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Vansa

Vansa

Joined September 2016

To paraphrase that ABBA classic, “Mother said I would read long before I could talk!“
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Vansa
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When one is in Scottsdale, do as any Scottsdale-ite would do and shop at Poisoned Pen Bookstore! #PoisonedPen

Ruthiella Naturally! What‘d you buy? 1mo
Vansa Tagged book, and The Scottish enlightenment: how the Scots invented the modern world! 1mo
17 likes2 comments
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Vansa
Frankie & Stankie | Barbara Trapido
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Barbara Trapido 's absolutely perfect sentences make you want to...live in her head!

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Vansa
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Still the lines used by dictators. Service to the people.

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Vansa
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Proust giving you an account of the stirrings of the 1917 Russian revolution!

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Vansa
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I don't know how clear this is, but these are two absolutely delightful pages of writing.Tolkien manages a perfect tone throughout,which must be so hard. Great writing.
#LotrChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien

JazzFeathers What chapter is it. I can't make out anything 😞 Besides, Tolkien's prose is always delightful 😏 2mo
Vansa @JazzFeathers The end of the Road to Isengard chapter! I loved how he managed the change in tone,from the battle, to the journey and now the meeting of old friends (edited) 2mo
15 likes2 comments
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Vansa
Atomic Spy: The Dark Lives of Klaus Fuchs | Nancy Thorndike Greenspan
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#WondrousWednesday @Eggs
🍎.Its when I take my annual vacation!
🍏Right now, extremely frazzled,stuck in a terrible traffic jam,and frightfully late to work!
🍏The tagged book, inspired by watching Oppenheimer. I can't recommend it enough.

Eggs I‘ve been on a bit of an Oppenheimer tangent as well… 2mo
12 likes1 comment
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Vansa
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#Two4Tuesday @thespineview
1.Breakfast! I love a lavish breakfast spread,with baked goods and eggs and there has to be filter coffee!
2.I had never heard of the tagged book, or author,and absolutely loved it. Her descriptions of her meals are deeply evocative

TheSpineView Thanks for playing!❤️🍽☕️ 2mo
12 likes1 comment
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Vansa
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#TLT @dabbe
Movies:This is Spinal Tap,Withnail and I,Girls trip
Tv: Yes Minister,Fresh prince of Bel-Air, Blackadder
Books: Tagged books,Leave it to Psmith, Cold comfort farm

dabbe I have a lot to look into with this list! The only show I've seen is FRESH PRINCE OF BEL-AIR! 🤩
Thanks for playing! 🧡💜💛
2mo
12 likes1 comment
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Vansa
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More late posts! #WondrousWednesday @eggs
1.Elizabeth Jane Howard, Elizabeth Jenkins,Stella Gibbons, Nancy Mitford (though she would probably hate me!),Arundhati Roy,Mahasweta Devi
2. The swinging 60s in Chelsea!!
3.I keep museum tickets, gig tickets and use them as bookmarks!

Eggs Wonderful! Thanks for playing 🥳 2mo
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Vansa
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#LotrChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien I read this entire chapter completely teary eyed, and was in floods of tears by the time this came about

JazzFeathers After reading so much about WWI, l imagine Tolkien knew exactly what he was talking about. 2mo
Vansa @JazzFeathers oooh that's true, that never struck me! 2mo
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Vansa
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#LotrChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien This was always my favourite chapter,and nothing has changed over the years.Its even more poignant to read it now,when the depredations visited on earth are even more devastating.

JazzFeathers I lived Treebeard chapter more than l usually do, this time round. 2mo
Vansa @JazzFeathers it definitely made me cry a lot more this time round! Even more today when I saw the photos of the felled sycamore tree at Hadrians Wall 2mo
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Vansa
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Such unbelievably beautiful descriptions #LotrChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien

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Vansa
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Pickpick

Late prompts! #Two4Tuesday @thespineview
1.Cant play to save my life,some of my worst childhood memories are associated with forced sporting activities at school😱😱I absolutely love watching,reading and talking about sports though!
2.The tagged book is one of the best I've read,as all good sports writing does,combines sports, history, sociology and humanity

TheSpineView Thanks for playing!🌞🤩😊 2mo
12 likes1 comment
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Vansa
Deadlock | Sara Paretsky
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@goodwilllibrarian VI Warshawski is a detective,former attorney, and the other characters are involved with the shipping industry, none of which are jobs I would like though I like reading about them!

Ruthiella I read all the VI Warsharski books back in the‘90s and loved them. I‘ve long meant to go back, reread and then finish off the series… 2mo
Vansa @Ruthiella I heard of them just last year and love them! BBC has fine radio adaptations of quite a few of them that are available on YouTube if you want to listen to them instead! They're very good! 2mo
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Vansa
The Pursuit of Love | Nancy Mitford
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So funny..and so true.
So all my well read Littens, what are your opinions on the surprisingly dark ending she gives to this book?She doesn't end her other Radlett-Montdore books on a note of such sadness, why do you think she chose this ending for this one?

Ruthiella Maybe because Linda was based on her sister Diana and it was a more palatable fictional outcome than in real life Diana‘s marrying the leader and founder of the British Union of Fascists? 2mo
Vansa @Ruthiella bit of a composite of all the sisters, the Communism was very Jessica and Nancy herself, though the leaving a family was Diana! Possibly, though.Just seems like a very sudden dark turn, maybe because of her own miscarriages? 2mo
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Vansa
The Pursuit of Love | Nancy Mitford
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Nancy Mitford is so insightful

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Vansa
Frankie & Stankie | Barbara Trapido
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Vansa
Frankie & Stankie | Barbara Trapido
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Barbara Trapido is a genius. When she writes well she writes So SO well. So insightful

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Vansa
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#FellowshipOfTolkien #LotrChapterAday onwards!Have been waiting to start with this, and what a banger of a starting chapter

JazzFeathers True, eh? The first chapter sure delivers 😜 l'm so behind. Life keeps interfering. 2mo
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Vansa
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#Sundayfunday no, the setting is Yorkshire during the late 70s and early 80s, when the Yorkshire Ripper was active! The book was a huge disappointment, sadly.

BookmarkTavern That‘s disappointing! Hope your next read is better! 2mo
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Vansa
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I love this prompt!! It reminded me of my beloved Ladybird books that introduced me to reading.I used to have all of these!
#SundayFunday

LeahBergen I love 🐞!! I still own many of these. 3mo
Cuilin I absolutely love and remember these exact covers. 💕 🐞 3mo
17 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Vansa
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https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw7diUZoH7T/?igshid=YTUzYTFiZDMwYg==
Since a lot of readers are finishing up the section in Mória now, this might be an interesting video, if you haven't seen it already!
#FellowshipOfTolkien #LotrChapterADay

JazzFeathers It's beautiful, isn't it? 🤩 2mo
18 likes1 comment
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Vansa
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#FirstLineFridays @shybookowl
It's Proust, so it's a very very long first line!

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Vansa
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#FellowshipofTolkien #LotrChapterADay
What unbelievably vivid writing. I feel like I'm seeing all of these myself

JazzFeathers Tolkien's writing is among the most vivid l've ever read. When he describes plac s, sure. But not only. 2mo
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Vansa
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So moving. I'm practically in tears at the elegiac tone of this.
#FellowshipOfTolkien #LotrChapterADay

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Vansa
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This is very very true of many countries right now. Including mine.

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Vansa
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#Booknotes @alwaysbeenaloverodbooks
Right now I have the absolute perfect song to go with this line, from Enya's glorious album in the 90s, Shepherd Moons
https://youtu.be/u6aHtdoXPiw?si=pVIJk94Yomej3pmE

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 👏🏻🎶📚🎵 3mo
16 likes2 comments
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Vansa
Return to Paris | Colette Rossant
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#WondrousWednesday @eggs
1.Going to the movies is such a song and dance,but some really deserve the large screen-Barbie and Oppenheimer,for instance.
2.None at all!Super lazy person here😀
3.Since June and till October,eating at home to save money for a big splash out during my 2 week holiday in October!

Eggs How fun 🤩 3mo
16 likes1 comment
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Vansa
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Pickpick

@alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Some of my favourite memoirs.Absolutely lovely, moving books. Full review of tagged book about the artist's adolescence in Turkey here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5170687206

Q84 Absolutely loved Persepolis! I'll have to check out the others sometime 3mo
17 likes1 comment
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Vansa
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#Two4Tuesday @thespineview
1.I have never heard of Colette Rossant,and this memoir was a lovely introduction to a really interesting woman,who was coming up with “fusion“ cooking before hipster places!
2. I loved her very unique perspective as a child growing up in a Jewish family in Egypt - you don't get such interesting voices usually.

LeahBergen I loved this book! 3mo
TheSpineView Thanks for playing!🤩📖📚 3mo
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Vansa
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#LotrChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien
I remember this section in Moria so vividly, and it's still edge of the seat riveting ,reading it now. I am turning pages as fast as I can because it's so gripping!?

JazzFeathers I know, right? And then, these are among the best chapters in the book, in my opinion 😜 3mo
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Vansa
Daniel Deronda | George Eliot
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THis could be said by a character in a book written yesterday, and would ring as true

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Vansa
Daniel Deronda | George Eliot
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Incredibly modern writing

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Vansa
Daniel Deronda | George Eliot
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It is incredible to me that George ELiot, literally centuries back,wrote sympathetically about an ambitious woman, who was allowed to be successful, and not a monster.

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Vansa
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#SUNDAYFUNDAY @ozma.of.oz #LotRChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien
I love this description of Bilbo's perfect house!I can empathise a lot with the way Frodo feels in the beginning of the book,that there's a gathering storm and he wishes it didn't happen in his time,and he could shut it out.

BookmarkTavern Yeah! I totally get that too. Thank you for sharing! 3mo
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Vansa
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Oh,poor Bilbo Baggins. And the considerable strength of character you have shown all those years you owned the ring, and didn't let it corrode your soul of steel.

Cinfhen Your.nails are FABULOUS 3mo
Vansa @Cinfhen thank you so much!! I saw it on an Instagram post and tried it out!! 😀😀😀 3mo
dabbe Nails = 🤩🤩🤩 3mo
See All 6 Comments
RobES These nauls are gorgeous 😍 3mo
Vansa @dabbe thank you so much!! 3mo
Vansa @RobES thanks a lot! It was worth the time I took trying to get it right 😀 3mo
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Vansa
The Turquoise Ledge: A Memoir | Leslie Marmon Silko
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This is so so important. There are several countries in the world, like included,that have a variety of different languages, but governments that insist on the primacy of just one language, which is ridiculous. A diversity of language is to be celebrated.

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Vansa
This Is Shakespeare | Emma Smith
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Pickpick

#Netgalleybingo
Got around to reading some more ARCs! And more importantly,reviewing. I cannot recommend This is Shakespeare enough.To paraphrase the tagline of Barbie: If you can't get enough of Shakespeare, this book is for you.If you've had a surfeit of Shakespeare,this book is for you.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5781346962

rachelsbrittain Well I'm convinced! 3mo
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Vansa
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Extraordinary. Proust can go on a bit. But some of his writing on how we perceive art, how the mind works are just extraordinary and you realise why he's considered such an influence. This set of pages is just.. incredible.

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#WondrousWednesday @eggs
1.Both these,and Spinal Tap.I can watch these 3 movies a million times and laugh as hard each time.Interestingly,2 of these 3 were by George Harrison's production company!
2.Oppenheimer! Absolutely riveting and makes you want to read more about it
3.Personally?That my family visit to Arizona goes off without a hitch!In general?That people stop voting for fascists!

Eggs Thanks for playing-loved Oppenheimer. After that I went down a rabbit hole for more info…. 3mo
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Vansa
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Pickpick

#Two4Tuesday @Thespineview
1.No, it has no intrinsic value of its own in a world where internet penetration is not 100 percent!
2.Eponymous character of the tagged book,I cannot recommend it enough.Love the Emmy Lane chronicles! Full review here
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5696446845

TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 3mo
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Vansa
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#SundayFunday @ozma.of.oz
Tagged book as part of #LotRChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien
Could not recommend it more!I don't think the quotes are very visible but they are absolutely beautiful descriptions.Writing of a river flowing “ out of hobbits knowledge“. What a beautiful way of putting it.

Vansa Aaargh Litsy on the web just doesn't let me tag people properly!!!! 3mo
BookmarkTavern What an excellent choice! Thank you for sharing! 3mo
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Vansa
The Missing of Clairdelune | Christelle Dabos
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#WondrousWednesday @eggs
Bit late but I like this prompt!
1.Tagged book.I would NOT recommend this series though, completely horrible.Very surprising this has got so many good reviews with terrible characterization and a really boring plot.
2.I think His Dark Materials had many interesting character names!Lady Salmakia being one of them!

Eggs Thanks for playing 🥳📚🙏🏻 3mo
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Vansa
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This is so funny. Several such wry asides inserted into this very dense, deeply researched, completely informative and fascinating

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Vansa
Atomic Spy: The Dark Lives of Klaus Fuchs | Nancy Thorndike Greenspan
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#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain Reading all of these on the weekend!Finished sorcerer of Pyongyang this morning,it was interesting,if not very well written.Im also doing the #SundayBuddyRead of Lady Chatterleys Lover,but I loved the book so much,I raced ahead of the weekly schedule and have ready finished it!
Have an excellent weekend,everyone!

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Vansa
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#Two4Tuesday @thespineview
1.It usually starts in May but because of the terrible heat, it was delayed to June this year.
2.The second book of the devastating tagged trilogy is set in a boarding school during WWII.Its unlike any school setting I've ever read ,like enid Blyton or Chalet School. Completely unforgettable

TheSpineView Thanks for playing! 4mo
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Vansa
Atomic Spy: The Dark Lives of Klaus Fuchs | Nancy Thorndike Greenspan
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Great writing

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Vansa
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#LotRChapterADay #FellowshipOfTolkien I had forgotten just how action packed this work is.And profound at the same time,so clearly why it still works.I don't remember this bit about Frodo being told that fencing yourself in against evil will not work forever
@Daisey, @Jazzfeathers

JazzFeathers Right? We are often so hung up with all that is in this book that we sometimes forget how good and fun a story it is. 3mo
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Vansa
Lady Chatterley's Lover | D.H. Lawrence
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#SUNDAYBUDDYREAD It would have been so easy for Lawrence to have made Mrs.BOlton a one-dimensional character with no backstory, and existing merely as the ëvil housekeeper“archetype-like Mrs. Danvers. Or even the domestic help in Virgina Woolf, who only exist, it feels, to be incompetent and cause the female protagonist(very white, very upper class) inconvenience and force them to have to buy flowers themselves.

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Vansa
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If one is to foreshadow, #WriteitLikeTolkien. If that's not a hashtag already, well then, it should be!
#FellowshipOfTolkien #LotRAChapterADay