Thank you @BarbaraBB for sending me the book, a beautiful bookmark, and your sweet note! Love, love! 🥰

I had a fantastic time buddy reading this with @ju.ca.no and both of us loved this book to bits. 🌲

Heidi, at an early age, loses both of her parents, and hence, comes to live with her grandfather up on the Alm (Swiss Alps). Her love & curiosity for nature & its wonders will make one want to step outside & admire one‘s surroundings. Heidi‘s time living amongst the lap of nature goes on, until one day she has to get away and live in the city. 👇🏽

The gift of a book which makes you move while also bringing a stillness to the rhythm of life, is an excellent gift, no?

I received The Summer Book as a present from the sweetest, @JennyM last year. Thank you, love! 🥰

The writing in here encompasses multiple themes – philosophy, adventure, nature descriptions in their glory as well as chaos, inspirations from Jansson‘s life experiences, humour, mystery, literature and learning. 👇🏽

Klara is an Artificial Friend (AF), with exceptional observational qualities & the ability to feel. She meets Josie (or rather gets chosen by Josie), & there begins a tale of friendship, love, humanity, sacrifice, selfishness. I think it was clever of the author to narrate the story from Klara‘s perspective, quite unique – the way she created a character out of the Sun is magnificent. I found the other characters well drawn as well.👇🏽

Narrated by Captain Hastings, Peril at End House is a Poirot mystery set in the fictional town of St Loo located in the south of England. The town is said be based on Torquay in the South Devon region of the UK.

Nick Buckley is the owner of End House, and has faced some life threatening attempts. She refuses to take them seriously until Poirot makes her realise otherwise, and steps in to investigate. Nick‘s friends, family, & acquaintances 👇🏽

@ju.ca.no & i have been reading children‘s classics together & we have been having so much fun with them. 👯‍♀️

This autobiographical account of Gerry & his family‘s adventures is a complete joyride, a total roller coaster of events. It‘s the first book in a 3 part series.

Gerry (Gerald Durrell) & his family – which includes mother, two elder brothers, & an elder sister – leave England‘s windy, grey August & move to sunny Corfu in Greece. 👇🏽

Hi! ❤️ I have been very inactive here, and i missed you all. I finished reading Willowes sometime back, and missed the discussion, yet again. But i went through the comments, which I found to be an interesting exchange of thoughts. Here‘s my review:

Lolly (Laura), an ageing spinster is forced to live with her relations and be part of their domestic lives. The notion that, because a woman is not married, she is not an individual, is sharply,👇🏽

I wasn‘t able to participate in the last NYRB discussion, but hoping to make it to this one!

Sylvia about this book: “I felt as though I had tried to make a sword, only to be told what a pretty pattern there was on the blade”, she wrote to a friend.

#nyrbbookclub

Recommended!

“I was learning that in the 21st century it would sometimes be impossible to differentiate between the pretext for an experience, the record of that experience, & the experience itself.”

Jia has written a sharp collection of essays encompassing contemporary problems, attitudes, & behaviours although some have been steeped in society for a long while. These essays are intertwined but very wholesome in their individual messaging 👇🏽

Read this with @ju.ca.no for our #childrensclassics buddy read and immensely enjoyed it.

Charlotte‘s Web is a remarkable tale of friendship, loyalty, and kindness. The story begins with a bond developing between a little girl Fern and her pig whom she names Wilbur. After growing up a bit, Wilbur goes to live in a barn, on a farm, with many other animals. The barn is quite an adventure but he longs for a friend.👇🏽

I adored this story. It‘s a book i would love to re-read, although this time from an edition which has illustrations as gorgeous as @ju.ca.no ‘s copy. It‘s a simple story but one full of many lessons for children & adults alike. Ratty, Mole, Toad, & Badger live in the countryside & go through many moments of adventures & thrill, constituting lessons for life – friendship, forgiveness, love, helpfulness, appreciation for nature & its bounty. 👇🏽

Gift from husband! 🤩

Dates for the weekend! 😁
Happy weekend, everyone!

“Shuggie watched her and said under his breath, “Why can‘t I be enough?””

Inspired by Stuart‘s own life experiences, Shuggie Bain is a heartbreaking account of a son reaching out for his mother‘s love, while also struggling with his identity. Heavily succumbed to alcohol and abuse; and living a loveless life, Agnes (mother) reaches at a stage where she is unable to shower any love for her children. 👇🏽

Ah! What a brilliant thing it is to like reading.

Ladies and gentlemen, i am ready.

@vivastory @emilyhaldi

#nyrbbookclub

This book. 💔

What an excellent narrative of life – its joys and suffering. It's set in a (fictional) town called Sárszeg based on Szabadka in Hungary, encompassing a September week of 1899. That's one rich week in literature. More than the plot, i loved the way the author detailed the mundane. He has a knack for writing sharp profile of characters, their reveries, thoughts, & actions. He involves you in their lives – you are not just a spectator anymore, 👇🏽

“And through the window of an elaborately carved wooden case, the sauntering brass hands of a grandfather clock, which sliced the seemingly endless day into tiny pieces, showed the time: half past twelve.”

Repeat that everyday since almost a year, and it becomes a very resonating sentiment.

#nyrbbookclub

“What do you want from us? The dumb girls are too dumb, the smart girls are too smart, and the average girls are too unexceptional?”

Set in South Korea, this is the story of Kim coursing through different phases – each steeped in gender bias/patriarchy – of her life and how this discrimination affects her mental state. Who are the responsible parties? Not just men and women outside (at jobs, university, civic amenities etc.), but also the 👇🏽

Gosh! The last 3 months have flown for me (getting married is a task for sure 🤪), with almost zero reading in it. This book didn't help, either. I did like the themes it portrayed – marriage, career, motherhood, friendship, feminism, New York in 1930s, horrible men (seriously, most were repulsive!) – but it felt unnecessarily long. That said, i liked how Mary made it funny and witty though. I'd say that's the primary reason i stuck to it.

Hi, lovely peeps! I have missed you all. Not been active here, 'cause got married on Feb. 21st (phew, it was a lot of work but fun too), and then we went to Maldives to chill for a bit. It was all great! We have 2 more days of time off left before we resume work. I am SO looking forward to my normal reading time. Hope you all are doing well! ❤️

Eeee! Thank you @suha_afshan for choosing the book i have always wanted to read. Looking forward to my first Vonnegut. I love the handmade card, and Bournville is one of my favourite chocolates. Happy Valentine's! 💌😊

@candority Thanks for organizing, pal! 💐

#bookcupidswap

💙

My #bookcupidswap has arrived. 🥰

@candority @suha_afshan

Spending Saturday morning reading in the balcony. 🌞🌿

#galentine #bestbuddyread

Below two quotes summarise this gorgeous book for me:

1. “At the fourth flight Lila did something unexpected. She stopped to wait for me, and when I reached her she gave me her hand. This gesture changed everything between us forever.”

It's a story of friendship written with such ferocity (see 2nd quote) that you'll find yourself immersed in the lives of everyone here.

2. “What I had tried to do in those months whenever I had to write: 👇🏽

My #bookcupidswap is going out this weekend! 😀

@candority What a fun swap!🎈

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2021/january/literary-new-years-resolutions-k...

❤️ Take good care of yourself, you all!

I guess that's all of us! 🤭

Dying! 😂

I hadn't seen this one before, @Reggie !

😁 Well, that would be nice!

Hi, my love @JennyM ! Thanks for thinking of me & sending this beautiful package of love. The Summer Book sounds joyful & just apt for this time of the year. I am super excited about my intro to Australian fiction, & there are plenty to read now ( @Rissreads sent some too). 🥰 Looking forward to discussing them all with you. Litsy has been my happy place since i joined, & as you said it, we have found some wonderful friends here. Happy '21! 😘💙🎈

Just the kind of swap i was looking for! Signed up. Thank you @candority for organizing! ☺️

#bookcupidswap

Hi, hi! It's here, it's here. Thank you so much for this box of happiness and love, my friend. I am a novice when it comes to #ozfiction, hence, very excited to get to these. And, my winter has become so much more interesting now, because that's a beautiful mug to consume my daily dose(s) of coffee. Love the card and your sweet note - Merry Christmas, and a Happy 2021. 😘❤️🎈

@Rissreads

Hi Paula! ❤️ Thanks for tagging me. Been a bit late in sharing this, but still wanted to squeeze it in before the year ends. Here's my #20best2020 (the year when reading kept me the most sane). There are some in here which I will be re-reading for sure.

@Centique

Fun tag, @Cinfhen ! Thankee! 💙

I am tagging anybody who hasn't done it yet and wishes to share their #top20reads of the year.

Thank you @Blackink_WhitePaper for the yummy chocolate and this book. I have read The Poet X by Acevedo and really looking forward to reading her other works. I love love the bookmark, you are so kind. 🎈❤️

#jolabokaflodswap

@MaleficentBookDragon

Yay! The book and chocolates i sent under the #jolabokaflodswap has made it to my match in the US. Thank you for letting me know! 🙂 @DoctorMirabilis1267

@Blackink_WhitePaper I have recieved the book. Will open it on the designated date. Eeee! 😁

@MaleficentBookDragon

😂

A Selection of the 30 Most Disappointing Under 30

https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/a-selection-of-the-30-most-disappoi...

“Adults, waiting for tomorrow, move in a present behind which is yesterday or the day before yesterday or at most last week: they don't want to think about the rest. Children don't know the meaning of yesterday, of the day before yesterday, or even of tomorrow, everything is this, now: the street is this, the doorway is this, the stairs are this, this is Mamma, this is Papa, this is the day, this is night.”

Claudia Rankine on her ideal reading experience. I still haven't read the books she mentioned. 😶

Claudia Rankine Wishes More Writers Thought About Whiteness https://nyti.ms/39gJhUo

I have mailed out my #jolabokaflodswap via Book Depository, and will be sending the chocolate separately. The postal situation isn't very good right now, so didn't want to take a chance. 🙂

@MaleficentBookDragon

🤭

Well, the pressure is certainly building up now. My boyfriend gifted all of these. 😁

Hopping on this ride!

My boyfriend gifted it to me in June this year, and he‘s been checking on me since then as to when would i pick it up? Love that kind of chivvying. 😊📖

“I couldn't stop singing to myself in the taxi–that heavenly tune about taking a chance on love.”

It's 1950s, Sally Jay Gorce in her early 20s travels from America to Paris to live life carefree. Paris at that time is brimming with artists (expatriates or otherwise) of various intellects; culture; and a thrill of experiencing a foreign life. It's a brilliantly vivid portrait of a woman who just wants to have different experiences and is 👇🏽

Eeee! Signed up. ☺️

#jolabokaflodswap

@MaleficentBookDragon

I purchased this recently, and have been in awe of the cover and the title. 🍎🌳

@Birdsong28 Thankee for the tag! 😊

I am tagging anyone who wants to show off some of their favourite book covers. 📚

I have always wanted to own a green Virago Classic, and voila! #usedbooks

Hello new favourite read!

You all, this is one of the most beautiful diary/journal entry i have read.

✍️: Fantastic narrator (one of the best I have come across). She is FUNNY (among all the other things)
👨👩🏼: A brilliant cast of characters
🌃 🏞️ 🌄: Lots of great descriptions of architecture, nature, English countryside, weather etc.
🧬: Great observations and experiences about life, its sorrows and joys

I am so glad i read this.