This just arrived today 😍😍😍 I‘ve only read his memoir and essays so far, and I admire him so much. When I grow up, I want to be OS !

Just started this today, and Zola served me a very descriptive DV 🥴

About 6 weeks left in 2024, and I have 6 titles left for this series. Can I do it? Can I? 🤪

3⭐️ This is a thought-provoking novel that offers a compelling exploration of the artistic struggle between creative vision and commercial success. The story follows Claude Lantier, a talented but troubled painter, as he navigates the Parisian art scene. His struggles feel authentic but the supporting characters are not as engaging

Another article about Silent Book Club Singapore. Well written profile 👍🏻

https://www.anza.org.sg/2024/11/06/inside-the-world-of-singapores-silent-book-cl...

3⭐️ This is a perfect book for Halloween. 11 stories about ghosts 👻 I would‘ve given a higher rating if the endings are more conclusive. I was left feeling unsatisfied for most. My favorites are “Afterward” and “A Bottle of Perrier.” There‘s no ghost for the latter but a gruesome finding at the end, and I found it the most entertaining.

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes 💕 I spent my birthday hiking the Togakushi trail. Beautiful nature ❤️

I‘m so behind with my reading. September and October were busy months 🥴

The recording for the NLB event is here. We discussed BookTok and backlists.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/YbqHTLjQizB7UFK5/?mibextid=QwDbR1

I just had a fun discussion at the NLB event. We talked about BookTok resurgence of backlisted titles. I will be sharing my book recommendations here 😬

I was invited by National Library Board Singapore to speak at their panel discussion on 8 Oct.

I‘m not following BookTok and I don‘t really read BookTok books but I read a lot of backlists 😆 I‘ll be sharing how I search for titles that interest me, and how people benefit from bookclubs.

I‘m staring at my shelves now to create a list of book recommendations 📚

If you are keen to listen in, get tickets here: go.gov.sg/worththehype3

In the mood for Comyns

For September bookclub. This is sooooo good 😍 Add this to your shopping cart, please!

4⭐️ This was a fun and quick read for me. Comyns mixed a handful of interesting characters in one boarding house that belongs to Amy Doll. The lodgers are four elderly prostitutes who keep their days busy entertaining their elderly gentlemen friends 😅 Comyns has her ways in making me laugh and feel sad afterwards. I don‘t know how she did it, it‘s just magic!

😎

Almost halfway and it‘s been so good! 🤓

3.5⭐️ Funny and entertaining, this book is such an easy read. I think I would‘ve appreciated it more if I read this in my younger days. The madness would have been more relatable back then. Nevertheless, it‘s an entertaining novel and I had some good laughs thanks to Jim Dixon‘s shenanigans.

Rushing Lucky Jim for our book club meeting this Sunday. I‘m back in my hometown for 2-week break 🥳 and today I spent some time at the most popular cafe in town Coffee & Beyond. My drink is called Kermit the Frog, which is dirty matcha. Not bad at all 😃

4⭐️ What a tough book to read! 😅 Platonov deployed so many layers of irony in this story of communist experiment in a district named Chevengur. It‘s not easy to realize the dream of creating a perfect communist world. The communist intellectuals themselves were not sure about the concepts and implementations. It‘s really a brain-wrecking novel but I‘m also encouraged to read Platonov‘s other works now 😆

4⭐️ I was looking forward to reading this book because 1. It‘s Kempowski!, and 2. It‘s rare to have WWII story from Germany‘s POV. This is an autobiographical novel of a boy growing up under Nazi rule. Reading this book ~80 years after the actual event, I don‘t see anything ordinary about his childhood. I was fascinated by his bohemian family, and how they dealt with the disruption of war.

Happy Wednesday, Littens! I have not been reading for the last two weeks!! 🙈 Somehow I have no mood to pick up a book… which is so weird!

🖼️: Pinterest

I think he is right 😐

I had no idea about Andrey Platonov and his works; all I knew is that NYRB said that it‘s good and so I decided to read it. The Chandlers translated this novel and they translated Vasily Grossman‘s works so I trusted them. So I read the first chapter and thought “wow so this is about the famine period! This is going to be tough!” I then flipped to the translator‘s note and Robert Chandler‘s first sentence says 👇🏻

Quiet Tuesday evening 😍

It‘s the weekend!! Time to read books 💃🏻

I thought that I would have time to read after I submitted my module assignment early last month, but nope! Work has been crazy recently. This week alone, I have 6 presentations to do. And I‘m also fatter so I‘ve been spending more time at the gym recently 😤 I need time to read! A friend suggested audiobook for the gym, but the thing is… I can‘t audio and cardio 😆 I‘m pretty sure I‘m getting side eyes from my unread books 😑

5⭐️ Wow wow!!! I love this novel so much!!! It‘s crazy family saga and all the characters are just insane! I was impressed that Morante could keep the momentum until the end. She‘s a genius 🤩 Grab this as your next read. The chonkiness doesn‘t matter you‘d actually wish for more. This is my first Morante and as usual, thanks NYRB for publishing this gem.

At the airport‘s bookstore and am attracted by this cover 🤪 Is it any good?

Not book related, just wanna share the chill vibes of these Balinese stray dogs. They ignore the tourists and dominate the beach. Life goals!

If you need a chunkster now, I recommend this book 😍 I‘m about 30% in and the experience is like watching Taiwanese TV drama but with a lot of hand gestures 🤌🏻 I‘m loving this!!

Annual pilgrimage 😆 #bali

Hahahaha found this on Instagram 🤪 Have a good Friday, everyone!

I hope to finish this series this year 😜 Seems to be my annual resolution hahahaha but let‘s make it happen this time😅 I started this in January 2020, btw 🙈

Wooohoooo I just submitted my school assignment 😝 Now I can read!!!!! Hurrah 🥳

3⭐️ I like this new translation work; I cannot imagine reading this in verse 🙈 I wish that Gogol didn‘t burn some of the part 2. I‘m really curious what he had in mind for Chichikov‘s ending. What‘s the original plan? How would it end in part 3?

All that Gogol mentioned here about society is still relevant today. We have not changed after all, and this was written in 1840s.

Our Silent Book Club is getting attention; we are featured in FEMALE magazine this time.

https://www.femalemag.com.sg/culture/book-club-literature-reading-booktok-singap...

Current stack

2⭐️ With the exception of a few, thin NYRBs usually disappoint 😕

Accurate! 😅

3⭐️ Jane Ellen Harrison was a Hellenist, a famous scholar during her time. What an interesting charater! I would love to have her profession if I could do everything all over again 🤪

Just started this book this morning, and I like it so far. Harrison‘s funny and witty - she made me smile 😍

4.5⭐️ In this book, Zola chose the themes of poverty, alcoholism, and domestic violence. Zola being Zola, he didn‘t hold back 😭 My heart broke for Gervaise Macquart 💔 and she‘s been haunting me. I can‘t stop thinking about her.

I started this book last year but I stopped halfway. I picked it up again recently and I have about 80 pages left. It‘s sooooo sad 😭 I will forever remember Gervaise Macquart 😢

4⭐️ Yay, I finished the book! It took me slightly more than 2 weeks, eventhough the Librivox audio is just around 40 hours 🙊 I wouldn‘t survive this without the audio, really. Story-wise, I was more invested at the start than at the end. I don‘t know, I guess I was expecting more fireworks. I still prefer David Copperfield to this.

💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
So many characters!!!! 😅

I must thank this lady Mil Nicholson for her brilliant reading of Bleak House. When I was in the first chapter I knew that I wouldn‘t survive reading this book if without the help of an audiobook. I searched online and my local library to find the voice that I like. I‘m lucky to find one https://youtu.be/uXt5OlPkAos?si=cljPizg3PBQE5BvQ Two days in, and I‘m already at 22%. That‘s pretty amazing, thanks to Mil.

Just started this chunkster. I forgot how verbose Dickens is; he wrote one lengthy paragraph about the fog 😑😑😑 Luckily, I found an audiobook on youtube https://youtu.be/uXt5OlPkAos?si=bF0lunVhndkEEWxB Reading/listening combo works best for me

4⭐️ Another enjoyable read from Mary Lawson. I like how the three characters are connected, how they are actually reflections of one another. There‘s something about her writing that I really like… simple, engaging, and addictive 😍

4⭐️ What a gem of a novel! 😍 Macaulay follows the fortunes of the Garden family and life in England from 1879 to 1923. I like the emphasis that nothing changes in human life. Look at us! Here we are in year 2024 but we behave the same as those before us. It‘s true that history repeats itself.