Welcome to Litsy!

As seen in @bookculture -- any thoughts on this one?
I'm TRYING to be more conservative in my hauls from both the bookstore and the library and would love to hear thoughts from you Littens.
I like the premise! (Might not make it through the week without buying!) 😏

Exceptionally good debut novel about a group of people working in various ways to help refugees in Egypt find new homes in the West -- and who sometimes make dangerous and flawed decisions (depending on your point of view) These characters are multidimensional and every one feels like a real person with motivations and back story completely their own. Complex, but not complicated -- I enjoyed and appreciated this read.

#TBRtemptation post 2! #PhillyMeetUp edition! Just released. Cairo, 2011. Dalia, a strong-willed Iraqi refugee is trapped in Egypt when her petition to join her husband in America is denied. Her attorney, Charlie, hatches a not-so legal plan. Aos is their translator by day and a Tahrir Square protestor at night. Hana is the disenchanted Iraqi-American resettlement officer assigned to Dalia's case. Will they all unify? #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Live from Cairo is about grey areas: morality conflicts with the law; refugees live in limbo while their right to resettle is assessed; locals' love of homeland abuts hatred for the regime.

Egypt‘s 2011 revolution is the backdrop & the constant threat of brutality informs everything that happens. The sense of urgency does not let up.

Some characters weren't fully realised and much is unresolved at the end, but it's a gripping, affecting read.

This book appealed to me as I lived in Egypt from 2008 to 2015 however it wasn't what I was expecting at all. It could have been set anywhere, cairo didn't feel like cairo to me in the book. I couldn't relate to the characters, I felt the author explained crumbs on a seat belt better than he pulled me into the character lives. Perhaps my disappointment is because I was there in this time and for me the book didn't do it justice.

Very good book, very well written. It's a book about immigration. We discover the bureaucracy, the difficulties faced by refugees.

Today I received this advanced reading copy, and this wonderful totebag from Scribner! I won them on Instagram ;) I just LOVE #bookmail