This book is a hilarious ride from start to finish. It‘s a brilliant spin on the Greek myth of Theseus. It‘s terrible that the book went out of print in Ross‘ lifetime and that she never got to know that it came back into print and received some of the recognition it deserves after her death. #LitsyAtoZ

“She still had to get inside to go through her father‘s bookshelf. She was still a bit pissed off at Samuel for falling out of the fool window before he had told her the secret of her birth.” This book is a complete riot.

#7covers7days #coverlove - Day 7 Thanks for the tag @merelybookish ! This was fun!

#7covers7days #coverlove - Day 6

#7covers7days #coverlove - Day 5

#7covers7days #coverlove - Day 4

#7days7covers - Day 3

#7covers7days #coverlove - Day 2

#7days7covers #coverlove Day 1 - no explanation needed

This book was so brilliant, beautiful and heartbreaking. The horrific story of children crossing the southern border to come to the U.S. The perception and imagination of the boy and the girl. And the pain of the parents as they grapple with history, current events, and their personal crises. I‘m really sad this one didn‘t make the Booker shortlist. #LitsyAtoZ

No one decides not to go to work and start a hunger strike after listening to the radio in the morning. Everyone continues with their normal lives, no matter the severity of the news they hear, unless the severity concerns weather.

I loved this book even more than Conversations with Friends, which I didn‘t think was possible. I‘m so in awe of Rooney‘s writing, of her ability to capture in words the complicated flaws that make us human. #LitsyAtoZ

Thrilled to be listening to Matthew Desmond talk about the eviction crisis in the U.S. at the Colorado Health Symposium.

Finished this fantastic book on this hot summer morning. Such a cathartic reading experience. Kristen Arnett does an amazing job of illustrating Jessa‘s slow process of dismantling her past and discovering herself. The taxidermy metaphor throughout is spot on and beautiful. ❤️

How excited am I to start this book?!!? 😃

I really wanted to like this book better than I did. I like what she‘s trying to do, but for me the different story lines and historical documentation aspect didn‘t hang together, and it felt a little forced. I appreciated the social commentary on gender roles and power, though. #LitsyAtoZ

An afternoon of thunderstorms at Telluride bluegrass was a perfect reason to read this book. Such a fun psychological portrait where you‘re not sure which character is the most crazy. Both, probably.

Finally made it to Telluride for the bluegrass festival after all these years in Colorado! But first, a stop at the legendary local bookstore, obviously.

Such a fantastic story of life. The good and bad, the messiness of it. And how in the end, it comes down to the relationships we have with one another, in all their imperfection. Great summer read. #LitsyAtoZ

Such a joy to read this book. Every time. “What a lark! What a plunge!” 🥰

This book is a picture of life in the midst of, in the face of, our current reality. I think it might also be about realizing that we can refuse to let the things that are happening own us. But it acknowledges the ludicrousness of it all.
@readordierachel I agree that it was cathartic to read this book in many ways.

This book is intriguing so far. Including the way it casually weaves recent events into the story. “It was the week Obamacare was rolled back, everyone was talking about preexisting conditions. David was wearing a ski jacket zipped to the neck.”

This is a powerful collection of stories/portraits of women. They are raw and candid and Roxane Gay doesn‘t mince words or avert her eyes. Women shouldn‘t have to hide the things that happen to them, and I feel like this collection helps bring them into the light. #LitsyAtoZ

This is an incredibly well-done biography of Justice Ginsburg, told through her writings, speeches, and legal opinions over the decades. Seeing the full span of her legal scholarship on gender, race, and sexuality in one book is awe-inspiring and reaffirms why she is a force to be reckoned with. 💪 I love that the audio book uses archival recordings to deliver the text whenever available.

It‘s been a little while since I‘ve sobbed while reading a book. This is such a beautiful story of loss and grief, and at the same time of love and life and resilience and hope. I kept thinking of the Woolf quote: “I meant to write about death, only life came breaking in as usual.” #LitsyAtoZ

“Airport, car door, buy a shower curtain, get divorced.” This book is wrecking me. It‘s so incredibly sad, but also has lines that make me laugh out loud.

I‘m with you @merelybookish - reading this book again has been quite an emotional experience. It‘s exquisite. The way she captures how time and space change (and don‘t) our perspectives and our feelings about one another and ourselves, is breathtaking. As Lily Briscoe says, “so much depends...upon distance: whether people are near us or far from us.” Thanks for reading with me!

When a friend comes in from out of town and brings you a book that‘s on your TBR.... 😍

I laughed and cried on my commute this morning listening to Justice Ginsburg give a speech written by her late husband two months to the day following his death. She told the story (in her husband‘s words) of the case she took on in the 70s that helped launch her efforts to establish the unconstitutionality of laws that discriminate on the basis of sex.

I am in awe of how Woolf is able to shift between the perspectives of different characters to build the complex narrative of the story. This parenthetical chapter from the hikers‘ perspective answers Mrs. Ramsey‘s question about whether Nancy went with them. And then the narrative comes back to Mrs. Ramsey in the brief following chapter: “‘Yes,‘ said Prue, in her considering way, answering her mother's question, ‘I think Nancy did go with them.‘”

Current audiobook. I‘m such a fan, and the audio version of this book is incredible because so many of the pieces are in her voice as archival recordings. She also reads the preface. ❤️💪

“Such she often felt herself-struggling against terrific odds to maintain her courage; to say: ‘But this is what I see; this is what I see,‘.... And it was then too, in that chill and windy way, as she began to paint, that there forced themselves upon her other things, her own inadequacy, her insignificance, keeping house for her father off the Brompton Road....”
Always so taken with Woolf‘s ability to articulate the vulnerability of being human.

This book is so wild and disconcerting. The structure of the narrative kept me off-kilter, blurring the past and present and placing my understanding of events in the hands of two narrators who are ... poisoned? dying? already dead? All the while, horrifying things have happened, are happening, are going to happen any moment. It really is like a fever dream. #LitsyAtoZ

Desmond does groundbreaking work to show the impacts of housing security on poverty and vice versa, and he combines stories with data to illustrate how systems and policies work as they‘re designed to keep the power structure intact. He offers solutions, too; there is evidence to show what works to lift families out of poverty and ensure access to stable housing, if we have the political will to do so.

It felt so different to re-read this book as an adult. It was beautiful and sad and familiar and comforting; I savored it to the last line. Woolf can capture the emotions and experiences of life like no other writer. In this book she weaves together moments of the characters‘ everyday lives; we follow them as they grow up, make choices, have regrets, are happy and unhappy, fulfilled and unfulfilled. ❤️

This passage felt very appropriate as I read it today during the crazy snowstorm here. ❄️ #bombcyclone

Happy Friday y‘all. 😁

A great story that examines human relationships, hopes, and passions, in the context of slavery and racism. As Wash makes his way in the world, comes into his own, and seeks answers about his life, we also see through his eyes the complexities of the other characters - because his survival depends on his ability to read others. #LitsyAtoZ

I had a long drive to and from a work event today, so I made some progress on this audiobook. It‘s an excellent portrayal of the systemic and structural barriers to housing and economic security faced by some families. We must do better.

This was a great read. A creative spin on the myth of Oedipus, and an intense look at the relationships between parents and children, with our past, and fate. Fantastic storytelling from start to finish. “The places we are born come back.” #LitsyAtoZ

Excited to start this one today!! 😃

I appreciated the genius of this book. It really lets you inside the mind of the narrator as you try to follow his unraveling, and it‘s hard to read at times. But the narrator‘s love for humanity and for this manuscript he is describing throughout the book is pretty beautiful. I really got sucked into the story in the manuscript, even though it‘s conveyed secondhand through the narrator. #LitsyAtoZ

A few books I may have accidentally purchased this weekend.... Thanks everyone for your great reviews of these books! I‘m excited to get to them! 😃

Enjoying a fine Saturday afternoon with these beauts. 😁 #booksandbeer

Working my way through my next #LitsyAtoZ book. I really admire Krasznahorkai‘s writing, but it‘s always a challenge. In this book, each short chapter is one long sentence. 😃

#LitsyPartyofOne 😁

A retelling of the myth of Iphis by the brilliant Ali Smith. The myth is woven into the story in multiple layers, starting with the opening line - “Let me tell you about when I was a girl, my grandfather says” - and Smith uses the myth to make a powerful statement about the ways in which gender still factors so much into our lives today. #LitsyAtoZ

I love Anne Carson, and this book was another example of her talent. Autobiography of Red is still my favorite, but this was a great read. “To live past the end of your myth is a perilous thing.”

“She is beneath this roof. . . . She is beneath this roof!”
Happy Birthday Virginia Woolf! ❤️

Here‘s mine. 😊
#20thingsaboutme @LibrarianRyan

Thanks for tagging me @merelybookish