Welcome to Litsy!

Fascinating book. I will be thinking about her ideas and interpretations of freedom and campaigning for some time, I think.

Picture of the coast near Edinburgh. The sea was what came to mind this morning as I thought about freedom.

By insisting that there could be no positive discussion of homosexuality in schools, it [Section 28] ensured the opposite. Homophobia spilled up unchecked. Poof, lezzer, I hope you die of Aids: the torrent of playground language to which any gay or gender non-conforming kid was subjected. I can still feel my school years in my body, every muscle clamped and clenched, defended against discovery of the so-called family situation...

Having a few days away.
Fancy hotel room, generally lovely, but hopeless absence of reading light leaves me unimpressed.

Would it be weird to phone hotel in advance next time and ask for a room with a reading light?

These interviews revealed such a diversity of sexualities...that Hirschfeld's belief in the existence of anything so simplistic as two genders was eroded. No, the line between male and female, straight and gay was decidedly blurred. In 1910, he calculated that there were forty-three million possible combinations of gender and sexuality, a near-infinite spectrum of human possibility.... Imagine telling J. K. Rowling.

Thank you so much @Smarkies for this beautiful #jolabokaflodswap package 😘 Everything is perfect and I'm so glad to get a book that's been on my TBR for so long! The book sleeve is gorgeous 💜

Merry Christmas and I hope you have a fabulous holiday.

And thank you @MaleficentBookDragon once again for organising. Merry Christmas! 🎄

I‘ll read anything Olivia Laing writes. This strange, lovely novel was deliciously, bewitchingly eccentric and touching. I read it over the course of one very rainy Saturday. I will read it again.

#BookReport 16/20

I actually had a good reading week. Maybe I am getting used a bit to the current situation. I am definitely less anxious than before. And the sun shines, which makes this more bearable too.

So I read the 4 books I planned to read. My Dark Vanessa and Late in the Day were this week‘s favorites.

I‘m not sure about this book. Sure, I read some great sentences and references to the 80s, the 90s, and current times with Trump and Brexit. But what was the point? I am not sure what Laing wanted with this book. And why Kathy Acker? I read her Blood and Guts in High School and maybe that should have warned me. Not for me.

#7covers7days #coverlove - Day 7 Thanks for the tag @merelybookish ! This was fun!