Welcome to Litsy!

Patsy is desperate to leave Jamaica. Leaving her daughter behind, she heads to New York. It isn‘t the utopia she hopes and she enters an undocumented life barely scraping by doing menial work. As the story progresses you learn more of Patsy‘s motivations and demons. The story explores race, sex, class, gender, immigration and the life of an undocumented migrant in a hostile country. A great, thoughtful and thought-provoking read 👇

#ManicMonday #TheLetterP @CBee
Book: Patsy by Nicole Dennis-Benn
Author: Gordon Parks
Movie or TV Show: Poetic Justice
Singer or Band: Patti LaBelle
Song: P. Y. T

Thanks for the tag @bthegood ! Love the question set @Eggs ☺️

1. Tagged book, Patsy, just really got me.
…. I‘ll be honest though, I almost tagged my Engineering Mathematics textbook 🤣

2. Fantasy is a definite go-to, but lately has been historical fiction. Mood dependent answer 😉

3. Love After the End, a collection of shorts stories, fantasy/sci-fi, with history and culture sprinkled in

Wanna play #wonderouswednesday @AmyG @allureofbeauty

I‘m trying to read some books that have been waiting on my TBR. June is Read Caribbean month so I picked up Patsy. I really loved this book even though I often did not love Patsy the character. She makes decisions as a mother that are hard to sympathize with, but I ended up rooting for her anyway. This does a great job of capturing life for immigrants when reality doesn‘t live up to the dream. Her daughter Tru was my favorite!

There were aspects of this that I loved and then other parts, not so much... It took until Patsy arrived in NYC for me to be really drawn in and I loved reading about her life there, even though I didn‘t care that much for Patsy as the MC.

I also loved Tru as she grew up, but didn‘t like the sudden 10 year jump in time. I also thought the ending was a bit rushed but overall it‘s a good pick.

This was my #doublespin for May.

A well told story that both conjures hopelessness and hopefulness told through the stories of women. Profound and intense and a good read.

My latest book subscription box.... I got a 1 year monthly subscription for Valentine‘s day last year, and a renewal this year.

I‘ve been wanting to read this one for ages (although I think I have it on 99p Kindle but the hard copy is always better!)

So powerful, this story of a mother and daughter separated by miles and lifetimes was compelling and moving. Immigration, queerness, and the perseverance of women all factor into a novel that explores gender, love and forgiveness from differing perspectives. Highly recommend and great on audio! #integrateyourshelf #BookspinBingo #FabulousFebruary @TheAromaofBooks @Andrew65

#currentlisten #BookspinBingo

I found this book really moving and loved it. It opened my eyes to the experience of a black lesbian migrant woman in the US, the invisibility she experiences. There is a lot to tell about this book which is also about love, friendships. I loved how Dennis-Benn described the experience of the female characters including in their bodies. I found it really powerful. A must read.

Here‘s my September wrap up. It looks like a lot but many of these are very short and I did two weekend readathons.

Faves include Patsy, Solutions, Feedback, Quiet, The Danish Girl, and Dream House. Lots of great reads this month!

I always prefer audio over print for books written in dialect. Sharon Gordon has a lovely voice & the Jamaican patois rolls smoothly in this lengthy #audiobook about a mother & daughter with a difficult relationship. Jamaican society is not welcoming to queer people and both mother & daughter are lesbians, compounding their problems. Patsy leaves her daughter behind when she moves to the US to work as an undocumented immigrant. #LGBT #ownvoices

#audioknitting
Cardigan creation. I actually have to stop listening to my audiobook at this point because it‘s time for math: figuring the front neckline decreases.

I‘m surprised I liked this book as much as I did. The writing is very good. I loved the spelling out of the Jamaican accents. The main character is flawed, but even though I was upset by most of her decisions, I rooted for her. I also really loved her daughter Tru.

Today I bought Nicole Dennis-Benn‘s first book. So I guess that says a lot.

These are the #3books by POC that I‘m reading right now 😊📚.

Oooooh! I loved this book so hard. I completely enjoyed the author‘s first novel, Here Characters Mae the Sun. I‘m not sure what took me so long to pick this up. The narration was fabulous, too! #audiobook #Hoopla

This was so good! This is the story of Patsy, a Jamaican woman who leaves her 5 year-old daughter Tru to seek out a life in America. There are hard times for both mother and child as they struggle separately to find their own paths. But their journey, though filled with immense difficulty, does bring about needed growth and change for both of them and the people around them. Loved the messy, nuanced characters and authentic LGBT representation.

Wow, Helen, you‘re book arrived and I am so happy with it! I‘ve heard such good things about it (looking at you @Kalalalatja @emmaturi and @MicheleinPhilly 👁 👁 ) so you just made my day! Thank you so much my dear friend ❤️🎈

Patsy is a Jamaican woman who emigrates to America in search of a better life and leaves behind her religious mother and her 5-year-old daughter, Tru. PATSY is an honest look at one's will and fight for freedom and love, and the morally ambiguous choices we all make to preserve what we think is most important to us. I'll be thinking about this one for awhile and highly recommend for those looking for thought-provoking characters.

#bookmail today from Black Pearl Books, the new black owned bookstore in Austin. They are online only for now, because COVID, but have plans for a physical location in the future.

I‘m looking forward to these 😊📚. #BlackAuthor #QueerBooks #LGBTQIA

I have taken a few days after finishing to gather my thoughts into a relatively coherent review. I didn‘t succeed 😅 suffice to say, this is a great book. It is a book about immigration, about motherhood, sexuality, identity, and finding what is meaningful for you. Which sounds like a lot, but it works. Nicole Dennis-Benn has, with her two books, become an auto buy author for me, and I can‘t wait to see what she does next!

I‘m home alone today and recharging before a busy busy weekend. It feels good to relax with reading again (with Drag Race breaks, because I‘m ADDICTED), and having a stack of pancakes to snack on makes this whole set up very close to perfect 🙌

Also, THIS BOOK! I‘m taking it in bites to savour it. Dennis-Been is such a great author 👌

#currentlyreading

A great book! Set in Jamaica and the US, Patsy gets a visa and leaves behind her 6yrs old daughter and mother. The story goes between Patsy and her daughter Tru and the problems that ensue with her leaving and the problems in New York.
I felt lots of emotions sad and happy for both Patsy and Tru, not an easy situation for both characters. I could not imagine leaving my child. But then again I have not been in a sitution like that before. #books

This is my current read, only 40 pages in so far! #currentread

I really enjoyed last night's Center for Fiction event where Jamaican author Nicole Dennis-Benn was interviewed by Roxane Gay about her novel Patsy, released last year and now in paperback. It was great: she spoke to a variety of themes from the novel, including how issues faced by immigrants can intersect with the LGBTQ experience and women who reject traditional feminine roles. Haven't read Dennis-Benn yet, but certainly will now!

Nicole Dennis-Benn‘s 2nd novel is even better than her first Here Comes the Sun. The story follows Patsy who leaves Jamaica and her subsequently her 5-year old daughter looking for more out of life. This novel explores motherhood, immigration, inter generational issues, gender roles. With her intelligent descriptive writing Dennis Benn will have hooked from the first paragraph, despite the unlikeable characters. I highly recommend!!!

Now that the #BookTubePrize 1st round is over I am free to publicize my opinion. Of the six books I was assigned Patsy was at the bottom of my ranking. Well written, I found it uninspiring and I quickly got bored with Patsy‘s decisions and actions. Others, many others liked this book. It was not for me. Reviews of the remaining five books to follow. Patsy is moving along to round 2.

6. Patsy ✨

After loving this author's last novel, I was looking forward to this one. I'm slightly disappointed that it isn't the same narrator because while this one is good, the previous one was luminous. I ended wondering if the characters in the first know the characters in the second but couldn't find out for sure. ⤵️

My real life BookClub chose some@not so good books last year - looking to make sure 2020 is better!

Thinking maybe using some awards shortlist to help us choose!

https://www.npr.org/2020/02/19/807320165/5-finalists-still-have-a-chance-at-aspe...

Finished but unable to review at the moment. Review to follow at a later date in late March.

Compelling. Emotional. Uncomfortable. Beautiful. Richly-told. #nicoledennisbenn #jamaica #patsy #teadsoullit #readCaribbean

Started reading Patsy, 1 of 6 assigned reads to be judged for the fiction category BookTube Prize this year. This is my first time judging and I‘m so excited to participate. 📚🏆 I cannot post a review until after this round is finished. Yay BookTube!

I previously tagged the wrong book 🤦🏼‍♀️ (deleted)

Decided to march to the beat of my own drum and do a Top 15 of 2019. In no particular order, but the tagged was my favorite.

Happy New Year!

I plan on doing a LOT of reading over the next 5-6 weeks but I will be shocked if anything displaces this from my top spot for the year. Interestingly Here Comes the Sun was my favorite read of 2016. I am a lifelong fan. 5⭐️

I loved Here Comes the Sun so much that I‘ve been letting this sit for 5 months because I feared it would be a let down. 200 pages in I can unequivocally state that it‘s even better. I ❤️ Nicole Dennis-Benn.

We're back with another amazing booklist from Pen America focusing on poetry and poets that speak to advocacy that goes beyond nation and identity.

🌺 https://www.strandbooks.com/strand-blog#/entry/entry244-poetr...

Loved seeing Nicole Dennis-Benn and Ocean Vuong at the Decatur Book Festival today!!!!

My book club just read Vuong‘s book and I suspect that since so many of us were in the room, Patsy will be a pick soon!

#DBF2019

This book should be mandatory, as it is extremely relevant with what is going on with our news cycle, It is extremely enlightening, and will drop you right into center of Patsy‘s story. Nicole Dennis-Benn is an immigrant herself and I felt that she has really put herself into this story. It is heartbreaking most of the time, but the writing is good, it well worth the strife.

https://obsessedbookaholic.com/2019/08/28/patsy-book-review/

Another solid week of reading. Completed 6 books.

If you want to read my weekly round-up, visit my blog: http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2019/08/26/weekly-reading-round-up-august-26-2019/

Hope you had a great week reading also. :-)

I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as her first book. Despite its length, this book failed to provide much clarity on the title character or her motivations throughout much of the story. The book was also unfocused and the narrative shifted too often - a love story, an immigrant story, a coming of age story? She is a good writer, but couldn‘t seem to find the guiding story for the title character. 2.5⭐️ #Hoopla

I like to read immigrant stories and was interested to see this Jamaican journey to its end. It was a slow burn to be fully engaged in Patsy since emotions behind her facts were missing for me. On the other hand, I was completely intrigued by Patsy‘s daughter, Tru, and her coming-of-age story. I leave this book thinking most about children born to a parent that is not prepared to love a child.

The first page of every book is the start of a new adventure! #LetsTravelAugust #adventure

Patsy tells the story of a queer woman that leaves Jamaica, and her daughter Tru, to pursue what she believes to be the love of her life that lives in the USA. Told in a shifting narrative from her daughter Tru & Patsy we get a rare view & raw description on what it‘s like to be a Mother that leaves a child behind while also feeling what it‘s like to be a child that gets left behind. This is only one theme/layer of this complex novel.

It would have been helpful to know the title character‘s true motivations for leaving her 5 year old daughter and not communicating with her for more than 10 years. This was eventually given but it was too little too late.

3,5 out of 5 stars. Dennis-Benn is a great writer and she immersed me in Jamaica and the world of a struggling immigrant woman chasing the American dream. A little too tidy of an ending.