Welcome to Litsy!

Jay is an artist; lives his life as one (many?) experience-immersed art project/s. When Covid hits, he is in NYC just barely surviving when he delivers groceries to a wealthy enclave — he comes face 2 face with his lover Alice from 20+ years past who had run off with his best friend. I liked it mostly for amazing sentences but the drug use was extremely off-putting to me. Lots of interesting thoughts on “what IS art?” 🖼️ Low pick #Aug2025 #ToF

“There was a pie and mash shop and a butcher.”

#piemention #litpie #pieandbooks #booksandpie #ILovePie #BlackPloutPie

The vividness of these radishes provoked me to take this picture, continuing my habit of posing my books with gardens, plants, flowers, produce. This is my last book for #ToF and it is already capturing my attention; page 10. This will be my 3rd by this author. I expect it to be interesting, philosophical, culturally relevant.

May 11, 2025 Happy Mother's Day to all the hardworking fearless strong compassionate mothers out there who do EVERYTHING for their kids. Today I am starting this TBR. I sort of started it but never finished it so I am re-reading it again.

Celebrating Indie Bookstore Day: purchased Blue Ruin for this year‘s Tournament of Favorites and they gave me the Supersonic. Posing in front of a pretty mural across the street from my next stop (which isn‘t open yet! 🤨) #ibd #indiebookstoreday

Part of why everyone here annoys me, I think, is no one appears to have real responsibilities, even as COVID hits. Rob and Alice have a daughter they ignore, Jay‘s life has mostly been wading through an art scene while being high, and the art anyone does finally do feels pretentious and light. They have disappeared into their art, a major theme. People return when they connect with others, and mostly everyone here is too selfish to do that.

I liked learning more about the Ethiopian immigration experience but otherwise the sprawling, disconnected narrative and bland main character put this near the bottom of my #ToB25 list.

This novel covers a lot of ground: grief, family dynamics, generational trauma, illness, addiction, income inequality, immigration, racism. I appreciate the writing and the characters, but like others, I found following the story to be a challenge. The format and timeline feel true to life and therefore a little unsettling to me. I wonder if I go to fiction because a tidy narrative helps life seem more manageable. (This isn't a tidy narrative.)

I‘m not at all sure that I understood this book at all. My take away is that African immigrants to the USA (and their children) have a strong sense of dislocation and not belonging and they are always on edge, waiting to be arrested. I kept waiting for a story beyond this. If it existed, I lost it in the constantly shifting timelines.

Liked but didn‘t love this one. The protagonist‘s relationship with Samuel was really well written as were the real/not real elements. The way his relationship with his wife and son was described felt a little shallow and unfinished to me, I couldn‘t quite get a hold on it. Definitely a unique story overall and I‘m glad I read it. #tob25

Now on to beach reads!