The Reactive | 
pickThis is a bit of a dark look at #SouthAfrica, as we follow a young man who seems to be determined to make self-destructive decisions as he navigates through life. There‘s very little plot here and for a small book, it‘s not a quick read. This is much more a “slice of life” story and disturbing but worthwhile.
#ReadingAfrica2022
"The streetlights were beginning to flicker on intermittently, as if roused from a deep sleep by our footsteps."
I love this line. It's like technological pathetic fallacy.
"The sun feels noncommittal in its bond to our planet today, spilling out light as gray as bath water."
A coping mechanism I remember well from the two years I worked in retail.
"This was the same Ruan who, with two cigarettes in his mouth, would tell you that every day the tobacco industry recruits three thousand new smokers to compensate for the ones it kills; the same Ruan who, without taking his eyes off his computer screen, would tell you that in some Asian country, seven hundred kids fell into a seizure after watching an animation program with bad lighting techniques."
"To get a clear image of Vincent, you'd have to imagine five slabs of braised beef, all arranged in a pile and wrapped up in a beanie and a black dress shirt."
"Through my window, the sky looks dull and impenetrable, like the screen of a malfunctioning cellphone. I imagine it made of plastic, each corner suppressing the passage of vital information."
"Exhaust fumes waft up from the streets below, mixing with the smell of rubber baked during the day, a combination that reminds me of Ruan's summation of our planet's atmosphere: that the ozone layer is Earth's giant garbage lid."
"Standing in place, and swaying on his feet, Julian achieves an eerie trembling, as if he were a supporting character excerpted from a malfunctioning video game, now stranded in a different reality, awaiting instruction in our less tractable environment."
"One year, Cissie brought a colleague over and we played Truth or Dare at West Ridge. On a Truth, I'd tried but failed to piece together how many times I'd woken up shoeless on someone's lidless toilet."
"Ruan stretches his arms out to crack the knuckles on each hand, and I notice an expression I've never seen on his face before. It reminds me of a game-show contestant I once saw as a child on a show called *Zama Zama*. The contestant, a man from the rural Eastern Cape, had directed a similar smile at the host, Nomsa Nene, at the crowd, and then finally at his family, after choosing the wrong key for the grand prize."
"I turn and hook my fingers on the mesh fence, hanging my weight on the sagging wire. I used to cross my eyes on fences like this when I was a child, a private trick that could make the holes in the squares leap out like holograms, but when I try it now, the optical illusion hurts my eyes."
"If you listen to counselors, they'll tell you they want full disclosure in meetings, but most of us know to hand the facts out in small doses only. Therapy won't walk you home after you pack up the chairs. Telling too much about yourself can leave you feeling broken into, as if your head were a conquered city offered to the circle for pillaging."
"Inside the kitchen, Cissie tries to drive home her point. What if babies cry because birth is the first form of human incarceration? What if it's a lasting shock to the consciousness to be imprisoned inside the human body? If the flesh is something that's meant to go off from the beginning, doesn't that make it an ill fit, since the consciousness, naturally amorphous, is antithetical to disintegration?"
"Ten years ago, I helped a handful of men take my little brother's life."
Today in notable first sentences.
I ❤️this readathon midpoint challenge from @24in48 ! I am a big reader of #ownvoices books. Next to traveling, it's the best way to understand other cultures of the world. I was raised in Africa as a child, & am thrilled with all the fantastic & robust literature currently coming from modern African writers. Here are some of the books I own that fit the challenge. I highly recommend everything on this shelf! #weneeddiversebooks
I got 4 more books at the library ... like I need more books to read 😳
Last books ordered in 2016 came in today! Thanks to Two Dollar Radio for their "Santa Fucked Up" sale ?? I've been wanting both The Reactive and The Gloaming since they came out! Radiance was a gift from my bestie for Xmas! Here's to buying less books in 2017 and reading the ones I have! #bookmail #indiepress
#Readathon stats at the half way point! My goal was to read between 7-9 and I may actually make it! I'm very excited though I haven't had as many amazing wins with great books this go around. I think The Reactive was a nice surprise of a book. But there is still time to find another gem or two!
Excuse me, Baby Cat- I need that! Starting Book 2 for #readathon and I have decided to keep the Africa theme going with Masande Ntshanga's The Reactive published this year by Two Dollar Radio press. It was originally published in 2014 in SA by a random house imprint. I am very excited though it may break my heart...
I started to cull my TBR pile in anticipation of the @DeweysReadathon this Sat. Here is my first attempt but I think it may sway too heavy in material, though light in pages. I like some fun books for a readathon. I may add some graphic novels and maybe a cozy mystery just to balance. I fully acknowledge that I won't finish all of these, but I love having choices because I am a mood reader, for sure. I bet I have a different pile come Sat!
Author talks are my favorite thing. Masande Ntshanga is delightful and you should definitely read this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
pickFinished just in time because I'm about to hear the author speak in about 3 hours! Hooray for living in the same city as an amazing, award-winning indie publisher. (That'd be Two Dollar Radio.) 🤓📚📖
Also, this book was so good I'm tempted to just start it over again right now.
Nightlight reads! I better get a move on with this one because Masande Ntshanga is doing a reading on the 22nd and I only just started this tonight. 😁 #wndb #poc #diversereads
pickA look at how one life choice can drastically change us. A well written exploration of one flawed person and those he attaches to as friends. This book is tragic on many levels. Not only is the main character broken but so is his society. It has some fascinating characters that I'd love to know more about and manages to create a fair amount of empathy for the flawed people it introduces.
This Sunday laundry and lunch at the taqueria was sponsored by my very first 2 dollar radio read - The Reactive. Starts off strong!
Got home after a very long day at work to exactly what I needed bookmail 💗📚 much love to Two Dollar Radio! There an independent book publisher out of Columbus Ohio.
And my book buying vacation comes to an end with an epic visit to Elliott Bay Books bookstore. There was an amazing bookseller that grabbed a few hidden gems for me: small press, books in translation, lush writing, Contemporary African literature, and strong female characters. And their shelf talkers were so on point! Now I will be on a no more book buying mandate!!!
Recent acquisitions
I got the royal flush of book mail! I'm super excited about diving into these Two Dollar Radio reads, especially The Reactive since it's hot off the press. It's about to be hot off my shelf! 🤓
"Ten years ago, I helped a handful of men take my brother's life."
