I've never had a book pull on my heartstrings as frequently as this one. A meditation on love and death and war and all the horrible and wonderful things we humans do to each other. And while it got very heavy at times, requiring me to put it down for a bit to recover, it was a true pleasure to read.

All your favorite songs reimagined as vintage book covers, from Lit Hub.

https://lithub.com/all-your-favorite-songs-reimagined-as-vintage-book-covers-you...

This book is just about killing me right now.

Hmm... It is an interesting concept, trying to engineer an ideal relationship, but the Girlfriend Experiment collapses in on itself, not least of all because the egocentric dude who has come up with the idea makes a shambles of it. The MC, Mary, is an interesting study, and it was a readable story (except for the parts where egodude Kurt was the primary focus). But I found the resolution very unsatisfying, seeming to just drift off into vapor.

About 45% of the way through The Answers. Kurt is insufferable. Please send help.

Can a year of sleep change your life? Let's find out!

Even though the MC was kind of a terrible person, I couldn't wait to see what happened next in her pursuit of a life reset through sleep. (And I have to admit I was envious of her ability to take a year off to sleep. Oh, beautiful sleep...) And that psychiatrist!

#BetterLivingThroughChemistry

Rebecca Solnit, man. Every time I read her, I feel like my mind opens a bit more, and I can see things a little more clearly. In this collection of essays, she focuses her sharp, grounded powers of analysis mainly on the subject of silence - who is silenced (spoiler: it's basically everyone except cishet white men), how, and what happens when the silence is shattered.

Photo: Haymarket Books Twitter

I finished this book a day or so ago, and I miss it. I especially miss spending time with Hero. This is a slow, quotidian book, which may not be attractive to some readers, but I feel is perfect for the story of a woman who is just learning to be human again after her world ends, and a snapshot of a Filipino-American community in 1990s Northern California. I loved it.

I sometimes volunteer at the Kids' Book Bank. One of the perks is that I sometimes get to rescue books that would otherwise be discarded and add them to my personal library. Today, I saved Encyclopedia Brown from "book heaven".

#volunteering #HeavenIsActuallyAShredder

I've seen a few reviews of this book describing the mc as unlikable, but, in all honesty, I saw a lot of myself in this book. It is a pretty accurate portrait of someone who becomes consumed by love (or "love") in an attempt to fill an unfillable hole inside (and illustrates the reason I now choose to remain single). I've never seen this aspect of myself portrayed so honestly, to the point of almost being unnerving. That being said...?

If you're looking for a book about books, this is not the book you're looking for. But you should read it anyway because it is a delight. Bythell, owner of the largest secondhand bookshop in Scotland gives a daily account of a year in his life as a bookseller, including hilarious, mystifying, and heartwarming interactions with customers and colleagues. An eminently readable dispelling of the romantic myth of owning a bookshop.

Sunny morning with a book, coffee, and a cat getting in on the sunbeam action. This is the life of leisure I was meant for.

#JokingNotJoking #CatsOfLitsy

Another visit with our friends from Barbary Lane means more soap opera-like twists and turns, and I think it's even more fun than the first one. Though our corn-pone Midwestern gal (who is a little too corn-pone and Midwestern to be from Cleveland, even in the '70s) Mary Ann gets a little annoying in this one, I feel even more in love with most of the returning characters. Also, can I please move back to northern California now?

Mixed feelings about this. I have issues with it from the portrayal of the gentile German citizens in general to the odd word and image choices (sometimes causing me to put the book down and ask, "What does that even MEAN?"). But I came to care for a number of the characters in the book, which will always pull me through to the end. I'd like to read the story Liesel wrote.

I feel very attacked right now.

Finally reading Kitchen Confidential, and while it's as entertaining as expected, man, could it use a copy editor. I'm less than 20% in, and I have already seen enough missing words, wrong words, and lack of proper punctuation to make me despair. I'm really surprised to see this kind of work in such a hugely popular, bestselling book.

Does anyone else find their reading experience marred by poor copy editing? Or am I the only nerd?

As you can tell, I couldn't relate to this book at all. 🙄

I remember spending time poring over maps and encyclopedias in my youth, and this book beautifully tapped into that casual geographer mindset. Informative and entertaining, never getting too technical, this book had me fondly remembering those evenings stretched out on the living room floor, scanning maps just to see what was out there, while also turning an eye to where maps are going.

Lazy Sunday reclining in bed with Ken Jennings' "Maphead". It's already full of the kind of informational asides and trivia you'd expect from a former "Jeopardy" champ - just my cup of tea. Stella is into it, too.

#catsoflitsy #cartography #mapnerd

I really don't know how I feel about this book. It's a memoir partially of Gold becoming an adult, but moreso of Gold coming through his kind of fucked up relationship with his mother, who has probably more than one undiagnosed mental condition. Sometimes it's compelling, but mostly it's like one, big self-therapy session. Still, I think people who have difficult relationships with their parents might find solace here.

Brilliant.

Woohoo! Finally have this memoir from the author of "Carter Beats the Devil" thanks to a Christmas gift card. The endpapers are covered with intriguing references to the content, like "lolly is a slut" and "story yeast". Excited to get started!

Every time I read science fiction, I think, "I should just not try with science fiction." This short book took me forever to read, and any interest I had in finding out what was going on fizzled out halfway through. Meh.

Image from treehugger.com.

For me, reading Raymond Chandler is not about plot or whodunit, but about beautiful turns of phrase and description, dry and sometimes unexpectedly absurd humor, and the subtle and complex peeks into the character of Philip Marlowe. In the High Window, Marlowe is referred to as a "shop-worn Galahad" and shows an almost anachronistic adherence to the practice of consent, especially as concerns a damaged young woman. Marlowe is a fascinating puzzle.

Sometimes you're reminded that Chandler wrote poetry when he was a young man.

"[...] old men with faces like lost battles."

That line keeps killing me every time I look at it.

Freaky reading coincidence: I've been reading "A Gentleman in Moscow" on my Kindle during the day, and a paper copy of "The High Window" at night (to reduce screens before bed). As most of you know the first book is about a man put under house arrest at the Hotel Metropol in Moscow. The second book takes place in 1940s Los Angeles... and refers to a Hotel Metropole.

I did a double-take when I came across that last night. ?

Sad to say, this was not the book for me. It was not the unputdownable page-turner that The Heart's Invisible Furies was. And I found the main character whose only personality trait was ambition almost completely uninteresting. But I did like the Gore Vidal and Edith chapters. And I did actually finish it, so there's that.

I haven't taken a selfie in a while, but here's me with my beloved (and very ratty) "trilobite me" shirt from my bookseller days.

#friyayintro @howjessreads

It's been about 17 years since I first read this San Francisco classic, and I'd forgotten some of the more surprising (and one cringe-worthy) twists and reveals. And it was a bit more soap-y than I remembered (owing, no doubt, to its origins as a newspaper serial). But I didn't forget the wonderful characters who end up feeling like friends. I would love a Mrs. Madrigal in my life.

Not dead! Just book hopping a lot recently. I am finishing up "Excellent Woman" by Barbara Pym, but then I found the documentary "The Untold Tales of Armistead Maupin" on Netflix. So of course I had to revisit "Tales of the City". ?

Same, Cora Seaborne. Same.

I am all about stories of women who decide they're going to live life how they wanna. Though some choices and characterizations were a little strange (Luke Garrett... I mean, what?), and I wish there had been more meat to the science and religion conversations, I enjoyed this story of a woman learning to live life on her own terms.

(I actually finished this book a couple of weeks ago. Oops.)

It took some 16 years away from my bookstore job - and one physically- and mentally-exhausting apartment move - but I've finally dispensed with the need to alphabetize my books.

Mind you, I'm sure I'll get bored with the Roy G. Biv treatment and go back to order at some point... but for now, I just find this visually pleasing.

The joy of reading with cats. 😸

Excited to finally be reading The Essex Serpent on this first day of fall. Even if my reading companion leaves me with a stiff neck.

The creators of Saga recommend other comics for fans: https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1358-the-creators-of-saga-recommend-books-fo...

#yaycomics

Advice I hope no one reading this ever has to use: How to rescue a wet book. http://www.openculture.com/2017/09/how-to-rescue-a-wet-damaged-book-a-short-hand...

Unpopular Opinion Theater presents: Goodbye, Paris

By the time I was finished with this book, I was more than ready to say goodbye to Paris. I found almost everything about it tedious - from the writing (internally, I was screaming, "SHOW, DON'T TELL" through the entire book), to the MC's situation, to her naivety and lack of self-awareness. I held on hoping for a big payoff in the end, but it just fizzled out for me.

But, hey, pretty cover.

This was a lovely fairytale for grown-ups, sprinkling a little magic and wonder into the sometimes gritty world of late 1800s New York. Watching the two otherworldly title characters learn to pass as human is fascinating, and, in the case of the golem, sometimes delightful (see photo).

It was a long book, and I didn't like the jinni through much of it, but the strong affection I felt for the golem pulled me through. She's a wonderful character.

When you have the shot, then you miss the shot, then you have to wait for the shot to recreate itself.

#BOTM #catsoflitsy #petsoflitsy #neverworkwithanimalsorchildren

This is between a pick and so-so for me. While this is a fun, enjoyable travelogue, it's a fun, enjoyable travelogue about a place where people are oppressed and starving. Not that Simmons isn't cognizant of the conditions of, as she calls it, NoKo, but it's unmistakably a light read.

Additionally, I think Simmons' observations should be taken with a grain of salt as there doesn't seem to be a lot of research or verification. 👇

Apparently, it doesn't matter if a book is in paper format or electronic, any self-respecting cat is duty-bound to sit on it.

#catsoflitsy

I wanted to love this book, but I didn't quite. I did love the characters (based off real people profiled in the doc "Paris is Burning"), especially the fierce Angel. But I don't feel the shifting perspectives or the detachment caused by finding out about major events after the fact via time jumps helped the story. But it's still definitely worth a read.

Be warned: it's especially brutal toward the end.

This book was a joy to read, and I think never knowing what might be true and what might be fabrication makes it even more fun. The members of Chabon's family glow with vibrancy. It is a wild ride of a life well-lived.

#tbr #truth

Some Chabon paired with Arrogant Bastard Ale. This book is so much fun.

Sorting comics for storage is at least 60% resisting the urge to just sit here and re-read them.

Fine Things by Danielle Steel. My mother, once a member of the Danielle Steel fan club, would be pleased. But I find this cruelly ironic. Maybe even downright sarcastic.

@Libby1

Unpacking books in the new apartment, and came across this one that I don't recall having and have no idea when, where, how, or why I obtained it. Please tell me I'm not the only one this happens to.

#bookloverproblems

This was a story full of broken people. Broken people who sometimes do inexplicable things. This story could have been maudlin or needlessly titillating, but, in Ruskovich's hands, it is a sometimes jarring, deep dive into the heads of these broken people. Their unfiltered thoughts. 👇🏼

1. Only
2. I always knew I had it good as the only.
3. 2 - okay, I was raised an only child, found out at age 11 that I had an older brother (from Mom, teen pregnancy) and at 30 that I had an older sister (from Dad while overseas in the army).
4. The Endless from Neil Gaiman's Sandman comics
5. It took a bit, but I found an only.

Found a stash of Literary Cavalcade, "Scholastic's monthly magazine of contemporary literature and student writing", that I must have had since high school. This image of Alice Walker is still how I picture her.

Between packing and looking for a new apartment, and then just being dead tired, I haven't really read yet this weekend. But I have been catching up on some episodes of the LeVar Burton Reads podcast. (Loved "Unassigned Territory" by Stephanie Powell Watts.) As an old Reading Rainbow fan, I get a little choked up when he signs off with "I'll see you next time. But you don't have to take my word for it." ??