Welcome to Litsy!

#OffMyShelf “New Author”

Little Bee flees violence and murder in Nigeria only to encounter prejudice and indifference in England. She seeks out a British couple and their horrific original chance meeting and its repercussions are revealed.

I appreciated the message in this book, which calls for compassion towards asylum seekers, but I didn‘t get on with the style. It felt too heavy and obvious. Glad to have experienced this author however.

#whereareyoumonday

I appear to be in Kingston upon Thames in greater London some time earlier this century with a young Nigerian refugee, Little Bee, and a recently widowed mother and her young son. There‘s a bit of a mystery as to how they are connected and what Little Bee has escaped.

#HauntedShelf Book Scavenger Hunt
Team #DeadSerious @OriginalCyn620

#SummerSouls #Insects

Coulda been so good, is so-so because It's a pick for Little Bee's chapters and a pan for Sarah's.

#Orange
#GratefulHarvest

🧡📚🍊

All set for some campsite reading - my two favourite hobbies combined 🏕📚 #readoutdoors #campingislife

I'm posting one book per day from the ever growing unread stacks in my personal library. No description or explanation, just books I own and plan to read. #tbr

Day 51

So many gut punching, heart shattering moments in this book. It‘s a shorter one, but took me longer to read and digest. Definitely recommend this, but it‘s super intense and so very sad. I did sort of feel like the ending was a bit abrupt 🤷‍♀️

@bibliobard Hello from pre-COVID mailing times. I am soon to be fully vaccinated and getting back in touch with those I lost some contact with during the worst of it. I have this book of yours. Can you email me at jpresgraves@ferrum.edu?

1. Willem from A Little Life 😭😭😭
2. Recent endings that come to mind: Anxious People, The House in the Cerulean Sea. Though I‘m not fond of awesome books ending in the first place 😂
3. Done! Also reading HP 3 and Lady Killers 🔪😁
I‘ll tag @JessClark78 @MySharonaK @Ash.on.the.line ♥️😁 #thoughtfulthursday

Couldn't wait just too long after getting up to open my #litsylovespringswap package - was just too excited! Thank you so much @Tattooedteacher for these two books I've had on my TBR, and other goodies. So looking forward to trying a new tea and digging into a new book! Now to decide which one to read first 🤔 #llss @rsteve388 @Bookgoil

"Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive. The next thing you know something fine will happen to her, something marvelous, and then she will turn around and smile."

@CuriousG this book. This book broke my heart, and yet was also beautiful, and I imagine Little Bee's voice and her story will stick to my heart for a very long time.

This is now the top contender for "best book in 2021" for me.

Up next is Little Bee by Chris Cleave. This book was very kindly given to me by the amazing @CuriousG

Also it's snowing out and work has been cancelled for the day so I am having coffee and reading quiet time while Rick sleeps. And Peregrin is curling up next to me so it's a good day 🥰

Thank you so much to @CuriousG for this lovely surprise book in the mail. I am floored by the #litsylove group and just how nice everyone has been!

Know that I've struggled a lot this year with anxiety, family deaths and just general life stresses (like everyone else!) so this is really lovely. It's like a breath of fresh air, like the promise of spring after a long, hard winter.

I'm so grateful for all of your kindness.

#INSPIREDNEWYEAR
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@TheKidUpstairs

Prompt: POWERFUL

Nigeria, London, Little Bee, Sarah, Lawrence, Andrew, and Batman....all different lives all connected through good and bad situations.

The beginning pages are very clever and creative and you think it will be a funny book...it is intense.

It is a powerful, thought-provoking novel.

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/y4p7f9cs

#chriscleave

Summer means showing empty houses. All. The. Time. At least I get to read in between showings!

Thanks @CarolynM for the tag!
🌙 Last night I unexpectedly caught the back half of FOTR on TV
🌙 “However long the moon disappears, some day it must shine again.” from the tagged book
🌙 Take a walk or a drive
🌙 Pasta
I tag @BarbaraTheBibliophage
#thoughtfulthursday

#thisshouldbeatvseriesmovie

#bibliomaynia

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

“One brave African girl; one brave Western woman. What if one just turned up on the other‘s doorstep one misty morning and asked, Can you help? And what if that help wasn‘t just a one-way street?” Absolutely beautiful book. 5 ⭐️

Book 14 of 20 for May #bookspinbonanza @TheAromaofBooks

Neither will I.

I like how she's appreciating the small things in life.

Thanks guys for all the b‘day wishes. My massive 40th party on Sat complete with bonfire & fireworks may have been cancelled but it was still a beaut day with my little fam & plenty of presents, cake & my fav champagne so much that I fell asleep on the lounge watching The Crown at 8:30pm (allegedly). I managed to convince my partner & step children to walk with me to the Little Free Library where I scored these books. No mean feat let me tell you!

That's beautiful. 💐

Finally read this one thanks to #BookSpin. It was a sad, tough read, but am very glad I read it. @TheAromaofBooks

Started reading this for #WomenReading and received this nice card in the mail from @laurenslibrary so thanks! I am excited to be in a postal book club with you as well ❤️

WHAT AN AMAZING READ!

It's a story of a young refugee who is deported back to the country that want to kill her.

It's a story about sacrifice! A lost finger. A lost freedom.

It's a story about a family who began loving each other during a moment of terror.

It's a story about death - violence - beloved sister and a dismissed husband.

I also read A Raisin in the Sun and continuing The Dutch House, Joseph, and 1Q84. I will finish Little Bee tomorrow.

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl.

1. Dragged
2. Three-way tie: Queen of Air and Darkness, The Martian, and Emily of New Moon

@4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads
#friyayintro

This is only a scare “So-So” for me. Towards the end the story was more credible to me but it still lacked a consistent feeling of authenticity. I felt like the author couldn‘t decide if he wants to write a book with a political statement or a light novel and so he tried to combine both. That didn‘t work for me.

After four of six hours I‘m biased. To me it‘s more a feel-good way to spend one‘s time than a story that‘s really dealing with being a refugee and trying to find a safe space.

The plot has a shocking moment and shows the cruelty of Western asylum processes – but the alternating perspectives of Little Bee and Sarah make it difficult for me to take them both serious. The relationship between them is just a too foreseeable glue for the whole story.

I‘m tired and exhausted 😩 – and worrying at the same time. 😢

So I see another sleepless night coming.

Time to start a new audiobook …

I read and listened to this on audio. I enjoyed the physical reading more than the audio. Narrators can make or break a book for me. I found the characters muddled and frustrating. I don't need a main character to be likable but this book put me to the test with so many of the characters both unlikable and unbelievable. I also found the metaphor of the book obvious. I was not a fan. 2.5 🌟

#OrangeandYellow
#ColorMePretty

#gold #colormepretty @Sweetkokoro

Quick read. Emotional and unforgettable

6/5

How many of you guys dabble in writing? And if you do, are you thinking of attending the virtual Camp NaNo this April?

1. Also known as Little Bee. There is a scene when the mother is talking to the son that makes my toes curl just to think of it.
2. I eat at home because I'm mostly AT home. I'm a SAHP.
3. I really don't have the embarrassment gene. I just laugh at my ridonculous ass.
4. Way too hard to answer. Smell is very important/precious to me. Oud wood is a current fave.
5. Mottled Grey Wind. Lovely. 🤔🤔🤔😂

#friyayintro @howjessreads

I love nothing more than a book that opens your mind to something new. I‘m really enjoying the way this book points out the difference in perspective, almost without the reader noticing what they‘re truly getting. #hiddengems

It took me a while to get into this book —. But about half way through I finally hit a stride. Interesting look at how the industrialized world relates to, mourns, forgets about, remembers and/or tries to help individuals suffering due, in large part, to the global politics and power structures we all live under.
Story told through compelling and well meaning characters.

So, I realized - life had finally broken through. How silly it looked now, my careful set of defenses against nature: my brazen magazine, my handsome husband, my Maginot Line of motherhood and affairs. The world, the real world, had found a way through. It had sat down on my sofa and wouldn‘t be denied any longer. p. 95