Definitely a #blameitonlitsy purchase, but one that‘s useful/appropriate for our times. Maybe Montaigne is the way to help us find our way back to each other. #litsyatoz #letterM

A fascinating look at Tudor history from another angle, through a different lens. Written in an accessible narrative style backed up by solid research this volume follows the rise and fall and rise again (and fall again, and rise again . . .) of the Dudley family who rose first with Henry VII and then served four more monarchs (five if you count Queen Jane, the 9 days Queen.) Pictured is Robert Dudley, favorite of Elizabeth I.

This has become our morning routine. This morning (Steve Reich) was the first time I didn‘t want to listen to multiple recordings of the say‘s selection. Oh well, tomorrow is Shubert. @AnnCecilie

Iris Origo writes this for herself, not for publication, in the years 1939-40, living in Italy and married to an Italian, but of British and American parentage she has a unique perspective on the war brewing in Europe. So well written that after finishing it, before writing this, I went online and ordered two more (tagged in comments.) I could do worse than take her as a model for how to get through the next regime. #LitsyAtoZ #letterC @Texreader

I know the print is small, but I wanted to give you the whole quote. Written in 1939 about Mussolini. But . . . Plus ça change, plus c‘est la même chose.

The diary of a woman whose mother was British, father was American, and husband was Italian. She lived in Italy and is writing during 1939-1940. In a fascist regime. I think there may be much to learn from this slim volume.

Jessie Childs draws Henry Howard for us, complete with his strengths as and weaknesses, neither hero nor villain. And in so doing she illustrates the terrifying times of Henrican England. Henry VIII‘s tyranny, paranoia, megalomania, and hubris are all too familiar in our age. An appropriate read just prior to the upcoming inauguration.#bookedintime @Cuilin

Who knew that Henry, Earl of Surrey, invented the “Shakespearean Sonnet!

I picked this up because I heard the author on a panel about the Tudor era, and so far it doesn‘t disappoint.

My apologies to the #whatthedickens group, but I got going and couldn‘t stop, so I‘ve finished already. ☺️ I want to participate in discussions so I‘ll hold off on my review, but I must comment on the illustrations. They seemed oddly both familiar and disturbing, and not quite up to my inward images of the characters. So I looked up the illustrator. He did a lot of Penguin covers in the 60s, 👇🏻

Most of the books for my irl book club arrived today! Now to find places for them all . . . #bookhaul

#whatthedickens @Cuilin

I‘m going to have to bail on this one. The writing is dry and it reads like a dissertation. Example “At the point when Perceval rides out into the grey and empty dawn from the deserted castle, we are two-fifths of the way through Chrétien‘s work in its unfinished form.” That‘s a sentence chosen at random. ? I wanted to like it, but when reading becomes a chore, I‘m out. Too many good books out there. #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

Another great installment in Maya Angelou‘s memoirs, (and vastly different from the last memoir I reviewed!) She was an amazing writer and she pays loving tribute to her mother without ignoring her faults. A definite 👍🏻
#bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

I found the author to be too self-centered and judgmental to garner my sympathy. She snarks on about the “tourists” who are just after a picture for instagram, yet the hikes she describes taking in those parks I am familiar with are ones we took as a family when my kids were in the single digits - hardly epic hikes. This was my 1st #readyourkindle and I‘m just sorry it‘s not a paperback I can give away. @CBee

The illustrations in my edition are copyright 1966, and I think it shows. Not what I expect but suitably grim for Coketown! #whatthedickens @Cuilin

The first book of 2025! For my irl book club, written by a cellist, the wedding scene is full of all the horrors you know he has played. It was highly amusing and I enjoyed it highly.

Here are my #readyourkindle picks for January. Will I read them all? Doubtful. But I‘ll knock at least one of them off the TBR. @CBee

My first #bookspin and #doublespin of 2025!

Hard cover ready for reading at home (with illustrations by Charles Raymond) and Kindle edition for reading while out and about. I‘m ready for #whatthedickens! About half of my Dickens novels are in this binding, which I often find in second hand shops.

I always enjoy seeing people‘s reading stats, so here‘s my 2024 “year in books.” (The longest, in case you can‘t read the title, is Nicholas Nickleby.)

This has sat unread on my shelf for YEARS. I‘m glad to have finally gotten around to reading it, and while it‘s not exactly flattering to Dickens it was a well-crafted novel that explored those close to me “the Chief” and I‘m glad I read it. My final #doublespin of 2024, and (unusually for me) I‘m ready to start 2025 with no book in progress. It‘s a clean slate. @TheAromaofBooks

I‘m going to try to “read down” the backlog on my kindle. Because how many challenges are too many, really? 🤷🏻‍♀️#readyourkindle @CBee

My #bookspin for January is all nonfiction and heavily Tudor for #bookedintime. @TheAromaofBooks @Cuilin

Required reading for work is interrupting my “real” reading. 😂

Trying very hard to be funny, and showing it, this book is dated in its attitudes towards women and the characters were more caricatures than realistic. But a quick read and a local author, so I‘ll give it a so-so. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

A good book for a busy time of year when I don‘t have much time. Absurdist and at times you weren‘t sure if you were in “real life” or a hallucination, but funny. A soft pick.

No time to read this weekend as we had first Thanksgiving with one grown kids‘ family on Thursday (bottom pic) and with another today (top.) Lots of cooking, lots of fun, and my fridge is stuffed with leftovers. I won‘t have to cook for a week!

Happy Thanksgiving to all in the US! (And hey, we invite anyone to celebrate. It‘s the best holiday because it‘s all about food and family with no shopping required!) May your dinner turn out perfectly, your littles behave, and that one uncle (we all have one!) not embarrass the family.

My last #bookspin of 2024. @TheAromaofBooks

I liked the bits about his childhood, but when he‘d go off on long tangents on the history of Chemistry, he lost me. I quit reading the footnotes halfway through and wished for more details of his life, but he writes well and I didn‘t hate it, so I give it a so-so.

Thanks to all who reached out with suggestions, and to the team at LibraryThing. Litsy is once again working on my phone. One more thing to be grateful for this week. 🦃

Anyone else having issues? I updated my phone to the latest iOS, and now Litsy isn‘t showing any of the buttons! I can comment only if someone else already has, and I can‘t like, stack, or share! I haven‘t updated my iPad so I can get to it that way, but I‘m wondering what‘s going on.

A quick read, it raises questions to think about but is an easy read in terms of the writing. Still fighting this cold and needing easy today. A light pick.

I enjoyed this novelization of Hildegard von Bingen‘s life. I‘ve admired her music for years but didn‘t know much else about her. And this was a relaxing read for a sick day at home.

Staying home from church with a cold, I‘m listening to Hildegard von Bingen‘s music and starting this novel based on her life.

Morais gives us a rather unlikable character, who he then makes us love in this contemplative look at the end of life. There are lot of money thrown around and a LOT of fly fishing; we cross multiple borders, and speak many languages; but mostly is the plain truth that we all go through our final journey alone, even when surrounded by those we love.

I enjoyed this compilation of short works by Irving. The nonfiction bits were my favorites, oddly, especially the title piece and the Dickens pieces. The “author‘s notes” to the last selection, where he talks about meeting Thomas Mann‘s daughter on an airplane is also great. #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

The book the musical Come From Away is based on, read by a strong narrator. It is full of hope and goodness, although the Newfie‘s were both better and worse than in the musical, the passengers and crew also. Some changes made sense - you can‘t have a cast of 10k spread over multiple towns - and others less so. But a story that needs to be told in as many formats as it takes to get the message out there. Be kind. Help each other. Love.

Irving, writing about Vienna in the 1960s. But it could be the US in the present day.

My #doublespin for November started with a mini memoir of how Irving decided to become a writer. A good start. @TheAromaofBooks

I finished in two nights. Now I have to wait until 2025 for the next one! Spending time in Three Pines is calming, which I needed. More under spoiler tag to protect the innocent. 😀

I need Gamache tonight. And yes, I‘m eating my feelings.

Doig‘s language is rich and poetic and usually calming. But there‘s a lot of death in this slim novel, so while it occupied my mind, it didn‘t distract me enough on this fraught night. #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks

While it was a bit repetitive, and the dragging out of Alice‘s story felt gimmicky, this is an interesting look at the consumer DNA market. I have not taken a test due to some of the ethical dilemmas she discusses. But I have at least one 1st cousin who has, so it may be a moot point. There‘s much to think about here for sure.

Searching for analysis of our novel, this poem popped up. If you can‘t read it here it‘s available online here https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50464/give-all-to-love
Wow. Once again Wharton expects us to be well read, as well as well travelled, and it all makes so much more sense. I still don‘t like V and think Halo deserves better, but we all make stupid choices sometimes. 😂 #whartonbuddyread

I always feel odd reviewing memoirs - like I‘m judging their life, not their writing. But this one is excellent living and writing. Like The Last Lecture it is full of positive but real sentiments/ philosophy, not trite, pat answers. I respect an author who respects his readers.

Like many collections of short stories this one was uneven. The first was the best, and I wished he had developed it into a novel, or at least a novella. Lots of men/boys struggling with feelings of inferiority and trying to hide them in bravado, which got tiring by the end. Soft pick.

An enjoyable, character driven look at a small neighborhood and two small girls trying to make sense of the grownups nonsensical behavior. Lots of humor and a little mystery. Just what I needed.

November #bookspin is an odd-lot assortment of books on my shelves I‘ve been meaning to get to. @TheAromaofBooks