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In Our Mad and Furious City
In Our Mad and Furious City | Guy Gunaratne
37 posts | 27 read | 43 to read
Guy Gunaratne's blistering debut, IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY, is an unforgettable portrait of 48 hours on a London council estate, and will appeal to readers of NW, THE BRICKS THAT BUILT THE HOUSES or fans of THIS IS ENGLAND or LA HAINE. 'A vivid and affecting account of estate life, both blighted by frustration and elevated by dreams we can all recognise and share' Stephen Kelman, author of PIGEON ENGLISH For Selvon, Ardan and Yusuf, growing up under the towers of Stones Estate, summer means what it does anywhere: football, music, freedom. But now, after the killing of a British soldier, riots are spreading across the city, and nowhere is safe. While the fury swirls around them, Selvon and Ardan remain focused on their own obsessions, girls and grime. Their friend Yusuf is caught up in a different tide, a wave of radicalism surging through his local mosque, threatening to carry his troubled brother, Irfan, with it. Provocative, raw, poetic yet tender, IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY announces the arrival of a major new talent in fiction.
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review
NovelNancyM
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Mehso-so

This story is chaotic by design and yet the author subtly connects seemingly random and disparate people and events. Every city has different experiences depending upon one's situation and this novel showed a completely different side of London. I read this during the protests following the murder of George Floyd and saw many parallels.

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Singout
Bailedbailed

I can't comment honestly on this one, because almost all my books are audio (disabling illness). There are multiple narrators, at least three of whom are young racialized London men...and I can't understand what they're saying! (I'm Canadian.) At least, not unless I'm totally concentrating as I might when reading French. (The Belfast woman no problem.)

Singout An interesting dilemma, as authenticity is something I value, and don't think my needs as as privileged person should automatically be accommodated. 4y
3 likes1 comment
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PaperbackSocial
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A little throwback, Who else has read it?

http://paperbacksocial.com/2019/10/24/in-our-mad-and-furious-city-guy-gunaratne-...

The story was raw, very alive, very of the time and very well paced. Needed even – there‘s nothing else that I‘ve read that captures that specific moment in time in London when there was a public nervousness about extremism and the radicalization of young men.

BarbaraBB I did and I liked it a lot! 4y
Emilymdxn I was a big fan of this one! 4y
PaperbackSocial @BarbaraBB it was very honestly written, I liked that 4y
PaperbackSocial @Emilymdxn I really enjoyed it too! 4y
7 likes4 comments
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MrsMalaprop
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Adding to my overflowing #TBR at the #UWRF 😬. This is Guy reading from his novel that is now a #mustread for me.

BarbaraBB I enjoyed his book a lot! 4y
andrew61 One of my best books of this year's reading. 4y
MrsMalaprop Oh that‘s great to know @BarbaraBB & @andrew61 🙏👏. 4y
Rissreads It does sound good. Stacked 🤣 4y
29 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Minervasbutler
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Pickpick

Electrifying debut novel set in the estates and tower blocks of Neasden where a bewildering mix of ethnicities and religions jostle and sometimes clash. A virtuoso performance in which the varied speech patterns, slang and patois of each character is perfectly rendered. It's not an easy read nor a comfortable one but it shines a light on people middle-class literary culture usually ignores. Great.

TobeyTheScavengerMonk This sounds awesome! 5y
Nute Nice review! Piqued my interest level! 5y
Cathythoughts Great review! Stacked 5y
73 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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erzascarletbookgasm
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Good reviews on Litsy, I hope to get to this soonish. 🤞

Three teenage boys in London got sucked into the tensed and violence of a riot.

#ayupaugust #ipredictariot

squirrelbrain It does look good doesn‘t it? Stacked! 😘 5y
Cinfhen Well done 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻I‘ve stacked and I‘m curious about this book too. 5y
Cathythoughts Great choice 👍🏻. I don‘t know this book. Well picked .... 5y
batsy It's on my TBR as well! Look forward to your thoughts. 5y
69 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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andrew61
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Pickpick

A book that slowly pulls you into the lives of people to the point that the final chapter i found v moving. This is a book that relishes the diversity of city life but doesnt shy away from the conflicts that brings due to intolerance as 3 friends and 2 adults tell their story against a background of the murder of a British soldier on a London Street + subsequent racist backlash echoes 2 other historic stories. I loved this so was sorry to finish.

Nute Great review! This sounds like a story that I would want to know. 5y
youneverarrived I really liked this too 👍 5y
30 likes1 stack add4 comments
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IReadThereforeIBlog
Mehso-so

Guy Gunaratne‘s stylish debut literary novel about life and race on a working class estate (long listed for the 2018 Man Booker Prize) authentically conveys the language of the people who love there and the pressures of fundamentalism and those who use it for their own ends but the story is thin and driven by coincidence, the historical sections are heavy-handed and the friendship between the three boys is superficial at best.

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sophierayton
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Pickpick

This book is fierce! There's a lot of writing about race and religion at the moment, but not an awful lot from the UK perspective (that I'm aware of). This book makes you sit up and pay attention. With multitude narratives and the way it all comes together, it has a similar feel to Tommy Orange's There There. Very impressed.

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Liberty
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IT‘S NEW BOOK DAY! There are...not a lot of books out today. But here are two that came out recently that I have enjoyed! 📚
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Next Tuesday is Christmas, and the first Tuesday of 2019 is New Year‘s Day. But hold on to your butts, because January 8th hits the ground running!🎉🎉🎉
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So basically, you have three weeks to read everything you own before the 2019 books show up to knock the socks off your brain. Good luck. 😝

Soubhiville How long should we hold on to our butts for? The whole time until Jan 8th? That‘s going to make it hard to turn the pages... 😜 5y
SomedayAlmost 3 weeks? Know a nanny in need of holiday break hours? Just kidding... (edited) 5y
Liberty @Soubhiville Don‘t make me pull this thread over. 😝 5y
BookishClaire In Our Mad and Furious City is so good and I‘m a bit sad that it‘s out in the US at a time when basically nobody is paying attention to new books :( 5y
108 likes3 stack adds4 comments
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youneverarrived
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Pickpick

I loved this. The use of multiple voices from different generations was really effective in showing how the same struggles come up time and time again. Every voice was unique and the tension was literally felt through the pages. It‘s gritty and bleak but the writing is at times poetic. #newin2018 #booked2018

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ReadingEnvy
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Pickpick

Multiple viewpoints from a present day London neighborhood, with issues of racism, classism, and rising fundamentalism. And friendship! One of the books long but not shortlisted for the Man Booker.

Samplergal This is one I really want to read. 6y
57 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Emilymdxn
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this book a lot tho I do see why others made the shortlist instead of it. Sometimes I find with books like this with lots of protagonists it‘s hard to care about them all equally, you find yourself looking forward to some people and speeding through others (I call it game of thrones syndrome 😂), the writing was absolutely amazing though and I enjoyed reading it.

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Emilymdxn
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I‘m reading so slowly atm, new job just stealing all my hours and I‘m constantly exhausted. Guess this is what being a grownup is like when you have to spend so long on trains 😟 still ploughing away with this one

Riveted_Reader_Melissa Reading/listening to audiobooks on trains is nice. I hope it settles down for you soon. 6y
ElenaBaer Me too. September as a teacher means zero free time. I‘m on year 22 of teaching and you would think I‘d be all set but there is always something to do. 6y
35 likes2 comments
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Emilymdxn
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My post work reward today 😊😊😊

I‘ve managed to do audiobooks since starting new job but the same is NOT true of physical books. It‘s a pity cause this novel is so good and it deserves better than to be read in tiny bits and pieces and damaged at the bottom of my backpack. I doubt I‘ll make it through the Man Booker list now - I might be a mainly audiobook reader until I get my schedule under control. Never commuted before and it‘s killing me 😬

zsuzsanna_reads Do you at least have a decent train line? We live with the joys of Southern fail! 6y
Emilymdxn @zsuzsanna_reads it‘s thameslink so it could be worse! 6y
40 likes2 comments
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Booksnchill
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Next up on my Man Booker Long List reading - a debut novel following 5 friends in London over two days”. Ok- bracing myself.. Let‘s do this thing!

zsuzsanna_reads Sounds like something I should read! 6y
Booksnchill @zsuzsanna_reads it seems to be getting great reviews! 6y
63 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Emilymdxn
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Kalalalatja How are you liking this so far? 😊 6y
Emilymdxn @Kalalalatja not very far in but loving it so far! 6y
41 likes2 comments
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Redwritinghood
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Pickpick

This is another timely book from the Booker longlist. Centered around a government housing project and three young men. When anti-Muslim protestors threaten their neighborhood, the consequences are severe for one of them. Also interspersed are narratives from two older individuals who have faced similar issues in the past. I admired the way the author was able to make each character‘s voice distinct. Not an optimistic book, but good observations.

SharonGoforth I really, really liked this book. So glad I read it! 6y
79 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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Emilymdxn
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Only a few pages in but this is already something really special. The #manbookerlonglist has so many incredible books this year I have no idea how they‘ll choose the shortlist!

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Emilymdxn
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Next up! If I read fast I think I can get through the last two for #manbooker2018 before the shortlist is announced - just this and Sabrina to go and I own copies of both of them

SharonGoforth I really liked this book! 6y
BarbaraBB You‘ll do it, wow! 6y
33 likes2 comments
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BookwormM
Mehso-so

#2018ManBookerLonglist #unpopularopinion
Book 11
3 ⭐️

I appreciated the message in this book but hated reading it. I

Full review and ratings here soon www.thereadersroom.org

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SharonGoforth
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Friday night reading. Gorgeous prose 💕 #2018manbookerprizelonglist

47 likes3 stack adds
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Twocougs
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Pickpick

In the acknowledgements, the author wrote,”sometimes beauty is found in downright, ugly, painful and most neglected of spaces.” It‘s sums up this beautifully written heartbreaking story. I could hear each characters‘ voices, which made it that much harder. It deserves to be on the Booker Longlist and SHOULD be on the shortlist too. Damn, this book is brilliant! #bookerlonglist @manbookerprize

Cinfhen Great review! 6y
LeahBergen Stacked! 6y
37 likes2 comments
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tstan
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Pickpick

Day-amn! This is on the Booker Longlist, and I think it‘s got a really good shot. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

BarbaraBB I hope and expect it to be at least shortlisted! 6y
tstan I think it‘s timely and will be, unfortunately, relevant for a long time. I think it‘s going to be shortlisted, too. 6y
20 likes2 comments
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mklong
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Pickpick

Yeah, this definitely feels like this year‘s Man Booker winner. At once urgent and timeless, Gunaratne writes of the current rising tensions and nativism but also tells the stories of the parents of the main characters to remind us that we‘ve seen it all before. This is all nothing new, but only a repeating cycle of what has come before. It is bleak, and beautiful, and brilliant. Booker prize 7/13

erzascarletbookgasm You convinced me 👏, stacking! 6y
BarbaraBB Great review. One of my favorites too so far. 6y
mklong @erzascarletbookgasm Yay! Hope you like it! 6y
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mklong @BarbaraBB Thanks! I really loved Warlight and The Mars Room too, but I think this one just edges them. 6y
BarbaraBB Nice, i haven‘t read those yet. Have you read 6y
mklong @BarbaraBB I‘m reading it now and loving it! It may make a run for my personal favorite, but I still think Mad and Furious will take the prize. Is Long Take your favorite? 6y
BarbaraBB Yes. So far it is. But I agree that chances are high for Mad and Furious! 6y
55 likes7 comments
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charl08
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New in the library pile...

Booksnchill Nice- trying to read the long list myself but only 2 books done- this is one of the next ones up- anxious to see what you think! 6y
56 likes1 comment
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BarbaraBB
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Pickpick

#ManBooker2018 book 6

This is a political very relevant book about live in modern London. The Estate consists of some buildings surrounding a square where local youngsters meet. All of them English yet with roots in another country or religion. You can feel the tension in the community building up. Things spin out of control mad and furiously. A plot that could happen in any European city these days. A scary thought. One of my favorites so far.

Kalalalatja Great review! 6y
Simona I agree, it is a very scary thought ... 6y
JennyM Hmm, yes, scary thought indeed! 6y
See All 9 Comments
mrozzz It sounds so good! 6y
mklong Great review! I‘m reading this one now and it feels like the winner. 6y
readordierachel Can't wait to get my hands on this one! 6y
minkyb Sold! 6y
Redheadrambles Yes it‘s so good I agree. I am hoping for a shortlisting 6y
BarbaraBB @Redheadrambles I can‘t imagine it won‘t be - unfortunately I‘m often wrong 🤓 6y
76 likes4 stack adds9 comments
review
Redheadrambles
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Easier for me to photograph this book than write a review somehow. This is a very accomplished debut novel. The voices of disaffected youth are pitch perfect. It explores in interesting ways the tug of radicalisation and violence and not just from one religion. I loved the introduction to Grime and I enjoyed dissecting the South London slang. Another very politically on point book from this years Booker longlist.

ns510reads Great on both counts though! Love the photo AND the review! 🙌🏽😁 6y
Redheadrambles @ns510reads Thanks ! Although I seem to have writers block on my normally easy to write GR review ... maybe I will just paste in this one :) 6y
34 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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mrozzz
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Loving this #BookMail 📚📚📚 Thanks to Book Depository I got the UK version a ways ahead of the US release 🤗

I was just accepted into a year-long workshop taught by Lynn Steger Strong so I wanted to buy her book (top left).

Julie Buntin (author of Marlena) recommended Captive Audience months ago & it was on sale so I finally picked it up.

I can‘t stop talking about how much I liked Ottessa Moshfegh‘s new novel so I gladly snatched up Eileen.

saresmoore Woohoo! 6y
Reviewsbylola I love doing that!! 6y
MicheleinPhilly Good for you! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 6y
See All 11 Comments
SharonGoforth Nice haul!! I‘ve been ordering from Book Depository for the same reason. Got most of the Man Booker longlist titles from there. 6y
emilyhaldi Nice!! 👏🏻 6y
zzz Very cool👍 6y
mrozzz I love it! Shipping takes awhile sometimes but some of the UK copies are more beautiful than the US ones so it‘s worth it! @SharonGoforth have you read any of the Man Booker picks yet? 6y
mrozzz @Reviewsbylola 👌🏻😃 6y
mrozzz @MicheleinPhilly Thank youuuu 💜 6y
SharonGoforth @mrozzz Yes! I‘ve read The Mars Room, Snap, From a Low and Quiet Sea, and Everything Under. I would love to see the last two on the shortlist! 6y
119 likes11 comments
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MeikeReads
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Pickpick

This book will win this year's Booker prize - cutting-edge fiction, fresh, poetic and current. Gunaratne talks about the sources of and connections between hate and fear, and while the story is set in modern-day London, its wisdom expands way beyond the city limits . #manbooker2018 #mbp2018 #finestfiction #indiebuddyreads

Redwritinghood Dying to get my copy. Come on Book Depository! 6y
MeikeReads @Redwritinghood What, it's still not been delivered?! Damn!! 6y
Redwritinghood @MeikeReads lol - Right after I sent this, my husband came in with the mail and 3 books from BD were in there, including this one. Just waiting for The Water Cure now. 6y
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MeikeReads @Redwritinghood Hahaha- I guess our conversation now counts as mail voodoo! :-) 6y
BarbaraBB Wow! Still need to read this one! 6y
MeikeReads @BarbaraBB I hope you'll enjoy it!! :-) 6y
Redheadrambles @MeikeReads A bold assertion! This one is up next for me. 6y
batsy Fabulous review!! I love how this one is bringing out all of the enthusiasm in readers ❤️ (Most of the other longlist books have been inviting tepid reactions 😉) 6y
MeikeReads @batsy I have to say that Mars Room, Long Take and Everything Under are superb as well! :-) 6y
batsy 👍🏽😁 6y
Redheadrambles Yesss halfway and I love it ! I think it‘s moving to top of my league table 6y
MeikeReads @Redheadrambles Yaaaaaaaaay!!!!! 6y
22 likes1 stack add12 comments
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Simona
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Pickpick

Author perfectly captures the growing hostility towards the immigrants and the consequences of this intolerances-in the way youngsters thinks, how they are searching for the way out, how they lives in this situation into which they are forced. Youngsters born in the country where they are living, and who are still relegated to the edge of the society because of their roots, skin color, religion... and not belonging neither here nor there. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

BarbaraBB Intriguing review. I am looking forward to this one as well! 6y
Simona @barbarabb Many Littens intend to read this book, so I tried not to spoil it ... it is a very, very strong pick, but I gave it just 3 ⭐️ because I have one big problem with it, but I can‘t discuss about this, yet. 6y
See All 8 Comments
BarbaraBB Let‘s talk about this later then. I have a copy on its way from BookDepository! 6y
BarbaraBB I finished it and am very interested in your problem with it! 6y
Simona @BarbaraBB This is the subject of a personal taste, however - I despise such ends like it is in this story, where the dead character gets its own voice, with only one purpose - to connect all the threads ... last two (or three) Yusuf‘s chapters should be different. I call ends like this - lazy conclusion. 6y
BarbaraBB I see what you mean. It is a bit lazy indeed but it didn‘t really bother me. I can see that it does though! 6y
76 likes1 stack add8 comments
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ScorpioBookDreams
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My sister bought me this signed book as she thought I might enjoy it! 😍

batsy Fab cover! 6y
LeahBergen It sounds good! 6y
74 likes2 comments
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BookishClaire
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In episode 17, we hear from @guygunaratne about the impetus for his brilliant and acclaimed novel IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY, what he‘s learned about storytelling from Grime music and from his work as a documentary maker, and more.
https://britlitblog.com/2018/05/17/brit-lit-podcast-episode-17-uncomfortable-emp...

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MallenNC
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The cover of this book reminds me of #ChasingPavements even though I doubt the storyline fits the song. I just got this and I can't stop looking at the cover, which is so striking. #AdelesMayMashup @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @vkois88

vkois88 It definitely is an eye catcher! 6y
26 likes1 comment
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BookishClaire
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First British ARC of the Brit Lit Podcast era! Very exciting.