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That Reminds Me
That Reminds Me | Derek Owusu
5 posts | 3 read | 17 to read
___________________________________ 'A singular achievement.' Michael Donkor, Guardian 'Heartbreaking, important and original.' Christie Watson, author of THE LANGUAGE OF KINDNESS 'Derek Owusu's writing is honest, moving, delicate, but tough. Once you lock on to his words, it is hard to break eye contact. A beautiful meditation on childhood, coming of age, the now, and the media. This work is heartfelt.' Benjamin Zephaniah 'Honest and beautiful.' Guy Gunaratne, author of IN OUR MAD AND FURIOUS CITY 'When writing is this honest, it soars. What an incredible use of language and truth.' Yrsa Daley-Ward ___________________________________ Anansi, your four gifts raised to nyame granted you no power over the stories I tell... This is the story of K. K is sent into care before a year marks his birth. He grows up in fields and woods, and he is happy, he thinks. When K is eleven, the city reclaims him. He returns to an unknown mother and a part-time father, trading the fields for flats and a community that is alien to him. Slowly, he finds friends. Eventually, he finds love. He learns how to navigate the city. But as he grows, he begins to realise that he needs more than the city can provide. He is a man made of pieces. Pieces that are slowly breaking apart That Reminds Me is the story of one young man, from birth to adulthood, told in fragments of memory. It explores questions of identity, belonging, addiction, sexuality, violence, family and religion. It is a deeply moving and completely original work of literature from one of the brightest British writers of today.
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review
TrishB
That Reminds Me | Derek Owusu
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Pickpick

Very hard to describe. Haunting, brutal, sad but beautifully and originally written.
Very small book with a lot to say.
Thanks Rachel for bringing to my attention.

KarenUK Great review Trish .... stacked! 4y
rockpools I‘m so glad you liked it! 4y
Kalalalatja Sounds really good! 4y
TrishB @KarenUK @Kalalalatja it‘s not an easy read, style or content, but worth the challenge. 4y
TrishB @rockpools interesting that it‘s published by Stormzy‘s company- he‘s doing a lot to make sure diverse voices are heard. This is definitely a great example. 4y
116 likes13 stack adds5 comments
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TrishB
That Reminds Me | Derek Owusu
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Oh he has such a way with words 💔💔

79 likes1 stack add1 comment
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TrishB
That Reminds Me | Derek Owusu
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Payday and tax rebate #bookhaul 😁😁
Most of course because of Litsy reviews- you know who you are!

GingerAntics I‘m so glad it wasn‘t just me that did this this week. First set of books get delivered tomorrow. 4y
squirrelbrain Great haul! I particularly have my eye on Fresh Water for Flowers, but it‘s quite expensive at the moment..... 4y
Cinfhen My friend recently mentioned this book ~ I‘m curious to hear your thoughts 4y
See All 21 Comments
Cathythoughts They all look good 👍🏻 yes I know who I am & I hope you like it 🤞🏻... my Bookclub will be reviewing it soon.. 4y
Cathythoughts I‘m interested in Fresh Water too 👍🏻 4y
Caroline2 Ohhh I‘m a bit excited about the Penny book set in Paris!! 😯 4y
TrishB @GingerAntics it was my tax rebate for wfh so I figured I may as well spend it! 4y
TrishB @squirrelbrain I went for kindle at just over Qe as the print was very expensive and I could buy another 2 books with the difference! 4y
TrishB @Cinfhen there seems to be a bit of a buzz about it at the moment! 4y
TrishB @Cathythoughts yes yours is one definitely 👍🏻 4y
TrishB @Caroline2 I was waiting to see if there was an offer but I really wanted to read it the other day! It will no doubt be on offer tomorrow. 4y
Kalalalatja What a day for you! 😄🙌 4y
Caroline2 @TrishB 😆 always the way!! I think I still need to read the two books before this one. I need to check...! 🤔 4y
MaureenMc 🤩🙌 4y
RachelAmphlett November Road is haunting - I loved it 4y
GingerAntics @TrishB right? It‘s usually for fun stuff. 4y
Tera66 😊 Good for you! 4y
TrishB @RachelAmphlett good to know 😁 4y
TrishB @Kalalalatja @MaureenMc @Tera66 @GingerAntics it‘s very good occasionally 😁❤️ 4y
Reggie Yayyyy the Good House!!!!🖤🖤🖤I hope you like it, TrishB!!! 4y
TrishB @Reggie I couldn‘t resist it anymore after yours and @sprainedbrain reviews!! 4y
95 likes21 comments
review
rockpools
That Reminds Me | Derek Owusu
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Pickpick

I should have read this in print - not that the audio wasn‘t excellent, but it deserved my complete attention.

This is the story-in-poems of K, a black boy growing up in Britain, from foster care, through school and into adulthood, where a bipolar diagnosis and mental health issues become increasingly important. As a content warning, the ending resources list gives links to The Samaritans and Self Harm UK.

This is a powerful book - it‘s 👇🏻

rockpools beautifully observed and covers so much ground in one young man‘s life. The format makes it quite unique- to me it reads as individual poems, rather than a novel-in-verse, but they build to create such a strong picture of K‘s life. The author has described his story as 20% autobiographical, 80% fiction.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #MerkyBooks for an advance readers copy of this - I‘m glad to have read it, and will look out the print version.
4y
TrishB Great review Rachel. This sounds fab ♥️ 4y
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rockpools @TrishB I think you‘d like this one. I also think I‘m going to spend March reading books by/about delightfully care-free women! (Yeah, right!) 4y
TrishB It‘s payday tomorrow and I have a 650 tax rebate to spend! I may be buying some books and this has really caught my eye now! 4y
TrishB Good luck for March 😁 4y
squirrelbrain Great review - sounds like a wonderful book! 4y
rockpools @TrishB Well that sounds perfect! Also, is it payday tomorrow? I‘ve not got the hang of it yet - it‘s still a delightful surprise to find money lands in my account at the end of the month without me having to send out stroppy ‘Reminder‘ emails! 4y
rockpools @squirrelbrain Thanks Helen. I‘m going to give AHH another go now - still only half way through! 4y
TrishB It‘s definitely payday 😁😁 4y
Cinfhen Sounds great!!! But I‘m not a fan of this new blending of fact & fiction / it muddles things for me 4y
rockpools @Cinfhen I don‘t mind it too much - but I think I understand where you‘re coming from. If you can‘t separate the author from their character, I find it really hard to imagine them writing other books without that same character. And it makes books like Ocean Vuong‘s even more uncomfortable and disturbing. 4y
Cinfhen Yes, I‘m always curious what they will write next 4y
61 likes14 comments
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HinaP
That Reminds Me | Derek Owusu
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Week 4: That Reminds Me