Welcome to Litsy!

Short description: The book begins with a murder in Istanbul 1591. The aftermath is told from the perspective of several sometimes unreliable narrators.

But it's so much more complex. It explores art history and cultural history. It explores the influence of the West on the Ottoman Empire. It's creative, ambitious, and quite simply a masterpiece. The quote above is from my favorite chapter.

I read this for a personal #readtheworld challenge.

Finally finished colorful book about Turkish-Armenian family connections. Some magic realism included. Has food and culture and family secrets both in US and Istanbul. Quite different from what I usually read. Will likely read more from her.

Now I will start this book and if I like it will read more of hers.

So, @Kelly326 and I decided to DNF our Q3 chunkster…we‘re going to use the rest of that time to read this instead!

@Amiable

Armanoush (Amy), an American Armenian teen, travels to #Turkey to learn more about her family. She befriends Asya and her family of kooky but wonderful aunts—each of whom must come to grasps with Amy‘s harsh family‘s past due to the slaughter and ouster of Armenians. The book reveals a delicious commonality between the cultures: food. A bit of mysticism helps tell this story. Amy‘s broken family in America don‘t know she‘s made this trip. The ⬇️

I finished this book last month and as I was going to write my review I remembered highlighting this from the author‘s notes. Unreal…

#Turkey #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

I love that the entire recipe for ashure is in the book

#Turkey #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

This was my July #FoodAndLit book for #Turkey and my July #DoubleSpin

Although it was slow in parts, and the beginning section isn‘t repeated even though it occurs in the middle of the book timeline, I did enjoy this.

Jahan and his elephant Chota are part of the Sultan‘s menagerie. In time Jahan also becomes apprentice to the chief royal architect. It is full of political intrigue, and spans a large chunk of time in the Ottoman Empire.

It has taken me NINE chapters to realize the chapters are all named after food! No wonder there are so many references to food in the story. And here I thought it was just another coincidence that I chose it for #foodandlit. Well, that was a coincidence. This was the perfect book for #foodandlit this month!! #Turkey @Catsandbooks

#foodandlit #Turkey @Catsandbooks