Welcome to Litsy!

#FeelinTheLove Day 23: There is #ParentChildLove in this novel that, I feel, tries incredibly hard to be so “woke” and “current” - it comes across (at least to me) as performative and sometimes in poor taste. I am referring especially to their family photo that the author likened to a family in the West Bank. That soured my experience of reading this book. Will still give it a chance though for #ToB25.

I loved this deceptively complex novel, even though I got frustrated with many of Jane‘s decisions. 😣 ToB novels are a win for me this year (so far)!
#ToB25

An entire book filled with unlikable characters that kept me feeling anxious throughout about the myriad of bad decisions Jane, the main character kept making. And yet I couldn‘t stop reading or rooting for Jane. A book that made me cringe, made me uncomfortable, made me think, and made me wryly chuckle a time or two and one I think I will want to reread. #tob25

A lie well told, often enough told, began to eat one‘s memory. And over time, it became harder to say where the fiction ended and the truth began. And maybe if you lied long enough, you became a lie 📓🎬🫢

#ToB #shortlist

Loved this! I found it sharp and snarky and it‘s one of those books where the MCs are rather obnoxious (this time in an arty-farty way) but you love them anyway.

I thought the ending was a little weak, but I can see why it made the #ToBshortlist.

Thanks so much for sending it to me! @BarbaraBB

This book lived up to the hype for me. I thought Senna did such a great job with the mix of dark humor and just real world life experiences. I was completely engaged from the beginning and kept rushing back to read this book whenever I got the chance. It's been a long time since a book has kept me on my toes, made me reconsider things, and also made me feel.

Lol, the amount of times I shouted what?!!!! Or what are you doing?!!!! astounded me. Jane is on sabbatical, living with her husband and 2 kids in a house loaned to them by a friend. She‘s finishing her second book so hopefully she can tenure and nothing will go right. She‘s mulatto and keenly observant on all things mulatto and race. Sometimes being so fixated on one thing doesn‘t allow you to see where the betrayal comes from. Oof. Big oof. 👇🏼

1st book of 2025

I liked this, though it did make me cringe quite a bit. I knew it would be “why would you do that, no” kind of book though. Really unlikeable characters but highly entertaining, and doesn‘t hold back on the biting social commentary. #tob25

Read in 2024. I love Senna‘s books. She likes to push a person‘s comfort level in ways we don‘t always think about. Jane is struggling to make ends meet as a professor & author. Her book that she has spent years on has been rejected by her agent. She finesses her way into a meeting with tv execs & pitches a story that one of her friends loosely mentioned. Jane knows that tv is big money & it could finally be the big break her family needs. The tv

I really enjoyed this one, but I had to read it quickly because the MC is so relatable that I felt guilty every time she made a cringey decision. It's sooo SoCal and reminds me why I'm treading carefully in the showbiz-adjacent world I find myself skirting. The whole industry feeds on people's insecurities and the seductiveness of being seen as clever, important, special. I also love that it's a GenX story. #tob25

Just starting this after taking it out of the library, and it‘s signed?! Have never seen this with a library book, granted I don‘t take out physical books that often. I even checked the other side of the page and saw marker bleed, so it looks real! #tob25

This was an entertaining and darkly funny story but the whole thing is basically just aftermath of the incredibly silly decisions/lies the main character, author Jane, makes/tells. Jane is convinced she must have (coupled) Lenny, her now-husband, after a psychic foretold it. She spirals out from this decision to go after whatever she wants, at whatever cost. Gets wrapped up with tv execs, lives beyond her means. Race, parenting, marriage, media.

This novel follows a couple, a painter and a writer, with two kids trying to pursue their creative endeavors in Los Angeles. Jane has spent 10 years writing a massive follow up to her first novel but things are not going to plan. Their life is spiraling out of control and desperation drives her to make some terrible decisions. The humor is dark, the issues surrounding race and class are interesting, and the characters are a hot mess.

Get outside and be with nature! How to review a book that is outside “my” experience? Yet quite relatable what with career goal challenges, sense of self against expectations of culture, marriage + family dynamic balance quests? I was often in-wrestle with the turmoil going on and hoping for a win for Jane, mother and author, hoping to achieve her dreams. I appreciate the ending and give this a strong pick; a #notfittingin book.
#Dec2024 Book116

A humorous novel about writing, race, trying to live above one's means with a protagonist, Jane, who makes poor choices so has to continually lie about them. Though the characters are not likable, there is likely something everyone can relate to - fear of homelessness, moving around frequently, art, teaching, parenting, raising neurodiverse kids, rejection.

My library copy of the book set in front of the color television 📺! Starting now, plane ✈️ take off is 7am so early to sleep and up at 🕓 4 a.m.

#ToB25

I have mixed feelings about it this book. I felt a bit irritated by all the stupid decisions Jane makes, one after the other to be successful as a mulatto author in Hollywood, leaving behind so much chaos and damage. I can‘t however pinpoint the moment when I became totally absorbed by the story and finished it in one go. So I must rate it a pick, a light one though!

I haven‘t read any of these nominees.

Repost for @BarbaraBB

#TOBwaiting

In a recent post of @BkClubCare we‘ve been guessing about the ToB longlist, which will be published sometime in November. I thought why not make the most of our anticipation and share the six books we hope to see on that longlist?

It‘ll definitely give us some inspiration for books to check out - whether they make the longlist or not.

These are mine, I hope you‘ll share yours!

Danzy Senna really stuck the landing. Just terrific!

I DNF‘d about a third of the way through. I just struggled to relate to or care about any of the characters.

Jane is a writer on sabbatical who makes relentlessly terrible choices in this entertaining look at race, identity, parenthood, career.

📬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐥 📺

I'm back at home in Lodi, CA, after spending 4 glorious weeks on the beautiful island of Maui. 🌴🌺 I've jumped right back into normal life, but enjoyed perusing books that arrived during my absence, including 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 by 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐲 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚. It's the Sept. selection of the 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐥𝐮𝐛. I'm anxious to delve into this “cultural comedy“ that is a GMA Book Club pick.

Bedtime reading. So good. Good-night. @RiverheadBooks

A mulatto (her word) woman is a writer, professor, wife, mother, and feels a bit like she‘s failing at all of it. Overly the course of this sharply funny novel, we watch her painting herself into a corner in many ways. It‘s an uncomfortable read in a good way and kind of kept me off balance. I really liked it.

A dark comedy about second acts, creative appropriation, and the racial identity–industrial complex.

#aardvarkbookclub #coloredtelevision #danzysenna

My stack from Parnassus yesterday!! I really liked ZZ, too, so I picked up her story collection. The other two were fun finds. Night Guest is horror about chronic illness (too close to home 🤔🫣)!! Penance I‘ve seen around here about #metoo in the restaurant industry. Sounds very Mario Batali.

If you have the chance to see Danzy on book tour, I highly recommend it! Can‘t wait to read Colored Television. Pics of my stack from Parnassus tomorrow. Now sleep!

ZZ Packer is on the right, and I picked up her short story collection, too!

Perhaps I should have let this one simmer before attempting to review because I just ended up maybe loving a book in which I was extremely uncomfortable reading for the first few chapters. So, I sidebarred for a couple book reviews and some backstory about the author to become, if not comfortable, then able to grasp the language and settle into this story. It turned out to be very interesting and still unsettling. 👇

A dark comedy about second acts, creative appropriation, and the racial identity–industrial complex. This book is the Sept GMA Book Club pick! 💕

New members in the USA can get this book for only $4 at checkout!

#aardvarkbookclub #gmabookclub

A brilliant dark comedy about love and ambition, failure and reinvention, and the racial-identity-industrial complex from the bestselling author of Caucasia. 🎬 Order a copy today!

#aardvarkbookclub