Purley is an area of South London that I used to frequent. How marvellous to unexpectedly see the name of a small, beloved place in print! ❤️🧛‍♂️❤️

I finished this a couple weeks ago and forgot to post!

This book is based on a popular Japanese play, and as such can read in a bit of a stilted way. The story can be repetitive, but if you‘re looking for a pleasant, unchallenging read then this will suffice.

Cool cover, and those pancakes were really good. 😊🥞

“The only time I‘ve ever genuinely wondered if I could develop a super power was when I was bitten on the left breast by a guinea pig... I sat in the dark for hours waiting for my special abilities to appear, Susan Calman Guinea Pig Woman! I have no idea what would happen if I became such a hybrid hero. I understand that these furry rodents eat their own feces, so that was something to look forward to.”

My GP with his bum in his food bowl. 🤣

#NonFictionNovember

About unpleasant people on the internet:

“There are some horrible, nasty people in the world who delight in making other people unhappy... if you were at a party and there was an obviously aggressive dickhead there, would you try to engage them? Would you earnestly try to explain why they were wrong or would you instead spend your time with people who don‘t make you feel like shit?”

Good advice.

Actual photo of me trying to read Moby Dick last week. Review to follow.

And if you haven‘t heard of them, The Language Nerds post brilliant things on Facebook.

My copy of Moby Dick has the most spectacular illustrations.

My copy of Moby Dick has the most spectacular illustrations.

Hello, @jenniferw88 and @jhod ! Here are four possibilities for #lmpbc . I‘ve not read any of them. Do you have a preference? Have either of you selected your book yet?

If any Littens would like to give their views on these books it would be most welcome.

I just finished work and am treating myself to a yummy lunch as I begin a new book.

(I bailed on Home Fire. Sorry, everyone. You‘re review of it helped put the nails in the coffin for me, @batsy . THANK YOU.)

“...stood upright on her knees”?!?

How awkward.

#DodgyTranslations

A few books ago in this series, the author sends one of his characters shopping at a posh clothing shop in Edinburgh where he buys a sweater whose colour is described as “Distressed Oatmeal”.

This name has kept my husband and me in stitches for years.

Now he‘s introduced “Engaged Strawberry”.

I nearly choked on my coffee!

🥣🍓🥣🍓🥣🍓🥣🍓🥣🍓🥣🍓🥣

I love his chapter titles!

😻

What a strange and startling little story. Day after day the crowds come to watch the Hunger Artist in his cage. Why do they watch him?

Like Dickens (Dickensian) and Shakespeare (Shakespearean), Kafka truly deserves to have his name transformed into an adjective (Kafkaesque).

Thanks again, @SerialReader , for the opportunity to read this.

#SerialReader

Great fun. This book is a collection of short stories where Father Brown solves mysteries in the most clever way.

There were some unfortunate occurrences of of casual racism from some of the characters, which, unfortunately, were of their time.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this, @SerialReader !

#SerialReader

Tonight‘s furry reading buddy.

#GuineaPigsOfLitsy

At the Vermeer Centre in Delft a number of contemporary artists have reimagined The Girl with a Pearl Earring.

This portrait, to me, was the most striking. She is instantly recognisable in her look and posture. It‘s as if Vermeer captured something universal.

Apologies for the strange light on the picture. It was truly beautiful.

According to Google, this inscription and book ornament above a door in #Delft mark the building where the first Bible in the Dutch language was published in 1477.

I took a photo to remind me to look into this, as I wasn‘t sure of the translation at the time. Do you know if this correct, @BarbaraBB ?

#LittleFreeLibrary Dutch style!

There was a one book in English that I almost took about the discovery and history of quinine.

#Delft

How funny that I can easily translate the title of this book. 😃

Hello from #Delft !

This mosaic is in the Market area (Markt) near the Vermeer Centre.

My view at breakfast this morning. 😻

Do you have any books or series that are #ComfortReads for you? The 44 Scotland Street series by Alexander McCall Smith is always there for me.

I‘m in the Netherlands for a few days at an Airbnb with this furry friend, and instead of rushing out first thing in the morning I‘m cuddling on the sofa with the cat and this book. Sheer bliss.

I hope wherever you are you will share in the peace I feel now. ❤️

1. Autumn by Ali Smith

2. The Blair Witch Project 🤷🏼‍♀️

3. Fallen Leaves by Nat King Cole, but I‘m specifically thinking of Eva Cassidy‘s version

The tagged book is beautiful and strange and I loved it. Thanks to @Moray_Reads for sending it to me. 🧡

#ManicMonday
@JoScho

#WeekendReads
@rachelsbrittain

1. Nicholas Nickleby and a book called The Birds Our Teachers by John Stott. The second is a Christian book about how we can learn about God through birds. The author calls it an “orni-theology” 😊

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - no, I still haven‘t read all the HP books!

3. I have some doorstoppers I want to finish by year end. In October I‘ll either read Moby Dick or Schindler‘s Ark.

Do you have any pets with #LiteraryNames ?

We‘re considering Klaus from A Series of Unfortunate Events.

#LittenKitten

I have a major case of #KittenParalysis as I finish this book.

The setting in 17th century Netherlands was my cuppa tea, but sadly the historical aspects of this book fell flat. The dialogue was poor and sounded like the current day. One character even used the phrases “going all the way” and “in the right place for another relationship”. 🙄

I‘m glad I had such great feline company as I read my final pages!

A solid little whodunnit set in Amsterdam. The main character‘s name really is Pieter Posthumus. Really.

#whodunnit
#Amsterdam

Methinks this might be the case!

Drunk Austen strikes again.

What an odd, odd book.

This is Steinbeck‘s first novel, and his sole foray into historical fiction. Set late in the 17th century in Wales and the West Indies, and written in the 1920s, it has a lot of gross racism and sexism. In both cases, I suppose it was of its time.

The writing is sometimes gorgeous, which makes up for a meandering plot. It pushes this book into the Pick category.

Also, this cover from 1969 is wonderfully craptastic!

I knew this book was used when I bought it, but this takes “Used” to a whole nother level! (I‘m holding onto my American Midwestern roots by saying “nother”.)

Every page is like this.

@BookishMarginalia - this makes me think of you! I hope you‘re well. 😊

I posted earlier about my foster kittens.

Sometimes they help me read. 😻

Thanks again for the book, @Oryx 😊

#CatsOfLitsy
#KittensOfLitsy

This little darling is one of the reasons I‘ve not been on Litsy much over the last month! I‘ve been fostering two kittens, taking the animal total in my house up to 6.

Thanks SO MUCH to @Oryx for sending me this lovely gift WEEKS ago. I‘m sorry I‘ve been so behind! ❤️

David Park has become one of my favourite authors. His writing style is almost painfully beautiful. Park‘s work can also help anyone who may want to begin to understand the puzzle that is Northern Ireland.

#NorthernIreland

Well played, Southern Adirondack Library System.

❤️🕷❤️

A poem written by a character in this book. 💔

An enjoyable, fitting end to an excellent trilogy of historical fiction for middle grade readers. This trilogy isn‘t afraid to face difficult issues in an age appropriate way with dignity and compassion.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A surprisingly delightful, joyfully illustrated little children‘s classic.

The book is nothing like the Disney film, which I loved as a young child. We had a record that narrated the book, and we‘d listen to it over and over, trying to do all the voices.

“‘If he‘s a poet, why‘s he in jail?‘ demanded a suspicious voice.

Madam Chairwoman [a mouse] shrugged her velvet shoulders.

‘Perhaps he writes free verse,‘ she suggested cunningly.”

I was recently able to see Jane Harper at our local indie bookstore! I had finished The Lost Man earlier that day, and think this book was her best yet. She was lovely and thoughtful and personalised each book she signed. She also spoke a bit about the upcoming film of The Dry.

@MallenNC , @CarolynM , @ClairesReads - We chatted about this when I reviewed Force of Nature. I wish you guys could have been there with me!

It‘s my last day in Greece so time to start my new book!

Isn‘t the cover delightful?

“The air was thick, wet, steamy and larded with the cloying smell of tropical orchids in bloom. The glass walls and roof were heavily misted and big drops of moisture splashed down on the plants. The light had an unreal greenish colour, like light filtered through an aquarium tank. The plants filled the place, a forest of them, with nasty meaty leaves and stalks like the newly washed fingers of dead men.”

Rightly an iconic book, and a template for the genre of crime fiction. Incredibly smart and snappy dialogue.

I would gather that author Raymond Chandler didn‘t like women or gay people very much, which was sadly typical of the time it was written.

Women especially seem to be described as beasts. They do a lot of hissing when angry. 😾

At times this book was so full of ideas that it was difficult to read, but it was rewarding.

If you‘re interested in #ChristianBooks , and in particular living a life of #Grace and being friends with God then this book is for you.

I‘ve taken 4 or 5 really solid areas of learning that will stay with me. In particular, that God desires for us to embrace everyday life and have joy! I struggle with depression but this was liberating for me.

🐚 Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
🐚 Beaches
🐚 The Tide is High by Blondie

#ManicMonday
@JoScho

I was delighted to find this book at the left books section at our hotel. I read another book by Gibson earlier this year and it was surreally funny.

This was slower but didn‘t disappoint. It‘s the late 90s in Ireland. Conor is gay but can‘t come out to his family. His Ukrainian partner Hector is set to be deported, so Conor‘s friend Alice is roped into marrying him. And just for fun there are gangsters & a dominatrix or two.

Hilarity ensues.

An American man who worked for the Nazis claims he was actually a spy for the Allies. Can anyone believe a word he says?

This book could not be more clever if it tried. Brief, yet perfectly formed.

And there was a strange moment in the text with a talking cat. Really.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Helen Dunmore writes beautifully so I had high hopes for this one. I‘m sad to give this a So-So rating but I just didn‘t care about the main character and what happened to her.

I‘m on holiday right now and have left it at the hotel for other readers. I was delighted that the sunset matches my book!

Thanks so much to @TrishB for sending this beautiful book to me for my birthday - oh, nearly two weeks ago!

❤️

This library book provided some helpful ideas to diversify my son‘s diet. It‘s packed with tasty looking recipes, although many do have some rather far out or expensive ingredients.

The author doesn‘t seem to realise that most parents don‘t have unlimited resources, or, as she mentioned on one occasion, a “garden room” where we can practice Mindfulness. That‘s OK, as I‘m happy to cherry pick whatever is helpful.

#Autism
#ASD
#Aspergers

A beautifully crafted, perfect novella.

Ramatoulaye is a Senegalese woman who has recently been widowed. She is a teacher, and the mother of many children. She writes a letter to her friend during a difficult time, and it is vibrant and beautiful and sad and hopeful.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading The Analects was difficult because I didn‘t understand its cultural or historical relevance. I spent some time looking into its history & this helped me to understand how important it is to read this as an historical document.

Historical documents aren‘t usually the most exciting reads, but I gained a greater understanding, &, I hope, appreciation for an aspect of world history.

Thanks for the opportunity to read this, @SerialReader !