I loved this book- abstract, surreal, and philosophical. The people in Heti's world fit into one of three categories: birds, who "consider the world as if from a distance”; fish, “concerned with fairness and justice here on earth”; and bears who “are deeply consumed with their own.” How does Mira, a bird, navigate life with her fish lover and bear father? How do we live life alongside the ones we love dearly who never quite see it like we do? ?

I'm in this photo and I don't like it. #ReadingProblems

Comfort re-reading of the best kind! I so empathize with Cath's awkward entry into university, as an 18 year-old who also preferred to stay in fictional worlds as much as possible and struggled in my first year to make real connections. I read this now with nostalgia, and also with admiration for how Rowell writes the relationships between Cath and her parents, each difficult in its own heartbreaking way. Is this book a favorite for anyone else?

I finally succumbed to reading this collection, with its title that launched a million derivatives. I can't deny that the writing is beautiful - spare and evocative and singular - but DAMN, the misogyny! The experience was a wild ride between appreciating the deliberate, finely-tuned emotional subtext one minute and then being like, "fucking YIKES" the next. Carver paints his pictures really, really well...I just hate what he's showing me.

The Winter edition of my favorite magazine arriving on Christmas Decoration Day feels SO perfect. Looking forward to putting my feet up with this tonight! #OhReader #ReadingAboutReading

A friend recommended this to me, describing it as a throwback to early 2000s-style British "chick lit", which I devoured at the time. (My kingdom for another Liz Young book!) She was right on- this is such a sweet love story with a charming main character, a great supporting ensemble, and a London setting that had me yearning for Primrose Hill and the Hampstead ponds. Just the right thing to read over several indulgent nights in by the fireplace.

Over the past 5 months, I've been so grateful for the chance to reclaim my weekends. Coming off a job where overwork was the norm, it's been incredible to regularly have the entire weekend off - it's such a simple thing but I'm so appreciative. The best Sundays lately have been the ones spent passing time at a gorgeous cafe near my house, always with a book. Today's treats pictured here in all their restorative glory! #CurrentlyReading

Like so many, I was eager to read this after devouring the author's gorgeous "Wintering" but it just didn't hit me the same way. It felt really meandering, and though there are a few lovely passages, the whole never quite managed to coalesce. Still, the good moments really did stick with me, and it added to my enjoyment of an indulgent, solo getaway weekend. If May were to write another in this same vein, I'm sure I'd give it a try!

Nigeria Jones, daughter of a Black separatist leader, has been raised to be a Warrior Princess for her father's Movement to "divest, decolonize, and indigenize". But after learning that her mother wants her to attend an elite, predominantly white school, Nigeria has to decide whether or not to break from her community. The writing here is absolutely gorgeous as Nigeria wrestles with what she wants her future to be. Highly, highly recommend.

Living for these weekends! It's a perfect rainy October day outside and lovely, warm, and cozy in my go-to cafe. And as usual, Ibi Zoboi is knocking it out of the park. #CurrentlyReading

Savoring the last of this fun new read (and combatting my own burnout) with a lunch hour visit to this gorgeous pocket park. 😍 Working from a new place today and discovering it has a few, lovely perks. #CurrentlyReading

I'm only halfway through but am really loving this one so far. There's a certain wackiness in Kinsella's stories that doesn't always land for me, but coming off a job where I experienced *intense* burnout, I'm feeling our MC in my very soul. I'm a few months into a new gig that feels more balanced at this point, but there's still a deep part of me that needs to go stare at the sea for three weeks as Sasha and Finn do. I'm sure many can relate!

I'm unbelievably excited to be seeing one of my all-time favorite actors, Paul Gross, in King Lear today at the Stratford Festival. I'd been saving his episodes on the Outrageous Fortune podcast for the drive up, and I'm so glad I did. Listening to him talk about the play, and the struggles and rewards of making art more generally, was the perfect teaser for the performance and made me unexpectedly emotional more than once. #SeeMoreTheatre

I love having a rare day all for myself- a bookstore visit and rose hot cocoa afterward at my favorite cafe. #CurrentlyReading

And my scream-laugh could be heard from outer space. #JaneEyre

The author's personal narrative here is not always overly compelling, but the account of the work undertaken is phenomenal. Theatre of War makes an ancient tradition alive and present on military bases, in hospice centers, carceral institutions, homeless shelters, mental health facilities and more, doing exactly what theatre, at it's best, is meant to do- challenge, inspire, heal, create community, and bring us into dialogue and reflection.

This was a mixed bag for me: when a one-night experiment between Ben and his bff Maxie yields a surprise result, Ben decides he wants to raise their baby. I appreciate the author flipping the script on teen pregnancy but this book absolutely stressed me TF out! My geriatric ass felt so deeply for poor Ben's mom doing the most to make her sweet but naive son understand the gravity of his choice. Glad I read it, but this one is firmly for the Youth.

A lovely summer picnic with the Betsy to my Tacy in an idyllic place requires the source material. #BetsyTacy #MaudHartLovelace

So true, so unfortunate, so completely funny. I've been very excited to start this, and even the dedication doesn't disappoint. #CurrentlyReading

This book features:
-An utterly despicable, spoiled man-child of a narrator
-Fragile masculinity and misogyny galore
-A 5-year-old child who says that "morning is healing" and describes the weather as "breathtaking"
-Not one female character who ever behaves like an actual human being instead of a pair of sentient breasts

But it also includes the passage outlined above and goddamn if my idealistic, theatre-loving heart didn't cry when I read it.

What object are we being compared to today, ladies? Why today we're key lime pie! 🙄 (I can't believe this is real, and I can't believe I continue to read it.) #MenWritingWomen

It might be a bit of a somber choice for poolside reading, but it's also exquisitely lovely and reminding me to just breathe and be and enjoy. What more could you ask for on a sunny Sunday free of any responsibilities? #CurrentlyReading

Backyard reading day featuring some lovely flowers and a criminally underrated Austen tome- Edmund notwithstanding. #PemberLittens #CurrentlyReading

I've been a Caitlin Moran fan for a long time, but this one didn't do it for me. I was skeptical from the start; I get frustrated with the line that women have it easier than men, which is where Moran begins, and I also think that many of men's problems - aggression, violence, emotional disconnection - result in great harm to women and shouldn't be our job to fix. I agree with Hannah Gadsby's brisk admonition to guys: "Sort your shit out." ???

I was already on the fence about this book, which I'll talk more about when I review it, but shit like this is not helping me to embrace it. Here Moran is addressing men's fears of being falsely accused of rape, and attributing those cases to nothing more than women being "crazy". Which sucks from a feminist perspective but is reprehensible from the perspective of understanding and reducing stigma again people living with mental illness. ???

Library of America really got me wrapped around its little finger... #BookHaul #NewIn

Added a new Chiltern to the collection today! Sadly I'm a smidge too late to enjoy it along with the #PemberLittens but I still can't wait to dig into this GORGEOUS edition. #ChilternClassics #BookHoarder #NewIn

I'm a big believer in the power of applied theatre, and was very excited to discover each of these titles in small bookstores as I traveled earlier this year. It feels like they'd be good companion reads so I'm starting now with the tagged book. We'll see where it takes me! #SeeMoreTheatre #DoMoreTheatre #ActOut

The surreal epilogue to last night's read: an imagined conversation between author and Bard, capturing so beautifully what I love about Shakespeare. ❤️

This was a re-read for me, but I liked it even more on the second go-round. Equal parts personal memoir, Shakespeare tutorial, and a meditation on kink, fetish, sex, and love, the author takes us through her journey of understanding and exploring her sexual identity and the ways in which Shakespeare's plays and characters illuminate her own life- and the ways in which her experiences color her interpretations of his work.

On Fridays, we drink and read YA. Congratulations on making it through another week, Littens! #BooksAndBooze

Randomly found a new bookstore when driving through a nearby town and of course I had to immediately swerve and stop in. I wound up spending way too much due to their banging Pride display which led me to this little gem (that I should have read years ago!). The main event here for me is the lovely friendship that springs up between Mark and Kate during one wild, random night in the city. A quick read and not particularly deep, but very sweet.

In the aftermath of WWII, forty-something Lucy Cottrell is weary of life in London and jumps at a chance offer to spend three months in the Swiss Alps. What starts as a restful holiday quickly turns into something quite different when visitors begin to descend. It's a very simple plot but a book incredibly rich in detail- the lush descriptions of scenic mountains, fresh air, and walks in the woods are irresistible. The very best armchair travel!

I'm a Percy Jackson fan for life, and a book centering my fave Nico? SOLD. The drama feels like it wraps up fairly quickly in spite of the length (did we need *that* much time with the trogs?), but I loved every bit of Nico facing his demons and he and Will's sorely needed Deep Chats. It got a little preachy for me at times, but all in all I love the unabashed queerness of the whole thing. So glad this was my kickoff read for Pride; go pick it up!

In 2018 I was on a disaster work trip full of cancelled flights at both ends and a dinner with people holding Very Important Titles in a restaurant so intimidatingly fancy that my regular-person ass cried in the hotel afterward from pent-up anxiety- but I was reading a Samantha Irby book and it kept me laughing. I'm listening to her new book on a work trip again, this time a bit older and wiser. But I still appreciate having her voice with me. ❤️

I had the good luck to catch Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway in January, and it's hands-down my favorite new musical of the season. I spent last night watching the Tiny Desk Concert over and over and crying too hard at it. This cast! This composer! These songs! Shout out to understudy Miguel Gil killing it in this performance. Join me in obsessively watching:
https://www.npr.org/2023/05/19/1175215859/kimberly-akimbo-tiny-desk-concert
#SeeMoreTheatre

Conversations with friends. #PemberLittens

Another one I bought in the winter with an eye toward a joyful spring read. Inspired by the life of Gwendolen Howard and interspersed with her own writings, this book tells the story of 'Len' who quits her life as a concert violinist in London to live alone in a Sussex cottage studying birds. Her relationships with her birds are deeper than any she shares with fellow humans, lending the story a slight melancholy- but it's also completely charming.

Here in Detroit, the weather is ever so slightly starting to turn to spring. Celebrating that today with some early flowers and a book I bought in the depths of winter, just to look forward to reading it in the fresh air with a little sunshine. So glad that day is finally here! ☀️💛 #CurrentlyReading

Three cheers for making it through another week! How are you celebrating Friday night, Littens? For me, it's a flowery vodka drink and an adaptation of P&P that I'm fairly skeptical about. Either way, the #BooksAndBooze combo is making my night! #PemberLittens

This week I pulled out the original recording of The Gospel at Colonus, one of my favorite pieces of theatre- a setting of "Oedipus at Colonus" as a modern parable within the frame of a Black Pentecostal church service. The music is incredible, and a gospel choir serves as our Greek chorus. It inspired me to re-visit the original, as well as Antigone- both still absolute bangers. And yes, that is a CD because the dream of the 90s is ALIVE, y'all!

Thought I'd start my latest #PersephonePick tonight but naturally, #TomKitten had other plans. 🖤 #CatsOfLitsy

One last day lecturing in this gorgeous place about the incredible life and art of Federico Garcia Lorca. In working on the opera "Ainadamar", it's been a gift to rediscover Lorca's poetry and plays, and to fangirl nightly about his theatre work with La Barraca. And after the performance? REST! #SeeMoreOpera #DetroitLove

This author's novel Queenie was my hands-down favorite of the year when I read it, and I've been looking forward to starting this one. Seems like the perfect thing for this sunny Saturday! #CurrentlyReading

I love being married to a reader- our Friday night date night is a trip to a bookstore, and then grabbing a coffee to read in companionable silence. Feeling ultra lucky tonight! #ReadingAboutReading #NewIn

I love having a lazy Sunday with nothing to do, and I especially love filling that time with my favorite Austen! I'm generally not a fan of the "radio play" adaptation but this one is better than many. I like the actor playing Wentworth and Florence Pugh is a fantastic narrator. And as ever, I'm struck by the complete badassery of Mrs. Croft; anyone else a huge fan? #CurrentlyListening #audiobook

Had to break out a decoy book so that #TomKitten would let me read. Anyone else have a pet who needs to be all up in your shit at all times? 😂 #CatsOfLitsy

Burnout is real, y'all. Not sure how to combat it aside from making the most of every rare day off. Today it means pj's all day and a new YA read, and it feels like bliss. #CurrentlyReading

Bring a new book home and immediately lose it to the cat! Life with #TomKitten. #CatsOfLitsy

Phew, this week has been over the top work-wise, and I'm not able to read as much as I'd like. But at least I have this audiobook for the commute! It's definitely my favorite of Alice Oseman's novels, and I'm living for the narrator voicing Angel and Juliet. Both characters spot-on. #audiobook #CurrentlyListening