@litficandromance.bsky.social
Here to talk about books 📚
Translated fiction mostly
Translated fiction mostly
If you know of a more charismatic and hilarious writer than Natalia Ginzburg let me know cause I don’t think they exist. Just read my first play by her and it doesn’t get more iconic than this. LOVE HER. English title is I married you for fun.
August 28, 2025 at 11:31 AM
If you know of a more charismatic and hilarious writer than Natalia Ginzburg let me know cause I don’t think they exist. Just read my first play by her and it doesn’t get more iconic than this. LOVE HER. English title is I married you for fun.
Listened to my first play ever (yes, the famous one where the term gaslighting stems from) because I saw a TikTok about it (why else?), and it was amazing! Somehow it never occurred to me that I could listen to plays and it would be fun! Anyway, gaslight by Patrick Hamilton was iconic!
August 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Listened to my first play ever (yes, the famous one where the term gaslighting stems from) because I saw a TikTok about it (why else?), and it was amazing! Somehow it never occurred to me that I could listen to plays and it would be fun! Anyway, gaslight by Patrick Hamilton was iconic!
Every time I saw the cover of Hot Milk by Deborah Levy I dismissed it as yet another basic sad girl book. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This hit SO hard I’m unwell. Not only is it 100% what I look for in literature (surreal, hypnotic), it also talks about themes that are hyper personal to me.
August 23, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Every time I saw the cover of Hot Milk by Deborah Levy I dismissed it as yet another basic sad girl book. I couldn’t have been more wrong. This hit SO hard I’m unwell. Not only is it 100% what I look for in literature (surreal, hypnotic), it also talks about themes that are hyper personal to me.
I quite liked One Boat by Jonathan Buckley! It’s very much my type of book, and while I found the writing clunky in parts, there were stretches (the more philosophical ones) that flowed beautifully and got me thinking a lot (I still much prefer East-Asian lit though)
Ah, Justice for Petros’ poem!
Ah, Justice for Petros’ poem!
August 20, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I quite liked One Boat by Jonathan Buckley! It’s very much my type of book, and while I found the writing clunky in parts, there were stretches (the more philosophical ones) that flowed beautifully and got me thinking a lot (I still much prefer East-Asian lit though)
Ah, Justice for Petros’ poem!
Ah, Justice for Petros’ poem!
Finished On the calculation of volume & We’ll prescribe you a cat for WIT month. I didn’t like either. Well, I really disliked On the calculation (I have very high standards for quiet books), We’ll prescribe you… had interesting aspects (concept & magical realism), but I’m burnt out on short stories
August 18, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Finished On the calculation of volume & We’ll prescribe you a cat for WIT month. I didn’t like either. Well, I really disliked On the calculation (I have very high standards for quiet books), We’ll prescribe you… had interesting aspects (concept & magical realism), but I’m burnt out on short stories
Reservoir B*ches didn’t impress me too much tbh. I don’t love collections made of so many very short stories, they all blur into one thing for me. They all had the same tone of voice? The writing was too modern & did we need mentions of FB and IG in every single story? Not for me 😅
August 17, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Reservoir B*ches didn’t impress me too much tbh. I don’t love collections made of so many very short stories, they all blur into one thing for me. They all had the same tone of voice? The writing was too modern & did we need mentions of FB and IG in every single story? Not for me 😅
Ólafsdóttir got me out of my reading slump with yet another masterpiece, and how could she have not? I am THE target audience for her philosophy-only books. This one freaked me out though.
August 16, 2025 at 7:08 PM
Ólafsdóttir got me out of my reading slump with yet another masterpiece, and how could she have not? I am THE target audience for her philosophy-only books. This one freaked me out though.
My 5th read for Women In Translation month was The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun, a very well-written and introspective Korean “thriller”. Not a new favorite, but immersive and worth the read.
August 13, 2025 at 7:58 AM
My 5th read for Women In Translation month was The Hole by Hye-Young Pyun, a very well-written and introspective Korean “thriller”. Not a new favorite, but immersive and worth the read.
I didn’t like this work by De Céspedes, even though it had great potential and started off amazingly. Forbidden Notebook was one my by best books of 2024, so it’s disappointing. But there’s nothing I hate more than a plot twist and a cinematic ending. I’m craving plotless, deeply emotional books 🥺
August 12, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I didn’t like this work by De Céspedes, even though it had great potential and started off amazingly. Forbidden Notebook was one my by best books of 2024, so it’s disappointing. But there’s nothing I hate more than a plot twist and a cinematic ending. I’m craving plotless, deeply emotional books 🥺
Finished my 3rd read for WIT month. Family Lexicon is my least favorite Ginzburg to date. I’m glad I gave it a second chance and the audio was a better format, but I would not recommend to start your Ginzburg journey from here. I appreciated the intent, but didn’t love the execution.
August 10, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Finished my 3rd read for WIT month. Family Lexicon is my least favorite Ginzburg to date. I’m glad I gave it a second chance and the audio was a better format, but I would not recommend to start your Ginzburg journey from here. I appreciated the intent, but didn’t love the execution.
Finished my first book by Jeffrey Eugenides, I thought the writing was exquisite. Loved every second of this audio, it was so immersive. Next up: Family Lexicon by Ginzburg (giving it a second chance via audio as I didn’t love it when I read it physically but refuse to dislike a book by her 😅)
August 8, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Finished my first book by Jeffrey Eugenides, I thought the writing was exquisite. Loved every second of this audio, it was so immersive. Next up: Family Lexicon by Ginzburg (giving it a second chance via audio as I didn’t love it when I read it physically but refuse to dislike a book by her 😅)
Finished my 2nd read for women in translation month, and I agree with the Akutagawa prize committee that Tokyo Sympathy Tower by Rie Qudan is “practically flawless”. 150 pages of philosophy, architecture and linguistics is my definition of perfection.
August 7, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Finished my 2nd read for women in translation month, and I agree with the Akutagawa prize committee that Tokyo Sympathy Tower by Rie Qudan is “practically flawless”. 150 pages of philosophy, architecture and linguistics is my definition of perfection.
This is how I decided to start my Women in Translation month readathon, and it was awesome! 🥹 Up next: Tokyo Sympathy Tower by Rie Qudan!
August 4, 2025 at 8:22 AM
This is how I decided to start my Women in Translation month readathon, and it was awesome! 🥹 Up next: Tokyo Sympathy Tower by Rie Qudan!
Just finished Universality by Natasha Brown, 5/5 for me! It’s not an easy read (the reading experience itself felt quite exhausting), but as someone who usually dislikes contemporary non-translated lit, I was happy to find something refreshing, unique, clever and brainy. Worth every second!
August 3, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Just finished Universality by Natasha Brown, 5/5 for me! It’s not an easy read (the reading experience itself felt quite exhausting), but as someone who usually dislikes contemporary non-translated lit, I was happy to find something refreshing, unique, clever and brainy. Worth every second!
“There is such a thing as a lightness of thoughtfulness, just as we all know that there is a lightness of frivolity. In fact, thoughtful lightness can make frivolity seem dull and heavy”, that’s what I always say (in less intellectual words 😝). 6 memos for the next millennium by Calvino was great!
July 30, 2025 at 5:37 PM
“There is such a thing as a lightness of thoughtfulness, just as we all know that there is a lightness of frivolity. In fact, thoughtful lightness can make frivolity seem dull and heavy”, that’s what I always say (in less intellectual words 😝). 6 memos for the next millennium by Calvino was great!
This took me almost a month to finish, but I’m glad I read it! It was unlike anything I’ve read before. Some parts were really absorbing, others felt exhausting. Will try something else by the author in the future!
July 29, 2025 at 7:05 AM
This took me almost a month to finish, but I’m glad I read it! It was unlike anything I’ve read before. Some parts were really absorbing, others felt exhausting. Will try something else by the author in the future!
Current read & obsession! Didn’t know this was about linguistics 👀
July 22, 2025 at 6:59 AM
Current read & obsession! Didn’t know this was about linguistics 👀
As an Italian expat in Berlin since 2015, I had no intention of reading Perfection by Latronico. I have very little interest for expat lives and cliched Berlin stories, plus Italian contemporary lit tend to be really mid IMO. But Berlin people kept asking me to read it, so I caved. It was fine!
July 21, 2025 at 5:51 PM
As an Italian expat in Berlin since 2015, I had no intention of reading Perfection by Latronico. I have very little interest for expat lives and cliched Berlin stories, plus Italian contemporary lit tend to be really mid IMO. But Berlin people kept asking me to read it, so I caved. It was fine!
Set an alarm at 6 am to finish Anna Karenina before work today! As someone who has been disappointed by most classics, this was a surprisingly incredible read. It wasn’t the plot-driven, drama-filled book I expected, it was more character/philosophy-driven than I thought (that’s why I loved it)!
July 17, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Set an alarm at 6 am to finish Anna Karenina before work today! As someone who has been disappointed by most classics, this was a surprisingly incredible read. It wasn’t the plot-driven, drama-filled book I expected, it was more character/philosophy-driven than I thought (that’s why I loved it)!
Yes I’m biased when it comes to this series, but haters are also biased as they are just not familiar with Japanese lit IMO.
Yes it has technical flaws, but it doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful. It’s creative. It’s endearing. It’s CHARMING and lovely and so Japanese.
It has my heart. 💗
#booksky
Yes it has technical flaws, but it doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful. It’s creative. It’s endearing. It’s CHARMING and lovely and so Japanese.
It has my heart. 💗
#booksky
July 11, 2025 at 7:06 PM
Yes I’m biased when it comes to this series, but haters are also biased as they are just not familiar with Japanese lit IMO.
Yes it has technical flaws, but it doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful. It’s creative. It’s endearing. It’s CHARMING and lovely and so Japanese.
It has my heart. 💗
#booksky
Yes it has technical flaws, but it doesn’t matter. It’s beautiful. It’s creative. It’s endearing. It’s CHARMING and lovely and so Japanese.
It has my heart. 💗
#booksky
What a beautiful queer, body-positive romance! From Brazil! And translated into many languages! It made me cry and was also hilarious. Wonderful, it reminded me of how much I love romance books. Vitor Martins is great! ♥️
#booksky
#booksky
July 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
What a beautiful queer, body-positive romance! From Brazil! And translated into many languages! It made me cry and was also hilarious. Wonderful, it reminded me of how much I love romance books. Vitor Martins is great! ♥️
#booksky
#booksky
Started Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano, v1 was interesting and def unlike anything I’ve read so far, but I’m not invested yet. Does it get drastically better?
#Booksky
#Booksky
July 2, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Started Goodnight Punpun by Inio Asano, v1 was interesting and def unlike anything I’ve read so far, but I’m not invested yet. Does it get drastically better?
#Booksky
#Booksky
The Little Virtues by my love Natalia Ginzburg was a masterpiece, as per usual. She made me laugh and cry and I felt every sentence in my heart. My favorites: he & I, Winter in Abruzzo.
The essays on England may offend some people though lol She sure doesn’t hold back with her opinions! #booksky
The essays on England may offend some people though lol She sure doesn’t hold back with her opinions! #booksky
July 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
The Little Virtues by my love Natalia Ginzburg was a masterpiece, as per usual. She made me laugh and cry and I felt every sentence in my heart. My favorites: he & I, Winter in Abruzzo.
The essays on England may offend some people though lol She sure doesn’t hold back with her opinions! #booksky
The essays on England may offend some people though lol She sure doesn’t hold back with her opinions! #booksky
Ops I picked up another classic super randomly and loved it with all my heart? I still find most classic lit too melodramatic for my taste, but clearly there are exceptions!
#booksky
#booksky
June 27, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Ops I picked up another classic super randomly and loved it with all my heart? I still find most classic lit too melodramatic for my taste, but clearly there are exceptions!
#booksky
#booksky
My TikTok FYP told me to read Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (I got 3 videos in a row on it), and I couldn’t be more surprised that I LOVED it! I’m extremely critical of classics (I tend to find them too melodramatic for my taste), but this was exactly my type of prose! Quiet, immersive! #booksky
June 21, 2025 at 11:26 AM
My TikTok FYP told me to read Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (I got 3 videos in a row on it), and I couldn’t be more surprised that I LOVED it! I’m extremely critical of classics (I tend to find them too melodramatic for my taste), but this was exactly my type of prose! Quiet, immersive! #booksky