Welcome to Litsy!

Probably the first profound thought I had as a little kid was wondering why anything exists at all. I then tried to imagine what "nothing" looks like, at which point my brain began to whir like an overheating laptop. This, then, seems like a book I was destined to write myself, but luckily Percival Everett got there first. Dense with clever wordplay, I found the rapid-fire riffing on the meaning of "nothing" impressive and genuinely funny at...

This book was wild. I think I might have to listen to it again to figure out what happened. It was funny though. The atheist priest had me rolling. I‘m giving it 4 stars but they‘re confused stars. #AuthorAMonth @Soubhiville

This was wild, chaotic, confusing, and very funny in a nonsensical way. Plot? There kinda isn‘t one. And yet you come away rooting for Wala & Co. 🤪🤯

A fever dream-like intro this author indeed. 😅 #AuthorAMonth

One you get into the tone…this book flies and it‘s very funny. #AuthorAMonth

And now to tackle my last May bucket list item: #AuthorAMonth !

James has been on my TBR since it came out so I‘m hoping to finish that as well after this. 🤘🏻😍

#OffMyShelf “indy press”

After the intensity of “The Trees”, maybe Everett just wanted to have a little fun? This book is pretty goofy, with just the slightest edge. It did make me laugh. A James Bond like spoof. Professor Kitu (born Ralph Townshend) has made a career out of the study of nothing. When he‘s approached by a super villain who wants to harness nothing to achieve world domination, he agrees. He‘s up to nothing. Nothing happens. 😂

Despite not being a fan of the ending, I really enjoyed this book. It's weird and quirky, and the tone almost reminds me of Stan Schmidt's Life of Fred series of story-based math books (a reference only a few homeschoolers are likely to get, but that's what it made me think of). I haven't read any James Bond books, so I can't say if it's like any of those. #authoramonth

Well, I suppose it had to happen eventually. I have now encountered a book by Everett that I did not love. This James Bond style caper on nothingness was too forcefully clever for me and I lost patience early on. Still planning to read his entire backlist.

Dr. No bty Percival Everett is like The Phantom Tollbooth for adults. By that, I mean the way words and assignments of meaning are devices in plot, character, and narrative development. At first I thought this book was too smart for me, but, as it turned out, maybe I gave something of a try for nothing. And nothing, as it seems, is quite more important than the excellence of Everett‘s storytelling.

To use a technical term: This book is bananapants, it‘s a crazy ride

Walk Kitu is a professor on nothing. Then he meets John Sill a billionaire, who wants to break into Fort Knox to steal a shoebox containing nothing. And then it‘s a wild ride from then on

Most of the mathematics went over my head, but other than that this is a joyful read with some puns from Everett

Think of that classic Seinfeld conversation where George pitches Jerry a show about nothing. Now picture the novel-length version of that conversation and you have an idea of the humor in Dr. No. I know that sounds terrible. But Everett rightly calculates that making a bad joke multiple times isn't funny unless it's multiple times in every page. It's baked into a weird send-up of Bond films with a heroic neuroatypical math professor in the lead 👇

Book mail! 👏🏾 I‘m really looking forward to both. No idea when I‘m going to get to all the treasures. 😅

Fun satire about a mathematics professor who studies nothing, and is an expert on nothing, and gets talked into helping a supervillain break into Fort Knox to steal…nothing.

I really enjoyed “Dr. No”. The characters are fun and the way that Everett plays with language just adds another level. Honestly, he seems to be a bit of a polymath.

Last minute #wintergames!
1. Tagged was my fav for December. Not the year, but I feel like I‘ve talked about that book elsewhere!
2. A Discovery of Witches
3. Haha, not this year. Covering my dogs ears when the fireworks go off?
4. Nah
5. There was snow! But only barely enough for my pup. He is a winter doggo, as you can see.

Lol absurd. Totally original. Can't believe how long it took me to get through this lil book. Some of the math/physics/philosophy sections dragged, while the plot and human elements were so engaging. Very enjoyable and funny.

Lol absurd. Totally original. Can't believe how long it took me to get through this lil book. Some of the math/physics/philosophy sections dragged, while the plot and human elements were so engaging. Very enjoyable and funny.

🍌👖! This was very weird and won't be my last Everett!

#booked2023 #bookwasweirderthanexpected @Cinfhen @alisiakae @BarbaraTheBibliophage

#bookreport @Cinfhen

Finished A Passage to India
Hibernated Golden Hill
Started Dr No

Why is it that it takes an injury or illness to finish a title sometimes. I tripped entering a conference Saturday morning. Had to bail due to pain before lunch. But I finished both my audio book (Babel) and this digital while elevating and icing my leg. I really liked Trees so I was disappointed with this newer title from Everett. Same pacing and absurdity; word and concept play was less interesting and I cared about the characters less.

Celine in paper, Dr. No in digital, and Babel on audio. Having just finished Sea of Tranquility, March is turning out to be a really good reading month.

Everett stirfry, familiar ingredients: wordplay, puns, naming, pop culture, race, philosophy, games, academia, solitary protagonist. Following up on little Ralph Townsend from “Glyph,” now a math prof at Brown studying nothing. Supervillain revenge caper, playing w/ genre. P. 6 “I have spent my career in my little office […] contemplating and searching for nothing. […] I work very hard and I wish I could say I have nothing to show for it.” 2022

I absolutely loved this book, snort-laughing my way through it. It features a mathematician who finds himself embroiled in something nefarious, but he never quite seems to know what‘s going on. It‘s clever and bananas and a completely worthy follow up to the stupendous The Trees. I‘m so glad I‘ve discovered Everett and that his profile has risen. He‘s the real deal.

PEN Award winners and a link to view!

https://pen.org/literary-awards/2023-literary-awards-winners/

Announcing the PEN Awards nominees! https://pen.org/literary-awards/announcing-the-2023-pen-america-literary-awards-...

After loving Telephone and The Trees, I went in with high expectations to Everett‘s new release. It‘s clever, but it didn‘t wow me. Still going to work on his backlist though.

Wala Kitu is an eccentric math professor that studies nothing, not the absence of something but the presence of nothing. A wealthy man who wants to be a Bond-like supervillain hires Wala to help him unleash nothing on the country.

Should be Dr. Snow in Kentucky right now!

I wanted the Center for Fiction key ring, so I ordered the tagged book as well. Really looking forward to reading it.

Now that I‘ve finished it I appreciate the book more than while reading it. It‘s such a clever plot about a professor who‘s an expert in “nothing” and a villain who wants the professor the help him to make sure that “nothing” happens to the world.
It‘s an adventurous novel (not really my style) filled with the most colorful characters. It‘s hard to follow at times but as I said super clever. Everett keeps surprising me with each book.

I have Litsy and #ToB2023 to thank for this library haul! 😁📚🦃

I am finally feeling human again! I was really afraid I‘d have to go back to the hospital last night, but today has been a good, almost normal day. 🎉

I treated myself to these two books to celebrate feeling better. (I ordered them as soon as they took my iv out…priorities. 😉🤣)

Just a few more leaves because we‘ve had a huge cold snap here and had our first snow over the weekend. Unusual for Kentucky! 🥶

Look what I couldn‘t resist today 😍😍😍
I wasn‘t even aware Everett wrote a new book but I was so happy to find out!