“Don‘t you think that in France, at every meal, in every restaurant, there is at least one table where people are talking about literature?” #europacollective

Getting a jump on and digging in to my December read on my work trip to Philadelphia this week. #Europacollective

Some books find you at the exact right moment. I have disliked everything by Cather I had ever attempted to read. I put this on my list because it met 1925 for my #192025 challenge. I loved it from the first beautiful phrase. It captures so much beauty and tragic heartache. In the landscape and in mankind. Nuance and realism. Truly a masterpiece. This will affect me for a long time.

I can‘t believe the summer go away from me so much. I had so many reading plans and goals. Met none of them. Inadvertently embarked on #serieslove23 as I primarily listened to two newfound series, the chronicles of St Mary‘s and the Claire Ferguson mysteries. Both great for light reading. #2023readingbracket

Vacation reading is the best reading. Bookseller Lori Feathers does not disappoint with this recommendation

Stopped in to a new indie bookstore in Keller Texas called A house with books, and met owner Hayley. It‘s a great store with a comfy vibe. So happy to have this store nearby. Bought a few titles, including this new Allende.

Picked up a new book to read the grandkids, but I think it‘s really for me and hubby. Love Mo Willems. Oscar just likes the basket of blankets. #dogsoflitsy

I am about halfway through and am surprised at how much I like this book. I thought Babel was brilliant, but the premise of this book didn‘t call to me the same way. It also seemed a very different type so quickly from this author so I was hesitant. But I can see similar themes. This book is more approachable but also more acerbic in its message. Her characters voices resonate. I‘m loving it. The irony of the difference in her works is not lost

We finally had our “blind date with a book” we purchased on vacation last month.

The last 3 chapters were interesting. But this did not live up to 4 decades of being told this was a fabulous must read.

I can‘t believe half the year is over! I read 9 books in June and several were quite enjoyable but not outstanding or great literature. Picking Rovelli because it was the most intellectually stimulating as well as enjoyable. I had several outstanding books in earlier months that lost to fierce competition but would easily best these later picks. Not to impose on your generosity @chasjjlee but maybe next year a wild card spot? #2023readingbracket

First Line Friday: “She stood before us, without notes, books or nerves.”

Spare but emotional. A powerful treatise on grief and loss.

A very enjoyable escapist read! 3/14 #14books14weeks2023 #serieslove23 #192025

Are we allowed to change our list once started #14books14weeks2023? Every time I pick up one of these Poldark novels I am reminded why they are beloved. Quality writing, likes le characters facing universal hardships with dignity, and a story that just Carrie‘s you 100 pages in a blink. Now I want to spend the rest of the list finishing this whole series and put off the little bit of this and that approach I started with! #serieslove23

I found the first half pretentious and annoying. I enjoyed the #camplitsy2023 discussion more than the book. The second half is more plot driven and less impressed with its own message, so more tolerable. Looking forward to the second half discussion which may improve my initial rating. I think I am behind in my #14books14weeks but with 10 days of full of friends travel and then finally succumbing to Covid at home I am giving myself grace.

There were passages I found beautiful or profound and I enjoyed the unlike ability of all the characters in this older and therefore fresher way. But I didn‘t find the structure of the book graceful. I had a hard time caring each time there was a shift. Had I read it in 1987 when it came out, I might have felt differently because of the not yet overdone format and for who I was as an 18 year old. #192025

I love giving this book to kids. They always love it. Here my granddaughter is trying to repeat the reading to her dogs Luna and captain who seem equally enthralled. #dogsoflitsy

All the ambrosia and all the gaul of life.

What a great stop. Couldn‘t resist reading Thoreau aloud as we left.

Stopped for Pizza in Mystic and found this great indie bookstore and this fun treasure.

Listening to this mind bending book on our drive from DC to NY today. Reminds me of Dali‘s melting clocks. “The only time the arrow (directionality) of time appears is when there is heat”.

Do we exist in time or does time exist in us?

Stopped for lunch today in Old Town Winchester. We always try to support local indies when we travel. This was a lovely bookstore. Hubby and I each selected a “blind date with a book” based solely on the first line. When we get home we will pick a night and pour a glass of wine and have our date on the back deck! Memories made and to make!

The Grafton novels have long been my palate cleanser or “get out of a slump” books. But I wanted to make a little progress in all of my in progress series for #serieslove23 when I put together my #14boooks14weeks list. But digging into this one after it having been a few years since Q, I remember why I love them. Good character development, fas clear prose, and story lines that hook early and carry the reader along. #dogsoflitsy

This may end up being my favorite book of the year. Such strong character development and the intensity of emotion from the narrator was both engaging and heartbreaking. The depiction of modern Appalachia was powerful. It‘s an amazing achievement. No wonder it won the Pulitzer.

1. Central California mid 1980s 2. Cold remote Islands or ocean settings (Copenhagen, Norway, Cornwall, Nova Scotia). 3. Magical bookstores, libraries or secret book caverns.

DMA does a series of author talks each year through their “Arts and Letters Live”. We have seen Tracy Chevelier, Ken Follet, and Annie Leibowitz among others. Tonight was Bonnie Gamus promoting her book “Lessons in Chemistry”.

Summer reading (in print anyway) set with #14books14weeks. Looking forward to this boost in my #serieslove as well. I decided to primarily finish the titles I own for Copenhagen and Frensh countryside with a little Cornwall& California thrown in for variety and mood. Also some London and NYRB recently recommended by Amor Towles twitter. #14books14weeks2023

My Jack is as smart as six thirty. Now that is stated, we can discuss the book. It wasn‘t on my radar at all until I received it on my #auldlangspine list. By the time I got to it, it‘s everywhere. I enjoyed the first half and it‘s quick pace. Humor despite the tragedy. Plucky. But I wasn‘t seeing all the hype. By the end I was in love. I still have more to enjoy. Gamus is speaking in Dallas tomorrow and I have tickets, then book club #dogsoflitsy

I have been reading my way through the character Tookie‘s list of “short perfect novels” listed in Louise Erdrich The Sentence. This has the same ethos. A simple hard life well lived against an ethical standard with human imperfection. Glad I read it. The prose is effective in creating the mood. #192025

Should I spend my summer in Cornwall, Copenhagen, California, or the French Countryside? I am feeling excited about #14books14weeks2023 and getting some traction on #serieslove23 at the same time. It‘s going to be a good good Summer!

Heading into travel status for work this week armed with an enjoyable audiobook and two great kindle books in progress. I got halfway through Lessons in Chemistry this weekend but leaving that hardcover at home so hubby can catch up before we see the author speak next weekend.

I only finished 5 books in April. I also really enjoyed Violin Conspiracies. I DNF several good books to no fault of their own; just mood and library due dates. I will come back to them when the time is right.

Japanese legend says that earthquakes are caused by Namazu the giant catfish who lives under the earth and is only kept from thrashing and wriggling by the god Kashima who sits on his tail to keep him under control. Woe betide Kashima getting tired or distracted . . . A brilliant legend for a hard working nation, really - take your eye off the ball at your own potentially fatal risk. No wonder we never relax.

I have no idea why this slender volume is taking me so long to get through. But I have to finish this weekend. Neighborhood book group is next week. Lovely evening on the back porch though

But for sheer size and it‘s ability to put you in your place, even New York can‘t compare with Tokyo.

This story drew me in and carried along at a good clip. Multiple threads make it widely appealing. It‘s not beautiful prose but at the same time, I read half in one sitting. The author, a career musician, has a second book out this month and I plan to read it based on enjoying this one and the opening paragraph teaser at the end of the kindle version.

I didn‘t love this as much as everyone else seemed to rave. I lived Hamnet but the blurbs about this one didn‘t call to me. I gave in on maybe the 7th time a person recommended it. It‘s a soft pick for me. Interesting but not fabulous in prose, character development, or plot.

I don‘t get to recommend books much as it seems most people in my real life have such different tastes than I do. But I remember how fun this book felt reading it. The most “fun” since the er welt Harry Potter though very different of course. #EasterOMC #most-recommended

My favorite thing about Easter THIS YEAR is that my daughter drove all the way to Texas so I could see my granddaughters. Hippity Hoppity was a big hit. #easteromc

The wind came into the house from the Sound, and it blew Daisy and me around her East Egg mansion like puffs of dandelion seeds, like foam, like a pair of young women in white dresses who had no cares to weigh them down. #easteromc #litsypets #firstlines This is the first line of my current ebook and my daughters dog Luna because she is chosen and beautiful and white like the dresses in the first line.

The recliner in my bedroom is my favorite place for reading print books, but an audiobook while crocheting will also find me here. Todays snacks for #EasterOMC are on their beat up but very helpful tbr pile table. #booksandbeverage