#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

(1) Read, walk, enjoy the colours 🍂
(2) hopeful
(3) Just Kids by Patti Smith

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author ☺️
Would you like to play @Dilara @sherrisilvera @Sparklemn ?

I've finally finished Vanity Fair!

It was a bit wordy at times, but overall a great book with fantastic character studies and a fitting ending.

As usual, thanks for the daily posts @BarkingMadRead and all the comments and insights #pemberlittens #hashtagbrigade I loved reading this with all of you 💕

In spite of the somewhat generic plot (lawyer returns to the small town she grew up in to investigate, is haunted by her past), the book started out very promising. It was easy to read and the mystery kept me going. The second half, however, was a bit disappointing, with a messy and rather underwhelming ending. It wasn't bad overall, but I don't expect it to be very memorable.

It's official: I've given up on Catch-22 and returned it to the library.
Thanks for hosting the buddy read @TheAromaofBooks . Even though I bailed on it, at least it's off the TBR now! 😁

#Two4Tuesday for last week, but it's a busy time so I'm only posting now. Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView 💕

(1) I started several books in August but only finished one, A farkas gyomrában (In the Belly of the Wolf). I wouldn't call it a favourite, but it had been on my TBR forever so I'm glad it's off the list now.

(2) It was thought provoking. Although it was preachy at some points, it did a decent job of exploring different viewpoints.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

(1) Nope.
(2) Rebecca (tagged)

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author ☺️

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

(1) September 1 for students, but the first meeting for teachers at my school is on August 21st

(2) Tagged; plus Villette (by Charlotte Brontë), which I didn't exactly enjoy, but it was fun to read it with my fellow #PemberLittens

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author ☺️
Would you like to play @willaful @RamsFan1963 @hannah-leeloo ?

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

(1) Mary Jane (tagged)
(2) It had been on my TBR for a while but some recent posts by Littens made me actually pick it up.

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author ☺️

Would you like to play @RosePressedPages @AmandaBlaze ?

#WondrousWednesday on a Friday, I've had a busy week 🙃

(1) The Feminine Mystique
(2) About 4 months (War and Peace), if we don't count the books that I tried to pick up several times and ended up bailing on
(3) 18 years (and counting) in teaching

Thanks for the tag @Eggs 💕

#Two4Tuesday

(1) Making mango ice cream from frozen mango, using the AC when it's too unbearable

(2) Julia Cameron started me on my journey of letting go of my perfectionalism

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView @The_Penniless_Author and sorry about posting so late, I've had a busy week.

What a delightful book!
It had been on my TBR for a long time, so thank you @ItsAnotherJen and @fredthemoose for your recent posts, which made me actually pick the book up! 😊🤘

Part of the joys of going through a blind bargain box of books is trying new genres and authors. So I'm glad I tried this one, but this soap opera style storytelling with all the repetitions, bloated descriptions and family drama is not my cup of tea.

#pemberlittens #hashtagbrigade

Nice read, but why are we robbed of the Rome chapters?

Thanks for hosting @BarkingMadRead 💕

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

(1) Home-made lemonade, also cold brew coffee. I actually drink cold brew all year round, but this is the season when it tastes the best.
(2) Outside, if the weather permits. I have a balcony and I love reading there, surrounded by my potted plants.

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author 😊

This is supposed to be a true story of a road trip. It's also marketed (at least where I live) as a prequel to Rocket Boys/ October Sky. It didn't take long for me to realize, however, that neither of the above is true.
First, it has nothing to do with Rocket Boys apart from the fact that the two main characters happen to be the author's parents. Second, the author did not only record the tall tales his parents had told him, but most probably...⬇️

This exceptional woman would deserve a much better book than this. Of course, the story itself is interesting, but the author can hardly take credit for Madame Curie's life choices. The novel is somehow lifeless and devoid of emotional depth, even when the characters go through traumatic events.
I don't regret that I read the book, but those who are seriously interested in the life and work of Marie Curie should look elsewhere.

Sometimes you come across a story at precisely the best time, and that is what happened to me here. I loved everything about this book, from the way the characters treated their plants and gardens like true companions to the story of the family riddled with secrets.
Also #coverlove 😍

It's great that all these women are finally given voices, their stories are finally told, their experiences are finally put into focus.
Calliope's chapters felt a bit didactic, a bit overexplaining to me, but I enjoyed everything else. Each voice was distinct and authentic. Penelope's letters and her sarcasm especially grew on me.

#pemberlittens #hashtagbrigade
Starting this one today 😊

#pemberlittens #hashtagbrigade
A sequel to all six published Austen novels, Old Friends and New Fancies manages to star, revisit or at least mention most of the characters we know and love from the Austen books. The first chapters were quite confusing for me, it wasn't easy to follow who was who and how people knew one another. The connections were quite clever, but that's all I can say on the positive side. ⬇️

I loved Beartown (and also Anxious People) so I was looking forward to the sequel, but I am disappointed. It's a good story with a lot of value in both the plot and the characters; however, the way the author had chosen to tell it just didn't work for me. Each chapter started with some quotable life wisdom, then something happened to confirm it, then the wise words were repeated. Every single chapter. The format had its power in the beginning...⬇️

My sister and I bought two blind bargain boxes in the Alexandra Publishing House sale, one for her and one for me. Then we negotiated and exchanged some books, and here's the pile I walked away with.
These are all new-to-me authors (I didn't know that Krysten Ritter wrote a novel) so I'm really excited to dive in! #bookhaul

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

(1) Yes, my sister used to have a writer friend and I got a signed book of his once. Unfortunately, the book didn't turn out to be my cup of tea.
(2) No, not accidentally.
(3) Austenland maybe? But only for a few days, then I'd come back to post on Litsy, of course 😁

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author 😊

#Two4Tuesday

(1) Somewhere in a forest, where I could go on nice walks in the mornings and then read all afternoon 😊
(2) My husband. We really could use some quiet time together!

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView ☺️
Would you like to play @The_Penniless_Author @Enchanted_Bibliophile ?

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

(1) Quiet by Susan Cain. When I read it, it was the first time I felt normal about being "quiet", and I wish I could have experienced that earlier.
(2) There isn't one that sticks out, but the last one I gifted was The Age of Innocence.
(3) Nick Hornby is my absolute favourite but I'm not sure I'd like to meet him. I'd have no idea what to say, except for "I love your books" ?

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author ?

Another enjoyable book in the series. I especially liked the parts where Uhtred was talking to the priest about the poem.

#Two4Tuesday again, a day late 🤦‍♀️

(1) Tagged. Haven't quite finished it yet, but almost.
(2) The Essex Serpent bored me, so I DNFed it.

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView @The_Penniless_Author ☺️

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

(1) I'm visiting my parents.
(2) I wish I could post my responses on time 😂

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author ☺️

When cleaning the bathroom seems more appealing than picking up the book, you know it's time to move on.

#wondrouswednesday @Eggs

(1) Colchester
(2) Not really.
(3) Jurassic Park comes to mind, if that counts.

Thanks for the tag @The_Penniless_Author 🙂

I ended up enjoying this little book way more than I had expected after the first few chapters. At first the whole story seemed to be going nowhere, but the characters slowly grew on me, and I started to appreciate Gaskell's observations about ladies' lives in a small community.
The daily discussions with the #pemberlittens and of course @BarkingMadRead 's hashtags also enhanced the enjoyment factor for me, so thank you all!

Although the book is about science, it's not too scientific, with quite a few cases of anecdotal evidence, hunches and personal interpretations. Still, I loved reading it. Alda is very down to earth and never pretends to be an expert of the field. He tells stories about stuff he's curious about, his enthusiasm clearly shows, and it definitely pulled me in. It's a bit repetitive at times, but a great read nonetheless.

The agony of small talk, misunderstanding, and scripts we repeat over and over again, even though we all know they make no sense, are in the focal point of this little volume. There is lots of dry humour in these stories, I found them bittersweet and very relatable.

I fell in love with Duff when I read his first book, and now I fell in love with him all over again. The man is super cool but also very down to earth, honest and authentic.
That said, I enjoyed "It's so easy" a lot more. It's a tighter book with a strong theme, whereas this one is a mixed bag.

Find my full review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1555873424

The title is somewhat misleading, at least to me it suggested that it would be about Genghis Khan's wives, but actually it's more about the women around him, a wife, daughters, daughters-in-law, a slave.
These women weren't all queens by title, but they were definitely queens by their strength and attitude. I enjoyed reading their stories and finding out about what happened in their lives when men went to conquer.

I'm glad I re-read this. On second reading, I noticed Anne's social commentary much more, and as a teacher, I also picked up on her observations on parenting and what a nightmare governessing might have been.
Thanks for hosting @BarkingMadRead and thanks for the #pemberlittens #hashtagbrigade for all the posts and comments. I love reading with you all ❤️

I first heard of Chris Voss and this book in Alan Alda's podcast.
In the book, he draws on his experience as a hostage negotiator to explain how and why his techniques and strategies work, and offers some examples of how these techniques can help in more ordinary situations. I appreciated his take on active listening & the reminder that "the adversary is the situation and that the person you appear to be in conflict with is actually your partner".

#unpopularopinion What a disappointment. The beginning was promising, but then it was just boring. Both Achilles and Patroclus felt flat for me, and I didn't get why it was supposed to be an earth shattering romance when all it seemed to be based on was how hot and perfect Achilles was.
I don't understand the hype.

I didn't exactly like Middlemarch but I did appreciate the author's observations about life in a small town, people's expectations and especially marriages. In many books, the plot ends with a marriage, and we consider that a happy ending, but we don't get to see what happens after the wedding. It was interesting here to look at some of the ways marriages may fall apart or at least prove to be very different from what the husband and wife expected

I didn't like this book and I didn't dislike it. It was interesting but not necessarily enjoyable to read about how the hierarchy of a ship's society worked, and the second narrative complementing the first was compelling. All in all, however, I wasn't too invested in the story, and I don't think I'll continue with the trilogy.

Finally, Uhtred can focus on what he really wants, Bebbanburg.
This is the tenth book in the series, but it's still exciting. I appreciated how subtly Cornwell made Uhtred's age felt. He's not as young as he once was, and while he can still outsmart pretty much everyone around, he's not always in the forefront of the events, and he lets his son do some of the more difficult actions.
I can't wait to find out what happens to him next.

Hannah, a girl in her late 20s, is completely clueless about what to do with her life. She's just moved back to her home town after a failed relationship in New York. She's about to rekindle an old flame, when she finds herself at a crossroads, and the two possible decisions would result in very different paths for her. The book explores both paths in alternating chapters. ⬇️

This one left me broken hearted. I took my time with it, the third book in the trilogy, partly because I didn't want it to end, and partly because it wasn't an easy read with all the loss and despair the characters had to go through, and all the stupidity and manipulation the country had to experience as World War I was approaching.
This story will definitely stay with me.

#manicmonday #letterZ

📖 Zenga zének
✍️ Lajos Zilahy
🎞️ Zodiac 📺 Zorro
🎤 Zeals
🎵 Zitti e Buoni by Måneskin

Thank you so much for hosting @CBee ! It's been so much fun both to think about my answers and to see what everyone else has posted. Thanks for giving us something to look forward to each Monday ❤️

#manicmonday #letterY @CBee

📖 You
✍️ I've got Jane Yolen on my TBR
🎞️ You Again 📺 You Rang M'Lord
🎤 The Yardbirds
🎵 You Could Be Mine by Guns N' Roses

This is a nice overview of why it's beneficial to become a minimalist, how to go about decluttering your home and your life and then keep both uncluttered. There's nothing groundbreaking in this short book, but there are some clever tips about how to get rid of stuff. I also liked the chapter on gifts.
That said, I'm not sure I learned anything that's particularly useful in my situation right now.

📖 Xanadu
✍️ I've got nothing
🎞️ X-Men
🎤 I've got nothing
🎵 I've got nothing

#manicmonday #letterX #notmybestletter 😂 @CBee

A murder mystery in an exotic setting was just the kind of book that I needed right after having finished The Feminine Mystique.
At first, I had a hard time following the different strands because there were so many characters, and it wasn't easy to keep up with who was who exactly. Later on, when the murder finally happened, the pacing got quicker, and the twists held my interest. It didn't take away from the enjoyment factor that... ⬇️

I'm glad I read this book. It was a long one, some parts were a bit outdated, some were a little weird (the comparisons to the Holocaust, for example), but many were very interesting and valuable. I loved Friedan's critique of Freud.
Also, though the situation was very different in Hungary in the 1960s, the book is eerily relevant in my country today, with the current government's family policy.

#manicmonday #letterW @CBee

📖 West with the Night
✍️ Dan Wells
🎞️ When Harry Met Sally 📺 The Wire
🎤 Walking Papers
🎵 Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N' Roses