Death of the Author (Standard Edition) | 
Another good reading month with Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor, The Golden Gate by Amy Chua and Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto leading the way. All different from each other and all very good.
Other notable reads were Murder at Gulls Nest by Jess Kidd, Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yamboa, The Briar Club by Kate Quinn and My Friends by Fredrik Backman.
pickI loved this book so much. I started off thinking I wouldn‘t like the book because of the writing but the narrative is so strong simple sentences later in the book emotionally hit deep. We follow 2 timelines. One is the future where there are no humans and it‘s all robots. The other is us following Zelu, a Nigerian American author who is paraplegic. This is a love letter to culture. This is about the frustration of just trying to exist when 👇🏼
Today I drove 2 1/2 hours each way to Manchester, VT to get another stamp on my independent bookstore passport. Northshire Bookstore is a premium store in a very wealthy town and they are much loved. I have 6 stores yet to go to and the ones listed on the right are far away. Boo. But Vermont is lovely so that makes up for it. I‘m now ready for my July CampLitsy25 read.
#CampLitsy25
pickI liked Zelu‘s story much more than the book-in-the-book, the SF novel. And I didn‘t get the ending of that SF novel. But it doesn‘t matter, this book is quite an experience and a perfect book to discuss around the fire during #CampLitsy25 in July!
#ReadTheWorld2025 book 18 #Nigeria
pickA great novel about art, originality, and ownership. Do we use art to manifest parts of ourselves? Can we ever get beyond that? How much ownership can we have over anything we put out in the world?
Can‘t wait to discuss it for #camplitsy, I think there‘s a lot here to unpack!
pickOooOOOooo! I like this cover more than the one on the hardcover I read (US, library) Anyway, I am giving this a “Pick with reservations” and truly, this is a case of “Book, it‘s not you, it‘s me”. I just couldn‘t overcome the reluctance I felt, the chore it seemed to get this thing read!! I don‘t have time for this, too many books coming at me fast and fury with deadlines. I made it to page 200 before I skipped to the last 4 chapters ⬇️
This made me laugh. Shout out to all the 🐈⬛ cat lovers! Yes? 🙌 #catsofLitsy
“Hanging out with Man Man, a humongous black Maine Coon cat who required the attention of a human at all times, was perfect.”
This cover is hidden under the dust jacket for Death of the Author. The main character, Zelu, writes a wildly popular sci fi book called Rusted Robots, and we get to read some of it in Death of the Author. It was so good. I would read the entire novel.
🤖 Taken with some of my Star Wars robots that matched the robots in the story 🦿
“We… had a profound love of storytelling. But no automation, Al or machine, could create stories. Not truly. We could pull from existing datasets, detect patterns, then copy and paste them in a new order, and sometimes that seemed like creation. But this couldn't capture the narrative magic that humanity could wield…Stories were the greatest currency to us, greater than power, greater than control. Stories were our food, nourishment, enrichment.⤵️
Yoga! And beer!! And reading!!!
In the game of library holds, I usually find that timing fails me. This has arrived about 6 weeks too soon… meanwhile I also have the ebook version on hold, which says it‘ll be an 18-week wait 😂 #CampLitsy25
pickI finished this book at 1:30 am for my book club Saturday! Death of the Author will be on my favorites list for the story and the story-within-a-story both evolving their plots with complex characters sublimely. I loved the robots & the representation of a disabled main character, Zelu, who is much more than her disability.
Zelu loves her mom‘s Nigerian cooking so we went to a Nigerian restaurant for some joloff rice & puff puff! Yum!
🤖🦿🤖🦿🤖
Hello everyone! I've been on a bit of a hiatus since I was traveling for work for the last two months and it really cut in to my reading time. The nerve! This month, I'm going to see how many of the books I meant to read in March and April are actually getting finished. But first, on to the tagged new release that I am so excited to start!
As in Feb, I'm doing two lists, one to pick my #bookspin books and the second for the #bookspinbingo board.
pickThis is a creative, well written, 1/2 fiction, 1/2 sci-fi novel. I wanted more Wind, more Msizi chapters, less angry family, which shows the strengths of this evolving story telling strategy. With a novel inside a novel, this one jumps between two stories, and adds to the reader‘s understanding of the main character. Good read!
My name is Renee Bailey and I am a Polygamist Reader! A Scent Story has these candle sayings that just speak to me every time. The scents are not over powering and adds just the right amount of ambiance to my reading experience.
I‘m unsure if The Lit Bar is on this platform or not but their date with a mystery book is a must! Isn‘t this the cutest. I almost don‘t want to open it.
My Independent Bookstore Day haul from yesterday!
I went for Death of the Author for my book club, but had to also pick up A Psalm for the Wild-Built from the banned books pop-up.
📚 What did you get?
It took me a while to understand. I thought I was to nominate for a vote of best books. I understand now. I nominate Fagin the Thief, Death of the Author (tagged- Author of Binti trilogy and Akata Witch), Snowy Day (translated from Korean, published in US Feb. 2025), and Harlem Rhapsody. #CampLitsy @Megabooks @squirrelbrain @BarbaraBB
pickLoved this one! It will be on my list as one of my favorite reads this year.
I truly did not know how the author was going to combine the two storylines in this book. I'm a sucker for a book within a book premise, and the mix of sci-fi with realworld everyday issues felt new and unexplored.
When I finished this, I just sat for a while contemplating it, and the more I think about it, the more I love it. 💚
so-soI wish I had a clearer memory of my experience with the novella I read by this author a few years ago. I can remember that it had a promising premise, that there was emotion, and sci fi tech, and yet what I most clearly remember feeling at the end was a bit frustrated, a bit empty, like for all that was there, at the conclusion, once it was all compiled, it felt a bit cold. 1/?
I swear, this is the second and final set of four I am recommending for #CampLitsy25. Lols. Hopefully, there are others who share my interest in all these titles. 💕
pickThe Guardian (2/2025) summed it up well: “This book within a book weaves a writer‘s struggles with scenes from their Africanfuturist tale of post-apocalyptic robots.” Fueled by anger at a job loss, Zelu, scraps her failed writing and begins a SF novel that is an instant success. Now Zelu must deal with fame, but new doors are also open. Zelu‘s story is closely entwined with Ankara, her MC in “ Rusted Robots.” Full of angst and hope for 4/5 ⭐️
pickThis one is amazing and it's just meta enough that you'll keep thinking about it.
#Aardvark @AardvarkBookClub
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks
pickAn absolute masterpiece, this book-within-a-book follows a disabled Nigerian-American author as she skyrockets to fame—and the main character of her book, Ankara, a “rusted robot” and android scholar on a post-human Earth. Disability, identity, family, fame, what it means to be the author of your own story, Okorafor offers a rich and razor sharp exploration of it all in Death of the Author, with an ending that made me want to start all over again!
pick(2025) This one was a delight. A disabled Nigerian American with a habit of being her own worst enemy writes a runaway bestseller, which gives her freedom she didn't have before. There is so much going on here, about family, identity, creativity, celebrity, technology, and the functions of story that I always had at least three different things to be thinking about, and the resolution left me wanting to start again. Enthusiastically recommended.
bailedI struggled along past 10%, but this is not the book for me. The main story is quite slow to get going and while the book within the book is written quite well, it‘s not my style. Others love this, though, so if you think you are the right reader, don‘t let me deter you.
pickThis extraordinary book toggles between the life of Zelu, daughter of Nigerian immigrants & author of a surprise SF bestseller called Rusted Robots; and the story of a post-human landscape populated by rival factions of robot intelligence. Confined to a wheelchair since a childhood accident, Zelu must navigate the publishing industry and her relationships with a loving family that never quite understands her. A brilliant look at the power of story
pickLoved this book. Book within a book featuring a blend of literary fiction and science fiction. Protagonist Zelu is a disabled Nigerian American author who experiences a wild climb to fame (with her novel about robots) which comes with its consequences. This is a touching book that covers themes of art, love, identity, and humanity. Power of stories and storytelling is central to the novel. Would make a great book for discussion.
I‘m doing the American cancer society read every day in Feb fundraiser. Normally would feel a bit like cheating since I usually read every day. But as you can see I had some days last month where I didn‘t read anything. I‘m a federal employee (psychologist and researcher). Last few weeks have been chaos.
Halfway through this book. I love this author and the book is really solid. Book within a book that blends literary fiction and science fiction
And it's a wrap. At least January turned out to be a solid reading month in spite of the rest of the month's events.
In the midst of chaos, there are always books. My dad has had another stroke. It is a long story that I am still too exhausted to tell fully. Mom and I are working to get him in a nursing home next week. Idk guys. Life is never fair.
Filled my @AardvarkBookClub box 💜💜 #aardvark
@BarbaraBB and @squirrelbrain I‘d love to hear from you if you have time, but I can‘t promise a quick reply. 😘😘
pickLit-fic meets sci-fi meets meta-fiction, Okorafor's new novel is my first 5⭐ book of 2025. The story is told from various POVs: Zelu, a complicated woman who refuses to be put into a box (& we're pulled deeply in her innermost workings), interviews from family members portraying how different aspects of Zelu are viewed by them, excerpts from Zelu's novel (Rusted Robots). ⭐Because sometimes a story really does have the power to reshape the world.⭐
I‘ve been sick for the past week with the kind of cold that gave me so much sinus pressure, I couldn‘t really read. Finally emerging headache is gone and I can get to this. It‘s so pretty and I love this author‘s work. After struggling with Caledonian road (hard to read about narcissists and corruption right now), I‘m hoping this one will be all that I expect it to be
Prepared to say inside as the snow continues to fall all day and then ushers in the subsequent cold this week.
