Welcome to Litsy!

I let this sit unread on my kindle for ages because I was worried it would be another ‘snarky sad millennial girl‘ novel of the kind I‘ve got quite sick of over the last couple years, but when I finally started it I realised really quickly this is one of the absolute jewels of the books that have been marketed that way. I loved how it leaned into the ambiguity and humour of the weird accidentally moving in with your lover‘s wife situation

Well this debut (!) novel is quite simply full of some of the best prose I have ever read. Other writers would be lucky to come up with once or twice in their lives the turns of phrase that Leilani peppers this book with. The protagonist‘s devastating loneliness and lack of belonging are difficult to sit with, but at the end there is a glimmer of hope, of Edie stumbling into an art practice. I'd trust Leilani to take me anywhere w/ her next book.

WOW WOW WOW the writing in this book 😮

Luster‘s content, on the whole, is pretty discomfiting and I‘d imagine there‘s a large segment of readers who won‘t be inclined to it 😬 But for those of us who are willing to sit with the discomfort and let Leilani take us where she wants to go, it‘s a very worthwhile read. Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/luster-raven-leilani/

Finally caught up to the second book in my #BLITSY package from February! Thanks @Chrissyreadit 💗
I was sure abt this book at the beginning bc it was just so bleak and heart wrenching, but it picks up quick. It doesn‘t necessarily get happy but many aspects of it feel relatable and relevant and remind you that life can be so so weird even when things seem mundane.
Also, what a beautiful cover- very worth having a copy ✨

I am ECSTATIC! My #BLITSY package could not have been better 😍 thank you sm @Chrissyreadit I can‘t believe I got you last year and you got me this one! Feels doubly special ✨ everything seems very curated for me, and I will enjoy all the gifts immensely. What a great way to wrap up Black History month (not that the Black celebration will end!). Super appreciate the effort that goes into planning this swap, thank you @Chelleo 💗

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

8/10 - this book had lots of layers to unravel, from open marriage, adoption, interracial families and relationships and finding yourself as a young woman.

Ehh…I finished it but wouldn‘t recommend it. I didn‘t mind the stream of conscience writing. What I minded is the odd way the main character infiltrated the family. It was so far fetched. The narrator of the audiobook was great and probably why I stuck with it.

#manicmonday (on a Wednesday) @CBee @Librariana

📚 Luster
✍️ Min Jin Lee
🍿Last Holiday (Queen Latifa 😍)
🎤 Lizzo of course
🎶 Loved by You (Kirby)

Reviewing Queenie reminded me I never reviewed Luster smh! Queenie was kind of what I hoped this would be. It follows a twenty-something black woman as she entangles herself in the open marriage of an older white couple. The stark, deadpan, stream of consciousness writing made me feel disconnected from the MC, and I felt like I didn‘t get to know her outside of poor life decisions and gratuitous sex. A quick read but not for me. #BOTM #pop22

I was at the library looking at the Center for Fiction‘s First Novel prize winners list. I grabbed 2 of the books off the shelves. This book was the 2020 winner. The blurbs on the back, all from well known authors, were gushing. A young woman struggling to get by, develops a relationship with a married man, goes to live at his house having been invited by the wife. The first 1/4 was funny, the rest preposterous. What did I miss that others loved?

Heard this author on a podcast and sounds like an outstanding read, she also won the Kirkus Prize

An interesting fictional account of a young 20 something who is an artist at heat but is trying to juggle a job, living in NYC, dating, her sexual desires, & being an African modern woman with few choices. She finds herself living with her married lover‘s family in suburban, NJ. This raw, straight forward first person POV brings the reader in twists and turns of a modern, artistic young black woman in a world of white privilege.

This book was really good. It was well written and centred around a really interesting, if not particularly likeable, character. It just wasn't for me or at least not for me right now.

The first time we have sex, we are both fully clothed, at our desks during working hours, bathed in blue computer light.

#firstlinefridays
@ShyBookOwl

On to the next. 🧡

(Or not. It‘s nearly 3am😅)

I waited too long to review.

Here‘s what I remember: the prose is captivating & full. I started out thinking I was going to LOVE it…but the weight & unexpected pattern of the sentences lost me partway through, and I ended up just really liking it. It‘s about a young, unsuccessful Black artist who gets involved with a married couple. When she loses her job, she unexpectedly moves in with her lover, his wife, & their adopted, Black daughter.👇🏻

Ummmm 🤨 not sure how I feel about this one apart from I‘d like to slap 👋🏻 Eric ! And edie and Rebecca not that far behind ! 3 of the most annoying characters ever, I‘m surprised this was a must read top pick of 2021/2020 when it was first published it is a far weaker version of little fires everywhere and such a fun age but also at times strangely gripping . Ticked off the TBR but disappointed ☹️

“I am not good at parties…It is a foregone conclusion I will once or twice hurt someone‘s feelings deeply because of something I say or a face I make, which I will of course think about when I ride the train home, and actually, forever, even though I tried to be merry and keep the conversation light, even thought I can‘t sleep and I can‘t shit, and someone is dying but that one song tells you to slide to the left and you have no choice.”

This book has many sad parts on how this woman try to go on in her life without almost any support. But I found some part unrealistic. Sometimes I didn‘t know if I was in the past, present or just in her thoughts while she was thinking about her life. I don‘t know, it didn‘t work for me. 2.5⭐️

This book reminds me of the detrimental impact on one‘s life if they‘ve never believed themselves to be seen. It‘s heartbreaking. It‘s beautifully written. I struggle here because I want a different ending for Edie‘s struggles, but remind myself this is why I read across genres.

3/5 🌟

Loved the writing but couldn't relate to the narrator.

Just finished this, the last book club read for 2021, and feel uncertain and conflicted. Leilani‘s style is often graphic and harsh, but also fluid and beautiful. The story itself, often painful. And I just kept wanting better for, and from, the characters.

Might take me a bit to determine if I liked it. And longer still to figure out if I understood it.

This book was a raw, honest story of a young black woman called Edie who has a passion for art and a brutal viewpoint of the world which is true.
The story is simple, but the ideologies and themes brought up bring an emotional rollercoaster of anger, frustration, gratification and pure honesty. The things Edie deals with, her thoughts and actions are questionable yet understandable, with a unique narration. Though the plot was empty and debatable

"Imagine living life so carefully there are no signs you lived at all."

"Keep something for yourself"

I was into it pretty much the whole way through. This novel gives me Don DeLillo vibes, for sure. (I love DeLillo.) There are a lot of really good, cutting sentences.

I particularly liked one part where the narrator describes scenery as reminding her of “a big-dick postmodernist novel” lol. (And yeah, that reinforced the DeLillo idea.)

A little work on story, and this could‘ve been even better. Leilani is a monster writer though.

You think you should get what you want, when you want it, and life doesn‘t work that way. Art doesn‘t work that way, and that‘s why you‘re not as good as you could be….

This super talented writer allows the narrative in her debut novel to slip and slide on her glossy prose. Reminds me of the lack of restraint in Truman Capote‘s debut. Some readers acknowledge her skill and hope for easier subject matter next time. But a person who writes about a young, black, masochistic sex addict who moves into her older, white lovers‘ house with his wife & his elementary school child is unlikely to step back from the edge..

I get how opinions of this book vary so widely. I spent the first hour or so not sure I‘d stay with it. The writing is noticeably good—there were dozens of phrases or sentences that made me think, “how did she come up with that?” But I had to suspend a lot of disbelief, also. Definitely worth picking up, but may not be worth seeing all the way through for everyone.

When this first came out, I won a free copy on Goodreads and was so excited. There were so many polarized opinions at the time that I decided to shelve it for a while so that I could go in later with a blank slate and no specific reviews in mind.

I sooooo wanted to be in the camp that loved it, but ultimately didn't enjoy it at all. I tend to prefer novels with more of a plot, but even past that I just felt like I didn't "get" it. Big bummer.

I should get two bingos this month😁. #bookspinbingo Luster, first off, excellent book. I am looking forward to more from this author. Usually one-sided open marriage stories, of course usually for the man, (rant done) annoy me. This story actually intrigued me, it was especially powerful when the wife and daughter characters come along. Race, emptiness, aging, midlife crisis, depression and more, the list of topics covered in the book is long.

#WomensBookPrizeLongList

What a ride. This book is not for everyone. The entire time I was reading I was thinking of that Marie Kando gif where she is gleefully saying "I love a mess".
This is crude, messy, and incredibly uncomfortable. The storyline is implausible, and the tone is detached. And it somehow all works. I breezed through this having a hard time looking away and brushing off 2 others I had started before this.

The writing is very good and the voice is razor sharp which kept me reading but the story itself was just ok. I totally get why my coworker who recommended it, and the others who also raved about it, love it but I no raves from me. That being said, I would definitely read more by this author since it was a story issue and not a quality of writing issue for me.

Going with a coworker‘s recommendation today.

The writing was insightful and raw and timely. The plotting was uneven at best. The characters were often inscrutable, I‘m not sure about this one... #womensprize

I‘m not really sure how I feel about this one. The entire book was raw, lonely, uncomfortable, and depressing. Most of the time, I was confused about all the characters‘ actions. However, there were also moments of clarity, wittiness, and brilliance. The main character had the most interesting (and often disturbing) thoughts. The book incorporated themes such as racism, sexism, the power of loneliness, and the constant yearning to belong.

This months bookmark though 😆.
Guesses on how long these will sit on my tbr bookcase? Since I still have some from last year I have not read. What a bad habit...

#bookofthemonrh #tbrpile

#BOTM picks

I had forgotten Luster was an option here, as I try to read through the Women's Prize #Longlist So picking that one up, and going for an oldie (The Death of Vivek Oji) as my credit pick, because I have it on my TBR but none of this months picks. Just like real life BOTM is like a total representation of my TBR... I am always playing catch up.

Edie, a twenty-something searching for meaning in New York, starts a relationship with a much older man in an open marriage and soon becomes uncomfortably enmeshed in his family life.

Read April 23-28
Rated 3/5 ⭐️
Book 24/60