Welcome to Litsy!

This book was widely lauded on publication but I found so many aspects of it problematic that I have to Pan it. The aspect that sets it apart & probably bothered me the most is the language. It's written in what purports to be a Creole which is lexically more like a Pidgin & the grammatical structure jars my linguist brain. It's also a language spoke by black characters...written by a white woman & that sits a little icky. ⬇️More in comments⬇️

Phew, that was a slog! Finally finished this one & have lots of feelings about it ... not all of them positive. Have currently rated this as a So-so but have the feeling that by the time I get round to reviewing it I'll have downgraded it to a Pan. Certain things about it were ... problematic for me.

Just started this one. I'm not quite used to the language yet & it's taking a little more concentration than usual - I don't think this will be a quick or easy read.

This hefty book explores a future America where a plague has ravaged the country, leaving small societies of children who typically survive only into their late teens. Eighty years after the plague, the surviving children are all people of color, a fact which is never entirely explained. The author does fascinating, sometimes poetic things with language in this engrossing and sometimes brutal story, but I wasn't always 100% convinced.

1. American Royals and re-reading An Unkindness of Ghosts

2. The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman

3. 7 if you count ebooks and audiobooks as well as physical books

#weekendreads

New library books for a new month!

-The Golden Tresses of the Dead by Alan Bradley
-Auschwitz Lullaby by Mario Escobar
-Nest of the Monarch by Kay Kenyon
- I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo
-Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
-The Familars by Stacey Halls
-The Binding by Bridget Collins
-The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna by Juliet Grames
-The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis
-The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman

Received a surprise package from my best friend today. A polka dot dress and books!! She gets me.

Next up: A PA dystopian tale of a world ravaged by a plague that kills everyone before they are twenty years old; and the quest of a girl who seeks a cure. The language is highly stylized so I'll wait until I've gotten a bit of sleep before I start in earnest, but in just taking a quick peek, this promises to be something special.

#thisorthat

1. Both - soft serve is the best 🍦👑 #duchessofswirl
2. Lemon! 🍋
3. Either as long as they‘re “Vegas style” and grilled
4. Both. I usually don‘t eat sandwiches unless it‘s summer 🤷🏼‍♀️
5. Neither - not a big 🍿🍿 fan
6. Both! Don‘t mind books that have been loved before. Brand new bathing suits only though!

@RealLifeReading thanks for posting!!

It took me a bit to get into the narration style, but now that I have, I'm really enjoying this book. I read a blurb of it somewhere and found it at the library because it sounded like something I would like. It's totally different from what I thought, but I'm still really enjoying it.
I love pleasant little surprises like that in a book.

Today is National Start Your Own Country Day, something I think quite a few of us probably want to do. I don‘t have an ebook about starting my own country but I do ha r one about defending the only world one knows. Maybe next year I‘ll feel up to post-apocalyptic reading again. #twentytwo #NovemberByTheNumbers

All my book mail came today!

Picked this up today. Heard good things about this.

Ice Cream Star is one of the best heroines I've encountered, ever--in my mind, only Buffy Summers is a worthy contender. The book is written in a patois created entirely by the author, and the language is as down-right addicting as the comfort food that comprises the heroine's name. I'm going to buy this book and read it everyday on my birthday!!! 🍦🌟🌈✨💗🎉

"Yo, this cowardesse feel right; like every world desire this cowardesse, and call it wisdom."

I can't help thinking that the apocalyptic world of the future in "The Country of Ice Cream Star" too feary resemble today, is vally truth!!! ??

Going to make today a DEAR day and finish up Sandra Newman's wonderful "The Country of Ice Cream Star". Thanks to #allthebooks @Liberty for this very excellent recommendation!

I'm about a third of the way through this and no ice cream so far. I'm starting to suspect there will be no actual ice cream in this book. I feel like I've been misled and now I need to eat my feelings. 🍦🍧🍨

While I was searching for a #favoritequote I found these lovely words. 🍦📚❤

Twenty-six and a half hours of dystopian action in invented dialect. I kept thinking I needed to take a break and listen to something else but this story was too compelling and from the start my heart was completely won over by the 15-year-old protagonist. Audiobook narrator Lisa Reneé Pitts does a brilliant performance.

Keeper say: I learn his talk so quick it be like science. Next, I go and learn the talk of deer. I go convince the deer to come be meat for us.

"My name be Ice Cream Fifteen Star."

#firstlines

I'm about a third of the way into this one and still not sure about how I feel about it. The first chapter was rough but I'm adjusting to the language now and it's starting to go easier. I think I'm starting to like the main character more.

Fifteen year old Ice Cream Star is an unlikely leader in a dystopian future devoid of adults, as a mysterious disease means that no one survives beyond their teens.

600 pages of invented dialect won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I was immersed in the world and seeing through the eyes of Ice Cream Star.

#kickassheroines #seasonsreadings2016

Let's start fall off right with some fall colored books! With the help of Deadpool and Harley, of course.

Taking a break from schoolwork to sink into this novel tonight. The bookseller I purchased it from said it's his absolute favorite! Here goes nothing...

I've got two semesters left in the south and Nashville's Parnassus Books just might become my favorite spot of the year. Now if only I can hitch a ride to the city... #getindie

Doing the #2016ReadHarderChallenge? Here's a great recommendation for "Read a book over 500 pages long" or " Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel." THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. It will melt your brain like ice cream in the sun! Here's the rest of challenge: http://bookriot.com/2015/12/15/2016-book-riot-read-harder-challenge

I am finally (!!!) reading this and really floored by it so far. However, I've got some competing priorities at the moment... (I mean grad school of course.)(Gotta catch em all.)

Not an easy read for multiple reasons, but definitely a rewarding one. This is a stark and beautiful book, and a wholly immersive reading experience. Ice Cream Star is one of the best characters I've read in fiction, ever. Raw, wild, sensitive, heartbreaking, horrifying. Worth the read for sure.

I was just sitting down reading for a few minutes when I got a sudden urge for ice cream. Weird, right?

I had a hard time getting into this book as the vernacular of the characters was halting to read. I would consider trying to pick it up again in the future but for right now I had to bail :/

Not at all a usual pick for me. A post-America book written in an entirely author-created dialect. I found this both parts fascinating and annoying. Nonetheless this book left me reflecting on it and issues it brought up for weeks. One of the (many) times I wished I had been reading with a book club