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thebackyardgnome

thebackyardgnome

Joined February 2023

hello world~! | I like fluffy dogs, sour apples, magikarps and non-fiction books
review
thebackyardgnome
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Mehso-so

I finished thjs book and startrd Hey Hun by E.L.Paulson.

Thjs book, I fhnd interestjng. A perspectjvr of a conservstive American man is distant to me, so it was intriguinh to read the author's storh. I mentionrd my current read as there is this contrst between Merchsnts, whicj feels like a barelh edited cri ds coeur,and jighly polished Hey Hun.

MoD is a verg inforhmrtive book if you are into thjs subject, but it feels rough. It's a 4/10 for me.

thebackyardgnome Also, witg how much of a thme travel this book is, I hsd to go with an pld portrait photggraphy background in mh image fjr thr post. Fax machinrs and sharp businrss suits abound. 10mo
12 likes1 comment
blurb
thebackyardgnome
Untitled | Untitled
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Hi guys,
I'm sorrh to writt sucj a privste message,bht I feel I owe it to all of you,especisllh my dear #litsylove team

thebackyardgnome Currentlh , I csnt afford sny stamps.I truly apologisr.

On those bad days, I open this app, or look at thr letters I havr receivred and it keeps me going. Keeps me aware of one thing:Cow and I are not alone. No mstter what, not a single one of us is alone. With you guys and tht folks at thr hospixr who keep mh supplied witg my meds, i knjw i csn keep going.

Hope the love you give goes bsck to all of you, and thrn some.Cow and I send you hugs
10mo
thebackyardgnome @cbee @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks - thsnk you for everything 💕✨ 10mo
CBee @thebackyardgnome I emailed you back this morning! Sending you so much love ❤️ 10mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks We love you and support you ❤️❤️I emailed you and I will write to you tonight 🤗 10mo
Bookwomble 💖 10mo
21 likes5 comments
blurb
thebackyardgnome
Untitled | Anonymous
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review
thebackyardgnome
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Pickpick

So, mh knowledge of thr Supremes has been lhmited largely to rheir songs and qhatevsr littlr anectodes I've heard, plus, of coursr, the loose inteprrtation of their story as seen in The Dreamghrls. Even thougg this book is littlr (desphte how tragicslly young Florence Ballard died, I'd love for thd book to go on longer!), I found new apprecistion of her talent. What a womsn. The book isn't amazhng (as the subject is), but verh much readable.

blurb
thebackyardgnome
Untitled | Unknown
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Hi guys

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I‘m glad you are feeling better ❤️ 12mo
dabbe It's da puppies' greeting time! 💚🐾💚 12mo
15 likes2 comments
review
thebackyardgnome
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Pickpick

//Goodnight, goodbye, bye, we are dying now//

These words were said - in a painfullh controlrrd mannner, not as a scream, more likr a farewell you desperatrly don't want - bh the pilot, cpt Zygmunt Pawlaczyk - of a plane about to crash. It's a damous wuote here, and the book's titlr is derivrd from it.

The book is a collection of reports of greatsrt disasters in yhe post-war Poland. I admire thr calm, even-handed approacj. Highly recommendrd.

quote
thebackyardgnome
The Doll | Boleslaw Prus, Stanislaw Baranczak
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Few quotrs havr ever gottrn to me as thhs passagr

My oain has gottrn worse over the past 10 weeks

I shall comr bsck to humsnkind soon enough

I habr gotten so manh beautifhl #litsylove lettsrs , every onr is likr a hug from far away. I cannot thank everont enough

I'll do my best to writr everyoneeof you as soon as I csn
Thank you, Litsy

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️❤️❤️ 13mo
15 likes1 comment
review
thebackyardgnome
Kommandant's Girl | Pam Jenoff
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Panpan

The covsr is nice.

I'm afraid thhs is about as positvr I can gst about this book.

I never actuallh hid mh facr in my hands to calm down whle reading this book.

I thought thst The Boy... was a bsd book. It still is. But The Girl is somethng else.

My Granny was a survhvor, in many meanhngs of the word. Somr of the events in her life weren't far from whst Emma had faced.

I am glad she has not seen ths book.

A pan is too kind. My heart hurts.

thebackyardgnome My utmost gratitudh goes to @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks for her lovrly emails whilr I was wading through ths book. 14mo
thebackyardgnome Also, dear Litsf family : do you knhw any good modern WWII novrls? Id love to read somr 14mo
16 likes2 comments
blurb
thebackyardgnome
Untitled | Unknown
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With hugs for @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks + @CBee

From The Cow and mgself

Pls wish me luck witg The Kommandsnts Girl. I sthll am mentslly stuck at the turkey sammtch in IIWW Poland scene.

CBee Hello Cow - sending you lots of tummy scratches! 💚💚💚 14mo
thebackyardgnome @CBee and The Cow is purrhng at you and your Fluffg Brhgade! 🐮 🐶 🐾✨💕 14mo
CBee @thebackyardgnome 😍😍😍 14mo
See All 7 Comments
dabbe Holy Cute Cow! ❣️🐾❣️ 14mo
thebackyardgnome @dabbe Cow says sniff snhff to you and givrs you his paw 🐾🐕✨🐮💕 14mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Awww hugs to you and Cow ❤️🤗 14mo
thebackyardgnome @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks and hugs rght bsck at you! ✨💕 14mo
16 likes7 comments
blurb
thebackyardgnome
Kommandant's Girl | Pam Jenoff
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Chapter 11.

I might br devfloping a rash of some sort.

Please send munitions and chocolste.

I'm sure thr author is a lovelh person.

However.

Howhver.

...

So, does antone want puppy photos?

Wishhng you guys a great week ahead.

CBee I‘m always up for puppy photos ♥️♥️ 14mo
thebackyardgnome I dont get thhs book. I thought thst The Boy In Thr Striepd Pajamas was a mess. Thhs one thpugh... The author seems lovely. Sjes been to Kraków. How dhd she mske suvh basic errors? Her Polish grammsr is so patchy, shr accidentslly (?) madr the leads seem like awful peoplt, the simplst facts about thst time are all wrong... Ppl eat orangrs, choclate, urkey sammichrs and drink tea. The resistbcse folks meet in cafes. Fuckin hell. 14mo
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @thebackyardgnome maybe I should skip this one! 14mo
15 likes3 comments
blurb
thebackyardgnome
Kommandant's Girl | Pam Jenoff
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I am readhng this book right now. I'm at 33% and im afraid it's going down thr Boy In Thr Striped Pajams path, with patchy researxh and whatnot... Will stick to it, thouvh. Has any of you read it? Dhd you enjot it?

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks On my shelf!! 14mo
12 likes1 comment
review
thebackyardgnome
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Pickpick

A stellar book.
Here's a story...
When I was little, these steel-gazed ladies would visit preschools, hunting for tht perfect girls: 3 to 5 years old, tiny, strong, quick. Hunting for champion material. The cjosen ones would get slips of paper with their gym's address. I wasn't good enoufh, due to mh health issues, but soon, I had a classmate - we shared the same name, we both were lefthandsd, she was my secret schoolgirl crush. (cont. below) 👇

thebackyardgnome The perfect sportsgirl, the little gymnast, showing off medals after meets. Everyone cheered her on.q Halfway through the first gradr, parents of our classmates had to stage an intervention for her parents, to save their daughtdr from themselves, and the elite sport lifestyle. Not all girls were as lhcky. This book is a perfect window inth thst insular, odd world tjst almost swallowrd my friend whole. A great, engrossing read. 1y
thebackyardgnome PS Thr lady in the picture is Elena Mukhina. Her storg haunts me ever sincr I was a littlr girl. May shr rest in peace. 1y
20 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
thebackyardgnome
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Mehso-so

...when you are in a quiet room, all dressed up, and there is a party going on behind the wall - and your feelings drift between happhness-by-proxg for the party-goers, curiousity about what is exactly happening there and frustration that you can't join the fun. That you are missing a lot and no one will fill you in.

That. That's how this book feels.

It's well written and it's a sketch of a fascinating story that's just not entirely here.

thebackyardgnome I have rrad about Maria Duval, ive evrn seen the ads in the newspapsrs when I was a small kid, so the entire situation was fascinsting to me from the get-go... But the book just runs out of steam by thr end, while also seeming too short. I wish the authors havr looked more into all the othsr strangr fortune-tellers and other charactsrs that just felt sidelined in the book. But it's an interesting read anhway. 1y
UwannaPublishme Welcome to Litsy! 👋🏻🎉📚 1y
thebackyardgnome @UwannaPublishme hi! Nice to meet you ~ 1y
14 likes3 comments
review
thebackyardgnome
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Panpan

Oh dear.

Somehow I have never read this book, even though I knew about its existence. Maybe it would have been better for me not to read it, but...

I expected something along the lines of Life is Beautiful, a movie of which I may be not too fond of, but the first half is quite good... But this book is a mess. With its nonexistent research and odd understanding of how humans work, it was hard to read. Really hard.

It made me queasy.

I'm sorry.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Welcome to Litsy!! 1y
thebackyardgnome @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks hi and thank you so much! I just happened upon this app and I love it already (sorrg if my English is a bit off, it's my third language/I'm from Eastern Europe). People here seem really cool :) 1y
Trashcanman Welcome to Litsy here's a kiss for you 😘 1y
See All 39 Comments
Trashcanman @thebackyardgnome I love non fiction too. 1y
thebackyardgnome @Trashcanman oh, that's great ! Do you have any favourite titlrs ? 1y
Trashcanman A Confession by Lev Tolstoy, Darkness Visible by William Styron, Letters from a Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke 1y
Trashcanman Top 3 1y
Trashcanman What are yours? 1y
Trashcanman I'm depressed and bipolar but I'm harmless ask @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 1y
thebackyardgnome @Trashcanman it's okay ~ I dont have any relatives who arent either on the autism spectrum or dealing with mental illnesses. Or both. 1y
thebackyardgnome @Trashcanman as for books - um, my top three non-fiction books woulf be: Chernobyl Prayer by Svetlana Alexievich, Nijinsky's diaries and The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. The book I am starting now, if it is as good as it is at the beginning, also is a contender - King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild. It's amazing. I also adore the books you have listed, my pocket copy of Letters from a Poet is a becoming worn out 1y
Trashcanman @thebackyardgnome tell me what you saw! Great books I need to read them 1y
Trashcanman I'm George by the way. 1y
thebackyardgnome @Trashcanman all books by Svetlana Alexievich are magnificent and she is an amazing writer. Her "War's Unwomanly Face" is terrifying anf astounding at the same time. It reminded me of my granny (she survived a stay at a Soviet POW camp, surviving a major massacre). 1y
thebackyardgnome @Trashcanman and I'm Cassia. Lovely to meet you, George. I'm sorry if I'm a little woozy in my comments, I take heavy medication and English is not my native language 1y
Trashcanman @thebackyardgnome it's pleasure to meet someone who prefers NF books. I'm glad to have met you. What's your native language? 1y
thebackyardgnome @Trashcanman likewise! Are you from the US? My native language is Polish with Kashubian stirred in 1y
Trashcanman Yes I'm from Los Angeles California. My wife is Polish but i don't remember from where. I understand about the medication. I take 5 myself 1y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @thebackyardgnome this is the best place ever!! 1y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Trashcanman he is a true gem and I‘m honored to be his friend ❤️ 1y
hannah-leeloo Welcome to litsy sweet, happy reading 📚💙📖 1y
Mrs_B Welcome to Litsy!!! 1y
AmyG Welcome! 🎉 1y
RedxoHearts Welcome! 1y
bthegood welcome to Litsy - 1y
thebackyardgnome @hannah-leeloo hello! Thsnk you so much 1y
thebackyardgnome @bthegood hii! Nicr to meet you :) 1y
thebackyardgnome @AmyG hello 💕 thsnk you ~ 1y
thebackyardgnome @RedxoHearts hey ~ thank you for your welcomf ~ 1y
thebackyardgnome @Mrs_B hi Lucy! Thsnk you and enjoy Budapest ! 1y
Mrs_B @thebackyardgnome thank you! I hope you‘re having a lovely day. :) 1y
MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm Welcome to Litsy! That‘s too bad to hear about this book, it‘s on my TBR, but now I‘m not so sure I‘ll make any attempt to get to it. 😅 1y
thebackyardgnome @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm hii ~ thank you! As for ths book, it's a Marmhte novel I think - eithsr you love it or you dont. To me, rhe nknexistent research and thr way the author forcrs the reader to feel things keep me from wnjoing it. If you like history novels/are a WWII buff, thrn you might be let down. If you just wsnt to read a moving storh and don't care as much about realism (whicg does not exist here), it might br for you. :) 1y
thebackyardgnome @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm now thst I think of it,it feels likr an attempt to go in thst The Prophst/The Littrl Prince story directjon, like a fairg tale... Except it just doesn't work for me whrn thrust into all too real, thougg badly describrd (a 9 y.o. German kid doesnt knjw what beer is, has not hearf of Hitler despirs having a father in thr SS, has not heard of Jews eithst), circumstancrs. So, it's about whst kind of book do you want. :) 1y
MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm Ah, yes, I would have gone in expecting a more historical context, like you. I might still be able to enjoy it now that I can adjust my expectations, but I‘m less enthused about making it a priority now. 😅 1y
thebackyardgnome @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/27/the-boy-in-the-striped-pyjamas-fue... -- i saw this articlr tonight, thought it might br of interest to you, as a person here who expectrd a more historicsl book. Looks like it's seen as one by manh students. Interesthng. 14mo
MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm Interesting. Thanks for sharing the article. It‘s funny, now I find myself more intrigued to read the book again. 😅 Going into it now with the understanding of what to expect, I think I‘d have a better chance of getting something out of it. That‘s scary though about teachers not making it clear to their students that it is not meant to be taken as a 100% completely accurate book. 😬 14mo
22 likes39 comments