Someone sent me a video of an interview with Gabor Maté and although I still want to read his book on trauma turning into physical illness in the body, this book on Scribd caught my eye as the interview focused on psychedelics. I've always been incredibly judgemental about any kind of drugs and now this book is blowing my mind. It's not a quick read but absolutely fascinating so far.

I was in a bit of a reading slump and selected this from among the free books on the kindle. He had an incredible experience and the most amazing luck, but a lot of the book in unbelievably sad. I feel so sad thinking of everyone who has died trying to get to Europe, everyone who has gotten stuck in Libya or Morocco or being homeless and without skills once they reached their destination.

I liked it but I didn't absolutely love it. Especially in the last part of the book, when it switched narrators and then ended with that, I found it a bit disjointed. The content is moving even if the writing isn't always stellar. ⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐ As other Littens have commented, the connection with Margaret Mead makes it fascinating and makes me want to read some of her books. The writing is beautiful and excellent and I'm a sucker for a relatable love story. The 1930s attitudes to the people they lived with didn't bother me, because it WAS the 1930s. Recommended!

So far I'm enjoying this completely random find on Libby. I'm hoping it continues strong!

I never read Peter Pan before or knew the story except for the vaguest ideas. It was the favourite book of the narrator in All my Mothers and I thought I would finally read it today.

Mostly I found it very depressing and quite racist, and the fantasy really strange. Some of the writing is beautiful, I'll give it that. All in all I find it interesting that it became such a classic.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ I think I most enjoyed the child's voice in the beginning of the book, but of course she had to grow up. Pros: I liked the emotional honesty. The setting of Córdoba was beautiful and beautifully done. Cons: I can't help feeling that there was one tragedy too many. I also think that for a book about mothers, it doesn't explore the ways that relationship often looks nothing like this idealisation. A lovely book, despite the caveats, I promise!

I couldn't put this down! At times it absolutely broke my heart but I couldn't stop reading. I love this man's writing. Beautiful, thoughtful, just wonderful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had a good long walk through parts of the Botanical Gardens I didn't know existed, and now coffee and my amazing book.

I'm glad I finally read this. I haven't really been following what he's up to but of course he continues to be a South African we love and whose success we're proud of. He does an amazing job of describing the hustle in the townships and the near impossibility of pulling yourself up out of that world. I also found his views on crime very enlightening - white South Africans can be so judgemental and racist about crime, so black and white.

Late to the party... That's me. But really enjoying this.

This is so true!!

Forgot to review this. It's not a five-star read and especially towards the end I didn't always enjoy the writing as much. I don't know whether the whole ambition theme succeeded in the end. But overall, it was an enjoyable read that kept me reading. ⭐⭐⭐ and a half

I learned so much from this book that I never knew! I gasped in shock many times and was completely engrossed. The human toll really was incredible.

Highly recommended to anyone that wants to understand one more corner of the world a bit better. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm not the biggest fan of magicky stuff but I'm glad I picked this up! Hell, when is the subtext of every single Litsy post not going to be "I need something to engage, comfort and distract me during a horrible emotional time"? I really appreciate authors that can pull off a non-realistic premise, and her writing is good, with just a few tiny wobbles here and there.

I loved this! Each character had these layers that kept tripping up my first impressions of them and I loved how it went deeper and deeper. She manages to be funny and profound. Very enjoyable and meaningful for me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Picked this up at the farmer's market this morning. I'm having a bit of a panic about feeling like there is so little left that I want to read on Scribd and so much I want to read that's not on there. Alternatives include buying more (secondhand) print books and rereading some stuff on my shelves. Oh and earning lots of money for new print or Kindle books 🤪

I usually love Meyer's books and since I caught up with all his old work, I eagerly anticipate every new one. This was just okay, however. I don't know, maybe I feel like it's all too easy for him now. The banter between the main characters, the referencing of actual South African events, the perfectly executed Cape way of speaking. I just had a hard time escaping into it, which is pretty much the whole point. I enjoyed the ending, at least! ⭐⭐⭐

I loved this. It wasn't always a fun read but I'm blessed to not have experienced loss of this kind. Others may find it upsetting, I'm sure. As always, her historical writing is amazingly detailed and exquisitely executed.

I finished this a few weeks ago and never posted. It took me a while to digest. At times it made me unbelievably depressed but I also couldn't stop reading. I think he went a little far in giving his character a rare neurological syndrome and having had his dad die of an incredibly rare condition... But be that as it may. I'd like to try something else by Powers.

I thought I knew all her books but I'd never heard of this one. It was wonderful and moving and I loved it! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was in Cape Town and other areas for the past week. This weekend I started reading this book, thinking it was my one colleague's, and I thought I might borrow it and send it back. Found out it was actually my boss's book 🙈 but then when I got to my friend in Hout Bay for my last day in the glorious Cape, she had a copy 🎉 I'm tired but I have no regrets. I loved this book so so much, it nearly had me in tears many times. Read this!!

My first Agatha Raisin and I loved it! I like Agatha's emotional ups and downs and realness, and found the writing entertaining and well done. So happy I finally got around to it.

This book is so hard to describe without giving away the basic premise. It's written by the author of At the End of the Matinee and has the same crisp style of writing that sometimes goes deep into some detail that's clearly important to the author. It's a book about our identities and our families, love over the years, and who we are amid all that. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thoroughly enjoyed this! Good writing, clear and precise, and the story basically tells itself in all its horrifying details. Topped with a little morbid fascination to see footage of her (and her voice) on YouTube to complete the experience. The psychology behind her ability to string along so many powerful people is fascinating! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed the first 35% or so of this book, reading in horrified fascination. But life is too short for this writer's soppy style and it just hasn't kept my interest.

I absolutely loved this book and have to keep reminding myself that I can't go back to it. I loved her style of writing, the power of her description and her real, flawed characters. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was a fun, quick but also beautiful read on a low-capacity day. I'm looking forward to the next one! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was an amazing book. It contains so much on the power of reading and writing, letting ourselves experience emotions, our need for others and for love, and what all these things mean to being human. It's simply wonderful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Such beautiful writing in this book.

This was one of those books I read with no idea who the author is - do other people do that? 🤔 I only realised at the end that I've read a book by her - Nine Parts of Desire.

I absolutely loved this and it just spoke to my little comparative religion-loving heart.

TW: rape (not too graphic) and torture (had to skip pages). Weak-stomached the author is not.

I loved the exquisite detail and different eras covered. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was an incredibly touching and hugely informative book. I learned so much and though of course we have much more space here in South Africa, much of what the author laments is present here. Just on the drive down to my mom, 6 hours from my house, my eyes were open to notice the lack of biodiversity in the landscape we passed 😢 And how many plants, insects or birds can I identify? A great read.

It was all a lie!

I'm regretting slightly that I stayed up to finish this last night, but I didn't want to interrupt the magic. I loved this book so much! I loved that the characters surprised me, not so much by changing as by changing in ways I didn't expect. It was entertaining and thought-provoking and beautiful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Sacklers had fascinated and repulsed me since I had first time I read about them, which I now think was possibly a piece in Time magazine around the time they first went to court, 2007? This book is exhaustive, authoritative utterly damning to that whole rotten bunch. I wish every doctor that still believes "some people will abuse anything" could read it. Highly recommended. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This book is wonderful not just because of the love story of the immediate and enduring connection between two people, but because of how beautifully it's written (take the highlighted passage as an example), and the subject matter it touches on - the world of classical guitar (Makino) is masterfully handled, as is his writing about Yoko's journalism, Iraq and refugees. It was a joy to read even when it made me sad. Highly recommended.

I'm taking a break from Empire of Pain to read this recommendation from my sister. It's quite dense and I've only read 80 pages so far, but it's beautifully written and I'm enjoying its slow, descriptive style.

I enjoyed it, but it won't henceforth be known as my favourite David Mitchell. I think his skill in executing this book about music, writing lyrics, and describing songs is absolutely superb. Maybe I would have simply preferred spending more time with Elf or Jasper and not ending with Dean - although I did like him better by the end. Whatever I think about it, it's still recommended reading for any die-hard David Mitchell reader. ⭐⭐⭐ and a half

A few months ago, I didn't even know who Jimmy Savile was. Thanks to the Netflix documentary, these references in Utopia Avenue are definitely interesting 🙂

I'm a huge fan of The Bone Clocks and Slade House, so it was great to at last read this book with the first intimations of the storyline/world/reality in those books. It's also a brilliant historical novel, sometimes a bit stomach-churning, about the Dutch and British East Indies Companies and their relationships with Japan. The Dutch East Indies Company is connected with the history of South Africa, so I found all of that very interesting. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Work is stressful right now and I'm very tired. Today I did what I needed for tomorrow and spent the rest of the day relaxing with a good old Agatha Christie, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading again. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

My farmer's market find from Saturday 🥳

At times this book was so depressing, but I couldn't stop reading and it was eventually so beautiful. All Elizabeth Strout's books are just wonderful. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm late to the party as usual, but absolutely loved this beautiful book! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was not what I expected but still good! The jumpy timeline confused me quite a bit. This may be a great read for people who generally like the supernatural and was definitely unique.

A really interesting read. Sometimes I got a bit confused about who was narrating a specific chapter. It was enigmatic and didn't end with any clear answers. I enjoyed the different perspectives and possibilities! ⭐⭐⭐

Finally finished this classic a few days ago. I had forgotten how beautifully she could write and although I liked the movie, there were so many treasures in her descriptions and way of putting things that were on a different level than the visual experience. I rather preferred the original ending too. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I loved this and cried A LOT! The writing isn't always amazing but the animals and the people and the gruelling challenges they face are completely captivating and heartbreaking. Highly recommended ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This was a wonderful reread for me (even though I did confuse something that obviously happens in another book with this one 😀). I don't suppose Iris will be everyone's cup of tea, but I was once again impressed by her ability to convey in such detail people's emotional states, thoughts, motivations, blunderings... It's very much about love and grief and loving people that don't love us back but not told in a giddy, romantic way. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Daphne du Maurier looms large in my memories of teenage reading, but I think I've actually only ever read Jamaica Inn, The House on the Strand, and a collection of short stories. Rebecca passed me by for some reason. I saw the movie the other day, bought the book at the farmer's market and am rectifying this gap in my literary education!

I really can't give a reason for finishing this except stubbornness. It was among those 10 free books from Amazon. The writing is so bad and yet this woman has published more than one book? The character descriptions/motivations are poor, there are huge plot holes. Sorry, Carol, I won't be rushing to read the next in the series. ⭐