Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m back on track with #OffMyShelf “Favorite Author” after a slew of library books paused my efforts.

This was very entertaining and one of her cleverer plots: three deaths, connected by method but the motive is obscure. The puzzle intrigues Poirot and brings him out of retirement. Mr. Satterthwaith, a reoccurring character from some non-Poirot short stories takes on the role of Hastings somewhat in aiding Poirot.

My #Roll100 picks for April are pretty sweet. I already read Jazz back in February, so only have two “musts”.

Marking Time will work for #SeriesLove2025, as it‘s the second in the Cazalet Chronicles.

I own a physical copy of Little Bee and will make it work for #OffMyShelf

#WhereAreYouMonday

I spontaneously decided to jaunt to Cornwall, England. This is a Christie title that I‘ve seen adapted, but never actually read. This will also help me get back on track with #OffMyShelf because I own a physical copy. 🤞

Ben rents a room from Winnie, who is elderly and a recent widow. Ben suspects that Winnie didn't really want him there, that she only agreed because her family thinks she needs someone there to watch out for her & help around the house. So Ben plans to stay out of her way, but then Covid lockdowns start. He and Winnie are forced to spend most of their time together, and a friendship ensues as they start to see life from each other's perspective.

Amy Tan's illustrations are beautiful, and her notes about her observations of the birds that visit her yard are so interesting! She also includes some information that she's learned from expert birders. Unfortunately not all of her observations are happy, and it makes me sad to think of birds getting ill and being in distress, but I guess that's part of nature, too.

#OffMyShelf. “Poetry”

This was a collection of some of Marquis‘ writings (including poems) from his newspaper columns between 1916 and 1922 featuring Archy, a cockroach who is the reincarnation of a free verse poet. Less frequent but nonetheless memorable are entries from the alley cat Mehitabel (toujours gai!).

Way more entertaining than I expected and also a fantastic time machine back to a time when newspapers were ubiquitous.

#weekendreads

📕Still reading the tagged for the poetry prompt for #OffMyShelf

📗Encyclopedia Brown is this month‘s #EBBR

📘Not at Home is for #FurrowedMiddlebrowClub

📙Das Achte Leben I pulled down on a whim. It‘s gonna take me a few months to finish but it‘ll work for #ChunksterChallenge2025 and #AllergictoChunksters

Not a bad month, two bingos, even! A couple of books for #192025, #Nepal book for #FoodandLit, a couple of books #OffMyShelf, a couple of books for #LGBTQIA2025 Bingo/#TBRTarot, and a #1001Books,. Didn't manage one for #FictionalTraveler, as my book for Ireland was actually set in Copenhagen, oops.

#OffMyShelf “Published in last 2 years”

I generally don‘t care for short stories, but I love Atkinson - her writing style, her sense of humor and her pessimism about human nature. These stories are mainly interconnected and it was fun to find the links. They are also often slightly speculative and fantastical in nature.

#OffMyShelf “Banned book”

In 2022 A Tennessee school district banned this Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic memoir about the Holocaust due to “inappropriate language” and an illustration of a nude woman.

Spiegelman‘s parents were both survivors of Auschwitz. This memoir is his father‘s story and also coming to terms with their relationship; a child of survivors. I‘m not a fan of graphic novels, I find them hard to parse. But this was powerful.