Welcome to Litsy!

1-28-23: My 10th finished book of 2023! Bird lives a quiet life with his father but he misses his mother. She had to leave because for the last decade their lives have been governed by laws written to preserve “American culture” in the wake of the Crisis which was a violent movement against people of Asian origin, and she is an Asian American poet whose words have started their own movement. She left to save Bird now he must find her.

Being American and living in a world where things you read and see our censorship. Protesting and hate crimes are happening and targeting Asian Americans. Children are being separated from their parents for being unpatriotic. When Bird finds a mysterious letter he is sets out to find her. A mother who left him and his father years ago and he wants to know why.

Sad and hopeful at the same time. Celeste Ng is so good.

#JoyousJanuary book 5/6
#Sharreadathon

I‘m starting off the #Sharreadathon and finishing up #JoyousJanuary with this book. It has a long wait at the library so I want to get it back as soon as possible.

Took me a while to get into this, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. The beginning just felt a bit wordy.

Loved this part and how it describes Margaret's love for Bird but also the necessity of what she's doing:

Who ever thinks, recalling the face of the one they loved who is gone: yes, I looked at you enough, I loved you enough, we had enough time, any of this was enough.

1/2023

I already want to read this again. Ng packs a lot into this novel: the power of a parent‘s love, the insidious nature of fear/hate, government oversight, and so much more. It‘s full of the terror that comes of being singled out by American society because of your “foreign” features. That said…this book was also about hope. It highlighted how there is always a light of acceptance somewhere and more people than you think willing to help.

I appreciated this book a lot. Loved the premise, writing, story (and how books, libraries, and librarians play into it!), and message. The pace felt slow for me in some parts, though it might have just been me because I was admittedly at times listening while distracted. Great author‘s note at the end with recommended resources that expanded my expansive TBR! My favorite of Ng‘s books so far.

Beautifully written

4/5 🌟

Great way to start 2023, with this beautiful and sad book by Celeste Ng.

Loved this one! 💚

Although it's a dystopian, the premise feels like something that could easily happen in today's world, which made it both scary and sad.

Celeste NG delivers a beautiful story of words, of fighting against injustices, of not giving up, and of a mother's love.

This was definitely my favorite read of December and one of my top reads of the year.

This was Indigo's book of the year, and for good reason. In a dystopian America, PACT which stands for the Preserving American Culture and Traditions Act is enforced across the US, which promises to “protect American values.” Of course, this also means that anything anti-America is destroyed, including a number of books. This story is about the love bond between parent and child and the power of words.

This. Book. 🔥🔥🔥 So powerful!! A dystopian system built on racism (and that's obviously not that hard to imagine unfortunately) and the power of words as the only weapon. I loved this book!

❤️❤️❤️

My BN haul today. I really only went in to buy the cookbook! But ended with books, socks and bookmarks! 😂

Probably my last read of the year. Happy end of reading year to you all!

Happy Boxing Day! Here are the bookish goodies I got for Christmas this year! I don‘t usually get a lot, but this year I got a new kindle (kindle oasis), a book, gift cards to B&N, and a cozy sweatshirt that says “Bookish”. 🥰

I hope you all got lots of bookish goodies!

Merry Christmas!

Thank you so much @FantasyChick Vanessa ❤️❤️ I love it all ( I have almost bought this book so many times while out shopping for everyone 😆, thank goodness I stuck to my no books for me until Christmas is over) Happy Jolabokaflod #jolabokaflodswap Merry Christmas and I hope you have a wonderful New Year

I‘ve loved all of Celeste Ng‘s books and I loved this one, too. This one was much more explicitly political than her previous novels, which I found exhilarating, even as the subject matter is personally terrifying. Here anti-Asian racism is foregrounded, but I appreciate how Ng shows how intertwined all of our struggles are, how none of it is new. The story never feels didactic to me, and throughout is the compassion I‘ve always felt in Ng‘s work.

The first third is interesting and compelling, but then it drags. I‘m going to try again later because I want to know more about Bird, but it‘s just not keeping my attention. DNF.

First day of winter break reading! ❄️

I liked this. A lot. It was an audacious undertaking for Ng whose prior books have been much more subtle. But I see why she did it. If the last 3 years have taught us anything, I think it‘s that subtlety in the face of injustice is DONE. Even when tackling macro issues, this is still hauntingly intimate. Thanks again @TrishB !! 😘

What‘s this? I‘m actually reading a book???? It‘s only been a week but it seriously feels like a month. I‘ll be happy to finish up work for the year on Friday so I can tackle some more reads.

“Bird and Margaret‘s world isn‘t exactly our world, but it isn‘t not ours, either.” This book reminded me of how close we are to living in a dystopian society. A beautifully written story of how quickly things can go wrong without us even noticing. I cried by the end.

4.5/ 5 stars
What I loved about this novel, was the realistic behaviors of so many characters and the tiniest step from our current reality to make the dystopia believable. Though there were portions of the book that I didn‘t completely love, the majority of the work I did. Engaging, Ng‘s gifted writing, and a wonderfully constructed pathway to the world Bird inhabited made this an excellent novel.

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing other than that Celeste Ng wrote it, which was more than sufficient. A lot of dystopian tales take a while for me to get into, as I get acclimated to whatever world they're introducing. But Celeste deftly drops you RIGHT into this eerily timely alternate US, and immediately immerses you into the possibility of what can happen when communities choose to stay silent in the face of blatant injustices. 💔

"The letter arrives on a Friday. Slit and resealed with a sticker, of course, as all their letters are: Inspected for your safety—PACT."

I love Celeste Ng. This dystopian novel felt so very possible - as a lawyer, I‘m constantly aghast at how easily our constitutional rights and values can be subtly weakened or set aside entirely in the name security and patriotism, and how it‘s human nature to self-preserve by turning a blind eye when not directly impacted. Truly a breathtaking read.

I have loved every one of Celeste Ng‘s books and this is no exception. This one brings the scariness of societal breakdown full circle. It is also an intimate look at one family and how circumstances can blow things out of all proportion. What is truth? What is fear? What is love? How much is too much? How far is too far? What will be the small spark that finally lights the fire and brings the horror to an end? May it be so. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as her other books. #catsoflitsy Frankie's face looks so dark in this picture 😂

Rainy day✔️cozy blanket✔️Christmas music✔️ tea ✔️

My heart is one of the missing after reading this.

I found it quite different from Ng‘s other books, but not in a bad way. It takes place in a slightly different America. It‘s easy to see how we could go that dystopian route- and that‘s disturbing.

Ng‘s characters are so real, I was so invested in their story, they‘ll be with me for a while. I wanted to crawl into the book and help them.

It‘s dark and gutting but so good. Recommend! ⬇️

Next

This book is definitely one my top ten of the year. Everything about this novel draws you in. From the plot of a future where America has laws of what it means to be a “true citizen” a.k.a PACT or the heart breaking story of what the main character Bird goes through in regards to having a missing mother. This book is very impactful and a great read. Celeste Ng is an amazing author. I really enjoyed reading this story.

So far an intriguing family focused dystopian novel. A faster paced read than her previous books.

The best dystopias are those that are so similar to our own world that you only have to squint a little bit to see their reality. Celeste Ng creates one of these while retaining her signature focus on family relationship and social commentary. Terrific read.

Books I‘m starting, part 2.
Looking forward to Our Missing Hearts and Mothers, Fathers, and Others. So glorious to dither over reading order😎❣️

This dystopian novel feels all too plausible, which lends an ominous feel to everything. In a future where the Protecting American Culture Act (PACT) has led to disproportionate discrimination against the Asian American community, one boy grows up without his dissident mother. But when telling the truth is often a crime, discovering what his mother's done and the history that led to PACT will require Bird to question what he's always been told.

The two main issues in this dystopian novel—children removed from their families, & anti-Asian violence & prejudice—hit me hard. I loved 12-year-old Bird & his mother Margaret. The authoritarian setting is chillingly believable. Protests and guerilla art activism… also realistic. And no wonder: the author‘s afterword explains she based all of these installations on actual events. I came away with lots to think about. #audiobook

By the time she'd spoken with five families, she understood: it was more people than she'd realized, more people than she'd ever thought of. It had been happening all along, and she'd never known. No, she admitted to herself: she'd never chosen to know.

I thoroughly enjoyed this as an audiobook even though I found the whole thing to be quite sad. Bird is such a good character and I loved/hated hearing him deal with the prejudice and uncertainty of his world. I don‘t read a lot of dystopian novels but this felt very real and scarily like something that could easily happen in the US. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Every good citizen is a good influence. Every bad citizen is a bad influence.
And then of course there‘s the flag, hanging in every classroom, dangling over her left shoulder like a raised axe.

Do love a book ribbon.
And this book generally.