Welcome to Litsy!

Getting my nonfiction itch scratched by the incomparable Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Coates is never an easy read, but he is worth the time. He forces me to slow down and read each word. I found the last part of the 3-part book especially eye-opening as he recounts his time in Palestine and draws parallels to colonization across time and specifically to our own storied history of oppression.

A friend suggested I read Between the World and Me, but it wasn't available, so I thought I'd get the next best thing.

I really enjoyed the first half of the book, It was thought-provoking and I found it very interesting, even learning a thing or two.
The second half I found a bit boring and laborers to get though. I'm not denying the importance of the subject matter, it was just that I didn't really feel a connection to it.

“Oppressive power is preserved in the smoke and fog and sometimes it is smuggled in the unexamined shadows of the language of the oppressed themselves.” Ta-Nehisi Coates The Message If books weren‘t political they wouldn‘t be trying so hard to ban them. Especially books that challenge the norm & the “correct” narrative.

I always learn so much when I read or listen to a Coates book. I listened to this one, mostly because I love his voice. This one is about his first trip to Senegal, a visit to South Carolina to defend his book from being banned, & his experience in Palestine & Israel. The last one was the longest, & I feel I learned the most from that one. I think Coates is a wise person who is always trying to grow & learn more.

“And through words I understood that my Baltimore was not damned, that what I saw in the eyes of the boys there, what I heard in the music, was in fact something old, something ineffable, which marked all of humanity, stretching from Stratford upon Avon to the Streets.”

I don‘t think I can add anything to what has already been said about this collection of brief essays on writing, racism, reparations, and apartheid. It is short and powerful. I knew some of the history, but not all of it. I appreciated the push to read books by oppressed people, not their allies or their oppressors. I loved that he was honest about his perspective and opinion changes in the face of new/more information.

Ta-Nehisi Coates has such a beautiful way with words. Getting lost in his view of the world opens my mind and my heart and gives me hope, which is something that is hard to find in our current world.

I will definitely be purchasing myself a copy of this one so that I can revisit it.

And here's the book haul! I feel like only 9 books across 5 different book stores demonstrates an impressive level of self-control 🤷‍♀️. I'm excited to dive into these - even as my tbr shelves are currently giving me the side eye 😂 😒

Bedtime reading. Good-night.

First encounter with Coates‘ writing and now I can‘t wait to read his backlist.

The 3 essays in this book were chock-full of information about the author‘s impressions during his travels and how history has a way of repeating itself throughout different cultures.

Loved!

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I've missed being part of this amazing community. Life has kept me from being as active here as I once was. I'm hoping this most recent book haul will help me get out of my reading slump, too.

Happy Reading Everyone! 💚

Next on audio…First Coates!

I love the author‘s style of writing, his reflection. In this collection of notes, he speaks on the importance of writing, of how it gives words power, how speaking truth is power. Truth may be forcibly hidden but like the moon, it cannot remain hidden for long. Here, he shares his emotional and physical experiences from his time in Senegal, SC, and Palestine. We must keep writing, reading, reflecting, and acting. There is no other way⬇️

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This series of essays is thought provoking and disturbing and educational and stirring and you can‘t help coming away with a new perspective on the world. My privilege does not exempt me from my own ignorance and I encourage everyone to read and promote Black authors, Indigenous authors, Women authors, and anyone whose voice is underrepresented. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I never buy hardcovers. But sometimes I can't wait for the paperback to come out. Thankfully my library rocks. I haven't started it yet but I have read him before.

Coates writes with such a remarkable degree of clarity, integrity, and compassion. The book is comprised of three essay sections where he tells of his journeys- to Senegal, South Carolina, and Palestine. He shares his experiences, observations, insights, and mind rumblings. He is willing to say “I was wrong” and tells of how his opinion changed after learning new information - something we all need to learn to do better. Essential reading.

The Message takes readers through three places Coates traveled to. Dakar is his first time in Africa, and his revelations about it are honest and highly personal to him as he looks at his ancestral roots. His time in South Carolina is timely as he meets a teacher who is at risk of being fired for teaching one of Coates' books. Finally, his trip to Palestine shows the continuing turmoil in that region and how injustice is on full display daily.

Don‘t walk, run to get this book! Since Coates has been shaking the table with his discursive intervention on Palestine, that was the section I was most interested to read… but in the end I was particularly floored by the section on education & the war on “critical race theory.” If I taught HS English, I would def assign this book!

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Coates is being interviewed by local author Omar El Akkad who is an amazingly smart and interesting person himself. I am so excited for this, hoping for nothing but to learn.

#WeeklyForecast

It's a big one! I am going to see Ta-Nehisi Coats on Tuesday so I want to make a bit of a dent in his book before that talk; I really need to return this library book, lucky it is in verse so I am flying through The Ghosts of Rose Hill; still plugging away at 3 Musketeers! The Little Friend is my #10BeforeTheEnd for the week and if I have time I will read a bit of Nettle and Bone!

Coates‘s latest book is a series of essays that form a narrative through-line looking at who gets to be a full person. He impactfully explores the treatment of Palestinians in Israel (he visited before the current war), demonstrating the similarity to Jim Crow. We need provocateurs like Coates to get us talking and thinking. I‘m fully on board with him here.

#Bookmail is the best mail!👏😄📚

As always, I greatly value Ta-Nehisi Coates‘ thoughtfulness and perspective.

Required reading. Equally as important, this should be discussed.

I love Coates's writing. It‘s succinct and impactful, elegant and educational. “Writing is a powerful tool of politics.”

Essential reading in the conversation of the power of narrative and how it shapes our world. It's a reminder that the stories we tell can either free us or bind us, and that the sharing of truth, however uncomfortable, is ultimately the way to true freedom.

Powell's book haul!

I went in last night to pick up the tagged and Olga Tokarczuk's The Empusium then kept going...
I want to read Jesus and John Wayne during Nonfiction November and they had a used copy - score! And then I found a sale edition of Wells' #7 Murderbot (now need 5&6 🤣)
I have been collecting these pretty paper mill press classics and Emma and Persuasion were half price, so had to grab them!