Welcome to Litsy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Estebanico, a slave belonging to a Spaniard who joined the ill-fated Narvaez expedition, is believed to be the first African in North America (what is now the southern US and Mexico).

This is the tale of survival and exploration made famous by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, but now imagined through Estebanico's eyes. It is beautifully crafted and full of emotion. Much reflection on one's choices and what it is to be free (or not).

#12Booksof2021 #July

I picked this one up for #foodandlit thinking "well, I'll just give it a try, not too excited" and was immediately entranced. I love unexpected loves, don't you?

@Andrew65

#newin from #botm

I was fully engaged and swept away by this tale of an expedition gone wrong, as told by one of the survivors: a slave named Mustafa. Exploring ideas of truth and story, the folly of ambition, and the callous inhumanity of colonial greed. What is the price of freedom? What is the value of a life? What power is held in the telling of a story? Beautifully written, richly imagined.

#FoodandLit #Morocco @Butterfinger @Texreader

"I know now that these conquerors, like many before them, and no doubt others after, gave speeches not to voice the truth, but to create it."

#FoodandLit #Morocco

This was a good & interesting book. I had a hard time getting into at first & the first couple of pages dragged on. When I got past them the story was very detailed. It was an interesting perspective of the early Spanish explorers that came to America/Mexico. I wish the author had included a map to know what areas she was discussing exactly since she was switching between America & Mexico at the end. Finally one book off my #bookspin board

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Another #LMPBC review I didn't get posted.

This was a delightful and interesting read regarding the history of a navigation to the New World that ended in strife. The main Character through his ingenuity writes his journey and allows us to get a glimpse into a history rewritten by the hand of the enslaved. Deep, meaningful story that should be read by people who think Columbus first discovered America.

#LMPBC

I didn‘t dislike this book, but I liked the idea more than the execution. For me, it started strong, but then some of the story filling in Mustafa‘s past were less interesting and caused the book to drag. Plus, I found it a bit uneven. I was a little underwhelmed by The Other Americans as well, so I wonder if Lalami‘s fiction just isn‘t for me. 🤷🏼‍♀️

A sobering article about the current state of my country's social contract:
lareviewofbooks.org/article/not-in-this-together

@BarbaraBB I didn‘t manage even one day resisting finding out what was in my parcel 😮 so my mum opened it and sent me pictures. Thank you thank you thank you!

These two have been on my tbr so long and I‘m very excited to get to them when I‘m back at my parents‘ house 🥰🥰🥰

After The Other Americans, I wasn't enthusiastic about trying anything else by Laila Lalami, but this one is a literature selection for my daughter's American history curriculum so it ended up on my TBR; I'm very glad it did. The setting is rich and vivid, the characters distinct and realistic, and the story is paradigm-shifting. The ending is a little tied-up-in-a-bow and Lalami is still stuck on turtledoves, but overall I loved this novel.

"And so there came a moment when I stopped struggling, when I decided that I would cease making any more plans to return to the old days. I made up my mind to look upon the present as exactly what it was: it was all I had."

I'm filing this one under "quotes that have greater significance since COVID appeared."

Working on a book from my daughter's literature curriculum while keeping myself available for tech support for my son while he attends his Zoom band rehearsal. Always multi-tasking.

Hi Litsy family! @rsteve388 and I are in the early stages of co-hosting and starting a podcast. We have come up with the names above and would love your input. We are keeping the voting open till May 6th, 11:59 pm PDT. Please add in your choice in the comments. We are super excited about this project. Thank you!

Hey Litsy! @NeedsMoreBooks and I are Co - Hosting a Podcast! We are in the beginning stages of developing what the podcast will look like and one area we are working on is nameing the podcast these are some ideas we have so far:

1.) Reading Network
2.) Book Squad
3.) Reading Hustle
4.) Reading Collab

We would love your input! Please comment here and let us know what name you like! We are very excited to start this podcast.

So I have only read the first 13 pages.. I am so tired today.. but I was hooked from the first page, it's amazing and very well written so far. I can't wait to really get into the story.

This is only the second book of Laila Lalami's that I've read, but she is becoming one of my favourite writers!

An absolutely stunning book. In lyrical, often heartbreaking prose Lalami reimagines the Narváez Expedition & the life of Estebanico, a slave & the first black explorer of America. A fictional account of real events, the depth of Lalami‘s research is evident on every page & so thoroughly does she immerse readers in this world, it‘s likely you too will feel the dirt beneath your toes & the sweat upon your brow. So many thoughts. Excellent.

“The only thing at once more precious and more fragile than a true story is a free life.”

❤️

Is early morning reading while the rest of the family is in bed and the house is quiet, the BEST reading? I‘m about to find out. 💛🧡🌞☕️📖☕️🌞🧡💛

“And, in my moment of greed, I forgot about the cost of my dream to others.”

Gorgeous cover on my next book!

I selected this as my book club‘s latest read, and let‘s just say it wasn‘t a hit. I enjoyed it well enough myself, but the more I‘ve talked about it the less keen I‘ve been.
Based on the story of the four survivors of the Narvaez expedition, this is a first person account from the black man who participated but never told his story. The narrative never really comes alive, though, and the central character feels anachronistic.

#tbrbingo

Got my first bingo when I finished The Moor‘s Account!

#weekendreads
1️⃣ Tagged and The Revolutions by Felix Gilman
2️⃣ Probably Bird Box. The Chalk Man came close though.
3️⃣ The colours and the clothing. Fall is already over in my part of the world unfortunately.

Visiting a friend for a very tiny holiday (ie I took Friday off). Haven‘t had as much time with this book as I‘d like but hopefully can make more progress this weekend.

#bookmail ‼️
Tagged is my selection for my #bookclub, and the other is an all-time favourite that still wasn‘t in my personal collection.

This was my first time ordering from #bookdepository and I‘m pretty pleased.

What is life of a human being worth? That is the overarching question facing the narrator of this historical fiction— a merchant who first sells slaves and then sells himself to feed his family, ultimately ending up on an expedition to the new world. In the new world he is a first hand observer of the colonizers treatment of and eventual defeat by the indigenous peoples. Well written and well worth reading.

#FridayDateNight with a book.

Now on sale for Kindle for 2.99 USD. I still haven‘t read more than 50 pages of this, but so many people have told me it‘s good that I‘m going on that alone. 🥳

#nowreading

Sold some books at McKays today...and picked up these! I would love to hear from folks that have read any of these.

I haven‘t read literary fiction like this in a while. It‘s nice to be back, even though this story is about the horrific cruelty of Spanish colonizers.

I really enjoyed this book but I don't think I gave it the attention it deserved. I shouldn't have taken so long to read it. I shouldn't have read it in short bursts.

One more for the #tbrbingo @WhatDeeReads

@MinDea tagged me for #5forDinner.

I have to go with Mildred Wirt Benson (aka Carolyn Keene), Trevor Noah (want to pick his brain), Laila Lalami (currently reading the tagged book and I want to talk to her about her research), Emilia Pardo Bazan (she's from Galicia and I want to talk to her about my abuelo's birthplace) and Isabel Allende (I'm currently obsessed with Chile.)

I'll tag @peaknit @Avanders @LauraBrook @HannaPolkadots @AlaMich

I was tagged by @emily_m_tubb for #fivestarpredictions

I am not a discerning or critical reader at all and I tend to like everything I read. That being said, very few books have actually taken my heart. I predict these books will be better than most though.

PS- I've already started reading Charley and it might end up stealing my heart.

Tagging @MidnightBookGirl @OrangeMooseReads @rabbitprincess @WhatDeeReads @Dragon

I wasn't that excited about the present narrative where they are tromping around looking for gold but I did really like when he told stories about his parents and his life before he was a slave.
B

I was going to read The Wish Granter next but it turns out that it's a second book in a series. Shadow Queen is the first and I haven't read it so I decided to swap it out for The Moor's Account. I got this one as an extra from Book of the Month Club a few months ago because it sounds interesting.
#BOTM

💛 #diversity

Tuesday mornings are my favourite ❤️

#bookmail makes my heart go pitter -patter. Thank you so much @ArielElise for The Moor's Account! The writing is gorgeous & it has a very satisfactory conclusion. I'll follow your recommendations any day. The bottom four I'm going to read & then put in my #classroomlibrary

"I know now that these conquerors, like many others before them, and no doubt like others after, gave speeches not to voice the truth, but to create it."

For #julymostanticipated I have to go with one of my ebooks. #jubilantjuly @RealLifeReading

Ready for #litsypartyofone -- half checking Litsy, half watching National Speech & Debate Awards & wishing I was there with my students. After that will jump back into The Moor's Account, which I'm finding beautiful but slow reading.

Honestly, I picked this one for the cover. The story sounds exciting, too! Has anyone out there read it?! Thoughts? I bought it on a whim, so have no idea what to expect.

Fascinating historical fictional account of a Spanish exploration group in the 1500s. Told from the perspective of Mustafa, a slave of one of the Spaniards, he is believed to be the first black man in the "New World." Since not much is known about the expedition, much of it was fictionalized, including the interactions with the Native Americans.