Welcome to Litsy!

Desperate to support her brother and the young boy next store, Kiara turns to prostitution and ends up entangled in a scandal.

Oakland ✨ Survival ✨ Moon

A book with an incredible ending.

This was a heart wrenching, authentic, and beautifully written novel of pain, loss, abuse, poverty, and neglect. The debut author sects manages to drop you right into the story and enable you to feel right along with her characters. This was a tough but important read and helped me to see how sex workers find their way to that world and why they stay. I finished this one late last night to complete my bingo board. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

From reading the blurb I thought I was going into a fast paced page turner with an explosive plot line and unforgettable characters.

But nope, no explosions here.

Inspired by real events, this is the story of a Black teenage girl sexual assaulted by police officers.

This book clearly wants to tackle some big issues, but for me the author didn't do that.

Great idea but an emotionless execution.

This is a heartbreaking story from the perspective of a young woman whose mother is imprisoned and older brother is trying to find his own way in the world. Out of desperation, she begins night crawling. This leads her into difficult and desperate situations. 4/5

The cadence of this is reminiscent of Tiffany Jackson or Elizabeth Acevedo. I was not surprised to learn that Mottley was an Oakland poet laureate. The story is dark and sad. The writing is excellent. The subject matter is hard with many TW and I would be cautious who I recommend it to, but it is incredibly well done.

#weeklyforecast
I have jaw surgery on Wednesday so we will see how much effort I can put into reading.
I also have A Knock At Midnight on 🎧 from the library.
Trying to get through the Women's Prize long list before the quickly approaching short list announcement. I have 6 left and only 10 days. I will not be making it, there are 2 I am struggling to get my hands on still.

Another one waiting to be read! #temptingtitles #oneword @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

A good reminder that situations are rarely as flat & one dimensional as the media portrays. Motley elicits compassion out of the reader.

“Among the beauties of this novel too is the believability of the characters and the command with which the story is told.” The #ToB23 has convincingly chosen Nightcrawling as today‘s winner. We were less sure. It is our winner too but with just one vote extra in its favor!

It is time to fill in your votes for the Quarter Finals. Please do so today, because tomorrow the tournament continues. https://forms.gle/9wyNWFowpSMLJ3KX7 ‼️

Starting today.

From what I gleaned prior to reading this debut about a Black teen in Oakland who resorts to sex work in order to survive, I had a hunch it wouldn‘t be for me & I was right!The writing was too belabored for my tastes & comprehension;the plotting too thick with trauma after trauma. No doubt the author has a stellar career ahead of her, but I doubt I‘d even love a more mature effort…but never say never! I‘ve been surprised before. 😃
#ToB2023

I admire Mottley's compassion, courage, & skill in writing a book about class, race, police & gender violence, & the trauma of absent parents & alienated families. There is a whole world of difficulty in this book. It's a low pick because Mottley's youth shows in the tone of the book; it feels relentless in driving home the misery. The language is also overdone; every feeling a metaphor & every harrowing moment wrung out for symbolism. #ToB2023

#TOB23 My first year of participating. I lucked out as my top 3 books were ones I had already read and loved and I didn‘t read anything to change that. BUT I did read a bunch of books I might not have otherwise read and enjoyed. I appreciated how different each book was from the others. I couldn‘t get into my two bails and didn‘t read the two others as they held no appeal based on reviews. Looking forward to voting!

This novel contained some scenes that were both beautiful and grittily hard-hitting all at once. I thought it was a very good story and found it hard to put down. However, I'm not sure how it will fare in the #ToB2023, as I didn't get any sense of the “new and different“ that I usually associate with ToB books.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
#20in4 @Andrew65

A few arresting images and sentences, but all in all this gritty novel was just okay.

“The idea of drowning doesn‘t bother me, though, since we‘re made of water anyway. It‘s kind of like your body overflowing with itself.“

#SundaySentence

Shame on me; I did not give this book best attn - I believe it deserves good readers. I was a bad reader 😞
I just found the story going 💔… in heart-breaking directions (plural!) & couldn‘t devote best efforts. Another #ToB2023 book I skipped thru, felt anguish, read the ending, felt I was letting the author down; the writing is terrific, super impressed the author put this out into the world. Will follow her career. Had to return to library.

This is wonderful as a debut by a very young author. The story is gut wrenching. And I can see why it received attention from both the Booker and Oprah. My book club picked it off a list because it had the shortest page count. Maybe this should be how we pick all books.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

😊

#12DaysofChristmas September #12booksof2022

A book about a young black teenager‘s struggle to survive when all the odds are against her. It is sad and brutal but there are moments of sweetness and hope. A very fine debut novel.

Last book of 2022. For a short novel this took me a long time to read. This book about a difficult subject was written well. Just not my cup of tea.

I'm torn about this novel. It addresses some big problems that aren't often addressed, at least not in a way that retains the humanity of the women involved, but it feels...young. It lacks the perspective and emotional complexity that comes (hopefully) with age. (Continued in comments)

While this book isn't perfect in its construction, it is a deeply moving story of one girl's survival and fight to do more, for herself and for those still in her life she cares about it.

I'm still blown away that this was written by a 17 year old and I can't wait to see what she writes in the future.

#adventrecommends @emilyrose_x

Kiara is a 17 year old dropout who lives alone with her dropout brother and keeps an eye on the 9 yr old living next door with his drug addicted mother. Their rent doubles when they are already behind. Her brother refuses to work hoping for a rap career instead leaving Kiara to keep a roof over their heads. The option she finds leads her to be taken advantage of and abused. A harrowing story I had to put down often to calm my nerves. Fantastic.

Finished this in 2 days. It‘s beautiful & awful, poetic & gritty, horrific, believable, sad but hopeful.

Based on real events, in 2015 Oakland PD made the news for exploiting teenage girls and then disappeared from the news cycle. A fictionalize account of a Black teenager who turns to the streets while trying to hold what‘s left of her family together.

Truly worth all the hype.

11-7-22: My 111th finished book of 2022! Exceptional story about Kiara, an almost 18 year old girl, trying to make a life for herself, her brother Marcus, and the boy next door, Trevor. Without her parents support, both gone for various reasons, Kiara tries to find a job but winds up nightcrawling. The Oakland police do not protect but take advantage of her age and use her for their own enjoyment. Based on real girls suffering this abuse of power.

^^p 107, confessing to a friend, “letting the streets have you.”

P 170 “now we‘re sitting in a car running from things you can‘t run from and trying to forget that we are just babies who wanted to skate and walk around without no shoes.”

P 33 “Mama used to tell me that blood is everything, but I think we‘re all out here unlearning that sentiment, scraping our knees and asking strangers to patch us back up.”

First-person POV of 17-yr-old Kiara fending for herself and her 9-yr-old neighbor Trevor in East Oakland. Wholly familiar yet unique character, other characters underdeveloped. Tender scenes of ear piercing, sudden swim. Second half w/ legal, social services feels less focused, less lived in. Who has the “luxury of f*ing up?” Teen forced to “give up comfort for something stable and harsh” (p 120). Strong, confident debut by 19-yr-old author. 2022

17-year-old Kiara and her brother are barely surviving, and she is trying to shelter a young neighbor boy as well. All three are without parents, without help, without options. And as the situation becomes more dire, the siblings both slip into dangers that cannot be easily escaped. It is an impressive debut. The audiobook narrator was fantastic. Some of the prose at times is poetic, almost musical and listening really enhanced the experience.

I have more to say about the tagged book in my most recent video —

https://youtu.be/u39qpjpCVXU

Inspired by a true scandal about Oakland police officers having sex with underage teens, Nightcrawling is a gritty tale of poverty, drugs & sex work. It reminded me of books in the street lit genre that I used to read (Sistah Souljah; Omar Tyree etc). The voice of 17-year-old Kiara kept me listening to this audiobook, together with Joniece Abbott-Pratt‘s expert narration. Kiara is a memorable character, doing her best to hold her family together.

I listened to Nightcrawling while walking through a temperate rain forest yesterday.
Highlights from a three-hour walk through Stanley Park, Vancouver are linked below, but no talking about the book, just 3 minutes of ambient sounds together with images.
https://youtu.be/p2_8q759D80

The 4th I‘ve finished on the #booker2022 longlist, all on audio so far. I was into this the whole way.

Mottley is a little famous for being the youngest Booker nominee, at age 20, and for being really charming in televised interviews. She reimagines Oakland underlife from the perspective of a 17-yr-old prostitute. (Based on a nonfictional unprosecuted Oakland police-run prostitution ring).

Motley based this story off of a true case in Oakland, CA of cops taking advantage of underage call girls. She addresses the dangers that young girls & members of the trans community face. The main character, Kiara, turns to becoming a call girl at 17 since she could not find a job because she was a high school dropout. The story highlights the difficulties that unfortunately many young kids face: poverty, family incarceration, loss of a parent,

Best of September:

Nightcrawling: I was blown away by this book. To be so young and write a book that has hope in despair and moments of joy in hard living. It was hard and gritty and lyrical. One to watch for sure.

I‘m Glad my Mom Died: I had never heard of McCurdy before this book and can‘t imagine growing up as she did.

My next audiobook, based partly on a true story. I‘ll start tomorrow.

Mottley is 20 and made the #Booker2022 longlist. I enjoyed her interview by Trevor Noah in July: https://youtu.be/eHg9M80GThA

5🌟/5🌟

Looking forward to this one! Hoping to get to it this weekend. This was a #goodreadsgiveaway I just received! #beautifulcover And oh, yeah.... It's my 6th #litsyversary!

I should have known this book would be amazing before reading it based on Oprah's recommendation but I was still surprised. What really convinced me to originally read this book was the audiobook narrator. Joniece Abbott-Pratt is far and away my favorite audiobook narrator so I came for her. I stayed for both her excellent narration and the touching story of Kiara, and the many other women of color who suffer but fight, just like she does.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think I‘m over my little reading blip. Nightcrawling was hard but not bleak. The writing was excellent as was the audio. 4.5🌟 I enjoyed The Vanishing Half for #LMPBC 4 🌟 The JA mystery was better than the first and I was glad to be reunited with Quan & Justyce. Secret Sisterhood was meh. I think this is my plan for the upcoming week but who knows if that‘s what will stick.

The Seed Keeper
Dovetails in Tall Grass
Take My Hand
Mercury Pictures Presents
The Night Always Comes
The Unsinkable Life of Greta James
#littenswanttoknow

Given the complex themes and heavy subject matter the narration felt a little one-note at times. This book, though, is so layered, nuanced and compelling with such masterful prose that the unwavering narration made it easier for me to process.

At 20-years-old this is Mottley‘s debut novel. I can‘t wait to see where she goes from here.

27 Aug-10 Sep 22
#Bookerlonglist 4
An impressive debut with interesting, albeit frustrating, characters and strong writing.
Kiara and her brother are struggling to keep afloat having lost both parents (one to prison) and dropped out of school. With her brother increasingly absent, Kiara stumbles into streetwalking and is sexually exploited by the local police.
Uncomfortable to read and a bit uneven, this nonetheless leaves an impression.

A tough read at times & took me a few pages to get into but so rewarding. This more than lived up to the hype. The writing is strong, the perspective is fresh and the characters feel real. I was cringing at some of her decisions but that‘s a sign of being invested in the story & characters. It felt authentic & highlighted the barriers faced by the poor, but kept focus on the story. Uneven but brilliant debut.

Nightcrawling is a remarkably affecting debut from a particularly young author; a novel which promises that there are great things to come. Mottley's narrative is authentically voiced, in a way that sometimes reflects the messy complication of difficult decisions in an unforgiving world. I felt that Mottley wasn't quite sure how to wrap up story and so while the narrative built in the first 2/3s of the novel, the final third felt a less purposeful

And hold #3 has come in the space of a day.

https://youtu.be/Kuh1uccs6to

#kenyanreadathon

A playlist of all episodes in the Bite-sized Book Chat series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU-61cZp1pQdBH5V0Zb9q-2ujl4PY8nhf

Chat #1: with Alex from Hamilton, Ontario

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

Chat #2: with Leah from New South Wales

All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

Another debut from the #Booker2022 longlist that I liked (or maybe appreciated is more apt?), but didn‘t love. I was hesitant to read this because of the difficult subject matter, but I‘m glad I did. Mottley tells an important story with skill and sensitivity.

Not sure that reading this right after a novel about a woman dying of cancer (Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies) was a smart choice. My heart is heavy. Booth is up next.