Welcome to Litsy!

When you are re-reading Mrs dalloway and this time you wonder who was the queen (and the prince of Wales) at that time, and you have to go to Wikipedia because that was before The crown times (the Queen was Queen Mary, Great mother of queen Elizabeth, and the prince of Wales was Edward, future king that married for love...) maybe I need a notebook of all I learned because of books ;)

(Yesterday's entry) #OnThisDay in 1925 Mrs Dalloway was first published. Woolf wrote the novel in hand bound journals in her garden shed, dating each day's work like a diary as she went. She modeled Clarissa Dalloway on her childhood friend Kitty Manxe, a socialite who died after falling over her staircase banister. The novel sold so well, it paid for a bathroom to be installed in the Woolf house, nicknamed "Mrs Dalloway's closet." #HistoryGetsLIT

I wanted to like this more than I did. I've read excerpts of it before that I really liked. It was somewhat stream of consciousness writing about several different characters through the course of a day. I think my timing of reading this is just off.

@TheSpineView #two4tuesday

1. Bluebells for sure! Bluebell woods are probably my favourite time to see nature and I associate them with walks with my grandparents. I wish I got to see them more now

2. I couldn‘t think of anything then mrs dalloway popped into my head, for reasons I‘m not totally sure of. Maybe because I associate her with my grandparents too - they took me on day trips to the bloomsbury group‘s farmhouse near where they lived

I'm going to cheat with this one and do categories because it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to just choose one! 💕📚💕

Favorite classic authors:
🔹️ Virginia Woolf
🔹️ Ernest Hemingway
🔹️ Katherine Mansfield
🔹️ F. Scott Fitzgerald

Favorite contemporary authors:
🔹️ Neil Gaiman
🔹️ V.E. Schwab
🔹️ Brandon Sanderson
🔹️ Stephen King
🔹️ Laini Taylor

Who are some of your favorite authors? 💕📚💕

I am finished with the main text. Now, on to, reading the critical analysis, and literary and historical background to understand it better.

The supreme secret must be told to the Cabinet; first, that trees are alive; next, there is no crime; next, love, universal love, he muttered, gasping, trembling, painfully drawing out these profound truths which needed, so deep were they, so difficult, an immense effort to speak out, but the world was entirely changed by them for ever.

Early mornings with Mrs. Dalloway continue as I read for #SharReadathon. I came across Sharon's comment on one of my posts welcoming me to litsy and I have been feeling emotional since at having lost out on the opportunity to get to know her better. I am shy so I find it difficult to be talkative. But, if you are reading this, please come say hi, or tell me a bookish or non- bookish fact about yourself. 💗
I'll go first in the comment section.

I was thoroughly confused by the cover at first. But, ever since Clarissa has mentioned Sally, it just makes more sense. I am 30 pages in and so far Clarissa remembering Sally is the most readable part of the book, that is to say, I didn't have to go back and reread the same lines twice for it to make sense. It reads like revelation of one's mind to the reader. I look forward to the few minutes I get to spend in Mrs. Woolf's company each morning.

I spotted this Penguin Vitae edition of Mrs. Dalloway while browsing B&N... Astonishing.

Book 27

I really want to love this novel. Virgina Woolf is such a well regarded author that I feel stupid by not really jiving with what is supposed to be her most accessible novel. But I started this book on the first and I have only read 50 pages in almost two weeks, most of which I have skimmed half heartedly. Is it time to give up and move on? Does it get better? Maybe if I tried audio??

Finally finished, it was a bit of a marathon but so glad that I did. Beautiful, lyrical and such insight. It spans a single day, interspersed with her memories.

Book Haul Post 2! 💞📚💞

I was SUPER excited to find these two new editions to the Macmillian Collectors Library collection! I love how small and pretty they are! Very easy to hide in a bag or purse during obligatory social events! 😁 I already have all the Jane Austen titles, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights, so I am really happy to add two of my favorite authors to this collection! ❤📚

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Breakfast at Tiffany's

I finally picked Mrs. Dalloway up after falling in love with Woolf‘s essay On Being Ill. This novel‘s stream of consciousness is like what living is like, for me at least, where the clock chime pulls me from a memory, and a character is stumbling into the biggest questions while just waiting to cross the street. Somehow so relatable while incredibly specifically set in London, in 1923, in the shadow of the Great War. I liked this a lot! #Bookspin

My first experience with Virginia Woolf. Absolutely recommend! Its train-of-thought prose is sometimes so gorgeous I had to stare into space for a moment. I love books about the interconnectedness of lives.
TW: PTSD, depression, suicide

This wasn't on my radar but it sounded interesting. I really wanted to join the #thatsclassic crew on this but after slogging through 12% for a week, I bailed. I may try again in the future to see if it goes different, but the stream of consciousness style just felt like I was listening to that rambling stranger at a party.

@Annie1215
July #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Meh. I finally finished reading this for #thatsclassic and I was underwhelmed to say the least. It‘s not a bad book, I am just not a fan of the writing style with no chapters and one huge stream of consciousness. But I‘m glad I can finally mark it off my TBR. 2.75 ⭐️

#classics

Definitely not a favorite, but very glad I finally read this. At times hard to follow, I still appreciated Woolf‘s writing style. Some very nice bits along the way about life and the meaning we give to the things and people we love. #thatsclassic

While I can appreciate the genius behind a novel of this sort, this really wasn‘t my thing!

There were parts where I felt I was following the characters and the story, and where the writing was beautiful.
But overall I found it quite hard to follow, and didn‘t really want to pick it back up. I wasn‘t invested. Some characters I might have liked to be explored further, but it ends rather abruptly.

I only persevered as it was for #ThatsClassic

Got a new stack from the #library today! Hadn‘t heard of #thatsclassic until I was looking up Mrs. Dalloway in the Litsy database and saw you all are reading it this month too. What a great coincidence! #dogsoflitsy

Ask credit to a) @batsy and b) #thatsclassic for compelling me to pick this up again (and add to my Penguin Deluxe collection). About halfway through and adoring it.

I finally finished this for #thatsclassic. This was my first Virginia Woolf!

I appreciated the themes of private Vs public life and the difference between class experiences.

Ultimately I found it interesting how Woolf used the perspective to give voice to the characters‘ inner thoughts, but how the characters so focused on their own perspectives shared much in common with one another.

What are your perspectives on private Vs public life?

@jmtrivera summed it up best, but I will post my thoughts too:
Following the story was a lot of work, it was mentally tiring. The writing style did not work for me and I could not get invested in Mrs. Dalloway's day.
I've decided to move on.

#TBR #ReadingUpdate #CurrentlyReading

#TBR #ReadingUpdate #CurrentlyReading
#ThornBirdsReadAlong
#potteraday
#LosersClub
#ThatsClassic

Hope to make some progress on these - The Thorn Birds is moving quickly (really enjoying it) - we will see how the week goes 😊

I‘ve been a terrible host this month for #thataclassic. I‘ve just been so busy!

How is everyone doing with it so far? I‘m honestly just getting myself. But so far I‘m really interested in how the story is laid out.

Thoughts so far? The major motif that‘s sticking out for me is time.

“Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.”

Another Woolf that I‘m glad I read, but I can‘t claim to really “get.”

The stream-of-consciousness style is an interesting idea, and I've enjoyed Woolf's writing in other works of hers I've read. Here though, I found it exhausting to follow and difficult to engage with this style. I think if I were to study this novel in a class, I'd probably come to at least appreciate it, but in general, it was not for me.

Happy July #thatsclassic readers!

We‘re kicking off our reading of Mrs. Dalloway. This is my first time reading it and I‘m eager to get started.

I‘ll be offline a bit for the next two days for my friends wedding but look forward to getting started after that.

Whose reading along this month?

ITS OFFICIAL! This is our July read for #thatsclassic book club.

This has been on my TBR for a while, I‘m excited!

I have yet to read this book- it‘s on the schedule for next month. But I clearly am already in tune with the spirit as I did buy my own flowers yesterday. I can never resist peony season and especially when Trader Joe‘s had bouquets for only $9. I hope Mrs. Dalloway would approve!

Happy Dalloway Day!

No biggie, just a small modernist masterpiece. Started it on #DallowayDay & finished the day after, & it was one of those things where it was just the book I needed at this point. I read it before & gave it 4 stars because some parts of it kept me at a distance, but this time I truly *felt* the book. The pandemic & subsequent changes these two years puts this book in a new light the bits about Septimus & wife felt even more devastating this time.

I meant to chip away at Detransition, Baby for the first part of the #CampTOB discussion later but #DallowayDay was calling out to me & now I've put everything aside to start this. Mrs. Dalloway's love of "life, London, this moment in June" is bringing up some feels. A strangely apt novel for both lockdown & coming out of lockdown, with the menace of illness & instability hovering in the background...

I think Virginia Woolf is one of the best and most important half-dozen writers ever to have written in the English language. Mrs. Dalloway is a masterpiece: moving, complex & nuanced, rich with ideas & insights, humane & heartfelt. I love this novel. It‘s both immediately accessible and yet rewards endless rereadings. One can see the book also as her response to Joyce‘s Ulysses & its novel-in-one-day modernism, and she gloriously bests his best.

Virginia Woolf is a phenomenal writer & nothing can deny her that praise, but this book was a bit too stream of consciousness for my taste. It‘s like we‘re living in the subconscious of several characters in the book and bounding from person to person without an introduction, smack dab in the middle of all the action. I like the underlying themes with quote-worthy lines but overall when compared to her other works, this was only okay.

#Reading1001 3⭐️ for enjoyment 4⭐️ for writing.

Read this and The Hours and reading together really added to each book it also really confused me at points trying to remember which storyline was in each book.

Mrs Dalloway looks at 1 day in June when Clarissa is giving a party the story follows her as she goes about her day via internal monologues from various characters.

Full review here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3993724410

It‘s been so long since I read lines so beautiful & thought provoking...

Why have I not read Virginia Woolf before now?
I loved this book and the writing. I will definitely work my way through her others! ♥️
Thanks so much for this gorgeous gift @Tanisha_A

@Mitch ! Thank you so much for the lovely letter and bookish cards. You‘ve certainly brightened my day! 😘

💙💛💙💛

Hey girl...how YOU doin‘?! This is my library set up, but it‘s all coming down this week. Moving is tedious, isn‘t it? I‘m going to try to step up my #audiobook game so I don‘t fall into a slump in the coming month.
#shelfie #mugshot

I loved the premise and format, following Mrs Dalloway for a single day and floating between the thoughts of the various people she meets. I did struggle in places, whether it was connecting with characters or the language, I kept losing concentration. It requires more investment and a second reading to interrogate the themes of mental health, gender and class but for now, I‘m not sure I am interested enough in Mrs Dalloway to do so. 6/10

Happy International Women's Day! 💖♀️💖

Today I'm thinking about all the women writers that I love and who have inspired me, especially Virginia Woolf, my favorite author of all time! 💕📚

This is my first Woolf and I must admit I‘ve been struggling with it. Not even halfway through and I feel exhausted every time I pick it up. I was thinking this might be better as an audiobook and I might not feel as lost as I am right now. Thoughts?

A new podcast about traveling and exploring a book's landscape & landmarks. Listened to the Mrs. Dalloway episode and it was good. Maybe someday I'll get to London and visit it all in person! 💐✈️💂🤞

I hate this book with a passion. Yet the film the hours which was based off the book is one of my favourite films ever.

Apologies to Virginia but life is too short to read something when I have no clue what is happening

I cannot believe it has taken me till now to read Virginia Woolf. Love, love, love 💕