Welcome to Litsy!

1. I made it to Gladstone‘s Library!
2. I‘m in the same room as I was two years ago.
3. Lovely flowers from the back garden. My phone says they‘re sulphur cosmos.
4. My book stack…so far.
5. A friend of mine got a new kitten!
#5joysfriday

Still trying to listen to this but don‘t know if I can keep at it. There‘s a cast of thousands & each one is getting a full backstory, which should be a good thing as all those stories have been interesting , but I‘m nearly halfway in & the actual plot is still not forming! I assume all the threads will come together but sludging through all this to get to the actual story feels like hard work. I‘m not sure I have enough interest to keep going.

Attempting to listen and work at the same time 🎧

McBride writes the “7-layer dip” of novels. At first “bite,” you just get interesting characters, maybe the hint of a mystery. Next scoop starts to give a little social commentary, or the specific taste of a time & place. But once you‘ve dug a little deeper — maybe 150 pages or so — it all starts to come together. The layers all blend into something more distinct & complex & satisfying.

#NationalBookFestival

Congratulations to James McBride! He‘ll be at the National Book Festival on August 24 in Washington DC. Also appearing: Erik Larson, David Baldacci, Casey McQuiston, and more.

Full schedule available here ⬇️
https://www.loc.gov/events/2024-national-book-festival/schedule/?locr=blogbook

#published2023 #aboutabook

A marginalized town of Jews and blacks band together to save a young boy.

Community ✨ Unity ✨ Chain Reaction

A piece of historical American culture in Pottstown, PA. This story focuses on the Chicken Hill community and the black and Jewish immigrants that make this town their home. There are a couple of storylines in this book all tying the people together. I really enjoy McBride‘s writing style and storytelling. Great read if you‘re a literary, character reader.

I‘m convinced that his writing isn‘t for me. The stories are good, but I struggle to get through them. I don‘t know if they are too detailed or too many storylines.

I grew up in a mining town steeped in history of the ethnic groups carving their own corners of the town, and although quite different from this setting, it peeked my interest in these characters. James McBride is such a great writer in his ability to spin a heartbreaking yarn with quirky characters. 👇 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks - Thank you for gifting me this book!

#AuldLangSpine #LitsyTOB

I really enjoyed this story of Chicken Hill and Chona who kept the community together. A little slow for me in a few places but loved the writing. My first McBride, but not my last.

While there‘s much to love about this book—its strong sense of place, its vast, lovable, diverse, and very human cast of characters, and its central message about community amid difference—religion, race, ability, class—I found it too structurally scattered to enjoy uninterruptedly and the author‘s descriptions of women‘s bodies (the number of times boobs and angelic singing occur smh) distracting to put it lightly.

I purchased my copy of this when it was first published and I saved it specifically for my end of the year reads, because I knew that this would be my favorite book of the year and indeed it is. This was a reading experience I have not had in a very long time. There is no other way to say it: this is simply a perfect book. This is a beautifully crafted story that delves into issues that could not be more relevant today.

August recap:
Favorite - tagged. Love McBride!
Runners up:
🔮Two historical fantasies that inject magic into old Hollywood (but so different in feel!)
☕A delightful cozy fantasy with bookshops and necromancers and old friends
💊A searing indictment of a rich family without morals
👣Examination of the life of a serial killer by focusing on the women in his life
The rest were fine to good if not amazing... But then there's Lady C 🙃

McBride‘s gift is in creating fully realized characters & writing about them in such a way that you feel as if you know them. This is accomplished not by rushing into the narrative but allowing it to unfold on its own time, through moments big & small, through emphasizing the characters over the story itself & because they are interesting & compelling, the story is too. I really enjoyed this book & getting to know the residents of Pottstown, PA.

One chapter in and I can already tell this is going to be a good one.

Kirkus has a short fiction preview: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/2023-preview-fiction-bo.... The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store and I Have Some Questions for You are both calling my name.