Welcome to Litsy!

Listened to the audiobook, which was devastating. It resonated with Demon Copperhead, which I‘d read several months ago, but had the added dimension of how girls/women in less affluent rural places are impacted in so many ways by poverty, drugs, and despair, worsened by cultural expectations of women, particularly in the South US. I‘m from a rural Northern county, so not exactly the same, but close enough that I recognized similar issues. PICK

Both a poignant memoir and a well-researched look at one of the most intractable problems in America, this book made me sad, made me think, and made me want to do better. She doesn‘t offer a simple solution to these complex problems, nor does she blame “the coastal elite” for the problems of rural America. She portrays the people sympathetically as fully human, neither demonizing nor canonizing them. Highly recommended.

The Forgotten Girls is a gripping account of friendship and coming of age in rural America. Potts is ruthless in examining the reasons for disconnect and drug abuse in rural communities, often linked to poverty and lack of opportunities. Sadly, this has been the case for so long now and real societal change is always so far out of reach. This book highlights the need of very real people for systematic change across all of society.

My haul from today‘s #bookshopcrawl in Liverpool.

The tagged and Prophet Song are both from Waterstones, even though Prophet Song isn‘t supposed to be published until next Thursday. The Peter May is from Oxfam, for hubby.

Bottom left and right are gifts from @Oryx and @TrishB 😘😘, from Dead Ink (my favourite shop of the day!) and finally the Aoyama is a complete #covercrush from News From Nowhere.