I wanted to like this book. It has history, politics, a mystery. The first half seemed mostly to name-drop historical figures. When the action accelerated, the plot twists hinged too manydeus ex machines for my tastes. It was odd that as meticulous as the author was in ensuring historical events were accurately depicted, he did not make the language 1950‘s accurate (dad jokes, etc) or making the characters seem very accurate for the time period.

The movie was a better, more concise version of this. Her characters fell flat and the romances were boring. The aunts had small roles and they were the most interesting people in the story.

I really enjoyed this book while I read it, but after the fact, I struggle to find something positive to say beyond that. Alice Hoffman‘s writing is mesmerizing and lyrical and she builds an interesting world filled with magic, but it‘s far less profound than intended,

Despite the hype, most of the content will be familiar to those who pay attention to the news. It‘s fast and readable as gossip with a few eyebrow-raising moments, but there‘s plenty of poor (likely rushed) editing and rehashing better reporting by other newspapers and media groups.

While I think this author‘s advice and stance is solid, I don‘t really like his attitude that he‘s imparting some sort of rare wisdom to us readers—particularly given that Laura Vanderkam has espoused similar ideas in several best-selling books as well.

This is a really interesting (and a bit gossipy) look at morning TV news, but Stelter really struggled to craft a smooth, cohesive narrative in this book. Stelter also made some very odd, awkward metaphor/descriptive choices that would bring the narrative to a screeching halt for me.

This book had all the elements I️ should love—adventure, magic, multiple worlds, treachery, a feisty female character. And yet it all felt as if it had been done before.

I was a fan of xoJane.com from its beginning. Cat Marnell garnered comparisons to Hunter S. Thompson early on and I can see the resemblance. Not because they are anything alike in content or word choice or much of anything else apart from the drug use. But they both write in a sort of careening, disorienting, no-holds-barred style that puts everything out on the table: drugs, bad behavior, crimes, parties.

Is it possible for David Grann to write a bad book?

An excellent, chilling graphic novel adaptation of Shirley Jackson‘s classic.

I will pretty much read any book about witches. This one is a solid choice full of interesting characters, twisting plots, and some serious witchcraft.

Is it possible for David Grann to write a bad book?

A memoir ostensibly about Giraldi's short-lived days as a bookish body building. It's more a reflection in the masculine culture he was raised in and his complicated feelings about his father and his death. Giraldi's memoir is beautifully written, telling stories about his life and his father's life interspersed with bits of truths about life, books, and grief.

When you were an adult, all the promise of your life was foreclosed upon, every day just a series of compromises mitigated by little pleasures I that distracted you from your former wildness, from your truth. Sylvia Plath, Marilyn Monroe, Edie Sedgwick, Janis Joplin. They all got to be beautiful forever.

How is it so easy for you/to be kind to people he asked/ milk and honey dripped/ from my lips as I answered/ cause people have not/ been kind to me

Joe Queenam's book snobbery made this hard to read. He is most interesting talking about books and what they mean to him, but the relentless negativity about everything (Kindles! Sci-fi! Mysteries! Bookstores! Libraries!) that characterizes his 'acerbic' brand of humor was annoying. The best section was the final chapter and epilogue, but Queenam manages to insult just about every kind of reader getting there.

"Reading is the way mankind delays the inevitable. Reading is the way we shake our fist at the sky. As long as we have these epic, improbable reading projects arrayed before us; we cannot breathe our last: Tell the Angel of Death to come back later: I haven't quite finished 'Villette.'" #TiffanyReads

Admittedly, I have a weak spot for books about books and this one hits all the right notes for me: Misfit bookworm girl grows up and finds her people all while reading lots of books. You may not like that it's not quite a memoir and not quite about the books, but its a quick read and hits all the sweet spots for me.

"If we all liked the same books, were all boringly be the same people. That said, certain books can rightfully be considered deal breakers." ??

For me, it would probably be Jonathan Franzen or anything written by a Fox News pundit. What would be your deal-breaker book or author for a potential romantic partner?

This is every reader's catch-22; the more you read, the more you realize you haven't read; the more you yearn to read more, the more you understand that you have, in fact, read nothing.

I loved this interesting, suspenseful ending to The Passage trilogy. This complicated series sometimes misses the mark, but the books are way more than the sum of their parts. Plus, Stephen King called this series terrifying.

I loved this collection of news columns--it's a microcosm of American history. The book is split into topic sections, making it easy to pick and choose what you are most interested in. Because the columns are short, it's easy to dip in and out of this book in small spurts. I think this will appeal to news junkies and anyone with an interest in American history.

This book lives up to all the praise it's generated. It's a carefully researched and meticulously written account of several low income families search for affordable and reliable housing in a market that's stacked against them that reads like a novel. My only quibble is that it's sometime confusing to keep track of the characters as the author switches each chapter, but I still couldn't put this book down.

I really liked this book, but this exchange made me laugh.

"Right then I wondered how often Vanetta had played dumber with me, how often she had faked ignorance to appear more ladylike."

Because I think every woman ever has done this. ??

My library will be really happy to see these (very late) stack of books returned. 😬

I can't resist this series stuffed with madcap plots, tons of bookish references, Dickens-like names, and plenty of heart. This book is even better than the first.

Working on organizing and purging my books finally. #somanybooks #bookworm #ihatemoving

This is a pretty broad look at the history of class in America. It's pretty topical right now and you can clearly see the roots of the rise of Trump in our history. I

This is a book best read at breakneck speed without looking too closely at the details. Focus too much on details (plot holes, character development, character motivation and logic) and it starts to fall apart a little. I also question the need for the last 10 pages or so. Theo soliloquy to the reader seems tacked on without any real value.

I stayed up late to finish this. This was book was fascinating--the dual POVs of Lotto and Matilde made me my question my already shaky view of marriage. It hits home how little we really know about other people and their inner lives. Matilde's section was by far the more fascinating one for me--Lotto comes off as a typical white, rich dude who thinks everything is as he assumes it is.

Borrowing from a friend: "I eventually decided I liked this book, but it took me a long time to get there." This book is both enchanting and depressing and wildly inconsistent. Some parts are so beautifully, wonderfully well-written and some parts made me roll my eyes. But that ending made up for it.

Catching up on my Book Club picks.

I attempt to be the left, but more often I am right. 👋🏻

"If you are an adolescent, here is the trick to being neither quite a nerd nor quite a jock: be no one." #infinitejestbuddyread

"He'll say it's how to learn to be a good American during a time, boys, when America isn't good its own self."#latenightreading #amreading #currentlyreading #books #bookworm

I got my book signed by Dan Rather tonight!

I'm working on The Goldfinch and noticed that Donna Tartt went to Bennington College. This is the same college that Shirley Jackson's husband worked at and where they lived most of their lives. I just finished Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin.

"I would hope the day will come when I can once again believe what my country says and once again approve of what it does. I want to have faith once more in the justness of my country's causes and the nobleness of its ideals. What I want so very much is to be able once again to root for my own, my native land. "

Met a fellow bookworm this weekend at the Walt Disney World Marathon.

Ruth Franklin's wonderful biography of Shirley Jackson adds richness and depth to an already stunning collection of work. This biography makes me wonder how great her work would had become had she lived longer.

Visited Diagon Alley and Knockturn Alley today.

Found a library, even at Universal Studios! 📚🤓

I mean....is there anyone better?

"Intermarriage was still unusual in the United States in 1940. Only a year earlier, The Atlantic Monthly ran a first-person article by an anonymous Christian woman titled "I Married a Jew.'"

Good to know that confessional journalism hasn't changed much in the last 70+ years.

This book disappointed me. It's a gossipy memoir of venerated editor Robert Gottlieb and I enjoyed his stories about legendary books he edited. But his insistence of describing the beauty and charm of every women, his supposedly intimate relationships with a staggeringly unreal amount of people, and the noticeable lack of his wife and children make this is a strange read. At the very least, this great editor needed more editing in this book.

"Professionalism. Again and again I've bored young hopefuls with the unexciting news that though you can't legislate talent into yourself, you can legislate efficiency. It certainly helped my early career that I turned manuscripts around overnight or over a weekend ... you're going to have to do it sooner or later, and it doesn't take more time to do it right away after putting it off for whatever neurotic reason."

Re-reading reminded me how relevant this book is to us even 50+ years later. Bradbury explores much of the problems with the human condition and the mistakes we continue to make. You can see the seeds of the ideas that developed into his classic, Fahrenheit 451.

"But my problem with religion didn't stem from these misadventures. I've simply always lacked even the slightest religious impulse--when people talk about their faith, I can't connect with what they're talking about. This isn't a decision I came to, or a deep belief or principle; I'm just religion-deaf, the way tone-deaf people hear sounds but not music. I suppose my religion is reading."

Shadow has this thing for books. 😺😺#funfridayphoto

Thankful for my fellow Litsy bookworms that I can share and talk books with. 📚📚📚📚👯👯👯👯