pickThis story begins and ends in the Gold Coast of Africa. It starts with two sisters who knew of each other but never met. It ends with distant cousins that met but didn't know the connection.
Any book that contains a family tree is intimidating to me, but it was misplaced. This book is a beaut. You will need to refer to the family tree throughout but it enhances the reading experience. Its well worth the effort.
pickAt one point I was very confused with the different generations and where we were, more or less, in the timeline. And it was also so depressing. But I'm glad I persevered and especially loved the last few chapters.
Twi is the main Ghanaian language we work with and I recently needed to read up on the Akan dialect family, so I found all the history around the Asante incredibly interesting. There was so much suffering, though.
My girls may be back but they're at their dad's tonight (family thing) and I miss them. It was cold and gloomy today and I feel at such a loose end this evening. I may finish Homegoing tonight or decide in 5 minutes that I need a break from the unrelenting sadness.
The night Effia Otcher was born into the musky heat of Fanteland, a fire raged through the woods just outside her father's compound.
#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl
pickTwo girls with separate stories, separate lives, separate struggles, coming together at the end.
This book is for book club on Tuesday. I‘m trying to read it amongst unpacking, laundry, packing, and getting the cat out of his latest hiding place. #weekendreads
Just a couple more quotes I enjoyed 🩷
#homegoing #historicalfiction #quotes
This one resonates with me as a biracial person, and I'm sure many biracial people understand this too. The yearning for belonging/fitting or blending in - being 2 different things - and feeling like neither.
#bookquotes #introspective
I started reading Homegoing last weekend. I'm currently page 60 and I've already fallen in love with so many quotes. This one is my fave so far ❤️
#bookquotes #homegoing #historicalfiction
so-soChapters were like short stories: every chapter was from different POV and main characters were from different generations.
Writing felt a bit dull and didn't get me to feel all those emotions. And it's a shame because everybody's story was interesting and touching, but still managed to left me a bit cold.
I would have loved to have some plot, because this felt a bit like an anthology and I didn't love that.
“We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.”
“There should be no room in your life for regret. If in the moment of doing you felt clarity, you felt certainty, then why feel regret later?”
#LitsyLove
A few days late, but, oh man, was this good. Definitely adding this Ghanaian Chicken Chichinga to the rotation. I‘m still struggling to get into this book. Not because it isn‘t good, but because it‘s just so heavy.
#FoodAndLit #CookingTheBooks
pickAn anthology of stories of the generations of a family from Africa. Each story is a different generation of one of two branches of half sisters. One sold into slavery and the other staying in Africa. A fascinating and emotional read. This book got me excited about reading again it was so beautifully written even if heartbreaking throughout. #readingbracket2024
pickI had seen this book so many times, I thought I owned it. I decided to read it for January #Ghana for #foodandlit. It was amazing. Heartbreaking stories that make the evil humans do to other humans so in your face real. I wept at times. I liked how he brought all the lineage and stories together at the end. The audio definitely added to this one for me. No time to cook, but if I did it would be Yams as they are mentioned in nearly every story.
For my Ghanaian meal, I had red red (black-eyed peas in a red palm oil, smoked fish and tomato sauce), fried plantain and okra. Very nice 👍
#FoodandLit #Ghana
@Catsandbooks @Texreader
#FoodandLit
@Catsandbooks @Texreader
Homegoing was disappointing. Instead, here's a link to the Lord Kitchener calypso about the proclaiming of Ghana's independence from the UK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=057BmLQ9MfU
#Ghana is the name
We wish to proclaim
We will be jolly merry & gay
The 6th of March
Independence Day
It pleases me so much that in the 50s/60s, there was a calypso for every news story - current affair or cricket match alike.
pickI like the way this book was written.It was unique.I liked that every chapter represented a generation.I‘ll admit that it took me a few chapters to recognize this pattern,and I wondered why the story jumped around so much.I also love the way things all came together at the end.The only downfall is that none of the characters were around long enough to really get to know or like them.I read this book on a recommendation,and am so glad that I did
This book has been on my TBR shelf for a shamefully long time, so when it was recommended by a guest on Ezra Klein‘s podcast recently I decided it was time!
pick10/10 and all the stars 🌟 for this one! Beautifully written story of eighteenth century half sisters, one sold into slavery, one living in the castle. Follow their stories for 8 generations of family history.
so-so⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is beautifully written, ambitious, and well-researched. There are so many important historical and sociological themes included. But I really struggled to get through it because the story kept switching to new characters, and for each you knew something terrible was going to happen, they would have a child, and we‘d move on. There was so much trauma, and no continuous characters to root for. It was hard to stick with.
Very unpopular opinion, but I am really struggling with this book. The format of following generations of descendants of two sisters in Africa and the US is interesting, but also keeps you from really getting to know any character well or seeing how their lives develop. And pretty much everyone has something horrific happen to them. It‘s important to honor that those things happened, but as a reader you get all of the pain and no payoff.
Best book I read so far this year.
#bestbookoftheyearsofar #bestbooksofar #bestof2023sofar #midyearcheckin #halfway
30 book recommendations in 30 days...
Day 4: It's interesting my first 3 recommendations didn't include any fiction as my reading is pretty fiction heavy, so here we go. I won't try to explain this one, just rave about how I could read an entire novel about every single character from each generation. A brilliant novel. It also happens to be absolutely beautiful writing. #30recsin30days
pickHighly recommend this one. The first half is difficult but if you can push through it‘s so worth the read.
#homegoing #yaagyasi #fiction #history
pickOne of my favorite reads this year.
This books is a MASTERPIECE! 🔥 It spans eight generations from the Gold Coast of Africa to America, from the eighteenth century to the American Civil War to Jazz Age Harlem.
Homegoing should be required reading by EVERYONE, especially Americans and the British. Just sayin.
#blackliterature #blackfiction #blackauthors
Secret Santa took on a whole new meaning this year, being in a new school district has been rewarding and seamless with a mix of exhaustion and excitement. When I opened my gift and met my Secret Santa I cried and knew that Homegoing will be the bridge that brings anyone who wants to join our teacher bookclub together. Today is our last day and then it‘s onto reading, hot tea, and endless PJ‘s until next year. Happy Holidays!
I like to roll a day late 😂
#manicmonday @CBee @Librariana
📚 Homegoing (Gyasi) / Human Acts (Han)
✍️ Kang Han ❤️
🍿 Holiday (Winslow &Diaz) / Haw to Steal a Million (Hepburn)
🎤 Heart
🎶 Home (Dotan)
pickThis was such a heartbreaking, hopeful, and moving book. It is a generational novel that spans over 200 years, with each chapter having a different POV. I‘ve never read a book told in this way and I really enjoyed it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickHit my Goodreads goal later than I expected.
This book was phenomenal. Accessible historical fiction that had heart, vulnerability, intensity.
pickMy #bookspin book this month was Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and I'm so glad I finally picked this book up off my shelf! It is a heartbreaking (and also a little inspiring?) book that begins during slaving times in Ghana and follows a genealogy through multiple generations to current time. Highly recommend!
@TheAromaofBooks
pickA pick 1000 times over. What a magnificent work of art; I'm so impressed
Others on here have summed up why this is so brilliant far better than I can...I absolutely loved it
pickI always find it hard to read about some of the incredibly horrible way humans were treated. But this was beautiful written. You definitely need the family tree at the beginning and I referred to it often. It helped me to understand the deep rooted, generations long anger that some people feel. Feel like a learned a little perspective.
Next up! This is my first #BookSpin book of the year and look at how LUSH the cover is😍 @TheAromaofBooks
pickSuch a powerful group of stories, each having a link to the past and their heritage. The parallel stories between Africa and America was terrific.
pickWhat a powerful book this is! Where to start unpacking all that's found here? I was particularly impressed by the structure - initially frustrated by the fact I just got into a character's story when it moved on, I then realised that was the point! Gyasi is showing that the individual stories make the whole, that trauma is generational, that there is a link between past and present! Loved the fire & water imagery especially how ... ⬇️⬇️⬇️
pickI‘m so glad I finally read this epic story. When I realized the lead in my current chapter would be a supporting character to their descendant(s) in the next chapter, I didn‘t want my current chapter to end. I became so immersed in each character that I just wanted to stay there to keep learning about that character.
Starting this one tonight. Been on my Kindle for nearly 4 years .... to my mind this is a fairly new book that I've got round to remarkably quickly!
Homegoing | 
