Welcome to Litsy!

Greetings Littens! It's been a while since I've checked in. I've been spending more time out in the real world and less time online. But still lots of reading so lots to catch up on. To continue where I left off in December, the tagged book is another Spanish one I read on my solo trip to Mexico. Even though I highlighted a lot of vocab I didn't know, this was a very easy story to follow. One I could see myself reading over and over.

(1984) Here's a collection of short pieces: anecdotes, character sketches, meditations as written by a Latina girl growing up in an urban Chicago neighborhood. The pieces are gorgeous, with language so efficient and evocative they feel more like poems than short stories. Themes of growing up, family, finding joy in a world that will casually devour you, and the tension between duties to oneself and to the community who builds one. I liked it much

Journeying with Esperanza for the year that we get to be with her and her family on Mango Street, is a balm to witness her own coming to herself as she remembers that as much as she wants to leave and never return to this neighborhood, she will return to help the people she has left behind. “They will not know I have gone away to come back. For the ones I left behind. For the ones who cannot out.” She realizes her responsibility to her community.

A quick read with a lot of heart folded in. Esperanza speaks of her attempts to make friends, first job, and so much more as she tries to find her bearings as a young teenager.

October #bookspin ✅ @TheAromaofBooks

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

I was surprised by how short this read is, and despite that, these coming-of-age vignettes really pack a punch. The prose is very poetic and there were many beautiful, quotable passages that I wanted to highlight. I can see why Sandra Cisneros is a celebrated Latina author.

Today I finished the last March back issue of Real Simple, as well as this sad and insightful collection of vignettes about a young Hispanic girl in Chicago.

A couple days ago I got a free copy of the April 2024 issue in an attempt to lure me back. Nice try but no.

#readordonate #monthlymagazineblitz

A sometimes heartbreaking story of a girls life growing up on Mango Street.

There are a lot of great one liners in this book. It also at times left you wishing for more information before it went to the next page.

That‘s it, I‘m bailing. I don‘t get the point of this book. I like the writing being in vignettes but the characters and stories are not connecting so I‘m having trouble getting into the book. I guess I‘m missing something but I don‘t get the rave reviews. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤔

This is a short book with short little chapters that paint a picture of a girl growing up in a Chicago neighborhood on Mango Street. The vignettes give glimpses into her thoughts, interactions, and desires growing up. At the end, she reflects on her duty to give back to her community when she grows up, because it will always be a part of her. 🧡

🥭

I was mildly annoyed with myself for using Mango Grove for another prompt so recently, but I was actually thinking of Blood Grove. Mango Grove is an Indian restaurant I‘ve been to a couple times with my “lunch lady” friends! Nothing to do with Blood Grove or with Mango Street.

To be fair, Blood Grove refers to a place where blood oranges are grown, but still… 🤦🏻‍♀️

#temptingtitles #withafruit

@vonnie862 This #MugLove23 package is lovely! Thanks so much for putting together a perfectly themed gift! I‘ll be trying the hot chocolate very soon, and I‘m intrigued to try out the wooden whisk. I haven‘t read The House on Mango Street since college, so I‘m also very much looking forward to a reread.

Also, thanks to our hosts for putting together a great swap!

A classic piece of Chicana feminist literature written in the 80's, this is inspired by author Sandra Cisnero's own experiences growing up. Set in Chicago in a decaying urbanized dwelling, 12 year old Esperanza Cordero reveals her life of poverty, racism, class structure, sexuality, and cultural identity in a series of vignettes of living on Mango Street.

I don‘t know how I missed this when it was first published! Sandra Cisneros had me at the introduction of this 25th anniversary edition. Beautifully written, at times funny and poignant, these essays provided a glimpse of a beautiful soul striving to be and be understood. I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Cisneros paints a picture, in short vignettes, of a childhood and a community. She captures both the universality of life and the particularities of the Latinx people inhabiting the stories. I liked this.

“You can never have too much sky. You can fall asleep and wake up drunk on sky,…”

Loving this work by Sandra Cisneros.

“Only a house quiet as snow, a space for myself to go, clean as paper before the poem.”

“The dog is big, like a man dressed in a dog suit, and runs the same way its owner does, clumsy and wild and with the limbs flopping all over the place like untied shoes.”

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Absolutely stunning collection of vignettes rendering scenes from Esperanza‘s life as she discovers the power of womanhood. This has been on my shelf for ages, and I‘m so grateful my IRL #bookclub got me to finally pick it up. Definitely one of my top reads this year!

The author speaking and reading this morning from her new book.

This book was like medicine.

I love the vignette style of this novella. I was surprised by how visceral the experience was in reading from the perspective of childhood, observing the lives around Esperanza and how often how they are affected by poverty, misogyny, and the displacement of immigration. Given the introduction, in which the author states that she added from her own life experience, now I really want to read the her memoir: A House of My Own. #novella

"...when I am a tiny thing against so many bricks, then it is I look at trees. When there is nothing left to look at on this street. Four who grew despite concrete. Four who reach and do not forget to reach. Four whose only reason is to be and be." [Four Skinny Trees continued]

"Their strength is secret. They send ferocious roots beneath the ground. They grow up and they grow down and grab the earth between their hairy toes and bite the sky with violent teeth and never quit their anger. This is how they keep."

I read this for a discussion among teachers. This book is often used in 9th grade English. The vignettes create a strong sense of the culture of her neighborhood and work well for addressing multiculturalism in the classroom, as well as great thematic ideas.

I‘ve spent years trying to get into poetry; perhaps this book will finally give me that push. It‘s a moving amalgam of real women‘s stories intersecting on a fictional Chicago city block named Mango Street, riddled with poetic prose like: “…me and Nenny, we are more alike than you would know. Our laughter for example. Not the shy ice cream bells‘ giggle of Rachel and Lucy‘s family, but all of a sudden and surprised like a pile of dishes breaking.”

Short coming a age novel with a big message. Great choice we to tell esperanza's story though a series of vingrettes. It allows you to see how each situation impacts her and shapes her into the person she becomes.

This book was first published in 1983. The paperback featured is from 1984. I had no idea it was that old.
Only took me 39 years.... this is when I‘m happy I‘ve lived this long. Small book, big message.
Thats my powerful girl, Xena. She‘s nobody‘s fool🐾❤️

Beautiful little book! I wish I‘d read it years ago but am also kind of glad I never had to read it for school, as I‘m not sure I would have appreciated it as much. The voice reminded me a bit of Angelou in I Know Why…, but was still distinctive. I will definitely be reading this again, and might someday take a stab at the Spanish version (when I dust off my skills some more with kiddo).

This highly acclaimed book is written in the form of vignettes from the perspective of a Mexican American girl in a Hispanic neighborhood, which I believe was loosely based on the real life of Cisneros. I can see why it has been studied over the years by people of all ages. Since it can be read in one sitting, there‘s really no reason not to.

This was my first time reading and I can‘t believe it took me so long to read it! I love love loved the style, the voice, and the way the neighborhood becomes something else but stays a neighborhood.

“She thinks people who are busy working for a living deserve beautiful little stories, because they don‘t have much time and are often tired.”

this book was really short but sooo good. i had to read it for school but i really recommend it.

3️⃣
Finished! 3rd book for my Mexican American Literature class.

This is the 4th time I read this book & I like it more each time.

Sandra Cisneros captures the feeling of loving a culture you sometimes don‘t feel apart of or understand. Of daring to want something better and moving past the resentment of your situation—instead, replacing it with a drive to overcome and help others to do the same. Esperanza is so many young Hispanic Americans.

...grew despite concrete...

This book is a “must have” for every First generation/Late generation American Latinos. To read the anecdotes that detail the loss of our mother tongue, the barriers of femininity and the flourishing of womanhood, along with the dual identity of poverty and humility, this book had me wanting more. Painting love languages of coming of age with the harsh reality many young girls and women face.

Catching up on some reading for work- this is a lovely book- writing is right on, and I read this in about one sitting.

A intriguing book. 3.5/5
Read for the #Buzzwordathon - May is House or Home

I had this book on my TBR for ages so i‘m glad I finished got to it! 😊

04/23/21
When she thinks to herself in her father Language, she knows sons and daughters don't leave their parents' house until they marry. When she thinks in English, she knows she should've been on her own since eighteen.
This can be relatable for many young adults when it comes to the stressful judgment point of the age to be left on your own. Many places have different cultures on this act, while others let you be.

When I picked up this book last month I didn‘t realize it wasn‘t a novel, so I‘m glad I read reviewed before starting it. The writing was wonderful and I‘m glad for the real, although it was a pretty quick read. Book 11of 2021

This is a very fast read, written in mostly one or two page vignettes. My favorite was about a neighbor giving three pairs of heels to three little girls and the fun they had trying them on and learning to walk in them, then realizing men were looking at them differently and abandoning the shoes.

Read for #Illinois #ReadTheStates2021

I've always enjoyed Cisneros's poetry and also enjoyed this book. It's made of vignettes rather than a typical narrative and shiwcases an interesting blend of poetry and prose styles.

Trying to potty train the toddler and it is NOT going well. So I‘m going to read this book and try not to be frustrated.