Welcome to Litsy!

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1. Portland Japanese Garden

2. Personal Librarian

How incredibly fascinating! I love that Benedict partnered with a Murray to bring this story to life, it was a better book because of her perspective & expertise.

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@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I loved this one.

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I got to visit the JP Morgan library in May this year, and oh what a dream!!

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

“The deeper we each read, the more we understand of this world.”

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@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

7-31-24: My 26th finished book of 2024! What a powerful story. When Kitty Karr passes away she leaves her vast fortune to her next door neighbors 3 daughters. Making the oldest, Elise, the executor, she leaves her not only money but her secret life story. Told in present day with Elise and from Kitty‘s perspective from the past, we learn of her humble beginnings, and her rise to fame as a screen icon. It‘s the back story that will shock the world.

I read this for the book club I lead at work and was fascinated by Belle's life. I think the most interesting part about her though was her determined effort to erase her personal life from posterity. My only real hesitation about this is that in the notes at the end the authors stated how they did take some liberties with known fact. It's all well and good to use artistic license when there are gaps in the historical record but not when you know.

I love a used book sale at a library. 📚 I found a bonus book for my friend @dabbe

Really engaging historical fiction novel about Belle da Costa Greene, J.P. Morgan‘s personal librarian, who was black passing as white. She‘s a force of nature to match Morgan and all the art and manuscript dealers to make the library a lasting legacy. Sometimes excessive storytelling to fill in the personal blanks, I think, but I supposed that‘s what makes it a page turner.

Sadly as telling now as it was when first published in 1929. Nella Larsen‘s own life as a mixed-race woman informed her writing, making her an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. American author Darryl Pinckney wrote of Larsen: “No matter what situation Larsen found herself in, racial irony of one kind or another invariably wrapped itself around her.”