Dear Fang, With Love: A novel | 
pickRufi Thorpe writes the kinds of books I love to read. In this one, Vera and her father travel to Lithuania and discover much about each other and themselves. Musings on what it means to be a person in the world, genocide, rape, ancestry, mental illness and so much more abound and somehow it all works out for a quirky yet touching read.
Dear Spring, I love you 💕
Soccer for my 8 year old ⚽️
Book for me 📖
And this evening is GORGEOUS 🌞
Just realized I forgot to post my spring #booked2021 reads. 🤦🏼♀️
Librarian Tales #libraryorlibrarianintitle
Dear Fang #setincountrywhereUNpeacekeepersare
We‘ve Got Answers #antiracism
Piranesi #musicalinstrumentoncover
Skylark #translatedtoyourfirstlanguage
Chase Darkness With Me #hearhere
A good book, a fragrant bath bomb, and a 🥔 mask. Because why not. 😂 #bathandbook
so-soWhen Vera is diagnosed with Bipolar I her father takes her on a trip to Vilnius, #Lithuania. He hopes to help her dealing with this diagnosis and to learn a bit more about his own ancestors. A lot happens to both of them. I enjoyed the growing intimacy between them and the city‘s history but the book as a whole felt a bit too shattered. Thorpe wanted to tell too much.
#ReadingEurope2020 🇱🇹 #ReadYourSign: Passionate, independent character ♏️
pickBooks like this one are why I love reading challenges. I only picked it up because it is set in #Lithuania and I needed that one for #ReadingEurope2020, but I ended up really liking it. It explores heavy topics like accepting a diagnosis of mental illness and how heavy family history can weigh, but is told with great heart and humor.
Many thanks to @Megabooks for putting this one on my radar!
pickThis book interests me for the armchair travel to Vilnius, Lithuania & also because it shows the perils of traveling with mental illness.
Lucas & his daughter Vera travel to Vilnius after Vera has a tough school year due to a bipolar diagnosis. Lucas also wants to find family left after the Holocaust.
The book is told between Vera‘s increasingly unstable emails to her boyfriend Fang, & Lucas‘s first person narration as part of the travel group.
One of my all time favorite things to do—get up before everyone else, drink coffee and read a book by the Christmas 🎄 tree with My dog Gomez. #dogsoflitsy
I abandoned this two years ago. (Boy does time fly!) It‘s about time I got back to it and get it off my bedside table so there‘s room on it when I (hopefully) get books for Christmas. 😉
I‘ve had this on my TBR for far too long.
Vera is the product of whirlwind relationship between her young parents. She has grown up only seeing her father on weekends, but after she suffers a psychotic break in high school, her dad becomes someone to #leanon.
This is the story of the time they spend in Lithuania during the summer after Vera‘s psychotic break. I read this author‘s first book and gave it five stars. #septemberdanes
It was a beautiful, cloudy day for a walk. 😁
#audiowalk
#800in2018
#84ForFebruary
#overdrive
Currently reading and loving #DearFangWithLove. It‘s making me want to jet off to Lithuania and soak in the history...
Some used bookstore finds. The photo didn't come out quite right🤷🏻♀️.
pickThis book surprised me in a really good way. I don't know what I was expecting exactly, but it was fabulous. It was about fathers and family ties and history and mental illness and Lithuania. It was so engrossing, at times laugh-out-loud funny and occasionally quite sad. I was interested in EVERY character as well as how they interacted with each other. I loved it. 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #recommendsday
pickAs I was trying to organize my thoughts into a review of this book; I came across this interview from the Magic and Musings blog with the author, Rufi Thorpe. This portion in particular really speaks to the parts of the book that I found most engaging and thought-provoking.
The relationship between the mostly-absent father and his newly diagnosed 17 year old daughter is also wrapped in secrets and mystery - makes for a good read.
Just getting into this audiobook today. I chose it on a whim and am already engaged. #hoopla #audiobooks
Day 17 of the #RiotGrams challenge: get crafty! I am not crafty in the least, but I do have this gorgeous place marker that the awesome Rufi Thorpe made to go with her awesome book. 💕
I thought I'd have more time to read today but moving a kid out of college has a way of sucking the hours away at warp speed. Now I'm recovering on the couch with Gatsby and my book.
The phrase, "Don't judge a book by its cover" is a saying because we do judge based on aesthetics, attractive presentation and what catches our eye. Which is a shame in this case, because this cover is a total dud in my opinion, and the book so far seems pretty good. I'm thinking the cover doesn't do it justice, at all.
Oh my goodness what a haul (and finally a second book with love in the title #lovetitles)! I have been wanting to read these and hadn't gotten them yet so I'm on cloud 9. Thank you my dear valentine, Karin!!! And thank you Gloria for making Valentines Day so much fun!!!
#day14 #feistyfeb #lovetitles ...seeing as it's Tuesday... thought I'd do a #TBRTuesday with 'Love' in title..... been meaning to get to all of these....
Just a few favorite reads of 2016! Happy New Year, everyone!
Turns out I've barely read any books set in Eastern Europe. I did however listening to this very touching book earlier this year- When 17 year-old Vera has a breakdown one day at school, her estranged dad takes her to Lithuania, hoping the trip will ease their relationship and her mental health. The nuances of the connections in the book are spectacular, and it all comes beautifully together.
Got any recs for me?#photoadaynov16 #EasternEurope
pickI was initially attracted to the cover, but the book itself is an engaging and layered story about knowing ourselves and others, family relationships, family history (writ large and small), and coming to terms with mental illness. My one quibble is with the character of Fang who functions more as a device than a developed person. (Or maybe that's the point?) Either way, I enjoyed the book and the writer's style.
pick4 stars. This book was not what I expected--in the best way possible. Its many layers discuss family mythology and history and their effects on identity, the Holocaust, mental illness, absentee fatherhood, mothers. (I could go on.) And it does so in a completely absorbing and engaging manner.
pickHere's a fulfilling read with an excellent cast of characters - each brought something unique to the story. It tackles several relevant themes like mental illness in contemporary context, dealing with the past and searching for lost family long after a catastrophe has come and gone. I think best part was Thorpe's brilliant foray into mental illness and the father-daughter dynamic. A sharp eye opening read. Full review on IG #sammybookreview
This little beauty paired wonderfully with lots and lots of book talk! #dirtywatermelon #booklovers #booksandbooze
pickRufi Thorpe is masterful and if I were a writer, I would want to write books like hers. This one is brimming with all. the. things.
She writes: "I am fascinated by the way our understanding of things changes over time, including our understanding of people. By the time we're adults, our whole notion of the world has changed from when we were teenagers. There's this constant shifting of perspective."
Go into this one cold. You'll be surprised.
One of three #books I'm #currentlyreading is Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe. I feel this particular passage, from Vera's journal, is very powerful. It resonated with me.
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#dearfangwithlove #rufithorpe #adultlit #realisticfiction #realisticbooks #mentalhealth #mentalillness #fatherdaughterrelationship #lithuania #vilnius
The Olympics or Dear Fang? It's a hard choice.
Just finished novel 2 of #bookisholympics. There was also Fables, which wasn't quite long enough to be a novel...so maybe it's a short story?? Working on reading 4 short stories for bronze.
Traveling. 2 hour layover. Finished novel 2 for #bookisholympics: The Summer that Melted Everything. About halfway done with Dear Fang, With Love. #tgif
This book has a peach-ish cover. Just picks it up from the library! #augustphotochallenge
pickVera is the 17. The daughter of a Russian Jew & a lapsed Catholic. She's insightful, intelligent & recovering from a breakdown. Her dad takes her to Lithuania hoping to connect with her & help her adjust to her diagnosis. Both the main characters are instantly intriguing & sympathetic. Great descriptions of Vilnius.
NB This review first appeared on The BookEaters Blog. http://www.thebookeaters.co.uk/dear-fang-with-love-by-rufi-thorpe/
pick👍👍👍👍👍Just wow. This book is very much in my wheelhouse - cerebral and emotional, filled with questions and doubt, smatterings of historical context and events told from multiple perspectives. Plus, the writing is so lush and gorgeous. Just wow!
