This book was astonishing.

I‘ll just stop in and see what‘s new at the bookstore, I said. I don‘t really feel like buying anything, I said.

Preparing to go see A Midsummer Night's Dream this weekend! It's been 15 years since I read this. It's lovely. (And yes, I'm back after a bit of a Litsy hiatus 😁) #booknlunch

Spoils from an after-work trip to my local indie store today. I am super excited about both of these.

I guess technically this is a "magazine haul"? Made a little trip to Barnes & Noble today. :-)

Perfect timing! Finally finished this and really enjoyed it. Taking a week to read short stories and lit mags before I pick my next book - that's the level of book hangover we're dealing with here. #MayBookFlowers #StartsWithQ

Treating myself to some coffee and reading before I head home this evening. ☕️ 📚

Today's prompt made me think immediately of this book, which I read...maybe 15 years ago? I remember loving it and crying over it. Might be time for a reread. #MayBookFlowers #BodyOfWater

Trying to start the week off healthy, here. #booknlunch

Of course I have to pick my beloved Underground Man for favorite #unreliablenarrator. 💕#MayBookFlowers

Back to this delightful book! #booknlunch

Finally done with this one. I wish I could say it's a pick, because I love Saramago in theory...but it was just ok. Still glad I finally read it, though.

Tfw you have less than 50 pages left but only half an hour for lunch...agggh. #BookNLunch #noodles

RIP, Robert Pirsig. This is my dad's original hardback copy (c. 1974). I've read that opening bit about the blackbirds probably half a dozen times, but could never make it much further. Nevertheless(or maybe "therefore"), this book is important to me.

A beautiful sunny day to gaze at from my office window during lunch today. Not pictured: my Ziploc bag of cheese, because Friday lunch inspiration is hard. 😁#bookandlunch #officeworkersoflitsy

My other current read, served with leftover fried rice. I have to take Saramago in small doses (those sentences...!), but enjoying it! #bookandlunch

Well, I've made it to p. 300 - just 268 more to go! Really enjoying this, though, and kind of glad it won't have to end for a while yet.

This...doesn't sound familiar at all. 😬

My January got derailed by various Bad Things - car accident, death in the family - but yesterday I finally finished my first #LitsyAtoZ book! I liked this a lot - it was interesting to see him trying to stick to a more conventional narrative structure than he used in John Henry Days, which I read a few years ago. Subject matter made it difficult going at times, but a compelling read. #blackhistorymonth

I know what I'm doing on New Year's Day - I've got a lot of new books to read! So glad I found this community in 2016. Happy new year, littens! 🥂

I got some Dickens for Chrismukkah! Everyone else is napping now and I can finally start reading. 😁🎁🎄🕎❄️

Snowy afternoon - perfect time to start this. ❄️️☕️❄️️☕️

I picked up a few holiday gifts for everybody...and a few for myself, ahem. 🎁 ⛄️️😊 #TBRtemptation

A strange, beautifully written little novel about a strange young man living in the secret cracks of the world. I enjoyed it very much, though there were a few things that bothered me enough to make it almost a guilty pleasure. Still - recommended.

My #LitsyAtoZ list in progress, so far made up of all the books from 2016 I haven't gotten to read yet...

I'm not sure I've ever color coordinated my lunch and my reading material this well before. 😬

I bought this used YEARS ago, picked it up a few times and couldn't get past the first page, picked it up again a couple of weeks ago and am really enjoying it. 🤔I've always loved her essays, so I'm glad to finally be getting into the fiction side of things too.

"The letters come together, she whispers right into his ear, in order to delight, to derange us. They come together, they hold hands, they caress, they bruise one another, they force the soul down deeper, they make us thirsty for unimaginable things, they shake their limbs and dance..." Wow, this book.

I don't read much science fiction, but I like Ursula Le Guin. Excited but a bit intimidated by the size of this.

I'm having a really hard time getting into this, which surprises me b/c it's got a lot of things I normally love - smart/artistic female characters, meandering reflections on the nature of art, etc. But something about it is just rubbing me the wrong way. Might have to take a break and come back to it.

Am I the only one who has to take a break between finishing one novel (the fantastic Everything I Never Told You!) and starting the next? Short story palate cleansers, you know? In other news, I'm only halfway through this and it's time to buy the 2016 edition already...yikes!

Apparently I've reached the "burning your dinner because you can't tear yourself away" stage with this book. Thanks a lot, @Pronounced_ing ?

Just read about this in the New Fiction newsletter from my awesome bookstore, A Room of One's Own. Came over to Litsy to add it to my "to read" list. Naturally everyone over here is already reading it. I love you guys.

The fall weather always makes me think of this lovely poem. It's been on my mind the past few days.

Local beer: also important.

A trip to Iowa City requires a trip to Prairie Lights, obviously. #getindie (photo staging inspiration courtesy of @BookishMarginalia )

A little light reading this morning. Uh, #TBT ?

I'm normally not a huge fan of historical fiction (so do with that what you will), but loved this. Reminded me of Jeanette Winterson's The Passion - that is, a lyrical novel that felt perfectly modern despite historical subject matter. "I had rather be worse in singularity than better in the mode." #recommendsday

Continuing to work through a backlog of acclaimed 90s fiction... I'm not sure what to make of this yet. I want the stories to spool out more, but the encyclopedic nature of the book seems to preclude that.