Welcome to Litsy!

Yay for #TBRTarot! Fourth from the left, top shelf of the TBR bookcase. I received this book in a #blitsyswap a couple of years ago and am excited to add it to my March reading plan.

Could it be true that while you‘re talking about office seating charts your black colleague is summoning her ancestors to manage her rage over your freshest microagression? I am here to tell you “ yes”. So is Askaripour. But even a satirical novel with a message needs to be a successful novel and this one is not. https://www.facebook.com/1082882538/posts/pfbid023MF9Mcpdo1mG3D3X1WWetiNCLfLsFqH...

This book started strong but it felt like it lost some momentum for me as the main character lost his way. At its heart it feels like a cautionary tale about a young man that puts career over family and neighborhood. Then he tries to do every right and things don‘t go well either. Just sad and frustrating, but maybe that‘s the point? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Had a great experience with the audiobook

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I really enjoyed this satire on racism in the workplace and the bullying at tech startups. Very dark but balanced the humor and honest, serious topics so well. I also really loved how the main character gave the reader sale tactic advice throughout his telling of his story. Very well written. Definitely recommend.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. The narrator was fantastic and the subject matter was timely and compelling. 🎧

Drives home a certain message that left me feeling defeated . If you read this book don‘t get your hopes up even through all the ups there are a lot of downs I repeat don‘t get your hopes up . Good book but because of what I mentioned I had to rate it lower now I see why people said this book pissed them off . It had so much potential to leave readers feeling inspired but it did just the opposite.

This one was just OK for me. The first half I really enjoyed, then it dragged on too long for me. I did like the characters and the real life examples of systematic racism that plagues our country. It just went a little overboard in the second half of the book.

his is getting 3 1/2 wobbly stars. There are some great moments in it but all together, it‘s a bit of a fizzler.

The first 3/4 is a bit of a cross between Sorry to Bother You and Survivor, by Chuck Palahniuk. But then the end is a bad crime drama/ blacksploitation mashup. Or something.

I would read something else by this author but I‘d DNF quicker if even remotely pulled to.

It‘s time for the Savannah Book Festival again and yesterday I had the pleasure of escorting Mateo to speak at a local Savannah school. He‘s a true delight and the kids loved every minute of it.

I enjoyed this but didn‘t enjoy it at the same time. The story itself was really good but I was not a fan of some of the characters. Overall not a bad read but I wouldn‘t rush to pick it up.

⭐⭐⭐
I really wanted to love this one. And the beginning was promising. But somewhere around the middle it just started feeling drawn out. It had moments of greatness, but there was just too much that felt like filler. I'm still glad to have read it, but I'm not sure how much I'll remember 6 months from now.

This was my #doublespin for February.

Darren, aka Buck, is a supervisor at Starbucks who is offered an opportunity to work for a start-up company selling...it takes awhile to get to that. Darren is our narrator and his goal is to teach us how to sell. This book was darkly satirical and I was pleasantly surprised by it. My first 5⭐️ this year.

Excellent book! Great story with the cutthroat industry of startup sales with a character from Bes-Stuy, one of my fave Brooklyn neighborhoods. I‘ll definitely read this author again. #greatread

This book was a wild ride. It starts out exploring the challenges that people of color face when trying to ascend the corporate ladder - through sarcasm and satire it highlights the constant systemic oppression POC experience. Buck, our narrator, is at once a hero and very despicable. The end of the book provides a chance for redemption, but the storyline does get a bit far-fetched - though I appreciated the commentary on race wars and privilege.

I have a terrible habit of buying BOTMs but then not actually wanting to read them months later - on a mission to get through the backlog. About 80 pages into Black Buck - it feels like Wolf of Wall Street in terms of the ridiculous antics that tech companies utilize to turn a profit. This was described as satire but sadly reads like it could be reality. Lots of examples of microaggressions and racism.

*Pete the Cat courtesy of my daughter 😻

#conflictedworlds #coworkers gone wrong.
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @eggs

This is the fastest my #BOTM box has ever arrived! I actually used my second account this month and I am waiting on 3 more books to arrive. Can't wait to dive into these!

I thought this was REALLY well done. Inventive and engaging, Askaripour takes this completely over the top and outside the realm of believability but for some reason, it still worked for me 100%. I can‘t wait to see what he does next.

How the day‘s going.

(Internet/cable is out again…good thing I have books)

My latest Mr B's subscription book. The first few pages are putting me in mind of the film "Sorry to Bother You" - but surely it can't get as bonkers as that. ?

Things got a bit crazy and I had to keep reminding myself that this is supposed to be a satire, I kind of lost interest in the middle when I had no idea where the story was going but it was a solid ending so I‘m giving it a pick!

"And it's the potential of failure, more than failure itself, that stops so many people from beginning anything." I've just found another favorite author. I utterly loved this book. It was funny, real, engaging, memorable and downright fun. It's all about fate, choices, and lovable characters. I highly recommend this one as a read. Loved it! ❤❤❤❤❤ 5 big hearts. #BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks #BOTM

Normally I get annoyed when people compare a new book to older media, I rarely find they relate, but I do think it is accurate to do so here with Sorry To Bother You and The Wolf of Wall Street. While this is highly original it does have the feel and close premise to both. I am glad the cover flap referenced both movies so I was prepared for this to go off the rails.
Overall this was good. Solid 3.5 while I was immediately sucked into the story👇

Reading Black Buck and decided this was the time to try Starbucks again. I am an ultra snobby Portlander who knows there is tons of better coffee out there so it has been years since I have tried them. Surprised to learn they have nitro! But not as surprised as the lady taking my order when i couldn't figure out what a medium was. 😆☕📚

Verdict - happy with their no straw needed lid, the coffee was fine, totally not as bad as I remember!

Weekend reads
#tbr #readinggoals

I loved this right up until the next to last chapter. I HATED the plot twist at the end. The rest was well-written and well-paced, with good character development and people I really cared about. I could have lived without the flashbacks to my own time in business-to-business lead generation for Compaq, though. 😂

I‘ll be catching up on my BOTM backlog this month! Super excited about my #bookspin and #doublespin picks!

This book really nails startup culture - especially in New York City - and made me chuckle out loud quite a few times. Few of the characters are actually likeable but their mistakes are believable in the pursuit of power, money, and influence. Some details took me out of it because they were just too goofy/unrealistic....but overall, I devoured this.

This went to places I didn‘t expect it to go. I was intrigued at the start, then flooded with anxiety waiting for things to go very very wrong, then it went to comic book villain level craziness, and came around to a solid ending.
The style was innovative without being gimmicky. Solid pick for me.

This book was so good I couldn‘t put it down. Not sure why it‘s labeled as satire because these things happen daily in the corporate world. Well worth the read and I gave it 5 ⭐️.

Mateo's book while full of humor and sadness, is a cautionary tale of that slippery slope when we don't learn from the lessons that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to teach us, "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #BlackBuck

#SpringSentiments @Eggs

There is certainly lots of #Enterprising that occurs in this novel. I can't wait to see what this author writes next.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I started this audiobook yesterday, and finished it today, so I'm using it as a Free space on my card.

The satire in this book is brilliant, although things do get a little off the rails in the second half. Using the corporate world as the setting to expose racial problems in society worked well in this novel.

I'm excited to read more from this author in the future.

Book 33

I listened to this book about a respectful guy who gets discovered to become a salesperson for a startup while at his job as a Starbucks' manager. The story started out engaging, but the salesman stereotype that the protagonist becomes was distasteful and off-putting. The resolution is inadequate to counterbalance the distasteful midsection. ⭐⭐

Honestly, I almost didn‘t read it.Starting out with the hard sell or die theme is so 1980s Mamet (Glengarry Glen Ross) This novel has a lot to say about race , class, ambition, community, gentrification,tech , and losing your way . Filled with dark humor & food for thought.A bit wild at the end .Would definitely check out Mr. Askaripours next book.
#catsOfLitsy

1. The Gilded Ones and Weird Kid

2. Hardcover (but I have plenty of softcover books too)

3. Black Buck

#WeekendReads

Great debut novel here. I've never worked at a start-up myself but have worked at professional service organizations where start-up companies were clients and have heard enough stories that very little of what happened at Buck's company Sumwun was unbelievable. Except for maybe a full-grown pet pig in a NYC high rise. I‘d believe it in Silicon Valley though.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3886017062

#satire #blitsy

I could not put this down!!

Thanks for the tag @DarkMina !
#ThinkPositiveBePositive @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I‘m kind of in between “Pick” and “So-So” with this one. The main reason I say it‘s a “pick” is because I took over a month to complete the audiobook so I don‘t feel I connected with it as much as I would have if I would have listened to it daily..But it is an interesting read about sales! Good plot. I liked the 1st half much more than the 2nd half!

A solid 4 star read that kind of reminded me of the movie “Sorry to Bother You.”

About 6 hours into #MyReadathon reading goal. 3.5 into my schoolwork goal. 0 into ghe gaming goal so won‘t reach that.

Today in “In case you forgot the author is male” 😬 😅#MyReadathon

Life is also a marathon. #advice

While overall I enjoyed this story of a bright young black man getting thrown into an unexpected opportunity, by the end it just went too over the top. There‘s also one character whose actions drive the climax and his motivations just aren‘t believable. The protagonist is relatable, the format is great, and the audio is well done. I wish it had a tad more restraint.

@DebInHawaii, Thank you so much for a PERFECT collection of #blitsyswap gifts. Love them all. The pencil holder is especially cool and needed! And, yes, yellow is my favorite color. :-)

I opened the Jardin Sauvage South African tea first and enjoyed a mug while opening all the neatly wrapped gifts. Black Buck is going to be my first read!

#blitsy #bhms #blitsyhistorymonth

@Chelleo Thanks for hosting. So much fun!

Alright, confession time -- even though I finished this book last week, I'm just now posting about it (this has been a long, stressful week for me personally). And if it wasn't my #bookspin of the month, I probably would have just skipped the post altogether. HOWEVER, I do want to say that I really enjoyed it, and think it deserves the hype it has received. It wasn't perfect by any stretch, but well worth reading!

@TheAromaofBooks