Welcome to Litsy!

Wow! Powerful, stark, brutal, brilliant. This #chunkster shares a glimpse of Jamaica in the 60s-70s from multiple perspectives: a ghost, gangsters, journalists, the CIA, and a woman with various identities, following the story to NYC in the 80s. An epic examination of the impact that governments, criminals, and artists can have on a community that is just trying to get by. Dark and upsetting but worth it. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

☝️

A fun list, kind of weird given how it was created. Really didn't like the number one book.

Tempting.
(Can't believe it's been ten years since he won the Booker!)

#BookBinge #SchoolSubjectInTitle A highly praised title I need to read!

🌹A toss between Fredrik Backman and Elena Ferrante
🌹tagged book - Brief History of seven killings
🌹Must I persist? Misogynistic mess.

I am 300 pages in and I really don't know what is going on. There are so many characters, and while some of them have interesting stories many are just a mess. There is a ghost that just talks gibberish with lots of violence against women, and another who is also ranting which about 50 pages ago I started to skip. I am not even at the half way mark and I just don't want to anymore.

#bookspin

#doublespin

@TheAromaofBooks

If you can settle in to the lilting patois, spoken by over half of the book‘s 75 characters, in narrating a jumbled retelling of the epic history behind Jamaica‘s troubled years, you‘re in for an extraordinarily rich experience. A Brief History takes fictional freedom in investigating who were, and what became of, the seven mysterious gunmen who attempted to assassinate Bob Marley right before his Smile Jamaica peace concert on Dec. 5, 1976.

This was anything but brief! Whew! That was a wild ride. Definitely one to read rather than listen to. There‘s a large character list that I found myself frequently flipping to for the first hundred or so pages. I loved all the different perspectives and how James changes the writing style for different characters as well as situations! I did have to brush up on Jamaican politics in the 70‘s and I learned a lot about Jamaican history and culture.

Brief? No. Seven killings? More like 700 maybe. You know how sometimes you might go for a run, and when you start out, you're like, ugh why am I doing this? and then about a quarter of the way in, you're like, okay, maybe I'm kind of into this, but when it's over, you're like, oh I'm really glad I did that, but also thank god it's over? That is exactly the experience of reading this book.

A month after starting this one, I‘m right around the halfway point. Snuck off to the beach this morning for some uninterrupted reading. Life‘s been a little hectic and stressful lately so I‘m taking a little me time today.

I‘m starting this one today! I‘m a bit intimidated
1) because I tried the audio and had a hard time following the dialect AND characters
2) there‘s a FOUR PAGE character list at the beginning 😳
I‘m also super excited because I‘ve heard great things and I‘m in the need of a chunky, challenging read.
#pop22 @KarenUK @Cinfhen @Kalalalatja @Megabooks @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraBB @Laughterhp @RaeLovesToRead @jenniferw88 @squirrelbrain

I managed to get a couple hundred pages in, but I‘m all done. There are two many characters and too much going on, making me struggle to stay with what‘s happening. When I got to the point that I stopped caring, I decided to pull the plug.

February: some amazing novels this month. A Brief History of Seven Killings is in contention for my favorite novel of all time. Began my mission to read most of Dostoevsky as well.

I probably should have bailed on this one, but by the time I realised this, I was halfway through the audiobook. Think I ended up listening to 24 out of 26 hours of this one.

2 ⭐

#pop22 #MISLEADINGTITLE! 🤣🤣🤣

@Cinfhen @Cortg @KarenUK @Megabooks @Kalalalatja @4thhouseontheleft @Laughterhp @RaeLovesToRead

Thanks for the tag @sprainedbrain

1. Complete all my challenges
2. Healthy
3. Yes, started on audio this morning - 26hours long!

Tagging @squirrelbrain @julesG @Crinoline_Laphroaig @tenar @TrishB

1 of 2 - Whew! This was quite a task! Here are my #pop22 books, subject to change based on book club choices. 28 of these are on my physical TBR bookshelves which I‘m super excited about. 4 are new to me books that I had to google and the rest are on my TBR radar. I‘ve got a few big ones, so we‘ll see. Let the games begin!

#curiouscovers #circles The highly rated tagged book that is still in my TBR .Got the Glastonbury book at one of my favorite places that is no longer in business , the Bodhi Tree on Melrose then I would trip over to Urth Caffé for coffee , tea to enjoy my finds. Toward the One by Hazrat Inayat Khan is a Sufi book I love to thumb thru from time to time , beautiful thoughts and images inside .

I‘m posting one book per day from my ever-increasing TBR. No description. No explanation. Just books to read. Join the fun if you want.

Day 60.

#fromthetbrstacks

#24B4Monday #readathon 1st book finished @Andrew65 @SumisBooks @jb72

Intense, brutal, fascinating. A challenging read because it switches perspective and the voices are so different, but worth the effort. It prompted me to do some research into Jamaica during that time and I can't unsee that now.

TW: extreme violence, drugs, rape

This was definitely a challenge, between the multiple narrators and dialects, everyone talking in code, and the complexity of the story. But an incredible book and I‘m glad I read it.

Beautiful spot for a little reading this morning. ☀️

I‘ve had this on my shelf for awhile and it feels like the time. Looking forward to diving in.

Day 2: For fun, I am going to post one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join the fun if you want. #bookstoread #tbrpile

Not sure why I thought this would be any easier than Black Leopard, Red Wolf, but here we are.

Marlon James is a genius. This book was so complex and layered. Like the Wire, but set mostly in Jamaica. I‘m in total awe. It‘s not an easy read at all, but so worth the effort.

Even the cat looks intimidated by the first 2020 reading challenge I‘ve decided to take on.💝

I‘ve been carrying it like this all day bc I can‘t find any of my $&@ing actual bookmarks

Not brief but worth the investment.

#WanderingJune One of the first books I posted about when I first joined Litsy, 3 years ago. This was an epic read and took a whole lot of concentration and patience BUT man did it payoff!!!! Brilliant storytelling and compelling characters a true #dreadlockHoliday and Marlon James is sexy as hell 🖤

I cant believe i found the Red Queen coloring book and Marlon James at Dollar Tree!! 😱 I loved Waiter Rant and im thinking of rereading it!

Greg fucking Brady never told anyone to Chillax.

This book is set in 1976. Who do I contact about revoking its Booker Prize?

Presented as fiction, this book is based on real political and economic upheaval and graphically real poverty and crime in Jamaica. This book seemed to drag in places but it is rich with recent dark history of this beautiful country. I really enjoyed it. If you've ever traveled to Jamaica and ventured beyond the expensive resorts with high walls I think you'll be fascinated.

Went to a book sale today and found these for $9. Each had a tiny tear on their covers which meant I got a deal!

This book is so dense with its train of thought narration it‘s took awhile to read. It‘s amazing and graphic writing. I loved it but it was a chore.

At 686 pages, this hefty novel demands the reader's attention and finishing it felt like completing a mental marathon. Set in Jamaica & New York from 1976-1995, A Brief History follows the lives of Jamaican gangsters, a young woman who witnesses their assassination attempt on Bob Marley, an American journalist, a CIA agent, a ghost, etc. It's a lot, and definitely not for the squeamish. An absorbing story of power, violence and missed opportunity.

Great book haul this week when selling books to Half Price Books. 2019 goal: not buying any new books until 4 TBR books read or donated.

Preparing for my first book purge of 2019! On the stack are:
-A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
-The Illegal by Lawrence Hill
-Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway
-SS-GB by Len Deighton.

The theme is books that I (unfortunately) could not finish, most of them early on.

These books are going to my local library and will most likely end up in their used bookstore at the central branch or at the yearly book sale.

2019 is going to be the year of thiccc reading for me. I‘m also trying to write physical notes as I read. This is where I‘m starting. #thicccbooks2019

BHoSK is staggeringly good. James is incredibly good at conveying his characters' terror, anguish, hope, and resignation. The only downside is that there is really only one fully-developed female character.

#BirdofParadise #WinterWonderland
@TrishB @Cinfhen

My latest thrift shop haul had an inadvertent color scheme!

I‘m glad I have finally finished this book. It is definitely easier to listen too than read. I enjoyed the first third and last third but got lost and bored in the middle. A lot of it was over my head. There was just way too many characters and way too much going on.

I tried I really did! Made it halfway through this #chunkster but it‘s just too much work and not enough payoff. I struggle to get through each chapter 😖 anyone else have trouble with this one?!