Family, friendship, the many forms of love, betrayal, and triumph. I adored this novel. The short chapters are lyrical to the point of being poetic.

Not really my thing but there's no denying the power behind many of these poems.

My eclipse read this past April. This one is like following a Wikipedia spiral but led by someone else's whims than your own so sometimes I was interested and invested, others not so much.

The end of an era! I loved this Webtoon and look forward to rereading in trade.

I am in awe of this woman. Dr. Kalema-Zikusoka is an inspiration. The casual ease with which she brushes off several near death experiences to pivot back to her mission is unparalleled. Her community building skills and the clarity she brings to conservation through public health...it's so obvious once she explains her methods but so groundbreaking in terms of practically making a difference.

The botanists are beginning to think there may be a plant consciousness and I am simply overwhelmed by this information. Super fascinating and highly readable account of the massive shifts happening in plant science.

I started this in print but the book proved too heavy for bathtub reading so I switched to audio and I must say, give yourself this gift. Allow Babs to read her memoirs to you. Every song, every aside, it's just the best possible way to take in this story. Am I obsessed with Barbra Streisand? Yes. Does she deserve my adoration, undoubtedly so. She deserves yours as well.

Jackson, a historian, frames the history of Black resistance using personal and historical narratives highlighting revolution, protection, force, flight, and joy. Organized phenomenally especially with the final chapter on joy which felt grounding. Consistently moves away from the false dichotomy of nonviolence vs violent resistance to say Black resistance to the idea of white supremacy has always been multifaceted, deep and necessary context.

Y'all. This woman and her life. Wild. But she's interesting and intensely honest. The stories she tells about her life show a deep level of reflection that is so refreshing. Don't think of this as a celebrity memoir. This is an artist's tale.

What is there to say about this book? At this point it is a well established classic. I didn't love the prose as much as I thought I would but I resonated with Kimmerer's ideas so heavily. I find it so honorable the way she takes on the burden of teaching her students a different way of seeing - that seems a huge emotional undertaking that she handles with each new group and ultimately that's the gift she gives readers with Braiding Sweetgrass.

Starting a (tiny, regional) publishing company this year and our first book launches in the fall. I'm so excited for this one. The Wild Melange is meant to be the perfect memento for visitors to the city; it's a photobook with a couple essays and a few guides (food, Mardi Gras) for tourists. This is something we've been talking about for ages but it all came together with photographer Richard Sexton earlier this year.

Fairytales, political and sexual intrigues, and all of the ignoble realities of life in the court of the Sun King. I enjoyed this but not as much as I enjoyed Pollard's previous novel, Delphi. Being in the salons surrounding the court at Versailles was fun, but there's not much I feel like I am taking away from this novel.

Quick graphic read that your eight year old fantasy and myth loving reader is going to love.

I mean, it was fine, just not for me. I read the first 50ish pages in the physical book and when I found that I did not want to keep going I switched to audio in order to be ready for book club. Again, fine, but everyone loves it so much and I had such high hopes.

My first Pierce though frankly this graphic adaptation is so abridged as to feel unfair to even attribute to her. I'm glad I picked it up though because it was a quick read that whet my appetite for more from Tortall. Might do a Song of the Lioness buddy read with my nephew this summer.

Look how cute this is; I should love it! But alas, DNF at 50 pages. I skimmed the last 10 chapters and verified my choice.

Really, the book is not bad at all, just nothing great and I'm dedicated to the DNF this year. So please don't take this as a pan - I'll be stocking this one in the bookshop and recommending it to the magic loving kiddos.

A delightful history of a deeply romanticized industry with the space to both revel and bemoan. Friss begins his bookseller's tale with Ben Franklin and ends with Ann Patchett running the gamut between. If publishing is dominated by white men, bookselling is the realm of white women and Friss addresses the complications within that while historicizing the mission driven shops created to serve queer communities and people of color.

Soft pick here but full of components I adore - friendship, plants, magic, there's even a cat! By rights, this should be my favorite book but it's just an okay middlegrade fantasy read. Maybe it's the audio that didn't do it for me. I'll start the second one in print soon.

Delightful middle grade nonfiction. The tone and illustrations hit this one right on for the audience and I look forward to recommending it to teachers and kiddos!

Honestly, I've had my problems with the way some things have gone down in this series but it's always a blast. I'll keep reading them forever.

Sorry to be a hater but these books are terrible. I don't believe in always moralizing to children but these kids are assholes and like...the story isn't even fun. Very bummed that my five year old niece is in love with the series and I will continue reading them until I go home next week. Luckily, she still wants to read picture books with me too.

Sidenote: my sister's three kids love rats so princesses and rats it always is. 🐀

A history of crossword puzzles and feminist wordplay through the lens of the author's struggle with anorexia. Endlessly fascinating and Shectman pulls the intersections off incredibly well.

Another Webtoon DNF. I'm becoming brutal with my quitter's attitude.

This was a ride!!! Much less about the (nonhuman) apes and more about the personalities and politics of camp life at Karisoke. The thing I was absolutely left with though is Fowler's pondering, did Fossey's hard line with the government, denial of tourism proponents, and extreme response to poaching ultimately do more harm than good for the gorillas? A difficult question and a work that will linger in my mind.

DNF not because it was bad, I just wasn't feeling it.

You know how sometimes middle grade readers just need to experience all the feels? That's who this book is for. A novel in verse about grief and the loss of a friend. It's quiet and lovely and the adult characters are just so patient and beautiful. I had feels and am very much looking forward to recommending this one.

Reviewing That Librarian is a tad unfair because I have worked with Amanda Jones for years, but that being said, I genuinely did not know how bad things had been for her and this memoir is an urgent call for decorum as much as it is one against censorship.

Ashanti runs a doggydaycare & cares for her two teenage sisters. Thad is a vet having difficulty transitioning into civilian life. The only thing they have in common is having no time for emotional entanglements. But when their dogs lovestory goes viral (you read that right & its the cutest thing ever committed to print) they seize the moment to promote their burgeoning businesses and maybe find time for love along the way. Sweetest slow burn ever

Poetry paired with lovely illustrations that just felt so empowering and heartfelt. So excited to continue following Watson's work with her upcoming novel!!

I think a common theme in my improperly oriented photos is a cat! Litsy is anti-cat. Which I mean, makes sense considering #catsagainstreading I guess.

I bought this book in like 2019 after reading and being galvanized by the essay Moi and the Rise of Subjectivity. Then I let it linger too long on my shelves and by the time I actually read it (five years later) I was just deflated by it. I don't agree with everything Kakutani says here and I think she allows bad faith usage to undervalue helpful academic schema but it is still interesting.

So, this was a DNF for me. I wasn't feeling it from the beginning then at about 40 pages in I got to this quote and that was the moment for me. I sincerely hope this is projection on the characters behalf and not the author's because that level of internalized racism is a lot.

I've read a few reviews on SG and I think I made the right choice. Vigilance and awareness are important, yes, but Black folks deserve peace, joy, and rest as well.

Prose written by poets must be my absolute favorite genre of literature and Aimee Nezhukumatathil has gifted readers with another stunning essay collection. But then when she pairs a poem with an essay - it absolutely sings. Bite by Bite provides all the nourishment a reader could need.

Gorgeous and heartbreaking and unsettling and weird. Please read that as a profound endorsement.

Hoping to lean into the rotated orientation. This is my aesthetic now.

I've been craving essays, just reading one a day for a tiny hit of insight. I started with Solnit's year because I love her and am looking forward to popping in and out with this series for the rest of forever.

Like all anthology there are pieces that resonated with me along with those that did not. I've not stopped thinking about Alexander Chee's essay and will be reading more from him soon!

We didn't vibe and it is my year of DNF. Definitely one to try with your middle grade readers that are down for a spooky little read but I just didn't want to pick this one up once I'd put it down.

Poor Things was just as weird and wonderful as I'd hoped it would be. And the final chapter, icing on the cake. I loved the film as well but I understand why viewers are divided. But here's the thing, men are idiots...that's the joke. Yorgos gets it.

Please enjoy this sideways photo as I continue to battle with litsy.com.

Um, I'm sorry, this novel is genius. I was cackling throughout and cannot wait to read more from Everett.

The middle section (Stagg's novel) was kinda miserable to get through but Everett writing and including it in the text of Erasure is just so funny. Absolutely brilliant send up of the publishing industry and racial discourseTM.

Can anyone tell me why @litsy wants all of my pics to be sideways? Every time I post, my image is properly oriented as I edit but when the post is published the image is sideways. (Note, I delete the post when this happens, so you won't see it reflected in any of my posts.) Am I the only person this happens to or is this a regular consequence of using the webpage rather than the app?

This friendship sustains me and this collection of just a dozen poems arranged seasonally and clearly in conversation with one another is a gift these poets have bestowed upon us. Go forth and read it.

Marionetta is such a great webtoon read! I'm heavily invested in the lore and cannot wait for its return!

Tommy Go Boom! I love Imogen in all of her muchness! This feels like a nonsense review, but the MacLeaniverse girlies understand me.

A soft pick for me only because I just don't love contemporary romance. The characters are great, the writing is great, the second chance after young love- great! But the stakes are just never there for me in contemporary.
Ryan tackles a lot here in terms of plot and emotion, and she ties it all together extremely well. Like, there's a lot here but it never feels like *discourse* if you know what I mean. A strong read, just not my particular thing

Ruffin is a writing prof and I felt that at times while reading, in the most interesting of ways. It is perfectly plotted to reflect the many ways in which a Black woman could make her way through the antebellum south. We follow Ady as she is enslaved, from the house to the fields, from escape to touch freedom, interacting with free people of color in New Orleans, and beyond. There is a depth of experience here; a novel to be felt and studied.

I read this off and on over the course of a year. I've done about four weeks of the formal eight week MBSR program and I imagine I'll carry much of this with me for the rest of my life. Kabat-Zinn can be a bit much but he distills the tenets of mindfulness and meditation so well.

So much loss and hurt here. Felt like a desperate reach for understanding across a wide chasm of mis/lack of communication. Not poems to recount the things an author wishes they could say but the things they wish a reader (a specific reader) could hear. I definitely feel like much of this collection was beyond me but the poems are worth digging into. Especially as Nguyen plays with form and white space, I read those poems again and again.

This is a soft pick for me because I loved the friend group, the fake dating, and the sex/romance knowledge swap, but people don't behave like this?? I don't know. There was so much going for it and I loved the dynamic between the mains but I kept getting frustrated and really felt this could have been better. But then again, that's me and I know going into a new contemporary romance that our chances are not great.

This was so great! Absolutely draws you in on the horror front and then just pummels you in the end as you question everything that has been reported.

I've long loved Beaton's literary and historical comics, but I was not expecting the emotional resonance of Ducks. Beaton spent two years in Canada's oils sands as a means of paying down her college loans. She chronicles the isolation everyone feels in these far off camps and the unique horrors the few women that take these jobs on can face.

Second in my DNF Era. I've been reading this for ages. I told myself I'd read a page or two each morning to start my day in reflection and prayer. But here's the thing, I'm not from the Anglican tradition and didn't realize that this is more liturgy than prayers. I rarely want to pick it up and typically choose to start my day with a few poems instead. Rather than have this languish on my bedside I'm ready to admit, I'm just not that interested.

2024 is going to be my year of DNFing books that just aren't resonating with me.
I've enjoyed other books by Clayborn but I've had this on my bedside and in my backpack since August and I still haven't finished. Cleary, this one just isn't for me. Maybe I'll try it in audio next year but for now, it's time we part ways.