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#MiddleAges
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bibliothecarivs
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Recent acquisitions:

📖 Caxton: The Description of Britain: A Modern Rendering by Marie Collins
📖 Imeall am Domhain: Walking at the Edge of the World by T.P. O'Conchúir and Aimee Ericson

#fREADom #UniteAgainstBookBans

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BarbaraJean
The Door in the Wall | Marguerite De Angeli
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Pickpick

“Thou hast only to follow the wall far enough and there will be a door in it.”

I really liked this, and would have loved it if I‘d read it as a kid. It‘s definitely historical fiction from a bygone era of children‘s literature: no overwrought emotional drama, no fraught explorations of human suffering, just a matter-of-fact focus on overcoming loss and moving forward by doing the best you can with what you have.

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks @librarybelle This was my February #BookSpin and it also checks off #1949 for #192025. 🎉🎉 4w
Librarybelle Wow! An Apple paperback edition! I remember those editions from when I was a kid. 4w
TheBookHippie It‘s required reading here 🙃. Kids still love it! 4w
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batsy I read this years ago and really enjoyed it! 4w
TheAromaofBooks I remember that I read this growing up, but not what it's about. My mom loves de Angeli's books for even younger readers; they have beautiful illustrations. 4w
sblbooks This one really resonated with me; since I have a physical disability. 4w
34 likes6 comments
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random_michelle
The Early Middle Ages | Philip Daileader
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Pickpick

I listen to non-fiction to put me to sleep (I used to read, this is nicer.) But 1) It takes months to finish a book 2) there are sections I miss, regardless of “rewinding“

I recognized names & places, but had never really put things together. Listening to this gave me context and the ability to tie it all together for the first time.

One note: he has a verbal tick of drawing out “aaaaaand“ which can get annoying. But not a huge deal.

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BarbaraJean
The Door in the Wall | Marguerite De Angeli
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February BookSpin! My #BookSpin landed on one of my #192025 categories: a book from the 1920s-40s. I decided on The Door in the Wall, published in 1949 (which has been on my shelf for so long I don‘t remember when I bought it!). And my #DoubleSpin landed on Unraveling, from my #AuldLangSpine list. Looking forward to both of these!

LibrarianRyan This was one of my fave as a child. 2mo
42 likes1 comment
review
Itchyfeetreader
Gatty's Tale | Kevin Crossley-Holland
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Pickpick

So first up this has been on my kindle for eons and I don‘t know why I ever bought it. Secondly I had hoped it would be my Jan #bookedintime but it‘s 200 years too late and thirdly it‘s one of the most grown up children‘s books I have ever read!! With all that out of the way I absolutely loved this story about a young girl with no family and limited prospects who as second chamber maid joins her widowed lady on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem ⬇️

Itchyfeetreader As ever on a pilgrimage the journey is at least as important as what she find when she makes it. This is full of vibrant descriptions of fabulous places. amazing characters and a quite preen sensibility that doesn‘t feel out of place. I rated it 4 stars on Goodreads but may go back and update as one that I think will really stay with me 3mo
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review
Bookwomble
The Jewish Problem | Louis Golding
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Pickpick

This had an enlightening summary of anti-Semitism in Europe up to the mid-20th century, followed by a sociopolitical analysis of the then contemporary (1938) position of Jews globally, increasingly overshadowed by Naziism and the far right, a sadly over-optimistic section on the possibility of peaceful coexistence of Jews and "Arabs" in Palestine, and a sadly prescient warning of what might be in the immediate future if Hitler remained in power.⬇️

Bookwomble And, very, very sadly, so many current parallels not only with what is happening in Israel/Palestine, but also with the global rise of the far right, authoritarianism, persecution of refugees and immigrants, racist rhetoric, and general shitness.
Golding comes across as a thoughtful, balanced, and compassionate human being. 4.5 ✡️
4mo
TrishB I totally agree with the review of general shitness…..can the news get any worse? (Not a challenge!) 4mo
AlaMich @TrishB It always seems to. 4mo
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Bookwomble @TrishB Yeah, don't give it ideas! 😳 4mo
bibliothecarivs I love Penguins. Is that a reprint? Incredible condition for being 85 years old. 4mo
Bookwomble @bibliothecarivs It is a remarkably preserved first edition ☺️ 4mo
batsy Sounds like something I should read. (The news gets worse and worse.) 4mo
Bookwomble @batsy I found it very interesting, and it definitely cast some light for me on the roots of the current situation. I'd recommend it 🙂 I recently heard an historian asked about the seeming avalanche of awful world events say that we should remember the news is a selectively curated presentation of the worst bits of randomly occurring historical events, and that much good remains unreported. 4mo
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Bookwomble
The Jewish Problem | Louis Golding
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"The addition to any country of a body of young, strong, active and industrious immigrants with the probability of a long life before them (as the [Jewish] refugees from Germany and Austria in the main are) is clearly an asset, particularly to a land which, like England, is faced with an imminent fall in population. As workers and consumers, moreover, they must add to its economic activity, rather than compete (as is generally imagined) in... ⬇️

Bookwomble ...the labour market. Moreover, this class would constitute an addition of the most valuable age-groups, whose adolescence and education would have cost the receiving country nothing."
- Written 1938. Also in this chapter, the Nazi policy of expelling Jews without any means of subsistence to destabilise neighbouring countries, like Putin's Russia, & the French & USA proposals to deport refugees to Madagascar & Cuba, like Sunak's UK Rwanda policy.
4mo
26 likes1 comment
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Fortifiedbybooks
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Anna40
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This is a question/request rather than a blurb: I‘m somehow weirdly and for the first time and I don‘t know why interested in historical fiction or fantasy or both set in the Middle Ages or a world created on the ‘model‘ of the Middle Ages. Has anyone read anything like this and can make recommendations? Thank you

rwmg There are SO many. Here is a list of 100: https://bookriot.com/medieval-historical-fiction/

A surprising omission is tagged
4mo
Anna40 @rwmg thank you! I read the name of the rose twice! I actually forgot about that book. I‘ll check out your list. Thanks so much! 4mo
Chrissyreadit Sarah Woodbury is a really fun author- I think she has 2 very different series for this time. 4mo
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Chrissyreadit I also loved this and the sequel: 4mo
Dilara Here are some possibilities:
The Three-Arched Bridge by Ismail Kadare, set in medieval Albania, with a hint of magical realism
Women in the Wall by Julia O'Faolain, inspired by the life of 6th-century queen-turned abbess Radegunda
The Forest of Hour by Kerstin Ekman (spans the M. Ages and the Renaissance), fantasy/magical realism (in Sweden, w/ a troll) - loved that one
The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk (Estonia, talking animals)
4mo
Anna40 @Chrissyreadit Oh! I read a few books by Minette Walters when I was younger. This sounds great! Thanks 4mo
Anna40 @Dilara Thank you! They all sound great but they have none of the books in my library. I think I‘ll buy The Forest Hour. I read one of Ekman‘s crime novels. She‘s a good writer. Thanks again! 4mo
Dilara @Anna40 Shame about your library! I hope you enjoy The Forest of Hours 😁 4mo
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Catsandbooks
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My season is finally here! 🎅🏼🎄✨☃️🍪🎁❤️💚

Join in on the #wintergames festivities!

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