Welcome to Litsy!

#aboutabook #withmystery

My first Margaret Atwood book 📖

“In reality the egg had the consistency of the excised tumor a fellow medical student once slipped into his pocket for a joke - both hard and spongy at the same time. It takes a perverse talent to maltreat an egg so completely.”

😂😂

Out of the gravel there are peonies growing

#FirstLineFridays

Partner read: it was my month to pick and with some Litsy help, I finally selected Alias Grace which was also on my TBR (for a reread). After Marlon James‘ violent and highly masculine book, this month‘s theme came as a needed relief. And I love Atwood.

Alright @vivastory here it is! My #BookerDozen

Margaret Laurence - The Fire-Dwellers
Penelope Fitzgerald - The Bookshop
Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go
Peter Carey - True History of the Kelly Gang
Sarah Waters - Fingersmith
Zadie Smith - On Beauty
Eleanor Catton - The Luminaries
Laila Lalami - The Moor's Account
Maggie Shipstead - Great Circle
Audrey Magee - The Colony
Selby Wynn Schwarz - After Sappho

#Roll100 pick from earlier this year. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Also found this quote amusing (non-spoiler): “I was overjoyed to hear that you may soon favour the world with a miniature copy of yourself, through the kind offices of your esteemed wife - to whom, please send my respectful regards.” Just the formality of the congratulatory wishes.

I loved this book! The story and characters felt so real and somehow the focus of the book was more in the dynamic between characters than the plotline. I also realised reading this that I haven't read many books set in Kanada and I totally want to read more Atwood books as well! 😍

By golly, that‘s today! Love when this happens. 🤓

This is definitely my favorite of the Atwood books I‘ve read so far. It‘s historical fiction based on a real murder about which there is no conclusive answer. I was completely swept into Grace‘s story and thought all the characters were incredibly well developed.

I listened most of the afternoon, including on a long #audiowalk with Luthien. #DogsOfLitsy

#audiobook #1001books #ReadingTheAmericas2023 #Canada #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld

Tried reading this once before and it was a no go… admittedly, the start is a bit slow. But the story is pretty solid. Grace is rly likable and I her story kept me guessing, spesh with a coupla twists towards the end

I was surprised by how quiet the tone of this was and how lovely the writing style - it made for a marked contrast with the sensationalized case it‘s based on and the gritty themes. I have great respect for Margret Atwood as a writer but just as often hate her books as I do love them, which has kept me from reading as much of her back catalogue as I‘d like. I‘m glad I decided it was time to read this one, it definitely fell in the love it camp.

“Out of the gravel there were peonies growing.” #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Starting off the #sharreadathon with this classic that has been languishing on my TBR for years. Life is too short to put things off. ❤️

This is complex and layered with the perspectives of a young female convicted murderer and her psychiatrist. Set in the early 19th century, it also explores class and gender conventions of the time. Excellent historical fiction choice!

Full review https://www.TheBibliophage.com #thebibliophage2022
#booked2022 #setinCanada

#FoodandLit is such a good excuse to get takeout! Can I make Indian food myself? Yes. Do I ever actually do so? No. It takes hours. Plus a trip to the Indian grocery. This feast is at least as good if not better than homemade (by me, I‘m not Indian) and appears on my doorstep in 20 minutes. Heavenly! Eating while watching the Netflix adaptation of the tagged book. Still need to read the original!

#ScarathlonDailyPromot Oct 10 #Crime

This books asks the question, has Grace committed crime? One of my favorite Margaret Atwood books, very different from her speculative books, this is a historical mystery with horror elements.
#Scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash

Thanks for the tag, Scott👍 @vivastory And thank you @CBee for bringing back #manicmonday #LetterA

Book: See tagged
Author: Atwood of course 😁
TV Show: American Horror Stories
Band: Apocalyptica
Song: About a Girl- Nirvana

#AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Book title that begins with the letter A.

The tagged book is an atmospheric, gothic, history-soaked tale that's also psychologically compelling because of the multiple narrative strands. I really enjoyed the novel and still need to watch the series!

Thank you for the tag, @erzascarletbookgasm ! Join in if you want to play @Graywacke @Leftcoastzen @vivastory

Alias Grace is a fascinating and compelling work of historical fiction, one that tells us just as much about Canadian society and gender roles and the field of psychiatry at the time as it does the crimes of Grace Marks. I also loved the sneaky Gothic elements, which felt very true to form for a story of this nature. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/alias-grace-margaret-atwood/

A doctor planning to open an asylum for the insane comes to interview a notorious 19th century murderess.

I found the first 2/3 of this really difficult to get into and was easily distracted from it. It was only the last third that I found the interest and ability to concentrate necessary to finish it off. I don't know why.

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Gothika

I'm hoping to finish this weekend but am not optimistic. I don't seem to be able to read more than a dozen or so pages at a time.

@Andrew65

Out of the gravel there are peonies growing. They come up through the loose grey pebbles, their buds testing the air like snails' eyes, then swelling and opening, huge dark-red flowers all shining and glossy like satin.

@ShyBookOwl
#FirstLineFridays

#sunlightwellness #mycover

I got real worked up over this one y‘all! It‘s a historical fiction, based on the real-life crime story of Grace Marks. But oof marrón the sexism in the 1800s…and always…Fascinating read, if a little long.

I have a very busy home life so I squeeze in reading when I can. Like in the car while my son is at Fifes and Drums.

A true book worm reads when ever possible, like in the pick up line at the elementary school.

Because Who would go to bed without reading a bit first.

#QuotsySep21 Day 22: #Sewing

My son has Fifes and Drums this evening so I‘m sitting in my car with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. Honestly, I‘m having a hard time putting this one down.

I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it. Some will be old, some will be new - don't judge me, I have a lot of books.

Day 136th

Join the fun if you want!

#tbrpile

Happy #CanadaDay 🎉🎊🎈

#JulyJourneys
#TBR

This ebook is on sale but I had to chuckle when I saw it‘s a best seller in cozy craft and hobby mysteries! Really?

Bookhaul: Historical fiction edition 🙂

Brilliant. The writing is sublime, the storytelling and themes (women in history, their vulnerabilty, immigration, ...) and character development are fantastic. Margaret Atwood is one of the best writers of all time.

Finally finished Alias Grace on this cold, snowy day. I have always loved historical fiction, and Atwood did an exceptional job of filling in the gaps of the Grace Marks case. I enjoyed the style of writing, and the stream of consciousness when Grace was the narrator. Occasionally the story got bogged down with the little details, but did not take away from the story as a whole.

15 books in January!
4,419 pages

Favorites: A Psalm for the Wild-Built, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and The Poisoner's Handbook

Really should've posted this yesterday, but I was determined to finish one more of the books I was reading (Honey Girl) first

This is my first Margaret Atwood since The Handmaid's Tale years ago. So different from that book but still incredibly good. A historical fiction novel filling in the gaps in the story of Grace Marks and the Kinnear murders. I really enjoyed the stream of consciousness style, though the story did occasionally get bogged down in details. Not sure I ever would've read it if not for @Laughterhp 's suggestion through #NewYearWhoDis @monalyisha

Finished two books yesterday and started a new one this morning (though I haven't gotten much reading done today), so this is what we're working with.

In an interview I watched this morning, Margaret Atwood mentioned she had a cameo in the Netflix adaptation of Alias Grace. She played “Disagreeable Woman.“ That reminded me of Charles Yu's brilliant novel, Interior Chinatown.

(Internet photo)

🎧 The story fictionalizes the notorious 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Canada West. Two servants of the Kinnear household, Grace Marks and James McDermott, were convicted of the crime. McDermott was hanged and Marks was sentenced to life imprisonment.

#3books #BasedOnTrueStories

#TarotTakeOver Day 6 & 7 #Death ☠ & #PageofCups 🌊

Alias Grace/Death- Not only do we see the MC end a cycle & begin fresh, most of the secondary MCs follow in suite for better or worse.

Rebecca/Page of Cups - Originally I thought of Alice , until I remembered that marriage is often associated with this card. The MC ,a dreamer naive girl, who fantasizes often especially of Maxim before & after their marriage.

@ErinSueMreads @Meaw_catlady

This is the story of Grace Marks, one of the most notorious Canadian women of the 1840s who was convicted of murder at the age of sixteen. Now I'm off to watch the mini-series adaptation!