Welcome to Litsy!

Here are all the books I‘ve read with SOUL in the title!

#AllSoulsDay

#HumbleHarvest

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This was an ok read, while I enjoyed the parts about the war and events in Chile, I found much of the story to be rather long winded. #AuthorAMonth #BookSpinBingo

Ines Suárez was born in 1507, and by the time she died, in 1580, she had journeyed to the New World, become the lover of the first governor of Chile and defended the city of Santiago…an amazing story. But Allende‘s version feels distant and academic. An audio read for me

#authoramonth2021 @Soubhiville
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Isabel Allende, what else to say, probably at one of her best book at least among the ones I read. #2020

I wonder if I would be enjoying this more if it weren't required reading for a workshop. I swear it's a miracle I graduated from high school and college considering how much I hate being made to read something. 😂😂😂

I'm sort of starting to wonder if I've lost my ability to read in Spanish. Just reading feels like death by a thousand cuts. Audiobook is fine. Audiobook while following along is also fine. Just don't ask me to sit and read print only. This feels weird to me.

I reread this on vacation and it was more incredible than I remember. Ines Suarez was brave and passionate and rebellious and sexy and problematic...and Isabel Allende is a masterful storyteller who holds onto all her complexity.

And that means I've finally finished the 2017 #ReadHarder challenge! (17 days into 2018) Must do better this year.

Interesting read. Beautifully written but I found it a bit of a slog to keep up with the cast of characters and the historical scope. It felt a bit uncomfortable reading from the PoV of a coloniser - it's great to have a strong female protagonist, but are we supposed to be rooting for her when she's playing a leading role in taking Chile from the native people? The novel is honest about the brutality & hypocrisy of the conquistadors though.

After a hectic few days Christmassing (and before going back to work tomorrow 😔), feet up on the couch while 'im indoors makes my second Christmas dinner. Good times. #love #SeasonsReadings2017 @RealLifeReading #WonderfulTonight #DecDays @Cinfhen

Sat outside in sub zero temperature reading about the Venezuelan jungle, with this little fella for company.

#ReadHarder challenge 23: a book set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author #WomenInTranslation

Although I found it fascinating while I was reading it, I was never keen to pick it up again when I stopped, and have to admit to being glad to reach the end.

This is the story of Inés Suarez, who followed her husband to the New World, becoming a conquistadora, founder, and gobenadora of Santiago de Nuevo Extramadura, Chile. And of the men she loved, and the very brutal times they lived through.

Another for #readharder.

#currentlyreading

It always seems to take me a few attempts to get into Allende's novels. She writes pure story, and you might just get to know the characters during the journey. But I'm hooked now.

This will be my book set in Central or South America written by a Central or South American author for #readharder.

It is a fresh perspective for me. I usually read about being colonized because of our history–not from the eyes of the colonizers. Inés Suárez wrote about her love and adventures from Spain to Peru and Chile. Her manuscripts were for her daughter to read. These were mostly ignored by historians for centuries; mainly because of her gender. The autobiographical book was woven by intuition of Isabel Allende, meticulously crafted and researched.

@LibrarianRyan The left hand side of the left hand side pages is more faded than the rest of the text. It drives me bonkers!

These are a few of my favourite things

When things are tough, it's the little things that make me smile.

My #bookmail came air mail that counts, right? #planestrainsandautomobiles #postadaynov16

Isabel Allende's writing is lovely and immersive, as always, but I didn't want to spend 300+ pages immersed in rampant colonialism from the perspective of a character who agrees some of the conquistadors' actions were unjust but isn't much inclined to question the outcome. I bailed on page 125.