Welcome to Litsy!

I loved this. The writing has a propulsive energy as sentences wind their way to interesting ends. It‘s strong and assured, driven by curiosity. There is a beautiful rhythm that keeps you reading. I found the hospital setting strangely comforting: time slows down and the narrator focuses on small details, observes a sparrow, reflects on Kathleen Ferrier singing Mahler. It‘s also a love story, with ups and downs that feel authentic.

#HaikuADay.

If you are going to feel stuffy, sweaty & gross & work anyway because you work from home, might as well haiku about it! 😉🤧

Stuffy, wheezy mess—
no camera day at work.
Sweat clings to jammies.

#HaikuHive

Brought this after @squirrelbrain review and then bumped it up the list after @BarbaraBB review this week.
Thoughtful, reflective, detailed musings on life,death and poetry after an emergency medical event. Beautifully written.

Another fantastic book from Sarah Moss (which I put off reading for ages, for superstitious reasons).
I love her fierce intelligence, and her insight into what makes families tick.
I've seen reviews elsewhere complaining of its being another book by her about "woke middle class people". (Yeah, and Jane Austen just writes about marriage, right?)
It's about parents being faced with the mortality of a child.

The narrator is hospitalized with a rare vascular condition. For days he‘s at ICU, not really knowing what‘s happening, though he knows it‘s serious.
Each medical detail is described, as is the narrator‘s view on life, his past and future.
And it‘s 2020 and COVID is everywhere. In the hospital, in people‘s attitude, in the protests in the streets. It took me back to those days and although it frightened me I loved this about the book. Very good!

Happy milestone, @dabbe !

My #moodboardcontest vibe is, “Everything‘s a mess but at least the tender buds are blooming.” Easter has always been my favorite but my family is going through a rocky patch right now…as is our country, as is the world. I‘m taking comfort in soft breezes, soft petals, & soft puppies whenever I can. I‘ve also been conducting scientific research re: how long the average 39-year-old woman can stay submerged under coffee.

Lovely days reading and finished this one 😁
I‘m working my way through Moss‘s back catalogue that I haven‘t read.
There‘s not much of a plot, but beautiful, insightful writing as always.

I‘m on a day reading retreat in a hotel in Liverpool 😁

Things I love:
-The pacing leaves plenty of room for emotions to develop.
-The perspective shows both the frustration of the US medical system and the wonder we can access when knocked out of our unconscious narratives.
-The writing, beautiful without being sappy.

Things that don't quite work:
-The extended treatises on poetry and music go on too long for my taste.
-The meticulous detail, which gets tedious.

Soft pick for a #tob25 longlist title