Welcome to Litsy!

What turns a woman into a weapon? Mengiste has written a book inspired by the Ethiopian women soldiers of WW2 who fought against the Italian invasion alongside the men. This is a harrowing look at a side of war I knew nothing about. It‘s so brutal that it has taken me three weeks to read it. But I‘m very glad I did. I‘ve seen from other reviews that readers have struggled with the number of characters.⬇️

I found this incredibly hard going. The story is a powerful one; the untold women at war as Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935. It‘s incredibly violent and full of fear and hatred and bravery and I can see why it has won awards. The style, lacking in punctuation and with odd interspersed chapters didn‘t quite work for me and it‘s taken me several weeks to slog through it. #readingafrica2022

This book would not be for everyone, the blurb leads you to expect a different narrative than the one you end up getting. I kept waiting for Hariut to be captured and each time I thought it was about to happen the narrative switched again and it felt quite disjointed. Despite this I enjoyed the multi-layering of voices and the different perspectives gave a richness to the historical aspect of the book. Not an easy read but worth the effort.

Starting The Shadow King, which I am reading to cover Ethiopia for #ReadingAfrica2022
#AwesomeApril

I had a hard time with this difficult books about women in #Ethiopia at war against Italy in the 1930s. The characters (Hirut, Kidane and Aster) were introduced well but soon they became mere characters in ongoing descriptions of battles, sieges, and rape. In between we learned about Haile Selassi leaving his country in need, but even this part didn‘t really work for me.

#19822022 #2019 #Booked2022 #AboutAFictionalRoyal #ReadingAfrica2022 🇪🇹

#SpringSentiments Day 18: This book is making me feel #disconsolate with all the normalized violence against women, rape, beatings - that I had to discontinue reading and shift to fantasy - Grishaverse, in particular. Maybe I will get back to this after immersing myself in magic. Paired with Greek loukomades with chocolate sauce and Greek coffee.

#SpringSentiments Day 12: The former President of Addis Ababa is definitely portrayed as a #Disgraced leader in this novel. I have to take a break from reading this one - too many triggers and intensely heavy-going. The calamari and sizzling feta saganaki are absolutely yum.

#SpringSentiments Day 7: there is a #buoyant sensation, after spending a 4 day long weekend at the beach. Hopefully, there will be more days like those.

#SpringSentiments Day 6: It is, indeed, #fatuous to be taking a photo this far away, but teenage daughter cannot help herself, so I do the peace sign while reading and posing. Celebrating spring break over the weekend in Abu Dhabi.

I finished this on my drive home tonight. It took longer to listen to than I expected. I feel it‘s an important story and definitely one that made me curious about a time and place in history with which I was completely unfamiliar. However, it‘s got some tough sections, and I was never as fully invested in the characters as I hoped to be. A pick but not an incredibly strong one.

#audiobook #FoodAndLit #Ethiopia #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld

#OppositeDay 4: I #love my spot right here - post buffet breakfast, right in front of the glorious beach.

This book has an excellent premise—women‘s roles in war and in particular during Italy‘s invasion of #Ethiopia during WWII. I wish it were better executed. I never felt invested in the characters although that was clearly what the author intended. I know some Littens loved it and I‘m glad it‘s reaching an audience. But it wasn‘t for me. #foodandlit

#OppositeDay 3: There is definitely #war in this novel. Struggling with the format (absence of quotation marks), but it‘s growing on me. Very slowly.

I had planned to finish this audiobook of The Shadow King before the end of March, but it didn‘t quite happen. I‘m getting close, but I can only listen to so much at a time. I also don‘t have time just now to tally stats, but here are the books I finished in March and the four currently on progress. Overall, it was a good month with some fascinating reads!

#BookSpinBingo #MonthlyStats

I‘ve finished four cards!! Audiocrafting

Audiocrafting

#foodandlit #Ethiopia

This is an intense book, beautifully written, very poetic. We learn about WWII, far away from the famous hotspots. We learn about women, who fight for their country and their home. We learn about how war can destroy us. Not an easy to read book, but it's worth it all the while!

@TheAromaOfBooks #BookSpinBingo
#Ethiopia #FoodandLit @Butterfinger @Texreader

I made modified doro wat with what I had in the house and mixed my sourdough with teff flour to make injera. It was an interesting cooking experience, but they‘re not recipes I‘ll plan to use again. I‘ve also been listening to this book off and on through the week, but it‘s slow going. Some parts are just difficult, and sometimes I have to backtrack to keep track of characters and events.

#FoodAndLit #Ethiopia #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld

I decided on this book from my tbr list as my next audiobook. #Ethiopia #foodandlit

Finished this one this morning. It was good but super rough and I don't think this was a good place for me to read it. I need more light and fluffy (COVID year anniversary and I am still burned out!) - I would have picked between “pick“ and “so-so“ but ... I guess I will go with “pick“ (not the book's fault this is a difficult time)

#FoodandLit @Butterfinger @Texreader @jb72
#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaOfBooks

I am about 80% done with this one (just didn't have time to update my Listy - actually I thought I had updated it but then I didn't) Anyway I am enjoying this listen but the story is so rough (its meant to be of course). Also I am craving Ethiopian food! Ugh! I need some now!!!

#FoodandLit @Butterfinger @Texreader @jb72

#WindsOfMarch Day 11: I have #Clouds next to my fave cheesecake (we do have cheesecake factory in abu dhabi, yay!).

I finally got around to test the cosmetics from this months #FoodandLit order. From the beginning you see and smell the difference to the products you buy at the big stores. It's just so much more natural. And after using them, you can also feel the difference on your skin. The peeling is especially nice, but my favourite is the Calendula Cream. After using it, my hands feel like they're protected by the Black Panther.

@Texreader @Butterfinger

I picked this up for #foodandlit #Ethiopia and at 6 hours, I just can't continue. It's SLOW and since I'm not jiving with the style or narration, and still don't care about any of these people, I'm out. Life's too short. I'll try Finding Joy from KU instead.

@Butterfinger @Texreader @Catsandbooks

#WindsOfMarch Day 4: I just realized that my birthday month, March, is Women‘s month. And so, I am changing my #MarchTBR to catch up on female authors of color for our #SurvivalStories2021 reading theme as we decolonize our bookshelves.

My first tries for this months #FoodandLit country, #Ethiopia - coffee! I don't really like coffee, but around here it seems to be the only thing from Ethiopia to get... So I got myself those specially brewed coffees from a new Swiss start-up.
And not only do I really like those coffees, especially the milky one, but for each sold bottle they spend 2.5 days of clean water to Ethiopian farmers.

@Texreader @Butterfinger

Book and breakfast - I‘m having niangao dipped in egg and pan fried. It‘s a sweet sticky cake made of sugar, water, glutinous rice flour. The fourth grader made it (I helped him with the steaming part) for his class assignment.

The Shadow King is about the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s, about which I previously knew nothing. While I felt it took a bit too long to find its feet, once the story settled into the invasion itself, I found it griping. I thought it was terrific and love that it is an homage to Ethiopia‘s women. Plus, the audio is read by the incomparable Robin Miles, who absolutely elevates everything, imo.

I really struggled with this, as I often do with serious literary fiction. The focus on the women involved was less than I‘d expected. I really struggled to invest in the main characters and I found the writing hard work. The lack of speech marks was also an issue for me. I did find the second half a little easier to read so pushed on to the end. I really wanted to like this but unfortunately overall it wasn‘t for me.

I confess I didn‘t enjoy this book when I read it, but it‘s a book that has left a lasting impression on me.

12Booksof2020

@Andrew65

I knew this was a powerful and beautifully written story full of nuance and inhabited by interesting characters. Nevertheless I was utterly unable to be drawn in by the narrative. I guess this was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me 🤷‍♀️ +16

Reading Envy Podcast Episode 206: Black Sheep with Tina Porubsky (@Godmotherx5)

Jenny welcomes a new guest - Tina - and we chat about reading more books from our own shelves and great books we've read recently. You will also hear about Tina's knitting, a new hobby she enjoys alongside reading.

https://tinyurl.com/ReadingEnvy206

Beautifully crafted, interesting & cinematic story with carefully drawn characters. Good sense of place & landscape, with food, weapons, myth & the use of Amharic & Italian language adding texture. It moved slowly for me & despite the wartime setting, it lacked dramatic tension. I wasn‘t sure what to make of Kidane & Aster (an unlikeable heroine?). Great portrayal of the regal but cowardly Emperor. Hirut & Ettore‘s story poignant, but subtly told.

My favorite of the Booker nominations I‘ve read. Such a complex, harrowing story of invasion and cruelty, but also of courage especially of Ethiopian women. A part of history I knew little about and I learned a lot. This is an incredible book.

I ended this book in tears and I'm not sure I can articulate why. It starts and ends in 1974, with an old woman walking with a box of letters and photographs. The majority of the book is about the second Italian invasion of Ethiopia in the 1930s, the emperor living in exile, and the women who fought to protect the shadow king. This is on the shortlist for the Booker Prize and is a strong contender.

This book is SO GOOD.

Just starting this book but it is SO GOOD so far. I love it. ❤️ Also, one of my favorite local breweries is selling this beer right now. Vote!!

This was interesting. A focus on the second Italio-Ethiopian war partially through the eyes of the women soldiers. I never did take to the style, so I can‘t say I personally liked it all that much. But I know very little about all this, or Haile Selassie, and so it was rewarding just to learn a bit. (I do wonder if the shadow king is at all a play on Dante‘s shades in Inferno.)

Been awake for hours...caught a stormy sunrise as I listen to a new audiobook on the terrace🎧Book is disturbing so far, but in a good way💔

Managed to squeeze one more finish into September, and was I glad to get to the end of this one. For me, this Booker shortlisted novel was hard going. I can see why it‘s winning many plaudits, and its subject matter is something I knew nothing about, so it had some interest, but the style of writing just isn‘t my cup of tea. I wouldn‘t say I didn‘t like it, but I wouldn‘t say I enjoyed it either. I would still recommend it, though.

This is my first #BookerPrize read this year! The Shadow King is epic in scope, sprawling in scale. You have a bloody war between the colonizer and the colonized, struggles of women in paternalistic society - this is a story wrapped in a historical setting. But I also understand the pitfalls of this book: it is quite wordy, perhaps too poetic and just ballooned with strained metaphors. A contender, no doubt! Read it, it is maybe for you! 👏😊

I‘m so glad this book made it to this year‘s Booker Longlist (and now Shortlist) because I‘m not sure I would have read it otherwise, and that would have been a shame. This is a great book that deserves all the readers.

A book about Mussolini‘s war in Ethiopia between 1935 and 1941, and it focuses on its female warriors. I so felt for Hirut on several occasions.

This is a part of history I didn‘t know about.

Hey there, been away but back again to my favorite place.
Will be putting up reviews over the weekend but here‘s the Booker short list for now: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/sep/15/most-diverse-booker-prize-shortlis...