Welcome to Litsy!

I started and stopped this because it didn‘t grab me a few weeks ago then dove back in at the beginning just yesterday. It‘s short but felt long and drawn out. I would have done much better with the print but only had access to the audio, so take this with a grain of salt. A Chinese nanny and her charge are caught up in the schemes of the family. I read that this is a part of a push to translate more Chinese literature. #tob26 long list

Read 50%. The action moves along fast but I'm just about keeping up, my favourite parts are the range of characters and their stories that are a mix of comedy, drama and lessons to learn. This is challenging but enjoyable read.

In the image is a very very short extract from one of my many favourite scenes, where Xuande (also known as Liu Bei) visits Master Tranquil Water.

This book is one of the 4 reads I've put off to the end of the year.

A 667-pages roadtrip novel, with chapters alternating between a disillusioned “you“ mainly looking for young women to spend the night with (those sections haven't aged well), and a “I“ looking for what I'll sum up as “Eternal China“: folksongs, old monasteries, folktales... and of course, the Soul Mountain in the title. I am glad I read it -I enjoyed the folk chapters- but I am in no hurry to read any more from this #NobelPrize winner.

#10BeforeTheEnd update:
I finished Paris noir and The Adventures of Vela. I was planning on starting Mejnun and Leyla but after Vela, I need a break on the long-form poetry front, so Soul Mountain it is! As it is a doorstop and I have a few days off, it should be perfect.

@ChaoticMissAdventures

Pic is of the Chinese Garden in Chaumont, back in June

#NobelPrize

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

first line: Empires arise from chaos and empires collapse back into chaos. This we have known since time began.

from my current read, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, translated by Martin Palmer

One of my bike tires went flat yesterday (while I was about an hour‘s bike-push from home; blah), so I had to hit Canadian Tire today—and hey, my favourite indie bookstore‘s in the same mall, and it would‘ve been rude not to stop in. I chose two books from the bargain section and a gorgeous new bookmark I shall use in my primary read.

#bibliophile
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#AsianAuthor
#moyan
#nobelwinner

I finally finished THE STORY OF THE STONE this morning! It was great (aside from the bit at the end maligning the women, who‘re the book‘s main focus despite Bao-Yu‘s central character status), and the last five pages took me half a frickin‘ hour to read because of this adorable red menace. Argh. #deweyoct #readathon

I did the Sunday afternoon book & beer thing, with strange lighting effects and two schnauzers who I just barely managed to keep from sampling the beer. (It was a very nice witbier. I might‘ve drunk it too quickly.)

I‘m now in the home stretch with THE STORY OF THE STONE! Unless I get distracted, I should know all the sordid details of the Jia family‘s sad fate by the end of the week.