Welcome to Litsy!

"I am reminded of a friend who said that when she found out her husband couldn't fill her needs, she changed her needs." - No examples.

WTF. I am struggling with this book. There is a thread of misogyny in it that is really grating on me. I have noticed that in most cases he is introducing couples telling what the husband does but not the wife. And then the wife becomes a SAHM. SAH moms are great but let's give them more identity.

I finished the chapter on Autism last night. This book was published in 2012 and it reflects the issue I often have with nonfiction, it is out of date when I get to it. Here it is okay, the past is still relevant and I am glad he was firm on vaccines. I have forgotten how brutal severe Autism can be. These days it feels like half the people I know are getting diagnosed and they are all "normal" with a small hyper fixation.
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A little Korean girl immigrated and found her name too hard to pronounce for her new country. She begins a name jar. What will she pick? Will she find that her name is best?
#ISpyBingoOct @TheAromaofBooks

I am committed to finishing this, hopefully in November but absolutely in 2025. I started it in 2014, it was a gift. My plan then was to read a chapter a month. It is so full of information and real life stories, it can be overwhelming and break your heart. Today I read schizophrenia; “autism is characterized by an over abundance of synaptic connectivity, schizophrenia is marked by a dearth of it.” #nonfictionnovember #finishwhatyoustarted

November TBR

I have grabbed a few short nonfiction books from the library to balance out the tag and dive into #NonfictionNovermber

2 weeks in!
2 books down!

#10beforetheend

I am starting the tagged today, but it is a big one and might take me a minute so I am going to try to fit in The Message also this week.

This is a supremely frustrating book. The writing is great, but it is in desperate need of editing. It goes on and on in a way that just makes it a slog, then finally perks up in the last quarter. The only reason I stuck with it was that I was determined not to bail on two #NBAshortlist for translated lit books in a row. If you try to read it and get bogged down, I recommend skipping forward to chapter 11 and going from there.

Another 4 books on the National Book Awards longlist. I had no idea the tagged book was such a chunkster until it arrived!

I also have 2 on order from eBay but they‘re not arriving for a few weeks yet.

I‘m reading The Antidote in print - it‘s too early to say what I think yet. I‘m also listening to The Sisters on audio and, goodness me, it‘s long! 😬

The Remembered Soldier, by Anjet Daanje (2019, transl. 2025)

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: A former soldier experiencing severe amnesia and PTSD struggles to recover his memories and life after he is brought home from an asylum by a woman who identifies him as her husband.

Review: This is a stunning, deeply moving literary love story that will reward patient readers. ⬇️

This was a slow burn for me and I never really got into it, even though I loved the woman Edith has become and admire the girl she was when supporting her sister when she gave birth to a baby. Such an interesting plot and I loved the Irish setting. It‘s really a good book. And yet. It‘s me. A light pick.

📸: Ryan Gander exposition, Museum Beelden aan Zee, The Hague, Netherlands

#FictionalTraveler #EnglishSpeaking