True Biz | 
pickMeet February, Charlie, and Austin. Through these three main characters we enter a school for the hearing impaired. We meet hearing families with deaf kids, deaf families with a hearing kids. Families that can accept deafness, and those that cannot.
We learn about the history of sign language, the racism, the culture. We learn about how people navigate a world that is silent.
I won't forget this book.
Fantastic
https://youtu.be/iBsnXfT-zRM
Intro
Weekly Highlights
Rhapsody and Other Stories by Dorothy Edwards
The Imaginary Lives Of James Pōneke by Tina Makereti
Eleven-Inch by Michal Witkowski, W. Martin (Translation)
Afterlives by Abdulrazak Gurnah
True Biz by Sara Nović
No One Belongs Here More Than You by Miranda July
Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry by B.S. Johnson
pick⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Told from mult points of view over a year at a school for the deaf, True Biz is wonderfully done. Nović writes in a way that feels realistic&balances giving a real look into deaf culture, sign languages,&her story of fictional characters. She is one I will definitely continue to seek out in the future. *Note - there is an audio version of this book, but I would avoid it as so much of the book, rightfully so, would be lost in listening.
February Waters was nine years old when she - in the middle of math class, in front of everyone - stabbed herself in the ear with a number two Ticonderoga.
#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl
so-soI wanted to like this book more than I did. Having taught students with cochlear implants, I was intrigued by the subject. It was interesting in learning about the sub-cultures in the deaf community, the controversy surrounding cochlear implants & the history of deafness in our country, but for some reason I wasn't drawn to the plot. In some ways it felt as if it were doing too much; perhaps more educational than I was expecting.
pickI really liked learning about deaf culture and struggles through this book. I believe it was inspired by a cochlear implant case, so themes of bodily autonomy are prevalent throughout. I like the view into the world through the perspectives of both a deaf person and a CODA. Overall, I liked the book, but it sort of just... ends. The "resolutions" are incomplete and unsatisfying, but it doesn't diminish the rest of the book.
I have never seen anything like this in a novel. I love how Novic incorporated lessons of sign for the reader as Charlie is learning sign.
I think she did well describing how alienating and isolating it is for deaf people when the people around them refuse to learn a language they can understand.
This would be a great bookclub book, so much to discuss.
pickThis is very good. Complex but not hard to follow. I loved that so much ASL was put on the pages, and how there were footnotes about deaf history, the Black sign language information was something I had no knowledge of.
And on top of it was a great story, I enjoyed Charlie and February as characters and thought the pacing and balance of stories was done well.
#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
February Waters was nine years old when she - in the middle of math class, in front of everyone - stabbed herself in the ear with a number two Ticonderoga
#20in4
#Readathon
@Andrew65
PDX is still snowed in. I am working today but will join this as soon as I log out because I have food, and tea, and wine and no desire to shovel my car out.
Goals
Finish- True Biz; Chain-Gang All-Stars; Untamed State
Read - When We Were Birds
Stretch Goal - Octavia E Butler's Dawn
Snow mode on.
Audiobook to the rescue. A 20 minute drive home is going to take hours.
In the last 15 minutes we have gone a block 😂😭
pickLoved this novel so much. I really enjoyed reading about deaf culture and it‘s history. Charlie, Austin, and even Slash were such likable characters. Would have loved to know more about Eliot.. he had such an interesting background. Great novel all around, a real think piece.
Started this one today! I‘m only 3 chapters in, but it‘s been a breath of fresh air compared to everything I‘ve been reading lately.
pickI don‘t think I‘ve ever read a book quite like this one. There is so much packed into these pages. So much to learn and such an important story to read. There was a lot I didn‘t know about the deaf community and the story kept me hooked from the first sentence. I loved the fact that it included so much j forms too about history and sign language. This is a must read.
so-so#AuldLangSpine @ncsufoxes @monalyisha
I went in knowing very little about deaf society and culture, and this story that follows two deaf students and the hearing headmistress of their private school was a great primer on the societal intolerances deaf people face, especially with the use of ASL. At the same time, I think the author spent a little too much time educating newbies like me - I learned a lot but also wanted more from the characters.
I'm not a #botm member but my sister got me a gift certificate, so I picked this bunch from past months. True Biz is one of my #AuldLangSpine picks, so I'll be trying that one pretty soon. Most of my shelves are paperbacks, so it's strange to pick up three hardcovers all of a sudden 📚
I'm looking forward to these - lots of buzz about two of them, but The Verifiers also sounded intriguing.
@ncsufoxes @monalyisha
This includes physical books (mostly BOTM hardcovers), Kindle purchases, and audiobooks from Audible.
so-soPerhaps because I listened to this one on audio, but it was a bit hard to follow and the ending came out of nowhere and felt rushed. However, I did enjoy learning about deaf culture and thought the book brought up some really important issues. I also appreciated how the audiobook changed the sounds when character‘s were listening through their implants to make it more immersive.
#LitsyLove I‘m feeling a lot of birthday love, and it isn‘t until next week 😘Thanks for this fascinating-looking book
pick5 🌟 straight forward plot and narrative. Loved learning about Deaf Culture. I connected with the characters and was invested in the outcome. Great audio book. This is the first Reese's pick I have enjoyed. I would recommend this for several diffrent types of readers, some romance, some mystery, and social justice. Great start to October reading.
pickI really liked this book. I've never learned so much about ASL and the deaf community. It was a really well written and interesting read. Also, it teaches you things about ASL between each chapter. I liked it!
pickI really enjoyed this one and learned a lot about the Deaf community. I listened to the audio whenever I was working and it was unique. Whenever the narrator read a part that was signed in the book, she signed and read at the same time. The audio changes a little so you could tell when the narrator was signing. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
Did a little too much walking today even with a crutch. True Biz , elevation, and a nice and breezy evening are taking my mind off it.
So yesterday I forgot to do it so here I am with my update for the #joysofjunereadathon for June 18.
✅ I've read for 23h17min out of my total goeL of 20 hours
⬜ I've read 3/4 books
⬜ I've written 1/2 reviews
How're the others holding up?
@Andrew65
#readathon #joysofjune
1) Set at the fictional River Valley School for the Deaf in the struggling industrial town of Colson, Ohio
2) The House in the Cerulean Sea 🌊
3) BA Paris The Prisoner
#WondrousWednesday
pickFinished this gem last night 💎
Thank you, Littens, for putting this on my radar. Looking forward to chatting in a few weeks for #camplitsy!
Spot the book mail - don't get distracted by those eyes. Getting ready for #camplitsy
pickI can't compare this title to any other d/Deaf, ASL, HoH book that I have ever read before (and there have been lots... See my Goodreads bookshelf tags) because it's half fiction, part history, part explanation, party visual commentary in a way that just works. I think the author knew many readers would have little to zero knowledge of much of the information to absorb the context and instead of letting them give up and close the book,...
pickAte this up in two days. So good! Centers on the headmistress at the River Valley School for the Deaf and three teens at the school. Such an interesting and compelling story. Gives you a glimpse of deaf culture and the competing schools of thought around education, cochlear implants, and the necessity of language.
pickExcellent story from multiple perspectives which illuminates the richness and history of Deaf language and culture in the US. The main characters are Charlie, a teenage girl with a faulty cochlear implant learning sign language for the first time and February, the hearing child of Deaf parents who is now headmistress of a school for the Deaf. Highly recommended! 👍
#CampLitsy
#20in4
Summer reading by the pool! #20in4 #Readathon @Andrew65
Recommendations from a local bookstore.
Any you agree with?
pickWhen three students go missing from a deaf school, Sara Novic takes us back in time to see what led up to this moment. The book is primarily told through the eyes of the school's headmsitress, a girl who's parents gave her a cochlear implant as a child and is only just learning ASL for the first time as a teenager, and a boy falling for her who is fourth generation Deaf. I loved the explorations of Deaf culture in this book and learned so much.
pickThis book was so good. I couldn‘t put it down. If I had played my cards right I could have read it in one sitting. The character development was amazing and I learned so much about deaf culture. One of the best I‘ve read this year so far.
pickI am excited to discuss this one for #CampLitsy this summer.
When a fiction novel can make me get lost in a story while also teaching me something it always impresses me. I hate to admit it but until reading this I never thought about the problems the deaf community faced.
I loved the characters, even the teen romance didn't bug me. 😁
Highly recommend this one to all.
