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Small Worlds
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
14 posts | 9 read | 7 to read
The one thing that can solve Stephen's problems is dancing. Dancing at Church, with his parents and brother, the shimmer of Black hands raised in praise; he might have lost his faith, but he does believe in rhythm. Dancing with his friends, somewhere in a basement with the drums about to drop, while the DJ spins garage cuts. Dancing with his band, making music which speaks not just to the hardships of their lives, but the joys too. Dancing with his best friend Adeline, two-stepping around the living room, crooning and grooving, so close their heads might touch. Dancing alone, at home, to his father's records, uncovering parts of a man he has never truly known. Stephen has only ever known himself in song. But what becomes of him when the music fades? When his father begins to speak of shame and sacrifice, when his home is no longer his own? How will he find space for himself- a place where he can feel beautiful, a place he might feel free? Set over the course of three summers in Stephen's life, from London to Ghana and back again, Small Worlds is an exhilarating and expansive novel about the worlds we build for ourselves, the worlds we live, dance and love within.
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Kazzie
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
Pickpick

Beautiful! So lyrical. I liked how London becomes another character. About love and family

review
Megabooks
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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Pickpick

This book is a celebration of all the small worlds we live in. The friends that make us happy and the family that will always be there.

Stephan, a British-born son of Ghanaian immigrants, has to navigate parental expectations and the music that makes him feel alive. When his friend is admitted to music school and he isn‘t, he has to search for what else might bring him joy. The book takes place across three summers in the UK and Ghana. #aardvark

TheBookHippie I‘ve been enjoying Aardvark. 12mo
Megabooks @TheBookHippie same! They‘ve had great choices this year. 12mo
squirrelbrain I loved this one! 12mo
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BarbaraBB This sounds lovely 12mo
Megabooks @BarbaraBB it really was a hopeful book even when a couple of sad things happened. 👍🏻💜 12mo
80 likes2 stack adds6 comments
review
Anna40
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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Pickpick

We follow Stephen as he goes off to university,feels cut off from his group of friends&Ghanaian community,returns to London to work as a chef cooking meals he‘s grown up with.There‘s music,dancing,church,immigration,racism,love&lots of spliff smoking.There‘s grief,parent-child relationship&more dancing,a trip to Ghana,history of slavery.I loved the first half,it‘s like a long poem but it got too long for me,plot meanders into what?I‘m not sure.

review
Abailliekaras
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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Pickpick

Beautifully written story of a Ghanaian-British young man coming of age in London. A sense of yearning & melancholy pervades the book as his life is touched by violence, racism & grief. He cautiously embraces moments of comfort, friendships & the joy in music & dancing. Poetic & compassionate, a little slow for me but authentic & full of insights & heart.

31 likes1 stack add
blurb
Soubhiville
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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#bookmail, it‘s my #Aardvark box! I haven‘t read Nelson‘s first book, but it got great reviews, and it was the one that called to me this month. Looking forward to it!

vivastory I signed up for aardvark this month & selected this one & Mr Magic 1y
squirrelbrain I read this recently and loved it. I hadn‘t read his first one either, but have since bought it, although it remains on the TBR shelf! 1y
74 likes2 comments
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swishandflick
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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After today's new #Aardvark hints, I swapped out two of my previous guesses! We'll see if these hold as we get new clues, but these feel pretty solid with the "similar book vibes" clue ?️?‍♀️

Megabooks I love seeing your predictions every month!! 💜🎉 1y
swishandflick @Megabooks @Cinfhen After today's clues, I'm sticking with these as my final answer! 1y
Cinfhen Certainly looks like a winning prediction 🙌🏻💕 1y
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vivastory I've really been wanting to read Small Worlds & Mr Magic. If these are the picks I think this will be the month I sign up. 1y
swishandflick @vivastory Heads up that all of these ARE the picks! They went live this morning 😆 1y
vivastory I saw! I'm very impressed by your deduction skills! I tried to sign up before leaving for work this morning and the site was down. Will definitely try again 1y
Megabooks Your skills of deduction are 💯💯💯!! 1y
Megabooks @vivastory those are the two that I got. 👍🏻👍🏻 1y
vivastory @Megabooks I was able to sign up a couple days ago and am very much looking forward to receiving my first box 📚📚 1y
Megabooks @vivastory I‘ve been very pleased with aardvark. I signed up their first month, and I really like the way their books are bound. I‘ve found something I want every month but one. I hope you like it, too! 1y
67 likes10 comments
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Leniverse
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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#20in4 became more like 20 in 5, but I read the three books in the pic and listened to a couple of hours of Daisy Jones and the Six. All in all a bank holiday weekend well spent.
End of Watch was good, but not the best of the trilogy, The Girl in Red was ok, but only vaguely inspired by Red Riding Hood. Small Worlds was beautiful. I'm trying to work out if I like it as much as Open Water, but I've decided it doesn't matter. They're both beautiful.

kspenmoll Fantastic! 1y
rockpools Ooh. Small Worlds. It keeps shouting at me from the new books shelf at work. ‘Trying to decide‘ sounds good enough for me - I loved Open Water. 1y
Leniverse @rockpools Open Water was more experimental in style, and I loved how the 2nd person narrative shows the MCs need to both universalise his experiences and keep his distance from them. Small Worlds is 1st person, but uses other techniques. Repetition, music, food. It uses beautiful language to speak about the shortcomings of language. Yes, read it. Read Small Worlds and Fire Rush and have yourself a musical summer. 1y
rockpools @Leniverse You know, I might just do that 😊 1y
46 likes4 comments
quote
Leniverse
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson

I gaze at my parents, and see that the world can be two people, occupying a space where they don't have to explain. Where they can be beautiful. Where they might feel free.

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Leniverse
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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Small Worlds, big muffin, iced coffee in the sun.
I have recovered sufficiently to escape Plague Central and get some supplies for the weekend. (Clearly my immune system is superior. Alternative interpretation, I had a cold the others have man colds.) Kicking my #20in4 off with a treat before going home to the coughing and nose blowing 🤧🤒😷 😅

TrishB Enjoy ♥️ 2y
squirrelbrain Such a good book! 1y
50 likes2 comments
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AllDebooks
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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My goals for #NetgalleyGroup #NGGSummerSmashup

1) Finish the tagged book before 1st June
2) Read at least 3 fiction books
3) Read at least 4 non-fiction books
4) Read at least 1 poetry book
5) Absolutely DO NOT request any more books until posted 5 reviews.
6) Catch-up on outstanding reviews

Good luck to all participating in this challenge. Here's to a summer full of relaxation and fun reads. 😀

rockpools Good luck! 2y
AllDebooks @rockpools thank you x 1y
30 likes2 comments
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AllDebooks
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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My cat's even more broken than usual today. 😸

#adventuresofRonnie @catsoflitsy

batsy 😆 Those paws 😍 2y
TheSpineView ❤️🐾❤️ 2y
julieclair This is too adorable! 2y
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Ruthiella 😻😻😻 2y
dabbe Da silly kitty! Those paws look like the front ones! 🩵🐾🤍 2y
Bookwomble 😹 2y
Yuki_Onna Awwwww.... 🤩😍 Too cute!!! 2y
ElizaMarie I love your broken kitty! 1y
60 likes8 comments
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AllDebooks
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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#Netgalleygroup

Our 1st official post!! 🥳 I thought it would be nice to kick off with an intro to yourself so we can get to know each other better. You can be brief or deep dive. It's all good.

All newcomers welcome to join us. Please do let me know if you wish to be added/removed from the taglist.

I'll be posting our 1st challenge on Friday 😅

AllDebooks My name is Debbie, 50+(ish). I'm Mum to 4 amazing teenagers. I live in Derbyshire, UK, in a semi-rural area. I'm a lifelong bibliophile with a passion for all genres, except romance. I adore nature and also run #NaturaLitsy to connect with like-minded folks who love the natural world, too. I enjoy fiction and non-fiction equally. I also have a reading theme each year, 2023 is poetry. Over to you ..... 😀👋 2y
AllDebooks The tagged book is my current ng read. What are you reading? 2y
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Cazxxx I‘m Caz, I live in Edinburgh, Scotland. I‘m 47 and have 3 children and 2 grandchildren. I‘m a life long book lover, practice witchcraft and love all things macabre. I‘m a very curious person and love learning from books. My favourite genre is gothic but enjoy most genres other than romance 🤮😂. I tend to read 50/50 fiction and nonfiction and because of health/disability I mainly read audiobooks. I can‘t function without coffee ☕️ 👋🏻 2y
sebrittainclark I'm Sarah, and I live in Arkansas. I have a 1 year old baby and have always loved reading. I tend to read about 75% fiction, and within that I mostly read SFF and romance. I tend to be reading 1 ebook or physical book and 1 audiobook at any given time. 2y
TheSpineView I'm Lisa, I live in upstate SC (Clemson area for those U.S. Littens) go Tigers! I am a lifelong reader and read most genres, except for Horror. Favorite genres are Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Paranormal and poetry. I host the daily #PoetryMatters, the weekly #Two4Tuesday, and cohost #SeriesLove2023 with @Andrew65 Besides reading, I love riding my horse, gardening, puzzling, playing the piano, and painting. 2y
Julsmarshall I love what a varied group of folks (and readers!) we are! I‘m Julie, another 50ish Mom to 2 young adults and I live in Texas. I work with the Texas Library Association so both my work and personal lives revolve around books. I read a bit of everything, mostly fiction, and nothing too scary/bloody. I do a lot of walking and some commuting, so I listen to a lot on #audio. I‘ve been married for nearly 20 years and my dogs are my best buds. 2y
Librarybelle I‘m Jess from Pennsylvania. I‘m a public librarian, have 4 males cats, and my reading style is pretty eclectic. 2y
bnp I'm Ardene, and I live in Georgia (US) in the Atlanta metro area. I work in a public library and a bit more than 5 years from retirement. I'm an on-again off-again Net Galley reader, and am currently trying to decide which of 6 books on my list to request - essays about Bayard Rustin? Science fiction classics being republished? Islands in deep time? (non fiction)? A story about a bookstore? A memoir weaving Japanese folktales & art with memory? 2y
AllDebooks @Cazxxx I love gothic fiction too. I've only just switched to using audiobooks, always hated them. But now I'm older, I really enjoy them 2y
AllDebooks @sebrittainclark a baby, how precious. Enjoy your time, they grow up so fast 😍 2y
AllDebooks @TheSpineView great selection of hobbies there!! I've just been plotting more reads for #Serieslove2023 so far, I've only managed Lore Olympus 2y
AllDebooks @Julsmarshall I would love to work in a library/bookshop, but worry I would never get any work done. I'd be hiding in the stacks, reading. 😅 2y
AllDebooks @Librarybelle 4 cats!!! I have enough trouble with the 1. Do they get along? 2y
AllDebooks @bnp nice to know more about you Ardene. Tell me more about this Japanese folktales book 😍 2y
AllDebooks It's so nice to know more about you. Thank you so much for joining me. Are you ready for the challenge? 2y
LocalTXLibrarian I'm Lani! I'm 24 and from Texas. I currently work as a public librarian in the same library that I spent most of my childhood in - so it's an absolute dream for me! 💛 I love reading mystery/thrillers, but lately I have found myself enjoying classics. I work closely with teens in the library, so I also read a lot of YA. I have been on Netgalley just since the beginning of the year and I have 39 books I need to read...it's a real problem! 😂 2y
Librarybelle @AllDebooks The middle two do not, but we manage. 😂 2y
Larkken 👋 I‘m Larkin from Nebraska. I‘m a forensic anthropologist, and I have a dog, a cat, and a partner that put up with me when I‘m nose deep in a book. I read pretty widely, particularly on audiobook… but sff and horror are my comfort genres! Glad to join you all, and to get back into ARCs :) 1y
bnp @AllDebooks The book is The night parade by Jami Nakamura Lin. It is a memoir that incorporates Japanese folktales, and is illustrated by the author's sister. 1y
BookmarkTavern Hello! I‘m Krysta from Utah! I joined up for NetGalley at the beginning of the pandemic, because I wasn‘t working at the time. But then I went back to work and my turnaround time became much worse. 😂 I have a cat Lucy, although I joke it‘s short for Lucifer. And I can‘t wait to see what everyone is reading! ❤️ 1y
AllDebooks @LocalTXLibrarian hi 👋 dream job!! I hear you, I joined in November and got so excited at free books I went on a demented request spree. 1y
AllDebooks @Larkken glad you've joined us. Your job sounds fascinating 1y
AllDebooks @bnp looks beautiful x 1y
AllDebooks @ozma.of.oz Lucifer 😂 glad you've joined us. I'm excited to see what everyone's reading, although I have concerns it's gonna explode my wishlist 🫣 1y
33 likes25 comments
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Oryx
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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Thank you so much @squirrelbrain - and you must have been pleased to see I stacked this from your review look last week too 😁

squirrelbrain You‘re welcome! This wasn‘t the one I originally chose for you - they emailed me the other day to say they‘d sold out of that one. And, actually, having read this I think it‘s a better choice anyway! 😁 2y
55 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
squirrelbrain
Small Worlds | Caleb Azumah Nelson
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Pickpick

I adored this! I‘m sad that this couldn‘t be on the #camplitsy23 list due to publishing dates.

It‘s so nice to see a different side to the young, black experience. Yes, there is prejudice, violence and racism always there in the background but, above all, this book is about love and relationships.

It‘s such a warm book as Stephen navigates his late teens / early twenties and learns to love, lose love, grieve and find love again.

TrishB How like Open Water is it (I struggled with writing style- 3rd person and that one!) 2y
squirrelbrain I haven‘t actually read Open Water @TrishB 😊 although I have it on Kindle. There wasn‘t anything stylistically that I struggled with in this though. 2y
rockpools @squirrelbrain @TrishB On the other hand I loved Open Water! Really happy to know this is out there. Was it an ARC, Helen? 2y
squirrelbrain Hi Rachel @rockpools - yes, it‘s an ARC but it‘s due out next week in the UK. It was the US (for once!) where it‘s being published later so it couldn‘t be on the #camplitsy23 long list. 2y
71 likes3 stack adds4 comments