Welcome to Litsy!

A few years ago my bookclub read Good Talk by Mira Jacob. I loved it so much that I ordered her novel, which then spent years on my bookshelf.

What a wonderful story. It‘s about a South Indian family living in Albuquerque. It moves from past to present and back, with a lot of focus on Amina and her father, who has a mysterious illness. The intricacies of love and different ways of expressing it, and the wedges grief can create. It‘s 5⭐️ for me.

Poignant, heart-wrenching family story that is beautifully written with genuine & relatable family relationships. Loved seeing the family‘s Indian culture front & center, too. However, it‘s too long and bogged down by many scenes that were drawn out way more than necessary. Didn‘t like the traumatic career event in Amina‘s past or her “secret” work habit, both felt kind of exploitative & unnecessary to the story. A good one, not great. 3/5 ⭐️

How to explain that she felt like if she cried, if she actually started, she might never stop? That it felt too bottomless, like jumping into one of those cave pools that was the size of a pond but actually thousands of feet deep?

Small and dark and tucked into his white coat like a check in an envelope, the man came to an abrupt stop when he reached them, smiling with a precision that suggested military training or a sociological disorder.

There are small blessings, tiny ones that come unbidden and make a hard day one sigh lighter.

Love love! I related to the main character so much. I am usually a slow reader but I zipped through this book.

Night noises snaked through the phone line, pressing New Mexico right up to Amina‘s ear—the hushed applause of the wind rolling through the cottonwoods, the hollow scritch of crickets echoing against the mesas, the click of the gate latch in the garden. Amina shut her eyes and felt herself in the darkening yard with the tickle of the wild grass at the back of her knees.

Started this last night and already loving it. It was super annoying to have to work all day and not get to read until now! #NowReading

The story is, at turns, funny and heartbreaking. By Book 10 (there are 11 books, each with

Next

This is a poignant and heart-felt story about a family facing the issues of life and death, mortality and what it means to be immortal. As a daughter whose Mum is at the stage of her life where she spends most of her time in the past with dead family member, this book was particularly salient to me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ with lots of tears.

1. Celebrated my bday this weekend by doing a corn maze🌾 and visiting Newport Vineyards for wine 🍷
2. Laying in bed 😬
3. Tagged!
4. Groceries
5. Snacks

#humpdaypost

I don‘t think I‘ve ever read a 500 page book faster. I flew through this book once I started reading. It was tragic and heartbreaking and Amina has gone through a lot in her life, before turning 30. I liked the way this book moved and the way the author handled the flashbacks and connected all the different stories. There is a lot of sadness but also happiness is found in this story.

Great pick for #LTLMPBC

I got your package today @Ajessgirl !! Can‘t wait to read this book! Thanks for the goodies! That candle smells really good and love that it is literary themed! 😊 #LTLPBC

Finishing up my #LMPBC pick over brunch. It took me a bit to get into it and keep the time shifts straight, but now I‘m really enjoying it. Centered on an Indian-American family, it focuses on family dynamics and the modern immigrant experience. Will be so curious to hear what you think, @DebBates101 and @Laughterhp !

“Cooking was a talent of her mother‘s that Amina often thought of as evolutionary, a way for Kamala to survive herself with friendships intact. Like plumage that expanded to rainbow an otherwise unremarkable bird, Kamala‘s ability to transform raw ingredients into sumptuous meals brought her the kind of love her personality on its own might have repelled.” 😏

To anyone who's read either one of these books, what can I be expecting?
#Review #NewPurchase #BooksForLife #BooksAreLife #TBR

Dollar Tree book haul!! I‘m really happy/surprised to find some of these there. Happy dance!! 💃🏻💃🏻💃🏻

My reading buddy this afternoon.
#catsoflitsy

If you enjoyed Goodbye Vitamin you will love this. I actually could only think about how much I loved this book while reading Goodbye Vitamin and that's probably why I never finished it. The themes are similar. The daughter comes back to the family home to help care for her increasingly unstable father. It goes into more depth than GV and the story is much more fluid. So honestly even if you didn't like GV you should read this lol.

Walking through the library, I remembered this book, marveling at the length and committing to reading it. It was such an incredible read; a family saga of love and struggle and heartbreak and rebuilding connection. #libraryfinds #bookmemories #diverselit #diversebooks #womenwriters #family

Novella is helping me read by being strangely quiet during the day. Just started this one bit already love the relationship between the mother and daughter.

Recent haul. #bookhaul #bookoutlet #diversereads

Settled in for the evening to finish this one. Charlie Waffles is keeping me warm.

I've really been enjoying this book. The complicated family dynamics. The juxtaposition between past and present. I'm not ready for it to end!

Nothing like a dysfunctional family to put me in the mood for Thanksgiving. #diversereads #overthis #readoverthis

Vibrant.

#somethingforsept #SeptemberPhotoChallenge A few women writers currently on my shelves.

#Recommendsday pick - This was a surprise favorite of mine from last year. I completely loved it. Great depiction of complex family relationships, grief and loss, feeling like an outsider - an observer of your life more than a participant in it, ghosts, and the family that you make out of choice and necessity. Really beautiful writing and lovely characters.

#Recommendsday pick - This was a surprise favorite of mine from last year. I completely loved it. Great depiction of complex family relationships, grief and loss, feeling like an outsider - an observer of your life more than a participant in it, ghosts, and the family that you make out of choice and necessity. Really beautiful writing and lovely characters.

Here is a good one on Kindle sale today. Something is wrong with the narrator's father so she must come home. She proceeds with grace and humor, while looking back at the past, the Indian-American immigration experience and her extended family, and her own come-of-age story. Loved it. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Excited to finally be reading this! Not that she'd know me, but Mira Jacob was my editor at Babble Voices years ago, and I've been wanting to read this ever since it was released.

How adorable is the author, Mira Jacob?

I loved this - especially all of the layers.

I absolutely loved The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing. And I'm so glad I chose this moment to read it. It's a multi-generational Indian immigrant and Indian-American story (that takes place partly in Seattle!) exploring the home you leave & the home you choose. Absolutely gorgeous & heart-rending.

Nothing relaxes me more than reading on my lunch break. And The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob is so beautiful.