Welcome to Litsy!

This book was:
🩵 A good story about a family in the wake of infidelity
🩵 A sharply funny skewering of academia (I've met some of these characters. I know these characters. She nailed it.)
🩵 A fascinating and unabashed exploration of race, class, gender, and family
🩵 A damn good book.

This was for my own #readthedecades challenge. It was published 20 years ago (2005).

Her writing is truly engaging. She writes characters like no one else.

Read it in saint lucia.

My first Zadie Smith book, enjoying it. Love an academia story, especially one with humor.

Loved this book!!

My Christmas books for may reading !

Bookish gifts are some of my favorite kinds. @AFrostCauseReads thanks for joining me in our own Jolabokaflod swap, after I missed the sign up date for the one here on Litsy. Bookmark from my 4 year old nephew, with help from my sister. We live by the same motto: READ ALL THE BOOKS!!

When you are guilty, all you can ask for is a deferral of the judgement.

Most of the cruelty in the world is just misplaced energy

Zadie Smith's best novel!
#letterO #AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This is a wonderful book. My next choice is An old fashioned girl 🤗

#alphabetgame #LetterO

Oh Howard you are a very naughty boy! Apparently this book is based loosely on Howard‘s end by EM Forster, a book I am yet to read.
I loved this book. Another fantastic book club pick!
The characters are all so messy, real people are messy, life is messy!
Smith is a fabulous writer, I can‘t wait to read more from her.

Book about London combined with a travel memory
#JulyJourneys

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This book shows the complexity of human nature in regards to beauty. There‘s a lot of family drama, and most of the beauty in question is about appearance or personality (inner v outer). But the parts I liked the most were the analysis of paintings&poetry and the inspiration for them.

I kept waiting for a focal character, but it centers around two families, and keeps branching off. Most characters were very flawed, and real, but not likable

#lmpbc #groupv any of these strike your fancy?

Currently reading this, my first Zadie Smith and I am starting to get the characters personalities but I am not quite gripped yet...

absolutely stunning. on beauty is so insightful on issues such as classism, racism, sexism & fatphobia. she intertwines this discussion with plot so cleverly by placing these issues within reality rather than it feeling as if the scene is forced to allow discussion to take place. zadie is phenomenal. PHENOMENAL

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel by Zadie Smith and am glad I gave it a chance after striking out with some of her others. (I love her essay collections but often struggle with her fiction for some reason.) On Beauty nods to E.M. Forester's Howards End and deals with issues of social conventions, cultural norms, and identity.

"Even on this short trip to the bohemian end of Wellington – a journey that, having been traversed by car, offered no opportunity whatsoever for reading – she had brought along, in her knapsack, three novels and a short tract by De Beauvoir on ambiguity"

? Is this line me? ? (Never too many books!)

Thank you @Cinfhen for tagging me - sorry, day got away from me! 1. No, my spouse is not a reader but he indulges me enough or at least without comment. 2. My parents are reading fiends, too. But not quite the same reading tastes. My mom will read what I read — the more fun stuff? But she can never remember what she just read 😂🤦🏻‍♀️ 3. I own a Zadie Smith but still haven‘t read anything she‘s written. Many authors are on my “must get to” list

It took me a while to get into this, I think I probably need more plot-driven reads at a time when my life doesn‘t involve much plot! I was convinced that I didn‘t like any of these characters up until the last 50 pages when I was welling up, rooting for and worrying for some of them. It‘s been on my shelf for such a long time, now ticked off thanks to #authoramonth ! @Soubhiville

#AuthorAMonth So this is loosely based on Howard‘s End by E.M.Forster ,a book I love .I really enjoyed this dark comedy of morals & culture of 2 families with ties to university.The Belseys, mix raced British/American family & their kids would be the more liberal faction, & are shocked when son Jerome becomes Christian after a brief liaison with the daughter of the academic conservative Monty Kipps , Howard Belseys nemesis.Absolutely adored it!

The last 2days were to busy for me. And I didn't read so much. Doing some paperwork and driving around always tired me.
Today I took half hour and went to the library. I borrow On Beauty by Zadie Smith and The Flight on the Falcom by Daphne du Maurier for #aam (I missed january challenge).
And I also borrow a Collection of Vietnam National fairytales by Zdenka Jermanova for #FoodandLit

#slovenianedition #librarybooks #tbr

I'm really not feeling this. I hope it gets better. Yawn 😴

#AAM I don‘t think Zadie and I are a good fit. I was mildly amused by the first 2/3 of this book but by the time part 3 arrived, I had mentally checked out. I did manage to skim the last third but I was exhausted by the wordiness and pretentiousness. Nope 👎🏼 Between so-so and pan ~ span? #Pop21 #WomanFictionAwardWinner ( so, what do I know?!?)

I‘m really enjoying my #AAM @Soubhiville
Sharp, witty writing but man....the print is teeny tiny😩😩😩
Yes, my flowers match the book cover 💁‍♀️

#ShowSomeLove
#FaveBlackAuthor - I picked up White Teeth from the bargain bin at my university bookstore. The cover looked like a light, fun, comedy. What I read was something more, and I fell in love with her way with words. The Autograph Man was a stumble, On Beauty was bliss, and N-W reminded me of the possibilities of literary fiction at a time when I forgot that my brain really could handle work that required thought (baby brain is real).

February already? #AuthorAMonth Stopped by a local indie & snagged this used copy.The only book of Ms. Smiths I have read is White Teeth.I found it hard to get into at first, lots going on with many characters.When I found my rhythm ,I really enjoyed it.After scanning some reviews, I picked this one .

The story of two families, the Belseys and the Kipps....and how their lives intertwine while both men, professors and rivals, teach at Wellington College in Massachusetts. A good book, a bit long, lots of drama. 3 1/2 stars

#AuthoraMonth February @Soubhiville

I cheated a little and started this end of January. 🤣

#24B4Monday @Andrew65

I finished my horror book, The Only Good Indians. I started Queenie for #SundayBuddyRead. And for #AuthoraMonth I managed to read a good half of the tagged book. So I did what I set out to do! 👍🏻

Finally my #bookspinbingo list for February!
A bunch of these have been sitting in my shopping cart but I‘ve gone and found them either at my libraries or on other sub services so I‘m gonna try to read them before my willpower caves completely 😬
#BookBan2021

These are the 4 Zadie Smith books I have on my shelves. I doubt I‘ll get to all 4 this month but I will try...anyone have any favorites from this stack?
#authoramonth

🚨Great deal on an #authoramonth #aam US kindle book!🚨

On sale on kindle in the US today #AuthorAMonth our author for February! @Soubhiville

This is up next after I finish “The Mothers.” It‘s been on my shelf for a decade at least. #integrateyourshelf

Re read!! I never re read books but this one is definitely worth it, can't believe how much a 15 year gap is a totally different read! And I will always love the cover. Staying in a lovely little flat in Whitby, eating lots of seafood nom nom

This book has such rhythm, insight, and justice to it. After just finishing it, I feel like I should read it again.

Bedtime reading! I technically started this last night but only read first few pages to make sure I wanted it to be next. I‘m already loving these families feuding.

#blackvoices

#BookMail 💕#BookDepository 🙌🏻But #BuyersRemorse #SmallPrint 😢#BookNerdProblems

A great book ! Lots of vibrant characters .. I loved Kiki & Zora .. I loved them all. An intelligent & beautiful work & a page turner to boot ... a readers ( this reader anyway) dream ✨✨✨✨✨

#BookReport I finished this beautiful book ✨

I‘m loving On Beauty so much , that I went & got 2 more of her books , on the last day Waterstones was open. I think I have a new favorite author. Great story , characters, writing , & a page turner ✨✨✨✨✨

#BookReport beautiful page-turner ... progress is slow though , I keep being surprised when the characters go out to a social gathering... I want to warn them : social distancing & lock down ... worlds colliding
I can predict this is #weeklyforecast too
I would recommended it , a good read & more ❤️👍🏻

The first outdoor reading of the spring .... ❤️ loving this one so far

#bookreport #weeklyforecast

Finished .. Wolf Hall . ✨✨✨✨✨✨
Reading.. Did You Ever Have A Family .. very good ❤️👍🏻

Received On Beauty from the lovely @youneverarrived , I was very bold & opened it early , I wanted to post because our Katie will be very busy soon ❤️... I‘ve had a tiny read & it‘s so good , I know I will love it , thanks so much Katie X I will continue to read On Beauty this week

After a long hiatus, I started up a book club again. I chose On Beauty because Zadie Smith always delivers. This book was no exception! If anyone is familiar, do you have any discussion ideas?

Her writing is truly engaging. She writes characters like no one else.

Read it in saint lucia.

Smith's update of Howards End is a big novel with rich characters who grapple with weighty societal controversies involving race, class, justice, and family dynamics. Lots to unpack, but I enjoyed seeing the tradition of old novels about grand ideas applied in a modern context. The characters were all equally fascinating and her writing in dialect made them more real (even when it's not perfect). I also found the drama multilayered and intense.

I kept rereading this over and over. It's just an ordinary moment between and elderly father and his adult son, but...wow. So much in so few words.

A modern take on Howard's End. If you've read Howard's End, you'll enjoy her nudges to the original. It's a bit tough (not big words, just intense at times) to read, as she touches on some heavy topics that multicultural families deal with in modern society. This isn't an adventure novel, nor does it have an intense climactic point, but it really keeps you engaged and surprises you with every turn of a chapter.