Welcome to Litsy!

This book was not written for me, so of course I struggled with it. And I'm totally fine with that. I think for those who need this story, it'll give them a lot. I was a bit lost between the Nigerian ghosts and gods, but also somehow fascinated. It's a unique read for me, but I'm not sure if I would another book by this author.

#queerbc @Puddlejumper

Unpopular opinion it seems, but what the heck did I just read?? The writing was nice but I don‘t know. This was too much for me and I‘m so glad it was so short.

Finally getting to this debut novel from 2018. It was fascinating to view the protagonist from the internal view of the spirits that occupy her body. I had read reviews where people found this bizarre and confronting. I guess my worldview has been widened by my other reading because it didnt seem so strange - very interesting and engaging. Have you read this @Reggie ?

I spent last weekend in NYC! I had a fabulous time visiting The Strand and Book Culture, where I picked up these lovely books! I also visited the NYPL on 5th Ave., and attended the Virginia Woolf exhibit and the Treasures exhibit! Lovely literary trip!

#2022Book77
This book was beautifully written and I can‘t wait to read more by this author. The characters are flawed in ways that make you want to shake them, but also hug them and encourage them to keep fighting. And even though what the main character wanted was usually at odds with the motivations of the ogbanje living inside her, I still wanted all of them to succeed.

I was delighted to encounter the work of Akwaeke Emezi, an Igbo/Tamil writer, for the first time when my dad sent a book token for Christmas during lockdown. I spent hours searching for nonbinary writers to spend the token so that I would have actual physical gifts to open.

#literature

I have to admit this was a struggle for me. This is the third time I have picked the book up. This time I definitely understood it more (and finished it). The writing is complex and lyrical the story deep and surreal. Once I grasped the basis of the story it was an easier read, so unique, creative, and complexly written. I can see why people love it. Vivik Oji is still my favorite Emezi book.

World Of Books #bookhaul
A few older books that have been on my TBR for years. Hoping to get to them soon!

This will easily be one of my favorite books of the year. This book is so beautifully written and wonderfully melancholy.
Ada was born with “one foot on the other side”, hosting gods and goddess inside her body from the day of her birth. After a traumatic event makes the other selves more prone to keeping control of Ada‘s body to help protect her, Ada feels herself fading into the background and losing control of her own mind.
11/10

I actually ended up DNFing this one. I do love the author‘s writing style, it‘s beautiful and impactful, but the ideas in the book were so thoroughly described in Dear Senthuran (the author‘s recent memoir)I just couldn‘t get into Freshwater. I might come back to it, it just didn‘t feel like the right read for me right now.

#LMPBC @magyklyXdelish @collegecatlady @shadowspeak17

This novel was STUNNING. This book made me feel seen as someone with OCD, autism, depression, and gender identity issues. I feel compassion and sisterhood with Ada. Reading this felt like a transformative experience and a spiritual one as well. Easily five stars.

#lmpbc #GroupS @magyklyXdelish @Hazel2019 @shadowspeak17

It's autumn, or fall (whichever suits you best). I was doing pretty well with my #SceptreSummer #TBR, so I made an #AutumnTBR.

Here are the physical books I plan to read. The complete TBR list, including @DuckOfDoom and @Maike's, is on the blog: https://scepticalreading.com/2021/09/sceptre-autumn-reading-program/

#TeaAndBooks #BooksAndTea

I am dealing with some serious health issues very suddenly, so I am a bit behind in my consumption of the #lmpbc picks. I promise I‘m getting a move on @Hazel2019 @magyklyXdelish @shadowspeak17 #groupS

I wish there was an in-between rating, to match this story of a woman who is trapped between the world of flesh and gods. It was my second time reading about obganje, after Blood Honey Pig Bread, which was helpful context. The story was horrifying, the prose was stunning. I‘m not really sure what to walk away with.

I really loved the writing in this book. The way Akwaeke told their story was so beautiful. I really have never read anything like it. Not in content or prose.

This was a great #LMPBC pick ♥️

My goal is to finish this one today. Mr. Frank is my reading buddy this afternoon ♥️

Starting August with an #LMPBC ♥️

This one has been on my TBR for a while so I‘m excited it was one of the picks 🤗

This was a fascinating if sometimes horrifying story. It reads both quickly but also slowly because every other paragraph you have to take in and digest it. All the trigger warnings but it is an amazing take on identity and what it means to be a person, in both beauty and horror.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book isn‘t very long, but it packs quite a punch. I really enjoyed the unique way it was told and the different ways you could think about what was happening. It‘s definitely a book I‘ll be thinking about for a while.

@magyklyXdelish I‘m planning to get this mailed by Monday. I‘ll let you know when it‘s on the way. 😊

#lmpbc #groups #catsoflitsy #Phoenix

I will say that the premise of this novel is brilliant: telling the story of a ‘troubled‘ girl through the perspective of the spirits within her. I say troubled in quotation marks because you can really interpret it any way: mental health, sexual orientation, gender/non-binary. It is dark, troubling and violent. And while I can praise the method and presentation, at one point, it went flat and became one-note. I became numb to it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I can see why so many people say they DNF this book as they had no idea what was going on. Emezi is a talented writer but the style of this book is difficult to enjoy, imo. Especially when her story doesn't come together until you're already 2/3 done with the book! I will say, I thought it was a creative use of Nigerian lore as a lens to examine the painful struggle Ada, a nonbinary adolescent, was forced to endure.

Ughhh this book is not helping my anxieties 😭 #currentlyreading

Now that we're halfway through 2021, I thought 'd share an update on my Stronger Spine 2021 Reading Challenge! Currently working on #3.

This book made my head explode. But like in the best possible way. It's about feeling other. About not feeling like you have control over your own self. And about protecting yourself from life when you just can't deal. At least that's what I experienced. And the author reads her own #audiobook. 💜💜💜💜💜

Back to #audiowalking and I'm officially obsessed with this author who needs to write more books.

#OppositeDay @AlwaysBeenaLoverofBooks @TheKidUpstairs

When I read this, I expected it to be the #same as other books written in this genre, but I was wrong. Everything about this book is wonderfully different and in a class all its own.

Reading challenging (as of now, the writing is sweeping metaphors and similes in the context of an unfamiliar place and unfamiliat cultures - beautiful but definitely challenging) texts is always a bit of a messy affair for me...🤓

My first #smartbrowngirl book club read! 💁🏾‍♀️

The wonderful @readordierachel has not only made my day, but my month ❤️ so excited and looking forward to starting this. Thank you Rachel 😘🙏

Wow. This was unique, hypnotic, harrowing, moving. I wouldn't know where to begin describing it, so I'll just leave it at adjectives. I know this will be echoing in my mind for a while. Just truly stunning.

CW: sexual assault, self-harm, suicide

It was a tough and confusing book, I found it hard to connect with all the “spirits” narrated by author. However, that‘s not the reason I bailed

I bailed because life happened, time froze....and death happened and my world was turned upside down🖤

Ps: I honestly don‘t even know where the book is

Got this on kindle for $1.99 today! Happy that I didn't have to use my whole #pennyperpage budget but now I'm down to $7.87 Thankfully I'm off tomorrow and can hopefully add more to that.

Last read of 2020. TW for sexual violence. I decided to check this out because it kept coming up in lists of queer books by POC, and it was a short audiobook. Well worth reading, and Akwaeke's narration is beautiful, and the imagery, especially of mental health, is incredible.

This book, y'all.

It's the story of a Nigerian girl occupied by multiple spirits, told mostly from the perspective of the spirits. A Western diagnosis would probably call it dissociative identity disorder, but the Igbo mythology is never questioned, and is sort of the point. And can Emezi write! It's fresh and gripping and at this moment my favorite read of 2020.

(TW for relationship violence, self harm)

#24B4Monday
@andrew65 @jb72 @SumisBooks

The first time our mother came for us, we screamed.

#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

Difficult to describe this book. Beautiful magical realistic coming of age tale is the best thing I could think of right now, but the book defies genres. Added bonus the author is the narrator of the audiobook.

Freshwater is like no book I‘ve ever read. From a Western lens, Ada appears to suffer from multiple personality disorder, but Freshwater narrates her experience through traditional Igbo spirituality and the concept of the Ogbanjé, an evil spirit. Psychologically, sexually, and spiritually, Ada transcends definition, and this book is a wonderful reminder of all we don‘t know.

(On #petsandpagesmonday, I highlight an adoptable cat—this is Bagels!)

Freshwater is such a difficult book to describe. As an exploration of a fractured self, it‘s fascinating and heartbreaking and disorienting. The main character barely has a voice, as she is pushed to the side by her inhabiting spirits, or ogbanje. Emezi describes these various selves using Nigerian mythology, and it‘s left up to the reader to decide whether it‘s magical realism or mental illness, or the latter described in mythological terms.⤵️

Oh my goodness! I did not expect a story told by spirits taking over a girl. I was very disappointed. It wasn't interesting, it was just evil!

My county library system is currently doing sidewalk service. They bring your books out in a brown paper bag stapled shut, and there‘s always a little message written on it: “Enjoy!” “Have a great day!” “Happy reading!” It‘s so sweet. Today was my biggest sidewalk service #LibraryHaul yet. The weight of it tore open the bag when I went to carry it in from the car.😬 One is a cookbook and one is for my husband, so only three really count, right?!

Amazing writing. A book unlike anything I‘ve read before. ⚠️ All the trigger warnings (seriously)

A woman born inhabited by spirits with new ones birthed with every trauma. Raw, fierce, heartbreaking.

I‘m reading inside instead of outside in my backyard today to avoid the sun and the heat, but I‘m hoping by this evening it will have cooled enough for me to be outside. I‘ve heard mixed things about this title, but it sounds intriguing so I‘m interested to see how I like it.

#awesomeaugust

I was a little skeptical at first, there was so much hype. And it did take me a bit to get into this... but then I did. It left me wondering if I got it, questioning my understanding of all she was trying to say, would a more spiritual person see this differently. But love it or leave it... any book that leaves me thinking afterwards is well worth the read as far as I‘m concerned.

#booksandbooze

CW: sexual trauma, abusive relationships, self-harm, hospitalization, physical and sexual child abuse, substance abuse.

Freshwater was a hard slice of life novel representing the intricacies of identity and thought and religion, while also intertwining with topics of inner gods and other-selves.

This book picks up and shines brighter in its last half when we are finally able to see Ada vocalize her thoughts on what's happening to her!

The audio is read by the author which I enjoyed. This book is fascinating. Not an easy read but the prose is amazing. Story of someone inhabited with obanje who start vying for control after a violent incident.
Content note: sexual assault, self harm, disordered eating.