Welcome to Litsy!

https://youtu.be/B38Ydu08mSQ

Chat #1: with Raymond from Maryland

The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans

Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans

Chat #2: with Alina from Rotterdam

The Roles We Play by Sabba Khan

12/7/2021

I loved this book! The novella with same title especially. I think it‘ll stick with me for awhile - such a moving story of Black female experience.

Such a strong collection of stories! I‘m amazed at Evans‘ ability to draw a strong sense of place and character in so few words. My favorite stories were Boys Go to Jupiter, Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain, and the title story.

Loved the voice of the author. Great nuanced stories. 4 🌟

A book about PERSPECTIVE as much as anything else: the male artist‘s ego, the Black feminist‘s pride & indignation, the white college student‘s pride & indignation, the daughter‘s exasperation, the gov‘t historian‘s dedication. ^^This take on the proverb of the one-eyed man is IT all in one package: it‘s the culture you swim in, the power structures you take part in, that shift your perspective. One-eyed man would be an outsider. 💜💜 this book.🔥

Well how dumb can I be, this sat on my to-be-read list way too long. I‘d read “Boys go to Jupiter” & was maybe wary of more clueless college bikinis but this collection is so on on ON in crisp & perfect prose, draws you in to live in it. “Alcatraz” = favorite, with the dedication to justice for the dead, strained mother-daughter, race & family, the perfect setting & good intentions gone awry. KILLER collection. Read NOW. Don‘t wait like me. 2020

I'm not sure how to review this book. I thought a couple of the short stories were only 2⭐ reads. I thought the ending novella was a 5⭐. I don't want to rate it based on its best or worst chapter. I finished it a couple of days ago and couldn't decide how to review it. I think there is something in it for everyone, but definitely not every story is for everyone. Overall ⭐⭐⭐

Historically I don‘t love short stories. The first one of this book was good. Fingers crossed as I work through it.... any thoughts? #botm #shortstories

One thing I‘ve realized lately is that I truly LOVE short stories, and this book falls directly into the LOVED collection. I devoured this book and will be rereading in the future, highly recommend.

CW- one story does have violence against black peoples and white s*premacists.

First five star book of 2021! #botm

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The title novella is smart and clever, but my favorite story, by far, was the one about the apologetic artist. It was fire! LOVED it. Like most collections, some stories are stronger than others. I found the first two underwhelming, but the book as a whole works very well. Vonnegut states that short stories are so challenging to write because you have to accomplish a lot in very few pages, so I try to remember that. Evans delivers here.

This book is something special.

"I'll just read a couple of pages" I said to myself while getting ready this morning.

60 pages in and wondering why I wasn't born independently wealthy so I could sit at home and read this all day.

An excellent collection of stories about racism and the Black experience.
"It felt unfair, how absurd someone could be and still be terrifying."

Bailing on the audio - the narrator just isn‘t doing it for me, but I suspect these are very well written stories.

Really loved this collection: intelligent, witty, graceful writing, and deeply thoughtful stories. The title story is an absolute masterpiece about an incident of racial violence in early 20th century Wisconsin. Richly realized characters in a stunning story. Can‘t recommend highly enough!

#Bookspin #DoubleSpin and one #BookspinBingo Successful December reading!

My favorite reads were The Chosen and The Beautiful, The Night Watchman,

@thearomaofbooks thank you as always for all the hard work, this is such a fun challenge.

Favorite books of 2020 stack ... missing The Water Dancer and The Dutch House.

This is what I went with for my December #botm pick. It‘s a surprising pick for me but I think it looks good!

This was so good. Each story was layered and surprising and thought-provoking. I was absolutely riveted.
I went in knowing next to nothing about the themes/content and loved the way these stories unfolded and revealed themselves. If you like short stories these are excellent and you should read them!

For today's adventure in #audiobaking I made soft pretzels. They turned out pretty good, though obviously my pretzel-shaping technique could use some work 😅. Started the tagged book and so far it is very, very, very good 👍🏼

This is a damn fine collection that I tore through until I got to Anything Could Disappear (the penultimate story), which gave me a 24-hour hangover. These stories are tight (nary a word unneeded), thoughtful, and satisfying. They throw a lens on the perception of race, especially the title novella, which involves the difficulties in bringing light to truth. 4.5⭐️

Tagging a few Littens who may enjoy this.

It‘s been a good week for #bookmail! Excited for this #shortstory collection.

I did donate three large totes worth to the library, so I do feel good about clearing room AND supporting them.