Welcome to Litsy!

After @MrsMalaprop review I listened to this. What a fascinating family. The writer Suzanne Chick finds out in her 40‘s that her mother is a famous Australian author. This is the story of that journey. I then watched her daughter Gina Chick find out who her grandfather was on the Australian series Who do you think you are. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #oznonfiction

★★★★★

A wonderfully informative and readable biography of one of my favourite writers. It was so well-done that I didn't want the book to end and I am today in mourning for Hardy, though he died nearly a century ago. This American edition was beautifully designed by The Penguin Press, including a reference map of the area around Dorchester by Andrew Farmer.

'If he went to church, he explained that it was not "because he believed in it, which he did not, but because it was good for the people to get clean and come together once a week - like discipline in the army."' p. 345, taken from the diary of Elliott Felkin.

'The problem of who was to live at Max Gate apart from ghosts remained.'

A wonderful sentence conveying the truth of the complicated situation at Hardy's house after the death of his first wife and displaying Tomalin's great skill as a popular biographer.

Another book underway regarding local-ish history. Pearl S. Buck's West Virginia home in Hillsboro is located about 35 up US 219 from where I live in Lewisburg. Great read so far!

Halfway through. Taking my time and loving it.

It‘s been a while since I enjoyed a book as much as I did this one. It‘s set me off researching other books. Watching Gina Chick on Who Do You Think You are and filling in the pieces not available to Suzanne when she wrote this book 30 years ago. How much we inherit and how much is environmental and then comes the choices we make. So interesting. Loved loved loved it.

I loved this book. Having read many of Keller‘s own writings over the years, it was insightful to read about the influences that so shaped his life and it made me think about how I am or am not being intentional with those things in my life too.

America 🇺🇸-Neil Diamond
Invincible-Pat Benatar
Winds of Change-Scorpions
Forever Young-Alphaville
Running Up That Hill-Kate Bush
Take On Me-Aha
I‘m On Fire-Bruce Springsteen
Faster Than the Speed of Night-Bonnie Tyler
Eve of Destruction-Barry McGuire
Everybody Wants to Rule the World-Tears for Fears
Zombie-The Cranberries
Everyday is Like Sunday-Morrissey

80s anthems & Cold War angst-nothing will make you cry today like Neil Diamond‘s America

Random book from our home library.