Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m posting one book a day from my massive collection. No description, no reason for why I want to read it (some I‘ve had so long I don‘t even remember why!) Feel free to join in!

#ABookADay2023

Repost for @BarkingMadRead:

As we near the end of Middlemarch (finally) it‘s toke to choose our next Austen-era #BuddyRead! Here are the 4 suggestions made by some of you, which also all come up when you #consultthegoogle about what the read after Middlemarch! Drop a comment on the original post with your choice, and I will announce the winner before we finish Middlemarch. We will start on April 1. #pemberlittens

"There still faintly beamed from the woman's features something of the freshness and even the prettiness, of her *youth*; rendering it evident that the personal charms which Tess could boast were in main part her mother's gift, and therefore unknightly, unhistorical." Required reading long ago for my Senior High lit class. Still treasure this find from a little bookshop in London on our Senior trip. #youth #InQuotes @eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Not every story is pretty and this is a perfect example of that. Whilst still has themes that resonated today it's still a difficult read at times. This title has been on banned booklist since it was first published. It's a pick simply because what Tess dealt with all those years ago women are still held to the same archaic standards. Overall I didn't particularly like the story but appreciate the themes and lessons taught. #readtheclassics

📚 Tess of the D‘Urbevilles
✍️ Thomas Hardy, J R R Tolkien
📺 Ted Lasso
👩‍🎤 Taylor Swift, The Travelling Wilburys
🎵 Thunder Road, Tiny Dancer
#ManicMonday
@CBee

2022 review for Banned Books Week at my library:

A beautifully-composed story of a woman in rural England striving against the unyielding social conventions of her time. As a character, Tess's relentless effort to simply live and love despite very difficult circumstances continues to inspire me.

Tess was censored during the process of publication and banned in several places on both sides of the Atlantic in the years following.

Adore this book. Tess 😢😢😢😢Enough said. #alphabetgame

This took my forever to get through, but I am trying to get better at reading older stuff.. This did feel like it dragged a bit, but I loved the characters and the story was sweet and sad

A very sad but enlightening tale on how societies rules and measures can have a significant effect upon the innocent. Choices made to honor thy parents, in turn a cascading effect of depravity and tumultuous turn outs follow. Sad as it may be, highly recommended as in learning how the hypocritical advances of society, at least in my observations may have shifted but alas, hypocrisy still follows in the guise of another animal.

My Classic for this month, and my #BS for the June #BookSpinBingo, was Tess of the D‘Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. I listened to the audiobook and it got a little long at times. I could feel the atmosphere of that part of the country. but Tess had to be the most unlucky girl ever. She was hard-working and tried to care of her family. IMHO. #100YEARS100BOOKS #90!! #BookSpinBingo #22 #BFC21 #4 #TAILSandTALESforADULTS #17 #CLASSICS #AnyWayYouReadathon

Such a sad and frustrating read! It was tough to see all the terrible things Tess went through, none of it her fault.

I bought this for the ‘98-‘99 school year, AP Literature, but we never got to it. Instead we did a radio-drama bonus unit. Then my book club (one of) in Omaha read it about four years ago but I didn‘t finish it. I‘m glad I finally got through it this time around.

Finally starting this! Working towards a second #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

I can‘t think of a character from any book I‘ve ever read (except the MC in An American Tragedy, which I kind of read) that I loathe as much as Angel Clare. Hypocritical asshole.

Thanks for the tag @MoonWitch94 #thoughtfulThursday

1. So many! Beth from Little Women - she and Jo can go live together and avoid the romance plot that doesn‘t fit Jo‘s character

2. Leigh Bardugo nailed it in the Grisha trilogy.

3. Trying this in daily nibbles; maybe I‘ll get through it this time. Also Take a Hint, Dani Brown!

Want to play?

This book made me powerfully angry and profoundly sad. It's tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. Tess is ill-used, repeatedly, by nearly everyone around her, and especially those who claim to care for her. Her naivete and upbringing work in tandem, making her believe she deserves such treatment because she has lost her "virtue." ??

I have a bit of a Christmas hangover at the mo. 😂 I did receive two gorgeous books for the holiday though.

Day 19
Classic that I found enjoyable. Critique on 19th century English sex & societal ideologies. Country girl, Tess, learns of her wealthy ancestry & aims to take the family name. What follows is fated to be & will end in tragedy.

“She moved about in a mental cloud of many-coloured idealities, which eclipsed all sinister contingencies by its brightness”

#whatsonyourshelf #classic #women #purity #society

#Back2School
I wasn‘t going back to school in the 80‘s ... I was a young mother.
Also these 2 books stand out as my favorite reads from those years. I also read a good few South American writers at that time.
Music : Leonard Cohen , Bob Dylan, Neil Young , Blondie, Jimmy McCarthy ( to mention a few)
Clothes: lots of colourful dresses & skirts and ... Benetton ! Cindy 👍🏻( when I had the money ) for colourful scarves & jumpers

I just found this one so boring! I feel like I should‘ve liked it, but nothing about it kept my attention #bookspin

This is so depressing. I have a hard time with Thomas Hardy.
#ruralsetting #bibliomaynia

1 down on my #matildachallenge

Good. Interesting characters and ideas. It explores the themes of sexuality and class and how they can be intertwined and affect one another. Also shows how nature can become a character itself.

#Audible
#lockdownlist

Afternoon snack and Aperol spritz! @DeweysReadathon #readathon

Since I‘m the last person on earth to read this book I‘ll just share my thoughts 😂 This started out as SO much fun!! 🤗 then turned very VERY dark... but all throughout it was brilliantly written with passages about love that I have felt but could never express. Probably very daring for the time it was written. All in all it was a fun ride. Somewhat sinister at times.
#mandmchallenge2020 #memoirsandmysteries #Classic
#Jennyis30 #classics

This #Audiobook is all kinds of awesome!! 👏🤗 it‘s totally turning my crappy day around!! ♥️
And did they just say Mistletoe came from the druids? 🧐 I had no idea lol. Anyways, I‘ve heard it gets quite dark. I‘m kind of looking forward to it. Love it so far!

I haven‘t read Hardy since college. At the time, Jude the Obscure was one of my favorite novels. I‘ve decided to give Tess of the D‘Urbervilles a go! 📚classicnovels #thomashardy #penguinclassics

#PapaDontPreach #Movember @Cinfhen

The first pregnant teen I could think of...

1. I'm a teacher. I have 5 siblings. I love Harry Potter.
2. Tess of the d'Urberville...
3. Yes! Sebastian Fitzek
4. I hate being too hot...

#litsylearn @Alora

I've been following Tess's misfortunes whilst at work, and I've got to say, I didn't expect this book to be so utterly depressing! Having said that, I was in the mood for some 19th century romanticism, and this ticked most of those boxes for me. I just wish all the toil had been for something 😕

Now back to some cheerful dystopian fiction!

#classics #romance #currentlyreading #finished

Ugh Tess! I'm no expert on classics but I've read enough to say with some confidence that Tess must be the unluckiest woman in classic literature.
See my full review here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3027748383

“I don't know about ghosts,“ she was saying; “but I do know that our souls can be made to go outside our bodies when we are alive.“ (p.132)

Appropriately spooky! #currentlyreading

Something about autumn approaching makes me want to get cosy with the classics 📚☕🥰

This book broke my heart. The tragedy that is Angel and Tess far exceeds star-crossed lovers Romeo and Juliet. I wasn‘t sure if I was going to enjoy this book when I first began to read it, having a vague idea of the premise. I am very glad that ventured on. This book is a classic for a reason.

1. Tess of the d'Urbervilles. The Bell Jar. His Dark Materials.
2. Leopard print fleecy pajama top. Summer has stalled in the UK.
3. I don't watch TV but I did have the misfortune to see every single episode of Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom several times over during my daughter's recent obsession.
4. Dragons. Unicorns. Faeries.

#friyayintro @howjessreads

A perfect book in just about every way

#QuotsyApr19 Day 15: I don‘t recall Hardy being this verbose, but ok, yeah, this #atmosphere works too. 😂🤣💕📚🧚🏼‍♀️

#marchintothe70s

(Day 15 - #JealousGuy)

Angel Clare strikes me as a “jealous guy,” however not of the benign variety illustrated in Lennon‘s song....

Well, now. 😆😆 Which man from classic literature will YOU bang? 😆😆

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/the-last-post

https://www.buzzfeed.com/jennaguillaume/the-last-post

I had to Google who this was. I've never even heard of the book. I read a summary of it and it seems heartbreaking.

I‘m still playing catch up for #lovehate 😳

My favorite star-crossed lovers are Tess and Angel. Poor Tess. 😥

Thomas Hardy is the real deal!

This book is amazing and awful at the same time. Amazing in that Hardy cuts to the heart of social hypocrisy and the double standards for men and women. Awful because of the time it is set in and how hard it was for women then. Thankfully, those days are gone and while the feminist movement hasn't finished yet, it's come a long, long way since the time Tess would have lived.

I always forget to review my books 😬😂
I read The Trumpet-Major and it was okay so I moved to this and I must say it was so much more compelling to me. It‘s depressing and sometimes moves slow as molasses but the core story was good.
I don‘t think it‘s for everyone but I enjoy a lot of classics and this was another to add to the list.

Catching up for #adventrecommends, I give you Tess. My introduction to Hardy 38 years ago, there‘s a lot of modern understanding about relationships and power balance between the sexes. And some fine writing. @emilyrose_x

I tried to read this when I was younger and just could not get into it. As an adult, I think I have a better appreciation for what Hardy was trying to express with this book. I did, however, have to keep reminding myself not to impose my modern-day sensibilities on the characters when I found myself getting angry at the actions of Tess, her parents, Angel Clare and Alec D'Uberville. 4 stars

“And there was revived in her the wretched sentiment which had often come to her before, that in inhabiting the fleshy tabernacle with which nature had endowed her she was somehow doing wrong.”
If only I could laugh at this outdated passage instead of cry at it‘s enduring gravitas...

I also finished reading Tess of the D'Urbervilles today. Oh goodness, how this book frustrated me! So much sadness and heartache, so many societal rules that couldn't be overcome.

At last, I've started reading this book, been looking for this like for months. It's of my top favourite writer.
Most of the people will admit that Hardy's a pessimist. But what I think is that the word pessimist sounds negative. He's more of a realist.

He writes in the simple language of philosophy with his often stinging irony; that life is never cruel by itself but it's our ignorance to reality which makes it difficult.

Loving this read😘

It's football season again, so there will be lots of reading in front of the tv for the next few months! 😁🏈 #ILoveToRead #IAlsoLoveFootball

Finished The Rosie Project, my 1st TBR for August. Next up... Tess of the D'Urbervilles. #classics #classicliterature #apliterature