Welcome to Litsy!

This was a rare book that I visited twice - once to read, another to listen. If you are a fan of Dame Judi Dench or Shakespeare even in the slightest, I recommend this book. Due to her failing eyesight, Dame Judi‘s participation in the audio book was kept to recitation of Shakespeare passages she knows by heart. Barbara Flynn‘s (Cracker, Return to Paradise) interpretation in the audio is superb and her voice bears a startling resemblance. 👇🏻

I didn't read as much as I'd have liked in 2024 but I'm glad that what I did read was so wonderful. More than half were new-to-me titles, and I also read a boatload of plays and books on Shakespeare - probably inspired by the tagged book, my hands-down favorite of the year. Honorable mentions to the other two pictured, Olga Ravn's fascinating non-linear fever dream and Taylor's walloping gut-punch of a novella. Cheers to a great year, Littens!

This was SO much fun, and it made me want to read or re-read and watch all the plays discussed. One disappointment: I intentionally checked out the audiobook, because I wanted to hear this in Judi Dench‘s voice. I didn‘t realize her part of the conversations was narrated by someone else (my fault—it‘s clearly marked on the cover!). That said, once I got into it, I didn‘t notice so much that it wasn‘t her, and the conversations were a delight. ⤵️

Beautiful writing but such a sad story! I felt the weaving of timelines was perfect to let me meet all the characters as youngsters and watch them all grow, both generations. Making Agnes the main character really worked for me. At its heart it‘s a story of motherhood and losing a child, that huge grief. The fact of the husband being one of the most famous playwrights isn‘t very important. A story that will stay with me.

#PoetryMatters @TheSpineView
#Virtue

November 5th #DaysDevotedTo Redheads These two are my favorite historical characters, and they are redheads. @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This was such a delightful book! I have never been that curious about Shakespeare‘s plays, but hearing Judi Dench talk about her experience playing different characters was a treat.

Loved the banter between Judi and Brendan, it was very entertaining.

If you are a fan of Shakespeare, Judi Dench or if you are just curious about his work (like I was), read this!

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#AMidsummersNightDream #WilliamShakespeare #book #books #bookkeeper #bookkeeperlife #bookkeeping #booklist #booklust #bookloot #booklove #booklover #bookloversunite #booklovers #bookz #bookzesty #bookzilla #bookzone #bookxcess #bookcase #bookcases #bookcover #bookcovers #bookcoverdesign #bookcoverdesigner #bookclub #bookclubs #bookvibe #bookvibes #Classics #Fiction #Plays #Fantasy #School #Romance #Poetry #Literature #ReadForSchool #Comedy 🩵🩵🩵

This was a complete delight. Highly recommended if you are interested in Dame Judi, Shakespeare, theatre history, the RSC, or acting in general. I googled so many pictures and fell down so many Wiki holes, looking up people and productions she talks about.

Maggie O'Farrell is such a great storyteller!
This historical fiction creates a possible context for the birth of one of the most famous theater plays of all times. In the 1580s in Stratford a couple has two girls and a boy. The boy called Hamnet dies at the age of 11. The name of the father is never mentioned in the novel, but four years later he writes a play called "Hamlet", while we know that Hamnet and Hamlet are actually the same name.