Welcome to Litsy!

Wonderful! Very well written, the passages from childhood are written as from a child‘s perspective. Visceral and moving. Very well paced, read it in two days.

This book is a must read. Jesse Thistle‘s storytelling is exceptional and it‘s beautifully written. The stories of his life are sewn together to paint a picture of his existence. He has lived through more then you can imagine one person could. This book will change you in subtle and profound ways. It is hard to read because of the content, but once finished you‘ll want to read it again. It‘s heartfelt, heart wrenching and heart warming. Read it.

Check out this art work inspired by From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle. Art work done by tattoo artist Lia MacBean. Here is the link of the blog post for it. https://www.bookinterrupted.com/post/from-the-ashes-artwork

It‘s Truth and Reconciliation Day. My top three books by indigenous authors. One nonfiction and two fiction. But they all talk about resedential schools and/or generational trauma. And they are all very good reads. You‘ll learn something. EVERY CHILD MATTERS.

Join and/or listen to Book Interrupted as we read “From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way” by Jesse Thistle.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts OR on our website: https://www.bookinterrupted.com/episodes-podcast

This book was so real, heart breaking, touching and I could not put it down! I‘m so glad that I read it, and I would recommend this to all book lovers.

I was immediately engaged in this book, JT is a great writer and story teller, although I guess truth teller is more appropriate. His addictions are overwhelming to read about and it is amazing he lived to tell his story. But I‘m glad he has

Started this and I‘m into the story immediately

Really enjoyed reading this book. Difficult content for a lot of the story, but written in a way that keeps you intrigued and rooting for the author. A deep dive into homelessness and drug addiction in Canada. A story of strength, determination, continuous development and growth of ones self.

Has anyone else read this?! Halfway through and so good, heartfelt and sad. Like Canada‘s Glass Castle or Angela‘s Ashes.

Traumatic. Brutal. Resilient.

#3WordReviews @ShyBookOwl

Tag, you're it. @ShelleyBooksie @JJ_Scribs @julianelson88 @DinoMom @kspenmoll

An intense, powerful story. It is a heavy read. It discusses traumatic experiences in great detail but also tells a story of resilience. #bookclubreads

@DinoMom - thank you so much for my awesome #happilyeverafterswap package!! You are so thoughtful ♡. Not pictured is a dragon toy (for super chewers) that my doggo ran away with as soon as I opened the box. I love everything and can't wait.to start the books!

Thistle‘s memoir traces his path from childhood neglect into addiction, chronic homelessness and incarceration, and then how he tapped into his Métis heritage and worked his way up in academia.

Read January 19-22
Rated 3.5/5 ⭐️
Book 6/60

A riveting, visceral look at the incredible life of a man who overcomes inconceivable trauma, addiction and homelessness and finds his way back to life decades later as a distinguished scholar. Jesse sheds light on the social problems facing First Nations and Métis as well as homelessness, and wins over hearts with his strength, perseverance and depth of soul.

This was really good. Jesse also writes poetry and it is sprinkled throughout the book. The chapters are short and overall, the book is fairly quick to read. So many times I shook my head, and thought: ok, this has to be rock-bottom, when you‘ll turn your life around. But it wasn‘t. So many times. I wondered how he remembered as much as he did looking back on his life, given all the drugs and alcohol, but he addressed this in a note at the end

Deeply painful, moving, beautiful, and inspiring. Most of all, Thistle‘s memoir is deeply humanizing of people we often fail to see as actual people and not just a collection of problems - the homeless, the addicted, the Indigenous. 5⭐️

This was my #ReadCanada Challenge selection for Saskatchewan but while that prairie province is very important to the story, it is primarily set in #Ontario, in Brampton, Toronto, and Ottawa.

Thistle‘s chapters are often short and somewhat fractured, an accurate reflection of a disjointed life punctuated by black outs. It is a chronicle of poor choices informed by pain, loneliness, and heartbreak. Occasional interludes are more like poems, including a disturbing section in which Thistle envisions turning into a wendigo who then cannibalizes himself.
Full review: https://wp.me/p2P6GA-5fN
#CanadaReads

#CanadaReads 2020 had a feisty Day Two of debates today! I don't watch a lot of game shows/reality TV, but make it bookish and you are right up my alley. Get the recap here: https://wp.me/p2P6GA-5fN

This is the book flap pic of the author.

I saw from someone else‘s feed that this one fit the bill for Saskatchewan in #ReadCanada
All the way through I kept thinking that was a seriously tenuous link....
Oh how wrong I was. The opposite of tenuous. #Saskatchewan is everything. 💓 🌾
#duh

What an INCREDIBLE story! 1 book done from the Canada Reads short list.5⭐

Wooohooo. They came. Now me and my BF who is in Alberta (I'm in Ontario) can read them together!!!
#socialdistancing 🤣
@kmiller20

FROM THE ASHES + the last apple hand pie.

I can see why this book has such a massive holds list. Jesse Thistle, like fellow Canada Reads 2020 contender Samra Habib, is one of those memoirists who takes you right inside their story. I gulped down the first seventy pages in one sitting. If this keeps up, I won‘t know who to root for when the debates start on Monday.

Sad but engaging book. I usually have mixed feelings about non-fiction, but this year my top two picks for #CanadaReads2020 happens to be the two non-fic books.

Image source:
https://www.markscheibmayr.com/editorial

My library finally got some Express copies of FROM THE ASHES on the shelves, barely a week before Canada Reads starts. 😑 I lost out on two chances to borrow it over the weekend, but I made sure I was outside my teenagehood branch when it opened this morning so I could nab their copy.

I also got a few comics, of course—it‘s rude to leave a library without borrowing any—and stopped in at my usual branch for my holds.

A powerful, inspirational memoir. 5/5 stars!

Full review: https://reneereadsbooks.wordpress.com/2020/03/08/book-review-from-the-ashes-by-j...

Book 4 for #CanadaReads2020. This is my pick for a winner. It has some really powerful messages. But it was a really hard read. I had to take more than a few breaks. The fact that Jesse Thistle even survived to share his story is extraordinary. This year's theme is, "One Book to Bring Canada Into Focus." This is the book every Canadian needs to read right now.

I‘m going on in. This is my last hope for a 5⭐️ read from #CanadaReads2020 It hasn‘t been the best stack this year.🤞

Currently reading. My third #CanadaReads2020 and so far it's my favorite.

This is a Canada Reads shortlist- this is a tough read which at times made me physically cringe and want to skip pages. It is a first hand account of abandonment, crack addiction, homelessness, disease, and then redemption and rebuilding. There is a lot of muck which must be waded through before getting to the hope. It won't be for all. I think this one might be eliminated, but I need to read the others.

One of several book hauls I indulged in this week. When I feel sad a bookshop always makes me feel better.

Growing up in a broken family, feeling worthless, turning to crime and addiction from a very young age, just to survive—this unvarnished memoir is a tough read. What is amazing, and inspiring, is that Jesse Thistle has not only survived, he has become a role model. He‘s now a university professor of Métis studies in Toronto. #Indigenous #CanadianAuthor

Berries, Kokum said, knew well their role as life-givers, and we had to honour and respect that. We did that by knowing our role as responsible harvesters, picking only what we needed and leaving the rest for our animal kin so they could feed themselves and their young. That was our pact, she said, and if we followed it, they‘d never let us down.