Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s cold & rainy in Japan in October, where the Chinese Australian narrator is travelling with her elderly mother. “[Writing] was the only way that one could go back & change the past, to make things not as they were, but as we wished they had been, or rather as we saw it.” The simple, self-reflective prose style of this novella grew on me until, by the end, I absolutely loved it and the way it left me feeling melancholy yet satisfied. #OzFiction

Whenever I‘d asked her what she‘d like to visit in Japan, she‘d often said she would be happy with anything. The only question she‘d asked once was whether, in winter, it was cold enough for snow, which she had never seen.

Sometimes, I looked at a painting, and felt completely nothing. Or if I had a feeling, it was only intuitive, a reaction, nothing that could be expressed in words.

I explained that it was a modern retelling of a Greek myth. I said that for a long time, I had loved these stories. In part, it was because they had an eternal metaphoric quality that you could use to speak for almost anything in life: love, death, beauty, grief, fate, wars, violence, family, oaths, funerals.

Late Xmas presents. Looking forward to reading them both but especially Richard E Grant. I heard him on the radio when he was promoting the book. Interesting ,unassuming , humble man. Oh and funny too.

A very well written introductory text on rethinking gender norms and queer identity that should be read by everyone to sensitise people about how to engage with LGBTQIA+ identities without diminishing or marginalising their voices and life experiences. Alok writes powerfully using their own experiences facing transmisic violence and abuse.

I am picking up the next book in the series. I enjoyed this book. If you like supernatural romances this is it. I enjoyed how Evan & Jazmine are so cute. I hope we dive into jasper more in the next books. 8 out 10, great for weekend read. Not enough AMBW romance, add this to your list. #poc #bipoc #ambw #vampire #interracial #bipocfemalelead #biteme

Purportedly about a mother and daughter's autumn trip to Japan. The cool, light rain of the setting matches the narration; it all seems underwater. The details of the day mix with stories the daughter tells her mother and those she tells herself. Carefully constructed, these memories seem prompted by events, but each touches on the daughter‘s desire for connection, to be known. But it is also about how completely unknowable another person is.

(Trigger warning: Repeated mention of suicide)
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"It is nobody's fault but mine", if I recall correctly, read the final line of my first ever suicide note. People often talk about the love letters one has accumulated during a courtship, but the collection of suicide notes accumulated during what is possibly the most toxic courtship one can experience, the one they have with life, is considered taboo....(continued in comments)

#12Booksof2022 #March

This #ozfiction prize winner is my pick for March. It‘s small but perfectly formed.