Welcome to Litsy!

1. The tagged was boring and way too long. Normal people was terrible characters and writing. Hated the writing style too.

2. Anything by Grady Hendrix or Riley Sager. Really any book that is mainly thriller or horror I'm just not a fan of. I read southern book club's guide to slaying vampires and ugh, I was just mad and disgusted the whole time.

#ihavequestions

#TBRPile 📚 “It sounds like a sentence: Victoria Falls. At any rate, that‘s the joke I used to make until Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria actually died in 1901, just before I landed on the continent.”

Do you ever look at your bookshelves and say, “I mean yeah, I‘m in the middle of one, two, oh who really knows how many books but THIS one looks really interesting. Maybe I should start ANOTHER book.”

I do this with stunning frequency…I rather fear I might be about to do it again! 😂😬🤷‍♀️

I‘m still sad when I think about this book. The premise was good but the execution was a mishmash of genres. When it was just telling a story it was so good. But the attempts at other genres was so bad, making this my #worstof2021. @Butterfinger

Care to share your worst book of 2021? @freeatlast1137 @JamieArc @sblbooks @Jari-chan @AnneCecilie @julesG @MoonWitch94 @TheSpineView @Crazeedi @Nute @GingerAntics @Kshakal @Jadams1776 @DieAReader

This book is about the descendants of 3 matriarchs in #Zambia, as they intersect before Zambia becomes a nation to the near future. The Kariba Dam surprisingly is an important part of the intersection of families. Sounds interesting? Not really; It‘s a difficult read because it mixes genres in weird ways, making what could have been an fascinating story of a country into a struggle to read or care. I stuck with it since my husband grew up ⬇️

Finally finished! I‘ll write a better review later but for now: not recommended with a so-so rating. It‘s a schizophrenic book with no idea what it wants to be: historical fiction? Magical realism? Sci-fi? Folk tale? It‘s none consistently. The writing style changes throughout, even within chapters. She apparently published bits & pieces, then blended it together to make a bumpy & weird story. Its blurb makes it sound amazing. Sadly. It‘s not. ⬇️

When fiction meets reality. I spent much of today working, thanks to the on-again off-again new OSHA vaccine mandate, trying to help my clients figure out what to do. And tonight I couldn‘t escape it in my book as a feared “National Virus Vaccination Programme” in #Zambia is being debated. #foodandlit

This may be my second or third pedicure while trying to read this book. I‘m now only about 120 pages from finishing. #foodandlit #Zambia @Catsandbooks @Butterfinger

I finished! 🥳

The chapters were long. There were some weird bits - I‘m not sure if I would describe it as like magic/supernatural but there was something. The end also threw me a little. But I liked the merging of character arcs and the science, the tech, and the politics. Overall I think it was worth it, but I don‘t know if I would recommend it per se!

I added some pictures from #Zambia to the picture as well as the cover :)

#FoodAndLit

In Sylvia‘s chapter we meet Lee, a doctor who thinks the salon is a front for a brothel, and wants to take samples from the employees for research. This reminded me of something I read when doing my dissertation (How the CCR5 gene confers resistance to HIV, and its evolution) and how one of the first mutations was found in Kenyan prostitutes. And this is discussed in Thandiwe‘s chapter!
Who knew my dissertation would come in handy for #FoodAndLit?

58% through this book.

It is a struggle because the chapters are so long, and the stories are becoming interconnected. Some aspects are super weird too. But I am quite enjoying it!
Hopefully I can power through the rest tomorrow…

And for tea I have made nshima and chicken stew. It was very tasty and FILLING. ☺️
You need to be strong for mixing nshima though!

#FoodAndLit

The Balaji family goes on vacation to Chipata and Lake Malawi.

So of course I ask the husband if he‘s been. It stirred up more childhood memories, and the “many times” they went to Lake Malawi.

#foodandlit #Zambia @butterfinger @catsandbooks

“She heard it every day at 1700 hours, when the TV came on, as the brightly colored bars gave way to an image of soldiers standing at full salute. Stand and sing of Zambia, proud and free. Land of work and joy and unity.”

I read this to the husband, and he startled with the memory from his childhood. Yep, accurate.

This is a hard read, but these little nuggets are incentive to keep on keeping on. #foodandlit #Zambia @butterfinger @catsandbooks

☠️I'm calling time of death on this one. I'm over 9 hours in and only at 38% of this book and I just don't have the patience for another 15.5 hours! I'm bored and confused and honestly don't care at this point. Hope you're able to make it through Karen!

#FoodandLit #bookspinbingo this was my bookspin book #OutstandingOctober

Can you make this out @Catsandbooks ? Hopefully you can take a snapshot and blow it up. Hang on to it. It will help tremendously.

#Zambia #foodandlit @Butterfinger

This book‘s chapters are titled by people on the family tree, 3 grandmothers, 3 mothers, and 3 children. I‘m finally on the second mother. This isn‘t an easy read and I took a week‘s break to read the very readable This Savage Song. A welcome relief from this one. But I‘m determined. How are you coming along @Catsandbooks ? #Zambia #foodandlit @Butterfinger

One chapter of the tagged book is set in Kalingalinga, a “low-income high-density settlement” (so-called by the internet). Husband did remember a “shantytown” in Lusaka when he was growing up in Zambia although he just remembered it being called Kalinga. I think this photo depicts well the circumstances in the book.

#foodandlit #Zambia @butterfinger @catsandbooks

I‘m really having to jog my husband‘s memory about his growing up in #Zambia. The tagged book is helping a little but I decided to do some browsing on the web. Here‘s a nice overview of touristy things in the country:

https://travel.earth/6-reasons-to-visit-zambia-this-year/amp/

#foodandlit @Butterfinger @catsandbooks

Starting this for #FoodAndLit #Zambia and reminiscing about visiting Victoria Falls.

While I don‘t have pictures of the event (my camera broke and it was 12 years ago so phones were no use!) I did manage to see the lunar rainbows while I was in Zambia as well as the falls during the day. A beautiful place!

“ Sylvia woke up with a small person‘s hangover, a dizzy, fuzzy feeling born of sugar and adrenaline.“

#foodandlit #Zambia @butterfinger @catsandbooks

A lot of nshima is being eaten in the tagged book so I found this recipe from the Lusaka Times:

https://www.lusakatimes.com/2015/09/15/in-the-kitchen-with-kanta-traditional-zam...

Where the heck does one buy pumpkin leaves?

#foodandlit #Zambia @butterfinger @catsandbooks

October #bookspinbingo 🔮 👻

I just realized the section dividers are mosquitoes!

#foodandlit #Zambia @butterfinger @catsandbooks

The founding of Lusaka, #Zambia, the city where my husband grew up!

#foodandlit @Butterfinger @catsandbooks

The tagged book starts here, one of the most famous and said to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, Victoria Falls. When husband was growing up in #Zambia one of his family vacations was to the falls. Can you even imagine? Have any Littens been here?

Image from here: https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_Victoria_Falls.htm

#foodandlit @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks

This is a chunkster so I‘m starting on it early for #foodandlit #Zambia, our country for October. I‘m really looking forward to it as my husband spent about half his childhood growing up in Lusaka. @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks

Through blistering heat and blundering rain, beating off the taboo that to carry death is to beckon it?

This was loooong but pretty good, although I think it could have been pared down. The first Zambian novel I've read--a three-family century-long saga with characters whose roots are in England and Italy as well as Zambia. I liked the historical elements, although that wasn't the core theme, challenging colonialism, centring of women, and the play with magic realism and sci-fi.
#ArmchairTravel #Booked2020

I‘m moving this closer to the top of my TBR after watching Namwali Serpell‘s award acceptance video.

https://youtu.be/dtnvEGVNZK0?list=PLdgePvblfv94vi2LEAkHWu1SD8sWGaWwg

This one took me forever to get through

Likely one of my favorites this year

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2681935143

February reads

There‘s a lot packed into this multi-generational family history, and while it was admirably ambitious, I‘m not sure it pulled it off. I wish I had had some direction to where the story was going and that the chapters of each family line were consistently ordered throughout. It was hard to keep track of, and I found myself zoning in and out of the story. I do appreciate this book, but it didn‘t quite do it for me.

I love book serendipity when it comes along. I have been reading The Old Drift and then I decided to listen to Michael Palin read his commentary for the travel documentary Pole to Pole. When Palin gets to Rhodesia and Zimbabwe the events and history mentioned matched where I was in Serpell‘s novel. Those moments just make me smile!🥰

A top 15 book of 2019 according to The Atlantic magazine. Added to tbr right now!

On vacation so this is a bookshop spot. #7covers7days #covercrush day 7.

“And so. A dead white man grows bearded and lost in the blinding heart of Africa. With his rooting and roving, his stops and starts, he becomes out after unwitting, our inadvertent pater muzungo. This is the story of a nation-not a kingdom, or a people-so it begins, of course, with a white man.”

I‘ll start by saying I am a sucker for a good multi-generational story! The characters are very “unique” and it did take me some time to get into this one but I loved learning more about Zambian history and reading about these families and how they interconnect. The last section veered off in an unexpected direction but I still found it interesting and relevant to what is happening in the world. #aty2019

I tried, but 10 hours in I am going to throw the towel.

I thought the storytelling was so discombobulated and the individual stories felt drawn out.

Unfortunately not for me.

White truth! Ha ha ha ha!!!

Ha ha. I went past several of these before I noticed they were mosquitoes. Cool and apt text decoration. Looking forward to my first Zambian novel.

Not gonna lie—I struggled with this novel. Parts of it I just loved, parts dragged, and parts don‘t seem to below here at all. That said, I think Serpell is a very talented writer and I‘ll be looking for her in the future for sure.

Oh, and I 😍 this cover!

5 🌟 All the stars!
Wow 😍 If you get the chance to pick up this book, please do. Don't be frightened by its size. It is an absolutely beautiful first novel by a talented Zambian writer. I adored it! Like Gyasi's Homecoming, it tells the story of three generations of three families connected to the British settlement in Rhodesia, known as Old Drift. It is beautiful, it is powerful - it took me 6 weeks to read because I wanted to savour it.

I think someone doesn‘t want me to read anymore. 😂

#dogsofLitsy #Bindi

Wow. What a work of art. Creative and brilliant and real and earthy and literary. Serpell is a master at capturing the different voices of the multigenerational characters and plays loose with the past/present/future time structures. Really great, one of the best of 2019 for me!

Before I dive back into my current read, I‘m enjoying my post card from @Soubhiville along with my delicious microwave mug brownie. I haven‘t been to Black Canyon since I was a kid and my mom thought the cry of the golden eagle was my sister or I falling into the canyon. 😆 We still teas her about it. Thanks for the card—I‘m glad you had a good trip!

History, in short, was the annals of the bully on the playground. Truth bomb.