Welcome to Litsy!

#12BooksOf2021

I am sharing my almost-favorites of the year. The ones who didn‘t make my #Top21Of21 but are favorites nevertheless. One for each month.

For #December I am using the book with which I completed #ReadingAsia2021. It has been such a great experience and I can‘t wait to explore Africa thanks to @Librarybelle and #ReadingAfrica2022.

#BookReport 49/21

Finishing my challenges and it feels so good!

Filipino-American society is explored in this tender story about a woman‘s journey from torture in the #Philippines to a new life in California.
Hero is her name and she became my hero while reading. How she copes with her past and her trust issues. Her relationship with Rosalyn, her family and her friends, the many dialects that separate them, the food that always unites them. A lovable read.

#ReadingAsia2021 🇵🇭 #Booked2020 #HeartInTheTitle

#ConflictedWorlds Day 16: #PersonVsLover is also keenly felt in this detailed, well-developed, multi-layered, nuanced novel. Memories of Coloma resort in California just a few weeks ago. Grateful to have had the chance to travel during this period. Now safely back in the United Arab Emirates.

#ConflictedWorlds Day 15: #PersonVsInLaws - a lot of in-law drama in this novel that I cannot recommend heartily enough. Superbly executed.

From the first page of this book I was hooked. Every character gets to be complicated. I had a lump in my throat the whole time. It‘s really sexy, which is confusing because it‘s also extremely maddening and violent and devastating. MORE BOOKS LIKE THIS PLS.

Tagging one of my fave books about the Filipino community from the small handful I‘ve read! I can‘t recommend this one enough, it‘s one of the best novels about immigration and diaspora I‘ve read recently.

@ChasingOm #integrateyourshelf

I had high hopes for this one. A couple/few segments were impactful. Overall, though, I thought it was exceedingly long without being particularly engaging. I didn't connect with or like any of the characters. There's a lot of discussion about food and sex, but nothing especially deep or emotional. If the parts that mattered (their experiences) were developed more, I think it could have been stunning.

Full review (?) here: https://wp.me/p21txV-FT

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ of 5 ⭐️s

My 2019 reads. I read as many books over the whole year as some of you read on one month, but I exceeded my (admittedly low-balled) goal, so I'm good with that. The definite standouts were America Is Not The Heart and Autumn.

This novel has some beautiful writing and a lot of quotable lines, & I appreciated getting a glimpse into an immigrant experience we haven‘t seen much of in literature. The family dynamics are authentically complex, & I liked the use of languages I‘m totally unfamiliar with. However, this was overwritten & just too long for the story it actually told, & the pacing was hard to work with. I wanted more from some parts & much less from others. 3/5 ⭐️

Hero had never even felt ambivalence toward Pol, never in her life. She‘d only ever known what it felt like to love him, to keep the minor altar of admiration for him in her heart well cleaned, its flowers rotless and blooming. What she hadn‘t known was that her love was a room, cavernous, and hate could enter there, too; curl up in the same bed, blanketed and sleep-warm.

This was—small talk, Hero thought to herself. Though why people called it small, she didn‘t know. The effort it scraped out of her felt immense, exhausting, like she should have studied for days beforehand just to be ready for it, like she‘d need to sleep a dreamless sleep all night just to recover from it.

White people always thought they were full of toxins, so you could make a lot of money just by claiming to be able to remove them.

[LOL it‘s true though. FYI 1) you have organs specifically designed to do this, and 2) if you were actually full of “toxins” you‘d be dead.]

You‘re getting tired of holding up the weight of your own desires.

After a crap book, I try to pick one I feel extra sure I‘m going to enjoy, & this sounds right up my alley. From the synopsis: “An increasingly relevant story told with startling lucidity, humor, & an uncanny ear for the intimacies & shorthand of family ritual, [this book] is a sprawling, soulful debut about three generations of women in one family struggling to balance the promise of the American dream & the unshakable grip of history.” YES PLS.

I finished this book a day or so ago, and I miss it. I especially miss spending time with Hero. This is a slow, quotidian book, which may not be attractive to some readers, but I feel is perfect for the story of a woman who is just learning to be human again after her world ends, and a snapshot of a Filipino-American community in 1990s Northern California. I loved it.

Reading this made me crave food I know nothing about so I ordered some 😍😍😍

This was a five-star book right up until it lost momentum around 3/4 of the way through, & then I‘d call it a four, so, like, 4.5 ⭐️. Disagreed about almost everything the reviewer for #ToB2019 said about this layered, deeply sad, loving, messily & barely hopeful novel. Major queer rep all the way through, btw. And, well, a lot more (if quietly) about the US‘ responsibilities and horrors in the Philippines. #Pinoy #Filipina 🏳️‍🌈💪🏽

“What interested Teresa wasn‘t power, or wasn‘t only power. It was change. Not change in the grand or demonstrably transformative sense, but change in the tectonic sense; change in the tectonic duration. Teresa accepted the title of the kumander but kept the parameters of the role loose, so that people had the sense not that they belonged to something that already existed and wouldn‘t exist without them, greater then their individual lives —

Starting this library book now! #springbreak #novel #amreading #NPR

My first on The Tournament of Books short list (I‘m attempting to read most of them). Although Hero‘s story should have been fascinating, something about the writing style didn‘t draw me in and I never really connected with her. #ToB

Just put this on hold. Can‘t wait! Also can‘t believe it has to go up against There There in the #TOB2019. 😱 WHAT IF I LIKE ALL OF THE BOOKS.

First round #TOB2019! I am always a bit shy abt commenting but I LOVE reading the insights and opinions of the commentariats. I am now excited to read AiNtH and I want to try the audio of A Terrible Country. Not disappointed Speak No Evil doesn‘t advance yet appreciate the discussion on this book. My favorite booknerd time of the year. Anyone disappointed? Excited for today? Big thank you to @Ruthiella for sharing so much of the fun with me

I thoroughly enjoyed this story of love, hardships, and family of three Filipino women, one actually being a very precocious child, Roni, she was quite a treat.

This was a great read about a Filipino woman who is a refugee from living as a political prisoner for ten years. She finds home and family in a Filipino community in California and even finds love. I learned a lot! .

Loved this book! Perhaps a tiny bit difficult to follow how characters were related to each other in places, but the sense of character and community was so strong, and I adored how immersed I felt in these people‘s lives. I‘m so in love with how many wonderful, complex books about immigrants‘ lives are coming out right now.

Not my favourite of #tob2019 but still a wonderful book

These are all #tob2019 except The Children Act which is for book club. Doubt I‘ll finish all but gonna try. #februarytbr #literarylove

Next up is one from the #tob2019 list! Excited for this one

There is so much I liked about this book, particularly the insight into what it was like in the Philippines during the Marcos years (though I would have liked even more of those flashbacks) but also the peek into the daily lives of Filipino immigrants in California. My one qualm is the author created an incredible character in the prologue and then relegated her to the background. I would have loved to have some of Paz‘s POV. #ToB2019 #ATY2019

There were some really great bits of writing in this but I had several issues with it as well. The pacing was kind of all over the place, the untranslated bits of Filipino languages were distracting. I felt like I was missing a lot of context going into this with no knowledge of Filipino culture and history, which affected my ability to get into the story.

Amazing and illuminating story of the Philippine immigrants and the American Dream. We follow Hero and Roni and their extended families and their struggle to pursue a good life. I have identity issues (biracial) so a lot of issues resonated. Very highly recommended, especially now.

Such synergy between the author and her co-panelists Amitava Kumar and Sisonke Msimang at #VWF2018 tonight in a discussion on finding home ❤️

Yesterday at Vancouver Writers Fest “This Is America“ with three non-white American authors, McClelland & Stewart publisher Jared Bland opened by asking, “What‘s happening in America?”
Elaine Castillo: Dumpster fire.
Tommy Orange: Trumpster fire.
Together with Amitava Kumar, the writers spoke of Trump as an unsurprising symptom of what‘s been happening for centuries in the American empire: colonialism, white supremacy, police brutality. #VWF2018

“Revert back” drives me crazy, but do you think it‘s just becoming standard usage?

Cleaning time means audiobook time! An interesting story about a woman immigrating from the Philippines, going back and forth in the story between her old life and her new. I listened to the audio of this, because the narrator is also Filipino (as is the author). Lots of the culture and history was woven throughout. Also, the main character is LGBTQ+, so this fulfills that category for #Booked2018. Overall I give it 4 stars.

Doing battle with my overgrown vegetable garden with this in my ears. Note to self- put tomato cages on the plants before they get to be as tall as me. 😂🍅😂

This is a love letter to Filipino people, history, & culture. After the grim satire of alienation in My Year of Rest and Relaxation, my heart felt bruised & worn. This was like a balm that made me believe in people again. The novel moves back & forth between early 90s Milpitas in the US to Philippines under the Marcos regime & the ever-present spectre of American imperialism. Circumstances finds the protagonist, Hero, exiled in the US. (cont'd)

Personally, I had very mixed feelings about this book and really shouldn‘t give it more than 2.5 stars but I‘ll round up because I liked the characters. I can‘t see myself recommending it to anyone though.

Hooray, it‘s time for the @deweysreadathon! I have my first book picked out, my reading nest made, and the appropriate attire for an all-nighter. Have fun, everyone!📚

I think this will be the first book I‘ve read about the political upheaval in the Philippines. I heard about it at https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/07/11/your-mark-get-set-librarian-podcast-ep-99. Discussion to air August 9.

Anybody listen to the podcast The Librarian Is In? They just announced a read along with this book, and I‘m thinking about joining in... Discussion episode drops August 9 if anyone else wants to join!

#TBRtemptation post 2! This debut novel was recently released. 3 generations of women in an immigrant family work to reconcile their new home with the one they left behind. Hero de Vera comes to America after being disowned by her family in the Philippines. She gets a fresh start with her uncle in the Bay Area. The story illuminates the Philippines' violent 1980s & '90s, and the families who resettled in US suburbia. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Oh, this lovely book. It admittedly took me a little while to keep track of who was related and how, but after that, I fell completely in love with each character. This is the kind of book that left me feeling like I made new friends.

This is a really beautiful book.

You hurtle through Pacita's early life in the Philippines. And then she grows up, moves to the US, becomes distant, a mother, wife, aunt, working 16-hour shifts. And Hero takes centre stage, recently arrived, caring for Paz's daughter in exchange for a roof over her head & no questions. We learn her story through flashbacks; as she gradually opens up to new friends, she builds a family & a life for herself. 👇

I love how Castillo writes about #friendship so I'm using this to check another prompt for #booked2018.

Her friendships are urgent, and extend to/through family and made-family, to/through lovers and exes. No-one is dismissed as 'just friends'.

@Cinfhen @4thhouseontheleft @BarbaraTheBibliophage

Welcome to the weekend! My first book for Friday. 😃

What's with these publishers approving me for things straight away? Surely I'm supposed to 'prove myself' first?

Not that I'm complaining, you understand. Massively excited to read this one.

My excuse is I'm packing to move, so in the process of boxing up my print books, and returning all my library books, so ebooks are the thing. To be fair, it's a RUBBISH excuse!
#NetGalley