If I Survive You | 
so-soGlad I listened to the audio because the narrator is terrific. This collection of connected short stories about the family of Jamaican immigrants living in Miami was uneven. It started out really strong but I very ready for the end when it came.
pickBorn to Jamaican parents that have immigrated to Miami, Trelawney‘s life is anything but easy. His parent‘s split up during his childhood, Trelawney going with his mom while his brother goes with his father. Trelawney has hardships fitting in, his lighter skin tone vs his cultural background and a batch of bad luck. You also get chapters from his brother and cousin. I enjoyed this audio and found his stories about earning extra cash entertaining.
so-soI really enjoyed the opening section where he writes about growing up in South Florida as the son of Jamaican parents. Fictional Trelawney has trouble fitting in SFl‘s very inflexible cultural divisions. I'm older than Escoffery, but I grew up that 1980's SFl world too—ethnically diverse, with no mixing.
The book goes much softer after that with less complicated characters and some social-media-meme friendly plot points. So, overall ok.
picka strong collection of short stories/episodic novel about trying to survive in a world that is consistently threatening to unravel you. Although a bit uneven, as cooks constructed in this way often are, Escoffery is expert in his construction of flawed characters, who are frustratingly in their own ways as much as the injustices of the world are too. He brings Miami, as a claustrophobic, sinking, but magnetic environment alive.
pick#SummerEndReadathon
Another long list Booker nominee. Connected stories about different members of a Jamaican family. Some of it I enjoyed and some of it made me roll my eyes.
My new audiobook. I‘m enjoying being Miami, especially in the 80‘s and 90‘s, which are familiar to me in a way. I recognize those many South Florida
cultural isolations! Phew.
pickThis book (#9 of the #bookerlonglist)certainly made me think, even though I‘m not really sure what to make of it.
It‘s a series of short stories about one immigrant family, which are supposed to cohere into a novel. Some of the stories really worked but others felt quite jarring. It started off slowly, picked up in the middle and then became quite repetitive towards the end.
I don‘t think it will make my shortlist but I‘m glad I read it.
so-soI know better than to read “a collection of connected short stories to form a novel” but here I have done it anyway! These types aren‘t my jam and I know that but this title appeared on one too many “must read”/prize-winning lists and FOMO got the better of me. Moments I did really connect with this and the struggles of being in a foreign land, mistaken for one race or another and never finding one‘s place. But mostly I wasn‘t into the format.
so-soThis is good even if I wasn't really into one of the characters. I get why this is getting picked for the prize longlists but also why it's not making it further.
#BookSpin @TheAromaofBooks
so-soA meh-to-low pick from the #BookerLonglist. Escoffery's writing here is excellent, and I'm glad I read it, but it didn't quite connect for me. Interconnected short stories about the men in a Jamaican family living in Miami. Trelawney's first story and Cukie's story were, for me, the most effective.
@BarbaraBB @squirrelbrain @BookwormM
pickI enjoyed this collection of interwoven short stories about a family that relocates from Jamaica to Miami. The author's use of second-person perspective in some of the stories is effective and unobtrusive (many times I read second person and can't stop remembering that's what I'm reading, but here I was able just to enjoy the stories). These stories do not make me want to visit Miami, but then, I've never wanted to visit Miami anyway.
pickI wanted to like this book more. Some stories were brilliant, some less so. What deep hurts - an absent father, a mixed sense of belonging. I would be curious to see what he writes next
#BookReport 09/23
I read these three and was very pleased with them all. A psychological thriller, a deep dive into race relations and a YA read about an indigenous man, wrongfully incarcerated in a Bolivian prison with his two kids. Unexpectedly I loved the latter the most!
pickThese are interconnected stories about a couple from #Jamaica who move to Miami to to give their kids a better future. Things don‘t work out very well. All family members keep struggling with life, relationships and work, and keep having to deal with racism - all the time! The book started out real strong but in the end it became a bit repetitive, despite the subject. A light pick.
#ReadingTheAmericas2023 🇯🇲
#52books #Booker23 1/13
#WeeklyForecast 09/23
My weekly forecast is blue 💙
I am reading and enjoying Girl in Snow, the debut by the author of the fantastic Notes on an Execution. If I survive You and An Uninterrupted View are both #ReadingTheAmericas2023 books.
pickOof this was a tough read! The family‘s difficulties through the 2009 recession hit me particularly hard. Coming out of grad school then, I could relate to the job struggles. 😬😢
Trelawny‘s parents escaped the violence of 1970s Jamaica to raise him and his brother in South Florida. These interconnected short stories follow him and his family through Hurricane Andrew and the 2009 recession, which finds Trelawny homeless and at odds with them.
pickThis novel in short stories tells the story of an immigrant family from Jamaica who left there as refugees. The intergenerational struggles are well explored, as their sons, especially the younger, try to fit in a place that don‘t seem to fit. I thought this was superb and the audio is fantastic (excellent Jamaican patois).
Signed first edition from #Parnassus highly recommended by Ann Patchett and the blurbs are a who‘s Who of celebrated authors. Also just longlisted for the National Book Award! Next up for me!
bailedIt‘s not bad (yet, at least), but I‘m no longer engaged. I enjoyed the first chapter, and the second chapter a bit less. As I continue, I become less and less interested. Thus, I'm bailing at 43% in Splashdown (5th chapter).
pickI‘m glad I didn‘t bail because this ended up being quite entertaining. Trelawny born in the US to parents of Jamaican heritage is an awkward teen trying to determine “what are you” and to where do you belong?! Told in vignettes, Trelawny shares his troubled family life, his missteps in education and trying to navigate adulthood with a very weak and shaky foundation. Audio narration was great. #ARC #NetGalley Publishes September 6, 2022
#NetGalley #ARC 🎧
Great audio narration but I‘m not sure this book is working for me 🤷🏼♀️
It‘s labeled interconnected stories but the stories are super repetitive and the chronology is confusing
A boy of Jamaican heritage, born & living in Miami trying to figure out where he fits in and belongs.
pickA wonderfully written debut. A series of short stories connects the characters to refugees of the Kingston, Jamaican conflict of the 1970's. Then it continues to the children as they endure conflicts and tragedies as well as culture shock, racism, financial hardships, and natural disasters. A worthwhile read!
