Welcome to Litsy!

January - Tom Lake
February - David Copperfield
March - Sea of Tranquility
April - Dead-End Memories
May - A Woman Is No Man

#topread2024 #fiction

This is told from the perspective of three generations of Muslim women — two originally from Palestine with the youngest raised in the United States. Past horrors in Palestine are referred to and are a catalyst for moving to Brooklyn but the story is about the women, internalized misogyny and the difficulties of living in a patriarchal society. I thought this was brave, well written and hard to put down though at times a bit heavy handed.

I could not get into this at all: while the subject matter of the lives of Palestinian women is relevant and meaningful, I found the writing style, as well as the audio narration, felt much more like it was intended for a young adult audience. I drifted away pretty quickly.
#Bookspin

A beautifully written story that intertwines multiple narratives along with the past and present. My heart went out to each of the ladies as they struggled to carve out space in a culture where they are seen as less than. You know the writing is good when you‘re able to empathize with a character you don‘t even like.

Please check the content warnings.

April #bookspin complete! @TheAromaofBooks

“Soon you‘ll learn that there‘s no room for love in a woman‘s life”.
This alone tells me this is about to be a read I won‘t forget.

This book absolutely GUTTED me. So much generational trauma. Isra is forced to marry -gets her out a Palestine camps- in Brooklyn. Causes her to loose her love of reading, keeping house and stress for a son. Also follows her daughter, Deya, as she searches to find what happened to her mother in the past. The difference between perspectives was so well written to understand Palestinian culture. The pain Isra, Deya and Fareeda in each gen felt
TW DA

This book tore me to pieces. It‘s such an important read about history, culture, generational trauma and SO much more. Etaf Rum is an amazing storyteller🥺

How to possibly review this? I‘m so glad I finally read it, and I‘m thankful to the author for writing it. I don‘t know if I can add to what‘s already been said. It‘s an important, beautiful, frustrating, heartbreaking, and hopeful book ♥️💔

I chose this as my birthday add-on for Book of the Month, and I am so glad I did!

At its heart, this is a story about the choices we make even when it feels like we don't have a choice.

Very powerful.

[Isra] thought about the interactions between men and women she'd read about in books. Small introductions first, personal tales next, then affection grew. That was how two people fell in love. Or at least how Sinbad the Sailor fell in love with Princess Shera in A Thousand and One Nights. Except Shera was a bird for most of the story.

4 out of 5

To say I loved this book, given its subject matter, may seem odd, but I found it riveting and thought provoking. It‘s a tough read, showcasing limited choices and how definitions of love, happiness, and freedom differ among characters. A must read, in my opinion. #192025 #2019

#manicmonday

📖 A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
✍️ Oscar Wilde
🎬 Wall-E, the Woman in Black, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Willow
🎤 Will.I.Am, Within Temptation, Wisin y Yandel
🎶 Wanted Dead or Alive (Bon Jovi), What Have You Done Now (Within Temptation), Wish I Had an Angel (Nightwish)

#LetterW
@CBee

#WondrousWednesday
📚 Probably my parents who provided me access to Dr Seuss when I was young; and my distant cousin who loaned me her classics (Little Women, Mark Twain, etc) when I was a tween
📚Fredrik Backman, Gina Apostol, Elaine Castillo, Magda Szabo
📚I have the GatheringReaders book club in UAE with our doctoral students and faculty colleagues who love to read. Tagged book is our current read.

What a great book that highlights the multigenerational patterns that can exist in families. I had so much empathy for each of the characters, realizing each perspectives helped the story fall into place.

Each woman was making the best decisions she could, given the circumstances. Hoping for a better life, each would (intentionally or unintentionally) make decisions that recreated the same old cycle.

the lives of 3 generations of women in a Palestinian/Palestinian-American family and how they see the world differently and what they want for themselves and the women in their lives. what they‘re willing to put up with to survive bc “a woman is no man”, and where they have to draw the line and fight. this book was so emotional and made me cry MANY times but it is so beautifully done, jumping through time and through each woman‘s perspective.

I read this for my schools book club and I‘m so glad I did. Powerful and heartbreaking, it will stick with me a long time.

#12Booksof2021 @Andrew65

This was a hard read at times, several parts made me want to scream and rage (most especially the millions of comments that it‘s the woman‘s fault that she birthed a girl).

Well written and an important read. Highly recommend.

#WinterGames2021 #TeamGameSleighers #AnyWayYouReadathon @eggbeater @midnightbookgirl #DashingDecember @Andrew65

This was an epic novel depicting the lives of three generations of Palestinian women. I just finished the audiobook and am simply blown away.

Isra married through an arranged marriage and moved to America with her husband. Cultural pressures (and her rather unsupportive mother-in-law) made her feel inadequate as she continued only giving birth to girls, four in total, when she was expected to birth a son.

So much more to the story… a must-read!

Getting all caught up on my BOTM stack so I can finish the challenge! Here are all my ratings in one post!😃
•A Woman Is No Man~⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
•All The Bright Places~⭐⭐⭐⭐
•The Survivors~⭐⭐⭐⭐
•Mexican Gothic~⭐⭐⭐

This broke my heart. Not like cracked in half, but like someone sat on my chest from beginning to end. Which proves that the author made the oppression the female characters feel into something visceral for the reader. Although it‘s set in Brooklyn, there are some scenes in #palestine and the whole thing is informed by the “old country‘s” culture. So counting for #readingasia2021

Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com #thebibliophage2021

I find it difficult to read about abuse (as many people do) but I thought it was valuable to read this one because it is semi-autobiographical. It‘s important to pay attention to people when they tell their stories.

#PersonVsAbusiveSpouse #ConflictedWorlds

I‘m glad I finally read this one, especially since the author lives here in North Carolina. (I like to support local authors!). It‘s a hard story to read but I think it was worthwhile especially since it is semi-autobiographical. The intention of final chapter confused me a bit, so I‘d love to know more about that writing choice.

Too often being happy means being passive or playing it safe. There's no skill required in happiness, no strength of character, nothing extraordinary. Its discontent that drives creation the most--passion, desire, defiance. Revolutions don't come from a place of happiness. If anything, I think it's sadness, or discontent at least, that's at the root of everything beautiful.

I have really been on a roll with some great picks lately. I love when I get on a roll like this. Another beautiful story that pulled at every one of my emotions. I will definitely be rereading this one! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.

Never thought I would read this but I did. I recommend it

This is such an amazing book! Not it's topic, which is devastating and terrible, but the way the story is told, the way it is written, the way it made me feel and the way it opened my eyes. Rum does not judge, does not grief, she simply tells us the truth. The truth about her fate and the fate of so many other women. This book will stay with me for a long time.

@TheAromaOfBooks #BookSpinBingo

Today I made Lemon Za'atar Pasta for #FoodandLit - a very fresh dish, perfect for summer time. Enjoyed it on the balcony while reading the tagged book ❤️

#Israel @Butterfinger @Texreader

A Woman Is No Man was a slow heartbreaking, disheartening read for the first third, but when it picked up and the puzzle pieces of Deya's story started falling together, I enjoyed the story immensely. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is so upsetting and I'm only 70 pages in. #currentlyreading it running on ~3 hours of sleep, fingers crossed I can handle it and don't cry lol

Oh my goodness! All the feels! My heart broke into pieces at the end! I give it 5 ⭐
#etafrum

So y‘all made me rethink my approach this month. And since I can‘t seem to resist #botm all together, I decided to choose thoughtful, diverse books from the backlist that I‘d overlooked previously. Excited to read these two!

Received another book from #Shelterboxbookclub! Looking forward to this read specially selected for the International Women‘s Day 💝

This book opens in #Palestine- the country for this month‘s #ReadAroundTheWorld challenge. And while the bulk of this takes place physically in Brooklyn- culturally, it revolves more around Palestine. In three generations & three voices, this tragic novel unfolds to reveal a grim portrait of a woman‘s worth. There are moments of hope to break up the sorrows, but this is a heavy read. And a definite discussion starter! But I‘m glad to have read it!

“We‘ve been taught to silence ourselves, that our silence will save us.”

Wow. I‘m not sure what to say about this that hasn‘t already been said. It‘ll make you mad. And hopeful. It‘s a raw, emotional look at generations of abuse and oppression of women in the Arab culture and what needs to be done to change it.

This book was everything I expected it to be, but also so much more and I know it is one that will stay with me for a very long time. There are a lot of takeaways here and much to reflect on, but for me one thing that stands out is the depiction of generational trauma and how if we (as women especially) don‘t ever set aside our shame and confront the truth of our lived experiences we doom the next generations to repeat out heartache and struggle.

I just fucking can‘t. I‘m speechless. 5 stars. Know you are worth more and never deserve to have a man or woman put their hands on you in anger.

Beautiful, heartbreaking, raw, emotional. My #4 #bookspin this month. I love the multi-generational storytelling. I really enjoyed the book. At times, I found it repetitive with the "But what choice did she have?" Or "What could she do?" It played into some stereotypes with the abusive male figures. Overall, this book was a brilliant discussion of gender roles, diaspora, and preservation of cultural identity while trying to assimilate. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I don‘t have the appropriate words to describe how I feel about this book except that everyone should read it. There is much pain and yet great hope woven into one beautifully told story.

Damn. That's real talk. 💯

I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We‘ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won‘t. ~Audre Lorde I know this just a note in the book, but it‘s beautiful and makes me excited for the story to be told by Etaf Rum.

This book is told through the perspectives of 3 generations of Palestinian-American women, and their warring of cultural norms versus desire to be something their culture tells them they can never be. It‘s powerful, interesting, full of sorrow and learning, and an important message.

1. The tagged book, unless a miracle happens these next couple of days. I just haven‘t really been able to get back into this one, but hopefully I can soon.
2. At the beginning of 2020 audible gave away gift cards for everyone who listened to 3 books by a certain date... I got the dates mixed up and missed finishing my 3rd audiobook by a couple of hours. This has haunted me all year. 👻
Anyone want to join in the #Two4Tuesday fun?!

“I was born without a voice...”

#voiceless #4callingbirds #12booksof2020 #day4

This book is great! #awomanisnoman makes me thankful that I‘ve had a choice to choose who I love and if I want children; even though I was a young mother it was my choice!

1) I do plan on reading after I‘m done eating. 2) We cleaned and decorated for Christmas today!

Outstanding debut novel! All of my emotions ran high while reading this, and it still haunts me a week later. Definitely one of the best books I have read this year!

Wow. I‘m stunned by this one. What an amazing and powerful story.

Reading this in my darkened office bc migraine. Cannot out it down -I‘m so wrapped up in the story already.