smile.amazon.com/Unnecessary-Woman-Novel-Rabih-Alameddine-ebook/dp/B00ET...

I‘m so glad that I picked up this book that gives a glimpse into the life of a well read woman looking back on her life in Beirut. Aaliya spends most of her time alone, translating great works of literature into Arabic. Although she has a quite solitary existence, her inner life is so rich that it really brings this quiet story to life. I highly recommend this, it was a great read and my U book for #LitsyAtoZ2019.

Aaliyah will stay with me for a long time. Although I read it quickly, this is not a “page-turner” kind of book. It‘s meditative and funny by turns, full of quotes and infinitely quotable, and a paean to literature. I highly recommend it!

“She began circling the top of narcissistic Everest at an early age, and later, after her husband died and her children grew, she floated above the entire Himalayas.”

“dancing the Beiruti Hustle to the other side.” 😆

@SharonGoforth Book synchronicity! “With this essential reliability, are Germans bored? Does that explain The Magic Mountain?” 🤣

“The hospital had to hire an in-house toilet calibrator.” 😂

I always seem to start a new book on the last day of the month. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Enjoying a thinner volume after the chunkster I just finished!

#ReadAroundtheWorld #Lebanon

Thank you @RachelO for putting this book on my radar I really enjoyed spending time with Aaliya in her apartment in Beruit.

This book is infinitely quotable, highly amusing and touching all at the same time.

I also really enjoyed the positive female friendships where the women supported each other with no hidden agendas.

Highly recommend this

PS rhubarb crumble sundae was amazing

#ReadAroundtheWorld #Lebanon

This book is full of great quotes and insights.

#ReadAroundtheWorld #Lebanon

Bookworm issues the struggle is real

#ReadAroundTheWorld #Lebanon

I suspect hard core littens can relate to this

#ReadAroundtjeWorld #Lebanon

Up next. I am blaming @RachelO for this one as her quotes made me want to read it 🤣🤣

This was my #ReadAroundTheWorld challenge book for July - #Lebanon. It‘s a book lover‘s book, that‘s for sure- full of references across literature and a main character who comes fully to life here. The book is more of a character study in a lot of ways and I think would be perfect for book clubs or other discussion groups looking for a fresh voice. The audio version was great, too! The format worked really well- and not just for #AudioColoring!

Started this one last night for #readaroundtheworld #lebanon - think I‘m going to enjoy this story of an older lady living alone with her books. Opening line:

“You could say I was thinking of other things when I shampooed my hair blue, and two glasses of red wine didn‘t help my concentration”

Of foreign literature and translation. Discover Aaliya's life, between books, war in Beirut, and her family.

#foreignliterature #rabihalameddine #lebaneseauthors

This book isn't a bad book. I enjoyed so many things about this book. I enjoyed the character and her literary ability. At many points I felt this was an unnecessary book. But there was a lot of wisdom she has which was great to read. This book doesn't have a strong plot which I guess is given, and couldn't hold my attention for a greater period of time. It's a lazy book and wasn't particularly engaging at any instance

I liked a lot about this book! It brought me to a world I‘m not at all familiar with, the voice is great, and it‘s filled with literary references— deep cuts too. All of which make it a lot of fun. But the plot is lacking for me... major points felt schmaltzy and the plot lacked urgency. I‘m glad I read it, but I think it needs a reader who is in a brooding mood, who wants to pick up a million allusions and mull them over.

Reading this as well. Happy to be learning more about Lebanon and this account of a deep love for books.

This book took me very long to read, but then I don't really think it's the kind of book you rush through. Absolutely beautifully written. #passportlitsy

#FriyayIntro
🧚🏼‍♀️sunny yellow
🧚🏼‍♀️La Mante, the French crime series on Netflix. Loved it.
🧚🏼‍♀️tagged book has made me google soo many titles- full review just posted today here: https://gatheringbooks.org/2018/06/09/saturday-reads-40/
🧚🏼‍♀️ mayo, sometimes thousand island
🧚🏼‍♀️ read, blog, and watch two movies for the mexican film fest here in singapore tomorrow

#QuotsyJune18 Day 6: Here is what #Drive(s) the passion of Aaliya, the main character in the story, who translated favourite, obscure, award-winning international classics into Arabic. To have this kind of #Drive and passion for what one does is truly a gift, a sacred one. I lifted my self-imposed book-buying ban to purchase the books she mentioned here: Pessoa, Yourcenar, Lampedusa, Nooteboom, Molina, Duras, Javier Marias among others.

#AdelesMayMashUp Day 22: There is a #TakeItAll vibe to this quote that is pure surrender to art, when one is emptied out of one‘s self, as one pours one‘s self into simply being - there divinity is found. I feel sad that my book club members did not take to this as much as I did, except for one or two, but clearly this isn‘t a book for everyone. The voice remains masculine for me as if Alameddine was speaking thru Aaliya, but as a whole, I 💙 it.

#QuotsyMay18 Day 21: Very #Sage -like observations/ insights about people and the decisions we make/unmake/did not make - along the way.

72-year old Aaliya is looking back on a life lived through literature. After a failed marriage she has workshop in a bookshop, read, read, read and every year translated another work into Arabic. Now she faces a crisis and in book-filled flat in Beirut.
The story is well-told and the many book references are a joy to read.

#ReadingResolutions Day 16: I have just finished reading this exquisite novel, hence my #CurrentBookQuote. My TBR has just exploded exponentially, thanks to Alameddine. I have created a list of titles which I will be sharing in GatheringBooks a month from now.

I‘m finally back to reading this one! And a very early summer came upon us. REAL summer. I‘m sure it‘s the only one we‘ll get this year.

Sadly, most of my book club ppl didn‘t care much for this novel, they said they couldn‘t get the references and felt stuck. I totally get it since it‘s seemingly without plot, ruminative-to-a-fault, with a mastery in artful digressions. But there is something self-effacing yet sharp, vulnerable yet strong, sardonic and profoundly sad in the voice that spoke to me deeply. Plus, there is such book love that invites rather than excludes the reader.💙

Still on my TBR but a good Kindle deal at 1.99 USD 🎉

Saturday read and a mango frappe.

triple egg and scallop porridge with salted egg fish skin while on medical leave (hateful colds that just won‘t quit) and yes to reading this book club pick. while i am loving the internal rumination and book love in this novel, the lack of plot also makes it difficult for me to engage with it and muster the stamina to keep on reading. perhaps i haven‘t reached the really meaty parts yet. but beautiful, lyrical language.

#HumpDayPost
📚photo was after my 5km run last night.
📚tagged book for my FB book club, Age of American Unreason for #BowieBookClub, Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks for my IRL book club
📚last item: choc chip cookies with macadamia!
📚dinner: only husband knows. heheh
📚cake: molten choc lava cake the way Chili‘s does it

#GetMovin Day 6: Not exactly a #Sandstorm but more like a Sandbox, but “sandy metaphor” applies, still, albeit vaguely. 😂😍🤗

#ReadingResolutions Day 4: I personally think that this version of the book is a #CoolCover (there are a few other versions with equally nice designs), but this one highlights how the “unnecessary woman” spent her entire life around words (and books).

Aaliyah keeps going, reading, translating and surviving civil war in Beirut. #litsyclassics #heroine

A couple of pages in and I know this is going to be great. #passportlitsy

This book is chock full of literary and philosophy references - it added metres to Mount TBR! Aaliya is an elderly Lebanese woman, alone with her books and her memories for the most part, she has avoided family obligations, narrowly escaped a marriage and is a misanthrope to warm the heart of Ove. Her thoughts on her Beirut, the few people she was close to and the bookish life are sharp and insightful. You‘ll copy out at least a dozen quotes!

This quote at the beginning of An Unnecessary Woman is superb!

#FierceFeb Day 27: This reclusive #bachelorette lives alone in her Beirut apartment, surrounded by books. She has translated 37 books into Arabic, but no one has ever read them. This book is described to be a love letter to literature and its power to define a person, plus a finalist for National Book Award in 2014. Really looking forward to reading this for #LitWorld2018GB - Literary Voyage Around the World - Lebanon.

7 days, 7 book covers. Post a book cover you love. No explanation, no information about the book. Just a cover you love. #7days7bookcovers

First book of the year. Beautiful voice. Beautiful story.

Aaliya is my heart. I was delighted by the first lines of this book, and a deep love for this introverted, independent woman blossomed from there. I lost track of the many ways I identified with this character, and I was always eager to return to reading so I could spend more time with this imaginary soulmate and have more conversations with her about books and music and hear more stories of her long life in the embattled city of Beirut. 👇🏽