A General Theory of Oblivion | 
pickI am spending a lot of time lately with small press or non-North American writers. This book was fantastic - set in Angola during the revolution, it is the stories of a number of interconnected characters told in a manner similar to a short story. I enjoyed how we saw various sides of the conflict through different eyes, and the disillusionment of revolutionaries as time passes.
#doublespin 20 A General Theory if Oblivion 1 bookspinbingo #February not a great reading month 11 books read, 1 short story
pickLate entry for #ReadingAfrica2022 #Angola 🇦🇴 @barbarabb @Librarybelle
4⭐I enjoyed how Agualusa introduced small incidents which became significant later on, providing multiple perspectives of the same episode to build a fuller understanding of the intersection of different lives. However, I often forgot which perspective belonged to which character, though that's more due to my own concentration issues rather than any problem with the writing.
#LibraryHaul
"General Theory" is a book I ordered months ago for #Angola ?? in #ReadingAfrica2022, so it's a bit late for that, but still sounds interesting so I will read it.
I ordered volume 3 of the Dune: House Atreides graphic novel as the first two were engaging enough for me to want to complete the series.
Divided States of Hysteria is a random pick, which could be excellent or terrible - I'll have to see ?
@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
Ludovica never liked having to face the sky.
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
so-soLudo is an agoraphobic Portuguese woman who lives with her sister in Luanda, #Angola.
When Ludo‘s sister and brother-in-law suddenly disappear, the anxious woman builds a wall across the hallway outside her apartment door, effectively barricading herself off from the outside world where Independence is about to be declared. Over the course of 30 years she collects her thoughts on the walls when she runs out of paper.
#ReadingAfrica2022 🇦🇴
so-soLocking herself away for 30 years, Ludo evades an incredibly tumultuous period in Angola‘s recent history. The writing is very compelling and cinematic, I found it really hard to put down. Some elements of the story frustrated me but I enjoyed the journey across Angola and was left wanting to learn more. 7/10
pickA woman, Ludo, survives 28 years alone in a penthouse apartment during the Angolan civil war. The narrative goes back and forth between her story and a few other people, mainly revolutionaries. These short vignettes seem all over the place but by the end it all makes sense.
This is the 2nd book I read from the #NewYearWhoDis list from @Bookishthoughts
I liked it and have already passed it on to a coworker.
I‘m hoping to finish this book later today. There are major plumbing repairs happening in my apartment- and the two below mine. I‘m hanging out in the library. I did a couple of Pediatric Continuing Education modules this morning. Planning to pleasure read this afternoon. After that I guess my plan is to clean my bathroom. And check the apartment for any critters that might have come in via the open bathroom wall. So gross.
Today‘s book mail. Two witch related books I pre-ordered a while ago were finally published. The tagged book is one of the #NewYearWhoDis books on my list from @Bookishthoughts . The story sounds really interesting. I am a little worried because it was short listed for the Man Booker prize. I have a bad history with the Booker winners I‘ve read. Whatever the Booker committee looks for in a book is not what i look for in a book.
pickA surprising delight! Many quotable pieces within this story. Beautifully composed! #lmpbc
@irre @Bookishthoughts @kellyann28 I will try and get this in the mailbox tomorrow!
Casually ignoring my laundry while Phishy and I start our #lmpbc book for Sept! @kellyann28 @irre @Bookishthoughts #catsoflitsy
pickI really liked this one! A favorite from this one: "People who are missed by other people, they are the ones who go to Paradise."
#LMPBC @LazyDays @TheBookKeepers @irre
Got these in the mail today! Time for some reading 😃 #LMPBC
@LazyDays @irre @TheBookKeepers
pickPick. A setting I know nothing about: Angola, 1973-2003, during the Angolan fight for independence against the Portuguese and subsequent civil war.
A woman bricks herself in her apartment for years to be safe. She writes her thoughts on the walls.
Based on a true story. Powerful, but at times hard to follow. I was educated reading this.
Don't burn books...unless you need to in order to keep warm and feed yourself. Life is life, books are things. But read them first if you have the time…
Flying out of LAX means an opportunity for a visit to my fave ice cream spot for an afternoon read.
Starting my first Angolan book. Will need to revisit this country to get the indigenous point of view since Agualusa comes from a colonist family tree. Very interesting so far!
pickI just finished this one for #PassportLitsy #Angola, and also for the letter A for #LitsyAtoZ. It was an oddly structured but interesting set of stories about an eclectic mix of people and how their lives intersect during and after the fight for Angolan independence. The stories all sort of revolve around Ludo, an agoraphobic woman who walls herself up in her apartment! @maximoffs @BookishMarginalia
pickEn underbar liten bok! Jag älskade den. Om Ludo som samtidigt som Angola utropar sig självständighet, murar in sig i sin lägenhet där hon stannar i 28 år. Tätt med spännande människor och intressanta händelsen. Istället för att fatta tycke om någon av karaktärerna, blir man förälskad i berättaren.
Detta kommer bli en kompakt bok. På två sidor text har hjältinna hunnit födas, bli retad i skolan, förlora sina föräldrar, flytta två ggr på två kontinenter och få en valp?
Bibblans hylla med nya böcker bjöd på min första läsning av en författare från Angola
Main character decides to isolate herself from society by bricking herself into her apartment. The story is told from her perspective over the span of 30 years in the turbulent times in Angola.
#quotsynov17 #library
so-soA novel in translation (Portuguese to English) about an agoraphobic woman who watches the political upheaval in Angola through her apartment window.
It was difficult to stay immersed in the narrative but there were some ideas & quotes I liked quite a bit. More than any of that, though, I liked the format of the book itself. It's a squat lil baby, 5.5 x .8 x 6.5", with a rough, matte cover. If ever I write a book, I want it to look just like this.
I just think this is the weirdest thing. ?♀️I know there are library patrons (especially elderly library users) who will mark a book to remind themselves that they've read it, either with a small dot or with their initials. It's a practice I DESPISE (don't permanently alter property that doesn't belong to you!). But... a "private code?" Like this kind of code: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ? Or my name in Wingdings, perhaps? ?
An apt quote for a Sunday:
"God weighs souls on a pair of scales. In one of the dishes is the soul, and in the other, the tears of those who weep for it. If nobody cries, the soul goes down to hell. If there are enough tears, and they are sufficiently heartfelt, it rises up to heaven. People who are missed by other people, those are the ones who go to paradise. Paradise is the space we occupy in other people's hearts."
I kind-of love this idea.
"The day was unfolding itself, a warm yawn of a day."
(This is what rabbits look like when they yawn. It's disturbing. I'm sure it's not at all what the author meant, but I couldn't resist.)
"If I still had the space, charcoal, & available walls, I could compose a great work...I have transformed the entire apartment into a huge book... After I have died, all that remains will be my voice. In this house, all the walls have my mouth."
**All my favorite walls (including this one) are made by Dallas Clayton. ??? If you don't know him, check him out (on Instagram). He's a children's book author/illustrator & a font of eternal optimism.
"My weakness, my vanishing eyesight, it means I stumble over letters as I read. I read pages I've read so many times before, but they're different now. I get things wrong, as I read, and in those mistakes, sometimes, I find incredible things that are right. In these mistakes I find myself, often."
"Nothing happened today. I slept. While asleep I dreamed that I was sleeping."
This one's for @Pruzy mostly. My husband picked the last beer. This is more my speed: "a Belgian-style wit brewed with sweet orange peel, coriander, natural raspberries, and Citra hops. Sweet and tart meet in the middle to make the perfect session ale. Ideal for the beach, the campfire, and everything in between." Brewed right here in Rhode Island. ✌???Plus, check out the sweet artwork. Perfection. ??
I no longer live in my hometown, but I recently accepted a job there - so I often find myself adrift on my long lunch break. My parents now live in the next town over, so I sometimes hang at their house for a bit (and, let's be honest, raid their fridge... and my mother's closet).
Anyway, here's where I read today: in the sunroom. ☀️📖
How lovely that he's going to use the proceeds of this prize to build a library in his adopted home of Mozambique!
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/21/angolan-jose-eduardo-agualusa-wins...
pickA very interesting story. The only things to complain about is the lack of character depth and the length of the book. With so many story lines, it should have been a 500 page novel, not a 170 page one. Each character gets way too little time, and ends up just being another name. Still worth reading though!
Finally some summer warmth! Starting the Agualusa book as soon as I finish Le Lac.
pickPoetic and concise, with a bit of a magical feel. This is the story of Ludo, who shuts herself into her apartment by building a brick wall on the even of Angolan independence. Along the way, we are introduced to a variety of players in the Angolan war, as well as one unexpected character who changes the course for Ludo. This story is told through narrative, prose, and Ludo's journal entries. A short and powerful read - a true work of art.
SASKATCHEWAN BOOK HAUL - BOOK #12
@ramyasbookshelf got me hooked on Archipelago Books, and this is one of the two I found at McNally Robinson's in Saskatoon.
