Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m listening to Colored Television right now (so far so good!) and realized I didn't review this one, which I read earlier this month. I loved it! Instantly a fan of Senna's writing. I even enjoyed the ending, which I understand many didn‘t. Fun to have a new beloved author (who's married to another new beloved author 😁).

Maria is in her 20s and about to get married but is having a bit of an identity crisis. Then we learn that maybe identity has also been hard for her—she is both mixed race and adopted. She really goes off the rails here and I can see why some readers don‘t like it, but I thought this was a fascinating character study of a lost young woman.

This one‘s a bit of a head scratcher - I can‘t say I liked it, but the utter zaniness of the protagonist‘s actions are somewhat entertaining in retrospect. And there is some really interesting, worthwhile writing about race and identity here. But the tone didn‘t match up to what was actually happening in the book; it would have worked better as full satire.

The only thing I remember about this book is that I finished reading it, NOT remembering a thing about this book

This is one book with #NewInTheTitle that has been on my shelf for a while! Maybe I will get to it in 2020. #AuldLangReads

Ok I have no idea what I just read. I think this book meant to have a deeper meaning, I just didn‘t get it. Luckily it was short enough that I didn‘t bail on it. So not for me. 🤷🏽‍♀️

So true...

Still getting quite a few new followers, so I wanted to just say this. 🔝 i have had a few people who either never post or follow and I follow back then they unfollow. (Not cool) Again I‘m not picky about my followers, don‘t care what you read and such, just want real people who are kind and respectful. 😁🥰

With all the new followers I just wanted to say hi! I love to follow back but please post and let us know who you are! 😁 We are very nice and welcoming here.
Not sure what to post? We have daily question post through the week, jump into a review or post a pic of your shelf. We love books and to talk books. 📖 Welcome and may this be a great place for you all!

I really loved this book. Danzy Senna writes such interesting, complicated characters. This book explores intricate complexities about race, adoption, identity and belonging through the lens of a quirky and bizarre story. I haven't found a book this engaging in a long time!

Client is running late so I'm dipping into my audiobook!

Next up!

Mini #bookhaul! I am in San Francisco for the weekend and couldn‘t even make it out of the airport without buying books. 🙄 I blame my BF, who stopped to browse for food. Luckily I left plenty of room in my bag. 😬

#SeptemberDanes #7years I was a little conflicted by Gloria‘s choice to tell her daughter she was adopted so early. I feel like it set Maria up for a lot of grief and mixed up decisions later on. But who the hell am I? I have no kids. Also, Gloria had asked for a black baby and got the lightest skinned black baby she never asked for but loved nonetheless. This book was an interesting and uncomfortable look at identity.

Finally! A friend that checks out #listy! Welcome @dselk to the wonderful world of reading! Now you can post about your reading and keep inspiring me from Canada 🇨🇦!! #listynewbie #roommatesthatread @LitsyWelcomeWagon

Love this little Banksy-esque touch in my local coffee shop!

#audiobookwalk

Next up! #audiobook

This started off strong and then lost me somewhere in the middle. I liked the writing style but struggled a bit with the structure. It was an interesting read but not super memorable.

Hump day reading. #readsoullit

In his blurb on the back of the book, Marlon James states that “New People” reminds us that “the worst kind of hell is always the one we raise”, and I don‘t think I can put it any better. Loved this one.

Full review: https://reneereadsbooks.wordpress.com/2018/02/18/book-review-new-people-by-danzy...

On #Riotgrams day 8, my first attempt at #spinepoetry @bookriot

I wanted to love this but it fell just a little short. There were some funny parts and discussions of race and identity are always important, but really? That ending?

Looking forward to getting into this one after reading reviews here! Is anyone else impatient with the standard narration speed? I always increase to 1.25.

Here's a quick snap of my current situation: my scrumptious breakfast and my current read New People by Danzy Senna. This book has absorbed me to the point that I'm thinking about it even when I'm not reading it. I'm so curious to find out where it all leads. Have you read it?

Well it took 3 weeks but I finally experienced my first ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read of 2018. This book is one part Outline, one part Today Will Be Different, and one part The First Bad Man. Crazy delicious! I can‘t remember the last time I had this much fun. MC is my kind of obsessive, and I really enjoyed getting to know her and the dear ones in her life. A perfect little book!

I‘ve moved on to my next book in the #11thhourreadathon. I‘m finishing up some coconut water while my walnut orange scone tea steeps ☕️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “It made me think about race in a way I never have before: of race as performance, regardless of our identities; of this idea that we all "pass" for something every day, whether we're white, black, brown or something in between. And on top of that, New People functions as a truly delectable satirical suspense thriller.” Sam Sanders, NPR

Bonus: You can read this in one sitting and will feel compelled to do so.

Evening reading. Claws out.

I like a messed-up female protagonist, so of course I thought Maria was interesting. Not sure about that ending though.

This was a weird one. The main character‘s motivations were a little unclear to me, but she was well developed. There was not so much of a story as a small cut of her life, with some thinking about the events that lead to it.

Hey littens!! This chicky, my partner in crime, @k.okonski just joined in on the fun!! Give her some love and welcome her into this beautiful community!!

Finally! A novel for short story lovers! The pace, content, and ending are very reminiscent of short stories, which I love. If you liked Chemistry, you may like this one; although, I think Chemistry appeals to a wider audience. I did like this book enough to pick up the author‘s other book right away.

The narrator is good. The director/narrator made some interesting vocal choices, which are in line with the story‘s experimental nature. 4⭐️

Not quite the book I was expecting but enjoyable. In theory, it‘s about two mixed-race people getting married but it‘s a bit more complicated than that in the protagonist‘s head. Fast, quick, darkly funny.

Next up! Hoping to keep my streak of great reads alive.

🦃 Luna Lovegood
🦃 The Babysitters Club series
🦃 April
🦃 #Maya!
🦃 None yet
🦃 🏖🍣🍷🍾⚾️🎬🛀🏼👨‍🚒
🦃 Finish reading: 0, Actively work on reading: infinity
🦃 Paper, 100%
🦃 🎶 Chestnuts roasting on an open fire🎶
🦃 LOVE to cook!
🦃 Both...I like a chunkster that‘s so good it feels like a quickie
🦃 Both
🦃 My Texas Rangers (My daddy‘s Chicago Cubs are a close 2nd)
🦃 I love a good steak
🦃 I‘m kind of a believer in “Don‘t meet your heroes”

What I got from this book is be you. It‘s okay to belong to boxes such as race, gender, sexuality, but just make sure that those boxes don‘t run your life. You, at the end of the day, have to be ok with decisions concerning your life. I found this book to be hilarious at times but it‘s not for everybody. Maria, an adopted, very light skinned black woman, must reconcile what she wants in life with what she‘s been programmed to want. It‘s a pick.

Greg is the guy who Maria has been dating who has lived his life as a white male up until this point. Maria is his African-American/black girlfriend who he is trying to keep/relate to. This book is a lot of this calling out one‘s identity. It‘s hilarious at times and infuriating at others. If whoever made us (gods or aliens, I‘m thinking aliens) built us without eyes, what would we fight over? Walking sticks? Forests to make walking sticks, lol?

Picked up these two ARCs on the “readcycling” cart at the state library. I‘ve had my eye on both of these, so had to pick them up!

Between pick and so-so. I would not have been surprised if this had been a debut, but when I discovered it isn't, I was less forgiving of the imbalance. I like the character of Maria but in present day she makes strange decisions. Captures the sometimes awkward landscape of not fitting in to one specific category and navigating identity in your 20s, while still being a student and in that world. Loved that Maria is an ethnomusicology PhD.

I had to laugh when I discovered the protagonist is a PhD student in ethnomusicology​.... Very few of you probably know that I was once one of these rare creatures but dropped out. But not a frequent appearance in novels!

This book was so strange, so compelling and so uncomfortable, I could have read another 200 pages and never grown tired of it. While a large part of it is a dry social satire about race and identity, it's also a deep dive into the main character's psyche. I was completely captivated by Senna's writing. She does a lot of telling, which is something I don't always enjoy, but her voice is so wry, peculiar, and clever that I couldn't get enough.

This has the disjointed feel of Jami Attenberg's All Grown Up, but stronger. (Not better.)

Maria has months before her wedding but suddenly she's in love with someone else, crushed she can't be with him?! She stalks the other guy. Hangs out with him once. She's delusional he wants her back.

Didn't understand her motivations. I wanted to slap her out of this "crisis". Spent my time listening in agony in response to the awkward situations.

Holy weirdness. Dark and comedic and all the secrets. I don't know how to feel about this yet.

I loved this book so much. Maria is a frustrating woman and her decisions will make you want to shake her, but still she is magnetic. If I could follow her around all day, I probably would.

New People won't be for everyone. It's intense and absurd and disgusting and uncomfortable and raw and insightful. Race and identity are at its heart. Also, a lot about Jonestown. It reminded me of Ottessa Moshfegh + Alissa Nutting in its style and flow.

I'm afraid I don't even know what to say about this book, other than it's powerful, intense, and brilliantly written.

Been eyeing these and the price was right!! 👌🏻
They were cheaper on Audible than as a print book from Amazon and, in my opinion, too short to justify paying full-price ($26) in hardcover. Needed a couple more audiobooks anyway 😉

If you love unlikeable main characters who make questionable/dumb decisions, than this is your book! The MC was well developed, everyone else, didn't really matter, to the author or the MC, which might have been the point. I do wish I could hear someone smarter than me discuss the book, I felt like there were many layers, themes, parallels that were there, and meant more than I was getting from it.

Razor sharp read ! As the self described "King and Queen of the racially nebulous prom."Maria and Khalil prepare for marriage,Maria is trying to finish her dissertation on Jonestown .She also is way laid by an infatuation that may derail the perfect life Khalil envisions for them.With wit and a darkly comic edge,the novel speaks to race and class and the preciousness of Brooklyn.Also,a look at ones' secret self and how it can hang you up.Love it!