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KVanRead

KVanRead

Joined May 2016

toomanybooksnotenoughtime
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Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
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KVanRead
The Go-Between | L.P. Hartley
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Hello dear Litsy friends, I‘m back!!!! It hasn‘t been a great Litsy summer for me between my English course (which I loved and will post more about later) and generally more busy times with the reopening. But I‘m having a lazy morning starting this one today and loving it. Looking forward to #NYRBBC discussion!

Megabooks I was wondering where you‘d been! Glad to know you‘re okay! 3y
BarbaraBB So good to see you‘re back!! And you‘re in for a treat with this book! 3y
BookishMarginalia Welcome back! 3y
See All 9 Comments
vivastory Glad that you're back! Looking forward to your thoughts on the book 📚📚 3y
LeahBergen Hello, hello, hello! 👋🏻 3y
LeahBergen Happy, happy Birthday!! 📚❤️📚❤️ 3y
vivastory Hey, I hope you are doing well. Just a heads-up that I need you to post your nominations for #NYRB by tomorrow (9/5/21) so that the international members will have time to order. Thanks! 3y
slategreyskies Your name came up in the comments on a book I was searching for earlier today. It made me think of you and wonder how you were doing. I hope everything is okay for you. Sending a hug!! ❤️!! 2y
58 likes9 comments
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KVanRead
Love and Friendship | Jane Austen
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Pickpick

Well this was a RIOT! The funniest 20 pages I‘ve read in some time. Young Jane is having a blast sending up the sentimental 18th century novels —so much swooning, so much drama, so many outrageous coincidences. Very silly, but the emergence of a great wit is also very much in evidence.
#pemberlittens

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KVanRead
Love and Friendship | Jane Austen
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This short work is absolutely hysterical.
#pemberlittens

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KVanRead
Love and Friendship | Jane Austen
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Next up in Eng550: Jane Austen‘s Love and Freindship. Excited to take down a volume from last month‘s EBay find, the 1989 Folio Society Collected Works, and this is in the one volume I haven‘t already read! #summerschool #pemberlittens

LeahBergen This is the set I have. My favourite! 3y
sprainedbrain 🥰🥰🥰 3y
KVanRead @LeahBergen Yes, I‘ve admired yours for some time so when I saw this one pop up on EBay I had to have it. #LitsyMadeMeDoIt or should I say Leah, lol! 3y
LeahBergen I‘m so happy to be a bad influence here. 😆 I find that everything about these editions (binding, font, wood engravings) really suit Austen‘s novels, don‘t you? I don‘t like really modern editions of her work. 🤫 3y
KVanRead @LeahBergen Yes. They are just perfect 💗 3y
45 likes5 comments
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KVanRead
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Busy few days!! My niece had a healthy baby girl, my daughter & I finally finished Sir Fuzzyface Lambykin here (a kit from the Dickens Fair) to send baby with the blanket I knit, a raccoon came to visit in the night and when I scared him off came back with a friend, and I stayed up till dawn finishing this book! —Loved it! It‘s bonkers in an oh so 18th C way but also depressingly familiar in a #metoo way 🤦🏻‍♀️
Loved the London travelogue aspect

vivastory You've had a busy week! 3y
MsMelissa Oh that‘s cute! 3y
sprainedbrain That‘s adorable! Congrats on the news baby in the family! ❤️ 3y
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KVanRead @vivastory Yes! And all good except for the 🦝🦝 visitors ☺️ 3y
KVanRead @MsMelissa Thanks—it was a fun project since my daughter did all the sewing for me! 3y
KVanRead @sprainedbrain Thanks! We‘re so excited!! 👶💗 3y
LeahBergen I love it! I used to love to knit stuffed animals but haven‘t done one in years. 3y
KVanRead @LeahBergen Thanks! Our first ever attempt and I‘m pleased with how he turned out thanks to my daughter handling the sewing which not my forte! 3y
kspenmoll What a week! Congrats in new baby & your creative gift! ❤️ 3y
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KVanRead
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Hello Litsy family! I‘m back after a busy May with very little reading time. But I‘m more than making up for it this month by taking my first English Literature college course in a loooong time—one of my more nutso pandemic-induced ideas being that maybe I‘d like to go back to school and get my MA 🤷🏻‍♀️ So I‘m starting with this intensive summer course: The Rise of the Novel: Fallen Ladies Edition! I bet all you #Pemberlittens would love it!

Liz_M Sounds like it would be fun if one didn't have to write papers! 😆 3y
vivastory This sounds like a great course! Looking forward to your posts about the course & the books you'll be reading 3y
LeahBergen This sounds fantastic! 3y
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eeclayton Welcome back 🙂 3y
Annie1215 So exciting! 3y
KVanRead @Liz_M Um, yup, it‘s that papers part that has me wondering about my sanity 😂 3y
KVanRead @vivastory the first lecture at least was awesome. Was surprised that in an 18 and 19 C course we started out with an essay by Kundera! 3y
KVanRead @LeahBergen I think you‘d love it! 3y
KVanRead @eeclayton Thanks! Glad to be back! 3y
KVanRead @Annie1215 thanks, I think #thatsclassic is partly responsible 😊 3y
squirrelbrain Lovely to see you back! Good luck with the course - sounds fab! 3y
Ruthiella Welcome back. The class sounds awesome. 😀 3y
LitStephanie That course sounds great. I am kind of envious. Go get that MA! 3y
Lcsmcat Welcome back! 3y
Clare-Dragonfly Good to see you again! That class sounds amazing! 3y
KVanRead @squirrelbrain @Ruthiella @Lcsmcat @Clare-Dragonfly Thanks!! Great to be back and to see everyone‘s posts! 3y
KVanRead @LitStephanie Thanks! I‘m kind of terrified actually, but I‘m really enjoying it too.😂 3y
Tamra Sounds fun! 3y
batsy That's a fantastic plan! Woohoo! And yes, that course sounds amazing 😁 3y
SamAnne Ooh....jealous. Good luck! 3y
KVanRead @Tamra @batsy @SamAnne Thanks all!! Loving the reading 📚 and classes, just hope I can remember how to write papers!!😬 3y
kspenmoll Sounds fabulous!!! How interesting . Keep us posted in the ladies!!! 3y
58 likes22 comments
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KVanRead
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#ThoughtfulThursday Thanks for the tag @slategreyskies !
🍃Pride & Prejudice, The Great Gatsby, many a story book to my littles, back in the day
🍃Not usually, but I do enjoy pretty covers
🍃So much beautiful nature imagery in Whitman‘s poetry.

I‘m VERY late with this but if anyone else wants to share, you are tagged!
🍃

MoonWitch94 Thanks for playing 📚☺️🌿 3y
vivastory Hey Kristine, I hope that you are doing okay. Your presence is missed on here. 3y
KVanRead Awww, thanks Scott ❤️ Just been extremely busy and about to get busier - see my comment on your other NYRBBC post. But really missing you guys so going to make a plan to to check Litsy at least a couple times a week.🤗🤗🤗 3y
28 likes3 comments
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KVanRead
Bleak-House... | Charles Dickens
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Pickpick

This book has everything. The writing, the characters, the drama, the satire, the mystery, oh and words, lots and lots of words, but when it‘s Dickens doling them out, I say bring ‘em! Gimme more! 😊 I only wish Esther had more agency and was a little less ‘good‘ but her central role in the novel told from a first person narrative definitely wins some points. At any rate, in short, I loved it! #WhatTheDickens @Cuilin

Cuilin I loved it too. ❤️ 3y
Liz_M And it even has death by spontaneous combustion! 3y
KathyWheeler I started reading this years ago and loved the very beginning. I have no idea why I put it down and never picked it back up. My copy is a mass market paperback and the printing on those is too small for me now. I need to check the library. 3y
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KVanRead @Cuilin look forward to the discussion at the end of the month 3y
KVanRead @Liz_M yes! How could I forget 😂🔥 3y
KVanRead @KathyWheeler I did a combination of print and audio for this one. If you like audiobooks, the Naxos edition narrated by Sean Barrett and Teresa Gallagher was excellent. 3y
KathyWheeler @KVanRead I like the idea of doing a combination read for this. Thanks. 3y
Cuilin @KVanRead I‘ve too many questions. Still wheedling them down 🤦‍♀️ 3y
batsy Great review! I've lots of Dickens to catch up on :) 3y
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KVanRead
Salvage the Bones | Jesmyn Ward
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Pickpick

What a brilliant and beautiful book! Ward‘s prose is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. She is a master of show, don‘t tell and can reveal so much in a single sentence. Not an easy read at times, particularly the scenes of animal cruelty, but there‘s nothing gratuitous here. Not a word is wasted. So glad this #AuthorAMonth read was my April #bookspin .

Soubhiville I‘m almost finished with this one. What an amazing writer! 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
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KVanRead
Skylark | Dezso Kosztolanyi
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My first trip to a brick and mortar library in over a year! Just stood by the door to pick up the next two #NYRBBookClub reads but nice to take a peek inside and say hello to all the books😀❤️📚

vivastory Nice!! Have they been doing curbside service for long? 3y
CaffeineAndCandy 💜💜💜 3y
KVanRead @vivastory They have, although not sure how long at my local branch as they started with main branch and slowly expanded. TBH, I usually borrow everything from Libby but since these were unavailable there, I was excited to find them in ‘corporeal‘ form 😊 3y
61 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
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https://sfpl.org/events/2021/04/21/unity-and-struggle-collective-inaugural-addre...

#shesaid readers: San Francisco Poet Laureate Tongo Eisen-Martin‘s inaugural address is coming up on April 21st and includes among others Mahogany L Brown! @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

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KVanRead
Salvage the Bones | Jesmyn Ward
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Finally reading something for #AuthorAMonth!! - cuz it‘s my #Bookspin, lol! Started this last night and the first chapter knocked my socks off! It could stand alone as a beautiful little short story. The prose is stunning and communicates so much. Each sentence speaks volumes.

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
vlwelser This is one of my favorites. I hope you enjoy it. 💕💕 3y
KVanRead @vlwelser loving it so far😍 3y
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KVanRead
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Panpan

Finally finished my March #BooksSpin and unpopular opinion time, but this book was a total cringe fest for me. Some very important issues to explore here but I found the writing unbearably pretentious and clunky, the one-sided conversation conceit gimmicky and annoying, and the attitude toward women smarmy and shallow. Poor, broken (Am)Erica hung up on her lost love Chris(tianity) was simply more than I could take. I hoped the ‘twist‘⤵️

KVanRead ...I‘d heard about would redeem this somehow. It did not. 3y
Ruthiella I didn‘t like this book much either. I‘ve also read How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia and Exit West as well and just found them OK. 3y
KVanRead @Ruthiella Good to know. I‘ve heard good things about those but at the moment I‘m feeling like his writing style is not for me. 3y
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KVanRead But I did FINALLY read a book for #ReadingAsia2021 #Pakistan @BarbaraBB @Librarybelle (edited) 3y
rubyslippersreads 😻😻😻 3y
Leftcoastzen On my TBR , now I‘m wondering.. 3y
BarbaraBB That‘s a bummer. I loved it. How he describes how it must have been for Muslims after 9/11. But that may be because it was the first book I read on the subject 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
KVanRead @rubyslippersreads Apollo on the other hand enjoyed sinking his teeth into it😺 3y
KVanRead @Leftcoastzen Most people seem to really love it, judging from the reviews, just wasn‘t for me. 3y
KVanRead @BarbaraBB I actually liked that aspect of it and wished he‘d spent more time exploring that more deeply. 3y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 3y
britt_brooke On point review! I just finished this today. 3y
KVanRead Thanks. Wish it had been otherwise, but that‘s just the way it goes🤷🏻‍♀️ 3y
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KVanRead
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Exciting #bookmail!! Got my Black Girl Magic Wine & Book Club box!! Hearing great things about this book and really looking forward to the author event in May. Oh and also some tasty sip & read time 😊🥂

MsMelissa Nice! 3y
SamAnne Just read the NYT review this morning and it looks great. 3y
merelybookish Sounds like a fun box to get! 3y
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KVanRead
Untitled | Unknown
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Happy April Fool‘s Day y‘all!
Just under the wire like always, here‘s my April #BookSpin list @TheAromaofBooks 😊🌸💕📚

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
37 likes1 comment
review
KVanRead
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Pickpick

Another fascinating group read with #shesaid. So glad I finally read this. Wish more of it was ancient history instead of current events, but I guess that‘s kind of the point. We‘ll never move past the backlash and make lasting headway until we identify and confront it.

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Great review! Thanks for reading with us! 3y
KathyWheeler I read this book when it first came out; I‘d love to see it updated. 3y
KVanRead @Riveted_Reader_Melissa Thanks for your fantastic hosting, as always!! 3y
KVanRead @KathyWheeler The most recent edition has a new forward that reflects on what‘s happened since, but a more complete update would be great. 3y
KathyWheeler @KVanRead it really would. Just the last 5 years alone would be really interesting. 3y
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KVanRead
The Hearing Trumpet | Leonora Carrington
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Pickpick

Introducing the newest #LittenKitten our new baby, Apollo!! He‘s 💯 crazy and hard to keep up with, kinda like this book! Also like this book, he is freakin hilarious, pretty weird, but also clever, adventurous, and beautiful in a unique way. I think Leonora would dig his sorta one-eyed look too. (He is recovering from eye surgery and should mend well but will likely have a bit of a badass scar which is seeming all too appropriate 😂) #NYRBBC

Megabooks What a cutie! 3y
Ruthiella Adorable! 😻😻😻 3y
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KVanRead @Ruthiella 😊💕 3y
vivastory Too adorable!! I'm fairly confident that Leonora would be a fan! 3y
KVanRead @Megabooks do you know much about symblepharon? That‘s what he had surgery for. SPCA said it was successful and it‘s unlikely but still possible he could develop chronic pain in which case they will cover surgery to remove the eye. He‘s in no pain right now and doesn‘t even complain about his eye drops, but just wondering if you‘ve had any experience with this. 3y
KVanRead @vivastory I can just picture how she‘d paint him 😂 3y
Tamra 😻 3y
Megabooks I‘ve seen the general severe conjunctival swelling that is common with feline viral infections, but I‘ve never had a patient that had it so severely that I had to refer for surgery. But what they told you is right...if it‘s not bothering your cat (pain-wise), don‘t let it bother you. I‘m glad he‘s doing well with the drops! 👍🏻 3y
KVanRead @Megabooks Thanks!! That‘s good to know. So far he‘s a happy little purr machine 😊 3y
KVanRead @Tamra ☺️❤️ 3y
Leftcoastzen Awww!😻 3y
HOTPock3tt 😻❤️🎉🙌🏽 3y
LiteraryinLawrence Welcome, Apollo! 3y
Crazeedi Apollo's adorable!! Congrats now I want to go adopt kitties, I miss mine so much 3y
Bookzombie 💕🐈‍⬛ 3y
BarbaraBB So cute! And I love that he looks like the winking abbess! 3y
LeahBergen He‘s adorable! 3y
batsy Hello Apollo! I hope he recovers just fine from the surgery. He does seem a very Marian+Carmella-esque cat 😻 3y
saresmoore I love the comparison! Such a cute little kitty-baby, too! 3y
KVanRead @Leftcoastzen @HOTPock3tt @LiteraryinLititz @Crazeedi @Bookzombie @LeahBergen @saresmoore Thanks! He really is a hoot! I‘d forgotten what pure joy a kitten can bring. @BarbaraBB I thought that too! He really does look like he‘s winking 😉 @batsy Yes he does! 😽 3y
Bette Hope he heals well, he‘s a beauty! 3y
KVanRead Aww thanks @Bette He‘s doing great so far😽 3y
Simona Black, mischievous cats are the best❣️ Hope he heals without any complications🤞 3y
KVanRead @Simona Thank you 😊 He‘s doing great so far. 3y
DaveGreen7777 Congratulations on your new fur baby! 😊🐱 3y
KVanRead @DaveGreen7777 Thanks!!😻 3y
62 likes27 comments
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KVanRead
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Thanks for the tag @vlwelser #WondrousWednesday
1)Yes. Mr KVR recently bought a bookshelf for his Zoom background and is letting me curate it with my favorites 😍
2) I owe my love of reading to my mom and we still talk books all the time. She has advanced macular degeneration but thanks to audiobooks is reading more than ever.
3)Tagged. I‘m going to get to it one of these days!

@vivastory @LeahBergen @MsMelissa have you already been tagged?

vlwelser War and Peace was one of my pandemic reads (as in way more time on my hands). I definitely recommend it. 3y
LeahBergen My husband has sat in my little library for some of his Zoom calls. I had to warn him to not angle his chair so that my vintage girls‘ school books are showing over his head (“Lavender in High School”, “Nancy, Canadian School Girl” or, possibly the worst, “The Head Girl of the Chalet School” 🤣🤣). 3y
MsMelissa War and Peace is one of those books I‘ll get to one of these days, too 😂 3y
KVanRead @LeahBergen 😂😂😂 3y
KVanRead @vlwelser @MsMelissa I‘ve been wanting to read it ever since I read Anna Karenina and loved it. One of these days! 3y
35 likes5 comments
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KVanRead
Maisie Dobbs: A Novel | Jacqueline Winspear
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Mehso-so

Finished my March #Bookspin. This was a mixed read for me. I became really engrossed in the story and the setting, while I found the writing uneven and the plotting way too neat and tidy. Maybe I‘m just not a cozy mystery person. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Might‘ve been a pick if not for the final bit about Simon which really put me at odds with Maisie. Perhaps that‘s further developed in the series but on its own, not a satisfying end note. 21//2 ⭐️s

MsMelissa This series improves as you move along, imho, although I did enjoy this first book. I wouldn‘t describe it as a cozy mystery though, so if you don‘t think you like it because it was too cozy for you, definitely stay away from actual cozy mysteries 😂🤣😂 3y
KVanRead @MsMelissa Good to know! Thanks 😂 3y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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Pickpick

#PemberLittens
FINIS!
Apparently Emma director Autumn de Wilde thinks Jane Austen had punk DNA and I agree. The woman, within the constraints of her time, was a total badass. I initially struggled with this book and its heroine but at some point I decided Jane was actually being darkly, subversively, ironically, and flat out hysterically funny and then I began to delight in it! If you‘re looking for a romance I don‘t think you‘ll find it here⤵️

KVanRead ...but if you‘re looking for sharp social commentary, delightfully flawed characters and Jane‘s inimitable way with words, it‘s all here. 3y
eeclayton Oh yes, she definitely was a Regency Punk! 🤘 3y
KVanRead @eeclayton Regency Punk! Love it!! 3y
63 likes3 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#PemberLittens

The Penultimate Chapter!
🌿While Lady B sleeps off a heavy sermon, Edmund finally takes Fanny aside to spill the tea on his awful last meeting with Mary.
🌿He promises to be BRIEF, then goes on and on, stops, then goes on some more about his painful discovery of Mary‘s true character, none of it surprising to Fanny, and winds up by confessing no other woman will do but at least he has Fanny‘s FRIENDSHIP 🙄🤯
🌿I really can‘t ⤵️

KVanRead ...with him anymore but I think Jane‘s actually quite wryly hilarious here. 3y
mollyrotondo It‘s finally all coming to light that Fanny is the genius in the family 3y
Bookwormjillk My favorite was when Fanny said something about Mary and he still defended her. 3y
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KVanRead @mollyrotondo Yes! Although with this bunch, that‘s not saying much 😂 3y
KVanRead @Bookwormjillk I know!!🤦🏻‍♀️ 3y
nanuska_153 I just feel such hatred for Edmund xDD He is patronising even when defeated 3y
KVanRead @nanuska_153 Yup, he is really a dud. 3y
59 likes7 comments
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KVanRead
The Hearing Trumpet | Leonora Carrington
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Found the #audiobook for our current #NYRBBookClub read on Hoopla and it is outstanding. What a wild, weird, hysterical ride this is!

Come-read-with-me What a spectacular cover! 3y
BarbaraBB I‘ll start soon too. Hearing good things! 3y
KVanRead @Come-read-with-me it really is fantastic! 3y
KVanRead @BarbaraBB can‘t wait to hear what you think! 3y
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pembeittens Catch-up Post
VOL 3 CHs:13-15:
🌿TFW you skip a couple of chapter-a-days and when you return so much has happened!!! Tom dangerously ill! Julia eloping!! Mrs. R & Mr. C!!! And Fanny finally fetched back along with Susan.
🌿So many great quotes too but I especially love this one as it reminds me Fanny is after all still a teenager and while she may be passive and reserved, she might just be a bit of a drama queen on the inside.☺️

49 likes1 stack add
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 12:
🌿Fanny gets a thrilling letter from Mary, reads it eagerly, then disses it thoroughly
🌿Edmund hasn‘t spoken yet, so she must continue to wait in suspense
🌿She‘s disgusted Mary speaks only of his looks, needs Mrs. Fraser‘s opinion to bolster hers, and is eager to have Henry meet the Rushworths socially
🌿She waits fruitlessly for a letter from Edmund and worries what will become of Susan once she returns to MP

KVanRead This illustration popped up on a Quora thread pondering whether Fanny is a Mary Sue. Like the poster, I think not! https://www.quora.com/Is-Fanny-Price-from-Jane-Austens-Mansfield-Park-a-Mary-Sue... 3y
44 likes1 comment
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 11:
🌿Henry continues to improve in Fanny‘s estimation, but sorry, dude, she‘s STILL just not that into you
🌿It‘s Edmund she‘s pining for and now she knows he‘s in London she‘s expecting his engagement to Mary is imminent but no news of that yet
🌿Henry notes her diminished health, suggests Sir T might forget her in Portsmouth indefinitely, and conveniently nominates himself to come to her rescue...ummm, still NO 😂

eeclayton I have mixed feelings about HC. On the one hand, I've known such people, who are always in your face, not willing to take the hint that you need some breathing room, and I've been driven up the wall by them, so I understand Fanny is annoyed. On the other hand, I believe that HC has improved and does honestly care for her. 3y
Bookwormjillk He‘s not wrong about Sir T though is he? 3y
KVanRead @eeclayton He is being remarkably sensitive which makes it hard to believe that he doesn‘t have some real feelings towards her. 3y
KVanRead @Bookwormjillk no, indeed he‘s not. I even half wondered if stranding her in Portsmouth until she accepts Crawford‘s offer could have been part of his plan. Doubt that would‘ve been unheard of. 3y
51 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens
VOL 3, CH 10:
🌿Loads of surprises for Fanny: 1)Henry shows up unannounced 😳2)they run into her Dad in the street 😳😳 3)he doesn‘t embarrass her with oaths, but acts respectfully in Henry‘s company and his loud voice is okay 👍🏽 outside 😅😅😅 4)Despite Henry finding time to tell her he came to town just for her 😍 while Fanny‘s still just not that into him be less of a jerk🤔

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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 9

🌿Happy to see some real growth in Fanny as she overcomes her shyness and lack of experience with generosity (thanks Bertrams!) and performs a real act of kindness to Susan in gifting Betsey her own silver knife, even if it is a super weird gift for a 5yo, imho 😂
🌿And then spends Sir T‘s money in the best way possible: on a library subscription! ❤️📚😍

Clare-Dragonfly I appreciate the picture. For some reason I always picture a “circulating library” as more like a bookmobile 😂 3y
batsy This image makes me happy! The little doggo in there, too. 3y
KVanRead @Clare-Dragonfly it does sound like that! But I guess only the books were moving 😂 3y
KVanRead @batsy I know! He‘s too cute 🥰 3y
Bits Yeah what is up with the knife? 😆🙄🔪🤷 3y
51 likes5 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens
VOL 3, CH 8:
🌿Fanny‘s visit is not quite how she imagined. William ships out almost immediately and her mother doesn‘t have much time or affection for her. Fanny can‘t stand her family‘s chaos and begins to idealize life at Mansfield.
🌿I found Fanny a bit precious and snobbish here and lacking in understanding or compassion for her mother‘s situation, but she is very young and she has been influenced by her privileged upbringing

Lcsmcat I really feel for Fanny here. To be thrown into all that noise and chaos when no one was even glad you were there would be heartbreaking. She‘s being forced to recognize that she doesn‘t belong anywhere. 3y
KVanRead @Lcsmcat I do feel bad for her but I also feel so frustrated by her. I wish she would show more kindness to her siblings and mother, more understanding but this isn‘t something she was ever taught at Mansfield—only deportment and gentle ladies work. 3y
batsy I feel the same, torn in two whenever it comes to Fanny! The elitism she's learned from her time in MP wrt what she finds off-putting about her parents & their home; but on the flipside, the fact that she doesn't really belong back home or at MP is sad. This is Austen's darkest book, for sure. 3y
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eeclayton I agree with all of the above. She's an immensely complex character! 3y
KVanRead @batsy @eeclayton Agree! She is very complex and while the book is very dark I think that‘s part of its excellence. Jane doesn‘t shy away from examining and judging her society. 3y
rubyslippersreads Fanny seems like such an introvert, I can imagine what torment this house would be to her. I feel sorry for her mother (her father is a pig). But here‘s what I really want to know: what if Mrs. Norris *had* gone home with Fanny and William? Would she have whipped the Prices into shape? 🤣 3y
KVanRead @rubyslippersreads 😂 Good point! I think she would have!! 3y
Lcsmcat @rubyslippersreads Oh, she would have tried, and made them all miserable in the process! 3y
49 likes8 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 7:
🌿Fanny arrives at Portsmouth and is as invisible there as she was at the Park before her glow up.
🌿All the excitement is around William and his ship the Thrush having gone out to harbor.
🌿Sir Thomas‘s plan of making her appreciate the good life seems to be going well.
🌿Side note: it seems odd to me that no one from Mansfield, not even Fanny has any gifts to offer her family- seems very rude to me!

Riveted_Reader_Melissa That‘s a great picture!! 3y
SamAnne 😆😆😳😳 3y
eeclayton That's a great point about the lack of gifts! I'm also heartbroken about Fanny, she seems to belong to neither family now, not to the Bertrams because she's no Miss Bertram, and not to the Prices because she's been away for ten years 😢 3y
KVanRead @eeclayton Yes, very true.🥲 3y
50 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 6:
🌿Sir Thomas can‘t make out why Fanny isn‘t sadder about Crawford being gone and Edmund can‘t believe she doesn‘t miss Mary more—he certainly does.
🌿William visits and Sir T hatches a plan for Fanny to accompany him home for a while hoping it will make her appreciate the good life and eager to get more of it by landing a rich hubby.
🌿Fanny loves the idea of seeing her family plus being in Crawford Free Zone.⤵️

KVanRead That is until Mrs. Norris considers coming along😱 Thankfully she decides she‘s far too needed at MP, read: doesn‘t want to spend her 💰on return coach fare. Her sister Price will just have to wait another 20 years to see her, which I‘m guessing she‘s probably totally fine with.😂 3y
MicrobeMom So annoyed with everyone making decisions for Fanny! A woman can make her mind when to visit her long lost family or who to marry. 🙄 3y
KVanRead @MicrobeMom Right?! I do like how all their schemes keep backfiring tho 😊 3y
54 likes3 comments
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KVanRead
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“Spreckels explained why he chose to place the [Temple of Music] in Golden Gate Park: ‘It already ranks among the finest parks in the world. It is the resort of thousands. It is the playground of the children, the festal garden of youths and maidens, the recreation of the worker, the solitude of the thinker, the parade of wealth and fashion, the object lesson of artists, and in many ways it ministers to the studies of men in science. Here, then,⤵️

KVanRead ...where all gather, it is proper that the music which charms them should be provided with a stately and noble pavilion.‘” (edited) 3y
KVanRead Still an apt description of Golden Gate Park today and it‘s been such a refuge during this looooong year of Covid. 3y
33 likes2 comments
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KVanRead
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“The Hill Found Around the World...much of the rock that was blasted from Telegraph Hill was used for ballast by ships that had emptied their holds...and could not find return cargoes...their captains recycled the ballast as paving and road fill. Which means the streets in Valparaiso and Sydney, New York and Liverpool, are paved with Telegraph Hill graywacke.”

Love knowing this! I know I‘ll be thinking about it whenever I get to travel again.

LeahBergen Cool! 3y
AlaMich After reading your posts, I ordered copies for me and my brother. We grew up in Marin, though we both live in Chicago now. It looks like an amazing book. 3y
KVanRead @AlaMich Oh, that‘s great! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 3y
40 likes1 stack add4 comments
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KVanRead
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Pickpick

I finally finished my February #BookSpin !! And so glad I did. Fantastic tales of places both on and off the beaten path in the city that I love. I thought I knew a lot of local history but now I know even more! And Paul Madonna‘s exquisite drawings truly capture the poetry of the city by the Bay. Loved it!!!

TheAromaofBooks Yay!!! 3y
51 likes1 stack add1 comment
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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Catch-up post VOL 3, CH 4-5

Happy #InternationalWomensDay #Pemberlittens!!
Here‘s to Jane writing about representation and #ownvoices in Persuasion back in 1818!

And these two chapters of Mansfield Park offer a poignant own voices description of what it was like for Jane and her Regency sisters. First being pressed to marry by Edmund with his “kind authority” 🙄 Then the cautionary tales of Mrs Fraser and Lady Stornaway trapped in marriages⤵️

KVanRead no doubt pressed upon them by their families as lucrative and status enriching matches they ought to feel grateful for as Edmund argues Fanny ought to be. 🙄🙄 3y
KVanRead But yay for Jane and Fanny refusing to marry without affection - a bold feminist act for the day. 💪🏽🙌🏽 3y
Lcsmcat That conversation with Mary was really striking, wasn‘t it. And Mary herself so oblivious to the parallels. 3y
KVanRead @Lcsmcat it really was. I get the feeling Jane must have known many such stories in real life, and many probably started out like Maria‘s or even Mary‘s. 3y
45 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
Know My Name: A Memoir | Chanel Miller
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Wanted to share this with #shesaid Littens and anyone who loved this book.

Tuesday March 16, 6-7pm Pacific Time.

This book fits today‘s #DiversifyYourShelf prompt too.

https://sfpl.org/events/2021/03/16/author-chanel-miller-conversation-journalist-...

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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 3, CH 3:
🌿More fun times at Mansplain Park for Fanny when Edmund returns and hops on board Team Henry.😭

Bits Aww 😂 3y
batsy Right?? The fact that Fanny doesn't really have a confidante aside from Edmund, as well :/ 3y
KVanRead @batsy I know, it‘s brutal! 3y
55 likes3 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens Catch-up Post

VOL 3, CH 2: In today‘s installment of Mansplain Park,
🌿Henry mansplains
🌿Sir Thomas mansplains
🌿Mrs. Norris glares
🌿Lady B rejoices, gives all the credit Chapman, offers a pug - seeing in Fanny...herself😱 Run, Fanny, run!!!!

Bookwormjillk Mansplain Park 😂😂 3y
Lcsmcat @Bookwormjillk Perfect!😂😂😂 3y
44 likes2 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

🌿In refusing Crawford, Fanny proves she “can and will decide for herself”. Someone alert the media! How “offensive and disgusting”!! I mean, she‘s obviously deranged and dangerous. Who knows what she‘ll try next? Maybe come at Sir Thomas with that chair she‘s gripping ⤴️
🌿Luckily Sir T knows you don‘t debate with crazy. He orders her a nice fire and gaslights her gently while planning his next move.
🌿Jane is on 🔥here, you can⤵️

KVanRead ...tell this shit‘s personal and her contempt for and barely contained fury at forced ‘marriage without affection‘ is beautiful. Go Jane, go! 3y
KVanRead @jenniferw88 I am now really seeing the Fanny as slave parallel and Sir T as the benevolent master type. 3y
Bookwormjillk I really wanted to keep reading today. 3y
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KVanRead @Bookwormjillk me too!😄 3y
LitStephanie Love all this, especially the bit about Fanny the Obscene coming at Sir Thomas with that chair. 3y
eeclayton @KVanRead How true! The emotional blackmail was too much. 3y
KVanRead @LitStephanie I really want her too!😄 3y
KVanRead @eeclayton Yup, infuriating 🙄 3y
51 likes8 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 13:
🌿Fanny‘s too overwhelmed to speak when she learns that thanks to Henry & the Admiral, William‘s been ‘made‘ (Lieutenant that is, not mobster)
🌿That‘s fine with Henry and he rushes in to propose. Too bad for him not only is she NOT interested, she doesn‘t believe a word of it—that‘s what you get for being the Shrimpboy who cried Wolf!😂

Clare-Dragonfly Shrimpboy who cried wolf 😂😂😂🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 3y
LitStephanie Thanks for specifying leuitenant not mobster. 🤣 3y
KVanRead @Clare-Dragonfly 😝 3y
KVanRead @LitStephanie You‘re welcome 😉😂 3y
57 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 12:
🌿Henry returns from London and stuns Mary with his decision to marry Fanny, then they both marvel at how lucky this makes Fanny, how disappointed and jealous the Bertram sisters, especially Maria, will be, and what a great guy Henry is for elevating poor, neglected (but also hot and biddable) Fanny like this.
🌿Me thinks he‘s got another think coming...

TheBookHippie 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 3y
wanderinglynn 😆😆😆👏🏻 3y
HOTPock3tt 🤣🤣🤣omg this is PERFECT!!! 🙌🏽 3y
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Susanita Brilliant! 🤣🤣 3y
rabbitprincess Bwaaaahahahaha 🤣🤣 3y
51 likes6 comments
blurb
KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens VOL 2, CH 11:
🌿Does anyone else think there may be something really wrong with Lady B? This author speculates it could be hypothyroidism. I‘ve wondered if she may be suffering from a hormonal imbalance, an autoimmune disorder, or maybe depression? I feel like in one of the screen adaptations she takes a lot of laudanum but I might be misremembering.

https://www.austenauthors.net/lady-bertram-mansfield-park-thyroid-hypothyroidism...

inthegreensandblues I had a thought during the last couple chapters wondering whether she is taking laudanum for something (but no idea what the health issue might be). She is just so disengaged, it def seems not simply "lazy." This is an interesting hypothesis. 3y
KVanRead @inthegreensandblues yes, disengaged- that‘s it exactly. Even more so than tired which makes me think it could be depression. 3y
jenniferw88 Considering that I have pan-hypopituaritarism (which includes this disease) Lady B could have it, but I've been on thyroxine since I was 2 and don't know any difference! 😂 3y
KVanRead @jenniferw88 so good there are medicines now that can help! 3y
45 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
Untitled | Unknown
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#BFC21 February was a good month! I exceeded reading & exercise goals and met most others except Daily Dozen and missed my journal once—fell asleep 😴—So annoying because it broke my 2021 streak! But the key to forming habits is not to dwell, just get back on that 🏇🏼so:
MARCH: 📚5+CH50 Bleak House 💪🏽Close rings 28x, 5-6 workouts/wk 🥗DailyDozen 21x, weekly weigh in 🧠🧘🏻‍♀️journal daily, meditation/writing classes 1 + 1x on my own/wk try ⤵️

KVanRead ...breathing exercises from Breath book, 3y
wanderinglynn Way to go! 🙌🏻 And great goals for March! 🍀 3y
28 likes5 comments
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KVanRead
Untitled | Unknown
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I had a pretty okay reading month, but as for #BookspinBingo, not so much.🤷🏻‍♀️ I did read my #DoubleSpin though, Well Read Black Girl, which was great, and I‘m halfway through my #BookSpin,Spirits of San Francisco, so I‘ll be able to take it off #MountTBR soon!

Maybe the luck of the Irish will bring me a March bingo? 😊🍀🌈

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
LeahBergen Have you read A Prayer for Owen Meany before?? Read it! 3y
KVanRead @LeahBergen I have not! It‘s been on my shelf forever and I don‘t know what‘s taking me so long because I love John Irving! 3y
LeahBergen @KVanRead It‘s been years since I‘ve read it but I‘ve always kept it on my shelves. I‘ll reread it one day! 3y
31 likes4 comments
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KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 10
🌿Finally, a ball! All agree Fanny looks lovely. (Pug & Lady B agree it‘s all down to Chapman)
🌿After Edmund asks her for 2 dances (just not the first two cuz those are already taken by his first choice 🙄) Fanny is ALMOST in high spirits for the first time ever!
🌿What with the stress of opening the ball and the dancing and socializing Fanny is worn out and Sir T orders her first to sit and then to bed. At least ⤵️

KVanRead she convinced him to let her get up for William‘s farewell breakfast the next day but he puts a damper on that too by inviting Crawford whom he‘s certain plans to marry Fanny and he may want to show what a persuadable wife she will be.🤢 (edited) 3y
Bits Omg this little pug! 😍🐾 Thank god for Lady B and her boundless generosity, amirite? 😆 3y
KVanRead @bits True that!! 😂🙄😂 3y
HOTPock3tt Lol! 🤣 3y
47 likes4 comments
blurb
KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

Catch-up Post VOL 2, CH 8-9
🌿I loved these two chapters and have gained so much respect for Fanny‘s quiet inner strength, not only in the way she handles the necklace situation but in the way she copes with her feelings of jealousy.
🌿I woke this morning really struggling with my own green-eyed monster after learning my husband‘s Crohn‘s disease did not make the list of conditions eligible for Covid vaccination in California.⤵️

KVanRead I was feeling bitterly disappointed but as I read about Fanny with her “sound intellect and honest heart” determined to “overcome all that was excessive” or selfish I began to zoom out, take stock of all I have to be grateful for and feel my sense of perspective return. This is the power of great fiction and probably the number one reason I love to read.😍 3y
JenlovesJT47 ❤️❤️❤️ 3y
Bits Ugh sorry you had that disappointment today. It's so stressful. I agree, it's pretty awesome when you read the right passage at the right time that helps to process things! 3y
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KVanRead @JenlovesJT47 @Bits Thank you 🙏 3y
vivastory I'm so sorry to hear about your husband, but you're right. Fiction can be the greatest comfort 3y
KVanRead @vivastory 🙏❤️ 3y
sprainedbrain oh, that's a bummer about your husband... hopefully they get to him soon. Yay for Fanny and finding a way through. ❤ 3y
KVanRead @sprainedbrain Yes, I‘m hoping they‘ll expand the list as it‘s very narrow and arbitrary and leaves off lots of people in much more dire straits - immune suppressed from solid organ transplants and cancer are included but no other immune suppressed categories, not even bone marrow transplants- how does that make sense??? But as Fanny reminded me life isn‘t fair and I benefit from so many unfair advantages. So so yes perspective from books and 3y
KVanRead support from great Litsy friends really help 😊❤️ 3y
sprainedbrain @KVanRead That really makes no sense at all... wow. 😒 3y
jenniferw88 ... and I've had a heart transplant and now have Crohn's disease too! 3y
KVanRead @jenniferw88 oh my goodness. Any news on when you‘ll get vaccinated? 3y
jenniferw88 @KVanRead luckily I've had my first AstraZeneca one - I'm in the UK so was actually in the second group for prioritising people. 3y
KVanRead @jenniferw88 That‘s fantastic!! Yay!!! 3y
48 likes14 comments
review
KVanRead
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Pickpick

These essays were all so good with so many powerful insights. Only trouble is my TBR just exploded 🤷🏻‍♀️
#shesaid

Ruthiella That‘s totally the byproduct of a good book about books! 😀 3y
KVanRead @Ruthiella Yup. Totally worth it! 3y
tenar Woah, the hardcover is gorgeous! 3y
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KVanRead It is! But this is actually a photo I found online since I borrowed e and audiobook versions on Libby😊 3y
KVanRead @TheAromaofBooks Forgot to mention this was my February #doublespin 😊 3y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!!! 3y
48 likes6 comments
review
KVanRead
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Pickpick

This was absolutely fascinating!! Love the audiobook format which includes guided breathing exercises at the end.

37 likes1 stack add
blurb
KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens

VOL 2, CH 7:
🌿A lovely time is had by all at the Parsonage despite Mrs. Norris‘s difficulties with the excessively wide table and too many dishes
🌿While coaching Lady B and Fanny at cards, Henry continues to try his sneaky charms on the latter and Sir Thomas takes note
🌿Mary is disappointed Edmund doesn‘t plan to improve his new home to standards befitting her and expects to be taken ‘just as he is‘

Bits Now I'm going to have THIS song stuck in my head, too! 😆🐺😆 3y
KVanRead @Bits Yup. Sorry.☺️🎰😂 3y
46 likes2 comments
blurb
KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#Pemberlittens
VOL 2, CH 6:
🌿Look out Fanny, Shrimpboy Crawford is HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF, and just like this deeply problematic 80s pop song he doesn‘t really think about what sort of lasting impact this might have on you, how it might haunt your ear drums for decades to come (oops, just me nvm)
🌿In better news, brother William has come to visit and delights all ‘cept Mrs. N of course who does her best to stay relevant talking needles and thread

Bits 😂 3y
HOTPock3tt Lmao!! 🤣 3y
40 likes3 comments
blurb
KVanRead
Mansfield Park | Jane Austen
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#PemberLittens

VOL 2, CH 5:
🌿At the midway point of our book the heroine finally takes center stage and...she hates it🤷🏻‍♀️
🌿Shrimpboy Crawford‘s back and thinks nothing of reminiscing on those good times he had flirting with the Bertram sisters until Fanny steps out of her shell and sets him straight 😯
🌿Mary‘s shocked to learn Ed‘s about to take orders and a living she would never “stoop to” (how unfeeling!) and takes it out on the harp.