❤️

My favorite way to spend the weekend. A book, a furry friend, and eventually, a nap 😴

Resting with Zoë, who had to get puppy shots today. So excited to have Mishka nearby. She is terrified of dogs, and this is the closest she‘s been to her new sister since we brought her home.

The first 3/4 of the book were a solid three stars. There was a genuine attempt to challenge gender stereotypes and some solid LOL moments. But the last few chapters killed the book. I can‘t say more without spoiling (?) the ending. But ugh. Just ugh.

I should preface this review by saying that I think memoirs are brave. I rarely review them as I don‘t think it‘s my place to comment on someone‘s life. That being said, there are a few issues that should be addressed. First of all, Ford‘s relationship with her father, a man who spent her entire childhood in prison for rape. In fact, his story seems tangential to her own. 👇

There‘s so much going on here. The pressure society puts on women to procreate, to be naturally nurturing. The gender dynamics of parenting. The way children change a marriage. The way our children can change us. Tragedy and fear.

I listened to the audio version voiced by Marin Ireland. Book and narrator are amazing, and I kept finding new chores to do, so I could keep listening. Finished in two days. Wow. Just wow.

“The witch embodies woman free of all domination, all limitation; she is an ideal to aim for; she shows us the way…[yet] historians seem determined to deny that witch-hunts constituted ‘a burst of misogyny without parallel in Western history.‘”

This book had a beautiful cover and an interesting premise, but to be honest, it was almost a pan. The writing is beautiful, and in general, the story is magical, but I‘m not a fan of novels that pit women against each other as they fight over a man, something the author seemingly did in an attempt to create sympathy for an abusive husband. But in the end, I‘m glad I finished. The end was creative and redeeming and the best part of the novel.

This book was devastating. Set in the Great Depression, Hannah introduces us to memorable characters; then forces us to watch as they are subjected to disaster after disaster As others have said, there‘s little in the way of redemption. At one point , I thought, now I know why they called it the Great “Depression.” That being said, anyone who‘s lived through the last two years will certainly find it believable. Both heartbreaking and timely.

I love Mandel‘s Station Eleven, but I wasn‘t particularly fond of The Glass Hotel, so I wasn‘t sure what to expect from her newest novel. In a word, amazing! It‘s different than anything else she‘s written, but the writing style is still uniquely Mandel. Much of its nonlinear plot takes place in the future, but it‘s definitely a story for now. Beautiful and relevant. Best read of the year ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

1. The House at Sea‘s End, a Ruth Galloway mystery by Elly Griffith

2. Audiobooks

3. I DNF‘d A Ghost in the Throat and swapped it for the tagged book. The writing is beautiful, but story‘s hard to concentrate on via audio.

Watching the 1986 HBO version of The Worst Witch. The best/worst Halloween movie ever created. 😜

It‘s been a rough couple of months Littens. Both my husband and my dog have been gravely ill, requiring surgery, expensive medications and lots of TLC. And school‘s started back, so on top of my two part-time jobs, I‘m back in the classroom full-time. I‘m tired and frazzled and maybe even a tiny bit depressed, so I‘m taking some time out, while the sickies sleep, to have some coffee and read a library book about libraries.

I‘ve read (or listened to) all of Jenny‘s books — with the exception of her art collection, You Are Here. Furiously Happy is still my personal favorite — it helped me through a particularly dark time — but this one runs a close second. It‘s hilarious and irreverent and inspiring, just like the author.

This YA novel deals with important themes, like teen parenthood, in a simple but sophisticated way. It‘s a little more narrative and a little less poetry than her earlier works, but her unique style is still apparent. By far, the best thing about the book is its main character, Emoni. She is responsible and hardworking, mature and considerate. It‘s nice to see a YA character who refuses to get caught up in drama and cares about more than romance.

On this first day of summer, here is my #Booked2021 #Summer list.

#Relatedto911
#ContainsPhotos
#LatinxAuthor
#AppalachianNoir
#Under150Pages
#ColorInTitle

They appear here, in order of most to least favorite, top to bottom and left to right.

I love me an independent bookstore. I stop at every one I pass and even make trips just to visit them. This one is located Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
#IndependentBookstore

#Booked2021 #Spring complete!

#musicalinstrumentoncover
#AntiracismBook
#HearHere
#setinacountrywhereUNpeacekeepersare
#translatedintoyourfirstlanguage
#titleincludeslibraryorlibrarian

👇

Free #GoodreadsGiveaway Win!

The houseguests have left the building!!

This one has been on my shelf for a while. I‘m only about a chapter in, but the writing is beautiful.

#booked2021
#unpeacekeepers

I recently “met” Jesmyn Ward when she agreed to speak to a group of creative writers at The University of Southern Mississippi. She is talented and genuinely human. Sing, Unburied, Sing is her third novel, and her best. And amazing example of Southern Gothic literature.

#booked2021

#HearHere

At times, inspiring and anxiety provoking.

#booked2021
#containsphotos

Thought I‘d read a little of this before bed. Big mistake. #unputdownable

The Survivors #SetinAustrailia
The Space Between Worlds #NonfictionScienceorSFwrittenbyaWoman
Eat only when you‘re hungry #BakedGoodsontheCover
You Should Have Known #COVIDHEROES (doctor or nurse MC)
The ABC Murders #MustacheonCover
Invisible Women #AuthorsFirstNameStartswithABorC

#Booked2021 #Winter

Books for February = 9
Re-reads = 1 (RPO)
Non-fiction = 1
Sing, Unburied, 84 Charing Cross and RPO = 5 ⭐️
Psychology of Time Travel and 50 Words = 4 ⭐️
Pieces and Lillian Boxfish = 3 ⭐️
(I‘m gonna pretend Ready Player Two never happened. 🤦‍♀️)

Free audiobook from Libro.fm. Their eyes were watching god!! Today only!

I did a slightly different #20of2020. Here are 20 nonfiction reads, broken down by categories. Row 1: Memoirs. Row 2: Feminist Criticism. Row 3: Books for raising Social Consciousness. Row 4: Historical, general, etc.
I enjoyed all of these, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Braiding Sweetgrass. It changed the way I think about nature and my responsibility to the environment.

Congratulations @rachelm ! I loved Ove and Rosie, so I can‘t wait to read this!

@rachelm is holding a #giveaway for her new book. Check out her Litsy page and stack her book on Goodreads:
https://tinyurl.com/TBEGR

I‘m looking for something light and funny to read, something to distract myself from the chaos surrounding us, something similar to the books pictured above. Any suggestions?

Virginia Woof (AKA Ginny) and me starting our new book

Here is my May wrap-up. Being out of school, I expected to read more, but to be fair, most of these were pretty lengthy.

Shout, Uprooted and A Gentleman in Moscow were definitely five star reads.

Deep Creek, Under the Dome and the Harry Potter books (re-reads for me) were four or even four and a half.

Signature, Transcription and Found Things were all clever (albeit for different reasons) and while I didn‘t love them, I appreciated them.

I‘m not an outdoorsy person. I respect the environment and I loved nature, but mostly from afar. But it‘s just too beautiful a day not to be out in it.

Library haul 😁

New mug. New kindle. New book.
Let summer break begin!

So I‘m a little late to the party, but here‘s my April wrap up. The books are listed in order from most (Hibiscus) to least favorite (Bury). I‘ve been re-reading (listening) to the HP series, and I still think they‘re absolutely fabulous, but as I‘ve read them before, they didn‘t have the same impact on me as the top row of books did.
While I didn‘t love them, I appreciated the books on the bottom row; there were no “losers” this month.

“When do we speak out, eh? When soldiers are appointed lecturers and students attend lectures with guns to their heads? When do we speak out?" ~ Chimamanda Adichie

“I have measured out my life with coffee spoons”

A fur baby, a fluffy blanket and a cup of tea...

“Now you know everything you need to know, the story can begin.”

I was feeling a little nostalgic, so I stopped by the library and picked up a few copies of Nancy Drew. I read book one yesterday. On the menu today - Book two, The Hidden Staircase.

@Kmmsellers gave me this beautiful Anne of Green Gables journal and blanket for Christmas. The lines of the journal are made up of micro lines of the novel. It‘s amazing! 💕

Just returned from a cruise with my grandson. We went to a Dr Seuss parade and listened to a reading of Horton Heard a Who! Does this count as my first read of the year? 😉

90 books is a personal best for me (as an adult at least). And I read some great books this year. Here are my top five:

Circe by Madeline Miller
Educated by Tara Westover
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak
Us Against You by Fredrick Backman
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Saying Merry Christmas with homemade butterbeer 😋

While I don‘t read Christmas-themed books, I do like a (creepy) wintery fairytale at this time of the year. Starting this today ❄️

I finished reading one of my all time favorite books, and now I‘m watching my favorite film version. Charlotte Gainsbourg is the best Jane Eyre 💕

“Books were her salvation. As a child, she‘d had a shelf of childhood favorites that she loved enough to read over and over again. But after ... books became more than mere stories. They were her lifeline, the pages as essential to her as breathing.”

If you want to do something for us,
Put a weapon down for me,
Close the maw of hell for me,
Be a friend to me,
Try to be good men for me.

You boast about all you‘re going to do for me.
So when are you going to stop ruining things for me?
Do you want to know what you can do for me?
Start by hearing me.

This was a quick and fascinating read. There were a tad too many subplots and it ended a bit too neatly, but the characters were complex and interesting and there was a steady build up of suspense that kept me on the edge of my seat. A solid four stars.

“Unpopular, controversial or just plain different views when voiced by a woman are taken as indications of her stupidity. It is not that you disagree, it is that she is stupid: ‘Sorry, love, you just don‘t understand.‘”

I read this short book in one sitting. It is a fascinating, eye opening discussion of power and the social, cultural and political efforts to keep it out of the hands of women. It should be required reading for all young people.