Literary commentary at the local B&N.
14 likes
Literary fiction isn't usually my jam, and this book reminds me why in some ways. But in others, its empathy and realism are almost painful, they're so true.
Literary fiction isn't usually my jam, and this book reminds me why in some ways. But in others, its empathy and realism are almost painful, they're so true.
Hello, Feyre darling. I'm looking forward to my weekend reading.
20% in and I can't decide if actually like this book or not. Opinions, Littens??
Starting #springcleaningreadathon book number three. I don't expect to finish today, but I'm looking forward to making a good start on it.
pickBeautiful and important. I wish everyone would read this book, and wrestle with the same complexities the characters do.
Every character, every scene, every minute we see is vital to the story; this book has a lot to say and doesn't waste words in doing it. I loved the characters, especially the family relationships and how the story dealt with the complicated world we live in.
Recommended reading for everyone in 2017. #springcleaningreadathon
I love the family relationships in this book. #springcleaningreadathon
Starting #springcleaningreadathon book number two!
pickA re-read I haven't touched in years so it was almost like reading for the first time again. First completed book of the #springcleaningreadathon
So good. So scary.
Decided last-minute to participate in #springcleaningreadathon through the weekend. First up: finishing The Handmaid's Tale.
A timely re-read. This book is even more evocative and chilling than I remember. And Atwood's prose is so lovely.
Gonna start trying to figure out the fitting part of garment sewing. So of course I went to the library 😃
Thank you, @bookriot 😊 This is a lovely thing and brightens my week. Now, how many of these does my local library have...?
so-soOne word review: meh. This book never really grabbed my attention, and the characterization was inconsistent at times. It also bugs me when an author psychoanalyzes their characters (instead of letting the reader figure them out through their actions), which happens very literally in this book when Holmes meets Sigmund Freud. The action scenes at the end we're the best part. Probably my last Holmes pastiche for the foreseeable future.
pickAs a sequel, this is one of the most interesting I've read in how it upends nearly everything. It goes on a little too long in the middle, but doesn't fall into the trap of making the character's life unendingly miserable - she has a lot of agency. There's scenery chewing dramatics, fairly explicit sexytimes & an effective change of perspective. I like it so much in recognition of how hard my 15 year old self would've LOVED this book/series.
pickThere's a lot of things about this book that I like automatically: fairy tales, myths & mixing the two will always, always intrigue me. This one, a mashup of the Tamlin myth & Beauty & the Beast, with a bit of Hades & Persephone thrown in, was a lot of fun. That said, it's a plot-driven terrific setup for book two, which takes all these stories and turns them upside down. Recommended for YA & fairy tale/myth fans, especially.
Fallen down the YA fairy-tale-myth-mashup rabbit hole, byeeeeee.
Well said, Mr. Sherlock Holmes.
Myth plus fairy tale? Yes, please!
I haven't even started this book & already I feel, like I always do, that Molly Wizenberg understands everything.
When you finish a good book and aren't sure what to read next so you can avoid the heart-breaking disappointment of chasing a really good read with a mediocre one.
One of the things I like about this book is the imperfect families.
Just wrapping up a library conference & re-emerging from the librarian bubble with lunch & reading.
pickThis is a review of THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM by Jon Ronson, which isn't in the Litsy database yet. It's a short but scary read, since it was written before the 2016 US election. Ronson illuminates the influences of Alex Jones/Infowars, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort & Steve Bannon on the Republican candidacy. I learned a lot, but it was a painful read because he's fairly confident that Trump would not be elected.
so-soThis was a solid three stars. The hero's dudebro tendencies got to me after a bit, though this book gets an A+ for how it handles LGBTQ issues and the emotional resolution felt genuine. New adult may not be my genre; as someone who's been out of school for a while, reminiscing about college isn't that interesting to read about.
After the intense and worthwhile experience of reading Homegoing and The Underground Railroad at the same time in February, I'm ready for a lighter read. Romance novel with a bi heroine & a slightly-clueless-but-trying-so-hard hero? Yes, please.
pickFascinating historical fiction about 200+ years of a family's history through many generations, starting with two sisters in Africa in the 1700s. One of the things I liked best was how the author made me care about characters I was only with for ~20 pages and didn't see again. Highly recommended.
pickDevastating and clear-eyed look at American slavery in its various forms. Absolutely recommended reading, one of the best magical realism stories I've ever read.
A yellowed paperback from 1974 that I borrowed from work. Hoping it's one of the good Sherlock homages.
Thanks, Littens 😃 This has been so much fun!
Thank you for the two awesome books and Valentines goodies, @rubyslippersreads !!! I've never seen sparkly jelly beans before, and I am in ❤ with this magnet about literature. You also picked a Diana Wynne Jones book I've never read! #cupidgoespostal @BookishMarginalia
Sometimes, working in a library means #freebooks, and I'm really excited to read this one.
so-so3.5 stars. It's an interesting story that doesn't quite hang together narratively and rushed a lot toward the end. It's worth the read to get a first-hand description of the US prison system, though the author, by her own admission, is shielded from the worst effects of imprisonment by her privilege as an educated, well-to-do white woman with a supportive family. Makes me want to read more about the justice system.
Crafting books are my happy place. Any other sewers out there? I'm a newbie, but enjoying learning!
pickLovely friendship developed through letters & a shared love of books. Helene Hanff is SO salty in an old fashioned (to my eyes) way & her letters and the replies from Frank Doel are a delight. Very quick read, too.
pickI'm not sure I would've liked this as much if it hadn't been read by the author -- but it was, and the last couple of minutes had me bawling. I'll read her other works, but will definitely seek out the audiobooks.
This month's #bookclub selections: powerful, disturbing, and a reminder of how far we have come & how far we have yet to go. Nate Powell's art is perfect.
Image is from book 2; I was lucky enough to get John Lewis & Andrew Aydin to sign 1 & 2, now to buy book 3 & get it signed, too!
Getting misty listening to Carrie talk about how she'd like us all, one day, to say she drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra. And we are.
I don't have a lot of #signedbooks; just a few by treasured authors. I can't think why I didn't get him to sign a copy of The Last Unicorn, but I'm glad to have this one, too. #readjanuary
#autobiography two of two for this month. This is Beryl Markham, describing the time a leopard snuck into her childhood bedroom & snatched her dog, Buller, while she was asleep 😳
This book was published in 1936 & parts of it are shockingly colonialist, but it's certainly full of stories from a unique childhood as the only child of a single father, growing up in Kenya around the turn of the century. #readjanuary
One of my two #autobiography reads this month. Carrie reads the book on audio & the sound of her voice is making me happy & sad by turns. #readjanuary
