Welcome to Litsy!

Well I am very very pleased with my book club choice. (Not a modest statement). Thank you to the Dulwich bookshop who made me aware of this book. Amazing book. Not an easy read perhaps? I would say push through the first 50 pages. The writing is beautiful, very creative blending narrative, legends, metaphors. Looking forward to discussing it with my book club.

I‘m reading through the penguin orange collection this year and this was my January pick. It was beyond beautiful, so poetic and so moving and I feel so much gratitude that the author shared so much cultural wisdom and perspective. It was dreamy and it was written with so much compassion. I really loved it and I also really don‘t think I was smart enough to take much of it in on first read!!! Had to sparknotes lots. Excited to revisit

#TarotTakeover

I kind of love that The Hierophant is our card for the the known, as many of us have been sharing and discussing our various practices and beliefs.

I chose Ceremony, an extremely powerful, somewhat trippy book that features (among many other things) Native American history, traditions, and beliefs.

Hmm hmm hmmm. Whewww!!! Man Alive! The power. The pain. The amazing land. The anger. Just one more thing that I didn't realize till reading - American government desecrated the land stolen from the Indigenous people for nuclear testing. Knew facts separately; but now I see the whole picture clearly. What a great book!!! Thank you @jmofo Thank you so much!!! @sprainedbrain @arubabookwoman

1 I have so many challenges. I love using several prompts, across the challenges, for one book.

2 I have to steal @Amiable I want to be calm.

3 It has a nonlinear timeline that throws me off at times.

#ThoughtfulThursday @MoonWitch94

@sprainedbrain @GypsyKat

Just realized I never posted a review of this incredible book, read back in JULY for our reunion round of an old LMPBC 20th century classics group.

Not an easy read at all, but very much worth the effort. Tayo is a Native American WWII vet with PTSD struggling to deal back home. Gorgeous writing, heartbreaking but ultimately healing story.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

(Photo taken from Google because obviously I mailed the book on without taking a damn picture.🙄)

On Friday‘s, Mr. S and I have a movie/pizza night 🎥🍿🍕 But, before we get started this evening, I‘ve been cosied up with my current read (tagged above), and a pot of (late) afternoon tea. Today‘s steep features, ‘Bears Like Marmalade‘ by the lovely tea company, Bird and Blend Tea Co. It is the most fragrant tea 🍊, and I was delighted when it poured out in a beautiful pinkish tint. Happy Friday!

It only took 5 months to finish my February #Bookspin pick 🤦🏻‍♀️. Definitely a case of “it‘s not you, it‘s me.” I have loved everything Silko writes. This book just took a little more focus that I obviously didn‘t have. I still highly recommend reading Tayo‘s story - the search for self, culture, tradition.

I‘m late in posting…finished this for a reunion of a previous postal book club. I‘ve had this book for years but shied from reading it because I thought it might be a war book as it‘s about a veteran. There‘s much more to it and I am so glad to experience this amazing author‘s prose finally. So many of the themes are things I love thinking about. Also bonus points for challenging me re: one of my storytelling bugbears.

#CuriousCovers
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

This is my entry for #bird
Well, kind of!

Okay how gorgeous are these Penguin special editions? I'm obsessed

This article lists some really great books, including this month‘s BookSpin pick (tagged).

https://www.oprahmag.com/entertainment/g34483103/native-american-authors/?fbclid...

I don't have any authors that are auto-buy or auto-reserve. But there are a handful for which I have read four or more books: Paula Gunn Allen, James Baldwin, Louise Erdrich, N.K. Jemisin, Toni Morrison, Leslie Marmon Silko, Alice Walker
@ChasingOm #integrateyourshelf

Even though this took me three attempts, I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys creative / non-standard narrative styles (think Wittgenstein's Mistress, Portrait of the Artist). This is a classic of Native American literature and widely cited as foundational to understanding more recent works in that area. Trigger warning for war violence, PTSD, and alcoholism.

Anyone else on here read Ceremony? Im on my third try, I'm halfway through now (furthest I've made it before was 80%). It's wonderful but sooooooo hard to read - slipstream narration, multiple pov characters who sometimes aren't identified, narrative switches back and forth between about five different times. Anyone here finish it and have any words of sustanence? I'd really like to finish it this time.

Here are my #top6reads of this year so far! I stuck to fiction as there was no way I could have been as selective if non fiction was involved. It‘s been a very strange year, I‘ve done a lot of reading but I can‘t believe we‘re halfway through now. 2020 has definitely lasted at least ten years so far but I also have no idea how it‘s July!

Breathtaking novel. It‘s about the trauma of the Second World War, and about the issues faced by a Native American man with PTSD returning from the war, but I loved how universal the story of someone trying to find the correct ceremony to heal themself and the land he‘s traumatised in was. The poetry and legend that mixed in with Tayo‘s story was amazing, I can‘t believe I hadn‘t read this book before.

I really like the Penguin Orange Collection, I wish they would release more books in it.

This is a beautifully written story of Tayo, a Laguna Indian of mixed race & his struggles with PTSD following returning home from WWII. Tayo journeys to find his way back to himself & his culture. The prose is absolutely beautiful & vivid.
P. 24 “...only humans resisted what they saw outside themselves”
P. 143 “He wanted to walk until he recognized himself again.”
P.204 “...love had outdistanced death.”

To fully appreciate Ceremony definitely takes some focus, but you‘ll be glad you did. Many stories weaves together to ultimately form the story of Tayo, a biracial Native American, coming to peace with himself after being a prisoner of war. Beautiful Native American imagery, style and flow are constants throughout the novel. Every time I‘ve read this book I discover 100 things I didn‘t notice in past readings. Love it!

It felt like an oolong tea kind of morning this gloomy and chilly Saturday. I‘ve lived in this city for 9 years now and am still amazed by how much the weather can change in a few days. Thursday was sizzling hot and reached 29C. Yesterday was a little less hot, topping out at 24C and today we are expecting a high of 17C then we are back to 29C weather next week. It‘s a good day for drinking tea and reading books. How‘s the weather where you are?

In an attempt to read more of my own books, I brought this beauty with me to tennis class today and it will do great for the #indigenouswriter prompt for #booked2019

Tayo, a Native American man, comes back from the war with PTSD and tries to find a path to healing.

It‘s a short book, but it feels like a long read. I had to listen to the audiobook while reading the ebook to stay focused. I would recommend it for the beautiful writing style and the glimpse into Native American culture. However, it was not a book I would have picked if it was not for school, and it was not quite a book for me.

This novel is short but it moves quite slowly. We are let into the thoughts and memories of the main character, Tayo, a biracial Native American veteran has been left mentally traumatised by the World War. The novel‘s main theme is, perhaps appropriately for a novel, storytelling and I think Silko does a brilliant job of showing how the native stories are being replaced by those of broken people.

Perfect day to read multiple books. Beginning with Ceremony! Forecasted for another 2-4” today!

Orange you loving these?
🍊 🐧

So cool to be surprised by this single important illustration in a trade paperback. Wonder how hard they had to fight the beancounters to include it.

Finished. Or beginning.

My kinda Saturday...

Second read for #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth

#riotgrams #nativeandigenousreads

I posted some of my favorite books by native authors yesterday. Today here are three by native and indigenous authors that are on my TBR!!!

#orangebooks 🎃
#31bookpics

It felt like I was on this journey with Tayo. Silko is a beautiful storyteller.

🌿🌱🍃

This book is about a culture‘s stories and the need to change and grow without forgetting those stories. Tayo is so full of empathy his losses and those of others and that he perceives he played a role in tears him up. The trauma of WWII and the challenges of being mixed race in a white world and his Native World is very revealing. Glad to have read this.

The more I think about this #audiobook (narrated by Pete Bradbury), the greater my admiration. Circular, postmodern style; incorporates traditional Laguna Pueblo stories with the tale of a WWII vet returning home with PTSD. Vivid Southwest setting and the characters seem real (even the mythical ones!). The ending is especially strong: a parallel healing for individual and larger society. #Indigenous #OwnVoices

Then they grow away from the earth
then they grow away from the sun
then they grow away from the plants and the animals.

They see no life.
When they look
they see only objects.
The world is a dead thing for them
the trees and the rivers are not alive.
the mountains and stones are not alive.
The deer and bear are objects.
They see no life.

They fear.
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear.
They fear themselves.

I will tell you something about stories […] They aren't just entertainment. Don't be fooled. They are all we have, you see, all we have to fight off illness and death.
#Indigenous #ownvoices

It was a light yellow snake covered with bright copper spots, like the wild flowers pulled loose and travelling.

(Internet photo)

Being alive was all right then: he had not breathed like that for a long time.

I don‘t know what to say about this book. It‘s like nothing I‘ve ever read before. A majority of the novel isn‘t told in a linear timeline and that worked for me. Tayo returns to New Mexico after a stay in a veteran‘s hospital to deal with PTSD after WWII. He seeks the help of a medicine man when conventional medicine can‘t heal his anguish. The novel is like a poem, a love letter to nature, a way to make it through pain. Read it.

I survived my first semester of grad school! I want to read as much as I can before the semester starts on the 8th! I started Ceremony a few days ago. It seems like a book that needs to be read slowly because the writing is beautiful. First thing tomorrow I‘ll be opening my Secret Santa package!! I‘ve been staring at my box thinking, “Soon my friend!”🎅🏻🎁

#tell #quotsy #quotsynov17

Thanks for tagging @erzascarletbookgasm, here are five of my #fivestarpredictions. I am convinced they will be wonderful which is probably why I've put them off for so long? Who knows how my brain works 😐

Tagging anyone who's interested and @Leftcoastzen @sisilia @EvieBee84 @LauraBrook @redheadrambles if you're in the mood ☺️ (pick 5 books in your TBR that you think are going to be 5-star reads)

Wow. This is probably one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read. It's difficult and painful, but also vivid and lyrical. Silko is an amazing storyteller. I also really enjoyed the Preface which explained part of how the book came to be. #litsyatoz #readharder2017

"That was the responsibility that went with being human, old Ku'oosh said, the story behind each word must be told so there could be no mistake in the meaning of what had been said; and this demanded great patience and love." #litsyatoz #readharder2017 #readharder

#JubilantJuly #MinimalisticCover

I really need to finally read this book. It has been in my TBR for a few years now.
I know this is a very intrispective book and l'm a bit intimidated

My experience with books by indigenous authors is woefully lacking, something I really need to rectify. This book, about a Native American man suffering from PTSD after WWII, was recommended to me awhile back and seems like it might be a good place to start.

#indigenousauthors #junebookbugs
@RealLifeReading

#JuneBookBugs #IndigenousAuthors
#NativeBooks

Haven't read it yet. I know it will be very similar to Momaday, it will be very spiritual, and l'm kind of intimidated. But l will come to it 😊