Welcome to Litsy!

According to my high school English teacher, there are two kinds of novels. Half of them could be called Crime and Punishment and the other half could be called A Love Story. But when you think about it, a lot of novels could be both.

Crime and Punishment: A Love Story. Now that's a good title. Anyway, don't they say that every good story is a suspense story?
And every story is a love story.
And every love story is a ghost story.

Cyberterrorism. Bioterrorism. The inevitable next great flu pandemic, for which we were, just as inevitably, unprepared. Incurable killer infections borne of our indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The rise of far-right regimes around the world. The normalization of propaganda and deceit as political strategy and basis for government policy. The inability to defeat global jihadism.. In short supply, on the other hand, were the means to combat them.

This was such a struggle to read that I couldn‘t even finish it. Then, I went to discuss it in book club and learned that it hadn‘t gotten any better and was even happier with my decision to bail on it.

Deeply moving and thoughtful story on grief and friendship and storytelling and choices…. The unnamed narrator is telling the story of being with her friend who is now dying of cancer. It‘s sad, but not without some humor…. But I‘m afraid some of the symbolism might have been lost on me. It‘s quite short, my try to go through it again before book group meets!

This is a novel I picked up without knowing much about it at all. I had expectations for it to be a short essay collection, but it‘s not. It‘s about friendship and dying and love and writing and the need to talk/tell a story. I will definitely be picking up Nunez‘s The Friend after this!

My latest Friday Reads video is up. I talk about the short stories, graphic novels, picture books, books in translation, and books by trans authors that I‘ve read in the past week: https://youtu.be/kmpd4ueOWMY
#LGBTQ

Being inside the head of a fiercely intelligent older woman with a wry sense of humour felt like a privilege. She pays close attention to the people around her, including a friend who is dying of cancer. This is a novel about empathy. It‘s about mortality and the way our relationships evolve over time. I really enjoyed it.

George Balanchine said, If you put a group of men on the stage, you have a group of men, but if you put a group of women on the stage you have the whole world.
If you put a group of women in a book, you have “women‘s fiction.” To be shunned by almost all male readers and no few female ones as well.
(Internet image)

She was so tired, this woman said, of paying 20 bucks for short books—stuff that lasted only a short time, sometimes not even a weekend.
And sometimes it‘s just a book of poems, she said. How can they charge that much for a book of poems? Who buys them?
Not many people, I assured her.

I didn‘t have much curiosity about how the murders would be solved. It never matters to me how a mystery ends. In fact, I have found that, after so many pages of so many twists and turns and other to-do, the ending is usually something of a letdown, and the bad guy being caught and ultimately brought to justice or destroyed is invariably the least exciting part of the plot.

Maybe he was afraid he‘d lose his temper. Because of course it was there: beneath the cool, the control, you could sense it. Deep and volcanic emotion. Which, were he to allow himself to express it, would spew out of the top of his head and burn us all to ash.

#thinkpositivebepositive
#love

#libraryhaul
I love my town library & so happy its hours have been extended. We have a mask mandate in my town which I am also happy about. 😷📚

While there‘s a narrative through line to this book—a woman is reconnecting with an old friend who‘s dying—it‘s also a series of musings about life and seemingly random encounters. Usually this kind of structure would drive me nuts, but I quite liked it. It reminds me a bit of her previous book in a good way. Also, the audio reader is perfectly matched to the material. I definitely need to check out her backlist.

I loved her previous book, The Friend, and I enjoyed this as well. Nunez is an excellent writer, and she explores friendship, climate change, and assisted suicide in this novel. Although it is short, the book thoroughly immersed me in the characters and what they were going through. I will be thinking about this book for awhile.

I‘m not sure what I was expecting from this. I saw the author speak at #TexasBookFest and added this to my TBR then.

There isn‘t any real action, just many discussions between friends, family, exes, and a cat? About life, relationships, death, and ethics. There are lots of little stories within the story.

It was strange, but I actually enjoyed it. It felt a bit like a long overdue conversation with a friend I hadn‘t seen in years. 🤷‍♀️

I didn‘t actually like the Sigrid Nunez book that much, but this quote that the book is named for has really stuck with me. 💕💕💕

Very good, read in one sitting!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For some reason I‘m having trouble putting into words the reasons why I liked this book. It‘s kind of rambling with not much of a plot, but I really liked it. It was a nice read. Very bittersweet. 💔

#catsoflitsy #Ember

I went back & forth on this book. It was stream of consciousness. The author didn‘t indent paragraphs which was somewhat fun, but also disorienting. Sometimes it was tough to follow & then my mind wound wander at times. I‘m glad I read it, but I‘m not sure that I would recommend it.

Another great #qotd from this book!

This has got to be a new favorite quote!

This was a very emotional red for me, and complex in the experience of it. I did not care for The Friend, which I read earlier this year, but loved this title. Also enjoyed the author‘s talk on a Festival panel. With definitely read more from her. This title felt a little reminiscent of Didion.

We all need to belong. We all need to be heard. Lovely reflection on the meaning of life and friendship.

I loved this story of a woman helping her friend dying of cancer. Erudite, dry & unsentimental - funny at times & not depressing despite the subject matter. Deals with how people try to paper over the truth - eg illness, or not getting along with one‘s child. The woman is mysterious & you sense she‘s kept feelings at bay in past, but there is raw honesty in their friendship which is refreshing & gives the book depth. A comforting read.

I absolutely loved this book! A beautiful and touching story about living, dying and the significance of human connection. This book is dark but not without humor. Nunez is a stunning writer! How she tackles one of the most difficult experiences, watching someone die with such elegance, I couldn't put this down! #bookreview #bookstagram

So I may have gotten another #booksleeve. 😏 What am I going to do?? I‘m hopelessly addicted! 🤷🏻‍♀️😁 It‘s currently befriending the tagged book.

This is my second from RockPaperWords on Etsy. Their quality is really good, and I really like their Midi size for small hardcovers and paperbacks. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RockPaperWords

My pandemic reading is very different from my usual. I find I like things I‘m not sure I would normally. This novel I absolutely loved although I started it before the pandemic hit and bailed. And, what is possibly the worst (most bland and nonsensical) cover of the year, notwithstanding I highly recommend this one. #ARC #Edelweiss