Welcome to Litsy!

Have to go with a classic for #WhyInTitle. If it's #NewYearNewBooks for anyone, it's a must-read #poem from a treasured #poet and author. @eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

#HumbleHarvest #Birds

Trying to break the mold…

I can‘t believe it‘s taken me this long to read this book. Inspiring and tragic at the same time. There‘s not much else I can say that hasn‘t been said before, so instead I raise my glass to Ms. Angelou in extreme gratitude for the gift of herself, and for the gift of her words+books. I can see myself revisiting this book every year.

This was my #Doublespin pick!

30 book recommendations in 30 days...

Day 8: I can't possibly do this book justice. Just read it. #30recsin30days

2.5 out of 5

What a difficult read, both in this old writing style and themes of racism from the eye of a growing black child. I can see why everyone speaks highly of it as a great way to look into the past. Can also see others upset at sexual tendencies, thou rare and far in between. This book does get real, I‘m some aspects of her life. She holds nothing back.
This memoir is the most challenged book in America. TED-Ed has a great YouTube video about it

February #WrapUp

6 Books Completed:
2 part of #SeriesLove2023
2 part of #ChunksterChallenge2023
1 #NonFiction
Finished both #BookSpinBingo & #DoubleSpin
All contribute to #Pantone2023 as well

🏆 Favourite: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
👎🏻 Not a fan: The Sun is also a Star

I've also completed my first complete play-through of Hogwarts Legacy. So there's 70± hours not reading. But I am Loving it! 😍

5✨ 🎧
Absolutely brilliant!
This is such an open, honest recount of Maya's younger years.
I laughed with her, I cried for her and I felt angry for her when she was too young to do it herself. And hearing Maya reading it herself! This lady's talent is beyond measure.
Can't remember the last time a book had such an impact on me.

#DoubleSpin
@Clwojick #Pantone2023 #Bluing #IcedMango

Progress on my #FabulousFebruary #ReadAThon

I've done quite well on the Audio Hours, but I'm way behind on my page count.
Will finish the tagged Audio book and the focus on reading.

@Andrew65

The 1st time I read this I expected to find a depressing story of persecution & bad luck; instead I found a coming-of-age tale w/a powerful message of survival. She absolutely had bad things happen to her along the way, but her enduring strength & optimism & her ability to tell her story without lamenting all she‘d been through was truly inspiring. Rereading it a decade later makes me appreciate her gift for capturing the atmosphere in a story.

It‘s a powerful coming-of-age story, especially for fellow bookworms, and it‘s impossible to read this one without feeling uplifted in some way (despite the traumatic content). Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-maya-angelo...

My year of memoirs wouldn‘t be complete without reading this classic! I have to say, though, now that I‘ve read a bunch of memoirs this year, they are starting to blend together. 😂 I might only have one or two left in me this year. But this one was very good! It completely focused on her childhood, and it ends when she is 16. I would recommend the audiobook, as she reads it.

BANNED BOOK WEEK RECOMMENDATION! Some books feel like an honor to read. In his review, James Baldwin referred to the “luminous dignity”—and that‘s the perfect description—with which Maya Angelou writes about her joyous, heartbreaking childhood growing up as a Black girl, experiencing racism and rape, yes, but also love, laughter, literature, maturity, misadventure, and coming into her own, in and out of the small Southern town of Stamps, Arkansas.

Amazing read and much respect to the author for sharing her story and excellent literary work!

A book and a beer. Trying to distract myself from beginning the 2022/23 school year tomorrow.

Heat wave food, and a re-read before reading the other Maya Angelou biographical books.

Finished my June #DoubleSpin. This book (and really everything Dr. Angelou wrote) is so quotable. I just love her so much.

“When I was three and Bailey four, we arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed-“To Whom It May Concern”-that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson.”

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

My first book by Maya Angelou. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I have been greatly benefited by her story and style. This book tells her childhood story. I think she has quite a few more autobiographies. I would like to read them too.

I forgot to post my #BookSpinBingo list yesterday, but here it is! My #Bookspin is the tagged book, and my #DoubleSpin is Sabrina! Happy May, everyone 🌸💐🌷

The tagged is the book for which she is most remembered 🦜

#WeRemember #MayaAngelou @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Lots of emotions reading this. I‘m interested in her other books now.

I found the chapters about religion hard to read, not that they are difficult or anything, I just found my mind wandering and it was hard to concentrate.

So I‘d give it a 4/5 ⭐️

Currently reading on the train on the way home from Rhode Island.

I‘m finding it a bit difficult to concentrate on this book, maybe it‘s because I don‘t usually read non-fiction, maybe I‘m just not in the right headspace. I‘m just over 50% of the way through so I‘m persevering.

Just starting this, finally, after years of having it on my kindle.

Found an amazing coffee shop called “Sin” which had an amazing selection of baked goods.

Oh how I love reading anything this amazing human wrote. My heart is so sad we no longer have her wisdom and her words to guide us. This book should be read by everyone. #weremember @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

I just don't know enough about Maya Angelou; this was a good start. The first in a series of 7(!) autobios, this covers from her first memories to early adulthood. Despite all odds being against her, I believe the key to her success was strong & consistent parenting from her grandmother, even tho that only came in spurts. I call this more autobio than memoir; someone retelling stories, not searching for deep meaning.
#AuthorAMonth
@Soubhiville

“When I was three and Bailey four, we had arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed--“To Whom it May Concern“--that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson.“

Can you even imagine? 😳

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I read 2 books by Maya Angelou for #authoramonth. Celebrations was poems that were a part of celebrations such as a presidential inauguration. This was actually my first time reading Caged Bird. I had no idea it was autobiographical, and thinking of what she endured in her young life breaks my heart. It makes her journey to success so much more impressive. I'm so glad I finally read it. @Soubhiville

I'm about halfway through this incredible read. Haunting and beautifully written.

Read for #AuthorAMonth & (coincidentally) #roll100 Feb.

The first volume of Maya Angelou's autobiography covers her childhood and adolescence, growing up in the American South in the 1930s and 40s and is at times devastating to read. I found this to be an illuminating work and would like to read more of her writings.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

💖 wish I had read this in high school

#AuthorAMonth

#AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

*sigh* Unpopular opinion coming. I didn't love this like I wanted to. I'm not against reading difficult memoirs - I've read many that I've given higher star ratings. This just wasn't for me. I do, however, understand & appreciate what Maya Angelou has meant to literature & particularly POC, especially in 1969, when such things were rarely written.

⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Also finished this title for #authoramonth

I listened to part of this on audio read by the author and read the rest as an ebook, both formats borrowed from the library via Libby. I‘m glad I finally read this and Angelou is a gifted writer. I enjoyed it, but I think I still like her “Mom & Me & Mom” a bit better which I read a few years ago. Some of that may simply be timing and/or format as I read that in hardcover, my preferred format.

This memoir spanned through Angelou‘s formative years and told about many of the hardships she had to work through. Some of it is hard to read (tw: sexual assault, rape), but she skillfully explains in retrospect how she was impacted by her experiences. I listened to the audiobook; I love listening to her tell her own stories. #AuthorAMonth

To understand a person, I think understanding the person‘s thoughts and experiences growing up are critical. I‘ve learned so much about Maya Angelou but also, I suspect, the same can be said of the vast majority of poor young black girls raised in the south (as Oprah confirmed in her foreword). It was brutally honest and eye-opening. I understand why it‘s a classic. I‘m so glad I finally read it after being so long on my tbr list. #authoramonth

So this was a pretty good book! I‘ve never read any of Maya Angelou‘s poetry, but her autobiography was very interesting and well written. For my full thoughts, see my YouTube review here:

https://youtu.be/tqCNrYDjlCY

Good book! ☺️

Three hours waiting for surgery was not wasted! Three hours of this book! I couldn‘t do much of anything in recovery (this photo) but dang I loved these things on my legs for circulation. Do they sell these??

(TW TMI) I‘m now short a left thyroid and a large benign cyst that was pressing into my vocal cords. So I‘ll have a very rough voice for a few weeks. But I‘m well enough to post, at least while the pain meds are working!

#authoramonth

I am going to have surgery on Friday. This surgeon doesn‘t require I stay the night in the hospital (yay), so instead he will keep me under observation for 5-6 hours. I am trying to decide what are my best reading options when I groggily wake up from anesthesia: the tagged book for #authoramonth, Elephant for #readingafrica2022 #SouthAfrica, or Silence for #foodandlit #Argentina. I think I‘ll just have all 3 on hand.

Spending my evening with Maya and Maya. ❤️ 📚 😻

“In Stamps the segregation was so complete most Black children didn‘t really, absolutely know what white looked like. Other than that they were different, to be dreaded, and in that dread was included the hostility of the powerless against the powerful, the poor against the rich, the worker against the work for and the ragged against the world dressed.

“I remember never believing that whites were really real.”

Long on my tbr list it‘s perfect timing to read for #authoramonth. @Soubhiville

So this is a first: pages 115-146 are just missing. Not torn out, just missing. And not misnumbered- there is an entire part of the book missing. 🙄

Beautiful and powerful. It‘s easy to see why this became an instant classic. I‘m very glad she ended up on our #AuthorAMonth list this year.

#Nonfiction2022 #Free #PopSugar2022 #ABookWithAQuoteFromYourFavoriteAuthorOnItsAmazonPage @Soubhiville @Riveted_Reader_Melissa

“When I was three and Bailey four, we had arrived in the musty little town, wearing tags on our wrists which instructed – ‘To Whom It May Concern‘ – that we were Marguerite and Bailey Johnson Jr., from Long Beach, California, en route to Stamps, Arkansas, c/o Mrs. Annie Henderson.”

#FirstlineFridays

Such a powerful start ! Excited to read this for #AuthorAMonth Thank you @Soubhiville 💐☺️

Finally. Thanks to #Authoramonth2022 & @Soubhiville for "forcing" me to read her.

And, no, I am NOT increasing the speed of the audiobook.