Starting this one tonight to stave off my craving for more Katherine Arden's Winternight Trilogy. So far, loving the prose!

Proust is a pretty writer. You could frame images he creates. His characters tend to be snobbish, silly, and overly concerned with the way one wears a waistcoat to dinner (looking at you, Bloch!) The novel(s)

For all Littens who love swaps, and for newbies, this is a helpful account to follow for tips and guidelines! The account is @LitsySwaps Please repost!

A treat from the NYT Book Review.

Sleepy town with lots of secrets--tales that twist through time...and GHOSTS and MURDER and TWISTS and it was still a bit boring 🤷🏻‍♀️ I read it for a mental break during a heavier read, so it served its purpose.

Reading this for my class! The Cowan philosophy of education is beautiful and inspiring. After nearly a decade of teaching, this class (and the accompanying texts) is uplifting. #teachersoflitsy

After reading and loving In Search of Lost Time, my husband bought me the next one! My first #chunkster of 2018 and am very much looking forward to it.

Schwalbe loves books. And I enjoy reading essays about books by people who love them like I do. I must say, I enjoyed his other book on books--End of Your Life Book Club--better, but I will read whatever he writes. I just like who he is. Some of the essays made me cry, and some I did not finish. Good book to start off the year--hopeful. He ends by saying that reading should spur further engagement. Stay engaged, Littens! Gift from @CKtheLibrarian

Lorca is exciting and smart. His essays are like poetry. My two favorites are Deep Song and Theory of Play and Duende. A poem from this book seems appropriate to begin 2018: My love will end, my tears will end, my grief will end, all will end. #firstbook #mountTBR

Last book of 2017: I love Ginsberg! His poems are so pertinent for today--reading these aloud to my husband tonight was invigorating and just fun. A quote I thought Littens would like: "My books piled up before me for my use/waiting in space where I placed them, they/haven't disappeared, time's left its remnants and qual--/ities for me to use--my words piled up, my texts, my/manuscripts, my loves." Purchased at City Lights in San Fran!

Happy Morning! We are saying farewell to 2017 quietly inside all day, reading and watching Black Mirror. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone is doing today!

I love Vasya! This book is exciting--monsters, fighting, intrigue and a girl refusing to follow gender roles. I read the whole thing on one sitting because seriously I could not leave Vasya on her own. She is resplendent! Moreover, this world is complex, political, mythical, and personal. Arden has built a universe I want to visit again and again. The writing is beautiful and all the characters and plot lines are fully developed.

Why does Vasya NEVER LISTEN?! I am so frustrated with her: GET OUT of MOSCOW--geez, idiot girl. Loving this one! Meant to hang on to it until Jan 1, but it beckoned.

These are by far not the only excellent reads of the year, but they are the tops! Not in any order other than when I read them. March Trilogy definitely number one read this year. Dear Committee Members got cut off here...geez. #17in2017

Rereading a winter favorite! Cozy cozy cozy not featured: chamomile tea, fuzzy blanket, fuzzy dogs.

I found it hard to be swept away by this one. I do appreciate Perry's ability to make her characters feel like people, and I came away liking them all--especially the children. There are few dragons to slay, in spite of the title. Instead expect some gorgeous scene setting and an unusual cast of lovely and surprising people. I felt warm and happy reading it due to the language and characters--the plot plods.

For Mattis, people never see what is important--the flight of a woodcock, the straight wake of a row boat, the joy of being treated like a man. Instead, they only seem to be annoyed, busy, or just too clever. They don't sit on humps or rocks and their hands are never confused. The story of Mattis's summer in a cottage by a lake is fraught with emotion, like a duck swimming--seemingly calm and deliberate, yet a whirlpool of confused fury below.

Finished up the quartet with the last of the Christmas cookies! I don't want to spoil anything but DRAGONS and GIRLPWRRR (finally). Are there more?

This is just beautiful writing. The story is simply told but contains quiet thoughts on dealing with a broken heart, value of art, fear of technology, power, education, losing and finding oneself. Reading the book is a pilgrimage. As Fortier says, the book is not the destination but the midpoint--how does one leave the Island? How does one change their life?

Cozy Christmas night. A quote from current read is a gift to you, Littens: "Before houses of stone and wood, we live in cabins of words...we say I love you to feel warm; we say orange and we sniff our fingers; we say it's raining for the pleasure of staying inside, curled up next to the light of the word book."

Cleaning up my "currently reading" a little this weekend. Not sure I'll accomplish it all by the 31st, but I'm trying? Featured: Earthsea, which I'm loving and wish I'd found sooner in my life (pre-Harry Potter), and Bookstore Candle from a thoughtful colleague, which smells great (mahogany, leather, and coffee) from Frostbeard Studio via etsy or Amazon. And Yogi Lavender tea. #hyyge

Funny and educational! Felt like a good read for finals week (does "finals" need an apostrophe?!)

I have no idea what I just read... It's pretty and weird and surprising. Mostly weird. I liked it. It definitely has me thinking and wanting to read more by Baricco. Has anyone else read this or others by this author?

A mystery, romance, ghost story, love song to Barcelona and to books--two of my favorite things in the world! This novel is rich in entertainment and quotables about reading and the love of books. My second time reading it and I enjoyed it even more this time. A perfect chilly weather read! I love these characters! I can't wait to read the sequel.

Okay, so this book was my 100th of the year and what a doozy! I originally struggled to read it--I was bored and disconnected, but the story just sucked me in. I feel a little unsettled after reading it. Too much is just too close to reality to say that I enjoyed it, but it does rank at the top of "best books of 2017" for me!

Slow to get into, but an interesting premise! It was the book nearest my comfy spot on the couch, so it's my morning read. I've heard great things.

This book is truly heartbreaking. Beautiful and cruel, the relationship of David and Giovanni play out in a caricature of gender roles, drink, Paris, and the depths of humanity's ability to wound. I have only felt this depleted from reading when finishing A Good Life. #notholidayreading

I had to put down this beautiful story to go celebrate my dear friend's wedding! Congratulations to @aplunk and her handsome hubby (in a couple of hours!). I am so excited to be a part of your big day! #love Books don't fit in this tiny bag 🙁

A bit of verse with my coffee! Reading after some grading at the coffee shop. Soon I'll be at school meeting my students' grandparents! #teachersoflitsy

This book is about the past, memory, vengeance, forgiveness, myth, love... It is simply told and a little strange.

Anne Brontë gives us a heroine a bit self righteous and completely lovely. She handles adversity with such spirit and patience! Anne writes of a reality tinged with cruelty undercut by a few good people. The hero is so like my husband: dog loving, reading, woods-walking, quiet, steady. Recommended for those who like Jane Austen's novels (more novel of manners than Gothic/Romantic).

Students are writing/reading barbaric yawps today to read at the culmination of our hike (Transcendentalism, baby)! In solidarity I am joining in: both in the poem writing...and the procrastination. #teachersoflitsy

Francie Nolan was one of my best friends when I was little. She seemed to understand me, and our mothers are so alike! I find that as an adult, I love her even more and enjoyed this reread quite a bit. I once wrote a poem about this book when I was in high school and dreamed of moving to Brooklyn...

Thank you @Captivatedbybooks Everything is so cute and FUN! I'm excited to read your favorite King and have been meaning to read The Nightingale forever. You are so thoughtful! And look, the mug did not break (yay)! I love it! @MaleficentBookDragon #allhallowsbookexchange

Re-read of this one. A difficult, emotional true story about one man's will to freedom in spite of his (our) nation. Douglass' story serves as a lesson in history, rhetoric, and humanity.

Rereading a childhood favorite this weekend. I love Francie so much! And this edition was too pretty to abandon it.

Freakish and loving story about monsters--inside and out. The suspense and secrets ratchet up the tension into a HUGE cliffhanger--cannot wait for Book 2! #screamathon

Four pages in and I am hooked! Thank you to @Sydsavvy for this one--it wasn't even on my radar! Captain Kidd is as weighed down by the news as I am these days. He and I are going to be great friends.

Feeling autumnal today 🍃 Fuzzy red boots, London fog latte, elbow patches on my sweater and the best: my good friend Thoreau! All I need is a real walk in the woods .

Cloudy, cool, Sunday morning ☕️ 📚 📖

BOOKMAIL! I'm so excited to read these. I'm starting over with the first book (only one I've read so far). I'm learning to love Ursula Le Guin. Unfortunately, I have to leave my cozy nest soon to participate in school event. The introvert cringes and the hedonist sighs: why me?!

I stumbled upon Terry Tempest Williams and now I am deliberately marching through her work. Everything is good here: intent, prose, poetry, science. She makes such surprising yet clear connections between her personal journey and the natural environment. She makes me weep. I loved this one as much as When Women Were Birds. If you like Mary Oliver, pretty words, Birds, or your mom, read this.

I LOVE MARY OLIVER! Thank you @Cca0601 for pulling me this way in the bookstore. I look forward to many a morning's reread of these poems. Also, isn't it something happy to hold a slim volume of poetry and know you're about to read it? I love how it feels in the hands.

Loved it. Moved by it. Swept away by it. It's strange, especially at first, but then the voices merge and the story of a man a boy a nation converge like a ghost inhabiting a body--quietly becoming a chorus of pain and hope. This novel was perfect for me, especially in this year. I didn't think I'd finish it but then sat down to read a little more, and here I am up past my bedtime feeling all the feelings. Saunders, you magical word beast, you!

Starting this beautiful ghost story. I've been waiting until October to read it. I know it isn't scary, but it feels appropriate. #screamathon

Morning coffee at the duck 🦆 pond with this beautiful book, my dogs, and my husband! Perfect start to the day.

Books and Brunch! I really love Book Match, the new-in-print book advice column. I added three books from it to my TBR. Happy weekend, Littens!

A lot of book 📚 I like these characters and the slow burn of suspense but this clown is just annoying me now with his evil. Come on, Big Bill-end him! Then write a book about it. Do you think this really happened to Stephen King and that's why he's a successful novelist now, hmmm? Literally all I can think about... on to THE APOCALYPTIC ROCKFIGHT! #screamathon

#pagehabit is doing an AMAZING giveaway!! We might as well all try for it! This is a great organization that gives back. Sign up here: http://vy.tc/dyhA054

Sunday mornings. Post donuts and paper. Prechores. Batman cartoons for the husband and October's first scary story for me! @Cinfhen Thought you'd appreciate the Bowie mug!