Welcome to Litsy!

“We had no more clothing than goats, and nakedness marked us as captives wherever we went. But our captors were also marked by what they lacked: light in their eyes. Never have I met a person doing terrible things who would meet my own eyes peacefully. To gaze into another person‘s face is to do two things: to recognize their humanity, and to assert your own.”
Book 1, Chapter 3

I tried to read this book last year but hibernated it. Tried again tonight but ended up skimming to the end. Should have bailed but it fulfils lots of prompts! 2 🌟

#Tbrdeckofcards #52Booksin52Weeks #setontwocontinents @Clwojick
#ReadingAfrica2022 #sierraleone @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
#booked2022 #setinacanadianprovince @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

#BeginsWith @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Stunning cover. 💜 I look forward to reading this one next month.

A riveting glance into slavery, the main character captured as a little girl at only 11 years old speaks of her journey and her will to push through her circumstances. She stayed strong and helped many along her way. I highly recommend reading this book I couldn't put it down.

It was extremely slow and far reaching in spots. He used several potential experiences during that time but realistically 1 person couldn't have endured all of these story lines. I loved the first part of this book up until she was sold to the Jewish Lindo. Pretty much everything after that totally lost me because the story was too incredible to be believable.

Snow on the horizon for this weekend to add on top of the two storms we already got this week ❄️ What more Canadian way to start it off than with these classics - Timmies and Lawrence Hill ☕️ 🇨🇦 🍩 I am confident this book will break my bad book cycle!

Beautifully written historical novel about Aminata Diallo, who as a child was kidnapped from her home in Mali by slave traders. I have kind of a thing about male authors writing woman narrators, but Hill does a good job with Aminata's voice. This novel helps make the nonfiction I've been reading more vibrant and real to me.

(First completed book for September #bookspinbingo)

"I seem to have trouble dying."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

I seem to have trouble dying. #firstlinefridays #blackvoices

February Wrap-up 📚

I had a few more books that I wanted to get to this month, but I never expected for these to hit me the way they did. I had to take some time to sit with my feelings after I finished each one, but I‘m still grateful for the experiences I had through each story.

These (with the exception of Pet since I already own it) will definitely be added to my shelf.

My #top10ofthedecade #fictionedition Honourable mentions to Outlander, Wonderstruck, The Gown, Eleanor Oliphant, Crazy Rich Asians, A Place for Us, Indian Horse, Love and Ruin, Mrs. Hemingway, Ready Player One, The Royal We, A Town Like Alice, Gone Girl, Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Jane Eyre.

Powerful book. Must read

This little nugget and a sibling helped me write earlier today. Now they‘re my reading buddy.

Head on, rabbits this young look very much like tiny chinchillas.

I ate pad Thai and drank a delicious Gold Hobgoblin. Now I‘m ready to settle in and read as much of THE BOOK OF NEGROES as I can before I get sleepy. I wanted to finish it today, but I read other stuff at breakfast and lunch so I might end up reading the last few chapters tomorrow.

Then I sat on a hill with THE BOOK OF NEGROES. My original plan to read it in 150-page chunks is officially dead. I‘m on track to finish it tomorrow.

I drank a free coffee while I crept a bit further through THE BOOK OF NEGROES. My plan is to read another 150 pages every time I finish something else.

Thursday night book stack. I dipped into THE BOOK OF NEGROES yesterday evening and to be honest, I‘m not sure Hill‘s syntax and I are gonna get along, but it‘s one of my May Must-Reads and I want to give it a proper go. Fingers crossed I fall so hard for it I can‘t believe I ever had any doubts.

I forgot to share my May Must-Reads! I dug deep into La TBR and chose:

• an historical chunkster I got from the free shelf at Nugget Books way back when
• an itsy bitsy fantasy I meant to read a full year ago and didn‘t
• some SF that‘s also my last unread purchase from the first half of 2018
• kinky erotica I received as an ARC and sat on because sometimes I‘m terrible

Clearing out a few books on my shelf. I plan to get through these at top speed this Month. #unreadshelf #books #movieadaptation #graphicnovels

Never have I met a person doing terrible things who would meet my own eyes peacefully. To gaze into another person‘s face is to do two things: to recognize their humanity, and to assert your own.

Yes...it is!!!

Aminata likes to read, so she could be a Litten. 😀📚♥️♥️♥️

Know who you are and whose you are.

I like learning new words from different cultures while reading.

“If you close your eyes,” Papa said, “you can smell all the way to Timbuktu.”
I remember hearing the word “Timbuktu” as a child.

This is my 3rd time reading this one, and I think rereading is just not for me. I rated it 4 stars the first two times, and 3.5 this time around, but I listened to the audio this time and would give an extra ¼ star for the narrator, so 3.75 this time. Good story; still find the ending unbelievable. I really don‘t think I should reread it again, though – not without a long long time in between, at least.

Day 21 of #adventrecommends

No one has made a post about this brilliant novel in 7 months (or 10 months under a different edition), so here I am recommending it. Based on a true story, The Book of Negroes is about a girl named Aminata Diallo, who is abducted from her West African village at the age of eleven and sold as a slave in the American South. The novel spans over six decades and is truly fantastic.

Men We Reaped
Ellen Foster
Gap Creek
At the Edge of the Orchard
News of the World

“When it comes to understanding others,” I said, “we rarely tax our imaginations.”
#insomniareading

#4NewFavesIn4Days 📚4/4 (#4NewFavsIn4Days)

Thanks for following up #7favesin7days with this great game @Cinfhen 😊So much fun seeing all the faves. Really hard picking only four though. There are so many more!

Yikes! What do you do when 4 library holds come in all at once?? Not to mention the 9 you already have checked out (#TheOverstory, #RussianRoulette, #WhyBuddhism Is True, #TravelsWithCharley, #Brazen, #Citizen, #PackingMy Library, #BlackEatth, and #NaturalCauses.).

Visiting a friend #bookshelftourism 😍

An epic novel about one women's life journey. Begining in Africa where she is kidnapped as a child, it follows her full circle from South Carolina, to New York, Nova Scotia, England, and Sierra Leone. It's an historical fiction book of slavery and the will of a woman who wouldn't be brought down by circumstance. A thourougly compelling read. 100% recommend.

#blackhistorymonth

Black History Month stack! Other than library books I need to finish that are due this month, I plan to read black authors & make my way through this stack. A pretty good mix of poetry, fiction, & a novel based on true events. #blackhistorymonth #stack #readingblackout #poetry #fiction #diversereads #blackauthors #solo #kwamealexander #anuntamedstate #roxanegay #thebookofnegroes #lawrencehill #thesobbingschool #joshuabennett #bone #yrsadaleyward

There are men, women and children walking about the streets without the faintest idea of ournightmares. They cannot know what we endured if we ever find anyone to listen. In telling my story, I remember all those who never made it through the musket balls and the sharks and the nightmares, all those who never touched a quill and an inkpot.

🙌🏼💜🙌🏼💜🙌🏼

#MayBookFlowers Haven't seen these two books posted yet....#eyesoncover and I've only read Sleeping Giants

Enjoying this historical novel/slave narrative by Lawrence Hill. #earthtonecovers #aprilbookshowers