Welcome to Litsy!

When I was in college, I knew a young man who was majoring in Women's Studies. He educated women students about the female experience and how they weren't as feminist as he was. If he wrote a novel, I imagine it would be like How to Be Safe. McAllister's female narrator doesn't sound like a woman to me, and the primary purpose of the novel seems to be as a vehicle for McAllister's opinions about gun violence and other issues. I didn't enjoy it.

Book no. 4 for #AwesomeAugust readathon and no. 12 for #14Books14Weeks2021.

This is less a story about a school shooting and more a slightly surreal indictment of gun violence in the US and our conflicted attempts to deal with it. Sarcastic wit abounds. McAllister is probably preaching to the choir, but that doesn‘t make his points any less valid.

I am a fan of the author‘s podcast Bookfight as well.

"The truck had injured ten and killed six. On the news, they called it a bloodbath. The average body holds 8 pints of blood and the average bathtub holds 40 gallons. For something to rightly be called a bloodbath, then 320 pints of blood need to be spilled, or forty whole humans worth. The truck attack barely qualified. It was more like a blood sink."

"The pepperoni is unctuous and too round too obviously manufactured too hot too crispy too indifferent. Pepperoni is made from dead animals, he reminds himself. They died for you. Like Christ except at least pepperoni serves a function."

Clearly not a book for everyone as it addresses the hot button subject of gun violence. And, despite what others have written, it is a satire and quite funny. It took a lot of guts to find humor in such an awful topic, so I tip my hat to McAllister for mostly pulling it off. No happy ending here, but how could there be given the subject matter?

😂😂😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Good thing I have a screened-in porch with a couple ceiling fans. 😎 #LitsyHumor

#gimmeshelter #MayMovieMadness
I think the Stones song was written about Vietnam and violence in general during that era, but the lyrics could apply to school shootings. HTBS occurs in the aftermath of a school shooting: I haven't read any other novels or nonfiction on the subject, so I'm curious to try one. Tough to even consider in a time like this when we've just had another one in the U.S., but maybe that means I should read it sooner.

All those guns and mass shootings in the States... This book is called a satire but I found it pretty depressing.

The narrator is a woman who gets a bit paranoid after a school shooting in her hometown. She doesn‘t know how to feel safe anymore in a world where violence is responded to with more violence or the threat of it.

#ReadingUSA2019 Pennsylvania

(Pic: Rainy Amsterdam)

So true!

This was a satirical critique of the current gun and social media culture. What freedoms are we willing to give up to ensure our safety or get a popular online presence? While I thought the concept was great, I wasn‘t overly impressed with the execution-this read like a long monologue about gun violence and the ridiculous lengths people go to on social media. For the audiobook, I don‘t like the narrator. 2.5⭐️ #Hoopla #TOB

Anna is a professor who is mistakenly accused of a mass shooting and this sends her down a path riddled by PTSD, invasive media, and gun-hoarding end-times cults. Anna is incredibly unlikeable, probably smells bad, and she doesn't seem to understand how to move through life. What she would prefer to understand is how to be safe. Can anyone be safe if our only answers involve guns? The novel asks this question and more, but in a pithy way.

My #LibraryHaul from last Friday. Spent the rainy weekend with a couple of books from this pile 💕

I'm #audiobaking and #audiowrapping today

This novel is set in the aftermath of a school shooting and the author doesn‘t hold back on social commentary. #tob2019

This sharp, dry, darkly hilarious satire about the aftermath of a school shooting says so much about contemporary America—from our disturbing gun culture to toxic masculinity to the increasing reality of never feeling safe. It‘s not happy, optimistic or redemptive, but neither is our current reality. It‘ll resonate with anyone who is fed up with gun violence and the meaningless thoughts and prayers that follow.

Same.

This book should not be compared with We Need To Talk About Kevin. Despite being set in the aftermath of a school shooting, this is a different kind of book entirely, as should be evidenced by the above quote. A scathing and, at times, bitingly funny commentary on gun control, toxic masculinity, and sexism, I kept wanting to scream, YESSS, girl! And then I remembered the author is a man! Tom McAllister, you get me. 💘

Oh boy, I don‘t know about this one. Maybe it‘s because of Friday‘s shooting or the fact that the narrator is annoying or something else entirely that I just can‘t pin down, but I‘m not feeling this one, about the aftermath of a school shooting told by a teacher who had (wrongfully) been accused of having some involvement in it.

But anyway, here‘s a pic of my super cute boy Monty, who is keeping me company during my evening reading. #dogsoflitsy

This one was rough. It was not what I expected from the description and I almost bailed so many times! The story was very choppy jumping around between different topics in a chapter including Anna‘s childhood, her life choices, the victims of the school shooting and sections about how to be safe. I never really got into it and it was a rough read for me.

I feel like this quote accurately describes this whole book. It is such a downer and I‘m having a hard time making it to the end.

Starting this one tonight with my new SLOTH bookmark! 😍

Oops—starting this one instead. Sometimes those silly library book due dates switch things up! 😉 I‘m a little hesitant to read about a school shooting—reading about that once is too much—so we‘ll see if I persevere. Sweet dreams to all! 😇

I was moved by the intensity & breadth of topics covered, starting with a mass school shooting, the effects of which reverberate for Anna Crawford, a former teacher of the school who is initially a person of interest but quickly dismissed. Through her unemployment she also rails for/against privacy rights as the gov‘t tries to catch criminals, mental health (several suicides take place & Anna has frequent breakdowns), and poor treatment of women.

Totally gripped!!

Ummmm this book is a little heavy handed. This may be why I don‘t read too many men. This is utter nonsense masquerading as being “literary”. There are a few passages like this.

It is April 3 and I have yet to find a book that I LOVED this year. . . ( new books). Here are my newest attempts. Wish me luck.

A book couldn‘t be more timely. A stark commentary on the state of our nation that is also darkly funny, wise, and an uncomfortable mirror for today.

I‘m 13% done with How to Be Safe, and already it‘s amazing. This passage, y‘all.

Wow. This one is fantastic.

Everyone wanted me to get better, which meant they wanted me to stop being sad, but being sad was the only thing I needed. The real problem is when people flinch from the sadness and hide. Men see a sad woman and they want to fix her, but in fixing her they flatten her emotional life under the weight of meaningless platitudes.

Today‘s book mail: Pitched as “We Need to Talk About Kevin meets Dept. of Speculation.” YES PLEASE.