Welcome to Litsy!

I now know not to expect happy endings from Wharton, but the details of this one still surprised me. She writes beautifully and pulls you into the lives of the women she describes, in this case two sisters running their own small shop in New York City who meet a local bachelor. Then, you just wait to see how things will fall apart. Again, I find that I tend to enjoy Wharton‘s shorter works more than her longer novels.

#audiobook #1001books

I haven't changed this stack for a few days, so this is it, this is my stack for #14Books14Weeks!

A few for pride month, a few for Women in Translation month, half are #1001Books and more than half are for #192025

Toni Morrison is a master at describing the most devastating and heartbreaking stories with wonderful language, and to hear this one in her voice added to that. Some of her books strike me much more than others and this is one of stronger. The switching perspectives and sometimes backwards storytelling were somewhat confusing, but they all had purpose and are worth the effort to follow.

#audiobook #1001books #Reading1001
#TBRTakedown May 2025

This was not the book for me. It‘s a strange, dark story with repetitive scenes from the perspective of a narrator frequently in an opium haze. At least that‘s how it seemed to me. I also think I missed aspects due to differences of culture & translation. I feel there‘s much more symbolism than I‘m aware of.

📷: Gandalf kept me company during my #HammockReading this evening.

#translated #1001books #Reading1001 #TBRTakedown April 2025

People of the 1800s must have been GAGGED when this book came out. Wells takes aim at several societal institutions, which may be why it‘s hard to nail down a central theme. Also, it‘s hard to escape the times in which this book was written. That said, I think it‘s a scathing indictment of “civilized” people. For all your pretenses at being better than anyone else, your behavior is no better than an animal‘s. 245/1,001 #1001Books

What if you killed someone? What if no one knew the crime had been committed yet? With an axe hanging like a pendulum over his head (will it land, will it miss?), our narrator returns home after killing a one-night stand. How does one deal with this internal knowledge? What does it reveal about oneself? 244/1,001 #1001Books

Not a bad #BookSpinBingo month. I finished the tagged for #FoodandLit, #Rwanda. The Book Censor's Library was my #DoubleSpin and also fits #OffMyShelf - #InvolvesBooks; The Colour and Dance on the Volcano were for #192025; Indigenous Pacific Islander anthology worked for #FictionalTraveler and was my #BookSpin. There are a couple of #1001Books, and several for a global reading project.

Most importantly, I have two bingos!

I had a hard time with this book. It did not hold my attention well through long sections, then something rather bizarre or violent would happen and I‘d get caught up in the story again for a while. It also took a long time to get the characters straight.

When I finished, I did listen to a podcast episode that discussed a few aspects and gave me a bit more to think about. (Link in comments)

#audiobook #LMMAdjacent #1001books

I‘m a bit late starting, but I got caught up listening to the first few chapters of The Mill on the Floss while taking a walk with Luthien today. I‘m not sure what I think of these two siblings yet, but I‘m looking forward to seeing where this goes.

#HashtagBrigade #audiobook #1001books

Parts of this book were bleak and I was almost constantly listening with a slight feeling of dread about what might be about to happen, but I also enjoyed it. It actually ended on a more hopeful note than I expected through most of the story. I felt it described the setting of 1860s New Zealand and the gold rush very well.

#ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #NewZealand #audiobook #1001books #TBRTakedown