so-soThere is a hidden domain of partnership. No one else can say, “I know and love this woman well, but she is not the girl I married” as neither sad nor celebrated, simply true. What is even harder to explain is non-romantic love. That friendship you build outside of marriage. It deserves more attention in how adoring it can be. It makes you feel alive. There is no obligation - only being who you are.
I don‘t have school-aged kids anymore, so I don‘t keep track. Usually it‘s the Wednesday before Labor Day or thereabouts.
I adored the tagged book, which is about the relationships between and among two couples. Both husbands are academics who teach in the English department at a university in Wisconsin. It‘s a beautiful story that explores the mysteries of friendship.
@TheSpineView
#Two4Tuesday
@CBee
Tagging @Ruthiella @AnneCecilie
These lovely books were waiting for me when I got home. Thank you so much, Paula😘
#12Booksof2022 🎶 On the second day of Christmas my true love read to me, two married couples 🎶
For my twelve, I‘m highlighting my favorite audiobooks of the year. Great books that were all the more enjoyable thanks to outstanding narration &/or production.
pickLiterally googled books to read in the fall because I wanted something cozy. I didnt realize I‘d be reading the semi autobiographical novel about someone who is considered one of the great modern American authors. I enjoyed its simplicity and sincerity.
pickI read this months ago for #rememberingjenny, and I loved it. It‘s quiet and slow and thoughtful, almost a meditation on a friendship between two couples. The characters felt so true to life—at times thoroughly familiar but also so often unknowable, in the same way it‘s so difficult to completely know even those we are closest to. Such a lovely book.
On my, @Bookwormjillk ! I love everything! How did you know of my love of colorful pens? Perfect for all my book journaling and recording. The stickers are so cute, and of course the book!! Thank you so much. Happy #sliceofsummerswap !
And thank you to @Catsandbooks for a wonderful swap!
#rememberingjenny
I discovered that my Litsy friend (& friend to many others) Jenny Colvin of Reading Envy recently passed away at the very young age of 43.
I would like to do something to honour her on Litsy because she was such a great contributor here - and one of the smartest, kindest & most inspirational people I‘ve met (albeit only online & by zoom)
Please join me in reading a book she recommended. There are so many on her Litsy page or 🔽
pickReading Wendell Berry‘s wonderful Port William novels last year led me to Stegner, his teacher and mentor.
I loved this quiet novel of quiet lives. We follow the abiding friendship between two academic couples spanning decades. Explores the interiority of marriage and the endeavor to build a kind, decent, meaningful life. Angle of Repose is up next.
pickThe story of two couples & their friendship from the 1930s to 1970s. Narrator Larry is a writer & notes that stories usually have more drama or conflict. It‘s a quiet book & you have to slow down to read descriptions of characters & their environment as he builds each scene. But the author‘s warmth & humanity shine through & I found myself wanting to get back to Larry & Sally‘s world & its vivid colours & slower pace. Stately & of its time.
Reading this modern classic - America in another time. Have you read anything by Wallace Stegner? 📖
#alphastack #letterC
Some favorites from my shelves, and the tagged one from my #tbr which I hope to get to soon....
Plus a cheat addition (84 Charing Cross rd.... I‘m just going to ignore the number!)
so-soI am glad I read this. There were parts I really enjoyed, but others that seemed to drag on. I‘m not sure I would enthusiastically recommend this to someone I know, but I would also welcome the chance to discuss it with someone who had read it.
so-soI am glad I read this. There were parts I really enjoyed, but others that seemed to drag on. I‘m not sure I would enthusiastically recommend this to someone I know, but I would also welcome the chance to discuss it with someone who had.
pickI fell in love with this book. It‘s quiet, contemplative and the setting is gorgeous - it picked me up and put me in a cabin beside the woods for most of this week. It is slow, I did feel a little bored at one point in the middle BUT there were so many beautifully captured thoughts that I can‘t begrudge it anything. (Like the one above)
A couple in their sixties have come to visit best friends ⬇️
pickWhat a great book! Reading has been so hard lately, mostly because the work and parenting tasks seem never-ending. But when I saw that my libraries finally acquired this book in both e- and audio versions, I took it as a sign and decided to get this off the TBR for good. I fell hard for the characters, the connection to my home state of WI was so fun (and unexpected, for me), and the writing was terrific. I‘ll read more Stegner for sure.
#7books7days Day 3
Books that made an impact on me, change how I think or will just never leave me (no explanation).
pick😭Wallace Stegner gets lots of love, and I certainly understand why. I don't think this book is for everyone but I think many readers can find something to touch the soul within the pages of Crossing to Safety. The book isn't about anything particularly earth shattering, but rather the story of two couples from the 1930s and several decades after. There is plenty of nature writing here, and I found life itself in the quiet text.
Creek-side reading. I love the spring weather!! 🌞
Nearly finished with this novel. I'm getting emotional! I can see why this is named as a favorite by many. 🌾
I'm positive that I waited so long to read this novel for just this time. It's a perfect slow-read for this new slow-paced world my family and I are now experiencing. We are under stay-at-home orders in Ohio. Both my husband and I will be home with our two young sons for the next couple of weeks. This book matches the mood perfectly. #wereinthistogether #stayhome
I've waaayyy too many books going right now. BUT, I read the first couple pages of this one with dinner and it's gonna be great! Hoping to finish most of my inprogress reads so that I can really dig in to this. #readandeat 🍲
Day 24 of #adventrecommends
This book details the decades-long friendship between two married couples, from the time they meet as young academics in the 1930s to their retirement years. It‘s a quiet book – no mysteries, no scandals, no horrible secrets. It‘s a book about life, about acceptance, about appreciating what you have instead of wasting your life obsessing over what you don't have. It is beautifully written and emotionally resonant.
pickPick! I will think about this book for a long time.
Insightful and touching. A slow burn.
Wallace Stegner is one hell of a writer of the human conditon.
pickToday‘s scores from my building‘s book exchange. Some are for my dad and nephew.
I knew if I looked hard enough I could find some crocuses on my #audiowalk.
Still really enjoying this book!
A very dreary day for an #audiowalk, but I had to get it done if I want to celebrate National Margarita Day later.
Got my snow day #audiowalk in before it changes to ice and freezing rain. It was a beautiful time to be out, and this audiobook is perfect for quiet solitary walks. #litsywalkers
It was nice to get two miles in today knowing what‘s coming tomorrow! I hope you‘ll be okay pretty flowers!
Just started a re-listen of Crossing to Safety since adult friendship has been on my mind lately.
#litsywalkers #audiowalk
pickFinished this one the other day. It was an interesting story about family and friendship.
@BookNAround Thanks so very much for not one but TWO books from my wishlist, godiva and theo chocolates, a great canvas bag, this fab Jane Austen Christmas card and a Santa Gnome👏👏👏👏! I don‘t know where to start but I know it will be a lovely cozy reading night! Thank you for your generosity- Happy #JolabokaflodSwap!!! @MaleficentBookDragon what a great swap idea, thanks for hosting!!💖💖💖🎅📚😘
Halfway through my first Wallace Stegner and loving it so far. I spent the last month and a half reading mostly horror & thrillers so this is a nice change of pace.
pickSuch a beautifully written novel.... a story about how friends become family and how we all grow and change throughout our lives. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickRead this one along with Close Reads podcast. So good. I will be returning to this one. ❤️
Biked to pizza and it was delicious. Reading this for book club and it‘s just exactly what I‘m in the mood for.
pickPairs well with: summer home; anniversary or reunion
Stegner's writing style reveals his age (born in the 30s) and intellect (lots of literary references). This exploration of lifelong friends and their marriages is not a story with a beginning-middle-end, more progression of life ages/stages. There was a sentence or paragraph to read aloud or circle on every page: a description of a picnic or waterfall, a brutally honest conversation about death.
"I believe that most people have some degree of talent for something - forms, colors, words, sounds. Talent lies around in us like kindling waiting for a match, but some people, just as gifted as others, are less lucky. Fate never drops a match on them. The times are wrong, or their health is poor, or their energy low, or their obligations too many. Something."
Crossing to Safety | 
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