Welcome to Litsy!

"It is said there are 99 Arabic words for love..."
A captivating love story, as witnessed by Bea, an American student in #Syria.

One of my favourite words is “Kjærlighet” which is the Norwegian word for Love. I reminds me a lot of the Danish word “Kærlighed”, but the extra syllables in the Norwegian word just look better, in my opinion. Also, my grandmother is from Norway, and I have fond memories of all her birthday cards and letters to me ending with Kjærlighet ❤️ #LinsyLovesLitsy

I have mixed feelings on this book. It was slow and the narrative timeline was occasionally confusing and it honestly didn‘t get better until 70% through the book. But the writing had some beautiful moments. And as an American living in a Muslim country who also loves books and language, I wanted to witness the story. Even if I had to force myself to keep reading it a couple of times.

“I suppose the heroine had to grow a very big heart. Big enough to fit her home, and the new place where she lived.”
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I love the idea that we have to grow a part of ourselves to love both where we‘ve been and where we‘re at. And as both this book and life demonstrates, it‘s not always easy.
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Granted, some days are easier than others. Especially when reading lakeside.

I just can't. The circular, returning, short, stream of consciousness style of writing is driving me NUTS. And the plot! It's trying for epic and universal but mostly just feels banal and dead. I am DONE.

This one has mixed reviews here. Wonder how I'll like it. Challenge accepted.

I wanted to like this book but there isn't much of a glimpse into the Syrian culture...maybe that was intentional because our narrator was American? But it was disappointing. Also disappointing was the *great* love story between the maid and the cop. Neither character felt particularly well-drawn, and the cop was particularly annoying. However, the writing-although occasionally repetitive-was beautiful. The book was just bleh

This book was just okay for me. The love story I was expecting didn't wow me and I didn't feel/learn much about life in war-torn Syria, perhaps because this was through the eyes of a young American girl.
At times I thought about abandoning this read because I was bored.

A kind of dreamy tale with some underlying darkness. I enjoyed. #readharder

She is being a major creep. She's been staring me and my snacks down for a while now and won't let up. I wish she'd just hop onto my lap to cuddle. #beagle #dogsoflitsy #snackmachine #chowhound

My lap is quite crowded tonight.
Little guy is watching Ghostbusters so I'm going to try to start a new book.
#dogsoflitsy #momlife

I loved that this was set in the Middle East--I've never read a book that was set in that geographical region, but the story felt disconnected to me and after a while I stopped caring what would happen. The writing was beautiful in parts, but it was missing something.⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Learning is a form of being free." #quotes

So happy I'm subscribed to @musemonthly ... I would have never picked this book up on my own, but I'm so enjoying it!

"It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." -Oscar Wilde
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#quotes

My new #MuseMonthly came today and my #tbr stack is getting out of control.

There are 99 words in Arabic for love or so Bea is told when she goes to Syria to study. Living with her host family she finds neither the education nor the romance she is seeking but learns and loves in ways she never expected. I liked everything that happened around the main plot the best and found the ending clunky but I would recommend this one.

Went to pick up my library holds today and one has#loveinthetitle. I started it on the train and am intrigued. #17booklove.