It‘s my birthday week-end so various activities happening, but I‘m gonna try for 20 hours! Want to finish Manhattan Transfer, either finish or bail on Vilette. Make a lot of progress on Kingdoms of Savannah and start East of Eden. #24in4 #readathon @Andrew65 thanks for hosting!
Next up for my audio book. Also have the E-book to follow along with. I‘m intrigued. Crime mystery delving into the hood, bad and ugly of Savannah and based on real history.
I was overly amused that these were the two books waiting at the library for me! Heal the trauma! Bring on the trauma? πππ
Spending 2 weeks in Ireland in August. Dublin, Cork region mostly. Looking for advice/suggestions on bookish placesβTrinity Library!βas well as good history books. Curing up the Tana French and Claire Keegan backlistsβ¦have read Say Nothing.
so-so#UnpopularOpinion. For me, this felt like a bit of a hot mess. I‘m sure it would have been a more fun trip down memory lane if I wasn‘t 15 years older than the protagonist. But if I‘m going to read about privileged New York people I need a more interesting story. Having helped my parents through their final hours, I needed a better story to make it worth reliving. Same on having to face cancer this year. And how old was that cat anyway?
pickSoft pick. Outside my usual reading spectrum. I don't read much fantasy unless it skews more sci-fi. But an enjoyable fairy tale. While not totally my jam, always glad when Litsy gets me to read outside my usual spectrum. And what‘s not love about a bone dog? Enjoyed the feminist take on princess tales. Might join next month! #whimsicalreads @katereadsYA
so-soI wanted to like this more. It is an important topic and author does a great job of laying out the research & statistics on why women have such a higher hill to climb in the professional world. But at my age I‘ve experienced all the crap. I wanted more insight into βwhat can we do about it.β There was nothing new, though all good ideas. I give it 5 stars for young men/women entering college, the professional worldβ¬οΈ
so-soThis was so meh for me. Smart writing but the story wantingβ¦.
pickWow. This will be one of my best reads of the year. I have a crazy book hangover. All the stars for this fast read. Members of the families responsible for Emmet Till‘s murder start showing up lynched with a black cadaver left at the scene. The story telescopes out from there, an incredible balancing act between violence, America‘s ongoing racist legacyand biting humor and great hard-boiled detective dialogue.
Oh my. A novel with horror and dark humor about lynching in America. Emmit Till‘s murder is avenged. Heart aches one moment, laughing the next. Some whip smart humor in this very dark novel. Like Jordan Peele taken to 11. Or more like Peele with subtlety removed. Only 60 pages in. Was supposed to return to library today. No print copy in town! Will be a late night/early morning to finish. I will be reading more Percival Everett.
pickI rarely read YA but this was so beautiful and unexpected. A coming of age story without the tired tropes. Agree with others that this is one to listen to or in conjunction with print. The author is a poetry slam national winner and this is definitely a spoken word novel! My late read for #FoodAndLit, Dominican Republic.
I‘m doing all the readathons this month! My goals are to make a dent in the tagged group-planning a visit to Ireland this summer. I want to finish my IRL book club reads of Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson and This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub and start Trust by Herman Diaz. On audio listening to The Authority Gap for #SheSaid. Thanks for hosting @Andrew65 !
pickBeautiful. Spare. Perfectly told. Young girl from an impoverished family goes to live with distant relatives when her mother is pregnant again, relatives with a bit more means to care for and love her.
pickI will be reflecting on this memoir for awhile. Smith reflects on the impacts of slavery on people and our country thru the lens of visiting 7 physical sites, including Monticello, Angola Prison, NYC, and Goree Island in Senegal. He writes about this history America likes to ignore and the history that is right in front of us if we choose to look and learn. As an example, I didn‘t know the full history of the Statue of Liberty β¬οΈ
My #Doublespin and #Bookspin books! I fell off the Villette wagon less than halfway through and am glad for the push to finish. And I‘ve wanted to get to The Trees since October! Thanks @TheAromaofBooks
Hands down the tagged. Best read of the year so far. For March: it‘s my birthday month! It‘s been yet another year where me and my partner wonder what minor deities we‘ve offended. It‘s just been hit after hit. But we are still blessed in this universe and Spring is coming. I plan to read a lot and take part in all the readathon. And hike and camp in eastern WA State‘s beautiful desert, watch sand hill cranes, see the first flowers. β¬οΈ
pickFive star read for me. I loved how Doerr wrapped all the story lines together perfectly. Loved the themes of choosing life on earth over βin the cloudsβ despite the grief and hardship that comes with love and beauty. I loved how the novel reflected the power of words and story and how they have helped people over millennia weather life and make sense of it. The power of handing stories down and the value of libraries! β¬οΈ
I am sucked into this novel!! I love a novel about the power of story and word. Can‘t wait to see where this one goes! A good companion with a glass of wine on a day that has been a rough transition from vacation back to the home world.
pickHate to say it but soft pick. First half I was swept away by story, writing, characters. I grew up in timber country and so many similarities it made the read uncomfortable. My brother could be Demon but it was meth and not the hopeful ending. But in the 2nd half I felt hit over the head w/ the social/political message. I felt like it took over from the great characters Kingsolver had created.I‘ve already read Empire of Pain and Dopesick. β¬οΈ
Did not know all details & backstory. Powerful intersection between conservation & environmental justice concerns. The Overstory hit close. From a logging town, I became a forest defender fo both for environmental reasons and social reasons--destroyed my town when they logged everything and left, gave us 26% unemployment, and managed to blame it on the spotted owl. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/02/opinion/atlanta-police-center-protests.html
Great profile of author and thriller novel focused on the indigenous Sami of Sweden, Denmark, Arctic Circle. So intrigued! https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/30/books/stolen-book-sweden-sami.html?action=cli... @Addison_Reads
My scribbled #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo list! I forgot to include Cloud Cuckoo Land and Giovanni‘s Room but will use free spaces for them. @TheAromaofBooks
I rarely bail on a book. I want to give it a chance until the last page. But I‘m working to get over that ridiculousness. A major health scare helps! Why spend my precious time on the tagged book when I could be reading something so more fulfilling? Begone Demons!!!! ππππ. I will go on to other Russian novelists I enjoy. Maybe I will try Brothers Karamozov one day. But I banish the Demons! #SundayFunday @ozma.of.oz
Look what I found walking around Kapaa Kauai! Uh, no I did not purchase a tin of baby eels to nosh on. Product of Spain. I visit lots of fish markets and have never seen these. @AllDebooks #naturalitsy
Getting a little reading done before heading out for a day of exploring on Kauai, HI. No way I‘m asking my sweetie to haul my hardback tome around! Friends letting us stay in their studio for 12 days. A respite for both of us after my month of radiation treatments for breast cancer. I think it is as rough on the partner/family as it is on the patient. So I won‘t make him haul my book on his back! I do have books on my phone. πππ
pickA soft pick. Loved reading it with #Naturalitsy I love Pacific Lamprey, an eel important to NW U.S. Tribes. This book is about a different sort of eels, equally fascinating. I liked what the author tried to do to combine a memoir of his relationship with his father with eels. I felt he overextended the historical importance of eelsβπ
Sunday I went for my second visit to an amazing exhibit by a local artist named Leila Girvin, who pursued her art beginning in the 50 while raising 4 boys. I loved the exhibit including a small sitting area of mid-century modern furniture and a selection of books chosen by the artist, books that influence her. The tagged is one of them. Stacked. I plan to return and sit with her books and art again before the exhibit closes. Gervin is 93.
I had eclectic reading. I learned to read very early and no book in the house was made off limits. Thank you parents! All the Oz books @ozma.of.oz ! Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Rings. Anne Rice books. Judy Blume. James Herriot books. Where the Red Fern Grows. Charlotte‘s Web. #sundayfunday
so-soI'm a big PRK fan. LOVED Say Nothing and Empire of Pain. For me this was a so-so read, not because the long-form journalism pieces weren't well-written, but because I'd already read a number of them in the New Yorker. But also, some of them were written as timely pieces at one point in time, and a lot of water has flowed under the bridge. The pieces on Trump and Anthony Bourdain in particular felt very dated.
Wow. While I used to make it to the Tattered Cover occasionally years ago visiting in-laws--and loved it!--I did not know the founder's history and her passionate defense of First Amendment rights. What a fierce book lover! https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/07/books/joyce-meskis-dead.html?action=click&mod...
Russell Banks passed away. Cloudsplitter has been sitting on my TBR shelf for years. I'll try to get to it this year, along with the Good Lord Bird, by James McBride. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/books/russell-banks-dead.html
I really want to read Edith Pearlman after reading her obit. She had not been on my radar screen. I love this photo of her. She has love and fire in her eyes. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/01/obituaries/edith-pearlman-dead.html
My very messy #BookspinBingo board! With all the chunksters (some half finished) I‘m unlikely to get a bingo. I laughed that by #bookspin and #doublespin picks are Demons (I‘ve been trying to finish that one forever) and Demon Copperhead! Thanks @TheAromaofBooks !
Here we go! I have a crappy used copyβ¦.and will use Serial while on vacation. Have read Old Mill on the Floss and have wanted to get to this one for a long time! Thanks @BarkingMadRead ! #pemberlittens
pickMy last book for 2022. All the stars for this graphic novel trilogy of the civil rights movement. Beautiful artwork and such a story. Thanks to Litsy I‘ve delved into graphic novels this year and they have been some of my best reads. Ducks is up next. As a grassroots activist who has worked 30 years on environmental campaigns, the conflicts and hard decisions on political strategies really resonated. Does compromise help or hurt a cause? π½
One of my best reads of the year, an arrow to the heart. I‘m feeling physical effects from finishing this book an hour ago. While my family‘s secrets were different, oh it rings so true. And same eraβ¦I‘m the last of 5 kids, born in 1968, oldest brother born in 1949. And two gay brothers. But oh, just the impacts of secrets and two parents together who made big compromises to stay married.
I‘m cracking up at my book choices for the holiday period. All of them dark! Escaped the house claiming I had βerrandsβ to run. Just needed a break from the family lounging in all my favorite reading spots. Staring family dysfunction straight on, what do I grab on my way out? LMAO. Really enjoying this one though. Glad to finally read it.
pickEnjoyed this short story of the sculpture come to life, imprisoned by her maker. Miller is a beautiful writer. While Song of Achilles didn‘t do it for me, Circe was tremendous.
pickOof. Should have chosen lighter reading for the holiday. For those who haven‘t read Diaz, choose Post-Colonial Love Poem first. Deserved its Pulitzer and it‘s a collection I return to. This one was good too though. Hit maybe a little close to home. Many poems are inspired by her meth addict brother who died. I have a similar brother. He‘s living and maybe on the streets today in another city despite my efforts to avoid that for him.
Perfect Christmas Eve for me tonight. No family obligations this year. Reading Krampus books, watching Krampus, having a cocktail and enjoying the company of my dog and my sweetie. Dirty dishes are sitting in the sink. No tidying needs to happen. No travel necessary in the snow and ice. Merry holidays to all!
pickI loved this collection of 19th century postcards from Germany,, Austria etc celebrating Krampus. Creepy, disturbing, some very inappropriate. I loved the postcards depicting female Krampus carting off bad men. Krampus is the antidote I need to survive all the overly cute memes and images that dominate modern Christmas. I wish we could go back to reading ghost stories like they did centures ago! Now on to A Christmas Carol!
Enjoyed this debut novel. Set in Albuquerque, N.M. And the Navajo reservation. Navajo forensics photographer sees ghosts, from her past and some of the victims she photographs. They help her solve a string of connected murders. Great setting and writing, great characters. I will read future books by Emerson!
pickTimeless novel written in the 70s. Dana, a Black woman, lives with her white husband. She gets transported back to 1815 Maryland, interacting w/ her ancestors, both black and white. The novel explores how people survive under oppressors, how easy it is to slip into roles & how difficult it can be to escape them, the difficult moral choices people make to survive, & the complicated relationships between oppressors & oppressed.
Read my first Hiaasen on first trip to Florida. Perfect combo for me. Published in 1995. Racial, gender stereotypes, some language haven't weathered well (tho true to novel's characters). Otherwise, loved it, novel was constant laughs. Set in aftermath of a hurricane, highlighting the rainbow of lowlifes making money from all the heartbreak & loss.
Will be a highlight of my Key West trip. On my bucket list was Captain Tony‘s, the original site of Sloppy Joe‘s where Hemingway hung out and where Martha Gellhorn met him (google this bad ass woman). On every stool around the bar is the name of a famous actor or musician. All men. I asked why there wasn‘t one stool with a woman‘s name on it? Why not Martha Gellhorn? Bartender: I don‘t lose sleep over that. Me: that‘s lame. β¬οΈ
Visiting Hemingway‘s house in Key West. One of his 6-toed cats! So many cats on the grounds! Tagging the excellent biography of Martha Gellhorn, his bad ass 3rd wife who was the only female reporter to report on D-Day from NotmandyI Beach in WWII she eventually dumped Hemingway‘s drunken ass.
so-soCatching up on my book reviews from past 2 months. This was a so-so read but a hoot for sure. A good audio read. Mt. Rainier blows up and makes sasquatch ornery. The bigfoots go after a bunch of rich techies who have created a planned community on the east of Mt. Rainier. What's not to love about that?
![[tagged book]](https://image.librarything.com/pics/litsy_webpics/icon_taggedBook@3x.png){kind=icon}
Best of luck with that goal, you can do it! 5d