Author Archives: Thistle

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About Thistle

Queer, neurospicy, chronically longwinded oversharer. 40s; they/them. ✍️📷🐈📚🥾🇩🇪🏳️‍🌈😇💖🐍

Mary, by Vladimir Nabokov

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Thistle

Ganin is a Russian ex-pat living in Germany in a boarding house with a bunch of other Russian ex-pats and exiles. One of his neighbors is particularly chatty and intrusive, which bothers Ganin until the man shows him a picture … Continue reading →

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The Woman Who Fell from the Sky, by Jennifer Steil

Posted on February 11, 2011 by Thistle

In the mid-2000s, Jennifer Steil agreed to teach a three-week course on proper journalism in Yemen. At the end of her time there, she was offered a year-long contract managing the newspaper, and after a few weeks of reflection back … Continue reading →

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North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Thistle

When Margaret Hale’s father decides to leave the Church of England (he’s a preacher), the family is uprooted and moved to the industrial north, where Margaret gets involved in industrial-era politics. This book is both a romance and a political … Continue reading →

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Radio Shangri-La, by Lisa Napoli

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Thistle

Lisa Napoli traveled to Bhutan, a small country sandwiched between India and China, after hearing it was “the happiest kingdom on earth.” She was given the opportunity to go without the daily $200 tourist tariff as long as she helped … Continue reading →

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Readathon: Chocolat, by Joanne Harris

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Thistle

Vianne and her daughter Anouk move to a little town in France and open a chocolate shop, which offends the priest in town because she does this right at the start of the Lent season. The two lock into a … Continue reading →

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Readathon: By the Time You Read This, I’ll be Dead, by Julie Anne Peters

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Thistle

Daelyn is tired of being bullied and hurt, and has decided to commit suicide. In twenty-three days, she will make another attempt, and this time, she won’t fail again. In the meantime, she starts to say goodbye to everything around … Continue reading →

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Readathon: No Exit, by Jean-Paul Sartre

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Thistle

In this play, three people who have died and gone to Hell are placed together in a single room with no way out. They don’t know why they’ve been placed there, or why they’ve been put together. They slowly come … Continue reading →

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Readathon: Chopin and George Sand in Majorca, by Bartolome Ferra

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Thistle

In the 1830s, Chopin and George Sand spent a winter in Majorca for Sand’s son’s health. Neither liked it very much. This is one account of their time there. When I originally got this book from a library book sale, … Continue reading →

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Protected: Readathon: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck (audio)

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Thistle

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

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Lady’s Maid, by Margaret Forster (audio)

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Thistle

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was attended to for many years by a maid named Elizabeth (Lily) Wilson. This is a (very) fictional narrative of Wilson’s life. I originally wrote up a very long review for this book. I decided to delete … Continue reading →

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