Welcome to Litsy!

A reading memoir that doesn't talk about novels in terms of plot, character or setting but instead spends time on how they evoke plants, painting, darkness, and so on. And how her reading experiences then shape her own writing. I found it quirky and thought-provoking. It helped that many of the works she discusses are by novelists I also like. (Claire-Louise Bennett, Rachel Cusk, Elena Ferrante, Virginia Woolf).

Today attended a writing group meeting at a book shop. It was a quiet and cozy place, perfect for concentrating on words. Tagging one of my favorite writing books!

This book is part memoir, part writing instruction/inspiration. I didn‘t think the two aspects were well connected, and I wasn‘t enthusiastic about either one. The memoir was interesting, but it was told in such a non-chronological way that I was frequently confused. The writing part seemed shallow at first, but as it continued I did find some gems.

I was a HUGE fan of FLB‘s teen books when I was a teen, so maybe I expected more.

One of my goals this year is to cultivate a heart of gratitude in every situation. This seemed like a great place to start. The author wrote one thank you card each week for a year. She set out themes for the month like career, mentors, travel, health, etc. I loved hearing the tangible ways that writing the cards influenced how she thought about past events. I also loved that her focus on gratitude had a huge impact on her young kids.

"Hope begins in the dark,
the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing,
the dawn will come.
You wait and watch and work:
you don‘t give up.

It‘s like driving at night.
You can only see as far as your headlights,
but you can make the whole trip that way.
You don‘t have to see where you‘re going,
you don‘t have to see your destination,
or everything you will pass along the way.
You just have to keep going."

Last year my goal was to read at least two nonfiction books each month. I almost managed it, with just two months being a book or two short. This year I'd like to try again and this #MonthlyNonfiction2025 challenge sounds perfect to keep me on track! I'm interested in paying more attention to which section each book falls into, even if I don't hit them all.
Thanks @julieclair for putting this together!

January 5th #25Alive NewYrQuotes @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

So, #bookspin will by my #Roll100 pick (tagged) and my #doublespin will be one of my perpetual challenges that I'm working on. Typically, I would grab the next L'Amour or King book and read that but I have the above in transit from out of state. So, delving into the world of Louis L'Amour's books is close enough!

Thanks, @AromaOfBooks for #Bingo!

#Nonfiction2025 is here!

Around the world there seems to be unrest, division, and just generally unhappy populaces. So this year we will look at famous movements for change and of resistance, what drives people to push for change, why, and how.

🎶“Look what's happening out in the streets
Got a revolution, got to revolution”🎶

As always, this is a make it a way that works for you challenge, a little revolt is good for the soul after all ⤵️

I realized I still needed to post my #Nonfiction2024 bingo card. Some of these are only lightly connected to the prompt but I did it! I always enjoy mixing nonfiction into my reading year.