Welcome to Litsy!

Yesterday's treat (a pistachio éclair). I needed extra fuel to compensate for all the effort it took me to read from right to left 😈

Not the easiest read (I thinks with some exceptions, my brain doesn't get on well with graphic works, compared with just text), but I still liked it and I can recognise its quality.

After being 3rd in the library request queue for ages, I've now gotten hold of Shubeik Lubeik. I know what I'm doing tonight 😎 Reading this book from right to left, manga-style 🙃

A thick (I think this edition has three books in one) graphic novel from an Egyptian artist about wishes. Westerners harvest a treasure trove of wishes in an ancient temple. Three of them end up with our Shokry . He sells two and is left with one. Sounds like a dream right? Anything you wish will come true! Not so fast! How do humans regulate wishes? Did humanity manage to create world peace? Really made me think and great illustrations!

Nightly baseball practice setup: cat, graphic novel, large water bottle, mother in law, golf cart. The other parents MUST think I‘m weird. They‘re right.

This graphic novel was fascinating and so very different from what I expected. Set in a Cairo where wishes are real—and are bought and sold under tight government control—this is not a light, sweet fantasy about wishes desired and granted. It‘s far more realistic, and far more serious. The world-building accounts for not only desire, selfishness, and greed, but also bureaucracy, government corruption, privilege, and exploitation. ⤵️

I really enjoyed this, alternate supernatural history set in Cairo. I loved the side story of the mixed religion and cultural push of women's suffragettes and how it tied in so well with the "haunting". Clark has built a rich and creative world for such a slim novel, and the characters are distinct and some are relatable - grumpy older officer gave someone to roll your eyes at a bit and I was happy to see he was progressive.

My plan was to reread the novellas and then finally read the novel… and I‘m happy to announce that I have finished my reread. This audiobook has a different narrator but he was very enjoyable to listen to - so I was only disappointed momentarily. Absolutely loved visiting again.

This has been on my shelf for years. I have started it twice. Sixty pages in and I don‘t find it interesting at all.

I told myself I should reread the novellas before continuing on with the novel - so finding this available as an audiobook was a step in the right direction! I loved reading this a couple of years back - but listening to it was magical! Love this alternate Egypt that P. Djèli Clark has created.