Welcome to Litsy!

My kindle cover matched this beautiful chair too perfectly. Couldn‘t resist taking a photo. I‘m about halfway through the tagged book; it‘s wild but good so far.

Starting this on a flight tonight. I should be trying to sleep so hopefully it doesn‘t suck me in (I kinda think it will though).

CW: BLOOD. Set in Toronto in a future where structures have collapsed and the white people have fled to the suburbs, with all others into the destitute downtown. A young heroine learns from her grandmother how to overcome the man who dominates the city, both of them using traditional African and Caribbean spiritual practices. More backstory about the racist structures that created the scenario would have been good. #Booked2023 #Afrofuturism

The rich and privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble.
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

#SundayFunday @ozma.of.oz
1. I‘m listening to Brown Girl in the Ring now.
2. Nothing in particular, but I guess because the setting is real world.
3. Mackinac Island, Michigan

This #audiobook is amazing. The narrator is epic. He does the voices and the accents. Which is even more amazing since some of the characters speak in a sort of Caribbean patois. And the novel itself is pretty awesome. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic Toronto. I was really just thoroughly impressed with the whole thing.

Lunch and a book. What are you eating/ reading today?

In case anyone is looking to expand their TBR, or in need of shopping inspiration for the Black History Month exchange hosted by @Chelleo here's an interesting list of Black Women Writers to check out:
https://electricliterature.com/black-women-novelists-you-should-be-reading/

Not my norm, but good. A young girl living in Canada, in the projects, with her baby vodoo healing grandmother. There's a guy by the name of Rudy that deals in the black market of organ trafficking and running drugs that area and uses vodoo in an evil way to control people. When a string of events makes the young girl and Rudy go head to head it becomes good vs evil. Very entertaining with a little life lessons in there and great narration

This was a Canada Reads finalist in 2008. Not sure what prompted me to pick it up now, but I'm glad I did. Compelling and with flashes of great intensity (and one scene I didn't want to be reading while eating lunch 😖). Another good speculative fiction book set in Toronto!

A fitting library haul for #ThatGirl on #TimbitTunes. I didn't plan this, but it worked out well 😁

@silentrequiem WOW!! Thank you so much for the awesome #makerswap gifts! I feel so spoiled 🙈 I love everything 😍 The panda wrapping paper was so cute, too, but I was too excited to take a picture 😅

@LibrarianRyan

If you want a fantasy book based on a European middle-age framework, do not read this book. If you want a wild story based on Afro-Caribbean mysticism with in an “abandoned” post apocalyptic Toronto where evil reaches out to consume and corrupt innocence (I am not sure I have ever hated a villain more)with heroines that are flawed yet beautifully brave, read this book.

Somehow, I always thought BROWN GIRL IN THE RING was about post-apocalyptic arena fighting. It's actually a nearish-future urban fantasy rooted in Caribbean magical traditions. Hopkinson brings her setting (central Toronto after everyone who can afford to flee to the suburbs has done so) to vivid life as she examines the ongoing commodification of Black bodies and the familial connections that shatter or endure under tense conditions.

Looks like some adventuring is in our future! #blackgirlmagic #historicallyaccuratedragons

I‘m still learning African and African diaspora religions, but every time a deity I‘ve learned about pops upIn the book I‘m reading I get excited. #blackgirlmagic #historicallyaccuratedragons

In the second chapter and this book reminds me of Tracy Chapman‘s song Fast Car.

“Won‘t have to drive too far, just cross the border and into the city. You and I can both get jobs, finally see what it means to be living.”

#historicallyaccuratedragons

It took me a little while to get used to the dialect, but once I did, it was an excellent read!

Discovered this Caribbean-Canadian author from a fellow Litten! An afrofuturistic story mixed with West Indian folklore. Set in a decrepit Toronto... It took a while for me to get into the story, but I liked the book overall. Definitely makes me want to research caribbean folklore! I would read more of her work.

#blackhistorymonth

My transportation entertainment during the MLA conference. I loved the mix of dystopian future and Caribbean traditions, from the dialect to the medicine. But I also loved how this was a book about negotiating relationships and trying to figure out who you are in the world.

A mix of urban fantasy, horror, and dystopia. Heavy doses of Afro-Caribbean folklore. I struggled a bit at the beginning with the dialect (a failing that was obviously entirely my own, not Hopkinson's), but soon fell in love with this aspect of her storytelling as it created an even richer experience. So glad I finally got around to to reading this! #readdiversebooks #ownvoices

It's like my family knows me and what I'd want.

Starting this tonight for a project I'm doing on Black women & science fiction! (Though I probably won't get too far before my wrists fall asleep and I drop the book on my face. Having a bad pain day.)

I really enjoyed the originality of the story. So refreshing to read something completely different in dystopian fiction.

had to put this one back on the TBR list. too distracted by deadlines to do it justice. but i will definitely pick it up again.

Hey #Litsy folks. I'm so curious where everyone here is from. Also, I love books that are set in places I've been to, want to go, or where my friends live. If you feel inspired I'd love to hear where you live and about a book set in your town! I live in Toronto ON, Canada. Brown Girl in the Ring was set in Toronto. I'm quite fond of the park that it mostly takes place in. I love the post apocalyptic magical future version of Toronto Nalo creates.

just had the pleasure of doing a podcast interview on food & cooking & writing alongside Nalo Hopkinson. thought it a sign that i ought to finally read this, though i've been a fan since seeing her in-person at a con in 1999!

Part Caribbean fairy tale, part dystopian fiction, 100% fantastic. Nalo Hopkinson creates some truly ass-kicking female protagonists. http://cannonballread.com/2015/09/has-everyone-been-reading-nalo-hopkinson-witho...

My current read for school! It takes place in Toronto so I managed to get a picture of it in front of one of its iconic settings. I'm really enjoyed this so far!