Welcome to Litsy!

Weekly #libraryhaul seems to happen every Friday. This one features 4 titles in danger of being weeded. So I adopted them.

One of the most harrowing books I‘ve ever read. The word “unflinching” is in all the blurbs but this is truly a book that does not look away, not for one second. I read it as quickly as I could to just get through it. I‘m glad I read it and I‘m amazed at Gay‘s ability to write this story, but this was tough. Don‘t go into this lightly.

Bailing on my #doublespin book of February

I knew it was time after days of picking it up reading a sentence and putting it down, today I picked it up and an actual groan left my body.

I love Roxane Gay and maybe this just isn't my time for this book but all of the sexual violence isn't sitting well and is making this a chore to read.
@TheAromaofBooks

📚 Unlikely Animals and the tagged book
🖋 Leon Uris
📺 Upstairs, Downstairs
🎤 UB40
🎶 Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers, Us & Them - Pink Floyd, Unsteady - X Ambassadors, Uninvited - Alanis Morrisette, Under Pressure - Queen

#ManicMonday

An excellent book, but so painful it was almost impossible to read. A woman is kidnapped and abused terribly while being held for ransom, which was bad enough, but the psychologically agonising, incredibly slow journey to partial recovery she makes after being reunited with her husband was almost more difficult. A brilliant book but I couldn‘t honestly recommend it, it hurt way too much to read and my heart was always in my throat

I'm posting one book per day from the ever growing unread stacks in my personal library. No description or explanation, just books I own and plan to read. #tbr

Day 53 (kindle edition)

#3books #thatgavemeabookhagover

My August #bookspin list this month is all women authors! I am very excited to finally get a chance to read some of these. The list is featured with the Dill Pickle Chip Dip I made tonight 😂 Pinterest has some of the best ideas!

@TheSpineView #two4tuesday
1. An Untamed State is my most recommended as it reached out and grabbed me. An excellent surprise in the most frightening way.
2. I want everyone‘s recommendation. Some to know what to read and some to know what to avoid. (There are books out there for every kind of reader.)

Hugs @KarenUK for the trigger. I‘m not as free with my stars as some of you are, so I found my absolute top 6 for the year so far.
#top6reads

I know it‘s Wednesday. I‘m off on my days a lot lately so I‘m going to pretend it‘s Tuesday still.

1. I don‘t think the tagged book is my favorite overall, but it was a 5 star read for me. I still think about it. I wish that Gay would write more fiction.

2. I loved Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones. Also his short collection, After The People Lights Have Gone Out, is really good.

What an astonishing book, distressing in it's portrayal of the rape, torture and humiliation of a woman kidnapped in Haiti but the humanity of her partial recovery, especially her relationship with her mother in law had me in pieces. This was a tough read reflecting on the impact men have on women, but compelling so whilst at times hard to contemplate i could not put it down. This bk will be a 5* rd and i will be thinking about it for a long time

#7days7books. Books that impacted me and some that never let me go. Day 2

I‘m having to read this book in stages, interspersing with other books, because it deals with such difficult material. It‘s beautiful and well-written but parts are so hard to stomach. Even so, it‘s very compelling and Roxane Gay never disappoints!

I've read plenty of books that include scenes of rape or torture, but this is the first that is primarily about the effects that rape and torture have on body, mind, and relationships. Gay's prose gives a glimpse into the sizable gap between familiarity with traumatic events and the experience of a survivor. There are no easy answers or cop outs: the novel faces the reality of sexual violence, its roots, and all the ugly societal implications.

An unflinching, fictional account of a woman‘s kidnapping for ransom in her home country of Haiti (informed by the author‘s own gang rape, which took place [on American soil] when she was 12 years old).

This is a horrible, well-written book, made all the more horrible in that it‘s also a love story. Gay writes of Haiti as a country with “startling contrasts — so much beauty, so much brutality.” This could also describe the country of her writing.

Ugh. Deckled edges. 👎🏻

I don't plan my next reads too rigidly: I usually have a few candidates that have been on my shelf for awhile, and when I finish a book I bring them out and see which I #crave in the moment. Usually I have a one word prejudice in my head - e.g. devastating, innovative, difficult, intellectual, etc. But it's not until I read the first sentence or two that I really know what I want. One of these four will probably be next 🤔
#MOvember @Cinfhen

I did a WAY BACK Litsy scroll yesterday and found this post from 2+ years ago. I‘ve still only read 2 of them 🤦🏻‍♀️ but I did rate them both 5 stars. #fivestarpredictions

“Found” a minute before dentist‘s appt to rummage at the Goodwill. TBR attack!!

#30JuneBooks - U: I haven‘t commented on or reviewed this book because it was a numbing reading experience five years ago. The letter “u” can stand for many related adjectives for this story: unnerving, unbearable, uneasy, unsettling, unflinching...it is unforgiving in its relentless propulsion through a harrowing nightmare. It was an unexpected encounter with a sheer brilliance of storytelling and it remains unforgettable to this very day.

I've heard so many good things about this book but it's... not at all like I was led to believe.
So while I agree it's very good, I'm all twisted up inside trying to deal with my feelings I wasn't expecting to have.

This is about a woman who is kidnapped for ransom in her native Haiti, her captivity over 13 days as her wealthy father refuses to bow to the kidnappers while her husband frantically tries to figure out how to get her released -- and her struggle to come to terms with the ordeal in its aftermath. This book is terrifying, and brilliant, and brutal, and not for the faint-hearted. But all I can say is, "Wow."

Replenishment for the #AfricanAmerican Display! 😁

Have you read any of these?!

#LitsyLovesLibraries #MrBooksDisplays

This book is so different and beautiful (in a damaged sort of way). It's dark and gritty, it shows how depraved and savage human beings can be! At the same time displaying a humans will to survive the unsurvivable.
I adore Roxane Gay writing style and fearlessness with the topics she writes about no matter its graphic nature.

I‘ve wanted to read something by Roxane Gay for a while now, and picked this up at the library. This book is tough; Roxane Gay‘s writing really is everything it‘s made out to be, and I flew through the book in a few days, but this talent makes the subject matter more vivid and horrific. I wasn‘t satisfied with the ending at all as I love a resolution (for good or bad), and this is left very unresolved. (Trigger warning: rape and sexual violence.)

Another excellent book from Roxane Gay! This was the first Fiction I‘ve read by her. I fell in love with Hunger earlier this year, and this is just as good. It‘s very emotionally heavy, unsurprisingly from her, but I think we‘ll worth it if you can handle the subject matter. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks so much @Hooked_on_books for sending it to me!

This was #makemereadit number 5.

Me and the dog, a bagel and a book. Not a bad way to spend a couple hours while we have an open house. Fingers crossed for an offer this time!! 🤞🤞🤞🤞

#diversespines whilst this particular book is on my #tbr Roxane gay writes my kind of books!
With an author I love this much I love to be able to see what books they read and alongside following her on goodreads I found this list a while ago https://www.listchallenges.com/roxane-gay-bookshelf so that I can add to my reading list knowing that they are recommended by someone I admire.

"I don't know what to say," Michael said. "I don't want to say the wrong thing again. I want to help you."

Your package arrived today Holly! Thank you for including this, I will be sure to have something really light to read after it. It sounds really good, though dark, and I‘m looking forward to it!

I‘m also intrigued by this month‘s #OwlPost! (Which is not the pictured book, to be clear) It‘s something I‘ve never heard of, by a new to me author! @BookishFeminist I think it‘s your book. 📚😊

A nightmarish but consuming, beautifully written story of a woman who is kidnapped and brutalized and must then face her trauma and her family.

Read May 9-13
Book 20/50

While it started a bit slow, this book proceeded to grab me and punch me in the gut. I could not put it down. It is the story of a woman‘s kidnapping and brutalization in Haiti followed by the aftermath as she attempts to heal. Amidst graphic violence, it explores themes of survival, family and the experiences that shape us. #marchmadnesschallenge (swap-in for Hunger)

I was in the slums of Port au Prince for work last year. Such an intense place with hardly a glimpse of hope for a better future. Its reality struck me hard.
I recognize this Haïti in Gay‘s story and it felt somehow good to read that I am not alone in what I felt and saw there.
Other than that I have to admit she appears to me (again) so immature, frustrated & angry in her storytelling. I can‘t explain this properly but Gay is just a no for me.

I am starting this one because it earns me the most points in the #MarchMadnessChallenge but I am a bit prejudiced because of @emilyhaldi ‘s review and the fact that I am no fan of Roxane Gay. On the other hand, I am keen to learn more about Haïti so I hope that‘ll be the case.

About the picture: it is Spring here, finally, my garden is blossoming!

I can officially confirm that I am NOT a fan of Gay's writing, whether it be fiction or memoir (sorry, Cindy!) I despised the characters and found the relationship between the 2 MC‘s to be entirely juvenile and unrealistic. The excessive rape scenes felt like they were written for shock value and add nothing to the story. The last 50 pages had me rolling my eyes in incredulity. 🙄 It kind of turned into a hate-read for me 😬
#marchmadnesschallenge

#Marchmadnesschallenge @JenP
My first sub - I just read Hunger, & was about to start this when I found this challenge, so voila!
This is difficult subject matter. Also, Mirielle isn‘t always likable, even in the before.
But that just makes me admire the book even more. Women can be difficult and still worthy of love, attention, devotion, care. And I love that she gets that from her mother-in-law before her beloved husband.

#MarchInBooks #photochallenge @maich

#openingline

I've posted this before, but it's still a great opening line. This is one of my favourite books. (TW)

1. Once upon a time, in a far-off land, I was kidnapped by a gang of fearless yet terrified young men with so much impossible hope beating inside their bodies it burned their very skin and strengthened their will right through their bones.
2. 367
3. Strengthened
4. Christophe
5. Yellow
6. Literary fiction
7. Once - thick
8. Yellow
9. RG
10. 13 days
11. 2014
12. Edwidge Danticat
13. Nope - on page 1
15. Yes

Raw and graphic book about a traumatic incident. Roxane Gay is a powerful writer covering a dark subject matter with grit.

The "before" was horrific and the "after" was heartbreaking. A powerful reflection of our insecurities and misconceptions of the world and the relationships that both tear us apart and make us whole.

I hate to say I loved this book, the story was dark and very disturbing, but oh so good! It read like a memoir, I felt like the characters were real, and they very well might be, I imagine the dark streets of Haiti are like this nightmare. I highly recommend this book, I love the way #roxanegay writes. I read her book Hunger and fell in love with her.

I love when my UPS driver brings me presents (ok, maybe a present I bought myself)! Anxious to get started on this one! Her book Hunger was the first of hers that I've read.

I'm trying to challenge myself to read everyday in the month of February. But I left my #currentlyreading book at work this morning. I was planning to try and finish An Untamed State but remembered hope emotionally exhausting it is. And since I would be reading it on my commute... nope.

I guess I'll just miss a day.

How can you not keep reading after that opening line?!

In honor of #blackhistorymonth I'm making a conscious effort to read only books written by and/or about people of colour. My first post is a bit of a cheat as I've already read it but I had to share it! This is one of my favourite books. A fictional story about a woman who gets kidnapped in Haiti. Had me hooked from the first line. Graphic at times, but I appreciate Gay's authenticity.

#humpdaypost @MinDea
1. A brutal story of a woman kidnapped in Haiti, a father who refuses to negotiate with the kidnappers, and the anger and rage that the diversity of wealth and political corruption creates... just finished- tough read but so good.
2. Dairy milk chocolate
3. Gen X
4. Klean Kanteen water bottle
5. First weekend off for a while, so lots of reading, lots of outdoor time (biking, walking, maybe dining by the water somewhere) 🌴😎