Welcome to Litsy!

AMEN...

I emerge from lurk to diss this bibliophilic classic. What the summaries, wikipedia, and most reviewers don't tell you is that Blades was a Caxton-obsessed misogynistic prick, and his book is mostly hearsay and hyperbole. It wasn't a waste of my time because I tracked down some anecdotes that are now presented as verified facts and cleared up some history, but I did spend a long time wanting to slug the man.

Im sure some of you have been there but I was just in the Livraria Lello in Porto, Portugal which is dubbed one of the most beautiful book stores in the world - cost 10 euro to get in but it was beautiful. The rumor (which isn‘t true) is that JK Rowling based her Hogwarts library on it bc she had lived in Porto. Even though it‘s not true - still fun to pretend and appreciate how pretty this little store is. 💕📚

Fun little cartoon collection around the theme of books and literature.
Perfect palate cleanser for relaxing. Of course, some are better than others, but I'm always impressed by the imagination it takes to create so many vignettes.

This was a delightful book. (Aren‘t books about books always)? We tend to think of a library as a place with windows, doors, walls, cards, and other things. But what if some of them aren‘t so obvious—what if you have to search for them? What if they move around mysteriously from place to place, becoming accessible to multiple communities? This book is full of fascinating places that house books. My personal favorites: Kurkku Fields (Japan)⬇️

#WDNCW that I bought 4 books last week while on vacation & came home to 2 more that I had ordered before we left. The TBR pile grows bigger. Trying to focus more on reading & learning rather than being on social media & watching the sh!t show.

Starting a book of historical fiction about a woman passing for white in a racist time.

While I appreciated learning about JP Morgan‘s personal librarian, Bella da Costa Greene, and her rise to becoming an acclaimed art collector, I didn‘t love this read. I was kinda bored throughout the story. Maybe it was the writing. I am intrigued to do some googling on her, her father, Richard Greener, and I would like to visit the Pierpoint Morgan Library on my next trip to NYC. So overall it was a worthwhile read but not a love.

Popped over to beautiful Bruny Island for a couple of nights. Surprised to see so many tourists in the middle of winter.
They have 6 little libraries on the island, made by the Men's Shed. I've visited 5 and will swing by no.6 on the way to the ferry.

I loved this. Manguel writes about being a reader in ways that are so relatable, even though I‘m pretty sure his reading is much more erudite than my own! Starting with reflections on setting up his own library, Manguel uses each chapter to examine a different aspect of libraries—the library as myth, as order, as space, as imagination, and so on. He brings together historical tidbits about personal and national libraries with his own reflections⤵️