📚 I recently finished reading The Warmth Of Other Suns - the story of the Great Migration, the movement of Black Americans out of the South from about 1915 to 1970 - by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson. Telling the story through the eyes of 3 people who experienced that journey made for a moving + enlightening read. 📚

#books #readinglist #thewarmthofothersuns #isabelwilkerson #blackhistorymonth #africanamericanhistory #mybookshelf #reading #PulitzerPrize

📚 My Year in Books 📚

Love that Good Reads can keep track for me 😆

#yearinbooks #books #myyearinbooks #goodreads #mybookshelf #livres #libros #mylibrary

" ... And people saw that every sort of beauty, every sort of love was from the gods, and they became free and bold, and they grew WINGS." 🪽 ---- Mikhail Kuzmin from his novella Wings, 1906

#wings #novella #novel #mikhailkuzmin #quote #beauty #love #onbeauty #onlove #onloveandbeauty #thegods #russianwriter #russianliterature #russianauthor #russiannovelist #fiction #books #book #livres #mybookshelf

Marlene Dietrich & Konstantin Paustovsky

Just finished 'The Story of a Life' by Konstantin Paustovsky (1892-1968), Russian writer nominated 4 times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was of Zaporozhian, Turkish + Polish descent + raised mostly in Ukraine

In her autobiography, Marlene Dietrich devoted an entire chapter to the author inspired by his novel 'Telegram' :
"This novel made so great an impression on me that I could no more forget it than I could the name of the author, of whom I had never heard before"
In 1964, Dietrich arrived in the Soviet Union on a concert tour. As soon as she got off the plane she asked about Paustovsky. Despite being ill, Paustovsky attended the performance + afterwards went up on the stage. “I was so shocked by his presence that, being unable to utter a word in Russian, I did not find any other way to express my admiration for him, except to kneel in front of him"

#konstantinPaustovsky #marlenedietrich #thestoryofalife #autobiography #sovietauthor #sovietwriter #russianwriter #russiannovelist #russianauthor #instabooks #booksofinstagram #mybookshelf #readinglist #mybooks #bookworld #books #ilovebooks #livres #biblio #buch #bücher #книги

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Just finished reading this excellent 1912 novel by James Weldon Johnson - the fictional account of a young biracial man living in the post-Reconstruction era of America. The title of the book is a bit misleading since throughout most of the lead character's story he is exploring his place in society with full acknowledgment of his true racial identity.

Weldon was a writer + civil rights activist - an early leader of the NAACP. He was known during the Harlem Renaissance for his poems + wrote the lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which later became known as the Black National Anthem.

#autobiographyofanexcoloredman #jamesweldonjohnson #writer #author #poet #novel #mybookshelf #myreadinglist #book #books #booklist #bookworld #lifteveryvoiceandsing #harlemrenaissance

📚 2 Books 📚

Finished reading 2 very different books recently by 2 very different authors

Shadows on the Hudson by Nobel Prize winning author Isaac Beshevis Singer, about a circle of Holocaust survivors establishing new lives in America after the trauma of war.

Summer by Pulitzer winning author Edith Wharton (Also nominated for the Nobel Prize 3 times) about a young woman's yearning to escape the constraints of her small town New England life.

I found both of these books fascinating ...

#book #books #booklist #mybookshelf #summer #edithwharton #isaacBeshevisSinger #shadowsonthehudson #authors #writers #livre #livres #bookworld #novels #novel #reading #readinglist

Passing

Just read this 1929 novel by American author Nella Larsen. The story centers on the reunion of two childhood friends + the discovery that one is 'passing' in a mixed race marriage.

Born in Chicago, Larsen was part of the Harlem Renaissance of the 20s + 30s. She wrote 2 novels during this time.

Photographs are by Carl Van Vechten

A film adaption of the novel was made in 2021 by Rebecca Hall.

#passing #nellalarsen #harlem #harlemrenaissance #novel #readinglist #book #books #mybookshelf #reading #livres #buch #bücher #carlvanvechten

📚 Finished two great books this month:

📕 Fathers & Sons (1862) by Ivan Turgenev - explores the generational clash between fathers and their radical sons during a time of great social change in Russia.

📕 The Nine (2021) by Gwen Strauss - follows the escape of 9 women, resistance fighters, out of Nazi Germany

#fathersandsons #ivanturgenev #thenine #gwenstrauss #books #mybookshelf #mybooklist #readinglist #booklist #livres #buch #bücher #libros #resistancefighters #nonfiction #novel #russianliterature #literature

Another Country

Finished reading this 1962 novel by James Baldwin and it has found a place among my favorite titles of all time

#anothercountry #jamesbaldwin #readinglist #books #Booklist #book #mybooklist #mybookshelf #authors #novels #writers #literature #livres #buch #bücher #roman #ecrivain

Another Country

Finished reading this 1962 novel by James Baldwin and it has found a place among my favorite titles of all time - including Midaq Alley by Naguib Mahfouz, A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, The Blood of Others and The Mandarins, both by Simone de Beauvoir and The Children of Violence Series by Doris Lessing ... The thread that I find binds these works is a collection of characters who are fully realized by the authors and are making decisions amid the turmoil of their given times and environment, based on their individual traits, rather than simply as a vehicle for a story the writer wants to tell.
#anothercountry #jamesbaldwin #readinglist #books #Booklist #book #mybooklist #mybookshelf #authors #novels #writers #literature #livres #buch #bücher #roman #ecrivain