Welcome to Litsy!

Home sick today. I always forget how being ill wipes you out...and reverts you to a cranky teenager 😂.

I'm really enjoying drawing out the tagged book of short stories. N. K. Jemisin is a queen.

“Who is to say that plutonium is more powerful than, say, rice? One takes away a million lives, the other saves a hundred times as many.”

Finally finished this collection! I should read more short stories because I really enjoyed these!

Great collection. So much imagination. Such varied worlds and ideas. In the awesome foreword, Jemisin talks about using short stories to explore ideas, to see if they will work in longer fiction. The stories that birthed The City We Became and The Broken Earth trilogy are included. It was cool to see what those developed from. My favorite story in the bunch was "Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Under the Still Waters" (just ?).

This is a reread because I read this a couple of years ago but I love N. K. Jemisin books. This time I am listening to the audiobook version of this book so I am sure I will enjoy it 10 times more.

#happyblackfuturemonth ✨

This is out the door and on the way! Should arrive on Monday. @Chelleo #BlitsySwap #BlitsyHistoryMonthSwap

This arrived today! Thank you @riversong153 !!

I still have to wrap and ship my package, but I have everything ready. Hoping to ship this week. @Chelleo #blitsyswap #blitsyhistorymonthswap

Really good!!

Some of y‘all know I left my job managing a bookstore in Texas when my husband got a job with the National Weather Service in Las Vegas. I‘ve been having difficulty finding a new job here and it‘s really got me down. I took a 20 minute drive out to Red Rock Canyon and sat and read for a bit and then went and hiked. It helped clear my mind for sure.

Each of these short stories is super engaging and manages to flesh out a full world, even in a short number of pages. Jemison is brilliant. A great mix of scifi and fantasy. Plus the stories are very much used to illuminate something that's wrong with our current society, but not in a way that beats you over the head. It just makes you feel for the characters and to know that something is wrong. Wonderful collection

I don‘t read many short stories, so I often give them so-so ratings. I fell in love with the cover immediately and I do recommend it if you love sci-fi/fantasy. My favs were:
The City Born Great
L‘Alchimista
Valedictorian
The Evaluators
On the Banks of River Lex
Non-Zero Probabilities

“The City Born Great” is an actual series, so I‘m looking forward to starting it. This was my April #bookspin so I got it on time yay.

I can‘t thank you enough jploves2read. Your beautiful postcard, yummy smelling candles tote bag and I-clips are much appreciated. I‘m also looking forward to reading the books you gifted, especially the tagged. Thank you again ❤️and if I am ever blessed enough to visit your island, you will be the first to know 😊 #BHMS

Godspeed little box of goodies! #BHMS #BlitsySwap #BlitsyHistoryMonth

Ooooh @sweetpealsd thank you! I can‘t wait for opening day!! #BlitsySwap #BHMS

Wow. What a talented storyteller Jemisin is. These stories just seemed to get better and better as the book progressed. Can‘t wait to read more of Jemisin‘s work.

It turns out that I have a lot of black lgbtq authors on the tbr/wishlist - this is just a selection of their books.

#integrateyourshelf @ChasingOm @Emilymdxn

This is out the door and on the way!

@Chelleo #BHMS #blitsy #BlitsyHistoryMonthSwap #BlitsySwap

Lennox and I are enjoying a nice relaxing late afternoon digging into this book of short stories.I‘m really enjoying them thus far. #lennox #catsoflitsy

4.5 stars.

I loved this, and felt like every story was special; I recognised some elements from the author's long fiction works and did not mind at all.

Updated, realistic #20in4 #readathon goal: finish this book for #AuthorAMonth sometime today! (Maybe on the plane if I'm not sleeping 😅) I've been really enjoying it so far. Each story sucks me completely into its own unique world - a great showcase of Jemisin's skill with world building!

⭐⭐ I didn't like most of these stories. Maybe I just don't care for short stories. I don't know. I don't read many.
14hr 12min/20hr

#AuthorAMonth #BookSpinBingo #20in4 @Andrew65 @TheAromaofBooks

Just found this super cool photo challenge for #blackhistorymonth I think I‘m going to give it a try, even though reading over the prompts I have a feeling that a lot of them are going to end up being Octaviano Butler books because I just love her work so, so much! #blackliteracyisrevolutionary

Dearest @Chrissyreadit , I received your package today! Thank you! 🥰

#BHMS #blitsy #BlitsySwap @Chelleo

I thought this was great. She sort of makes the fantasy/scifi genre more modern. But she uses the old stuff for inspiration. There are definitely some Heinlein undertones in a couple of the stories. If you're new to fantasy or scifi or don't read it a lot, I probably wouldn't recommend this, at least not the whole thing.

#AuthorAMonth with @Soubhiville

#BookSpinBingo free space (last one)
@TheAromaofBooks

It is so easy to have principles. Far, far harder to live by them.

I've not done great this month for #authoramonth but there's still time to start... may manage a few short stories before the month is out!

Love my Kindle ❤

This is my next read! I generally read a lot of books that I'm excited about from the get-go and this is no exception. Love N.K.Jemisin.

Uh oh. ??? "Because you first opened this book 2 years ago, it might take you another 30 years." ? #AuthorAMonth

Book 2 #newyearwhodis
With short story collections there always seems to be mediocre stories to slog through between the great ones. This is the exception! I found myself loving almost every story here and wishing I could spend more time in these worlds with these characters.

I am in awe of Jemisin‘s talent and originality! One story after another, all different from those before, all amazing! I now need to read everything she‘s ever written 😍

Thank you for the tag @slategreyskies and @Cupcake12 for the questions #MotivationalMonday

1. Catch up on Litsy love and general stuff, such as this post 😁
2. Salsa verde with healthy Trader Joe‘s tortilla chips
3. Afternoons when I am done with day‘s work or at night before bed. Favorites as I feel relaxed and calm to tackle crazy reads.

I just couldn‘t get into this, and the library e-book hold ran out before I could try to find at least one short story I liked a lot. It‘s probably me— there‘s been a lot of hold requests for this one before and after it was my turn. Attempted for #authoramonth #authoramonth2021

P.S. I kind of like how our trees‘ reflection blends with the cover 😊

Definitely a case of “It‘s me, not you” with this one. The writing is really good, but Sci-Fi/fantasy short stories are just not for me. Reading challenges push us out of our comfort zones.... and this confirms that this is just not my genre....
#pop21 #afrofuturism
#authoramonth

I think this is one of the most gorgeous covers. This is my first Jemison and I loved it. My favorite short stories were the ones that had a dystopian feel like The Valedictorian when AI creatures were the victor and knew how to keep the people down.

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville #Booked21 -scifi by woman @Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage #PopSugar21 - Afrofuturist

1. Fantasy, historical fiction, nonfiction
2. Sometimes, it depends. I like Unique, quotes, pencils, stickers
3.both
4. This is hard, I like so many things, especially if it is meaningful to a time or place.
5. Both #bhms #blitsyhistorymonth

It's sad, isn't it? So many of our leaders are weak, and choose to take power from others rather than build strength in themselves. And then, having laid claim to what they have not earned, they wonder why everything around them spirals into chaos.

Dang!! #authoramonth @Soubhiville

How have I not read her before now?! I love a good collection of short stories and this was a GOOD collection of short stories! She can get a powerful message across in such short works. I love it! #AuthorAMonth #BookspinBingo

#WeeklyForecast @Cinfhen

How Long till Black Future Month #AuthoroftheMonth @Soubhiville

The Starless Sea #NewYearWhoDis @BookishBelle @monalyisha

K (on kindle) #FoodandLit @Texreader

#NKJemisin is truly top of class for addictive sci fi - a genre I don‘t typically gravitate toward. This collex of shorts was super enjoyable.

#AuthoroftheMonth #AuthorAMonth

1. This shifts a bunch as I discover new businesses. My fave of my recent finds is : https://etsy.me/2w8ChYa

2. Nothing super relevant to this swap. (Shot glasses from travels, Jiminy Cricket, etc.) I do really like magnets.

3. Plain coffee beans or grounds.

4. Aaliyah, Lizzo, Etta James, Billie Holiday, Bill Withers, Rihanna, Stevie Wonder.

5. Stacey Abrams. She‘s brilliant and inspiring.

#BHMS @GreenGrl87 @Chelleo

As of midnight tonight we‘re on a national lockdown for 6 weeks. So I rushed to the post office this afternoon with my #blitsy swap package. A few things will come separately in a small envelope (when I get them!) but the bulk of the package is now on its journey! Phew!

This is a wide range of short stories, from fantasy to hard sci-fic...a little something for everyone who loves the genres. I don‘t generally prefer short stories and not a big fan of the genres, but I did enjoy a few of the stories and the introduction where NKJ mentions she uses these stories to develop some of her novels. Her imagination is incredible, looking at the different worlds she created and ⬇️
#AuthorAMonth

I wound up not finishing all of the stories in this audiobook. Some of them weren‘t holding my attention, some I didn‘t care for the narrators. I admit to having a hard time with short stories, they often just don‘t work for me.

I did enjoy two of them: L‘Alchemista and The Narcomancer.

I feel like there is an audience who probably love this, unfortunately it‘s mostly not for me.

#AuthorAMonth

Today begins our month of N K Jemisin! What do you plan to read? I‘m reading the tagged. Do you have any recommendations for first time readers? I adored The City We Became! It was one of my favorites last year and is terrific on audio.

Happy New Year 🎊 and Happy Reading everyone!
#AuthorAMonth

January‘s #bookspinbingo is a combination of swap and gift books, bookclub reads, and audiobooks about to come up from the library. Looking forward to 2021! @TheAromaofBooks

I finally got a new iPad to replace my ancient one that broke over a year ago! Now I can reserve and read ebooks from the library (hate reading from the laptop), which is especially great for authors I don‘t already have in hard copy form for #authoramonth. NK Jemisin is first up for 2021 and this title should be available for me to read in about 6 weeks. Looking forward to it and to 2021!

This looks like a lot but seven of them are shorts in Amazon Prime/Audible.

Total Books Read: 38

audio: 8
eBook: 13
print: 17

library: 8
personal or borrowed from Amazon: 12
review: 18

Around the World: 6
Booker Prize: 2
Crime/mystery: 3
Indigenous reads: 1
Memoir/biography/personal essay: 11
MiddleEast2020: 1
ReadtheWorld21: 1
Scifi/fantasy: 8
Spooktober (horror and dark fantasy, gothic too):6
Tournament of Books Super Rooster: 2

"I am writing the stories that I wish someone had written for me when I was younger." - N.K. Jemisin on the video for her fresh and well deserved MacArthur Fellowship.

This collection shows so much of the range of the mind of the author, and I can't wait to see what she does next.

I have been reading this collecting off and on since July. To see story by story impressions:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2718301791