How does one live in the present when the past was defined by war, abuse, and loss? And how does one build a brighter future? In this novel, the characters are dealing with these questions and finding their answers through the many forms love takes. #audiobook

I found this #audiobook a bit too “on the nose” with its theme of a self-sacrificing woman learning to set boundaries and take care of her own needs. It includes themes of the power of stories and the importance of family and forgiveness. It was an okay listen while lazing about fighting off a seasonal bug.

“There are no days of my childhood which I lived so fully perhaps as those I thought I had left behind without living them, those I spent with a favourite book.” So begins Proust‘s beautiful essay “Days of Reading (1)”. In his distinctive, densely detailed style, Proust shares his thoughts on reading, writing, art, machinism, society, Ruskin, and more. This is a slim volume filled with gems. #France #ReadingAroundTheWorld

What a beautiful, heart-warming #audiobook! A young girl with a club foot is evacuated from London to the English countryside with her little brother at the start of WWII. Having suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hand of their mother, young Ada and little Jamie begin to blossom under the loving care of their guardian Sarah. Sarah, too, comes back to life with renewed fervor. Highly recommended!

Fellow Littens, please join me in wishing the Happiest of Birthdays to @Chelleo — Litsy-how-to-video Queen, fabulous academic librarian, mom of 2 growing readers, and #Litsypenpal extraordinaire! May the coming year bring many happy hours of reading! (Michelle, a little something for you will be arriving a few days late.).

I took my time savoring this book of Raymond Briggs‘ reflections on life and especially on growing older. The book is a collection of columns he wrote for the humorous British magazine The Oldie. His dry English wit and clever observations are a delight!

Many Littens will recognize their own reading and book-loving (and book-sniffing!) habits in this fun gathering of cartoons by Debbie Tung. It‘s a quick read that would make a nice gift for oneself or a book-loving friend.

I really enjoyed a few weeks of starting my day with a couple of chapters of this book. There are plenty of nuggets of advice and inspiration for writers, and I also discovered some new-to-me writers whose work I‘d like to read. My copy is now filled with underlined, bracketed, and starred passages that I will return to now and then. Glad to have this on my bookshelf! #writersoflitsy

I am always amazed by Tracy Chevalier‘s ability to bring a certain historical time and place to such vivid life. This #audiobook is very well presented by the voice actors. The story of the harsh life on the American frontier for a family of apple-growers and of the son who makes his way to California—first for gold and then to harvest seeds and saplings of redwood and sequoia trees for the European market—is rich in history & emotionally moving.

Perhaps I missed some of the magic of the writing by listening to this in #audiobook form. While it taught me about a historical event I hadn‘t known about, I wished the characters‘ stories had been more fully developed. It seemed that an expectation of more of their individual stories was set up early on and then left unfulfilled. However, the book had many beautiful moments. Photo from Wikipedia: the Wilhelm Gustloff in 1939.

My response to this book was mixed. There were so many twists in the story of the crime that I‘m still not entirely sure what happened. (Perhaps that‘s the drawback of listening to the audiobook at night while falling asleep!) But that doesn‘t really matter because the main pleasure of the Three Pines books is spending time with the main characters. And now the wait for the next book begins. Godspeed, Writer, Godspeed!

While it was interesting to learn more about Gregorian chant and the daily life of a contemplative community, I found the setting of this book claustrophobic. I missed the residents of Three Pines, who add such flavor to the other books in the series. The book became monotonous. However, I respect the author‘s willingness to experiment with unusual settings and plots. Image: ABBEY OF SAINT-BENOÎT-DU-LAC, the inspiration for the fictional abbey.

For those interested in the work of Willa Cather and in her ideas about the art of fiction—both her own and the work of others—this slim volume is a treasure. It is filled with passages to return to and savor! #writersoflitsy #catherbuddyread

What a beautiful book! Willa Cather captures the simplicity and religious sincerity of Québec‘s early French settlers with a spare yet descriptive writing style. Delving into this book is an escape from the modern world. Cather brings to life the traditions, herbal remedies, attitudes, and seasonal calendar of these salt-of-the-earth people. The writing is superb! #willacather #Canada #Quebec

Based on a real network of mostly female spies in WWI, this novel weaves historical fact with fiction to show how events from WWI influenced some people‘s choices and behaviors in WWII and beyond. It jumps back and forth between 1947 and the years of WWI. People endured so much hardship and needed such courage during the two world wars. Hats off to my grandparents‘ and great-grandparents‘ generations! #audiobook #WWI

Day Seven. #covercrush #7days7covers I just ordered this book. What a great cover for a Pullman book on writing and storytelling! Looking forward to reading it!

Please join me in sending warm Litsy Happy Birthday wishes to @robinb ! May the coming year bring you many blissful hours of reading!

Day Six. #covercrush #7books7days

Day Five. #covercrush #7books7days This book is extra special to me because I bought it in Paris when I was 24. I bought it from an open-air bookseller along the Seine near the Old Quarter. I still get a fluttery feeling of excitement in my chest when I look at it. I think it‘s a combination of admiration for the book‘s utter charm and the stimulation of my own creative energies.

What a clever premise! I enjoyed visiting the various time periods in this #audiobook and following the main character‘s efforts to come to terms with his much slower aging process. The subject of TIME is nicely explored.

Day Four. #covercrush #7days7covers

Day Three. #covercrush #7days7covers Post 7 covers that you like, no explanation needed, over 7 days and tag another Litten to join the fun. Today I would like to invite @TheBookStacker — if your grad school schedule has room in it for such frivolities! 🤓

Day Two. #covercrush #7days7covers Share 7 covers that you like over 7 days, no explanation needed, and tag someone to play along. I would like to invite @Sarah83 to play along.

Thanks for the tag, @ju.ca.no ! Day One. #7days7covers #covercrush. Share covers that you like for 7 days, no explanation needed, and invite someone else to play along. I would like to invite @Kelly_the_Bookish_Sidekick

So often, I nearly bailed on this book; but I was curious to see how the author handled such a big topics as free will vs. determinism and quality of life vs. quantity of life. The characters didn‘t seem real to me. They didn‘t come to life on the page. Some of their choices seemed maddeningly senseless in light of what we knew of them. And if there‘s one deal-breaker that can turn me off a book, it‘s the abuse of animals, this time in a lab.

Listening to this #audiobook collection of letters, articles, and other pieces found on Douglas Adams‘ 4 computers after his death was a nostalgic delight. I had the great privilege of attending one of DA‘s readings in Germany in the nineties. At that time, he was promoting Last Chance To See. He was a great talent!

In this book, Louise Penny explores the role of conscience in the lives of individuals and society. Is it ever right to do “the wrong thing” for the sake of a higher good? Another interesting addition to the Inspector Gamache series. #audiobook

Willa Cather‘s masterpiece brings the early Southwest of what is now the United States vividly alive through the story of two French Catholic missionaries to New Mexico and the surrounding territories. The writing is simple and breathtakingly beautiful. Readers get to know a bit about the Mexican and Native Indian cultures at that time and how they interacted with European and American settlers. Highly recommended! Image: Cather in 1912.

This #audiobook brought back memories of the Canadian winters—brrrrr! The humorous banter between the characters is a delight. The book addresses multiple themes, including the opioid crisis. There are some sections that drag a little; but overall, it‘s a solid addition to this excellent series.

Another solid addition to this series. There is terrible sadness at the beginning because a child is murdered. In the course of his investigation, Gamache is confronted by the moral question of whether risking the loss of a few lives is acceptable if it prevents the loss of many more lives. #audiobook

This #audiobook examines the scars that run deep and can influence a person‘s life over decades. It looks at what it takes to move beyond those scars in a real way. It explores themes of artistic and personal development. It‘s a quiet book and a solid addition to this excellent series.

This was a departure from the usual kind of mystery in this series. It was more of an examination of what an artist‘s work reveals about his/her inner process. It seemed the story was a thinly-veiled excuse for a conversation on this topic. I found it too repetitive and long-winded. It didn‘t reveal enough about the artistic process to justify the time spent mulling it over. Onward to the next one! 🤓

Another great #audiobook in this series. Louise Penny continues to surprise with her inventive plot lines and quirky characters. #mystery

I didn‘t finish this #audiobook for two reasons: 1) the writing is so exquisite that I would rather read it in print so I don‘t miss anything, and 2) the story is so intense and the religion so zealous that it isn‘t helping me get to sleep at night! 😳 James Baldwin is a master. I look forward to reading more of his work in the printed format.

This is an interesting #audiobook with stories from Gloria Steinem‘s childhood, life, and career all the way through age 74. I didn‘t know much about her, so it was especially nice to hear about how her worldview developed over time. #feminism Photo: Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pitman Hughes, photographed by Dan Wynn, 1971.

This #audiobook kept me company on a sleepless night. It‘s a quiet, epistolary novel. The two correspondents are at a similar place in their lives—examining past choices, their current loneliness, and the changes they need to make to create a happier future for themselves. They develop a beautiful friendship that may very well deepen into love.

I got drawn into the suspense in this #audiobook, especially toward the end. It was very well done, with lots of twists and turns and the clock ticking toward a dramatic conclusion. A good read!

Got a kick out of this illustration in the tagged book. It was for a written piece lampooning a newspaper article stating that artists, musicians, and writers have trouble fitting in to the prosaic world because they are “creative sociopaths”. 😆

What an interesting and unusual #audiobook! I particularly appreciated the author‘s honesty about the personal and professional challenges she and her lab partner faced along the way. It showed the very human side of science. Her enthusiasm for her work was beautiful to see, and the book introduced me to some fascinating facts about trees.

This series is getting better and better. The interweaving plot lines in this one were very interesting, bringing in some important themes in Canadian history that continue to affect life in Québec. We get to know the main characters more deeply, especially Inspector Gamache and Jean Guy as they recover from an event that nearly cost them their lives. And Gamache‘s dog is a wonderful character! ? #audiobook #Canada

[Photo: Sam Falk/NYT/Getty Images] Neruda‘s Elemental Odes look deeply and luminously at ordinary, everyday things—his suit, a salt shaker, an artichoke, a rooster. The odes are celebratory, clever, wry at times, and written in plain language. For a while now, I have begun each day reading a couple of these odes with my morning coffee. It‘s a practice I can highly recommend! #ReadingAroundTheWorld #Chile

Another solid read in the Maisie Dobbs series. There is a great deal of sadness in these books, given the setting in London during wartime; but in this book, the author finally brings some happiness into Maisie‘s life again. I look forward to the next installment. #audiobook

What a clever romp through the landscape of literature— what it is, who reads it, who studies it, teaches it, censors it, publishes it, interprets it, writes it, and so on. It is meta fiction on steroids! It is a delight for lovers of literature. It is funny, philosophical, disorienting, & incisive. Even if you only pick it up to read chapter one on the life of the reader settling down with a new book, it‘s worth it! #ReadingAroundTheWorld #Italy

RIP Toni Morrison, a bright star in the sky of literature. Here is a link to today‘s NYT article about her: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/08/06/books/toni-morrison-dead...

Powerful story. Superb writing. James Baldwin was such an exquisite writer. A master of the craft. The #audiobook is beautifully read by Bahni Turpin.

Another solid addition to this series. There is a lot of sadness in this one. It looks at the ways people deceive one another and even themselves. What will people do to run from the past, to avoid discovery, to feed a craving, to escape the consequences of ill-made choices? Apparently, quite a lot. #audiobook

Isn‘t it wonderful when books arrive in the mailbox completely unexpectedly? As if they had simply materialized out of thin air? Today‘s delightful #bookmail came wrapped in a Thrift Books envelope without a clue as to the sender. I‘m guessing I owe this lovely surprise to @robinb ! Am I right? Thank you so much! 😘

Some Littens had commented a while back that this series really picks up at book #4. They were right, of course! 😘 This #audiobook really took it up a notch with deeper characterization, snappy dialogue, and suspense. Looking forward to the next one!

Perhaps this #audiobook would have drawn me in more if I had read Beartown first. I found much of the writing to be cheesy and clichéd, rather than emotionally moving. Oh, well. ?‍♀️

What a wonderful birthday #bookhaul! Thanks to family and friends, including Litsy pen pal @Chelleo ! Wishing everyone many happy hours of summer reading!