Welcome to Litsy!

This is Antigone, but it‘s relocated to contemporary Britain. Antigone is Aneeka, and she has a twin brother. They‘re Pakistani Brit who grew up in north London. Her brother has left England to join Isis. Creon becomes a potential prime minister of Pakistani descent. His son Eamon has an unfortunate girlfriend. Esma, Aneeka‘s sister, a phd student, has a unexpected role here, and i think it makes the book. Anyway excellent

So I have not read Antigone so didn‘t know it was a retelling which perhaps explains a couple of what felt like slightly clumsy additions to the book but overall thought this was powerful and painful. Follows several characters starting with an older sister left to bring up her twin siblings at 19 and is compelling as we understand their families painful history

This is an excellent novel. I tend not to enjoy books with political themes because they tend to be populated with flat characters who only exist to deliver a message. This book is not like that. The characters are true, fallible people who are living the fallout of the decisions of others. They're siblings and parents and lovers, and their story is devastating because they feel so real. I am glad I finally read this one.

These characters are not acting like I want them to! I feel like Fred Savage in The Princess Bride.

A book about a young woman who had to take over parenting her twin siblings, about the deep connection twins have but one flounders without roots and is influenced down a path of violence, about how much the powerful will give away to maintain power and so much more. I loved this book. My first by this author but not my last.

Initially a was a bit ho hum about this, the coincidence of the initial meeting with Isma, the instant connection with Aneeka (I did suspect her motives) but then it got really interesting and made me think hard about the personal, moral and political questions it raises. But the end has left me rather annoyed. What a cop out. I read this for my IRL book group. Should be an interesting discussion.

Today felt like Christmas because look what came in the mail from @CarolynM ! It‘s so wonderful Carolyn. I absolutely crowed with delight to see that this is a signed copy of Home Fire (don‘t often get signed copies here except during writers festival). And Jane Austen socks and chocolates and the most delicious smelling soap. I loved the card too (perfectly bookish - I love vintage childrens books) and all your kind words 💕

This is why I love reading challenges, though I participate in few. Read for #Booked2022 for #thinkgreek as this is an Antigone retelling. I had to educate myself on Antigone before starting and it very much enhanced my reading experience. This is a heartbreaker and that ending is just wow. I absolutely loved this book and I‘m so grateful to this challenge for giving me the nudge to read it. I‘d call this a bit of a Romeo & Juliet retelling also.

This was simply fantastic! I could NOT put it down! I‘m going to tackle the rest of her backlist next year.

Isma raised her two younger siblings after their mother died. Now that Aneeka is at uni, Isma has traveled to get her own degree in the US. But their brother Parvaiz has taken a darker turn, following in their jihadist father‘s footsteps. The family‘s fate takes an interesting turn when the son of the Home Secretary enters their lives.

We‘ll be here reading and snuggling all Fall/Winter! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. 💜🐶

Both my #bookspin and my #doublespin are from my Book Outlet order that is not here yet. (🤞🏻 Monday) Anyway, HF has been on my TBR for years, but RABT is an impulse buy. Interesting to see how my reviews will shake out… 🤔

Wow this was so good! Only on my list due to winning The Women's Prize for Fiction a couple of years ago, and it was well deserved!
The writing is solid and the storyline takes a few twists that I didn't see coming.
An often heartbreaking story of family love and loss, but not overly heavy.
It is nice to find an adult fiction work set in the UK with Muslim characters that are complex and real.

Loved this book! It‘s about family, love, religion, betrayal, politics, national identity, and so much more.

Isma, Aneeka and Parvaiz have no one else but each other until the siblings are being pulled apart by different desires. Adaptation of Antigone in a contemporary context.

A very strong pick!

Manicure: $65
Library loans: Free

Having your nails match your random library hold pickup: priceless

😂

This book is such a brilliant and incisive meditation on religion, immigration, love, terrorism, and family. The ending was like a jolt of shock. It reads like a contemporary fiction, which is what it, in fact, is. The characters are so real, you could almost imagine what it would be like to sit across a table and have a cup of coffee with them. What it would be like to be them. To be with them. Yet, there is a magical aura...

👇

#BeginsWith #Home

Two favorites and one TBR.

Here are the books that I chose for each of the first 12 rounds of #LMPBC. It‘s been an amazing 4 years, y‘all. Thanks to everyone who has participated.

It‘s cold outside..so I‘m curled up with a book my partner picked up for me at the local used bookstore ❄️📖📚

I loved this retelling of Antigone that explores questions of love and loyalty. The characters were fully developed and the prose was lovely. The novels changes narrative viewpoints, but each one was engaging. I read the paperback and also listened to the audiobook. The audio is excellent.

Not sure why I waited so long to read this. Gorgeous cover and gripping story that kept me listening until the very end!

Wow. A British Pakistani family, dead jihadi father, the Home Secretary, the Islamic caliphate. Fascinating, relevant, gripping. So sad it‘s over. Make it a movie!

Friends, this book was AMAZING - I still think about it and I read it two or more years ago! It‘s a Kindle deal (US) today so I wanted to share it! ♥️😊

Final #Booked2020 post for me:
Parent & child memoir: More Myself - Alicia Keys, 3 stars
Tartan Noir: A Distant Echo - Val McDermid, 3 stars
Banned Book: All American Boys, 4 stars
#ThinkPink: tagged book, 4 stars
Gothic Horror: The Thirteenth Tale, 5 stars
Bottom of my TBR: Texts from Jane Eyre, 2 stars

I‘ve been really sick of multiple POV‘s recently, but this was so beautiful. More of a relay race with the next character picking up the story rather than the confusing jerking back and forth that‘s so common. This book really gripped me and just kept building and getting more intense. If your on the fence about this one just do it, I can‘t believe how long I had it sitting on my shelf.

“Isma was going to miss her flight.”

Really enjoying this sweeping book about siblings. #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Excited to start this read this weekend! Not in little part because of this gorgeous cover 😍🥰

Charlie Waffles is making it impossible for me to get any reading done tonight.

“'I really don't know how you survived your childhood.'
'Didn't feel like it was something that needed surviving until she died. Everything else you can live around, but not death. Death you have to live through'“ (93-94).

“'You think marriage is in the large things,' Mrs. Rahimi had once said. 'It's in the small things. Can you survive the arguments about housework, can you learn to live with each other's different TV viewing habits?'“ (100).

Kind of hard to see my bingo board for September, but I managed 3 bingos. The tagged book was the last one read. My kitty is Pixel. #bookspin #doublespin #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Rating this one a 3.5 stars. The language was overly descriptive in some places. The structure seems like a relay race, with each character introduced, then largely abandoned for the next who picked up the plot and moved on. The plot and thematic development moved along but the character development seemed sacrificed for the plot. Interesting take on the struggle between family loyalty and societal expectations. Haunting final scene.

A modern take on the story of Antigone. A tale of three siblings, two of whom are twins. When one twin joins ISIS, the fallout affects everyone around him. It was interesting to see a picture of how a vulnerable young man gets lured into a terrorist organization. a very interesting read.

#readharder

I see a lot of talk about how beautiful the cover is but what about a little love for the embossed hardcover?!
My husband decided we should listen to this one together so about half way through the audiobook now. It‘s good. A little more lyrical and less plot than I typically like but we are enjoying the characters. Lots of family dynamics to untangle.

I‘ve gone it again. Without realising until the end that I‘d read this book before.😊 . Worth it . Was it a bookclub book @MrsMalaprop ? #2020joybooks

Kindle-using british littens! It‘s so rare for me to see anything I like on our kindle daily deals but today seems like a really good one. Home fire and on earth we‘re briefly gorgeous were two of the best books I read last year and I‘ve been wanting to read man‘s search for meaning for years. Get on there if you want to get these while they‘re 99p!

Clever, moving story about UK boy being recruited to ISIS. Great characters, story starts with his sister in America. Interesting love story too. Big ending.

Bought this book for the cover! Thought it was okay but didnt love it. Another book complete for #bookspinbonanza @TheAromaofBooks

Friday night plans

When the orphaned Isma, Aneeka and Parvaiz meet Eamonn, son of a headstrong Muslim minister, each sibling‘s difficult decisions will reverberate through London‘s political sphere.

Read January 27-31
Rated 3.5/5 ⭐️
Book 7/60

It's a pick because these stories need telling and telling and telling again. These things are happening right now. The good bits (Parvaiz Aneeka, Karamat) were SO good but the unnecessarily long, target tedious sections for Isma and Eamonn needed real stamina at the beginning. I almost didn't have the patience to get to the real heart of the story.

Have you ever bought a book because of the cover? I‘d been seeing this book everywhere, but had no idea what it was about. Turned out I read it in like 2 days and really enjoyed it! Sometimes judging a book by its cover pays off.

Post 2 of 2.

I already own these so please don't double up!

@Chelleo #blitsyswap #bhmswap #blackhistorymonthswap

These are the books I bought at Dussmann today! Only one (Home Fire) was on my list, with most of the others I decided to download them on my kindle because it is cheaper. However, with the four books pictured I just needed them because of their covers (the dominant colors!). Two books with short stories, two fictional, zero non-fictional this time.

#bookhaul #newbooks #bookshopping

That ending!! This is one of those books that makes you question & think after you‘ve finished reading it. I love how it doesn‘t portray the main characters as all bad or all good. The writing style I wasn‘t a big fan of (it left me a bit confused at times) but the story itself more than made up for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 173: Expecting a Lot from a Book.
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Jenny was happy to welcome Sarah Tittle in person to chat books we have read and liked recently. We found our way to a few unintentional themes of female empowerment and radicalism, with a little reader's memory lane of one Nicholson Baker.
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https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy173