The Queue | 
#adventrecommends, @emilyrose_x
It's a clever blend of dystopia, absurdism and Kafka, but it is mostly conveyed dispassionately. While this wasn't a favorite book of 2022, it is one I am glad to have read and one I would not have read without Litsy's #FoodandLit challenge.
pickAfter “the Disgraceful Event“, Yehia queues outside The Gate to ask for treatment for an injury received. Told from multiple viewpoints, mostly Yehia a doctor, but also Yehia's girlfriend, and other people in the queue. Inspired by post-Arab Spring events, it‘s a clever blend of dystopia, absurdism and Kafka. But it is conveyed dispassionately. We hear the character's thoughts, but don‘t feel their emotions. An intriguing, if not compelling read.
so-soAnother tough read. A kind of Kafka in #Egypt. Governments and bureaucracy are hidden behind a gate and people are queuing to ask their questions and requests for all kinds of basic human rights. The gate never opens though and people spend their lives just waiting in line.
#pop22 #NameOfABoardGameInTitle #FoodAndLit #ReadingAfrica2022 🇪🇬
#19822022 #2016 #52BooksIn52weeks #AuthorWithXYZinTheirName
KarenUK, Megabooks, Cinfhen, Texreader, Cortg, jenniferw88, Librarybelle, Laughterhp, alisiakae, Catsandbooks, Butterfinger, RaeLovesToRead
pickTranslated from the Arabic, THE QUEUE by Basma Abdel Aziz is a short dystopian novel that explores the psychology of authoritarianism. After the Gate assumes power in an unnamed Middle Eastern City, citizens have to wait in a queue to gain permission for even their most basic necessities. I loved the symbolism of the queue for democracy, or the pursuit of it. I did wish that the Gate was explored more and the characters a bit more developed.
Yikes! Today got away from me! #IntegrateYourShelf
This week, I wanted to look for African translations for #WomenInTranslation month; apparently, that is a hard to find task! A lot of authors in Africa are published in English first rather than any regional language. The tagged book has been on my TBR for years though, so maybe this year...
If you can't find a translated text, tag one of your favorite African authors who identifies as a woman.
pickThis was an interesting dystopian book. I‘m not sure if I‘d put it on a list with the greats of the genre but sometimes, you need the perspective that time allows to realize how well those books stand. I really enjoyed reading an Arabic take on the genre. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good depressing dystopian book.
pickSurreal satire, with dark—very dark—humour that left me in despair for the future of humanity. Individuals are sometimes altruistic & help each other but what can be done against the greater power of authoritarianism? Maybe the bleakness prompted me to rate this 4 stars on Goodreads last night but I realized today that I‘ll never forget it, so 5 stars it is.
#Translation by Elisabeth Jaquette. #Audiobook superbly narrated by Mark Bramhall.
I finished The Queue at 9:30 last night, the 30th book I read in August. Looking back on these covers, I realize that I haven't reviewed them all yet on Litsy. Watch for a lot of activity from me because I will try to catch up today. #AugustReadingStats
Citizens #walklikeegyptians every day to queue in front of the Gate for permission for the most basic needs, the line grows longer but the gate never opens.
Great novel about the sinister nature of authoritarianism, illuminates the way that absolute authority manipulates information, mobilizes others in service to it, and fails to uphold the rights of even those faithful to it.
#wanderingjune @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB
About halfway through the book written by the amazing Basma Abdel Aziz and I am really enjoying the story. It‘s a dystopian novel and reminds me of “1984”. It‘s also been a goal of mine to read more works by non-western authors. I welcome recommendations! #currentlyreading (recommended to me by @JeannieReads )
so-soWhat?!? Ok, this got a so-so because of the ending...it‘s a good story otherwise. Anyone who‘s read it help me out in understanding the ending, please!
Another book finished during the #24b42019.
#litsyAtoZ2018 #endofyearreadingcrunch #Q #abecedarianTBR #diverseauthors #diversebooks #femaleauthor
Even #TwinkyToles is confused. #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #readingbuddy #gingerbrat #mybrat #Tolesbrats
Forgot to post this last night. I‘m hoping to finish this book tonight. #readathon #24b42019 #endofyearreadingcrunch #LitsyAtoZ #Q #AbecedarianTBR #diversebooks #diverseauthors
so-soThe concept was good, but the story rambled pointlessly.... This would have been better as a short story.
pickChilling and apropos in light of the current administration.
#SetInTheMiddleEast #MiddleEasternAuthor #GetReading2018 #18of36 #audiobook
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2018/mar/01/translators-vanguard-lit... A great article about the worth of books in translation with some recommendations. Happy Friday!
Up next! Can‘t wait to get started on this one. I need a novel after such heavy reading (We Were 8 Years in Power.) #TBR #amreading #readwomen
There‘s another really cute shark in my tea today!
Look at the cute shark infusing my tea!
so-soI‘m glad this one was only ~6 hours, I really wanted to enjoy it but it fell short of my hopes by a long ways. The concept is good, there‘s an element of creativity I appreciate, but execution lacked anything to really engage me and the end felt less deliberate and more like a cop-out.
Struggling through the last minutes of this one, but at least I have delicious food and drinks?
I wish I had something I knew I‘d enjoy waiting in the wings; if I had, I‘d Nancy P this one. It‘s all character development which I usually love, but I need more about the world in order to feel the tension that should be building. The narrator isn‘t helping, he‘s basically just reading the book aloud. 😕
Sadly finished the existing eps of The Penumbra Podcast today and needed something that wasn‘t too heavy or demanding of my attention. Cloud Library has been a giant fail for the most part since my library switched to it, but found a couple of titles today that may not suck. We shall see.
At home with a sick puppy. I read to her and she fell asleep.
Working on my own writing and reading a little bit this Sunday afternoon. #bookriotreadharderchallenge #writerslife
1. Give me Doritos over Cheetos
2. The Queue (6 books down so far)
3. Solo parenting stir crazy kids while husband is at work
4. Speak every language
5. I'm only a high school graduate
@jesshowbooks
pickA bureaucratic dystopia that wonderfully shows the effects of beating down the population by simply making the red tape impossible to unsnarl or cut through. It was chilling in it's realistic portrayal, not of uprising, but of a people that can't do anything but become numb to the government's ever closing fist.
It's a balmy 20 degrees so I'm having a quick drink in the garage with my Kindle 😂. I neeeeed my quiet space, the cold front was killing me.
Starting this for my A entry in #LitsyAtoZ. Shaping up to be a good one! Image from https://arablit.org/2017/08/31/basma-abdel-aziz-on-writing-the-queue/
pickIn an unnamed, probably Egyptian city, people are told to line up outside the Gate whenever they need government paperwork done. But the Gate never opens. Meanwhile, the movements of certain citizens are tracked constantly, and people are disappearing, but no visible government officials, just edicts. This was very disturbing- those in the queue didn‘t consider protesting, or even leaving. Even more scary: the events in this could easily happen.
At one point this morning I was all "I'm going to go for a run today."
Plans change. ???♀️
Side note: baileys side eye. ???
Drove the 40 minutes home from the boyfriend's house this morning to realize that I left my house keys there and had to go back.
I earned this coffee. Just going to stay here awhile. 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
#bookishconfession - does anyone else see short author bios like this and then immediately want to know more about them? I may (hypothetically) accidentally Internet stalk because I think someone's really badass but feel creepy later!? Please say I'm not the only one? 😳
This has been on my tbr for almost a year after hearing about it on Bookriot and I'm finally starting it! Anything being called Orwellian is in my wheelhouse
#translation #Arabic
Babysitting the collator in the Print Shop instead of reading like I want to be, but it's almost lunch time!
"Politics had eaten away at people's heads until they in turn had begun to devour one another." I just started this political fiction book based on life after the Arab Spring and it feels like it could be talking about life here in the United States as well.
Really enjoying this dystopia from Egypt. Bonus: it's by a kick-ass lady! #recommendsday
