Welcome to Litsy!

Tomorrow begins the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead of Emily of New Moon! I‘ll post weekly check-ins, and we‘ll discuss the book in full on Saturday, July 12. Schedule is above. All are welcome—please comment if you‘re not tagged and you‘d like to be!

#LMMReread #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead

This landed on my radar thanks to @Singout ‘s #AuldLangSpine list and how thankful I am! I normally avoid short stories (because “give me more!” or “what was that?”). BUT! These stories are fully realized and effective in storytelling. Haunting and often full of magical realism heightening everyday emotions: sibling jealousy, a teen being bullied, neglected stepdaughter (Cinderella!), divorce. Centers women & lgbtq+ experiences. Excellent!

Elizabeth Rex, by Timothy Findley (2000 🇨🇦)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: On the night before her lover is put to death on her orders, a restless Queen Elizabeth I spends time with William Shakespeare‘s troupe and gets into a battle of wits about the performance of gender with a man who has spent his whole career in drag.

Review: This is probably my favourite play-as-literature thus far. Cont.

'Banned it?' Andrew said with a grin. 'How do you ban being patronizing?'

'Well, there were certain phrases he used that made me mad because they didn't sound rude but you knew they were. You know, things like "If you think about it," which means you're not thinking about it, and "With respect," which basically means without respect. "I think you'll find" is another one. I fined him twenty-five cents every time he said something like that.'

I see,' he said again. You've been planning this for some time, then.'

He made it sound like a bank raid, Megan thought, or maybe premeditated murder. But she would not allow him to make her feel guilty; she had done far more than her share. 'Yes,' she said briskly. I'm twenty-one and I think it's time I started my own life.'

Outdoor reading season has begun! Now getting darker so getting harder but today was a really beautiful day to sit outside and read. #CanLit #CanadianWomenCodebreakers

What a great book to wrap this series with! I have always been a sucker for wartime stories, so I think this being set in WWI is part of why I think it is (just a little bit!) better than a few of the books that came before. This is a belated post, as I finished this read during a work trip earlier this week, but I had a loaner phone with no Litsy so I couldn't post about it in real time.

#junespecials #sewing
@eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#JuneSpecials Day 13: #Sewing - one of my fave Atwood novels.

2.5⭐️ While the book was written very well, I just didn‘t connect very well with the characters. Partly it had to do with the fact that I was unable to put a time period to the story. #bookclub #canadian #fiction #historicalfiction