Litsy

pick

My first taste of William Boyd, and I rather enjoyed it. The main character is, for the most part, a likeable character - apart from when he seem to go a bit mad and out of character, turning into a mad stalker for an entire chapter. Do all of Boyd‘s books have a disturbing obsession with sex filtering through?

Book 59/80 #Read2025 @DieAReader

Cuilin Love Boyd!! He‘s quite prolific. I‘ve read about seven of his and there‘s about another seven I want to read. Lol 4w

TheEllieMo @Cuilin I will definitely read more of his on the strength of this one. Apparently he intends to make this the first of a trilogy. 4w

Cuilin Well I guess #stacked is the right choice then. 👍 4w

DieAReader 🎉🎉🎉 4w

28 likes1 stack add4 comments

Cuilin

The Master: A Novel | Colm Toibin

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/14/brooklyn-and-beyond-colm-toibins-b...

Happy Birthday Colm!! Look who you share a birthday with @dabbe

The only change I would make is swap out The Testament of Mary for House of Names. I haven‘t read Long Island yet. Great list!!

DrSabrinaMoldenReads Thanks!! I have never heard of this writer! 1mo

dabbe I admit I've never read anything by him. What would be your #1 pick? 🩵 1mo

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Cuilin @dabbe I agree with the list with my favorite being

The Master: A Novel

1mo

dabbe @Cuilin #stacked! 1mo

rwmg I haven't read many of his: Brooklyn, House of Names, and The Shortest Day (a short story). I think House of Names should have been included but I haven't read the others, so I don't know which I would leave out. The Shortest Day was an effective, creepy story set on Dec. 21st.

House of Names: A Novel

(edited) 4w

Cuilin @rwmg Agree. I loved House of Names, it definitely should have been included. 4w

42 likes1 stack add7 comments

Chrissyreadit

The Secret of the Old Clock | Carolyn Keene

Currently on my #tbr 🤣🤣🤣🤣 because those files need to be released and read!!!
#bbb #readingispolitical #antifabookclub #overcomingevilempires

Aims42 I cackled at this 🤣🤣🤣🙌 1mo

Amiable I‘d read that book! 1mo

dabbe Majorly #stacked!!! #nancydrewbr 🤩 1mo

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AmyG HAHAHAHAHAHA 1mo

GingerAntics 🤣😂🙄 can‘t wait to read it 1mo

Deblovestoread 🤣🤣🤣 a must read! 1mo

TheBookHippie 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1mo

Suet624 😂😂😂 1mo

TheLudicReader I have no doubt Nancy would get the job done. 1mo

TheBookgeekFrau 😂😂😂 1mo

Tamra Bahahahaha 1mo

Librarybelle OMG…yes! 😂 1mo

tpixie @TheLudicReader right? 1mo

tpixie Yes, I really think that we will never get the answers. Somebodies “important“ from our country or another country(s) was involved. And for some countries‘ stability they are keeping this secret. 1mo

CBee 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 1mo

75 likes15 comments

Amiable

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century | Timothy Snyder

I‘m a nonfiction geek, so these are the books that come to mind for when I need an emotional pep talk: Historians of fascism offer their guides to surviving and resisting America‘s recent turn towards authoritarianism. Because those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Thanks for the tag, @Chrissyreadit !
#overcomingevilempires #readingispolitical #antifabookclub

AmyG, TheBookHippie, Susanita, TheLudicReader, Suet624, Deblovestoread, CBee, dabbe

Deblovestoread Great suggestions. I didn‘t know about the Albright book. 1mo

TheBookHippie @Deblovestoread it‘s really good I think you‘ll like it! 1mo

TheBookHippie Yes to all of these!!! 1mo

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dabbe Definitely on the nonfiction TBR! 🤩 1mo

AnnCrystal 🫂 Really wish this wasn't the case 👏🏼🥲✊🏼🦅✌🏼📚💝. 1mo

Chrissyreadit love these and need them on my nonfiction bookshelf 💛🎉🙌 1mo

AmyG A friend just read the Albright book and said it was a must read. Great choices. 1mo

dabbe #stacked all of them! 🤩 1mo

AmyG My hold of the Richardson audiobook just came in. (edited) 1mo

62 likes1 stack add9 comments

Amiable

Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers | Caroline Fraser

When you‘re at the airport and you already have a loaded iPad and a paperback in your bag, but you can‘t resist picking up one of the books that made NPR‘s list of best nonfiction reads for summer 2025.

AmyG I just fot this one. I can‘t wait to read it. Safe travels and Happy Reading! (edited) 1mo

Amiable @AmyG I didn‘t even realize until I bought it that it‘s the same author who wrote “Prairie Fires” —so now I‘m more excited! It‘s bound to be very well written. Even though that book made me dislike Rose Wilder immensely. 😖 1mo

AmyG Oh, I didn‘t know it was the same author. Now more excited for this! 1mo

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squirrelbrain I just bought this one too! @AmyG 1mo

peaKnit Ooh looks good! Have a great trip! 1mo

dabbe And ... it's #stacked! 🤩 1mo

58 likes4 stack adds6 comments

dabbe

Lamentation | C.J. Sansom

#ShardlakeBR

Thoughts, Shardlakians?

Daisey, Cuilin, Amiable, PurpleyPumpkin, Texreader, AnneCecilie, Gissy, Centique, OutsmartYourShelf, jenniferw88, Deblovestoread, Librarybelle, batsy, Chrissyreadit, kwmg40, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, dabbe, Fr3NcHtOaSt, RaeLovesToRead, bthegood, lil1inblue, PageShifter, LiseWorks, The_Book_Ninja, Karisimo, BookWrym

lil1inblue Catherine Parr's story is truly fascinating. It is a bit tragic, because it seems like she was unable to say no to the king's proposal (and may have wanted to), and had to make the best of her plight. 1mo

AnneCecilie I felt truly sorry for her. She seemed like one of the good ones. It also shows how little power a woman had, even the widow after a king. 1mo

LiseWorks I was sad that she was betrayed by her last husband. It was probably vwey common for woman dying in child birth when being over 30 1mo

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dabbe @lil1inblue I always wondered how she must have felt, KNOWING he had two previous wives' heads cut off! And what if she had said no; he probably would have had her in the Tower for treason as well. 1mo

dabbe @AnneCecilie So true! 1mo

dabbe @LiseWorks He's the jerk that was in the books, too! Thomas Seymour: UGH! And he came on to Princess Elizabeth while married to Catherine while she was pregnant with his child! #douchebag 1mo

dabbe I found Barak's story arc to be heartbreaking. Once a vibrant, street-smart ally, now he is left physically diminished. I hated seeing him relegated to a more minor role--Guy, too. And poor Shardlake! He ends the novel more isolated than ever. His unrequited love for Catherine Parr remains unresolved, his friendship with Guy Malton is strained further by working for Parr, and Barak‘s accident leaves him without his closest confidant, 1mo

Deblovestoread I don‘t think she could‘ve have said no, nor did she probably sleep well at night wondering if she did anything wrong. And to have to be married to Henry at that time of his life…yuck! 1mo

dabbe @Deblovestoread So disgustingly true! #majorickfactor 1mo

OutsmartYourShelf Sorry if I‘ve mentioned it before, but there‘s a great nonfiction account of Catherine Parr‘s last marriage & subsequent death in ‘The Mysterious Death of Catherine Parr‘ by June Woolerton. 1mo

dabbe @OutsmartYourShelf #stacked! And thanks for the rec! 😍 1mo

Bookish_Thoughts I couldn‘t believe Barak‘s story arc. 😢 And poor Catherine Parr. I think Henry VIII was her third husband? She was widowed twice before marrying him. If I remember right. I can‘t imagine living knowing your survival depended on political winds. 😨 1mo

dabbe @Bookish_Thoughts Yeah, we think we have it bad now with the state of affairs in this world, but man, not even being able to practice your own religion for fear of being hanged ... whoah! 😳 1mo

35 likes13 comments

dabbe

Untitled | Untitled

#poetrymatters
@TheSpineView

#wellspring

TheSpineView Love Rash's poems. He is a local author. ❤️ 3mo

dabbe @TheSpineView Well, how cool is that? I have never read any of his books. Have you? 😍 3mo

TheSpineView @dabbe Yes, I have read them all. My favorite is

Saints at the River: A Novel

3mo

dabbe @TheSpineView #stacked! 3mo

36 likes4 comments

dabbe

The Book of Alchemy: A Creative Practice for an Inspired Life | Suleika Jaouad

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs (😍 for the tag!)

1. Tagged: THE BOOK OF ALCHEMY; it just came out. I learned about the author from an intriguing article in the NYT and just had to have it.
2. I keep two records of books I've read: #1: a journal where I write down favorite quotes that will hopefully help me remember the story and #2: a Litsy review. I love the required shortness of words; you have to really choose your words wisely.
You're all tagged!

Suet624 I agree with you about enjoying having to be brief in reviews. 3mo

dabbe @Suet624 What an exercise to try to teach my students! Write a literary analysis in less that 150 words! They're like 😳! Succinct word choice is so important! 🤩😍🤣 3mo

Suet624 What a great teaching opportunity. 3mo

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shortsarahrose I loved Suleika‘s first book (tagged) and have followed her newsletter for a couple years. Her new one is on my TBR, but I haven‘t gotten it yet!

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted

3mo

peaKnit The author is incredible and married to John Batiste, hello, power couple of amazing humans. 3mo

BooksandCoffee4Me @dabbe Love this! Oh, if I was still teaching. 😊 3mo

dabbe @Suet624 🎯🩵🎯 3mo

BooksandCoffee4Me My husband and I each have kept chapbooks of quotes. In fact,, I made a Pinterest “chapbook” board for digital reading quotes. 3mo

dabbe @shortsarahrose Ooh, thanks for this! #stacked 3mo

dabbe @peaKnit How did I not know this? Love even more! 😍🤩😍 3mo

dabbe @BooksandCoffee4Me 🎯🩵🎯 I'm not either, and I miss this kind of teaching most! Grading essays and ornery parents? #notsomuch 🤣 3mo

dabbe @BooksandCoffee4Me I'd love to see it if you wouldn't mind sharing the link! 😍 3mo

BooksandCoffee4Me @dabbe I refer to it on Pinterest as a Commonplace book - similar purpose: https://www.pinterest.com/?boardId=126663876958866610 3mo

dabbe @BooksandCoffee4Me LOVE it! Thanks for sharing! 💜💚💜 3mo

Eggs Thanks for joining in 💛🧡💛 3mo

dabbe @Eggs 💛🩷💛 3mo

48 likes16 comments

underground_bks

Hemlock & Silver | T. Kingfisher

pick

T. Kingfisher‘s spellbinding dark fairy tales never miss! Hemlock & Silver is a mysterious, surprising, and satisfying twist on the classic fairy tale of Snow White, in an immersive world all its own, starring a mid-30s spinster poison expert, a gruff bodyguard, the scientific method, and the most unsettling magic mirror you‘ll ever face! I loved this one and think it will please fans of Nettle & Bone like me! 🍎🪞🤢

BookmarkTavern Oh yes please! #Stacked 4mo

30 likes4 stack adds1 comment

dabbe

The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans | Arthur Conan Doyle

#NoPlaceLikeHolmes @Cuilin
#BrucePartingtonPlans

Thoughts, Sherlockians?

Daisey, erzascarletbookgasm, CogsOfEncouragement, AnneCecilie, Born.A.Reader, Aimeesue, Larkken, Librarybelle, mom2bugnbee, Chrissyreadit, Read4life, StayCurious, CatLass007, Mollyanna, curiouserandcurioser, eeclayton, dabbe, IndoorDame, kelli7990, TheAromaofBooks, 5feet.of.fury, Tineke, Fr3NcHtOaSt, Blackink_WhitePaper, RayHallucinogen, Pageturner1, PageShifter, AnnR, kimrenee, aroyse, CrystalE02

Bookwomble I like this story, despite Doyle's typical slapdash approach to certain details. As a storyteller, he's more concerned with atmosphere than accuracy, and what would we have to talk about were it otherwise? 😁 5mo

Daisey I enjoyed this one! 5mo

Librarybelle This was a good one! 5mo

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dabbe @Bookwomble Oh, I think atmosphere is so much fun to talk about! In this one, what about the dense fog? Its yellow oils dripping on the window! And would we even have this mystery without it? To me, it was the main character! 🤩 5mo

dabbe @Daisey @Librarybelle Yay! I did, too! The body on the train scene reminded me of the film noir from the 40s, DOUBLE INDEMNITY. If you like those kind of movies, you should see it. It's INCREDIBLE! 🤩 5mo

Read4life I agree that this was a good one. I could “feel” the fog not just “see” it. 5mo

Bookwomble The yellowness and oily quality of the fog tells us that it was actually smog, a poisonous brew of hydrocarbon fumes from millions of coal fires and steam-powered engines supported by a global empire that provided some with great affluence, but which fueled the international conflicts of which espionage was an aspect. No empire, no global war, no military-industrial complex, no submarine plans, no murder, no case for Holmes to investigate. 👇 5mo

Bookwomble The smog is a metaphor for the rot at the heart of empire, though I'm certain Doyle didn't intend it as such. 5mo

eeclayton I enjoyed this story and agree that the fog added an eerie and sinister atmosphere. 5mo

dabbe @Bookwomble Why are you so certain? Inquiring minds are dying to know! 5mo

dabbe @eeclayton The atmosphere totally reminded me of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, too! 5mo

Bookwomble @dabbe Doyle was a supporter of empire, and Holmes's death at Reichenbach was retconned as The Great Hiatus, during which The Great Detective was involved in the Great Game of espionage and political intrigue between the British and Russian empires. Holmes often intervenes on the side of Establishment figures, and at times his respected brother IS the Government, which means he is also the Empire! IRL, Doyle defended British atrocities in the 👇 5mo

Bookwomble ... Boer War, and supported involvement in WWI on political and anti-German grounds. He wasn't above criticising some colonial actions, but I think due to how implemented rather than in objection to the enterprise. 5mo

Bookwomble @Dabbe If you've not read it, I'd recommend Jack London's book, The People of the Abyss as a view into the reality of Holmes's city. He lived in the slums of London for a couple of months to gather materials on the lives of people living in poverty at the heart of empire in 1903. It's a shocking indictment of the then most affluent nation, & so offended the British establishment that London was thrown out of the country and banned from returning.

The People of the Abyss

5mo

dabbe @Bookwomble #stacked! Thanks for sharing this info! 5mo

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