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#England
blurb
monalyisha
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I suspect my audiobook listening is about to fall off significantly…🙈

I‘ve discovered Desert Island Discs, a British radio show (now podcast) that‘s been around forever (since 1942).

The host interviews all manner of celebrities (authors, musicians, NASA scientists, etc) about their lives through the conceit of being stranded on a desert island. They basically create a mix tape; they‘re allowed 8 music tracks, 1 book, & 1 luxury item.👇🏻

monalyisha So far, I‘ve listened to episodes with: Greta Gerwig, Helen MacDonald, & Yusuf Cat Stevens. I‘m mildly obsessed — & very grateful for the brief mention in Ben Aitken‘s “The Marmalade Diaries!” If I weren‘t the type of reader to pause my reading to go down many, many rabbit holes, I might never have learned about it! I figured everyone knew of it but me but that hasn‘t been the case. So, I‘m spreading the good word! 2d
CBee This sounds amazing!! 2d
squirrelbrain DID is a British institution! 2d
See All 7 Comments
Bookwomble @squirrelbrain I was going to say exactly that! 😄 2d
monalyisha @squirrelbrain @Bookwomble I understand why! It‘s wonderful. 2d
monalyisha @CBee Let me know if you seek it out! I‘d love to know if you‘re as instantly enamored as I am! 2d
CBee @monalyisha will do 😊 2d
45 likes1 stack add7 comments
review
CarolynM
Linden Rise | Richmal Crompton
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Pickpick

Found this in a 2nd hand bookshop & couldn‘t resist after Family Roundabout. Tilly enters service as a 15 year old in the late C19th and watches as the family she serves grows up and grows old. Unhappy marriages feature again & there is a degree of contempt for the social norms of the monied classes. Tilly has more sense & more empathy than all of her so called betters. I‘ll be looking out for more Richmal Crompton.

Ruthiella Nice edition! 😍 2w
Leftcoastzen Nice! 2w
LeahBergen Oh, that‘s a nice edition!! I have a new edition of this and need to get to it! 2w
Cathythoughts Nice review 👍🏻❤️ and edition. (edited) 1w
63 likes4 comments
review
TheAromaofBooks
Miss Carter and the Ifrit | Susan Alice Kerby
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Mehso-so

This book had all the ingredients that I should enjoy, but somehow they just didn't work here. Miss Carter is a middle-aged woman, never married, who lives by herself in a small flat in London and works for the censor's office during WWII. Through a series of events, she finds herself in possession of an ifrit (i.e. genie). Part of the reason this book didn't quite work for me was that the ifrit's magic never really made sense to me. Apparently ⬇

TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) he can't actually make things, just conjure them from other places? But he has to actually go in person and fetch them? Or something? And he physically flies to these places and consequently can be shot down by bullets? Or something? I was very distracted by the lack of sensible magic (you know what I mean haha) There is also a strange romance (ish) that I guess is supposed to be an acceptance of practicalities, but instead I just felt ⬇ 2w
TheAromaofBooks (cont'd) bad that Miss Carter was giving up her peacefully independent life to go live with someone who more or less takes her for granted/doesn't seem to appreciate her. It was a strange vibe.

All in all, it was okay for a one-time read, but it's not a book I'm planning to keep. Right ingredients, wrong mixture.

But look at all those #ISpy prompts! 😂 - Cleaning Utensil, Cursive Font, Cat, Title/Author in Different Font, Book, Circle
2w
DieAReader Great!! 2w
Librarybelle Yay!!! 2w
51 likes5 comments
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BiblioLitten
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Bailedbailed

I tried not to, but I‘ll have to bail on this one (gave it 100 pages). Perhaps it‘s the timing. The plot is promising, the characters have potential but the writing feels clichéd and unnatural. It maybe unrelated (or not) but I read two pages of Ann Patchett and I can‘t stop thinking about that book now. #currentlynotreading

36 likes1 comment
review
monalyisha
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Pickpick

A 35-year-old writer moves in with an 85-year-old spitfire, recently widowed, right before the pandemic. He keeps a journal of their experience.

The relationship between Ben & Winnie forms s.l.o.w.l.y. — which makes the end result all the more satisfying. From my lived experience, it reminded me of having a rabbit…that slow build of trust from a creature who is markedly independent & willful in spite of *or because of* her vulnerability.👇🏻

monalyisha 1/2: Winnie also reminded me of my own grandmother, who was a bit of a divisive figure. She kept exactly none of her opinions to herself and was quick to judge. Fortunately, she judged me worthy and we had a close relationship. Winnie, however, is British — and feels like it! — whereas my gram hails from New England with stints in California. I loved puttering about the garden with Winnie (& Ben)…👇🏻 4w
monalyisha 2/2: and reading his good-natured response to her biting yet somehow increasingly warm critiques (of his cooking, his hair, his humor, you name it). The ending isn‘t what I wanted but I suppose that‘s aging. Hey-ho. I do feel greatly in need of an update 3 years hence. 4w
Suet624 I love this post 💕 your grandmother sounds like someone I can relate to. 4w
67 likes2 stack adds3 comments
review
ItsAnotherJen
The '86 Fix | Keith Pearson
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Pickpick

I really enjoyed these two easy reads about a forty-something, overweight, and unhappy man who stumbles on a way that may help change his life. Time travel. These two books should of been combined into one, but since they are both offered on Kindle Unlimited that wasn't a big deal to me. It was refreshing to read something not in my usual genres. Exactly what I needed. Bonus was that it made me grateful that my marriage is what it is. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Texreader I have to stack this one. I graduated high school in ‘86. A long long time ago. 1mo
ItsAnotherJen @Texreader I graduated a decade after you, but it still was a nice look into a different era - back into a simpler time 1mo
59 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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GingerAntics
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bibliothecarivs
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Recent acquisition:

📖 The Eagle and the Hart: The Tragedy of Richard II and Henry IV by Helen Castor

Graywacke I loved it 🙂 1mo
7 likes1 comment