Welcome to Litsy!

“Listen” is a Dutch book that has won many literary prizes and I read as an audio. It‘s about a Dutch girl who becomes an au-pair in Paris in the early ‘90s. We also know it‘s a story about 2015, the year Paris was shook up by the Charlie Hebdo attack at the beginning of the year and suicide bombers in November. We know this but not what‘s the connection between them. An engaging read, I hope it will be translated!

This was the masterpiece that drew Marcel Proust out of his cork-lined room in Paris for the last time. He had seen it once before, in a visit to The Hague in 1902. It was to him ‘the most beautiful painting in the world‘. Almost twenty years later, suffering from lung disease, he made a shorter but more arduous pilgrimage from his apartment in boulevard Malesherbes, near the Madeleine, across four streets to the Jeu de Paume,

The spoils of today‘s bookshop visit!

This is a book that shouldn‘t work. It meanders all over the place and trying to write an outline for it would be an exercise in futility. Yet, somehow, these musings on (mainly) Dutch art, primarily that of Carel Fabritius, the author‘s painter father, artists lives and her own life comes together as a pretty magical read. The illustrations are great, but there was still plenty I was googling. Completely fascinating.

#SpringSkies
#InvolvesArt
@Eggs
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

This was beautifully told. I loved listening to the author tell of Dutch paintings & artists, Fabritius & her father‘s paintings - you can tell it‘s something she‘s knowledgeable & passionate about. I listened on Spotify which came with a pdf of all the paintings she discusses but I always listen when I‘m on the go so couldn‘t keep track of which paintings she was discussing. As much as I liked the audio I‘d recommend going print or mix the two.

My #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for April are an unlikely pair: in the one hand a literary novella about desperate lives in wartime, translated from Dutch; on the other, urban fantasy featuring demigods and shapeshifters and vampires and who knows what all else.

Looking forward to both of course. Thanks @TheAromaofBooks

🌸I really need to start my flower seeds!
🌼Too many!
🌸Fantasy

@Cupcake12 #motivationalmonday

This #womensprize for NF long-lister is still a pick, but I chose the wrong format (audio).The author describes so many paintings and I wanted to see them - not the best idea when you listen whilst driving, as I mostly do. 😬

Even when I was at home, as all of the artists are Dutch, I couldn‘t find many of them as I didn‘t know how to spell their names. I‘ve reserved the (digital) print copy so I can re-read but it‘s not available until ⬇️

1. The Diary of Anne Frank
2. People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn
3. My Mother's Kitchen: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and the Meaning of Life by Peter Gethers

#TLT