Litsy

batsy

Lolly Willowes | Sylvia Townsend Warner

#AlphabetGame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
Letter L

It has to be Lolly for me 🖤 #spinsterlit

52 likes

batsy

Good Behaviour | Molly Keane

pick

Nothing gets me more than sharp, bleakly funny novels with a gothic tinge charting the psychological chaos that is an aristocratic family slowly going to (financial & psychic) ruin. What's more if it's narrated by an outsider spinster, unloved & ungainly, with minimal awareness or an almost defiant sense of cultivated ignorance. All this wrapped up in a darkly glittering bow of cool, assured prose that discreetly maps the horror of good behaviour.

batsy I had no idea that I was headed for some prime #spinsterlit with this one! I had a vague idea but the way the novel is structured feels so perfect; it's a shame that I've always had it in mind as a kind of minor novel of a family saga when it's obviously a pretty major achievement. I look forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on it. #NYRBBookClub @vivastory 2mo

Graywacke Great review! 2mo

EvieBee Great review and picture! 2mo

See All 24 Comments

batsy @Graywacke @EvieBee Thank you!! 2mo

BiblioLitten Such a lovely picture🖤❤️ 2mo

batsy @BiblioLitten Thank you! 😘 2mo

BiblioLitten Oh I just noticed the introduction is by Maggie O‘Farrell 😃 2mo

batsy @BiblioLitten I have yet to read her! (It's a good intro; brief but elegant & captures what makes the book good :) 2mo

LeahBergen I‘m about 75% done and loving it! 2mo

Tamra Can‘t wait! Your review has increased my anticipation. 👏🏾 2mo

BooknerdsLife Great review and I love your edition. 👏❤️📚 2mo

AvidReader25 Well that sounds amazing! 2mo

GatheringBooks Halfway through the novel. Love your take on it. Looking forward to a vibrant discussion, as always. :) 2mo

batsy @LeahBergen Yay! It's really quite something, isn't it? 2mo

batsy @Tamra Oh, goodie! I hope you like it 🙂 2mo

batsy @BooknerdsLife Thank you! I love these Virago editions too ❤️ 2mo

batsy @AvidReader25 It's gone under the radar a bit but it really depicts a decaying aristocratic class so well. 2mo

batsy @GatheringBooks Thank you! I'm keen to see what others think of it, too! 2mo

Cathythoughts Great review Suba 👍🏻♥️ we read this a few years ago for Bookclub, I need to reread. 2mo

batsy @Cathythoughts Thanks Cathy 😘 I imagine it's a book that will reward rereading! 2mo

vivastory 👏 👏 👏Fantastic review! I couldn't have said it better! This was a real surprise for me as well & I really look forward to the discussion. Lovely picture! 2mo

batsy @vivastory Thanks so much, Scott! I look forward to the discussion later! 2mo

Suet624 Wow! This sounds fantastic! Great review 😍 2mo

batsy @Suet624 Thank you! I'd love to read more of Keane now that I've read this. 2mo

95 likes8 stack adds24 comments

LeahBergen

Father: By the Author of "Elizabeth and Her German Garden". | Elizabeth Von Arnim

Jennifer promised her dying mother that she‘d never leave her father and has spent twelve years as his unpaid secretary and housekeeper. When her father suddenly shows up one day at tea time with a new wife (who‘s younger than Jennifer), she decides she must grab this opportunity to make a life of her own.

I‘m loving this 1931 #SpinsterLit novel (and von Arnim is rapidly becoming one of my new favourite authors)!

#BritishLibraryWomenWriters

Leftcoastzen Love the cover! 3mo

elkeOriginal Love these editions and love a good spinster. Stacked! 3mo

LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen I‘m always pretty impressed by these editions. 👍 3mo

See All 15 Comments

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal You can‘t beat a good spinster story. 😆 3mo

erzascarletbookgasm These editions are just lovely! 3mo

Cathythoughts Sounds like a good one 👍🏻❤️ 3mo

LeahBergen @erzascarletbookgasm They are! I‘m so glad they decided to publish this series. 3mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I‘m enjoying it! 👍 3mo

batsy Did someone say spinster?! 😆 This sounds great. 3mo

Tamra Such a fabulous cover 😍 3mo

LeahBergen @batsy I was waiting for your comment. 🤣 3mo

LeahBergen @Tamra It is! 3mo

batsy @LeahBergen 😂😂 3mo

kspenmoll Now I must read this! Happy Litsyversary ! 3mo

LeahBergen @kspenmoll Thank you! And I‘m really enjoying this one. 👍 3mo

86 likes6 stack adds15 comments

Centique

The Stone Angel | Margaret Laurence

pick

Had a night away in a lodge with my husband as a birthday treat and finished this wonderful book.
This is the best book I‘ve read this year 🙌😍 It was one of those experiences where I‘m aware of loving the way Laurence writes even while I‘m reading it. Astonishing too to feel I was the protagonist Hagar, I shared her regrets and weaknesses, when we‘re truly so different. Laurence almost performs magic to put you inside Hagar‘s head. 🔽

Centique Such an incredible look at approaching death as one become frail. Laurence is so realistic and must have life experience of this I think to get it so right. 3mo

Centique It‘s nice to have read this just after Eudora Honeysett because Eudora gave me enough optimism that this didn‘t feel bleak. 3mo

Centique I seem to be having an unofficial and coincidental theme of #readingoctagenarians and I‘m loving it. Yay for POVs from the elderly 🙌🙌

Eudora Honeysett is Quite Well, Thank You

3mo

See All 29 Comments

vivastory I'm so thrilled that you loved this one so much! This made me fall in love with Laurence's books last year. If you haven't read the rest of the Manawaka series, I *highly* recommend them!! 3mo

Centique Also kudos to all the Littens who read this as a buddy read and were much more eloquent about it! @CarolynM @squirrelbrain @merelybookish 3mo

Centique @vivastory I am definitely going to read the rest! What an absolute talent she had 😍 3mo

BarbaraBB A wonderful read indeed. And so is your getaway 😍 3mo

Cathythoughts Beautiful review, Paula. I‘m happy to say I have this book , I‘m looking forward to reading it soon. ❤️ 3mo

LeahBergen Eee!! 👏👏👏 I‘m so glad you loved this one; I‘ve been pushing it on people for ages. 😆😆 3mo

Cinfhen Looks like a marvelous getaway and book sounds fabulous 💕 3mo

squirrelbrain Looks like a lovely break! I‘ve just started Eudora on audio, after Cindy‘s recommendation! @Cinfhen 3mo

rockpools Wow! 3mo

Cinfhen I‘m happy you‘re listening to Eudora @squirrelbrain it‘s heartwarming 🥰 3mo

batsy I need to read this! I read all of her others books thanks to a Litsy buddy read. I'm all onboard with #readingoctogenarians and it kinda dovetails with #spinsterlit in a way. 3mo

merelybookish It makes me so happy when people fall in love with Margaret Laurence! She really is special and this isn't even my favorite by her! 3mo

Megabooks Excited that you got to get away. This was on @vivastory ‘s #NYWD list, and I got a copy earlier this month. Excited to read it! 3mo

vivastory @merelybookish I vacillate between a couple of favorites, depending on my mood 3mo

vivastory @Megabooks I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it. Her name popped up during a NYRB discussion, thanks to @leahbergen & after the Stone Angel there was no looking back 3mo

vivastory @batsy Have you read Anita Brookner? I have been meaning to for eons & I know she is a #spinsterlit saint 3mo

batsy @vivastory She is, isn't she 😆 I've only read her first one A Start in Life and I loved it. I plan to go down the list in publication order. Was actually thinking of having a Brookner year in 2022 but I'm already behind, so maybe next year 🙈

A Start in Life

3mo

vivastory @batsy It's so funny you mention that one. I added it to my TBR over the weekend after watching a 5 Best English Novels video w/ 2 of my favorite people on BookTube. A Brookner year sounds delightful! I can see her being one of those authors that I want to read everything they wrote 💙 3mo

batsy @vivastory I feel the same! Just the reviews of her work plus a few interviews I've read suggests that she might become a favourite. 3mo

Centique @batsy @vivastory putting my hand up for any Brookner group reads. She‘s so insightful too ✋😘 3mo

TrishB Lovely review and I read this from a copy sent to me by @LeahBergen because she‘s obviously on commission 😁😁 it‘s a great read. 3mo

LeahBergen @TrishB 😆😆 3mo

Centique @TrishB @LeahBergen she should be on commission! 😂😂 (in the best way 😍) 3mo

CarolynM I think you‘re pretty eloquent too😘 I‘m looking forward to reading more Margaret Laurence. Have you read Moon Tiger or Tirra Lirra By The River? Two more elderly ladies on their deathbeds and both excellent. 3mo

Centique @CarolynM I loved Moon Tiger! I haven‘t read Tirra Lirra so I will put that on my list. ☺️ 3mo

Rissreads Your best book this year, then it‘s definitely stacked! 1mo

87 likes3 stack adds29 comments

LeahBergen

The Crowded Street | Winifred Holtby

pick

This is the lovely and heartbreaking Bildungsroman of Muriel, who we watch grow from an awkward child to a struggling adult in the confines of Edwardian era, middle class Yorkshire. There were two options available to a woman of her class and time: snapping up the first remotely acceptable husband or tending to your aging parents for the rest of your life as an unpaid and unappreciated spinster.

What do you think of her choice, #PersephoneClub?

rubyslippersreads, quietjenn, CarolynM, elkeOriginal, andrew61, Cathythoughts

CarolynM Still reading🙂 4mo

Cathythoughts Great review👍🏻❤️ I‘ve finished too and loved it. 4mo

Cathythoughts I was happy for Muriel and her choice. I think she loved Clare when she was young , and then she loved the idea of Godfrey. Connie‘s tragedy changed her. I was so glad to see her step away from her mother ! ‘ It‘s Muriel at last ‘ .. she says. The thing that matters is ‘ to take your life into your hands and live it ..‘ Id love to know how she got on in the rest of her life. 4mo

See All 21 Comments

andrew61 Just into part 2 and muriel has taken tea at Delia's with deia's new fiancee. I really enjoyed the clare section and looking forward to reading some more this evening. 4mo

batsy Lovely review! I've been meaning to read more Holtby after South Riding. 4mo

quietjenn I've been reading this one slowly, so no opinion on that yet. But her world is feeling very small and I feel for her. 4mo

elkeOriginal I am distracted by ALL of the books on your shelves! 🤯🥰 4mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM @quietjenn Yes, sorry, I posted this a little early but I had to jot my thoughts down while they were still fresh. 😆 4mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I was happy, too, and dreaded the thought of her accepting a life back in that village under her mother‘s eye. And I somehow feel that her future turned out to be a happy one! And wasn‘t Godfrey a lame and ineffectual man in the end? 🙄 4mo

LeahBergen @andrew61 I‘m glad you‘re enjoying it, too! 4mo

LeahBergen @batsy I think you‘ll like this one as it definitely falls right into the #SpinsterLit wheelhouse! And I‘m happy to have South Riding waiting on my shelves for me. 👏 4mo

LeahBergen @elkeOriginal 🤣🤣 4mo

quietjenn @LeahBergen no apologies necessary! It's a good motivator 😉 4mo

BarbaraBB So I‘d probably like it too? 4mo

LeahBergen @quietjenn 😆😆 4mo

LeahBergen @BarbaraBB I think you might! 🤞 4mo

andrew61 @Cathythoughts @LeahBergen Just punched the air that muriel popped pompous Godfrey's arrogance albeit he immediately focuses on Phyllis's pink dress. I was on tenterhooks in final pages dreading her answer, and would have loved to see Mrs Hammond's reaction. Great introduction as well which I of course read afterwards. Thanks Leah for the suggestion of this fascinating book. 4mo

LeahBergen @andrew61 I was so anxious that she would accept him in the end! And yes, Mrs Hammond is going to be livid. 🤣🤣 I‘m glad that I always save the introductions to read later, too, as that one certainly gave it all away. Yikes. 4mo

CarolynM The romantic in me had a little hope that love might conquer all but the way Muriel described her feelings at the end made the whole thing a lot more satisfying than a romance happy ending would have been. 4mo

LeahBergen @CarolynM I was hoping (a wee bit) for that happy ending, too, when it seemed as if Godfrey had changed. His bland reaction to her refusal of him, though! Let Phyllis have him. 😆 4mo

rubyslippersreads I think Muriel, Godfrey, and Phyllis will all be happier. (Although not Mrs. Hammond. 🤣) 4mo

75 likes3 stack adds21 comments

batsy

To Each His Own | Leonardo Sciascia

Here's my selection for what we'll read in June for #NYRBBookClub Please vote in the comments 🙂

@arubabookwoman @BarbaraBB @Billypar @catebutler @daena @emilyhaldi @GatheringBooks @LeahBergen @Leftcoastzen @Liz_M @merelybookish @mklong @quietjenn @readordierachel @sarahbarnes @sprainedbrain @vivastory @youneverarrived

batsy To Each His Own is a Sicilian small town unconventional detective story with a dash of noir. Good Behaviour is billed as a dark satire of 20th-century Irish society and, true to my brand, seemingly with a dash of #spinsterlit vibes. Two Young Wives is a 19th-century epistolary novel of two best friends from a convent who go on to live two very different lives of duty vs. decadence. 4mo

vivastory Great selections! My vote is for Good Behavior 4mo

Hamlet I‘ve always wanted to read some Balzac, plus I like the “duty vs. decadence” idea. 4mo

See All 33 Comments

erzascarletbookgasm I‘m not in the club, but these all sound great. Will look them up 👍 4mo

Cathythoughts I loved

Good Behavior

4mo

merelybookish Fun choices! I vote for

The Memoirs of Two Young Wives

4mo

tsarin Hey everyone! I have created a group chat on telegram for book lovers. This group is open to all fellow readers or anyone looking to become a reader. Feel free to join if you wanna discuss books, recommend new books to others or simply talk about your favorite books. Here's the link:
https://t.me/cozybookcafee

4mo

BarbaraBB Great choices Suba! I‘ve read and loved two of them so my vote goes to the one I haven‘t read:

The Memoirs of Two Young Wives

4mo

GatheringBooks Awesome picks, dear @batsy - my pick goes to

The Memoirs of Two Young Wives

4mo

LeahBergen I love the sound of all of these but you KNOW I gotta vote for that spinster lit. 😆

Good Behaviour

4mo

sarahbarnes Ooh, fun choices! Spinster lit for me as well, please - I‘m voting for Good Behaviour. 😁 4mo

quietjenn Ah, you are not making it easy! But my vote is for

Good Behaviour

4mo

Leftcoastzen They all look great but spinsters win !

Good Behaviour

4mo

Billypar These sound great! I never read Balzac before and this one sounds really interesting, so I'm going with

The Memoirs of Two Young Wives

4mo

sprainedbrain I vote for

Good Behaviour

4mo

arubabookwoman I'm voting for the Balzac, #TheMemoirsofTwo YoungWives. I have read the other 2, both very good. 4mo

readordierachel Oooh!

Good Behaviour

4mo

Liz_M I've had my eye on the tagged for a while - love the cover - so that is my choice

Good Behavior

4mo

youneverarrived I‘m due in June so don‘t think I‘ll be able to join in the reading or discussion but these all sound great! I would have voted for Good Behaviour 🤍 4mo

vivastory @youneverarrived How exciting! Do you know wat it will be, or are you waiting? 4mo

vivastory *what 4mo

Suet624 I might have to order Good Behavior just from your description. 4mo

Suet624 Well that was quick. I couldn‘t wait. Ordered it. 4mo

batsy @Hamlet It does sound really good. I like the concept of a study of two contrasting personalities via correspondence. 4mo

batsy @erzascarletbookgasm They're always so tempting, aren't they 😆 4mo

batsy @Cathythoughts @arubabookwoman Happy to hear you both enjoyed Good Behaviour, as that's what the group voted for. Really looking forward to it 🙂 4mo

batsy @Suet624 We're always happy to enable each other's eager book-buying over here 😁 4mo

batsy @youneverarrived That's wonderful! 🙂💕 4mo

Suet624 So I ordered it and then 10 minutes later, after organizing my shelf of NYRB book, I discovered that I already had a copy. I quickly sent the company an email to cancel the order. Five minutes later they responded that they would cancel it. All on a Sunday evening. I‘m exhausted now. But at least I have the book in hand. LOL. 4mo

batsy @Suet624 Oh no! I would be exhausted too, hahaha. With thanks to the book gods that it all ended well 😆 4mo

Suet624 @batsy Now the Order Department is joking with me through email. :) Gotta love the personal touch. 4mo

batsy @Suet624 😁 4mo

youneverarrived @vivastory I decided to wait to find out, I like the surprise of it. 4mo

71 likes33 comments

BarbaraBB

The Master Key | Masako Togawa

pick

This oldie uses a highly original approach to the classic crime story. Set in Tokyo, just after WWII in an apartment complex for single women, mysterious things start to happen. Many of the women carry secrets, big and small, safe in the anonymity of their homes, when suddenly they are revealed.

It‘s a great read! Thank for sending me this one @Vansa such a good choice ❤️

#pop22 #ProtagonistWithMobilityAid #52BooksIn52weeks #UnlikelyDetective

KarenUK, Megabooks, Cinfhen, Cortg, jenniferw88, Laughterhp, 4thhouseontheleft, squirrelbrain, RaeLovesToRead

vivastory This sounds fantastic! 5mo

BarbaraBB @vivastory It is your kind of book, no doubt about that! 5mo

squirrelbrain It does sound good! 5mo

See All 17 Comments

RaeLovesToRead This looks like my sort of thing... and I haven't fulfilled that prompt yet! 5mo

charl08 Tempting! Love these editions of Japanese classic crime. 5mo

LeahBergen Oh, this sounds good! 👌 5mo

BarbaraBB @RaeLovesToRead @charl08 @LeahBergen I can really recommend the book to all three of you. It is a kind of a Japanese #Persephone book, classic mystery and spinster lit in one book! 4mo

LeahBergen Well, consider me SOLD! 4mo

RaeLovesToRead Already ordered myself a copy!! 😁 4mo

BarbaraBB @RaeLovesToRead Really? Ooow That‘s cool! I really think you‘ll like it! 4mo

RaeLovesToRead I read a lot of Japanese fiction, including some mysteries, so it sounds right up my street! 😊 4mo

quietjenn This sounds right up my alley! 4mo

BarbaraBB @RaeLovesToRead @quietjenn I‘m glad to bring attention to such an old book (published in the 60s). It deserves to be read! 4mo

batsy Japanese mystery slash #spinsterlit? Hell, yes 😁 I just saw this in a bookshop over the weekend but managed to somehow not buy it ... I need to rectify this 😂 4mo

BarbaraBB @batsy you need to indeed 🤣 4mo

Vansa Apologies for the late reply!! So glad you liked it!!!! 4mo

BarbaraBB @Vansa I really did! I‘m so glad you introduced me to a new author! And as you can see above, many people now want to read the book 👍🏽😘 4mo

87 likes8 stack adds17 comments

Centique

Fraud | Anita Brookner

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Anita Brookner manages to do solitude and even gloominess in such a way that it is DELIGHTFUL. She‘s a magician! In this novel she painstakingly dissects the quiet lives and thoughts of a very well behaved spinster who seems to have missed out on love and friendship and a curmudgeonly widow. It is also a close look at a few parent and child relationships and tensions and how others expectations may ensnare us. #spinsterlit for sure

Centique I saw that you liked this too @Cathythoughts 💕 6mo

batsy Lovely review. I really need to read more Anita Brookner and soon! 6mo

squirrelbrain I loved this one too! 6mo

See All 9 Comments

LeahBergen Wonderful review! I just went to check my Brookner shelf to see if I own this one (as I‘ve amassed quite the little collection from snapping them up at charity book sales over the years 😆). 6mo

MaureenMc I‘ve been wanting to read some more Brookner this year, and I‘ve got this one on my shelf. Thanks for helping me decide! 😁 6mo

Centique @batsy you can count on her to always transport you in a different time and place. 😍 6mo

Centique @squirrelbrain I‘m so glad 😘 6mo

Centique @LeahBergen I aspire to have a Brookner shelf of my own and keep my eyes open for them! 😍 6mo

Centique @MaureenMc I so hope you like it! Definitely a quiet little book with lots of pondering 💕 6mo

77 likes3 stack adds9 comments

LeahBergen

Westwood | Stella Gibbons

More mystery book mail from Book Depository! ❤️

Who sent this lovely little number to me? I have a hunch but let‘s see… 👀

rubyslippersreads 😍😍😍 7mo

IndoorDame Great cover! 7mo

Amiable I love that cover. 7mo

See All 17 Comments

BiblioLitten 😍😍 7mo

batsy That's from me, Leah! 😆 It gets mixed reviews but I really enjoyed #spinsterlit Hope you do, too! 7mo

LeahBergen @rubyslippersreads @IndoorDame @Amiable @BiblioLitten It‘s a great cover, isn‘t it? 😊 7mo

LeahBergen @batsy Thank you, thank you, thank you! 😘😘 And you KNOW I can‘t resist a good #SpinsterLit, either! 😆The description sounds right up my alley; I know I‘m going to really enjoy it! 7mo

batsy @LeahBergen You're most welcome! ❤️ 7mo

Gissy Beautiful cover😍❤️❤️❤️ 7mo

Cathythoughts Very lovely gift 💫 7mo

LeahBergen @Gissy It‘s so pretty! 😊 7mo

LeahBergen @Cathythoughts I‘m thrilled! 😊😊 7mo

BookBabe Pretty cover! The premise sounds interesting too. 🙂 6mo

Suet624 Such a pretty cover. I‘m missing those colors in my snowy world right now. 6mo

Centique Oh it‘s gorgeous! 6mo

LeahBergen @Suet624 Me, too! 🙄 6mo

LeahBergen @Centique I could crawl right into that scene. 😄 6mo

85 likes1 stack add17 comments

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