Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s amazing to me that a book the contains a few scenes of brutal body horror (even I cringed, and I can handle a lot) is overall rather lighthearted and funny. I really enjoyed this one and wasn‘t necessarily expecting to going in. #TOBlonglist

It took me a while to get into this, from the #ToBlonglist. I hadn‘t read the blurb and assumed that the book was about the titular Lazarus Man, pulled out of the rubble of a collapsed NYC building after several days.

It turns out it‘s also about 3 other characters indirectly involved in the incident as well and, once I realised this, the narrative became less disjointed and I started to enjoy it.

It wouldn‘t make my shortlist though.

This has had mixed reviews but I liked it. It follows a young Black man as he works on the political campaign of a Black nominee.

I did have a couple of issues though - it was too obviously based on Obama‘s campaign which detracted from the MC‘s own story. Also, there was too much talk about religion and I lost interest / lost my way in those parts.

I‘m still glad I read it though.

#ToBlonglist

It took me a while to get through this weird little book, but I did like it. In the face of a weird fog/plague/catastrophe the main character does her best to care for her mother, her ex husband, and the little boy placed in her care. #ToBLonglist but not #ToBShortlist I‘m surprised by that.

Ostensibly about a drug-deal related shakedown, this is actually an exploration of the lives of people living at the margins and at risk. It‘s described as “darkly funny” and I don‘t agree at all—I found it to be an encouragement to look more deeply at quiet desperation. #TOBlonglist

I loved this, and it‘s another perfect example of why I love the #ToBlonglist so much.

Yes, it‘s a bit weird, but in a good way. And it‘s so beautifully but sparsely written - about motherhood, grief, regret, love, loss and forgiveness.

It has a bit of a feel of Catherine Chidgey‘s ‘Pet‘ but with added magical realism, so if you liked that - read this!

And I‘m not a fan of magical realism at all but it totally works here.

This one was just ok to me. I found the central story of a man struggling to get through a breakup fairly dull. And by the time we got to the former girlfriend‘s breakup aftermath, I just didn‘t care. Where it shines is with some of the supporting characters and stories, like the flatmate Andy ends up with and the houseboat bit. I don‘t think I would have made it through in print. #TOBlonglist

Adelle Waldman is so very clever. She lures the reader in with a story that seems to be a bit of a madcap workplace comedy in a big box store. And once she has you hooked, she reveals that it‘s actually a critique of modern American capitalism and how badly it hurts people and communities. This is fantastic. #TOBlonglist

I just finished this and I‘m so angry!! It‘s the story of 5 - make that 2 - siblings, and he focused on the 2 I was least interested in. One sister is disabled and gets no story. Two more you hear from in the beginning and never again. One you don‘t even know what happens to at the end. I‘m calling BS!! You had almost 500 pages!!

That said, the writing is beautiful. The characters who are explored are captivating. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Mixed bag for me.

“They‘d made a mistake. They‘d fought back against the way the world worked, tried to snatch a queer kid from the jaws of its cruel indifference…”

At its heart, outside of the blood and guts, 👆🏻 is what the book is about. I liked this much more than Manhunt, and I came to really love and root for this rag-tag group of queer kids forced into a conversion camp by their parents. I love how they immediately accepted each other for who they are.