Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s a good story, but I find Steinbeck‘s writing boring. The story itself feels repetitive. Because he tells me outright what it means. I don‘t like being told what to think. Make me think. Don‘t force my feelings. Let your words encourage them to form. Stimulate my thoughts. I do find myself most curious about this:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/forgotten-dust-bowl-novel-rivaled-gr...
#authoramonth @Soubhiville

Reading this for #authoramonth I got this copy in NOLA last year.

While I appreciated it more now than when I was younger, The Grapes of Wrath was just ok. I remember liking Of Mice and Men when we read it in school but after these two books this month I don‘t think I‘ll be rereading it.
#AuthorAMonth #BookSpinBingo #MarchMadness #BirthdayPixieReadathon

Due to a damaged library copy of The Grapes of Wrath, I read The Pearl first. I‘ve now gotten a new library copy so I‘m ready to read it for #AuthorAMonth & #Bookopoly. It all worked out just fine.

I couldn‘t decide which Steinbeck to go with for #AuthorAMonth, so I polled my friends. This one was the most recommended. I did read The Pearl many years ago and I remember that I didn‘t like it so much. So much that I avoided Steinbeck ever after. Here‘s hoping this goes better.
@Soubhiville
#MarvelousMarch #MarchMadness
@Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES

Currently reading The Grapes of Wrath & I‘m planning on also reading The Pearl for #AuthorAMonth. I wasn‘t a Steinbeck fan back in school but wondering if that‘s changed.

#currentreads
Currently I‘m reading for my buddy reads and #AuthorAMonth.
#LittensLoveRomance #SUNDAYBUDDYREAD #Whimsicalreadsbookclub #MarchMadness

There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our successes. The fertile Earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And the children dying of hunger must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates--died of malnutrition--because the food must rot if not sold at a profit.

📖 The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck
🖋 Alan Ginsberg
🎞 A Great Day in Harlem
📺 The Great Pottery Throwdown
🎤 Steve Goodman, The Go-Gos
🎼 Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Queen,
The Girl from Ipanema (Joao Gilberto/Stan Getz) #manicmonday #letterg @CBee

Even though I'm not usually one for pancakes, from all the mentioned foods and dishes, this was the one that spoke to me the most. Pancake, maple syrup and bacon - a down to earth breakfast. I've also had some sugar and butter with it, since they had those too.

Wow - what a book! This is one I won't forget about that easily. Even though set during the Great Depression, it's still worth reading nowadays. Especially now, since Steinbeck addresses so many topics that we are still facing: economic crisis, how we treat refugees, environmental disasters due to pollution...
Not a lot is happening in the story, but a lot is going on. Steinbeck digs up the roots of human failures and shows us the face of despair.

The house was dead, and the fields were dead; but this truck was the active thing, the living principle. The ancient Hudson, with bent and scarred radiator screen, with grease in dusty lobules at the worn edges of every moving part, with hub caps gone and caps of red dust in their places—this was the new hearth, the living center of the family; half passenger
car and half truck, high-sided and clumsy.

Thank you for tagging me @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 😊 And as always I'm late... 😌

I do note and mark quotes in my books, but I often feel as if I'm not that excited about book quotes as all you other Littens... 😅 Here's one of my favourite quotes from one of the books I'm currently reading and loving.

#LittensWanttoKnow

Next up for my book group. I read this so many years ago, I‘m happy to revisit it!

Just my luck…two chunky books for August‘s #roll100

Giunta alla fine di questo lungo viaggio di fame, morte e speranza, non posso fare a meno di pensare che è stato detto tutto. Dalla vita che scorre come un fiume, da un figlio costretto a scappare, da qualcuno che non ce l'ha fatta, dall'acqua che sale e dalla vita che vuole spegnersi ma che poi si trasforma in furore ... E finché c'è forza, c'è vita.

Grazie Steinbeck

East of Eden is still my favorite Steinbeck, but this book is such a heartbreaking story with absolutely beautiful writing.

Following the Joads on their journey for a better life, full of upsets at every turn, and yet somehow the family just keeps going, was one of the best literature experiences I've had in a while.

Thank you @TheAromaofBooks for choosing this book as my prize. I already know it will be well loved and read again and again.

Last weekend I went wedding dress shopping with my cousin‘s fiancée and my mom. We ended up being a little early to her appointment and lucky for me there was a used book shop a couple of doors down. So of course I had to go in. And I found this gorgeous vintage edition of The Grapes of Wrath. I‘m super excited to add this to my vintage collection. ???

A true classic! #Farm

#SavvyChoices

Currently listening to this. Of mice and men is one of my favourite books of all time so I want to explore some of his other writing. Hope to read East of Eden next

Our trip to NOLA is over and we are driving home, but I did manage to visit 3 bookstores, one each day. We totally forgot to look for the little free libraries! None jumped out at me, though. Overall, a very successful trip as far as books go! 🤣 we only missed one actual store, although we were told there was a 5th and it had moved locations!

@wanderinglynn Your package arrived today. Thank you so much for sharing. 💚

@TheAromaofBooks look what arrived! I'm so happy you picked the Steinbeck. I can't wait to read it. His writing is so beautiful. 💜 Thank you again for #BookSpin each month.

#OnThisDay in 1940, another classic book to screen adaptation,The Grapes of Wrath, (starring Henry Fonda as Tom Joad), premiered in New York City to near universal critical acclaim. In true Hollywood style, the Joads were given a hopeful ending in the film, in contrast to the stark final moments of the book. It is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and was one of the first received into the Library of Congress. #HistoryGetsLIT

Slowly going through my 100 epic reads poster from Been There Done That.

I didn‘t enjoy this quite as much as East of Eden, but it‘s another great Steinbeck novel. It provides a clear and personal description of this part of American history. I would have appreciated some more details about the later experiences of the Joad family, but the uncertainty and abruptness of of their stories also seems so appropriate. #1001books

The #audiobook narration by Dylan Baker was fantastic.

#Reading1001 #TBRTakedown December 2021

Wow! I had never read this classic. It is amazing & a bit disheartening how relevant several themes still are. Steinbeck was undoubtedly wise beyond his time!

“And the great owners, who must lose their land in an upheaval, the great owners with access to history, with eyes to read history & to know the great fact: when property accumulates in too few hands it is taken away. And that companion fact: when a majority of people are hungry and cold they will take by force what they need. And the little screaming fact that sounds through all history: repression works only to strengthen & knit the repressed.”

#wondrouswednesday Thanks @Catsandbooks for the tag!

1. The Monsens love reading, so fortunately date nights & sometimes the whole family (pre-pandemic) are at bookstores or visiting several in an afternoon. The family that book shops together stays together ☺️
2. Husband is a reading addict, plus son, daughter @arielmonsen & Mom @Doll8455 & niece @freeatlast1137 In-laws, too. Husband‘s brother was a librarian in Norway for some years
3. Tagged

Wow, what a journey this book has been. Initially it did take me a while to really get into the story, but once I got used to the language used, and the writing style, I simply could not get enough.
It is clear why this book has stood the test of time.
An absolute brilliant novel.

Diving back into the classics with this one 🤓

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want.
This is day 5 #bookstoread #TBRpile

Amazing. Learned so much about California and migration of poor. The language is amazing.

Steinback is brutally honest picturing the early 20th century american society. People constantly daydreaming and at the same time facing harsh life conditions, poverty and hunger, makes him an author Europe should explore a lot more.

A book I'm so glad I decided to read in my 30s. I can really appreciate the characters plight and feel the sadness of the time. My favorite way to learn history through historical fiction 😍

#classic

I am tagging along with @Branwen and listing one book each day this week to commemorate #bannedbooksweek . I‘m using the www.ALA.org list of Banned & Challenged Classics as my guide.

I‘m not much of a Steinbeck fan, but this is one of the most powerful books I‘ve ever read showcasing injustices faced by Americans during The Depression. Challenged mostly for vulgar language and a less than perfect portrayal of a Christian pastor.

#3books #bannedbooksIhaventread
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

#3books #bannedbooksihaventread

I desperately wanted that happily ever after but when reading historical fiction we know the hardships didn't just 'end'. The characters offered vast perspectives and the inner storylines read like lifestyle pieces rounding out the story. I'm in my 30s and never had The Grapes of Wrath as required reading in school, in a way I'm glad. I think I would have been too naive to fully grasp the story in its entirety.

#3books #ihaventreadbutshould

There‘s a reason The Grapes of Wrath is a classic. It‘s a well-written and powerful book. Witnessing a dirt poor life as lived by the Joads would make anyone with any empathy cry — it should also make people angry that decent people who wanted to work, who wanted to feed their families, were (and still are) treated like dirt.

I‘ve been reading this book for a long time; it‘s not that it‘s not good — it is — it‘s just so incredibly sad that I can‘t read it for long periods of time. Today is my husband‘s and my 36th anniversary. We aren‘t really going to very many places because of COVID, but we took a short trip to the Mississippi beaches today and just relaxed. We also continued to listen to Wizard and Glass, and I read The Grapes of Wrath at the beach.

“Fella gets use‘ to a place, it‘s hard to go,” said Casy. “Fella gets use‘ to a way of thinkin‘, it‘s hard to leave. I ain‘t a preacher no more, but all the time I find I‘m prayin‘, not even thinkin‘ what I‘m doin‘ “

I‘m taking on a classic!

“To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth.”

Great idea, @ShyBookOwl 😊

#FirstLineFridays

#ThankfulThursday @Cosmos_Moon (Thanks for the tag, @JaclynW 🤗!)
1. I‘m about 60 miles from where I grew up in Southern NY and across state lines (down in #CentralJersey).
2. I‘m grateful for the sweet moment with my kids. They have made me a bit more crazy during this new way of life, but the unexpected moments of sweetness are the best! 💜💚

Consider yourself tagged if you haven‘t already participated!

Steinbeck nails the true nature of man in this book; the good, the bad and the ugly. In this regard the Grapes of Wrath is a great read and definite classic. But the constant use of bad language in the dialog, especially taking the Lord‘s name in vain, made it difficult for me to read at times. Bad language does nothing to enhance a story and the older I get, the less I can tolerate it. Here it reduced a great book to merely good.

John Steinbeck masterfully tells of the plight of the depression era farmers fleeing the dust bowl of the Midwest to seek a living in the promised land of California. He illustrates this through the Joad family and their travels from Oklahoma to California. He also includes "interlude" chapters that tell of the environment and setting of the story. One of the main themes I see is fear. The "Okies" fear starvation. The Californians fear the Oakies.

"To the red country and part of the gray country of Oklahoma, the last rains came gently, and they did not cut the scarred earth."

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

1:/ Rainy and thunderstormy a little while ago; right now, it‘s a little sunny. Internet had been up and down.
2:/ I set up my son‘s former bedroom as a home office/reading room just for me. I even bought a new chair for reading.
3:/ Finishing up The Grapes of Wrath, listening to Jonathan Van Ness‘ Over the Top and Lucy Mangan‘s Bookworm, and reading A Study in Scarlet from Serial Reader.

#ThoughtfulThursday @MoonWitch94

It took me until about half way through this to really get into it, but I ended up really enjoying it, and I‘m actually looking forward to studying it in september now that‘s it‘s finished!

I thought this was very inventive and cute. 😂