Welcome to Litsy!

Before I look down, I know it's there. The crow's head I was clutching is now in bed with me.

#FirstLineFridays ok, the first TWO lines, but I couldn't resist lol

TGIF 🎉 📚 Anyone planning to finish a book this weekend? I'm only just starting tagged

I really hesitated to pick this up because while it sounded great, I heard it was horror and I don‘t do horror. Well, either I don‘t know what horror is or this isn‘t horror. But it is great. The first half was quite slow, I‘d have liked slightly better pacing but overall, a compelling read.

Roll 48 for #Roll100

With strong characters, a creepy atmosphere, and writing which begs to be read aloud, this is a strong contender for Canada Reads 2024.

Well, I missed my target with BAD CREE and had to bring it with me when I said goodbye to Casey super early this morning. I should be able to finish it today, though! I‘m still enjoying it a lot, even though I haven‘t felt invested enough to binge-read. There‘re tons of solid Auntie/nibling/cousin connections here, with no Americanization or white peopleization.

#ReadAway2024 I can‘t remember the Litten who recommended this book to me. Thank you. This is a story, described as a horror story, of a Cree family. The the one cultural aspect that stood out to me is that men are rarely even mentioned. The Cree are not a patriarchal people, instead the family is cared for by the Auntys. I wasn‘t particularly horrified by this story but I was impressed with the female friendships.

Every day I drink the tea and read the books. I‘d love to finish BAD CREE tomorrow so I can return it on my way to stay with some Border Collies on Saturday morning, but so far it‘s good without being propulsive. We‘ll see how it builds.

What an awesome group of women. This one has been billed as horror, but I found that the horror elements were secondary to an atmospheric story of a family of women dealing with grief, love, trauma, and finding their way back to each other. There is so much love in this book and this family, the relationships are beautiful and heart felt.

Cont'd, and #CanadaReads thoughts in the comments

3.75 ⭐
2/3 of the way through I realized this really was a horror book.
@NataliePatalie

#CanadaReads2024

Finished my first book on the #CanadaReads stack. I really liked it. It was a little dark. But it‘s ultimately a story about grief. Interspersed with Cree stories and culture. Overcoming pain with the power of love and sisterhood. It‘s beautifully told. And might be hard to top.

It‘s a yucky kinda stormy here today. Lots of wind and freezing rain. This is the Canada Reads book I‘m looking forward to the most, so what better day to start. With some Harney & Sons Hot Cinnamon tea.
#JoyousJanuary @Andrew65

My partner recommended this to me and I‘ve recommended it to my teen, who described it as “like Freddy Kruger” - which it kind of was and wasn‘t. Either way I enjoyed it.

Bedtime reading. Good-night.

I listened to Bad Cree on Indigenous People Day, which was accidental, but very appropriate. Full of grief, but also scary—there‘s nightmares and creatures, focused heavily on the those who‘ve come before. Also, a homecoming novel…and that section was full of levity and laughter, which was a nice break before it turned dark again. I loved the Cree culture depicted. It reminded me of a YA novel I read a few years ago “House of Hollow” tagged⬇️

This is another great YAL book- geared more for an older set- in the vein of Robinson and Demaline. There is some serious creep factor and a tear or two to be shed; a terrific read.

I picked this up from the #littlefreelibrary and the cats were very intrigued (though Magrat ran away before I could take the picture).

First-person present tense had me fully immersed in the experience from beginning to end. The descriptions and the characters were so realistic that my imagination had no problem filling in the blanks. My husband said I looked intense when he glanced over, but there were multiple points where I could be caught reading so intently.

I was surprised & not surprised to find reviews from readers who bailed on this book. By the time I read them, I kind-of loved it and couldn‘t put it down…but it also took me a while to get into it. I just thought it was me! I don‘t think Bad Cree‘s *exquisitely* written or *exquisitely* crafted - but it‘s well-written. It‘s moody, sharp, and warm (with a big, extended cast of aunties and cousins), full of grief and love. 👇🏻

“The moss and trees muffled our talks, like we were in a cozy room together rather than out in the open.”

This one just isn‘t working for me. It‘ll grab me for a minute, then wander off in another direction. Maybe I‘ll try it again someday if I can find it on audio.

Interesting supernatural horror. I liked the way the characters were able to see things in their dreams. And the close knit family made me happy.

My personal complaint was how many characters smoked and how much they smoked. I could imagine the house being filled with smoke and how it would smell and it disgusted me.

A wonderful ghost story about family.
I loved reading the aunties parts, makes me miss my own.
I enjoyed this magically written, dreams, and hauntings, not scary but with a reflective undertone.

This never quite landed for me, both in the way it didn't actually scare me when I knew it was trying to and in that I never really got fully emotionally invested. I felt like all the parts were there, but they never came together. Might be a "it's not you, it's me" thing." I did love some of the writing on a sentence level, the depiction of family, and the queer Indigenous representation!

Although this novel could have been more skillfully constructed (there's a "first this happened, then this" feeling sometimes rather than an organic unfolding, and sometimes the passage of time feels off), I enjoy how it explores family, both the one we're born into and the one we create, collective and personal wisdom, the ways in which a community is interwoven, for better or worse, and the challenge of being drawn to that which will hurt us.

I felt like the first half of this book was amazing. I loved the atmosphere and the premise. I related to the themes, and I was invested in the characters. The second half started to drag and I found the ending a bit anticlimactic, maybe because the focus became more external to the characters once they figured out what was going on.
I think this would be make interesting film. However, overall, it left me unsatisfied as a reader.

I loved this book which is so much more sophisticated than the horror genre in which it‘s classed. It is a story about grief, guilt and the toxic places those emotions can create; a story about powerful family ties and the horror that can result from denying those ties and the duality that lives in all of us. As this talented author writes: “I used to think enough love was supposed to wipe all the bad clean, but I don‘t think that‘s true anymore”

4⭐️/5⭐️

A different take on grief and greed.

Bad Cree was a terrifying book to listen to on audio. The descriptions of the MC's nightmares were so vivid and real.

I will admit that at times the MC annoyed me with her martyrdom tendencies but not enough to distract from the story. I loved the cultural elements and learned quite a bit about Cree traditions.

This story is very suspenseful and at times the build-up felt greater than the payoff. In the end, it was still a good horror read.

This is a supernatural horror novel based in Cree tradition and legend. Debut novelist Jessica Johns creates an atmospheric tale that deals with grief, family relationships, and the power of the female bond. The cultural element added a twist on horror that I could not help but be drawn into. This one has been on so many most anticipated lists and I could not agree more. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

This was Nightmare on Elm Street meets the Rez. McKenzie starts having nightmares having to do with the death of her sister Sabrina and is called back to her home where she grew up to figure it all out. This was great for the most part. Some fantastic stuff about families and eerie images. It‘s just the MC has this, martyr may not be the best word but it‘s the only one I can think of, martyr thing going on that almost devolves this story into 👇🏼

A gripping debut novel about Mackenzie, a contemporary Cree woman from northern Alberta, who is not only experiencing nightmares about her deceased sister, but transporting objects back from the dream world. The message about the importance of female members of one‘s extended family staying connected is a bit heavy-handed, & sometimes Mackenzie did things that made me impatient, but I enjoyed this overall. #LGBTQ #Indigenous #ShadowGiller2023

I think about the toxic environment in the oil patch, the high depression rate among young people based in camps for weeks and months on end, working every day. The way the industry changes men into worse men.

[An example of content overlap between the tagged novel and Kate Beaton‘s memoir about working in oil patch camps.]

Nehiyawak are supposed to be less controlling with their babies. When someone is born, they become their own person. Have to be trusted to make their own choices. Parents are supposed to just help when they need it. I‘ve always had a hard time with that part. The letting go part. I‘m a bad Cree sometimes.

Was excited to find new issues of bookmarks and BookPage in my mailbox yesterday. Tagged book caught my eye (out Jan 10). Sounds really good.

Haunted by nightmares and spirits visions, Cree Native Mackenzie returns home to investigate her sister's mysterious death. Soon, she is hunted by supernatural forces of Native American folklore in this cultural mixture of fantasy, thriller and horror.