Welcome to Litsy!

This is the story of 2 Australian sisters who are orphaned + move with their half-sister to England. The story stretches from the late 1940s to the 70s as we follow mainly Caro's love life and Grace's marriage. It is intricately told with precise + beautiful writing. The ending is a shock as a secret is revealed, which changes the readers' views on well drawn characters. This is my 1st Shirley Hazzard, and I loved the story and her wonderful prose

Every sentence is perfectly structured. Every word is carefully chosen. Shirley Hazzard might be a new favourite author for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this. 🏆

I had the afternoon off, so I did some shopping at two of my favorite independent bookstores!

This book was such hard work, I had to download a dictionary on my phone to make sense of a lot of it. I feel that this made it less enjoyable for me and made me feel stupid some of the time. But I still liked it. Apparently it is better on the second read. I haven‘t decided if I will bother yet.

This. Book. 😍🤩🙏🏻

My first Shirley Hazzard, although I have others on my #tbr that I got from my mum over the years.

Exceptionally beautiful and complex in form and function. It reminded me of Patrick White. I had to work hard but it was worth it. I feel I would like to pick it up and start all over. Instead, I‘ll put it back on my #tbr shelves and look forward to indulging again, one day when I have the time & energy. #ozfiction

This morning‘s reading spot in Augusta, on the south western tip of Western Australia. 😍🙏😎 #currentlyreading

I am excited to be starting this classic that I heard about on an Australian radio show, The Book Shelf. I am one chapter in and feel I may love it...🤞🤗.

On this week‘s episode we discuss our first #backlist read of January, The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard. What‘s the book about? You‘ll have to listen to see if we ever figured it out!

A library book has its own poetry.

I can‘t stop buying used books that I have no reason to believe I‘ll be able to read within the next decade! (And I already owned House of the Scorpion 🤦‍♀️) But I found a Mary McCarthy and after episode 12.5 it felt like destiny. That‘s like the book gods shining down on me, right? -corinne

September was a great month for me. I read 12 books that I enjoyed and made good progress on three others. I also checked off four reading challenge boxes.
But these two were the stand-outs.
#bestofseptember #fallintobooks @RealLifeReading

This book! ❤️❤️❤️ A tightly woven saga (multiple characters, many decades, several cities) told in 300+ pages. Centered on the Bell sisters, Caro and Grace, as they navigate family, love, heartbreak, disappointment, etc. But it's more than that too: it's about history, nation and making ethical choices post WWII
And it is filled with sentences that stun - with beauty, insight, and truth.
I predicted this would be a 5 🌟 read. I wasn't wrong.

Here are some books I own that I think have 5 🌟 potential. (Putting this together made me wonder why I don't just read them already? 🤔). Also, the stack turned out to be colour-coordinated. Odd.
Thanks @vivastory for reminding me of all the unread goodies I have on my shelf. @Leniverse @candority, @River_Voice consider yourselves tagged, if you haven't been already. ☺️

#planetinthetitle #junebookbugs.

RIP

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/dec/14/shirley-hazzard-internationallyacc...

What a sad day, news that Shirley Hazzard, Alan Thicke, and Thomas C. Shelling have died. I'm so done with 2016. Doing whatever I can to not be all teary eyed, so finding happy things to post. This was the only happy photo I have on hand. Not sure who to credit for it.