Library hold came in fast. Pulled from the #camplitsy long list.

The snow covered trees were like free spirits; it was as though they had let go of all their sorrows, all their regret. They let the winter sun flow through them, through everything they were, generously making space for the light.

“We have to learn how to best steal back our hearts”.

Stumbled across this in my TBR looking for something else. But today this little book grabbed me and demanded to be read. Loving it 15 pages in.

“Hello to the stories that shelter us”.

This is the best study in the interior life va exterior life I have ever encountered. The history of Norway in the Middle Ages was interesting.

This carried me along much more than I expected based on the description. The civil@war setting was initially a turn off to me. But it‘s about the characters more than the war, though the war is more than a backdrop. The end was nicely satisfying.

Real life is just a bit too much right now. So it strikes me apropos that all 3 of my main media reads (kindle, audio, print) are serious period pieces with dramatic settings including beauty and terror more (but significantly different from) my own circumstances. “Art can save your life.” -comedian Josh Johnson.

Heartbreaking. Geraldine Brooks is one of my favorite authors and I met her once at a book festival, so this felt more personal.

In the visible world of nature, a great truth is concealed in plain sight: diminish meant and beauty, darkness and light, death and life are not opposites. They are held together in the paradox of “hidden wholeness”.

February Wrap Up: I was sick most of February. Still Writing down the bones set me in a course. KC was my fav, and I am glad to have finished the second in the wolf hall trilogy. Beautyland is from TOB. It made a good bookgroup discussion but not my favorite. The LM made me want to read the measure.

As I read this recent (not his latest) Murakami, I was so frequently reminded of why I love his writing so much. It‘s complex thought but flows easily in reading. Its mind bending but states universal human truth. It finds beauty in facing darkness. 1Q84 is still my favorite. But this is in my top 3 along with my first thing Murakami title read: The wind up Bird Chronicle.

I am only about a quarter way through, but I am loving this book. Classic Murakami: wells and reflections, and people disconnected from society. It‘s all here and I love every bit of it a new. It‘s both fresh and familiar.

This book is funny at the start especially for those of us truly living the sandwich generation experience (and menopause)But this book wrecked me in the end. It‘s good but proceed with caution.

Starting a slim book to read on the train from Strasbourg to Paris as we start our trek home.

Listened to this on a cross country drive with my husband. We both enjoyed the light heartwarming tale. It starts slowly with a declining woman who is utterly alone and awaiting death. But with the arrival of the titular mouse she finds herself and her community again.

Getting started on this beauty today on a beautiful day in North Myrtle Beach. I love September reads. Now to keep my gorgeous Europa edition from damage from sun and sand. #europacollective

A good stop at my favorite bookstore in NMB this morning. Picked up: The Genius of Women and a copy of Ethan Fromme

It‘s become a new tradition for me, reading slow books set in cold climates during our annual end of summer beach week.

#bookbracket2024 #readingbracket2024

I don‘t know why I was surprised at how great this book is. Looking forward to discussion. Really surprising in its structure, fast paced and readable. Loved the three perspectives and totally didn‘t expect to like it at all. Read it!

#thesealeychallenge day 1; I will start here. I discovered the poet when the Hay on Wye festival went virtual during the pandemic. I was taken with his reading and ordered this book but have not dipped my toes in since.

Knife was easily my favorite read in July, Rushdie one of my all time favorite authors. Will have to think on which one comes out ahead with braiding sweet grass. #bookbracket2024 #readingbracket2024

I admit I am already a fan of Rushdie, having been strongly impacted by reading Midnight‘s Children twenty years ago. I saw Rushdie speak in 2017 at the National Cathedral for the Pen first Eudora Welty lecture and was intrigued. But this Memoir brings the beauty and insight of his more complicated works to the telling and reckoning with the attack. I was astounded to be just as moved in this genre. The man is brilliant.

I would answer violence with art

We would not be who we are today without the calamities of our yesterdays.

The future came rushing toward him while he slept.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/books/best-books-21st-century.html

Link for the graphic is at the end of The NY Times article after you mark your choices.

New shareable monthly reading stats graphic released in StoryGraph with or without your ratings.

April-June picks are not anywhere near as lived as Jan-March (which also stole my 2 wild cards). Hopefully the second half of the year will be better. Lots of personal growth non-fiction books (which I don‘t include here) and guilty pleasure reads to balance those out. It‘s not a bad reading year so far at all, just front loaded the ringers I guess. I have James, Knife, and Trust on deck so that bodes well. #bookbracket24 #camplitsy

This was a good palate cleanser for me. I bought it several years ago from a list of the best time travel novels. The concept is interesting enough to keep the pages turning and I cared about the 3 main characters. Not fabulous prose, but I needed a break from slow going wonderful books that make you work for it This is how you win the time wars was from that same article and better.

I seem to be in the minority here. The book is well written and moves fast. I just found it so darned depressing. I will be a pass on the sequel. Stories of Quiet lives well lived, or of hardships encountered realistically I like, lives of quiet desperation not so much. #europacollective

Finally finished this book! I can‘t believe it took me 8 months, not do I know why I kept abandoning it. It‘s gorgeous and thought provoking.

9th I have read on “tookies short perfect novels” this is beautifully written and terribly sad. is that not true of all great Russian literature. Interesting too in its structure of a retelling among friends over drinks. It‘s out of print and hard to find, took months to get from the library. Worth the wait and search. Wish I had a hard copy to keep. Maybe someday on travels I will stumble across a copy. It would be fitting.

I am feeling hopeful that this will be an engrossing read for #europacollective I have been struggling through a serious of beautiful but slow going books recently and these two phrases just from the prologue have me invested: “Inhale the smell-wood pulp and spruce sap and pine resin. Taste it in your mouth; feel the sawdust coat your teeth.” And “stretch your legs, feel your tired spine crack and settle into its familiar ache”

Through reciprocity the gift is replenished. All of our flourishing is mutual.

This one is not my favorite of “Tookies short perfect novels” that I have read so far, but I do see why it‘s on the list. The end did quite literally take my breath away.

When we let ourselves feel, our inner self transforms.

#readingbracket2024 #bookbracket2024 I didn‘t know how to choose between this and the Postcard, but then I saw I rated this a rare 5 on StoryGraph. I wonder if this is the year all my favorites will involve stories of differing perspectives.

Heart breaking. Absolutely adds significantly to cannon of holocaust literature. Astoundingly personal. Should be required reading to understand life and the human heart. Potent in the writing. The names, the names - the pull of generations in our lives. So relevant to today. Emotional dna. #europacollective is the cover photo Noemi?

Sometimes all you can do is listen to the echoes of the silence.

I have been saving this #europacollective March selection for my long drive to Ohio. I am about a third in and haven‘t gotten to anything about the postcard, but I am engrossed in the background of the family members. What a stunning portrayal of the collective and individual denial of the world in the early days of the holocaust.

I debated reading this book, each time I read the description I had a different reaction as to if I thought it had merit beyond another WWII novel. I loved this book. Its overt story is mildly interesting, but the existential questions it poses are the really beauty. Ideas of existence and meaning and identity explored in a fresh and poignant way.

Revenge is a story that begins with more promises than its ending can keep.

This book was everywhere a few years ago and I thought I would like it but it never seemed the right time. I just finished on audio and it was nothing like I expected. Yes, I cried hard. Yes I laughed too. But it was very present for me. As different as my life as an only daughter has been, so many painful truths resonated. Some end of life wishes became very clear to me while listening on audio.