Welcome to Litsy!

The through line here was music but ultimately these were short stories examining relationships, miscommunication, and emotion. Quite lovely. #AuthorAMonth

“She might be a great person, but life's so much bigger than just loving someone.”

This book just flew by. It was so accessible and easy to read, even as – like I already mentioned in my last post – I don't much like reading about music in books. (Hmmm... How come I do love Murakami then? 🤔) Nevertheless, I wanted to try this one. After all, it's not only about music, but also about nightfall and strange chance encounters, and these I like very much in books. 😊Five stories of a transient lightness and bittersweet sadness.
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It feels good to finally have started a new book after Monteperdido. The tagged one is my #Doublespin book.
So far, Nocturnes is fab, even though I don't usually like reading about music in books. And the wrap matches the book's topics so perfectly! 🎶 🎷 #Bookspin #DoubleSpin

I wanted to like these. I liked the 2 novels of his that I read. But something didn‘t work. It was like he was writing about something he didn‘t know- like Eloise who can‘t play the cello but is convinced she‘s a virtuoso. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Very good stories all involving music.

Music plays in the background of these five lightly-connected stories, which flow with the looseness of improvisational jazz, yet turn on surprising chord changes and end with exquisite precision. Amusing, insightful writing that strikes just the right note while looking at various misdeeds and the conflicting quests for artistic integrity and success.

“So tonight,” he went on, “we‘re performing for Lindy. Lindy‘s the audience. So I‘m going to tell you something about Lindy. You want to hear about Lindy?”

(The character Lindy Gardner is in two out of five of these stories. How can I resist being charmed?)

I picked up Ishiguro‘s short story collection because of a glowing joint review of one of the stories (which has been published as a stand-alone). Doris and @shawnmooney reviewed it on Shawn‘s booktube channel: https://youtu.be/3dF6M8a8UTs
Each of the five stories that comprise the collection is quite long, and I‘ve enjoyed the three I‘ve read so far, including Come Rain or Come Shine.

He kept looking at me & I kept looking at him & the situation might have gone on indefinitely if he hadn‘t said into the phone: “It‘s all right. It‘s all right. It‘s a man.” There was a pause, then he said: “I thought for a moment it was something else. But it‘s a man. With a bandaged head, wearing a nightgown. That‘s all it is, I see now. It‘s just that he‘s got a chicken or something on the end of his arm.”

#musicalnewyear #musicofthenight

#Winterwonderland
My small #TBR for #December
As much as I love my job at Barnes & Noble, it‘s physically and mentally exhausting at Xmas, so I know I won‘t be reading as much as normal..... (I‘ll probably be binging on old Great British Bake Offs on Netflix to send me to sleep!😂)
The Moriarty is for brain candy, the Shirley Jackson ties up #booked2018 and the other 3 are my final #pop18 choices for true crime, space and time of day... 👍😊

Ishiguro is one of my favorites. In these five short stories of music and nightfall, he constructs narratives that withhold crucial details, conjuring anxiety in the reader because the reader always knows a little more than the character on the page. In a way, Ishiguro crafts literary sitcoms.

Up next.

I decided to make myself a #CompleteMyChallenges Bingo card for the rest of the year......
These are my picks to finish up #Pop18 , #booked2018 and #LitsyReadingChallenge2018

Five individuals find heartbreak and solace in music. #thankyouforthemusic
🎶🎵🎶🎵
Thank you for #ABBAInAugust , great timeless pop songs by the Swedish band and wonderful month of photo challenges by the stupendous five! ❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️

#audiobook

Some enjoyable short stories narrated by different voices, mainly casual voyeurs looking in on other people's relationships, in particular long standing relationships. I think my favourite had to be the gently farsical tale of a houseguest staying with old friends who attempted to convince one of the owners that a crazy dog had destroyed part of her diary which had some disparaging things about him in!

New #audiobook

I‘ve never met any writing by this author that I didn‘t love. And this collection of short stories, loosely themed around nightfall and music, are no exception.
Elegant, simple and beautiful

Interesting connections between each story, but I found some of the main characters just plain annoying tbh. But I think he did a good job of achieving an overall melancholy mood and the frustration of the music business and feeling like a failure in one‘s own industry.

Music binds together five short stories in this suite of a book, set in this world of ours that sometimes feels so vast and then suddenly so small.
There are 5 parts to music: melody, harmony, key, metre and rhythm. Nocturnes comprises of 5 parts as well and each story builds up in length and comes to peak at the fourth story. Just like a song, the book plays...

Some times funny, some times just alright.
But the storytelling is sublime!

#emojinov #🎼 @RealLifeReading
I‘ve adored the other Ishiguro novels that I‘ve read, but this one is still on my TBR.....
I think I‘m going to use it for a Pop Sugar reading Challenge prompt next year that @Cinfhen has inspired me to do, as the subtitle features a time of day.... 👍💕 #POP18

This was a bit heavy on the "let's feel sorry for the middle-aged white guy" for my personal taste - definitely prefer his novels.

Oh, dear. These are not good stories. Maybe if I was into musical snobbery and musical name dropping and/or mediocre short stories that are 95% character, 5% plot, I would finish this. But, I'm not. So, I won't.

I look forward to reading a novel by Ishiguro, though!

I don't eat ice cream anymore, which is a fact I hadn't lamented too much...UNTIL TODAY! All of the #RiotGrams #BooksandIceCream posts are making me a liiiittle sad. Alas, I'll have to settle for a new favorite [dairy & soy free] treat and yet another delicious collection of stories.

I'm lookin' at you and that Heath Bar Blizzard, @vivastory ! 👀

I made a point of reading only one short story a day, so I wouldn't lose detail in a crush of reading; and yet I still feel like I've missed connections between the characters and/or arcs. Yes, all deal with music and nightfall as the subtitle suggests; and the theme (depressing I might add) of "life [being] much bigger than loving a person" is obvious; but perhaps a more careful re-reading on my part will bring *all* more into focus.

Half-Way Status Update: I have to admit that I'm disappointed so far. I expected elegant, slow burn writing that would deliver a powerful punch at the end of each story. Instead, each of the stories so far has delivered descriptive settings & an element of music; but each marred by an ugly take on love relationships, and no sense of denouement(s). Unless the last 2 stories deliver, this title is destined for the ultimate "meh" rating (forgettable)

These short stories, like a few sets I have read recently, all tie together in the end. They were about music and human connection. Each one did not have a satisfying end, but the collection overall did.

This was a lovely short story collection by Ishiguro. Five stories, all revolving around the theme of music. I quite enjoyed this.

A wacky mix of #onewordtitles #riotgrams

Tonight's moon is supposed to be the largest and closest moon since 1948! This is the view outside my front door. I wish I could sit by a window and read in the moonlight all night long!

A lovely blend of stories that left me wanting more.

My little mini haul from thrift store shopping the other day. Total spent $1.50. 😊📚

My #FunFridayPhoto this week with flocks of birds (and a hint of my fading henna feather). I picked this up a few years ago because Never Let Me Go is one of my all time favorites. Of course, like with a lot of books I buy, it found a home on my bookshelf but still hasn't been read! Someday...

Taking a break from school work for supper, a short story, and a lemon tea cocktail.

#readandeat

Picked this up from the library because I needed a book by an author whose name starts with I for my A to Z challenge. It seems like I've seen this author mentioned; anyone read this one and have thoughts to share?

#shortstories

#day21 #booksandmusic #augustofpages Desert Island Discs (radio show and now free podcasts archived back to 1961!) features a famous guest that is asked to name 8 songs/tracks they would take with them if stranded on a desert island.... Current series features some great authors.... E.g. Zadie Smith, Alice Walker, Colm Toibin plus others...In the archives you'll find Margaret Atwood, Nick Hornby, Kazuo Ishiguro, Posey Simmonds and SO many more...

Meh. I found these to be mostly boring, tinted with sadness. All the stories seemed to be about losing/lost love + music. Different readers for the different stories. But I was just mostly bored listening to it. They are well written, though. ⭐️⭐️⭐️of 5.

Thursday listening.