Welcome to Litsy!

I went to the library and this is my assortment for the week. I‘m going to finally finish Between Two Kingdoms (about half way), make a sweary cross stitch for my friend, and try a new recipe from Ina. Should keep me out of trouble!
December 29, 2024

A heartbreaking, eye-opening, and inspiring read. Suleika‘s experiences are so palpable, I didn‘t want the book to end.

Loved this one! Tough read at times, but I appreciated Suleika‘s recount of her cancer experience.

Excellent audiobook. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Current audiobook…I‘ve been curious about Suleika‘s story after watching Netflix‘s American Symphony.

#SchoolSpirit #Bus

Recommended by Ann Patchett, still on Mt. TBR

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Amazing memoir. Very insightful, compelling, and vulnerable. Seeing Ms Jaouad‘s journey from symptoms to diagnosis to treatment and beyond was very eye opening. Really, really liked this one. 💛💛

Not many stories exist in the world about young adults who are navigating a cancer diagnosis, so this book fills a very important void. Jaouad is a great writer and it was very brave of her to share such a vulnerable time in her life. I didn‘t care quite as much for the 2nd half of the book detailing her post-cancer road trip, but I still very much recommend this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

My dad passed away unexpectedly last month. He had been hospitalized in January for hallucinations & loss of muscle control. Postmortem the doctor that signed his death certificate said it was Lewy Body dementia. The doctor said he was most likely living with it for at least 5 years. He was being followed by neurologist & neuropsychiatrist & it was completely missed. Anyhow I have been either reading fluff books or books about loss, grief, hard

This is my current book club pick. Not my normal choice and the content is hard going. Someone‘s personal suffering is always painful to read but this lady is a born writer. So much so that at times I‘ve felt like I was reading fiction, the jolt back to reality often lands with a bump and a few tears.

May‘s TBR stack! Excited to finally read Prophet Song. The tagged is a book club pick and definitely out of my comfort zone!

Total emotional tearjerker, but so good! One of those books everyone should read. (20)
⭐️: 4.5/5

I was not familiar with Suleika Jaouad until I watched the documentary American Symphony, which is in some ways a sequel to this memoir. Cancer is never good, but for someone in their twenties with a brain that is not fully developed, it wreaks havoc not only on the body, but also the mind and soul. Though her cancer returned in 2020, I am happy Suleika landed on her feet, and ended up with Jon.

4.5/5

An emotional, but really lovely memoir about cancer and figuring out how to live after your life is completely changed.

Suleika graduated college, moved to Europe, and was falling in love, when at 22, she was diagnosed with a leukemia. The diagnosis upended everything, sending her into a world of illness, hospitals, and treatments. She charts the course of her disease and how it changes her relationships - to her body, to the people she loves, to the world. It is a glimpse at how this young woman attempts to come to terms with her own mortality. Incredibly moving.

A very well written and heartfelt story of a young woman‘s struggle with cancer while in her twenties and it‘s effect on her life and the lives of those she loved.

The main part of this memoir is about Suleika‘s illness starting with the first symptoms,roughly a year before her diagnosis.Only the last part takes her on a road trip where she visits people she connected with because of her NYTimes column.I didn‘t find her insights inspiring,but it‘s a well written,honest account and I like her.I enjoyed reading her thoughts and self reflection.She experienced so much physical pain,death-it‘s heartrending.

It‘s Friday for me and it‘s sunny and 84degrees in Minnesota in April! Finished this one on my balcony. It‘s my #bookspin book and I‘m continuing to move through my #AwesomeApril stack.

My dear friend has been diagnosed with cancer of several organs. Oddly enough I was listening to this book when we found out. I wanted to describe what this woman had gone through as she treated and survived, but decided that wasn‘t very helpful. Jaouad is fearless and relentless in telling her story. Her journey across country after her many treatments is a testimony to the bravery involved in carrying on despite the fear of recurrence.

Stunningly heart wrenching story. Suleika bridges the gap between the well and the unwell. Read this book. Just do it.

I found the first half, with all the medicine and treatments and trying to hold her relationship together much more interesting than her road trip. The most interesting person (for me) she met on the road trip was the man on death row in Texas. He wrote to her early on in her cancer journey, and the parallels were really surprising to me. Something that scared me about the book was how much support and help she needed throughout.

This was such a real and raw account of what it's like to be a young person with illness. I will continue to follow Suleika's writings on Instagram.

I picked up a new book at Target (buy 2 get 1 free sale going on now!) solely because I loved that the cover was a pastiche of Into the Wild. 😍📚

#AlphabetGame #LetterB @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I recommend Between Two Kingdoms, a memoir of the author‘s cancer diagnosis and treatment. She had a unique take, and didn‘t sugar coat what it was like for her and her family. I‘ve continued to follow her since reading this.

For something lighter, I‘d recommend Book Lovers. It‘s the only Emily Henry I‘ve read so far, but I really liked it.

Thanks @DebbieGrillo for the tag!

At 22, Suleika Jaouad learns she has leukemia. Told in two parts - her story is parts medical battle, mourning, and gratitude as she learn to survive and forge a new life. Her writing invites us to understand the pain, struggles, love, and kinship she comes to rely on while navigating illness, loss, and hope.

I loved this book! It is heartbreaking, and beautiful, and incredibly inspiring.

Thanks to @britt_brooke for putting this book back on my #ReadersRadar 💚At 22, fresh from graduation ( Princeton) Sulieka Jaouad is diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia. This book traces her two journeys, living through cancer, living beyond cancer. While I thought this book might be ultimately hopeful, it was much sadder throughout than I was expecting. Suleika never holds back or sugarcoats any of her feelings or experiences.

Alternating between these two memoirs. Both wonderfully written but one so sad, the other so screwy (?), madcap!?? Both are certainly reflective and honest. It‘s a good balance of light & heavy.

Well this just catapulted to MUST LISTEN 🎧 Im HOOKED @britt_brooke @BarbaraBB

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Before reading this memoir, I‘d never considered PTSD as result of extreme illness, but it makes complete sense. Suleika takes us through life before, during, and after Leukemia. There‘s much to ponder and discuss, so good call by my #bookclub. And no, I did NOT get “Eat, Pray, Love” vibes, so don‘t worry about that. A little road trip to visit a few folks who helped her through her cancer journey was actually quite a nice touch.

How is it that as early as January I may have read one of the best non-fiction books this year! Outstanding! BETWEEN TWO KINGDOMS by Suleika Jaouad is one of those books that will stay with me for quiet a long time. Poignant, beautifully written, and a searing narrative, Suleika is born a storyteller. She has this unbelievable command of words. Whe she strikes, she meant it, her words and thoughts so propulsive I can't help but be wowed. 👇

@shortsarahrose thank you so much for the #littlechristmasswap package. I‘m so excited that you picked this book because I have had a hard time trying to find it recently. I can definitely use the chocolate as I am finishing my last semester of grad school. Thank you @bookish_wookish for hosting.

#12booksof2021
Two utterly compelling books,one a personal memoir,one an exhaustive investigation of a prominent family.
BTK is the journey of a 23 year old woman as the life she dreamed of shatters with a leukemia diagnosis.Not self pitying or maudlin,but a lyrical account of her unexpected journey as she navigates between two worlds,” the kingdom of the sick”during treatment,& afterwards, her trip (literally) to the “kingdom of the well.”⬇️

I was drawn to this cover and started without reading the description or even the subtitle, so I didn‘t know what it was about. It follows Suleika through her cancer diagnosis and treatment and then her road trip after. She‘s a good writer who has a compelling story that she tell in an honest way. Its interesting without trying to be inspirational. I hope she writes more.

#booksandjournals
Suleika Jaouad‘s”Isolation Journal”was in my mailbox today.It is beautiful.The middle journal I bought at the Hartford Atheneum‘s exhibit,”By Her Hand”featuring Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy 1500-1800.The moon & star notebook:🌙⭐️
Both books pictured are mesmerizing.Between Two Kingdom‘s for its raw beauty as it chronicles SJ‘sjourney, & By My Hand for its details & photos regarding these women & their art.

1. I‘m in the middle of several books but I started the tagged one yesterday and can‘t put it down.
2. This is silly, but today a friend send me a TikTok of someone putting a tiara on their cat and the cat‘s face made me LOL. It looked like, of course, I am a queen.
3. My biggest pet peeve is when a book says something like “she let out a breath she didn‘t know she was holding” or “someone was screaming, turns out it was me.”

#ThankfulThursday

A really well-written memoir, very engrossing, very heartbreaking.
Not something I'd normally pick up, but I'm glad I did. It's for a book club at work, we're having a zoom event today and she's going to speak 😄

Quick summary- this book is about a young woman‘s life who was just figuring out adulthood when she came down with cancer. Although I have never had a prolonged illness like the author, this book still spoke to me. I found myself relating in many ways to the author, and asking myself some deeper questions. If life has ever not turned out the way you thought- read this book.

Highly recommend. Insightful and engrossing memoir about what it means to be alive. 4.5 🌟

What a journey this book is so far; #SuleikaJaouad and I are the same age, and she has fought a harder battle than I can even begin to imagine, more bravely and with more grace than I ever could. I also lost a friend in April who had been fighting breast cancer like hell for a year, so this is an even tougher read. But from Suleika and my beloved Jen, how can I learn any lesson but to be brave in all things, when I am so lucky? #betweentwokingdoms

Once upon a time I read/heard about this book and I was intrigued so I put it on hold on Libby and when it finally came in I could no longer remember why. It‘s a bit like Brain on Fire, with a very young woman having failing health but not such a mystery. I cried a lot during this book and a lot of SJ‘s observations about isolation apply to a pandemic quite well. When this gong show is over I want to go on a road trip too

Well-written memoir. Though I‘m quite a bit older than the author and fortunately haven‘t had to go through anything remotely close to what she has, her writing style was easy to relate to. And I‘d love to drive across the country like she did, though probably wouldn‘t be brave enough to do it alone.

My latest on audio

Compelling memoir by a woman who was diagnosed with leukemia at 23. After spending 4 years battling cancer in the “kingdom of the sick,” she embarked alone on a cross-country road trip to discover how she can find her way back again into the “kingdom of the well.” Well written and thought-provoking without being excessively schmaltzy.