Hello dear Litsy friends, I‘m back!!!! It hasn‘t been a great Litsy summer for me between my English course (which I loved and will post more about later) and generally more busy times with the reopening. But I‘m having a lazy morning starting this one today and loving it. Looking forward to #NYRBBC discussion!

Well this was a RIOT! The funniest 20 pages I‘ve read in some time. Young Jane is having a blast sending up the sentimental 18th century novels —so much swooning, so much drama, so many outrageous coincidences. Very silly, but the emergence of a great wit is also very much in evidence.
#pemberlittens

This short work is absolutely hysterical.
#pemberlittens

Next up in Eng550: Jane Austen‘s Love and Freindship. Excited to take down a volume from last month‘s EBay find, the 1989 Folio Society Collected Works, and this is in the one volume I haven‘t already read! #summerschool #pemberlittens

Busy few days!! My niece had a healthy baby girl, my daughter & I finally finished Sir Fuzzyface Lambykin here (a kit from the Dickens Fair) to send baby with the blanket I knit, a raccoon came to visit in the night and when I scared him off came back with a friend, and I stayed up till dawn finishing this book! —Loved it! It‘s bonkers in an oh so 18th C way but also depressingly familiar in a #metoo way 🤦🏻‍♀️
Loved the London travelogue aspect

Hello Litsy family! I‘m back after a busy May with very little reading time. But I‘m more than making up for it this month by taking my first English Literature college course in a loooong time—one of my more nutso pandemic-induced ideas being that maybe I‘d like to go back to school and get my MA 🤷🏻‍♀️ So I‘m starting with this intensive summer course: The Rise of the Novel: Fallen Ladies Edition! I bet all you #Pemberlittens would love it!

#ThoughtfulThursday Thanks for the tag @slategreyskies !
🍃Pride & Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, many a story book to my littles, back in the day
🍃Not usually, but I do enjoy pretty covers
🍃So much beautiful nature imagery in Whitman‘s poetry.

I‘m VERY late with this but if anyone else wants to share, you are tagged!
🍃

This book has everything. The writing, the characters, the drama, the satire, the mystery, oh and words, lots and lots of words, but when it‘s Dickens doling them out, I say bring ‘em! Gimme more! 😊 I only wish Esther had more agency and was a little less ‘good‘ but her central role in the novel told from a first person narrative definitely wins some points. At any rate, in short, I loved it! #WhatTheDickens @Cuilin

What a brilliant and beautiful book! Ward‘s prose is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. She is a master of show, don‘t tell and can reveal so much in a single sentence. Not an easy read at times, particularly the scenes of animal cruelty, but there‘s nothing gratuitous here. Not a word is wasted. So glad this #AuthorAMonth read was my April #bookspin .

My first trip to a brick and mortar library in over a year! Just stood by the door to pick up the next two #NYRBBookClub reads but nice to take a peek inside and say hello to all the books😀❤️📚

https://sfpl.org/events/2021/04/21/unity-and-struggle-collective-inaugural-addre...

#shesaid readers: San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin‘s inaugural address is coming up on April 21st and includes among others Mahogany L Brown! @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Finally reading something for #AuthorAMonth!! - cuz it‘s my #Bookspin, lol! Started this last night and the first chapter knocked my socks off! It could stand alone as a beautiful little short story. The prose is stunning and communicates so much. Each sentence speaks volumes.

Finally finished my March #BooksSpin and unpopular opinion time, but this book was a total cringe fest for me. Some very important issues to explore here but I found the writing unbearably pretentious and clunky, the one-sided conversation conceit gimmicky and annoying, and the attitude toward women smarmy and shallow. Poor, broken (Am)Erica hung up on her lost love Chris(tianity) was simply more than I could take. I hoped the ‘twist‘⤵️

Exciting #bookmail!! Got my Black Girl Magic Wine & Book Club box!! Hearing great things about this book and really looking forward to the author event in May. Oh and also some tasty sip & read time 😊🥂

Happy April Fool‘s Day y‘all!
Just under the wire like always, here‘s my April #BookSpin list @TheAromaofBooks 😊🌸💕📚

Another fascinating group read with #shesaid. So glad I finally read this. Wish more of it was ancient history instead of current events, but I guess that‘s kind of the point. We‘ll never move past the backlash and make lasting headway until we identify and confront it.

Introducing the newest #LittenKitten our new baby, Apollo!! He‘s 💯 crazy and hard to keep up with, kinda like this book! Also like this book, he is freakin hilarious, pretty weird, but also clever, adventurous, and beautiful in a unique way. I think Leonora would dig his sorta one-eyed look too. (He is recovering from eye surgery and should mend well but will likely have a bit of a badass scar which is seeming all too appropriate 😂) #NYRBBC

Thanks for the tag @vlwelser #WondrousWednesday
1)Yes. Mr KVR recently bought a bookshelf for his Zoom background and is letting me curate it with my favorites 😍
2) I owe my love of reading to my mom and we still talk books all the time. She has advanced macular degeneration but thanks to audiobooks is reading more than ever.
3)Tagged. I‘m going to get to it one of these days!

@vivastory @LeahBergen @MsMelissa have you already been tagged?

Finished my March #Bookspin. This was a mixed read for me. I became really engrossed in the story and the setting, while I found the writing uneven and the plotting way too neat and tidy. Maybe I‘m just not a cozy mystery person. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Might‘ve been a pick if not for the final bit about Simon which really put me at odds with Maisie. Perhaps that‘s further developed in the series but on its own, not a satisfying end note. 21//2 ⭐️s

#PemberLittens
FINIS!
Apparently Emma director Autumn de Wilde thinks Jane Austen had punk DNA and I agree. The woman, within the constraints of her time, was a total badass. I initially struggled with this book and its heroine but at some point I decided Jane was actually being darkly, subversively, ironically, and flat out hysterically funny and then I began to delight in it! If you‘re looking for a romance I don‘t think you‘ll find it here⤵️

#PemberLittens

The Penultimate Chapter!
🌿While Lady B sleeps off a heavy sermon, Edmund finally takes Fanny aside to spill the tea on his awful last meeting with Mary.
🌿He promises to be BRIEF, then goes on and on, stops, then goes on some more about his painful discovery of Mary‘s true character, none of it surprising to Fanny, and winds up by confessing no other woman will do but at least he has Fanny‘s FRIENDSHIP 🙄🤯
🌿I really can‘t ⤵️

Found the #audiobook for our current #NYRBBookClub read on Hoopla and it is outstanding. What a wild, weird, hysterical ride this is!

#Pembeittens Catch-up Post
VOL 3 CHs:13-15:
🌿TFW you skip a couple of chapter-a-days and when you return so much has happened!!! Tom dangerously ill! Julia eloping!! Mrs. R & Mr. C!!! And Fanny finally fetched back along with Susan.
🌿So many great quotes too but I especially love this one as it reminds me Fanny is after all still a teenager and while she may be passive and reserved, she might just be a bit of a drama queen on the inside.☺️

#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 12:
🌿Fanny gets a thrilling letter from Mary, reads it eagerly, then disses it thoroughly
🌿Edmund hasn‘t spoken yet, so she must continue to wait in suspense
🌿She‘s disgusted Mary speaks only of his looks, needs Mrs. Fraser‘s opinion to bolster hers, and is eager to have Henry meet the Rushworths socially
🌿She waits fruitlessly for a letter from Edmund and worries what will become of Susan once she returns to MP

#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 11:
🌿Henry continues to improve in Fanny‘s estimation, but sorry, dude, she‘s STILL just not that into you
🌿It‘s Edmund she‘s pining for and now she knows he‘s in London she‘s expecting his engagement to Mary is imminent but no news of that yet
🌿Henry notes her diminished health, suggests Sir T might forget her in Portsmouth indefinitely, and conveniently nominates himself to come to her rescue...ummm, still NO 😂

#Pemberlittens
VOL 3, CH 10:
🌿Loads of surprises for Fanny: 1)Henry shows up unannounced 😳2)they run into her Dad in the street 😳😳 3)he doesn‘t embarrass her with oaths, but acts respectfully in Henry‘s company and his loud voice is okay 👍🏽 outside 😅😅😅 4)Despite Henry finding time to tell her he came to town just for her 😍 while Fanny‘s still just not that into him be less of a jerk🤔

#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 9

🌿Happy to see some real growth in Fanny as she overcomes her shyness and lack of experience with generosity (thanks Bertrams!) and performs a real act of kindness to Susan in gifting Betsey her own silver knife, even if it is a super weird gift for a 5yo, imho 😂
🌿And then spends Sir T‘s money in the best way possible: on a library subscription! ❤️📚😍

#Pemberlittens
VOL 3, CH 8:
🌿Fanny‘s visit is not quite how she imagined. William ships out almost immediately and her mother doesn‘t have much time or affection for her. Fanny can‘t stand her family‘s chaos and begins to idealize life at Mansfield.
🌿I found Fanny a bit precious and snobbish here and lacking in understanding or compassion for her mother‘s situation, but she is very young and she has been influenced by her privileged upbringing

#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 7:
🌿Fanny arrives at Portsmouth and is as invisible there as she was at the Park before her glow up.
🌿All the excitement is around William and his ship the Thrush having gone out to harbor.
🌿Sir Thomas‘s plan of making her appreciate the good life seems to be going well.
🌿Side note: it seems odd to me that no one from Mansfield, not even Fanny has any gifts to offer her family- seems very rude to me!

#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 6:
🌿Sir Thomas can‘t make out why Fanny isn‘t sadder about Crawford being gone and Edmund can‘t believe she doesn‘t miss Mary more—he certainly does.
🌿William visits and Sir T hatches a plan for Fanny to accompany him home for a while hoping it will make her appreciate the good life and eager to get more of it by landing a rich hubby.
🌿Fanny loves the idea of seeing her family plus being in Crawford Free Zone.⤵️

“Spreckels explained why he chose to place the [Temple of Music] in Golden Gate Park: ‘It already ranks among the finest parks in the world. It is the resort of thousands. It is the playground of the children, the festal garden of youths and maidens, the recreation of the worker, the solitude of the thinker, the parade of wealth and fashion, the object lesson of artists, and in many ways it ministers to the studies of men in science. Here, then,⤵️

“The Hill Found Around the World...much of the rock that was blasted from Telegraph Hill was used for ballast by ships that had emptied their holds...and could not find return cargoes...their captains recycled the ballast as paving and road fill. Which means the streets in Valparaiso and Sydney, New York and Liverpool, are paved with Telegraph Hill graywacke.”

Love knowing this! I know I‘ll be thinking about it whenever I get to travel again.

I finally finished my February #BookSpin !! And so glad I did. Fantastic tales of places both on and off the beaten path in the city that I love. I thought I knew a lot of local history but now I know even more! And Paul Madonna‘s exquisite drawings truly capture the poetry of the city by the Bay. Loved it!!!

Catch-up post VOL 3, CH 4-5

Happy #InternationalWomensDay #Pemberlittens!!
Here‘s to Jane writing about representation and #ownvoices in Persuasion back in 1818!

And these two chapters of Mansfield Park offer a poignant own voices description of what it was like for Jane and her Regency sisters. First being pressed to marry by Edmund with his “kind authority” 🙄 Then the cautionary tales of Mrs Fraser and Lady Stornaway trapped in marriages⤵️

Wanted to share this with #shesaid Littens and anyone who loved this book.

Tuesday March 16, 6-7pm Pacific Time.

This book fits today‘s #DiversifyYourShelf prompt too.

https://sfpl.org/events/2021/03/16/author-chanel-miller-conversation-journalist-...

#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 3:
🌿More fun times at Mansplain Park for Fanny when Edmund returns and hops on board Team Henry.😭

#Pemberlittens Catch-up Post

VOL 3, CH 2: In today‘s installment of Mansplain Park,
🌿Henry mansplains
🌿Sir Thomas mansplains
🌿Mrs. Norris glares
🌿Lady B rejoices, gives all the credit Chapman, offers a pug - seeing in Fanny...herself😱 Run, Fanny, run!!!!

#Pemberlittens

🌿In refusing Crawford, Fanny proves she “can and will decide for herself”. Someone alert the media! How “offensive and disgusting”!! I mean, she‘s obviously deranged and dangerous. Who knows what she‘ll try next? Maybe come at Sir Thomas with that chair she‘s gripping ⤴️
🌿Luckily Sir T knows you don‘t debate with crazy. He orders her a nice fire and gaslights her gently while planning his next move.
🌿Jane is on 🔥here, you can⤵️

#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 13:
🌿Fanny‘s too overwhelmed to speak when she learns that thanks to Henry & the Admiral, William‘s been ‘made‘ (Lieutenant that is, not mobster)
🌿That‘s fine with Henry and he rushes in to propose. Too bad for him not only is she NOT interested, she doesn‘t believe a word of it—that‘s what you get for being the Shrimpboy who cried Wolf!😂

#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 12:
🌿Henry returns from London and stuns Mary with his decision to marry Fanny, then they both marvel at how lucky this makes Fanny, how disappointed and jealous the Bertram sisters, especially Maria, will be, and what a great guy Henry is for elevating poor, neglected (but also hot and biddable) Fanny like this.
🌿Me thinks he‘s got another think coming...

#Pemberlittens VOL 2, CH 11:
🌿Does anyone else think there may be something really wrong with Lady B? This author speculates it could be hypothyroidism. I‘ve wondered if she may be suffering from a hormonal imbalance, an autoimmune disorder, or maybe depression? I feel like in one of the screen adaptations she takes a lot of laudanum but I might be misremembering.

https://www.austenauthors.net/lady-bertram-mansfield-park-thyroid-hypothyroidism...

#BFC21 February was a good month! I exceeded reading & exercise goals and met most others except Daily Dozen and missed my journal once—fell asleep 😴—So annoying because it broke my 2021 streak! But the key to forming habits is not to dwell, just get back on that 🏇🏼so:
MARCH: 📚5+CH50 Bleak House 💪🏽Close rings 28x, 5-6 workouts/wk 🥗DailyDozen 21x, weekly weigh in 🧠🧘🏻‍♀️journal daily, meditation/writing classes 1 + 1x on my own/wk try ⤵️

I had a pretty okay reading month, but as for #BookspinBingo, not so much.🤷🏻‍♀️ I did read my #DoubleSpin though, Well Read Black Girl, which was great, and I‘m halfway through my #BookSpin,Spirits of San Francisco, so I‘ll be able to take it off #MountTBR soon!

Maybe the luck of the Irish will bring me a March bingo? 😊🍀🌈

#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 10
🌿Finally, a ball! All agree Fanny looks lovely. (Pug & Lady B agree it‘s all down to Chapman)
🌿After Edmund asks her for 2 dances (just not the first two cuz those are already taken by his first choice 🙄) Fanny is ALMOST in high spirits for the first time ever!
🌿What with the stress of opening the ball and the dancing and socializing Fanny is worn out and Sir T orders her first to sit and then to bed. At least ⤵️

#Pemberlittens

Catch-up Post VOL 2, CH 8-9
🌿I loved these two chapters and have gained so much respect for Fanny‘s quiet inner strength, not only in the way she handles the necklace situation but in the way she copes with her feelings of jealousy.
🌿I woke this morning really struggling with my own green-eyed monster after learning my husband‘s Crohn‘s disease did not make the list of conditions eligible for Covid vaccination in California.⤵️

These essays were all so good with so many powerful insights. Only trouble is my TBR just exploded 🤷🏻‍♀️
#shesaid

This was absolutely fascinating!! Love the audiobook format which includes guided breathing exercises at the end.

#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 7:
🌿A lovely time is had by all at the Parsonage despite Mrs. Norris‘s difficulties with the excessively wide table and too many dishes
🌿While coaching Lady B and Fanny at cards, Henry continues to try his sneaky charms on the latter and Sir Thomas takes note
🌿Mary is disappointed Edmund doesn‘t plan to improve his new home to standards befitting her and expects to be taken ‘just as he is‘

#Pemberlittens
VOL 2, CH 6:
🌿Look out Fanny, Shrimpboy Crawford is HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF, and just like this deeply problematic 80s pop song he doesn‘t really think about what sort of lasting impact this might have on you, how it might haunt your ear drums for decades to come (oops, just me nvm)
🌿In better news, brother William has come to visit and delights all ‘cept Mrs. N of course who does her best to stay relevant talking needles and thread

#PemberLittens

VOL 2, CH 5:
🌿At the midway point of our book the heroine finally takes center stage and...she hates it🤷🏻‍♀️
🌿Shrimpboy Crawford‘s back and thinks nothing of reminiscing on those good times he had flirting with the Bertram sisters until Fanny steps out of her shell and sets him straight 😯
🌿Mary‘s shocked to learn Ed‘s about to take orders and a living she would never “stoop to” (how unfeeling!) and takes it out on the harp.