Welcome to Litsy!

#12booksof2022 January

Some catchup. I finished three books in January, this one was enjoyably quirky, written with collaboration and critique from a group of Mexican workers. It‘s also a beautiful physical book.

A wonderful story about stories. Has become a personal favorite. Recommended by the lovely @Caterina . Some books are so inventive, playful, and fun that they set your mind running and make you want to try your own hand at writing. This book ranks among them, and it has a moving emotional core that will stick with you for a while. 5/5, 10/10, can‘t recommend it enough.

Trying to capture how nice this physical book is in my picture, but maybe a collage would have been better.

This is not a book for everyone, but if you can pick up on the playful sense, the games with philosophy and philosophers through time, and can combine that into Luiselli‘s intimate prose…with the mixing of these tones it becomes something quite wonderful. I was thoroughly charmed, even if I didn‘t fully get it.

(Sharing with the cat)

I am going to recount for you the fascinating stories of these teeth, and I would urge you to buy them, take them to your homes, use them, or simply cherish them for persecula seculorum. That is, for forever. Otherwise, I continued, slightly overstating the case in a menacing tone, if these relics don‘t find owners by the end of this session, they will be sold abroad. And the last thing we need 👇👇

(My neglected desk in the background. This is my first day inside my office in 3 and a half weeks.)

So, I started yet another book. This one screams Nabokov…and Pynchon. I didn‘t expect that. But also, “Book I” (about 30 pages) is brilliant and has Luiselli‘s wonderful intimacy with the text that she seems to pull off. … I hope the rest of the book holds up.

Not sure how this wound up on my TBR, it was one of the strangest books I have ever read (listened to) We are getting the story of Highway Sanchez, his teeth and his career as an auctioneer. Throw in a weird scene with clowns, I hate clowns.
But at the end the author comes on and explains how this book was written with factory workers in Mexico and the tradition of having "readers" in factories. To read to the workers as they work, that is rad!

I really enjoy Luiselli's writing; she has a very engaging, playful quality, but this book is just not for me. It started strong, with a quirky eccentricity that I really enjoyed, but a quarter of the way into it I started getting a bit bored and started considering bailing out. And then there were clowns. Her most recent, Lost Children Archive, is still high on my TBR.

“my life was a poem...”

👌3.8/5

This was an intensely weird genre-mashing mess that I adored every minute of. @Caterina thank you for the rec!

Everything about this was so intensely original, I never knew what to expect or what was going to happen. It‘ll definitely stand out in my memory for a long time!

I think trains are my favourite place to read 🥰 I finally got round to another of your #newyearwhodis books after a long break!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It made me smile. It made me chuckle. I even laughed out a loud a few times. Please listen to the audio-book because it adds an extra layer of enjoyment.

#spanishlit 📚 #gift

I got a phone call this morning that made me very anxious (it was good news actually, but put me in a very horrible anxiety place) and had a difficult morning then couldn‘t manage to eat any lunch. I took a walk which helped but then the rain got too much so I went back to the Tate modern bookshop to be surrounded by books and feel calm.

I‘ve read 2 of these art novels and want to read a lot more, they were wonderful to spend time with

Today me and my boyfriend celebrated Christmas together - we traditionally celebrate ‘Mattmas‘ on the 23rd and then have Christmas Day with our separate families - so happy mattmas everybody! He knows me so well, he got me these four books two of which are for my #newyearwhodis challenge with @Caterina !!

He also got me tickets to two club nights next year and a wireless speaker. I‘m very very happy.

I was in need for a short one after The Children‘s Book and this one fitted perfectly.

Highway is a Mexican auctioneer (the best in the world!) One day he loses all his teeth and during his quest to replace them he meets a young author who he asks to write his ‘dental autobiography‘. A smart short novel with a nice twist.

Highway is an over-the-top character, a sort of antihero. Most of the book feels manic and then we get to the last part and we finally see the man behind the curtain and it brings everything together into a lovely package. #AroundTheYearIn52Books #MountTBR #ReadingWomenChallenge

Almost done with this one! Overall, I am pleased with how my reading challenges are progressing. #AroundTheYearIn52Books

Kind of weird, but it all made sense in the end.

Quirky and unique with some hints of Junot Diaz and a cast of puzzling and entertaining characters, Valeria Luiselli‘s The Story of My Teeth was a slam dunk for me. We follow Gustavo Sánchez Sánchez, a man who, well, has a fascinating story of his teeth.

Luiselli is well-known in Mexico (from what I researched) and we wanted to book reflective of the culture while we‘re visiting. Loved this read and would love any other Mexican author/book recs!

I‘m struggling with how to rate this one. I really didn‘t like it until I got to the afterword, and then I kind of loved it? I think I might need to revisit it at some point after I‘ve let it sit for a while, but for now I‘m giving a so-so.

What an unusual, unique, incredible story. I loved this collaborative effort; its history, its culture, its voice.

I've wanted to read this book for years and finally prioritized it for #WITmonth. It's the story of Highway, the self-proclaimed "world's best auctioneer" and how he came into possession of a fine collection of false teeth. But it's oh so much more than that. It's a story about the stories we tell about ourselves. Highly recommend it. And read the epilogue!! Hear my full review on the podcast. - A

This one from my TBR is all I got for #teeth. #junebookbugs

Thanks to Lithub again for helping me fulfill this prompt for #readingwomenmonth @thereadingwomen. Link below for more #booksintranslation.

http://lithub.com/13-translated-books-by-women-you-should-read/

Finished today, impressive work of collaboration of Jumex, translator, publisher in this novel-essay.

Starting this today.

Understood not a word of this. There were fingernails in envelopes. And mini-wiki biographies of famous people. And boring clowns. End of story.

I haven't read this one yet, but I've heard only good things about it so far. #MexicanWriters #MayBookFlowers

#MayBookFlowers Day 5 - Mexican/American Authors

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo with one of my favorite Mexican writers - Valeria Luiselli. And later, I will be sinking my teeth into some tres leches cake!

#MayBookFlowers A #MexicanWriter from my TBR shelf....hopefully one day!

Many thanks to Wilkes University for hosting Valeria Luiselli, and making it possible for me to meet one of my favorite authors. She's such a sweet person, and so passionate about her work. She's also given me major eyeglasses envy!

Getting my things ready for a mini road trip, to hear Valeria Luiselli read at a local-ish university tonight!

The shortlist for the Dublin Literary Award is out
http://www.dublinliteraryaward.ie

This was a strange & funny story of Euripides Lopez Sanchez, aka Highway, & his strange & funny fascination with teeth: his & other 'infamous' peoples' teeth. After literally losing his teeth (and all his possessions) at auction, he commissions a writer to transcribe his life story. Read the Spanish, if possible. I think the anecdotes would be so much funnier than the translated version. Excellent short story. I'll be reading more Luiselli. 🇲🇽

I finished this audiobook today. I have to say, I didn't know what to expect from this story, but I was pleasantly surprised with how good it was. Funny and smart and weird at times. You never really knew what has truth or what was fiction. Definitely a book I'll be thinking about for awhile.

This is totally not book related! Has anyone gotten their wisdom teeth out before? If you have, any stories/suggestions for me? I'm getting all four out in 10 days & I'm starting to freak out 😣 I'm such a baby when it comes to stuff like this! I've never been under anesthesia before so that's what is scaring me the most.

I've got veggies roasting in the oven and an hour before my family arrives, so time for a little reading! Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃🍽

Third book of the weekend and @coffeehousepress FTW.

#Booktober Day 19 - Best Character Name

One of my most recent favorites is Highway Sánchez Sánchez, the auctioneer main character in THE STORY OF MY TEETH #bestcharactername

"I'm the best auctioneer in the world, but no one knows it because I'm a discreet sort of man." #firstlines #fallreads #translation #serialnovel

Tomorrow is the last day of #HispanicHeritageMonth, a month-long celebration of Hispanic & Latinx culture in the US. I thought I'd share a variety of #LatinxBooks to fill your shelves and TBRs!

The Story of My Teeth was one of my favorite reads last year & deserves more press than it got. Can't wait to see what she does next! 🌺✊🏽

Well, I was watching football, but the game wasn't very good, so I turned to a books and wine kind of night instead!

Apparently the #FunFridayPhoto today is of the book you most recommend. There are probably a couple other contenders, but the brilliant The Story if My Teeth was closest to hand.

South side pride with 57th Street Books in Hyde Park. This store is deceptively large- stretching about four rooms into the back. Impressive collection of books, boasting a wall of Penguin Classics, and host of the BTBA. If you chat with Kevin, he'll have some great recommendations of books in translation for you. It's also where I got to meet some of the folks from @bookriot . #getindie #getlitsy

Have you guys read this one? Protagonist is a collector and an auctioneer, with the ability to spin takes on the spot that considerably boost the value of his collectibles. This book is also an insight to the industrial side of Mexico City, having been written in collaboration with workers from the Jumex factory. It's a one sitting kind of riveting, witty story.

Unusual and amusing story. The author's story of how and why it was written is interesting as well.

Woke up kinda sad, so off I went to the bookstore and cafe for tea and books (always help my mood)

I love Summer vacation (being a teacher does have some perks). On to my next reading adventure📚