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The Hare with Amber Eyes
The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance | Edmund de Waal
Traces the parallel stories of 19th-century art patron Charles Ephrussi and his unique collection of 264 miniature netsuke Japanese ivory carvings, documenting Ephrussi's relationship with Marcel Proust and the impact of the Holocaust on his cosmopolitan family. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.
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bookandbedandtea
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Birthday books from my hubby. 🥰 He knows me well.

TheBookgeekFrau Happy Birthday!! 🎉🥳 11mo
Cinfhen Well done, Hubs! 11mo
Ruthiella Happy birthday! 🥳🥳🥳 I am a fan of Jane Harper mysteries. Hope you enjoy! 11mo
See All 7 Comments
marleed Happy Birthday - great present! 11mo
bookandbedandtea @TheBookgeekFrau Thank you! 😊 11mo
bookandbedandtea @Cinfhen @marleed He did a great job! 11mo
bookandbedandtea @Ruthiella Thanks! She's one of my favorites 😍 11mo
29 likes7 comments
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Cathythoughts
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#WeeklyForecast

I‘ve started the tagged book, it‘s very good ♥️
Also started the Celia Fremlin, also good 👍🏻

We are reading the Joseph OConnor for our next IRL Bookclub, I‘m looking forward to it.

Happy reading week everyone ♥️
Hi Cindy 😘

merelybookish I had the tagged book on my tbr for years! 13mo
CarolynM Glad you‘re enjoying 🙂 13mo
Cinfhen Hare was such an interesting story!! But it‘s a bit dense at times. Hope you enjoy it 💚 13mo
See All 21 Comments
Cuilin I love Joseph O Connor. Looking forward to your review. PS I‘m heading to Cork on Saturday. 🎉 13mo
Cathythoughts @CarolynM I am ! And we are heading to Paris soon for a week, so this is perfect❤️ 13mo
Cathythoughts @Cinfhen Yes it is a bit dense at times , requires concentration , I agree. Some beautiful writing ❤️ 13mo
Cathythoughts @Cuilin Oh lovely that your coming to Cork. If you have any free time please send me a message here on Litsy ( I‘ll look out ) and maybe a coffee together 👍🏻😁 (edited) 13mo
Cathythoughts @merelybookish I imagine you enjoyed it when you got there ?!👍🏻❤️ (edited) 13mo
merelybookish @Cathythoughts Oh, my past tense is confusing. It's still there...waiting to be read. 🤨 13mo
Cathythoughts @merelybookish 😂 I‘ll amend my comment then , to … I imagine you will enjoy it when you get there 👍🏻❤️ 13mo
TrishB I can‘t wait to see what you think of the O‘Connor- it will definitely feature on my tbr at some point. 13mo
Cathythoughts @TrishB sounds like it will be good. @EverydayImReading has read it and she‘s making special cocktails for that Bookclub 🍸🍸🍸 will keep you posted 😁 13mo
EverydayImReading @Cathythoughts Yes I am ! It‘s called Sgroppino and mentioned in the book. I started on the lemon sorbet today. I‘ll be sampling several over the next few weeks !! 🍸 13mo
Tamra This looks like a fabulous reading week! 😄 13mo
sarahbarnes Happy reading! 13mo
LeahBergen Nice! 👏👏 I have a copy of The Jealous One waiting on my shelves. 13mo
BarbaraBB Still need to read this too. 13mo
Cathythoughts @Tamra It does look pretty good 👍🏻❤️ 13mo
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen It‘s really good. Almost finished it now ❤️👍🏻 13mo
Cathythoughts @BarbaraBB It‘s lovely so far ❤️ 13mo
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Cathythoughts
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This book arrived today …. I‘m wondering @CarolynM if it‘s from you. ? It‘s a wonderful gift.

CarolynM Yes, from me. Merry Christmas 🎄 Hope you‘ll enjoy it 💕 1y
Cathythoughts @CarolynM Thanks so much Carolyn ! I‘m thrilled with it 😁❤️ 1y
AnneCecilie I loved this book when I read. I got his latest book for Christmas 1y
LeahBergen @CarolynM We both gave Cathy gifts related to Milton Place by Elisabeth de Waal. We must‘ve all really liked it. 🤣 1y
Cathythoughts @LeahBergen I think we really did ! Milton Place was brilliant. Thankyou Carolyn and Leah for more de Waal ♥️♥️ 1y
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IuliaC
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Pickpick

Tracing the itinerary of his great-grand uncle's fabulous collection of netsuke (small Japanese ivory and wood figurines), the author achieves a very dynamic and captivating fresca of the lives of his ancestors, the Ephrussis, a wealthy Jewish family rivaling the famous Rothschilds, spanning on three centuries, from Paris to Vienna, London, Tokyo and Odessa, throughout all major historical events and remarkable figures of the years 1871 to 2009.

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BookwormM
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Mehso-so

#itsnotyouitsme I have never enjoyed reading non fiction and if I had realised this was a non fictional biography of the author‘s family rather than a story about a hare with amber eyes I never would have picked it up.

The netsuke barely feature in this story beyond a couple of sentences mostly they lived in a cupboard here, few of them are described but based on this they are exactly the kind of item I would collect 👇

BookwormM What I did enjoy about the book was learning that Charles Ephrussi features in Proust‘s Swanns Way and that he was a regular feature of society. The family are Jewish and it was interesting the way literature and media were used to comment and read into this fact. I think it is incredible that the netsuke survived the Nazis and I appreciated them going back to Japan with Iggie. For me though this was a dry account of history I never “felt” it (edited) 4y
CafeMom I liked this book but it was a miss with my book club. 4y
LapReader Such a gorgeous book. So educational. 4y
48 likes3 comments
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AbbaZabba02
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Mehso-so

Book 4 of the year, finished last week some time, audio.

Book 2 of my vow to do more Nonfiction. I liked this one pretty well, I guess I just need books with a narrative rather than ones that read like a text book.

Over all a So-So read, he didn't quite connect to the people who's story he was telling. But it did inspire me to go down my own research path of Netsuke, which are pretty awesome little Japanese carvings.

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Redwritinghood
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Pickpick

This was a fascinating story. The author is inspired to take a look into his family‘s history upon seeing the netsuke collection in his great-uncle‘s house. Acquired in 19th century France and later transferred to Vienna as a wedding gift. The author‘s extremely wealthy Jewish family is targeted by the Nazis in WWII and most of the family fortune is lost - except for the netsuke, which are saved by a maid and returned to them after the war. 4⭐️

CarolynM I was surprised by how much I liked this book. His family's story is fascinating. 4y
Redheadrambles @Redwritinghood I really enjoyed this book as well, I think he has another one out about porcelain? ( P.S voting is on for our November IBR book 😉 ) 4y
Redwritinghood @Redheadrambles Thanks. I just got online and saw your note. I put in my vote. Dream House looks like it might be the winner. I had trouble choosing between that and The Innocents. 4y
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Tonton

I read this book a few years ago; absolutely fascinating true story of a exiled Jewish family and their netsuke collection. Now, Austria is allowing return of citizenship to wartime refugees. Timely during current refugee crisis and Brexit. Link to author interview: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/sep/28/edmund-de-waal-nazis-banished-my-f...

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rwmg
Pickpick

Once the book got underway after a rather offputting prologue, I found it unexpectedly interesting describing the different milieux of the different branches of the family. Although I had expected before I started that the book was going to be focussed on the travails of the family under the Nazis, there wasn't all that much in the book, which was just as well because I found even the 40 pages or so that there was difficult reading.

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rwmg
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AnneCecilie
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#adventrecommends day 15

The author‘s family used to be rich. Going back to the 1870s, he is tracking how his family lost it all through two world wars because they were Jews.

charl08 Crumbs, that's such a different cover to the UK one. 5y
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shaynarae
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Panpan

De Waal seemed like he was trying to do too much with story and juggling storylines (family, art, political climate) that seemed to disappear and then suddenly reappear throughout the book. The multiple lines were not carried through well and ultimately left me feeling very disconnected and disinterested. #catsoflitsy #wishitwasbetter

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Centique
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It‘s a charity shop haul! I‘m thrilled to find the tagged book and a Fay Weldon (been meaning to revisit FW for ages). Any others here you‘ve read? The Obreht book is The Tigers Wife in case you can‘t see it.

DreesReads On Chesil Beach is sooo depressing. Very well done, but just...ugh. I liked it, but just...talk, people! 6y
Ruthiella I really loved The Tiger‘s Wife and normally I dislike magic realism but totally got it in this book. I hope you like it!😀 6y
CarolynM I've only read The Hare With Amber Eyes which I liked much more than I expected to 6y
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Centique @AudreyMorris ooh that‘s interesting. Yes you could say that about Atonement a bit too! 6y
Centique @Ruthiella that sounds great! I love magic realism so it will be right up my alley. 6y
Centique @CarolynM yay! Looking forward to that one 😊 6y
Centique @DivineDiana I hear such good things, should be great 👍 6y
Cathythoughts Great looking haul ... I‘ll be interested to see what you think of the Jane Smiley one ( 🤔🤐) 6y
Centique @Cathythoughts I‘m intrigued now! I loved A Thousand Acres but then I tried to read her horse racing one and I failed miserably 😏 6y
Cathythoughts I would love to read A Thousand Acres. I loved The Hundred Years Trilogy... I have Greenlanders on my kindle too ( it‘s meant to be good ) 6y
Centique @Cathythoughts ok I‘ll stack those! Just realised I‘ve read Moo by her too and liked it. I had a writing workshop with her two years ago - she was Scary Smart. Very nice and friendly but so well read, so intellectual, just exploded my brain! 6y
Liz_M @Centique you just reminded me that I want to look through her 6y
Centique @Liz_M that‘s the book her workshop was based on. Really good but I‘m reminded I need to go back and finish reading it! 6y
Centique @ephemeralwaltz oh good! I haven‘t read Carson McCullers before so this will be my first 😊 6y
ephemeralwaltz @Centique it was my first too! A great start 6y
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Sarah83
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#bookhaul
I don't like booksales in bookshops. ☺️

Kaye Can you tell me what the titles are in English , and where you‘re from? Also, what does your bookmark say? The only language I can read is English. Thank you ✨ 6y
Sarah83 @Kaye I am from Germany ☺️ these are the titles from above down. 😊 6y
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Sarah83 The 2 and the 6 are German books and not translated 6y
Sarah83 The 4 and the 5 aren't translated in English either 6y
Sarah83 @kaye the bookmark: 'a book you love, you can't borrow it, you need to own it' 6y
Kaye Thank you ♥️ it‘s always interesting to see books from other countries.. I wish I could read other languages. All I learned was Latin a long time ago, so I‘ve probably forgotten most of it. Happy Reading. (edited) 6y
rustoryhuf @Sarah83 Hubby and I are coming back to Germany later this year. He lived in Berlin for 3 years in the mid 1980s, and took me there 2 years ago. I fell in love with 🇩🇪! What town do you live in? 6y
Sarah83 @rustoryhuf I live in North Rhine Westfalia. ☺️ 6y
Sarah83 @Kaye Thank you. 😊 I need to buy the time to read them aswell. 😂 6y
LeahBergen 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
89 likes12 comments
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Auntynanny
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Pickpick

This was such a fascinating way to look at a family history. The netsuke that Edmund de Waal inherited had an amazing journey from Japan to Paris to Vienna and back to Japan again.

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Bookish_B
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Everything I've seen about this book has been positive but I am embarrassed to say I am STRUGGLING. I am 177 pages in and it's just not clicking for me. It is taking forever to to make progress but I feel like I should see it through since I'm more than half way through? 🙈I hate not finishing books...

charl08 That cover alone would put me off. What was wrong with the original! 7y
Bookish_B @charl08 haha! I don't know what the original looks like but this one didn't bother me too much. 7y
27 likes2 comments
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Auntynanny
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I love a book with a family tree almost as much as I love a book with a map :)

Maria514626 Oh my goodness! Family trees and maps and architectural renderings! ❤️❤️❤️ 6y
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Cinfhen
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Found a few books with #colointhetitle 💚I've only read the tagged book and it was pretty fascinating, although it started to drag near the end 🐇#splashintosummerreads

TrishB Thought the same about the book! 7y
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Lindy
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Pickpick

A fascinating and moving biography of de Waal's Jewish family history, of antisemitism, and of our attachments to objects. #Audiobook narrated by Michael Maloney. I originally read this shortly after it came out. It was just as good (and sad!) the second time through.

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Lindy
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De Waal's quote from Robert Musil, in regards to 19th century Vienna, made me stop to google an image (above) because I will be in Vienna and then Slovakia in 10 days: "Imagine them strolling along on our Ringstrasse, the only place in the world where you can see in the midst of western European elegance at its finest, a Mohammedan with his red fez, a Slovak in sheepskins, or a barelegged Tyrolean."

andrew61 I loved this book, and the netsuke and their history was incredibly told . 7y
Lindy @andrew61 This is my second time through, audiobook this time. I had forgotten details, but not how sad it is to listen to accounts of antisemitism. 7y
andrew61 @Lindy yes and it was interesting how it stretched back into 19th century France ,Zola and the dreyfuss angle. The bbc had a good documentary in the 'imagine' series about book and author. 7y
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batsy That's an intriguing quote that reminds me I want to read this book and also need to get around to Musil. 7y
Lindy @batsy The neverending TBR... 😉 7y
Redheadrambles This is one of my favourite non fiction reads 7y
Lindy @Redheadrambles I was in the mood for something sure-fire when I was choosing my next audiobook, so I decided to reread, which I don't often do. It was a good choice. 7y
Hobbinol Oh I'm so excited for your next journey! You always go to such interesting places.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 7y
Lindy @Hobbinol Thanks! I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by my list of things to do before tomorrow's departure, but I'm also quite excited about the trip. 7y
39 likes2 stack adds9 comments
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Lindy
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The gossip in Paris was that Charles was "entre deux lits" (bisexual).

[a euphemism I hadn't heard before]

Hobbinol Wow... those garden boxes... 7y
Lindy @Hobbinol I know, right? I grabbed that photo from the Internet, where I found it illustrating various garden websites in various languages. 7y
42 likes1 stack add2 comments
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Cinfhen
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#17BookLove #subjectILove HISTORY!!! I love discovering people's journeys and reading their stories. I tend to gravitate towards memoirs that include a Jewish connection since I enjoy gaining knowledge about my heritage. I would easily recommend each of these titles for any history buff. Tagging books below for those who might be curious.

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shawnmooney I have been curious about the de Waal book for a while! 7y
Cinfhen @shawnmooney I think you would appreciate all the history and the two journeys, my copy is still in philly or I would loan it to you. 7y
shawnmooney @Cinfhen No problem. I don't borrow books. I must own them! 😘 7y
Cinfhen Thanks @Hollie I just stacked them both! 7y
LauraBeth Adding these to my TBR! 7y
Cinfhen Yay @LauraBeth hope you enjoy them 😊 7y
LeahBergen @Cinfhen @shawnmooney I must own books, too! 😂 (and I have the de Waal book waiting on my shelf). 7y
108 likes3 stack adds16 comments
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Seshat
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I got some lovely hardcovers at the thrift store yesterday.

Libby1 What a gorgeous copy of The Hare with Amber Eyes. Love that book. 7y
Seshat Thanks, @Libby1 I listened to the audiobook from the library and loved it. 7y
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Tsubame
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I read this book while I was living in Vienna and was inspired to see the city with different eyes through it. It really took me back, since most of the described buildings are still there. I had passed the former Palais Ephrussi so many times without being aware of its moving history.
#photoadaynov16 #inspiring #day3

Libby1 I loved this book. 7y
9 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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WanderingBookaneer
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When your carry-on is empty and you have to buy books. #bookhaul

Hooked_on_books Nice! You've got some good ones there. And hey, sometimes your carry-on is full and you have to buy a second carry-on *for* the books! 😬 8y
LauraBeth This sounds completely logical - and you got some awesome books 8y
Yournewfriendsams So many good ones! 8y
Zelma @Hooked_on_books I've done that. I now get teased at home for my special conference bag, just for books. 😂 8y
46 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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Laurent
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Pickpick

This book is simply amazing. It s about family, about history, about life, about a collection and finally about us. I recommend highly this one

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shawnmooney
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Lindy A fascinating story. Made me read more about the Dreyfus affair. 8y
rdkate I loved this book, and have given it to my favorite people! 8y
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Erynecki
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Pickpick

A story of family, war, art, and legacy. The netsuke hidden and stolen and the search for understanding among what remained. A beautiful written memoir that is both deeply personal and revealing of the secret lives of objects.

LeahBergen On my huge TBR pile (sigh). 8y
Erynecki @LeahBergen mine is crazy too 📚📚 8y
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Hunnama
Pickpick

One of my favorites

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