Welcome to Litsy!

I really enjoyed this epic novel. Despite its length, it was very readable, and is equal parts hilarious and heartwarming. The last part of the book was so compelling and turned everything in the story on its head for me. A story about borders and rules and prejudice, and one woman who refuses all of it in the end. I won‘t forget Ma for a long time.

Friday Reads Aug 25 + travel vlog with siblings + bison & cattle

https://youtu.be/L8F5g9aYFX0

This book has been a great companion on my vacation this week! Long enough that I only had to bring one book with me, but very entertaining and readable. I‘ve wanted to read it since it won the Booker last year and I‘m so glad I finally am. It‘s wonderful.

Wow, what a read.

An elderly woman takes to the bed after her husband dies before she suddenly moves in with her daughter.

I had heard so much about the journey this woman takes and the physical journey happens quite late, but the personal on starts straight off. For who is she after her husband‘s death?

I learned so much about Indian culture and family culture, but it also covers the India Pakistan tension/ conflict.

#BookReport

I continued with the chapter a day buddy read of The Pickwick Papers

I finished Islands of Abandonment and read Polarsirkelen (The Polar Circle)

I‘m currently reading Tomb of Sand

I just love this first paragraph and feel that it has set the tone of the book so far.

Absolutely beautiful language here, but I‘m caring for a 91 year-old mother who won‘t get out of bed, and this is NOT the time to be reading this. I‘ll return it to my TBR list and will try again at a later date.

“She had grown tired of breathing for them, feeling their feelings, hearing their desires, carrying their animosities. She was tired of all of them, and she wanted to glide into the wall with a tremor …” (p.24)

When someone gives you an Amazon gift card, what else to do but order a few books you can‘t get from the library? Tomb of Sand arrived from a bookstore in Delhi, which was very cool.

Really interesting survey of Partition fiction here. Much to be added to your 2023 TBR list.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/01/02/seventy-five-years-after-indian-pa...

My April pick was the winner of the International Booker- a JOY to read. The language/translation is so playful, the story covers, well, everything, & it‘s all told with a big smile on its face.

Shutting down after the death of her husband, Ma‘s family rally round. But she needs time to readjust, then head out on her new adventure into her past, her friends & events of partition.

Beautiful out-there touching. Plus talking crows.

#12booksof2022

Arrived this afternoon; weekend reading set!

https://youtu.be/Zn2H4ppED2s

A playlist of all episodes in the Bite-sized Book Chat series: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLU-61cZp1pQdBH5V0Zb9q-2ujl4PY8nhf

Chat #1: with Anukrti in Bombay from Rajasthan

Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree
Daisy Rockwell (Translator)

Daura: A Novel by Anukrti Upadhyay

Bhaunri: A Novel by Anukrti Upadhyay

Kintsugi: A Novel by Anukrti Upadhyay

Well, THIS is interesting… Here in Litsy, I was viewing a post about Shuggie Bain that reminded me that I hadn‘t yet looked into the Booker Prize announcements. The interwebs say the tagged book is a winner, so I came back here to read more and NO ONE has posted about this?! Seems incredible. Who else besides me wants to read this? Tho, I am wondering about availability- could that be a reason no one has yet shared?

Lovely news to wake up despite the utter grimness of things. Happy for Geetanjali Shree & translator Daisy Rockwell for winning the #internationalbookerprize2022 I believe it's the first for Indian literature, & indeed South Asian lit more broadly. I stole this pic off of Merve Emre's twitter because I like the energy here 🙂

I haven't yet had the time+focus to devote to Books of Jacob, but was so sure it was going to win. This is a fun surprise.

I can't summarise my thoughts; it's a book that I'll be thinking about for a long time. I love the way it flows & how the narrative takes its time & wanders. Much like Mataji herself, it makes no apologies for where it goes. It makes me think I've not read enough big, vast, & deep books by women writers & that I must remedy this. It feels very “free” & uninhibited & I love the idea of (older) women taking up space like this in life & on the page:

I‘ve finally finished the final book off the #InternationalBookerPrize2022 shortlist, and I‘m a bit floored. I loved it.

It‘s an ‘experimental‘ novel. The story rambles off all over the place, and is picked up by any passing narrator, friend of the family, wall, crow. And there is such a joy in the language, whether Hindi or English - it‘s delightful fun.

Then in the final third of the book, the story takes over and had me in bits.

A story where the narrative style is almost fairytale-like and playful, takes place in India. We follow an 80-year-old grandmother who falls into depression after her husband's death, and while taking care of her, we meet her family ... their daily chores, life, relationships, thoughts. Throughout the story, I had a feeling that the author wanted to say something, make a statement, and we only get to the point in the last part (the book is … 👇

1. I‘m not comfortable with selfies/shelfies, so here is my current view while I‘m reading tagged book.
2. Not important, but very good written, emotional story about motherhood: A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa.
3. None. I very rarely bail, but last year I DNF Doctor Zhivago.

Thank you for tagging me @RaeLovesToRead #wondrouswednesday

It was just a simple brick-and-cement wall - a yellowing, whitewashed, middle-class wall, holding the ceiling, floor, window, and door together, with a network of pipes, wires, and cables arrayed within, enfolding the entire home in its wallfulness.

**This is the #InternationalBookerPrize2022 book I‘ve been most looking forward to. I may only be 18 pages in, but 👆👍☺️ (For now, at least!) Also, Oxford commas, anyone?