Welcome to Litsy!

In the aftermath of #SierraLeone ‘s civil war people return to the places they came from and try to live in peace. There is hope and optimism but unfortunately there are so many obstacles to prevent them from starting anew. For example there is the arrival of a mining company who seems to have corrupted all police forces. It‘s such a frustrating reality and although it‘s a novel I am afraid there‘s a lot of truth in it.

#ReadingAfrica2022 🇸🇱

While life is extremely hard in Sierra Leone after the civil war, there is always optimism. This is such a good book!!

I really wanted to like this book because I loved A Long Way Gone and Ishmael Beah was at Oberlin at the same time as me. But the structure of the book just didn‘t work for me. It felt like it was supposed to be inspired by storytelling traditions, but most of the book felt formless and meandering without much focus or narrative arc.

Nothing like a bit of afternoon reading in the garden... I'm definitely happy Spring is almost here! 😍 #amreading #garden #springtime

🎆Fourth of July #bookhaul! The top three are from Dollar Tree. 👍🏻😁

#ReadSoulLit Photo Challenge
Day 13 - Book Spine Poetry!

Americanah,
I'm Judging You
Invisible Man, Got The Whole World Watching
Kill 'Em and Leave?
What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
Writing My Wrongs
Here Comes The Sun
The Fire This Time
Radiance of Tomorrow

#spinesvines #blackhistorymonth #poetry

I bought this recently from Book Outlet and got a pleasant surprise when I opened the cover and saw it was signed!
#readjanuary #signed

This book was so beautiful and so horribly distressing. It's definitely a testimony to the strength of love, humanity, and hope. A coincidentally very timely read, too, as a coworker and I just had a conversation about the perspective of our fellow Americans on what makes a good life and how little value/happiness people actually take in what they do have.

Yazzie approves of my chill Saturday night style.

Some months there's just a really clear winner. #bestofoctober #booktober

Beah writes in the style traditional to the storytelling of his homeland. Definitely more lyrical than I am used to and wasn't too sure about it at first, but it is really growing on me.

This is a beautiful, heartbreaking modern folktale about family and community and injustice and survival set in post-war Sierra Leone. I think it's flown under the radar a bit because the jacket copy makes it sound like a stone cold bummer and yeah, some of it's real rough going, but there's still somehow such a sense of hope flowing through it. Also there are Teen Vigilantes, which is always an incentive for me.

This is something I picked up from the bargain section of Barnes and Noble on a whim a while back just because it looked interesting. I'm less than 40 pages in but oh man, I already love it, this is 100% what I want to be reading right now.

Bad day at work equals book therapy spend😊 I hope these are good. Not that it matters a new book in the home is adding peace to my soul.

I think I've been waiting for this book my whole life - about how a country and its people try to rebuild after a war has destroyed most of it. Beah does an amazing job keeping the novel hopeful and heartbreaking at the same time. Also thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook version.

#audiocoloring is my new favorite hobby!