Marcia (allthesedarnbooks) rejoins the throng for 2021!!!
Talk 75 Books Challenge for 2021
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1allthesedarnbooks
Hi, I'm Marcia! I was here for several years back in the day but fell off for a while... I think the last year I tried to participate was maybe 2013 or 2014. I used to be quite active and had a lot of wonderful friends in the group and loved being here!
Anyway, my long-distance-online-taking-it-super-slow-ambiguously-semi-boyfriend-shaped-person (pandemic times gonna pandemic) was talking about how he wanted to be more deliberate, positive, and proactive in his reading choices this year, which made me think about this group, and the other groups/challenges on LibraryThing, that I used to participate in, and how it led me to finding new, interesting and diverse books that I never would have otherwise read.
2020 was a really disappointing year for me reading-wise (I didn't even finish the 75 challenge when I usually do it twice over) and I wouldn't have even gotten to 50 if it weren't for my discovery of the blessing of audiobooks.
I want 2021 to be so much in a lot of ways and reading is one of the ones that I can (hopefully) control, although I do find it hard to read when I am stressed or not feeling well. Hence the audiobooks.
About me: um, let's see, I'm single, never married, mid-30s, no kids, currently living with my widowed senior mother... currently not working except for the occasional freelance thing here and there (silly virus ruins everything) but have worked on and off in politics and organizing for the last 8 years or so. Kind of burned out on this, plus the traveling/long hours is too much for my body (I am disabled and chronically ill) and am hoping to be able to afford to go back to school this year, fingers crossed.
Anywho. I didn't keep track of my 2020 reads on here but you can see them over on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/20384803
I will keep a running list of what I'm reading and the books that I have finished so far at the top here.
Completed books:
1. The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family by Aaron Shulman
2. The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
3. A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
4. The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
Right now, I am currently listening to The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone and The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. I am reading The Masochist by Katja Perat by and The Water Room by Christopher Fowler.
Can't wait to participate in the group again and see what y'all are reading!
Anyway, my long-distance-online-taking-it-super-slow-ambiguously-semi-boyfriend-shaped-person (pandemic times gonna pandemic) was talking about how he wanted to be more deliberate, positive, and proactive in his reading choices this year, which made me think about this group, and the other groups/challenges on LibraryThing, that I used to participate in, and how it led me to finding new, interesting and diverse books that I never would have otherwise read.
2020 was a really disappointing year for me reading-wise (I didn't even finish the 75 challenge when I usually do it twice over) and I wouldn't have even gotten to 50 if it weren't for my discovery of the blessing of audiobooks.
I want 2021 to be so much in a lot of ways and reading is one of the ones that I can (hopefully) control, although I do find it hard to read when I am stressed or not feeling well. Hence the audiobooks.
About me: um, let's see, I'm single, never married, mid-30s, no kids, currently living with my widowed senior mother... currently not working except for the occasional freelance thing here and there (silly virus ruins everything) but have worked on and off in politics and organizing for the last 8 years or so. Kind of burned out on this, plus the traveling/long hours is too much for my body (I am disabled and chronically ill) and am hoping to be able to afford to go back to school this year, fingers crossed.
Anywho. I didn't keep track of my 2020 reads on here but you can see them over on Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/20384803
I will keep a running list of what I'm reading and the books that I have finished so far at the top here.
Completed books:
1. The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family by Aaron Shulman
2. The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
3. A Killing Frost by Seanan McGuire
4. The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
Right now, I am currently listening to The Mistresses of Cliveden by Natalie Livingstone and The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi. I am reading The Masochist by Katja Perat by and The Water Room by Christopher Fowler.
Can't wait to participate in the group again and see what y'all are reading!
2LibraryLover23
Marcia! It's nice to see you back again. :) I remember following along with your reading back in the day. Happy New Year!
3allthesedarnbooks
>2 LibraryLover23: Thank you! Happy New Year to you as well and happy to be back! :)
4karenmarie
Happy New Year, and star dropped, Marcia! So glad you're created a thread and I look forward to seeing you around the threads this year.
5FAMeulstee
Happy reading in 2021, Marcia!
7thornton37814
Welcome back and have a great year of reading!
8PaulCranswick
And keep up with my friends here, Marcia. Have a great 2021.
and wishing you the best of new years in 2021!12allthesedarnbooks
Thank you Karen, Anita, Jim, Lori, Paul, Roni, and Beth! I'm so excited to be back and participating in this group. :)
I finished my first book of the year:
1. The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family by Aaron Shulman (format: audiobook // narrator: Tim Andrés Pablon)
Genre: narrative history/biography
Four and a half stars.
This was an excellent book to start 2021 with... (okay I was listening to it for the last few weeks of 2020 as well, but hey, if that's cheating, I don't care.)
A fascinating history of Spain in the 20th century (and touching on the beginning of the 21st) as seen through the the life of one very interesting and very literary family. I admit I didn't know very much about modern Spanish history or the Spanish Civil War going in, other than the bare bones, and what I had read was very filtered through a specific American or British lens: ie. usually through the lens of Hemingway or his ilk and the Spanish Civil War as a "prelude"/build up to War World II rather than a conflict in its own right.
This book is still written by an American, obviously, but it does have some quotes from Spanish poets and soldiers, as well as history. It focuses on Leopoldo Panero, who starts out as a republican during the Civil War and then switches sides and becomes kind of a state poet for the Franco administration, his wife, Felicidad, and their three three sons, Juan Luis, Leopold Maria, and Michi, who are all authors in their own rights. After Leopoldo Sr.'s death the family participates in a Grey Gardens style documentary and that lends the theme of the nature of memory and how we construct our own narrative history to the book.
It made me want to read more about the Spanish Civil War, the Paneros, and also to read more Spanish literature. If anybody has anybody recommendations, let me know.
Recommended.
I finished my first book of the year:
1. The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family by Aaron Shulman (format: audiobook // narrator: Tim Andrés Pablon)
Genre: narrative history/biography
Four and a half stars.
This was an excellent book to start 2021 with... (okay I was listening to it for the last few weeks of 2020 as well, but hey, if that's cheating, I don't care.)
A fascinating history of Spain in the 20th century (and touching on the beginning of the 21st) as seen through the the life of one very interesting and very literary family. I admit I didn't know very much about modern Spanish history or the Spanish Civil War going in, other than the bare bones, and what I had read was very filtered through a specific American or British lens: ie. usually through the lens of Hemingway or his ilk and the Spanish Civil War as a "prelude"/build up to War World II rather than a conflict in its own right.
This book is still written by an American, obviously, but it does have some quotes from Spanish poets and soldiers, as well as history. It focuses on Leopoldo Panero, who starts out as a republican during the Civil War and then switches sides and becomes kind of a state poet for the Franco administration, his wife, Felicidad, and their three three sons, Juan Luis, Leopold Maria, and Michi, who are all authors in their own rights. After Leopoldo Sr.'s death the family participates in a Grey Gardens style documentary and that lends the theme of the nature of memory and how we construct our own narrative history to the book.
It made me want to read more about the Spanish Civil War, the Paneros, and also to read more Spanish literature. If anybody has anybody recommendations, let me know.
Recommended.
13Berly
Welcome back to LT!! Hope you find a happy home here this year. Congrats on finishing you first book. : )
14allthesedarnbooks
>13 Berly: Thanks! I am happy to be back! I have finished a few more, now I just need to update my thread. :)
16PaulCranswick
Hope that you are doing fine, Marcia and that you'll remain enthused with the group. It really is good to see you back.
17m.belljackson
>12 allthesedarnbooks: Defending the Rock by Nicholas Rankin has a lot covering Spain's wavering.
If you check LT reviews, mine is the only one!
If you check LT reviews, mine is the only one!
18Whisper1
Marcia...It is so good to see your posts again! All good wishes for a healthy and happy 2021.
20PaulCranswick
Hope all is well Marcia.
