Welcome to Litsy!

The most compelling book I‘ve read in a long time, and it has the most beautiful prose. Love the way Death is brought in as a proper character throughout. I gained a deeper appreciation for the richness of life in Syria pre-conflict, and for the difficulties of the immigrant experience...not to mention the challenges of being gay in an unwelcoming setting.

“If I had to pick, the sweetest of all of our kisses was our very first. I cherish that kiss, for it was the first blossom in a garden of forbidden fruits we planted together. It was the spurt that broke through the soil of our mundane lives and taught all the other flowers how to grow.”

Every once in a while a book comes along that feels so personal, that the authour has laid so much bare, the it's beyond review; that was my experience with this book. This was a beautiful reading experience.

Full review: https://reneereadsbooks.wordpress.com/2018/02/07/book-review-the-clothesline-swi...

The lighting wasn't conducive to photos at the #VWF2017 Uprooted event last night, so this photo of Ramadan is from the Internet. He was wearing an adorable rainbow bow tie yesterday. Ramadan is a gay Syrian refugee and his English is excellent, but he made a slip in pronunciation that elicited giggles from the audience when he described Damascus as a city which has many times over the centuries arisen like a penis (phoenix).

A poetic, elegiac first novel about an elderly gay Syrian man looking back on his life and telling stories while his partner is dying. The timeless, fairy tale feel of the stories he tells particularly reminded me of Helen Oyeyemi. Although dark at times (content includes suicide, mental illness, gay-bashing, sexual assault), the book is ultimately life-affirming as well as healing, for both the author and readers. #QueerBooks #WeNeedDiverseBooks

I started reading this about a month ago and then lost it in my apartment under a stack of other books! (What a bookworm problem eh?). Now I think I have to start over because I forgot what I read! But that's okay since I was only about a chapter in. #QueerBooks

Today I handed in my last assignment for library school!! I am officially a librarian!! My first action as a fully fledged librarian is to emphasize how important it is to read, buy, and promote books by people of colour! On another note, these are officially all the books I currently own that have been sent to me for review. Can i read them all and catch up before I have a librarian job? Only time will tell... #QueerBooks

#Bookmail! Just got this copy of a local Vancouver queer author's debut novel, set in his native Syria. It's "the epic story of two lovers anchored to the memory of a dying Syria." #QueerBooks

This article today reminds me that I want to try this one out – it's available as an e-book with my Scribd subscription.

http://www.cbc.ca/books/2017/07/hiwi-clothesline-swing.html

Full of promise until I started reading. The narrative voice didn't appeal to me, making it a story I had to push my way through. Rather than suffering, I quit and moved on. #bookbail #timebetterspent

I just found out about this May 2017 novel by a former Syrian refugee: a gay spin on the Arab Spring, on finding a new home in Canada.