Litsy

Abigail | Magda Szabo

My husband and I have made it to Budapest on our trek through Eastern Europe. I‘ve tried to pick up a book in each country (but I missed out in Bulgaria and Croatia—not enough time to track down bookstores in the towns where we were that sell English editions). Anyway, I couldn‘t decide between a nonfiction and a fiction for Hungary —so I got them both. 😀 My carry-on is bursting at the seams now. Good thing we‘re heading home this weekend! 😬

BarbaraBB Wow, I haven‘t heard of that Magda Szabo! 23h

sarahbarnes What @BarbaraBB said! Sounds like it‘s been an amazing trip! 6h

44 likes2 comments

iaietta

Trilogia della citt� di K. | Agota Kristof

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5-/5 ⭐️
Un romanzo struggente in cui non si capisce cosa sia realtà e cosa immaginazione
Una lettura che ti trasporta e ti lascia senza fiato

1 like1 stack add

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… 1mo

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?!” 1mo

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. 1mo

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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. 1mo

Ruthiella I loved, loved, loved this book . I think you‘ll like Either/Or. I can‘t wait to read the rest. 1mo

sarahbarnes What @Ruthiella said. Loved this book and Either/Or so much. Great review. 1mo

Leftcoastzen I need to get to this one . 1mo

62 likes3 stack adds7 comments

DrasticallyJill

Invisible Murder | Lene Kaaberbol, Agnete Friis

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The second installment of the Nina Borg series is ok. It explores how discrimination and the Roma people (sincere apologies if I did not use the correct word) as outcasts. Other characters are introduced. I could see where it was going from a mile away, so I just moved on mid-read to book 3 (The Nightingale). However, a pick because of the writing and subject matter.

2 likes

MaleficentBookDragon

The String Diaries | Stephen Lloyd Jones

#Coverstories
#reptile

Eggs, Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Excellent choices! 2mo

Eggs Exquisite 👏🏻👍🏼 2mo

56 likes2 comments

Purpleness

Histories of Nations: How Their Identities Were Forged | Furtado Peter

38 likes1 stack add

Kristy_K

Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz | J�zsef Debreczeni

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It‘s surprising to me this was only recently translated to English given what an important addition it is to Holocaust history and memoirs. Debreczeni not only provides more insight into the concentration camps, he sheds light on the hierarchical structure that was present there. A difficult read but one I am glad I did as I continue to educate myself on the past.

#holocaust #hungary #wwii

65 likes4 stack adds

JanuarieTimewalker13

The Man Who Went Up in Smoke: A Martin Beck Police Mystery (2) | Maj Sj�wall, Per Wahl��

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I enjoyed it. An older woman on YT considered it one of her favorite police procedurals, so I gave it a try. This husband and wife writing team wrote a number of these types of books. #SwedishAuthors, #Budapest. I really liked the setting. This may be the first book I‘ve ever read set in Budapest (well, most of it was set there).

JanuarieTimewalker13 Book 1 2025 finished 1/17/25 4mo

35 likes1 comment

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