Litsy

pick

After enjoying Call Me By Your Name and Find Me, I read this one. At first, I was not a fan, but as the story developed I enjoyed the nuances of the character's actions. We often are a reflection of our friends and they can bring our the best or worst in us.

36 likes

Blueberry

World Mental Health: Problems and Priorities in Low-income Countries | Robert Desjarlais

1. So far so good. I'm halfway through the day.
2. I follow some Facebook groups on mental health. I follow one person by newsletter/blogs. But she's been mostly selling her stuff the last year so I can't do that.
I'm about to walk into one of my happy places. 😊

#MentalHealthMonday
@Kerrbearlib

Kerrbearlib Hope the rest of your day went well, and that today has been going well too! 1mo

38 likes1 comment

monalyisha

The Idiot | Elif Batuman

pick

I fell in immediate & unabashed love with this novel. Batuman‘s clever writing & strange sensibilities made me laugh & read sentences aloud every other page. I even went to her website to learn more about the weird & wonderful person writing. When I saw that she‘d used code to make the words “web design” appear in rainbow font (stating that she‘d learned how in the 90‘s), I felt myself swoon. Then, my feelings became more convoluted & complex.👇🏻

monalyisha 1/4: Since 2020, and with renewed fervor since November, the world has felt unmoored, untethered, and unreal; it‘s hard when a novel amplifies these feelings. Batuman doesn‘t address any of the topics causing the current climate (she was writing in 2017 about the 1990s), but… 2mo

monalyisha 2/4: as Selin, a college freshman studying linguistics at a prestigious Ivy League school, away from home and falling in love (via email) for the first time, becomes increasingly confused about who she is, who her love interest is, how her mind inhabits her body, and how language works, a familiar refrain began running through my head, “What is HAPPENING?!” 2mo

monalyisha 3/4: I have this thought enough in my daily life, as I catch up on current events or try to reconcile my family‘s increasingly erratic behavior with the stable and loving family I once knew. Thinking it, in the same intensity, while reading felt like adding insult to injury. Is this an unfair emotional burden to place on a poor, unsuspecting novel? Maybe! But I‘d wager that Batuman knew exactly what she was doing. Unsuspecting, my left foot. 2mo

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monalyisha 4/4: The Idiot was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 and I can see why. I can also understand why it didn‘t win. Though it‘s a text that will massively frustrate its readers (or, at least, it did me), it‘s also incredibly distinct. There‘s a sequel, called Either/Or, published in 2022. You can bet your favorite sheep I‘m going to read it. 2mo

Ruthiella I loved, loved, loved this book . I think you‘ll like Either/Or. I can‘t wait to read the rest. 2mo

sarahbarnes What @Ruthiella said. Loved this book and Either/Or so much. Great review. 2mo

Leftcoastzen I need to get to this one . 2mo

62 likes3 stack adds7 comments

JenReadsAlot

Catalina | Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

so-so

I didn't care for this all that much. #roll100 @PuddleJumper

fredthemoose I felt the same way! 3mo

35 likes1 comment

Oryx

Catalina | Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

Enjoying Catalina today

squirrelbrain I enjoyed it too - loving your mug more though! ❤️ 6mo

Oryx @squirrelbrain it's so cute, isn't it? I'll post the other side of it next time. 6mo

squirrelbrain Please do! 🤪 6mo

46 likes1 stack add3 comments

vlwelser

Catalina | Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

so-so

This drew me into the characters. I don't know that it would have been a top choice but it was on a friend's tbr so I gave it a whirl. Between this and Piglet, I appreciate that we like different things 😂

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 6mo

34 likes1 stack add1 comment

squirrelbrain

Catalina | Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

pick

Playing catch-up with reviews….

I really liked this novel, which did feel rather like a memoir at times, and it feels even more relevant now after the events of last week, being about undocumented migrants.

At times it was a little bit too ‘stream of consciousness‘ for me and I struggled to understand the relevance or tangent of Catalina‘s thoughts but, overall, a hard-hitting worthwhile read.

Thank you for gifting it to me @MicheleinPhilly 😘

TrishB I thought you‘d read all these today! 7mo

squirrelbrain No, not today @TrishB ! I have just had an hour or two of reading though, instead of working! 👏 7mo

TrishB Good for you! I have the lurgy- cough/cold (not covid) so haven‘t been able to do any work due to feeling so ill! 7mo

squirrelbrain Oh no! @TrishB Hope you feel better soon. 7mo

MicheleinPhilly I‘m glad you enjoyed it. 😘 7mo

67 likes5 comments