Litsy

TheSpineView

A Season to Celebrate | Donna Kauffman, Kate Pearce, Fern Michaels, Priscilla Oliveras

#25Alive @TheSpineView
#Celebrate

This one is on my TBR list. I never got to it over the holidays.

29 likes

SomedayAlmost

Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times | Neil Astley

"You must praise the mutilated world..." Trying to find beauty amidst the bleak... for at least four years... #poetry #hope

7 likes

Librarybelle

Take the Mic: Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance | Bethany Morrow

pick

Everyone can make a difference. Even a small step against an injustice makes an impact.

This #Anthology of fictional stories for a #Teen audience shows characters from diverse backgrounds standing up for themselves, sometimes loudly and other times quietly. It takes lots of courage to do what some of these characters did to support themselves and their communities. A great book for a YA discussion group!

#LiteraryCrew : discussion on Monday!

mcctrish, mjdowens, melissajayne, Jerdencon, tpixie, LapReader, Cuilin, kspenmoll, PurpleyPumpkin, Deblovestoread, Sace, CatLass007, Mollyanna, BookwormAHN, Pogue, dabbe, Sargar114, Karisa, bumpinthenight, julieclair, AllDebooks, Lkempf

Librarybelle #LitsyAToZ #LetterT @Texreader 4d

Librarybelle #BBRC @LibrarianRyan 4d

CatLass007 Looking forward to the discussion on Monday. 4d

See All 10 Comments

LibrarianRyan Nice 4d

tpixie @Librarybelle this book was done very well with lots of great voices! 4d

Librarybelle Yes, @tpixie ! This should be a good discussion, @CatLass007 ! 4d

CatLass007 Okay, new year, new brain fart. I can‘t remember. Do you tag us when the discussion starts? 4d

Librarybelle @CatLass007 Yes. I tag everyone when the questions are posted. 3d

CatLass007 Thank you. 3d

Librarybelle Your‘re welcome, @CatLass007 ! 3d

81 likes10 comments

LeticiaToraci

Crossed Genres Magazine 2.0 Book One | Alex Dally MacFarlane, Megan Arkenberg, Rachel Bender

I created a new Book Genre Bingo for 2025. Here is the blog post link with all the prompts: https://leticiatoraci.wordpress.com/2025/01/06/genre-bingo-2025/

7 likes

BekaReid

In These Hallowed Halls: A Dark Academia anthology | J. T. Ellison, Olivie Blake, M. L. Rio

I'm about halfway through this collection and enjoying it. Dark academia stories are a perfect winter read, and Edgar is the perfect reading buddy.

Leftcoastzen 🥰 awww!😻 2w

15 likes1 stack add1 comment

Pinta

Best American Short Stories 2024 | Lauren Groff, Heidi Pitlor

so-so

There‘s something stingy and mean in this collection, characters putting up barriers in self-preservation mode. But a few lovely ones: tender tourist in Hyderabad, urban tent housing vs. luxury safari tents, sentimental AI in Mall of America, Paul Yoon‘s mini-epic “Valley of the Moon,” Lori Ostlund‘s bubble family in “Just Another Family.” Preferred 2023 collection edited by Min Jin Lee. 2024

9 likes

Liz_M

The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories | Daniel Halpern

With over 600 pages of short stories, this was almost the only thing I read in September. Even if I had read more books, this might still be a pick. So many great stories by European & North American authors known (thanks to the 1001-Books list!) and quite a few new to me as well.

#12Booksof2024 @Andrew65

Andrew65 Sounds good. 3w

26 likes1 comment

RamsFan1963

Classic Science Fiction Stories | Adam Roberts

The voting is done, and here are the winners. The Martian Chronicles will be January's #ClassicLSFBC selection, and The Zero Stone will be the pick for February. The Martian Chronicles should be available at just about any public library, and I've seen The Zero Stone available on Ebay for as low as $5 dollars. Good luck & Happy New Year!!
@Bookwomble @Ruthiella @TheSpineView @BookmarkTavern @wanderinglynn @Readergrrl @Johanna414 @Lizpixie

RamsFan1963 @BookBelle84 @Larkken @julesG @Deblovestoread @majkia @LeticiaToraci @sebrittainclark @kwmg40 @CatLass007 @BookwormAHN @CSeydel @bnp @PaperbackPirate @Klou @Roary47 @AuthorCjwhitcomb @PageShifter @MerlinTheSlightlyAwkward @Books_et_al 3w

RamsFan1963 @rwmg @tokorowilliamwallace @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm @rretzler @RaeLovesToRead @The_Literary_Jedi @KathyWheeler @Lesliereadsalot @AnishaInkspill @bookwyrm7 3w

TheSpineView I am looking forward to both of these. 3w

See All 13 Comments

RamsFan1963 @TheSpineView I read The Martian Chronicles back in high school (40+ years ago), so I'm long overdue for a reread. 3w

RaeLovesToRead I love the Martian Chronicles 3w

TheSpineView @RamsFan1963 Ssme here. Read it in 1978. 3w

The_Literary_Jedi The Zero Stone is on Kindle Unlimited if you‘ve got a subscription 3w

KathyWheeler @The_Literary_Jedi Thanks! I just got it. 3w

CarolynM Happy New Year 🎉 3w

rwmg The Zero Stone is also available on Kobo Plus for those with a subscription (edited) 3w

Larkken Looks like a fun start to 2025 🥰🎉 3w

swynn I've read both of these multiple times. Looking forward to another read and hearing how others enjoy them! 3w

AnishaInkspill fantastic!!! MC has been on my shelf for a real long time, just wrapping up a couple of other reads and then will start on this. 2w

50 likes13 comments

ItsAnotherJen

The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction | Gardner Dozois

14 books out of the 346 I read in 2024 earned my 5 star rating! Looking forward to discovering more great reads in 2025 ❤📚 Happy New Year to all you amazing Litsy people!! I've loved reading reviews and getting ideas on which books to read next. Much love and good vibes to each of you.🎉

AnnCrystal
🎇Happy🥳New💖Year🎆. 3w

AmyG Happy New Year 🎆 3w

52 likes2 comments

Robotswithpersonality

The Best American Travel Writing 2021 | Padma Lakshmi, Jason Wilson

pick

I will definitely be looking into other entries in this series, and similar collections of travel essays. While this year may have proved somewhat exceptional in its content due to the various upheavals happening in 2020/2021, it provided a broad range of voices and perspectives, not all focused on the doom and gloom of the pandemic, and other crises. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? Given the variety involved, I've included my impressions of each essay in the collection below.
From what I can tell all the articles featured appeared elsewhere first, so hopefully the title and author will let you find them individually if desired.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 3/? Inside the Nightmare Voyage of the Diamond Princess by Doug Bock Clark - Writing is a little sensationalist for my taste, but it's certainly important that the story is out there, for all the ways people can learn from the mistakes and injustices and do better in the future. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 4/? Mississippi: A Poem, In Days by Kiese Makeba Laymon - Disappointment, disillusionment, the attempt to act right when many are not, kind of full face back into the early days of COVID, reader beware. 3w

See All 27 Comments

Robotswithpersonality 5/? The Warmth of a Lost World by Leslie Jamison - Sensual descriptions, addressing western perception of Turkish baths, author's experience of American and Istanbul versions of Turkish baths, sharing space with strangers, the loss of such an experience during quarantine, the vulnerability and openness conveyed by shared nudity, the contrast of pain and pleasure, hot and cold, changing to the baths as an activity after getting sober.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 6/? *Really liked the writing

To the Swimmer in the Borneo Rainforest by Meghan Gunn - Powerful 4 pages.

I Decided to Leave by Meghan Daum - Puppy!
3w

Robotswithpersonality 7/? The New York You Once Knew is Gone. The One You Loved Remains. by Glynnis MacNicol - Strange to have read two memoirs by this woman, to have picked up this collection because an essay by her was included, only to find that it didn't really feel like she said anything of note, or maybe just nothing I hadn't already read from her before? 🤷🏼‍♂️ 3w

Robotswithpersonality 8/? Good Bread by Bill Buford - The warmth and simple comfort of bread, contrasted with a quietly heart-breaking story of loss.

Food, It Turns Out, Has Little to Do With Why I Travel by Noah Galuten - Restaurant business, experience of food and travelling for it, found greatly enhanced by human connections, tone of quiet reverence. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 9/? The People of Las Vegas by Amanda Fortini - Unsurprising perhaps considering the year in question, but it never occurred to me that depending on your origin, people could write about where they are, not travel, and it would still be something new to read about, a new place seen.
Some of the issues with travel writing, journalists dropping in and shoring up cliches with first impressions.
*Really liked the writing 3w

Robotswithpersonality 10/? In the City of Saints by Sarah Khan - Floored by how well 2 1/2 page essay was laid out - got a feel for the author, the city in question, the significance, the features. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 11/? Reindeer at the End of the World by Bathsheba Demuth - Sense of apocalypse no excuse for apathy, Soviet Union version of socialism/communism bad for everyone (I'd still argue it's not the best example of either ideology in practice), attempts to 'civilise' an indigenous population in the rush to exploit the resources they depend upon for survival apparently not just a Western thing. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 12/? Senegal's Beating Heart by Jim Benning - Felt a little rushed to cover the extent of the subject matter engaged with, but hit on some salient points, how music can form the core of travel, the way to see a new place, to have expectations challenged. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 13/? Five Oceans, Five Deeps by Ben Taub - Adventure! It's hard to see past the 'millionaire who wants to explore devotes ridiculous amount of resources to personal journey' narrative, or submarine follies for that matter, without wanting to roll your eyes these days, but insofar as there is a crew of interesting characters, and some scientific discoveries made along the way, I had a good time with this one.
*The writing engaged me in a way that 3w

Robotswithpersonality 14/? feels rare, and I like to see in non-fiction essays.

Water or Sky? by Meg Bernhard - I see that there is travel, that it's somewhat written to have travel as a framework, but I think it's easy to argue this is not a travel writing piece, as the focus is the loss of loved ones, dealing with grief, mental health and death by drowning. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 15/? California's Weed Country is Lit by Jackie Bryant - The devastation of large fires on California agriculture and its workers, but from a cannabis industry perspective.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 16/? Youtopia by Carrie Battan - Elite community vibes, wellness market, (which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, lots of things to charge people a bundle for), makes me sceptical; at the end of it all, it's not a scale-able model, it's a living situation few can afford. Basically fully agree with author's assessment. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 17/? Can Travel Become an Addiction? by Natalie Stoclet - Kiiiind of pointless; even in four pages, it becomes obvious the author could have just answered 'no' to the title question and been done with it. Exploring what constitutes addiction is somewhat interesting, though something that can only be briefly touched on in an essay of this size. Underlining the reality that travelling to avoid life just means dealing with reality later, not a 3w

Robotswithpersonality 18/? permanent antidote to suffering, somewhat saves the essay.

On the Complicated Questions Around Writing About Travel by Intan Paramaditha -
Should really be a necessary preface in every travelogue.
The year following intensive quarantine is when many are going to take stock of the costs of travel. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 19/? Out There, Nobody Can Hear You Scream by Latria Graham - Clear-eyed look at racism, white supremacy, how it hampers Black folks' ability to enjoy the outdoors, vulnerable and stressful in relating personal experience, knowledgeable on the history and statistics, ending in a brave entreaty and an offering of support, probably the most important article in the collection. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 20/? The Losing Coast by Elizabeth Miller - Humanity's negative effect on natural environments and its acceleration of climate change, how that is reflected in a specific geographical area, and of course, often hits indigenous, minority populations the hardest. 😑
3w

Robotswithpersonality 21/? To the Doctor of Bujumbura's Quarantine Hotel by Jina Moore -
This collection really wouldn't be an accurate reflection of 2020/21 travel writing if it didn't have the perspective of one traveller caught somewhere in quarantine. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 22/? A Change in Perspective by Sarah Moss - Learning to love the place you're in, whether you moved because of economics, or your children's future demanded it, or because the pandemic has eliminated your chance for travel. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 23/? Thousand Fields of Grain by Ligaya Mishan - Globalization of early civilizations, via trade and invasion, the nationalistic and minority/religious/ethnic suppressive tendencies of modern China, the story told of distinct and blending cultures in the food of various regions. 3w

Robotswithpersonality 24/? A Fear-Filled Lockdown by Paul Theroux - Didn't enjoy the book I read by this author, so decided to skip his 4 page essay.
3w

Robotswithpersonality 25/? Wanderlust by Jon Lee Anderson - Relating a story of travel from younger days sourced from old journal entries, pretty classic tale, went to seek adventure and exploit resources to fund an expedition, one in long history of 'pioneers' which again negatively affected an indigenous culture. Thankfully the author's narrative is more respectful, sees more agreeable interactions with indigenous population, though marks how they have historically 3w

Robotswithpersonality 26/26 been affected. Journey seems a bit scattered, but so does the author as a young man.

⚠️ Attempted assault, loss of (19 year old) child, mental health concerns 3w

willaful I read the 2021 Best American Food Writing and it was absolutely fascinating. 3w

Robotswithpersonality @willaful Oooooo, I didn't know/forgot to explore if that variant existed! Will definitely see what my library has to offer for Food Writing. Thanks! 3w

11 likes27 comments

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