Welcome to Litsy!

I often struggle when a book doesn‘t have a strong plot to keep me engrossed but this was so well written that wasn‘t the case. Reads like a memoir and covers lots of topics including science and religion, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one

Beautiful novel.

It‘s the story of Gifty; her brothers addiction, her scientific research to understand him, and her relationship with God. The combination of religion and science is one that fascinates me. I grew up without religion but many of my questions are also asked by Gifty.

The science is accurate, something I appreciate when an author takes the time to do. Took me a long time to read, it reminded me of those I‘ve lost to addiction. ❤️

Thanks for the tag @EadieB and @Eggs

#wondorouswednesday

1. Wordle and quordle!

2. Planting and cleaning. Starting something anew.

3. Currently reading Transcendent Kingdom and loving it. As a scientist I relate a lot to the main character. The science is pretty accurate from what I can tell too, although it‘s a different field from me.

This was a really powerful novel, able to tackle topics that can be difficult to handle in a meaningful, nuanced way. Now one of my favorite authors.

I think Gyasi is an incredible writer. This novel is as amazing as Homegoing, but totally different. This reads like memoir and there isn‘t really anything in the way of plot. More of reflections, questions and reminiscing. I don‘t think it would be everyone‘s cup of tea (given the lack of driving plot line) but I loved it.

Does anyone else‘s cat do this? Every time!

I wanted to read that! 😸

#littenkitten #catsoflitsy

My first few days of vacation from work have involved visiting 2 indie bookstores! Here is my haul. 💗 I think Greenwich Park is one I‘d typically borrow from the library but I was in a book-buying mood. The other 4 I‘ve heard really good things about. I‘m starting with the tagged one!

Nala looked like she was pondering my current read so I had to take a picture 😸 I loved homegoing and as a scientist I‘m very excited for this one.

March #BookspinBingo list! @TheAromaofBooks

I was blown away by Yaa Gyasi‘s ability to so beautifully write about reconciling religion and science, mental health issues and addiction, racism and immigration within 266 pages. She is such an incredible talent and I can‘t wait to read whatever she writes next.

💔

Nothing teaches you the true nature of your friendships like a sudden death, worse still, a death that‘s shrouded in shame.

Best book of April 2021

I have so much love for this! When people ask “what‘s your book about?” I found it impossible to explain in a few words. There are so many themes and layers to this novel it could be about religion, race, addiction, culture, science..I could go on and on. Fundamentally it is a beautifully written book about what it‘s like to be human 💜 #pick #transcendentkingdom

Thought this was was superb. I loved it. I loved that main character was a scientist, and the book's exploration of science, religion, family, guilt, love, addiction.

I finished this one today, too. I'm not going to lie, it hit a little close to home as I grew up with an older sister who struggled with addiction. I always felt so alone in my feelings toward it, but this book changed that for me.

This book was on my shelf for a little over a year and it could have stayed there a little longer. A bit too philosophical for my taste. I really disliked my philosophy course when I was in college. I'm glad I'm done with this book so I can move on to something else. Praise the Lord.

2 hours read. #EndofYearReadathon #WapitUpReadathon 2×15×2 =60pts + 39 words found ×10=390
Total points= 450
#2021Wintergames #TeamMistletoeManiacs @Clwojick

Rarely do I finish a book and feel like I don‘t need to say a word about it, in a good way, to just interiorize the narrator's confession. The emotions it triggers are simply overwhelming. It is indeed a story about the harsh reality of immigrant life, opioid addiction and depression, love and loss, about turning to science for answers, but most of all it seems to be an exploration of the extent to which faith is able to ensure transcendence.

"I had to try to understand, to extrapolate from that limited understanding in order to apply it to those of us who made up the species Homo Sapiens, the most complex animal, the only animal who believed he had transcended his Kingdom... That belief, that transcendence, was held within this organ [the brain] itself. Infinite, unknowable, soulful, perhaps even magical. I had traded the Pentecostalism of my childhood for this new religion [science]"

Next up 🤓

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ • Tackles a lot and is so well-written. Religion, race, addiction, depression, science — could be messy but isn‘t. As others have noted, very different from Homegoing.

Beautifully written, but very melancholy. Looking forward to discussing this one at my book club next week!

So good! Such a moving and powerful story filled with detail, emotion, and meaning. Loved it!!

I realize, now, that when I began reading this, I may have been in need of a “warmer” book, or one that makes more beautiful use of language. Gifty‘s sorrow and loneliness and grief are so palpable, even while she tells her sensitive story from a kind of clinical distance. The questions that she poses - about God and science and personal agency and religion and faith - are lingering and mighty. 4/5 ⭐️s.

>> 𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝙻𝚒𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚗𝚜 🙂🍁
𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢! 𝙶𝚘 𝙶𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚜 (𝙵𝙻) & 𝚃𝚒𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜 (𝙰𝚄) 🏈

I hope to spend some more time with the tagged book this afternoon/evening during my downtime. I am halfway thru & while it prob won‘t be a fave of the year, it‘s good on audio & holding my interest.

Wʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ᴡᴇᴇᴋᴇɴᴅ?

#currentlyreading

True to my word, I have to say this is one of the most extreme things I have done for books in awhile.

Finally got my penguin bookmarks free book @squirrelbrain

The book I originally picked never arrived, so I got to pick from a new selection, and they had this one. ❤️

I have now read all of the Women's Prize shortlisted books for this year, and this one was as excellent as the rest. TW for substance abuse.

A nice day to start a new book❣️

@Hestapleton Thanks for choosing this amazing book for your #LMPBC selection! This is a powerful book with gorgeous writing. I was blown away by how smart and vulnerable the writing is. I loved it, and I loved reading your thoughts on it!
Sending it your way soon @Mynameisacolour ! @LiteraryinLawrence #groupv

“Whenever I think of my mother, I picture a queen-sized bed with her lying in it, a practiced stillness filling the room.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I feel guilty for 'panning' this considering the subject and the fact that Homegoing was one of my favourites last year, but I just didn't like it. Main character, Gifty, didn't grow until the last 2 pages when the whole of her future was wedged in with no explanation. Just felt like rambling pages of religion vs science, with what could have been a very interesting story about loss, depression, religon, race and addiction badly woven within it.

5 ⭐️

I can‘t find enough words to explain Joe much I love this book.

5 big stars 💫💫💫💫💫 This was a heartfelt soulful read about family, love, life and how God strengthens us. This reads like a memoir but is a piece of fiction. Gifty the main character tells her story from the first person divulging secrets about her family, career and personal relationships. Definitely a feel good read.

#midyearfaves

The upcoming days I will be posting 1 of my 10 favorite books of the year so far - with a few thoughts on them.

Gifty is one of my favourite characters of the year. She is a scientist so she tries to make sense of it all: death, religion, grief, addiction, her sexuality, het Ghanaian descent. I loved all about her. And about Gyaasi for that matter. Her writing is fantastic.

I can relate to the conflicts with mother and the questions about God. However, I like “Homegoing” more than this book. Probably my expectation was too high.

#CuriousCovers @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs #LittenListen @aperfectmjk

My favorite read so far this month and one of my favorites of the year too. Such a great book. 💞

#CuriousCovers Day 16 #Pink

Another book I‘m anxious to read this year.

This book was compelling with plain prose that just contains so much - science, religion, addiction, depression, grief, hope and wonder. I was fully absorbed.

The '21 Pulitzer Prizes were announced today. Congrats to the winners!! I was particularly pleased to see Natalie Diaz win for Postcolonial Love Poem. It's still on my TBR, but I loved her last book. I have to say that I was a bit disappointed that Transcendent Kingdom didn't win. I know it was a longshot, but I was hoping so much that I *almost* said that if it didn't win I'd completely shave. With the Women's Prize around the corner, time is 👇

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #LittenListen @aperfectmjk

I loved this book! 💚 Its gorgeous writing and the exploration of grief, addiction, and religion were fascinating to me. Gifty's struggle with her education and her beliefs reminded me of similar conflicts I had in college, trying to make sense of how God and science fit in the same world.

I really have to read Homegoing now. 😁

Gave me the happy sadness.

I loved her first book Homegoing so was anxious to read this one and it was quite good. Gifty struggles with her family history as her depressed mother comes to live with her. Gifty is in a doctoral program working with lab mice to discover more about the brain. She questions her family‘s history with religion and faith and what she is doing with her life. How can one be happy with so much tragedy around you? #depression #immigration #addiction

5⭐️ || Why did it take me so long to pick this one up? I loved the interweaving of faith and grief and science and wonder. This will stay with me for a long time; it‘s easily one of my top reads this year.

I love the prose in this story, I love the depiction of the clash between science and religion, I love the characterisation of Gifty and her struggle to understand the world, first through the faith and later through the science. So many heavy topics are constructed ‘effortlessly‘ into coherent narrative ... until the end. Last chapter is so out of the place, so lame that it almost ruined my reading experience. But yes, still strong pick.😁

Saturday afternoon with my reading buddies ...

Incredible writing. Such a great book to read. Race, poverty, religion, depression, addiction, mother-daughter relationships, and of course, science...so much covered and so deftly handled. Really like this and Homegoing and they‘re both very different from each other. I‘m hoping Gyasi writes a lot more books, because I want to read them all.

The Shortlist for the 2021 Women‘s Prize was announced today. The tagged book has a good chance of winning according to many readers like @vivastory and @BarbaraBB 😃. My favorites didn‘t make the cut, so I‘ll be rooting for Piranesi for now and will definitely read the Lockwood title soon. Maybe I‘ll even try to read the other two that I‘ve not yet read.

Any other Littens following the prize? 😀

So I enjoyed this one, although it took a while to get into it. I am glad I didn't stop! I really liked Gifty and felt for her and the family situations they went through. It has been short-listed with the Women's Price for Fiction, which am pleased about. #book