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review
ChaoticMissAdventures
Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje
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Pickpick

I really loved this! I picked it up on a whim in a used bookstore in Canada because Ondaatje is Canadian, it turns out he is also half Sri Lankan - most of his family is from and still lives there. Focused on the history of his family & it is everything you could ask for about a 1920-40s eccentric family the stories are amazingly outlandish and pure fun. You can tell there is a cover of nostalgia but the writing is delicious enough to forgive it.

marleed Can I just sit a spell in your gorgeous little corner and work down my TBR!? 12mo
ChaoticMissAdventures @marleed thank you! I love this corner, but the chair is super uncomfortable. Which means I get to sit across the room from it and look at it while I read 😂 12mo
marleed Oh that‘s funny and I understand. I own a gorgeous teakwood barrel chair that my late-husband and I ordered from the Sundance catalog years ago for our anniversary. The whole purchase and delivery is such a fun story (and way over our budget) that I can‘t part with this uncomfortable wood chair. But I absolutely love looking at it - and it serves as a great spot for tossing my ever growing pile of throw blankets 12mo
ChaoticMissAdventures @marleed aesthetics and memories that sounds like a lovely chair you should always keep! 12mo
30 likes4 comments
quote
ChaoticMissAdventures
Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje
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"Both my grandmothers lived cautiously, at least until their husbands died. Then they blossomed, especially Lalla who managed to persuade all those she met into chaos. It was Lalla who told us that the twenties were 'so whimsical, so busy - that we were always tired.'"

15 likes1 stack add
quote
ChaoticMissAdventures
Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje
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This book I bought on a whim at a used bookstore in Edmonton, Alberta and only 35 pages in I am delighted. Michael Ondaatje (known for his novel The English Patient) talks about his family and particularly his father who seemed to be a terrible 1920s rich troublemaker. Engaged multiple times - a few overlapping- he finally married Michael's mother.
The wedding almost doesn't happen because the bishop is a terrible driver.
#NFNR

Suet624 sounds fascinating! 12mo
21 likes1 comment
blurb
ChaoticMissAdventures
Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje
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#Weeklyforecast

NFNR books tagged and The Three Mothers (about MLK, Malcolm and Baldwin 's mother's) I also have on audio Viola Davis' autobiography Finding Me.

Fiction needing to read and get back to the library - Emma Cline's The Guest and The French Goncourt Prize winner - The Most Secret Memory of Men which I am incredibly excited for and have high hopes. It seems to be a Senegalese -French Shadow of the Wind 😍

blurb
BarbaraBB
Divisadero | Michael Ondaatje
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Celebrating that we‘re seeing photos again by posting the oldest photo I could find on my iPhone of me reading. A young me in 2008 with my daughter in a train across Morrocco, reading the tagged book. Robin is playing games on an ancient Nintendo!

merelybookish What a fabulous picture!! 😍 (And I was wondering about the photos!) 1y
JenReadsAlot Love this! 1y
Leftcoastzen Great photo! 1y
See All 25 Comments
JamieArc I love that people are doing this! Makes me feel a bit more connected to Littens. We survived the Great Blackout of 2023 together 😆 1y
BarbaraBB @JamieArc I saw your photo and thought it was a great idea! #TheGreatBlackoutOf2023 😂 1y
JamieArc @BarbaraBB I added the hashtag to my post. Thanks for the idea! 1y
dabbe 🤩🤩🤩 1y
Vansa Lovely photo 😍 1y
jlhammar Love it! 1y
TheLudicReader ❤️ 1y
marleed I love this pic! 1y
Megabooks Such a wonderful picture!! 💕💕 1y
Tamra Super cute! 1y
batsy Love this photo! 1y
TheBookgeekFrau Great pic! 🤩 1y
robinb This is beautiful! 🩷 And not only is your daughter lovely, she has a lovely name as well. 😉😉 1y
BarbaraBB @robinb Yes! I was so surprised when I learned you are a Robin too! It‘s not a common name for girls in the US right? 1y
robinb @BarbaraBB No, not very common. It‘s always nice to run across another. 😊 I love the absorption on both of your faces…a sweet keepsake. 1y
Cinfhen Fantastic photo😍 1y
IuliaC Lovely photo! 😍 1y
Cathythoughts Lovely pic ♥️ 1y
Centique So gorgeous you two! 1y
sarahbarnes I love this! ♥️ 1y
Suet624 Gorgeous. 1y
DivineDiana A fabulous photo of you and your daughter! ❤️ 1y
99 likes25 comments
review
Pauline888888
Divisadero | Michael Ondaatje
Mehso-so

Excellent for those who want to have a taste of Ondaatje's poetic prose, but not his most excellent work whatsoever.

1 like1 stack add
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GatheringBooks
Divisadero | Michael Ondaatje
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review
ReadingEnvy
Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje
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Pickpick

Memoir 3 of my #nonfictionnovember reading frenzy. Can you believe I put off reading this one because I thought it was about running? Instead Ondaatje uses a few visits to Sri Lanka in the 1970s to take a trip down memory lane, with stories from his family told interlaced with poetry. ⤵️

ReadingEnvy In some ways it's a strange privileged point of view since he only mentions the violence that would have already started in one passing comment, but he moved away from the island as a child so the majority of memory to recall comes more through the stories of the older generation of his family. 5y
batsy I read it on one of my trips to Sri Lanka and it was the best companion. It's a pretty nostalgic and privileged POV for a place that has known so much trouble, but his writing is so gorgeous. 5y
ReadingEnvy @batsy yes I really felt that privilege or maybe denial, but he really did capture that feeling of being rich in a beautiful place 5y
47 likes3 comments
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ReadingEnvy
Running in the Family | Michael Ondaatje
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It's baaaaaaack

Billypar It's been awhile! If it comes up in a tbr explode session, I think that means it belongs in the 'keep' pile 😁 5y
Zelma 😳😂😂😂😂😂 5y
ReadingEnvy @Billypar ha! A sign! 5y
36 likes3 comments
quote
CaitlinR
The Cinnamon Peeler | Michael Ondaatje
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GRIFFIN OF THE NIGHT

I‘m holding my son in my arms
sweating after nightmares
small me
fingers in his mouth
his other fist clenched in my hair
small me
sweating after nightmares.

This is a powerful collection of poems. I recommend them to you.

Nute I didn‘t know that he is a poet. I‘m gonna look for this book tomorrow. 5y
CaitlinR @Nute I hope you like them as much as I did. 5y
19 likes2 comments