Welcome to Litsy!

Next up for reading. At around 870 pages, it's likely going to take a while to get through.
#civilwar

Good, busy weekend, but started getting a scratchy throat yesterday. And this today. It's going to be a long week (and the next 208 weeks as well)...

#25Alive! Day 20: My #FvWinterDrink is peppermint rum chata - but this one is a close second. Thoroughly enjoyed our final book for the #EuropaCollective. Scheduled my post at GatheringBooks in two weeks‘ time. 💕

#weekendreads

I started On Democracy this morning—seemed like an appropriate weekend to read it.

I‘m about halfway through Carousel (#OffMyShelf a book that‘s been on my shelves for 5yrs or more), and should finish it this afternoon.

And I plan to read at least one story in Ward No. 6 (#OffMyShelf essays or short stories).

This will be my 1st 5* + my 1st willy vlautin. The story is of ordinary Americans just abt surviving in a society where life is tough. We follow Leroy, an Iraq veteran, who wants to kill himself, + his dreams in a hospital bed .Pauline is a nurse working hard shifts, and Freddie manages the home where Leroy lives as well as in a hardware store. Incredibly moving, a sorry story of America, brilliant characterisation, + a compelling bleak tale.

In Watershed, Everett draws parallels between the current and historic treatment of both Black and Native Americans in the US. And, of course, he still infuses the book with his trademark humor. This was terrific, and I‘m not surprised—the man is a marvel.
#Roll100

I‘m beginning to really like Smarsh. Not for her politics necessarily but for her ability to look at the situation from a broad perspective. Even in journalism it‘s hard to find a writer who will call BS regardless of any affiliations, so Smarsh‘s essays are reinvigorating.

Directly before the highlighted quote: “…such nonfiction narratives may read as voyeuristic studies predicated on the dangerous idea that we are a nation of two essentially different kinds of people.”

And this is something I‘ve been thinking about A LOT. There are strong powers at work to divide America into castes. Instead of combating the inequality, we accept it because, as a whole, we‘ve yet to realize that we don‘t have to live by a label.

I want DNF so bad, but I‘m noise and not a quitter.
None of the characters really had a distinctive voice It sounds like Agnes is narrating most of the time, and I had go back a few pages when I realize it‘s Stephanie or Mai.I don‘t even remember what they look like until Victor showed up and they had to point out that he was “Black and from New York.”