Welcome to Litsy!

#AutumnPlease! Day 31: This experimental novel feels like wearing the #Costume of one‘s zip code. The biting verse, poetry almost in its distillation, of this tale of a city has made it come alive along with its inhabitants and their foibles and musings and longings for a life other than the one they are living. For our #DecolonizeReading2023 reading theme.

Of the three Zadie Smith novels I‘ve read so far, this was my least favorite. I didn‘t like any of the characters which made for the low rating. Listened on audio and the narration was good though. #AuthorAMonth #BookSpinBingo #BookSpin

This author's books are incredibly dense. I really liked this and if you like her other books, I definitely recommend it. And who wouldn't be drawn to this incredibly exciting cover? Lol. 😂

#AuthorAMonth with @Soubhiville

#DoubleSpin done!
#BookSpinBingo
@TheAromaofBooks

Book club got me reading some things ... I know her writing style is well liked but it‘s not for me and I‘m struggling 😭 Audio book on point, though

This book feels experimental, critical, and new. Smith hops between literary styles and formats, exploring her characters from all angles. I guess I couldn‘t keep up.

This is the only Zadie Smith book I‘ve read. I have some of her others on my TBR. I read this because it was short listed for the Women‘s Prize. I liked it but the style took getting used to! #AugustAuthors

The London worlds of Caribbean immigrants and descendants created by Zadie Smith are so far removed from my reality but sonehow I just love her so much. She has a way of pinpointing some part of universal reality that makes me gasp as if she knows me. This book is definitely a different read, more disjointed, and in the beginning I struggled with it, but I love open endings and messiness and ended up loving it.

I'm enjoying this book, after taking a bit of time to get into it. Had a chuckle at this part (PW Botha was an apartheid era prime minister and president of South Africa and the reason for international sanctions against our country).

Two errands done by 9am so time to #treatyoself to a croissant and some cafe reading on a gorgeous Leap day morning!

#Top10oftheDecade #Fiction Edition

Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman
In the Skin of a Lion - Michael Ondaatje
NW - Zadie Smith
Kindred - Octavia Butler
Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
A History of Love - Nicole Krauss
Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
The Namesake - Jhumpa Lahiri
Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers
Women Talking - Miriam Toews

(Based on date read, not published 👍📚)

#currentlyreading

A book like this I have to put up against other novels going for a similar achievement—stuff like what Helen DeWitt writes, or Foster Wallace or Pynchon—and I don‘t think this novel holds up there.

She chose to write it this way, so those are the comparisons I end up making: rather challenging, postmoderny material that can strain the reader.

I don‘t think Smith pulls it off nearly as well.

I still love this author though.

Cute map that replaces London tube stations with the names of novels set in their vicinity

https://www.inthebook.com/en-gb/literary-tube-map/

After mixed feelings abt Swing Time i loved this story of life in the london suburb of Caldwell told through the voice of two childhood friends.Leah trapped in a marriage but not wanting children, + Natalie a barrister who has dragged herself from her poor origins to the height of her profession but faces a crisis in her life. These stories book end felix a tale of modern London society very resonant of current headlines.A Brilliant tale.

I might have liked this book less if I hadn't listened to the audiobook. Or if I wasn't familiar with this area of London (the NW postcode area), even if I've never lived here.

As with all of Zadie Smith's work, I found it a bit too uneven. But maybe that's like NW itself. It's one of those books that opened a window into the lives of people living alongside me in the same city.

Apparently there's also a BBC drama worth watching.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wasn't it possible that what others mistook as intelligence might in fact be only a sort of mutation of the will? She could sit in one place longer than other children, be bored for hours without complaint, and was completely devoted to filling in every last corner of the coloring books.

Another well-written, engaging, & uneven read from Smith. A story in 4 parts, each following a different character (tho they are all linked in some way), as they navigate life in northwest (NW) London. The writing & pacing take some getting used to: can be a little choppy, a little experimental. Once I got the rhythm, I was hooked. Lots of "Oh, yes" moments when Smith drops in something particularly insightful or true. Plus, she's funny. ⬇️

"It is perhaps the profound way in which capitalism enters women's minds and bodies that renders 'ruthless comparison' the basic mode of their relationships with others."

I am delighted by this Mrs. Doubtfire reference. Sometimes you gotta do a little work for it, but Smith is pretty funny. It's often subtle, but it's there.

One of the best books set in London I think I‘ve ever read! I‘ve read a couple things by Zadie Smith before but I read them too young and can‘t remember much about them. Desperately want to read more by her now. It‘s not that often that I‘m this excited about a British novel

So excited to read this! I‘ve heard amazing things

I had the pleasure of seeing Zadie Smith on Friday night. #unboundbookfestival

A good use of a rare half day from work!

It took a couple of chapters to get used to the writing style but I'm enjoying the character development.

Impromptu library visit with younger dsughter led me to choosing this.
Because, you know, a to read pile of library or borrowed books doesn't count as more books ;) ;)
#libraryfan #toread #pilesofbooks

Whenever there's a #shelfie prompt, it's so hard to decide which one to choose. This one has recent acquisitions (including swap books), some beloved author and a load of mass markets. #riotgrams

N-W is less of a traditional story and more of a day in the life of a section of London. The characters navigating the city are less real than the city itself, which Smith brings vividly into life in all its busy, noisy glory. When I finished the book, I had lots of questions about what was actually happening with the characters, but I felt like I could walk through NW London and recognize its rhythms. Loved some of it, hated some of it.

I saw this recently on a list of Books to Read Before You're #30 and I wholeheartedly agree! #thirty #novemberbythenumbers

The effort of this author was lost on me. The audio was difficult to understand with its heavy accents and choppy storyline. Was I hearing the end of a chapter or the end of a short story? Where am I in this book? Frustrated and uninterested I left.

Holiday reading #bookstagram #bookbloggers #booktube #books

I don't know what it is with Smith's books and characters, but it almost feels like she doesn't want me to like and connect with her characters. In this, I felt distanced from all of the characters, so even though I kinda liked the story, I just couldn't connect with it. But still, I wanted to keep reading it, once I got going.

Loading up on carbs, sun and words before going to the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art where the literature festival is being held 🌞📚

#louisianalit #bookwormontour

After my sunny #bookmail earlier, I thought I would go out and enjoy the actual sun 🌞 I'm preparing for Louisiana Literature Festival this weekend and reading some Zadie Smith before hopefully seeing her on Saturday 👌

#currentlyreading

My #Augustmostanticipated experience is going to a literature festival in Denmark at the end of August, and these are some of the authors who will be there! I have ordered Smith, Whitehead and Mbue's books, and hopefully I will have read them before I go, and then we will see which other books make it home with me ?

Paul Auster, Yu Hua, Valeria Luiselli, Álvaro Enrigue, Chris Kraus and others will also be there

Any must see/reads?
#AnditsAugust

I really like Zadie Smith, especially some of her essays, but the only book of hers I've read is her first - white teeth. This is on my tbr, picked up a copy a while back. #jubilantjuly #startswithmno #shelfie

Tricky to get into due to the unusual writing style and her way of presenting spoken dialogue but at the same time this made the characters more relatable.

Sometimes you just need your mommy, sometimes your mommy just needs to read Zadie Smith

Love a good Dollar Tree book find!!

I found this hard to get into, I really struggled with the first section from Leah's perspective. However by Keisha/Natalie's section I was flying through it, read the final 3/4 in an afternoon!

Loved this snapshot of London life!
Special surprise was finding out at the end of the book that Ini Kamoze or Here Comes the Hotstepper fame wrote Welcome to Jamrock! Who knew!?!?
#popreferences #nw #zadiesmith #londonbooks #ukbooks

Loving this one but very difficult to squeeze in any reading time between crying newborn and demanding toddler! #NW #zadiesmith #badmummy

Commuting to work with Zadie Smith. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this one. I am a huge Zadie Smith fan; clearly a bit behind in my reading of her work, but no less excited. Heard mixed things about this book, but I know it won't disappoint!

This story follows four adults that attended or lived in the same neighborhood. The different paths their lives take and the paths that cross seemingly unaware of one another. A decent story but it dragged on and on in parts. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Hi! Happy Saturday.

We got new shelves installed last week (does anyone else love The Container Store!?) and I haven't shared them here yet. I was running out of room on my rainbow shelves under the stairs and so these were very necessary. My partner suggested I just stop buying so many books. NO WAY! Non-book-obsessed people don't understand. He did come up with this idea though = forgiven. Pretty pleased with how it turned out 😍.

#shelfie

Oh, here's another one #judgedbyitscover. I've not even read it yet 😦 but I know I should! I've only ever heard wonderful things about #zadiesmith ! #marchintoreading

#riotgrams Day 21: #coolspines I 💜 my spine bookshelves!