Welcome to Litsy!

1. No Ashes in the Fire (Darnell Moore)
2. Currently reading Arkady Martine; next is probably Becky Chambers
3. Just added James Hannahan's "God Says No" to my TBR

#sundayfunday @ozma.of.oz

Beautiful, powerful, and important.

Post 3/7 No Ashes in the Fire is a survival story of navigating childhood during the height of the AIDS epidemic, searching for intimacy and love as a young gay man, and ultimately finding a calling fighting for justice and liberation in the Black Lives Matter and LGBTQ movements. #pridemonth #diversereads

Support black owned bookstores; you can buy it here: https://www.esowonbookstore.com/book/9781568589404

More to come later today!

Intersectionality is important.

In honor of PRIDE 🏳️‍🌈 Month, I‘m putting together a series of book recommendations highlighting LGBTQIA+ authors of color. I‘m following up this graphic with a post about each book featured here.

I hope you find some new books to add to your summer TBR! (or winter, for my Southern Hemisphere friends 😊)

Post 1/7

#pridemonth #intersectionality #authorsofcolor #diversereads

First read of Pride month is this intersectional memoir!

#noashesinthefire #blacklivesmatter #qpoc #CamdenNJ I really enjoyed this book. I highly recommend this book. The way Darnell tells his story is so beautiful and honest. The work he has done for his community is great. I love how Darnell is fully himself.

Mixed feelings about this memoir of growing up poor, Black, and queer in the late 20th/early 21st century. It's a powerful story and Moore's thoughts on accepting self and others are wisdom earned by valuable experience. Unfortunately for me, the prose style was sometimes a barrier, loaded with ponderous abstractions and awkward phrasing. Maybe it would work better as an audiobook? Anyway, I'm not sure I'm the target audience so take that FWIW.

Smiles were not rare during my childhood.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Such a powerful memoir!

Moore‘s unique story is honest and introspective, at times heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting. Beautifully written and narrated by the author, this audiobook gave me chills and made me cry.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Using this for #mandmchallenge2020 #POCauthor

Having a great book club is the best. When I told my book club that I wanted to start teaching our last book, they all gave me their copies so I could have a class set!

I chose this book because a local library is doing it as its one book. Not exactly what I was expecting as it was more philosophical rather than a narrative. Lots of memorable quotes. Always interesting to read a book that takes place so close to where one lives.

I have the joy of seeing Darnell Moore speak at my former school‘s College Signing Day. “Come, celebrate with me, that every day something has tried to kill me and has failed.”

Love this.

The only perk to the fiancé working opposite shifts from me is that I get the house to myself to have a cup of tea and read my book. The quiet is nice sometimes. ?

An impactful read filled with love and hate, pain and joy, pride and shame, hope and so much despair. I grew up white, straight, above the poverty line, in Canada. I am close to the same age as Darnell. My life and experiences cannot compare to what Darnell and so many like him have had to endure systematically, for generations on end.

A truly eye opening read.

”Bathing correctly was one lesson, but I also learned how tenderness and violence, care and harm, are strange bedfellows”

"But we should not have to concede victory to death when all we really demand is a life free of psychological and material violence. When all we demand is love and love's loving consequences." — Darnell L. Moore

Homophobia is the strong hand that strangles the desires of those too vulnerable to undo gets firm grasp.

Moore's story could not be more different than my own - he grew up impoverished in New Jersey as a black, gay youth. But his struggles to accept both himself and the circumstances he was born into are universal. I truly admire Moore's ability to fully examine his life, both his achievements and the mistakes he regrets. I did struggle a bit with the jumps in time and topic. Overall, an inspirational and informative read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #NetGalley

This memoir is a series of vignettes of the author‘s life as a black, queer boy trying to navigate his life and identity where neither his race or sexual identity are particularly welcome. Although this book didn‘t blow me away, I appreciate it for its honesty of observation; it doesn‘t try to do anything than just be what it is.

This is not a stretch read for me, but I missed it when it came out so I‘m happy to put it on my TBR. 🎉

I loved how Moore framed his personal story in the context of larger social and political forces. He weaves his life in the threads of racial injustice, teen pregnancy, mass incarceration, police brutality, HIV, and more. It‘s a stunning and bold story! Throughout Moore reveals his struggle growing up a queer black male in the 80s and 90s. I think there‘s something for everyone in this book!

Yeah, this is going to slay me. I can‘t even get through the dedication without wanting to highlight an entire passage.

Starting this; it feels like a memoir kind of night.

Highly recommend. After reading this memoir I want to celebrate Moore and his growth as a person and his acceptance of himself for who he truly is, a secually fluid Black activist for equal rights and an advocate for LGBT youth. His story is incredible and is relayed in an amazingly poignant succint way. Emotion brims off the page.

Thanks Netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is my weekend reading! Just finished reading the prologue and I can already tell that this is going to be a necessary read!