Litsy

Self-Portrait with Boy: A Novel | Rachel Lyon

pick

This book! It needs way more attention and praise than it has been getting.
It‘s the story of a broken, starting artist who accidentally takes a picture of a boy falling to his death. The picture can be her entrance into NY‘s art scene but it is so controversial especially since she knows the boy‘s parents.
A great plot, and breathtaking writing, whether it‘s about grief, loneliness, art, or being a daughter. A fantastic debut. Read it!

KarenUK

CarolynM You've convinced me. Stacked. 5y

erzascarletbookgasm Yeah, stacking too! 😁 5y

squirrelbrain What @CarolynM and @erzascarletbookgasm said - you‘ve convinced me as well! Great review! 5y

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Cathythoughts Sounds great .... I think this will be my next read 👍🏻❤️ 5y

youneverarrived Stacked! Sounds great ❤️ 5y

BarbaraBB @Cathythoughts Really? I‘d like to hear what you think! 5y

KarenUK Thanks for the tag👍Definitely going to get to it sooner now! 💕 5y

Kalalalatja Stacked! 5y

JennyM How can I not read it after your review?!?! #stacked!!! (edited) 5y

BarbaraBB @CarolynM @erzascarletbookgasm @squirrelbrain @youneverarrived @Kalalalatja @JennyM Thanks for trusting my opinion. To add some value, the book was longlisted for the #ToB2019 😀 5y

Cathythoughts I can‘t get it on kindle 🙄.... will have to wait god bookshops to open now 👍🏻 5y

erzascarletbookgasm @Cathythoughts our biggest bookstore, Kinokuniya just opened again yesterday but the book is not available over here yet. 5y

Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm ok thanks Jessie .... we will have to wait 😁... you‘d think we had no books to read 😂. Looking forward to it 👍🏻❤️ 5y

BarbaraBB @Cathythoughts @erzascarletbookgasm I am getting a bit nervous. Expectations are high 😉😘 5y

Megabooks Definitely stacking!!! 5y

BarbaraBB @Megabooks It‘s gooood!! 5y

79 likes12 stack adds16 comments

suzisteffen

The House of Broken Angels | Luis Alberto Urrea

I love following Luis and his wife on Twitter, and I have enjoyed his books, both nonfiction and novels. I was bummed this was not in at the library while the #ToB2019 was going on. 🧐 But cool cool, I can‘t read every book on time, I guess. (FOMO is so real with books tho, which is why I had to institute an alternating-month-owned-book-not-library-books-TBR-pile rule😂.) ANYWAY, here we go!

BarbaraBB It‘s worth the wait and it should have won the ToB! 6y

suzisteffen @BarbaraBB oooooh!!! Do you remember what book it lost to in the tourney? 6y

BarbaraBB Yes, to a book I didn‘t like at all:

The Mars Room: A Novel

suzisteffen @BarbaraBB Oooh I haven‘t read that one yet either, though I‘ve heard a lot about it. So much to catch up on! 6y

18 likes1 stack add4 comments

BkClubCare

Milkman | Anna Burns

I am rereading by listening my favorite #tob2019 #tob book. So GOOD. Loving this repeat experience enhanced. #companionread #SayNothing

RaimeyGallant My fave too. 6y

26 likes1 stack add1 comment

BarbaraBB

My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel | Oyinkan Braithwaite

🐓🐓🐓 She did it! A great outcome of my favorite Tournament. Thanks for sharing your favorites and frustrations! #ToB2019

BkClubCare, Megabooks, Rachel_nyc, Zelma, Redwritinghood, Suet624, merelybookish, thebluestocking, Ruthiella

Suet624 Oh! I didn‘t check today‘s result! Now I‘ll have to find this book. 😁 6y

merelybookish Yay! And a decisive victory too! (I feel vindicated as many of the judges expressed my own feelings about Warlight, including "why are considering it for this prize?!" ?) 6y

Ruthiella Yay 😁! I liked both finalists but am pleased MStSK takes the rooster 🐔. I love it when a zombie succeeds. 6y

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Megabooks Definitely a fantastic book! 6y

Blaire About to start this one! 6y

Rachel_nyc So excited about the result and I loved Braithwaite‘s comments about her win. 6y

Redwritinghood Interesting and exciting result. Not my favorite, but not a bad choice, either. 6y

Zelma Yes! Sisters for the win! And am very satisfied by the finale after feeling a bit meh on the other books in contention. Already excited the Rooster of Champions. 😃 6y

BkClubCare WOOT!!!! 6y

thebluestocking I‘m super pleased at the result, if not the path. Thank you for hosting a cozy Litsy spot for #ToB discussion. ❤️ 6y

69 likes10 comments

suzisteffen

The Italian Teacher | Tom Rachman

Another that didn‘t last long in the #ToB2019, but I‘m gonna read it anyway, hopefully before it‘s due back at the library or before my self-imposed Library Month comes to an end in three days ...

14 likes2 stack adds

BarbaraBB

My Sister, the Serial Killer: A Novel | Oyinkan Braithwaite

I really liked this one. It is not my favorite of the #ToB2019 shortlist but since my favorites are out and only only mediocre books are left, I‘m voting for it with all my power 😉👊. First obstacle is highly overrated Mars Room (All nuance is gone in this phase of the Tournament 😂😂). Go, Sister!

Cinfhen This has been a very interesting rooster!!! I‘m shocked🙄and I agree, Go Sister!!! 6y

batsy *clears throat, having read none of the books* 😂 I'm rooting for Sister on the basis that I want to read if more than the Mars Room, lol. This ToB is weird in that the books I'm least interested in seem to be progressing 😬 6y

Rachel_nyc It really appeared to be going the other way so I was very excited to scroll down and see that MStSK made it through! This book has stuck with me and I feel like I‘ve gotten as much out of it by dissecting it after the fact as I did while reading. I am really looking forward to hearing what the judges have to say about it tomorrow and 🤞🏻 it takes down the also overrated Warlight! 6y

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merelybookish My faith in the TOB has been restored! Sister FTW!! 6y

Zelma Yeeeeesssssss! These were the only two I finished and I‘m happier with this outcome. I just never felt like The Mars Room did anything unique whereas Sister was new and fresh and interesting. Glad to be wrong in my prediction. Though I really wanted There, There in final, not Warlight. 6y

BarbaraBB @Cinfhen @batsy @Rachel_nyc @merelybookish @Zelma Justice done, finally! So excited Sister made her way back into the Tournament. Fingers crossed for tomorrow 🐓 6y

Cinfhen I hope Warlight doesn‘t win 🙏🏻 Sister was wild & wonderful 6y

merelybookish @Zelma There There vs. My Sister would have been an excellent final! 6y

Zelma @merelybookish it certainly would hav been more interesting than this final. I just don‘t care about Warlight. 6y

66 likes9 comments

suzisteffen

America Is Not the Heart: A Novel | Elaine Castillo

pick

This was a five-star book right up until it lost momentum around 3/4 of the way through, & then I‘d call it a four, so, like, 4.5 ⭐️. Disagreed about almost everything the reviewer for #ToB2019 said about this layered, deeply sad, loving, messily & barely hopeful novel. Major queer rep all the way through, btw. And, well, a lot more (if quietly) about the US‘ responsibilities and horrors in the Philippines. #Pinoy #Filipina 🏳️‍🌈💪🏽

batsy Great review. And I disagreed with the ToB reviewer, as well! 6y

suzisteffen * a lot more than I have read about before, including in the excellent

Insurrecto

suzisteffen @batsy As a critic, I try never to say “DID WE READ THE SAME BOOK” because obviously, each person‘s experience with a book is separate, and in short, no, but MY GOODNESS, I was confused by her take on this book. Also, I REALLY need to read a lot more #PinoyLit. 6y

suzisteffen Gosh, I keep thinking about this book, class, and colonialism. There‘s a scene in a restaurant that is incredibly revealing - about Spain - but I don‘t want to say too much. HOWEVER, it‘s utterly clear and subtle at the same time, and the author NEVER refers to it again. But I can‘t stop thinking about it, so I guess it worked! 6y

13 likes1 stack add4 comments

BarbaraBB

There There: A novel | Tommy Orange

After yesterday‘s disappointment (my favorite kicked out of the #ToB2019) I am now voting for the two Zombie reads, which I like much better than both finalists. So here‘s to Tommy Orange 🤞

mklong I think Tommy Orange will take it today. I liked Warlight, but I‘m surprised it has gone this far. It just doesn‘t feel like a ToB book to me. 6y

BarbaraBB @mklong I‘ve been thinking that since the longlist but somehow we seem to be the minority! 6y

BarbaraBB Oh no... 6y

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merelybookish 💩🤬💩🤬💩 This is so disappointing! Warlight is mediocre at best. 6y

BarbaraBB @merelybookish It can‘t be Warlight against Mars Room in the finals. Sister must win tomorrow! 6y

merelybookish @BarbaraBB Yes! Sister all the way! I don't remember ever feeling like the tournament got it so wrong before. Some books have won that I didn't love but I understood why. But this year feels misguided. 6y

BarbaraBB @merelybookish I feel like they started out well but now we‘re stuck with two ordinary books, nothing special or outstanding about them. So let it be Sister! 6y

BkClubCare #TeamSister!! Please 6y

72 likes8 comments

BkClubCare

Where the Crawdads Sing | Delia Owens

Oscar & Esther share my excitement to begin the book as soon as I read There There (by tomorrow‘s #TOB2019
#dogsoflitsy #bookmail #thanksMom

35 likes1 stack add

BarbaraBB

The Mars Room: A Novel | Rachel Kushner

For me it‘s so obvious. I have been wondering why The Mars Room was shortlisted in the first place. But I know it‘s just me and judges have their own way of thinking. Be wise today, judge. The House of Broken Angels has it all 💜 #ToB2019

Suet624 I agree. 6y

Zelma the Mars Room was fine but not great. Which of course means it will win today (as my predictions keep being wrong). 😆 6y

Rachel_nyc This one really hurt! The Mars Room was fine but nothing special and provided no insight into the prison system that watching Orange is the New Black didn‘t cover in season 1. Really pulling for MStSK to take it down and win the whole thing. 6y

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merelybookish Wow! Another upset! I'd be happy if either zombie won. And will feel disappointed if either Warlight or Mars Room wins the Rooster! 6y

BarbaraBB @Suet624 @Zelma @Rachel_nyc @merelybookish Ouch, this really hurts. Seeing the Angels lose from the book that (thank you Rachel!) added so little to the first season of Orange is the New Black. My votes are going to both zombies now too! (edited) 6y

Suet624 @Zelma nice work on predicting the winner today. 😂😂 6y

Megabooks Ugh. The Mars Room. So mediocre, so forgettable. 6y

BarbaraBB @Megabooks My thoughts exactly! 6y

Zelma @Suet624 snort. I really need to do a bracket based on what I thought was ok. It would probably do well most years. @BarbaraBB I will be really disappointed if MR takes the tournament. I agree with all of the Orange is the New Black assessments. 6y

BarbaraBB @Zelma @Suet624 And today another bummer. Warlight kicked There There out of the Tournament. Another mwa read in my opinion. 6y

Zelma @BarbaraBB ugh! No! 6y

Zelma @BarbaraBB @Suet624 @merelybookish @Rachel_nyc I‘m now predicting a finale of Warlight vs. The Mars Room, with The Mars Room winning. Meh. 6y

Rachel_nyc @Zelma So bummed about the decisions these last two days. Counting on MStSK more than ever though my expectations are low that it will defy the odds. 6y

BkClubCare @Zelma - I so hope not! I can‘t believe that I might have to say “I haven‘t read the Final books.” No!! 6y

BarbaraBB @Zelma You‘ve been right a lot this ToB, haven‘t you? I so hope this prediction is wrong. It can‘t be The Mars Room in this lovely, unconventional Tournament, please! @BkClubCare @Rachel_nyc (edited) 6y

Zelma @BarbaraBB and I only read 2.5 books this year! Total guesswork in my part. 6y

74 likes16 comments

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