Welcome to Litsy!

Knowing I was about to finish my current read, I threw another book in my bag today. When I pulled it out, I found three bookmarks in it. Apparently I have done the “grab a bookmark, throw it in the book, throw the book in the bag” routine a couple of times already with this one. I did start it this time, though. 🤦🏻‍♀️

This is so informative and insightful and heartbreaking and moving and inspiring but I don‘t think the narrator had the gravitas to pull off the often-difficult subject matter.

As much a memoir as a collection of essays that centres struggles of Indigenous people with problems (mental health concerns, poverty, trauma, violence) with systemic causes: racism, colonialism, via the powerful medium of lived experience, bolstered by additional readings/research. Also interrogates writing and photography through an intersectional lens. Innovative participatory essay format for last essay encourages deeper reflection. 1/2

Currently choking...

Language = as "a way of seeing the world".
I like.

This author takes each subject, serious and well known as it may be, and expounds it into a multi-layered essay that makes you look at each subject in a way you might not have before, make new connections you might not have before…. All through the lens of the history of colonialism, racism, indigenous, female, etc.

The best essay collection I‘ve read in a very long time. Definitely a #MustRead

#SheSaid

Another #blameitonlitsy read courtesy of the #shesaid group. The title hooked me, as I hadn‘t about this one prior to seeing all the posts about it. Then I realized I was going to have to read it as I‘m a sucker for essay collections. The essays vary and feature experiences from Elliott‘s childhood with a mentally ill mother in a mixed-race family. She writes about the continued impact of colonization and generational trauma. Great audio!

This was a #shesaid book selection. There was a lot of difficult subject matter covered in the book (colonialism, racism, abuse, mental illness, sexual assault,…) but so well written. I loved Elliott‘s writing style & she definitely made me think deeper about the subjects in her essays. #bookspin book

Every single one of these essays was well written and made me think of things in a different way. Not sure who suggested this for #SheSaid but props to whomever you are.

#SheSaid @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was a fantastic essay collection. Thoughtful and thought-provoking, Elliott connects her personal experiences within wider historical, sociological, and even entertainment context. Mental illness, colonialism, intergenerational trauma, gentrification, sexual assault, and the relationships between abusers and victims are all explored in sharp, engaging prose. It forces you to confront the issues and your biases, and get uncomfortable 👇

Sorry for the very late posting #SheSaid!

I unexpectedly spent my day at the emergency vet and just got home. But everyone is on the mend now…

….. so how about this great book!

I gave this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! It was a wonderful collection of essays that covered many difficult societal issues, all through the lens of a Native North American woman. Powerful and important. #SheSaid @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

Hello #SheSaid

Thank you to whoever nominated this one, each essay is so good… and I should be reading them slower and absorbing each of them, and yet I find myself rushing through to the next.

How‘s everyone else making out with this one?

Hello #SheSaid

Happy Mother‘s Day to all the mom‘s & surrogate mom‘s out there!

I‘m out with my mom today, so please start discussing whenever you get time today!

I read the tagged book for #SheSaid; I enjoyed it so much that I finished it quite early. Elliott covers topics from generational trauma to genocide to abuse to the roles that nations play in mental illnesses among marginalized people — all through the lens of her own life. I‘d listen to it again. I went from one book about poverty & mental illness to another with Don‘t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You. #audiowalk

I‘m listening to this for #SheSaid. It‘s been a very quick read, and Elliott has a compelling voice. I have the afternoon off, and it‘s raining; therefore, I‘ve been forced to go to bed and read. 😄 #audiowalk

Hello #SheSaid! I hope you are having a nice weekend and Spring or Fall is treating you well.

Discussion starts below for our new book!

"He just gave her his half-baked opinion like a torch and watched as she caught flame."

Repost for @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

#SheSaid schedule for May. See original post for details https://litsy.com/p/azRBN2dEanBu

Hello #SheSaid

Schedule for our May read is up, please put in your library holds and interlibrary loans. The audiobook is available on Hoopla if your library partners with them, no ebook there though sadly.

Many topics are covered here, but the main one is generational trauma and the long lasting effects of colonialism. Part memoir of surviving abuse and depression, part examination of societies‘ shortcomings.

Raw emotion balances with statistical facts for a well rounded and thoughtful book. I‘ll be thinking about this one for a while.

#doublespin and book 4 for #NonfictionNovember

All of the subjects have been covered before, true. Also true, they have never been covered in such a beautiful and thoughtful manner. Will be mulling this over for a long time.

Just starting this beautiful book. It has the best description of depression i have ever read. I am reading so slowly because I keep rereading passages for their beauty and wisdom.

This was not what I expected going in but I liked it. Elliott's essays explore how being native has affected so many aspects of her life in ways you might not have imagined, including mental health issues, poverty, and family dynamics. She reveals the depth of racism against indigenous people that still prevails today. A very powerful read.
Major TW: abuse

“Racism, for many people, seems to occupy space in very much the same way as dark matter: it forms a skeleton of our world, yet remains ultimately invisible, undetectable. This is convenient. If nothing is racist, then nothing needs to be done to address it”

I'm posting one book per day from the ever growing unread stacks in my personal library. No description or explanation, just books I own and plan to read. #tbr

Day 24

I‘m one day late for international women‘s day, but I just want to say that a few years ago I challenged myself to read mostly women. Then I decided to read mostly women of colour, and it‘s been one of the best decisions I‘ve ever made! Here are a few of my recent favs.

“Things that were stolen can be stolen back.”
I just watched a wonderful webinar, The Colonialism-Depression Link: A Talk with Alicia Elliott.

A beautiful and devastating memoir, the first book I read in 2020 and required reading for all non-indigenous Canadians. The title comes from the Mohawk phrase that is closest to the English word for depression, which roughly translates to “a mind spread out on the ground.”

A book of essays outlining life split between her mother‘s European white culture and her father‘s Native American culture. The essays highlight poverty, mental health, race, and sexual assault just to name a few. Elliott is an excellent writer and incredibly smart. I would have liked if she elaborated on her relationship with her mom, but her essays were very personal and I appreciate what she has to say.

I had no idea this was a thing, but it doesn‘t surprise me. I had to google it this morning 🧐 Sorry if it offends anyone.

Excellent read. Not easy, she doesn‘t mince words. If you like Roxanne Gay, read this. If you don‘t read it anyways. #IndigenousPeoplesDay #Scarathalon2020

Leaving off my team name as it seems insensitive in relation to this book, but the points are: book finished + post = 6 points

@Clwojick

Finished my first book for the #SuperSeptember #readathon!

This book is a hard-hitting and thought-provoking collection of essays covering a range of topics (Indigenous issues, poverty, mental illness, racism, sexism and abuse) and explores the connections among them. It's made me re-examine some of my own beliefs about these issues.

@Andrew65

Every essay in this collection is beautifully constructed, raw, and hard hitting. This collection by a Canadian indigenous writer blew my socks off. Not easy reading, but so important. Highly recommended. #ARC #Netgalley

5🌟This essay collection is fierce and raw. Elliott's intelligence, pain, and anger for her people is evident throughout. A hard but important book to read. Covering Intergenerational trauma, sexual abuse, racism, mental illness, parenthood, oppression, colonialism and more. She traces Canada's treatment of Indigenous peoples throughout history and interconnects her own families trauma legacy. It was very eye opening, and heartbreaking. #canlit

Excellent collection of essays that pull no punches by Indigenous writer Alicia Elliott. Personal, passionate, systemic analysis about the ongoing impact of residential schooling, mental illness, the skewed treatment of sexually assaulted women by the justice system, and so much more.
#Booked2020 #MillennialAuthor
#nonfiction2020 #somethingaboutrace

This was so beautiful and made me so sad. I think it needs to be required reading for all humans.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Easily one of the best essay collections I have read. Alicia Elliott poignantly explores the lingering effects of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples and the crossroads of racism, poverty, mental health, and trauma. She is also an AMAZING writer.

I‘m about 40 pages in, and it grabbed me from the first paragraph on.

Alicia Elliott is one hell of a writer. She approaches topics like mental health, anti-Indigenous racism, and familial tension from a personal standpoint and as issues with broader societal causes. Her prose is clear and engaging. She pulls no punches. You should read her.

Took my dad out for a belated Father‘s Day breakfast, with many thanks to the two-for-$15.99 coupon on my case of Red Roof Lager. (There‘re also TWO vouchers for free Nips! Salisbury House is the best.) Now I‘m gonna park myself outside and do some Canada Day reading.

I‘m close enough to the end of A MIND SPREAD OUT ON THE GROUND that I could‘ve finished it yesterday, but I specifically wanted to save a couple essays for Canada Day.

Lunchtime book stack with spicy hummus & carrots. THE GABRIEL HOUNDS didn‘t pass the 50-page test—a major disappointment, given how much I loved my first Mary Stewart—but A MIND SPREAD OUT ON THE GROUND is excellent so far and I think I might‘ve finally found my way into TO YOUR ETERNITY with volume 3.

V. serious Friday night book stack.

A masterful collection of essays by Haudenasaunee writer Alicia Elliott, deftly placing her personal experiences within a greater context, making it easy for readers to grasp the concrete effects of socio-political realities like racism, sexism and colonialism. Her essays also address the complications of loving a parent with mental illness, and another who has abused her. I highly recommend the #audiobook, read by the author. #Indigenous

Author Alicia Elliott says of her final essay in this collection, Extraction Mentalities: “I initially went into much more detail. But I decided to take that out because as I read to edit it, I started crying. I had to remind myself that I didn‘t have to necessarily bleed on the page, so to speak. Sometimes it‘s enough to talk about how something affected you.”

#audiogardening & #audiocooking - I‘ve been mostly in the garden this weekend. Cleared the chicory from the veggie bed (and then planted nicer things); boiled the greens in 3 changes of water; made it into pizza; roasted the roots for hot drinks.

#audiobaking. It‘s dandelion time! Dandelion blossom cake with dandelion jelly in the icing.