pickThe story follows a Cameroonian immigrant family—Jende Jonga, his wife Neni, and their son—in ‘07-‘08 NYC. Against the backdrop of the economic crisis and Obama‘s election, we see Jende working for better opportunities for himself and his family, as his future becomes more and more entangled with the family for whom he works as a chauffeur. It‘s a fascinating, nuanced take on the American Dream, with the Jonga family‘s struggles set against ⤵️
panA very slow read which felt like a slog. Not sure why I finished it as I never quite got invested in the characters as none were likable.
pickCameroonian couple Neni and Jende immigrate to America, NYC, to provide a better life for themselves and their families. Jende comes first and works hard to bring Neni, who follows with their young son. Jende soon gets a job he‘s proud of, driving for Clark Edwards, big wig at Lehman Brothers. Neni begins school, and both work hard for the American dream though setback after setback disillusions the couple, exacerbated with the financial crisis.
What does a librarian do with a day off in the next county over? Find a quiet corner in a familiar (though not one where employed) library and read undisturbed!
This one is for book club on Monday and I‘m pleasantly surprised by how invested I am already.
so-soThis wasn‘t a bad story. I just found it….underwhelming?
It was sad in many ways, and with a not necessarily predictable ending. But I actually liked that about it. Sometimes things don‘t end up the way you think they will. And that‘s real life.
pickA touching and realistic depiction of the way the American dream is experienced during the 2008 financial crisis by two families in New York; the former has immigrated from Cameroon facing hardship and several jobs to make ends meet and raise their children, and the latter are their wealthier employers struggling themselves with different kinds of trouble.
#Alphabetgame @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Letter B
I remember loving this book, the writing, the characters, the story. An excellent read.
Please join in everyone who wants to 👍🏻♥️
It arrived! Thanks for sending it and for the card @Kayla.Adriena ! And @shellleigh33 and @BennettBookworm I‘m so excited to read your comments in the book as well! It‘s been a fun round and I hope everyone enjoys their last book. #lmpbc
pickRainy day here so ironing and baking to finish this book. I made Lemon Oat bars from 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer. Thx to Mitch for the inspo 💛 This was an AMAZING audio book! It sounded like there were multiple narrators but just one. It‘s an amazing story covering a couple that immigrates to the US. They work hard; multiple jobs, school and start a family and come face to face with the real truth about the American dream #queensjubileebooklist
I listened to this today on my drive out to the chicken farm. These rogue roosters were not in the pen with everyone else and it was freaking me out because the farmer was mowing the lawn and I was driving and they were running all over like crazy chickens 🐓🤣🤣
bailedI kept waffling on whether to give up or keep going, and eventually decided that if it wasn‘t a definitely finish then it should be a bail. I find most of the characters unpleasant and the story dreary.
@shellleigh33 I forgot to post but my #LMPBC book is headed your way! I sent it Friday morning! Thanks for your patience and I‘m super excited to see what y‘all think of this story…
I got through three books for #ReadingAfrica2022, so that kind of surprised me. Some good reads, some meh reads. Started the month with a DNF so I did not expect too much from reading after that. So it all turned out pretty well in the end! 😊
#BookReport for all he weeks in January.
@Cinfhen
pickThis was my first book of 2022 & for the #ReadingAfrica2022 challenge, which I'm quite sure will take longer than 2022 to finish!
This was an interesting, but not quite engrossing story about Cameroonian immigrants living in NYC just prior to the crash of Lehman Bros. and the early stages of the 2008 recession. It's a soft pick for me. ⬇
@LibraryBelle
@BarbaraBB
I snuck in a couple of ticks for the #Pantone2022 challenge also!
@Clwojick
“He'd never been asked to wear a suit to a job interview.“
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
So here's my totally revised January Forecast. I'm fairly certain I won't get through all of these, but most of them are for reading challenge commitments and the rest are library books that are cycling in and out of the list as they come due.
#weeklyforecast
@Cinfhen
Waterstones #bookhaul from Black Friday.
Top 3 are for #ReadingAfrica2022 - #cameroon, #mauritania and #senegal, respectively - and 3 others just because.
@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
28pts #Mistletoemaniacs @Clwojick
I need to finish this one by Thursday for my IRL book club.
Here goes!
pickJende and Neni are struggling to live their American dream in New York, but their immigration case is looming and they may have to return to Cameroon with their children.
Read March 12-19
Rated 3/5 ⭐️
Book 17/60
Day 8: books from across the African Diaspora #blackliteracyisrevolutionary
so-soThis was a eye opening and intriguing story- Read as part of the #Buzzwordathon - January word is DREAM 3/5
Day 11 of #12booksof2020 @Andrew65
This was an excellent novel documenting the struggle of many immigrants while reaching for "the American dream". Ultimately I found it melancholy, but in just the right way. Very much appreciated both the writing style and the story of this one.
This didn't age well. 😳🤣
I was wondering why my feet got so cold. Someone decided to curl up like a burrito in the bottom of my blanket, which left a huge gap for the cold air to get in. 🥶 Oh well, he's cute. I'll allow it. 😂
He looks happy, but he's secretly plotting my death for paying more attention to my book than him.
(Don't worry, today he got a 2 mile walk, lots of rolling in the snow, carrot snacks while we made stew, and snuggle time on the couch during a movie...he's not even close to deprived. Just spoiled.)
Breakfast (even though it's noon now) is freshly baked lemon blueberry muffins. I had to change a few things in the recipe due to lack of ingredients & no desire to go to the store, but I think they still turned out amazing. 😋
My midnight snack last night was a little...weird? Every time I get settled into reading at night, I get weird cravings (I'm not pregnant, never have been, never will be). So, yeah. I had to make tomato salad with lemonade. 😂
Anyone else get hungry like right as you sit down to read? What's your book snack?
Starting a new book before bed tonight. 😍 I've been wanting this one for a long time.
pickC for Cameroon. I enjoyed this but it wasn‘t a page turner. It gave good insight to the migrant experience, I would not classify the main characters as asylum seekers as they were not fleeing persecution/war rather they chose to try to achieve a better life in the US. In the end they chose going home over the US and gave a new perspective on the US, not an entirely favourable one - that the great American Dream is dead.
I chose this because I wanted something from Cameroon, I really struggled to get hold of a work in translation out of Cameroon so reading this by a Cameroon author living in NY. Enjoying it and finding that for me it is about the migrant experience, the difficulties, confusions and hopes of those who move to a new place in hope of a better future, just as my parents did when I was 3. #Vegemite is not a powerful chocolate spread. 😱😂
so-soIt was an interesting book about the immigration experience. I guess we‘re supposed to be happy because he only beat her once. Why do men who want to rise up not see the hypocrisy of keeping “their” women down. I get that the scene added realism.
Rant over...
A character driven fiction set after the economic crash of 2008 from two perspectives: an immigrant family and the wealthy New York family they work for.
She was noticing something for the first time ...a white man walking with a white woman, a black teenager giggling with other black teenagers ...Even in NYC. Even in a place of many nations and cultures. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor preferred their kind ... and why shouldn‘t they? It was far easier to do so than to spend one‘s limited energy trying to blend into a world one was never meant to be a part of.
“People act as if things in America have to be better than things everywhere else. America doesn‘t have the best of everything.”
“Bad news has a way of slithering into good days and making a mockery of complacent joys.”
Took my book and took my mask and did my civic duty. Because I had my book, no line at all. Souvenir pen (for both signing and voting) was the reward in lieu of a sticker. And on leaving, I found a penny so I should have good luck all day. Pluses all the way.
It seems to be a pattern with me to start the book club book the day before the meeting. Hope this is a fast read!
As @MrT wisely said, the silver lining of Korea not working out is that I get to restock my collection with new-to-me titles. I have about $100 worth of credits at a local bookstore, and I went a couple days ago to get this stack. It's a slow process to feel okay about what we lost after years of building our collection together, but the lessons learned from this are invaluable. I can't wait to post our library once we have our own place again. 💕
pickThis is lovely. Ups and downs of a family who are trying to immigrate to New York from Cameroon.
The characters are vividly drawn and the storyline is interesting, the juxtaposition between the rich white family and the Cameroonian Jonga family are painted starkly and believably.
The writing was so well done I was surprised to read this is Mbue's debut.
#weeklyforcast
Have already started Behold the Dreamers and am loving it. An extra day off this week makes for good reading time.
#BookReport 35/20
A very satisfying reading week. I enjoyed all these books a lot!
Behold the Dreamers | 
