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#ethopia
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Texreader
The Quest: A Novel | Nelson DeMille
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This ebook is on sale right now and it‘s a marvelous read. It‘s the best #letterQ book I‘ve read since doing the #LitsyAtoZ challenge. I highly recommend it and I hope to read it again someday. Definitely an action-packed historical thriller.

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Tamra
Cutting for Stone: A Novel | Abraham Verghese
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Fiction is the great lie telling the truth…

Spot on articulation for why writing & reading “fiction” is important. 👌🏾 I could listen to Verghese all day - so insightful & relaxing. Bet his medical students like him.

https://youtu.be/-zBo7Fl-iL8?si=NnX_laxXa1ScN5zb

Cathythoughts ❤️ 5d
GingerAntics I has a patient that used to come in and talk about how children shouldn‘t be reading fiction because it‘s nonsense and they should only be reading “the truth” because that‘s what the Bible says, EVERY time she came in. It was really hard to keep my mouth shut. 🙄 4d
Tamra @GingerAntics oh yes - that would be very hard. My tongue would hurt. 😖 4d
See All 7 Comments
GingerAntics @Tamra it sure did! It was utter nonsense and I felt terrible for her kids! She didn‘t even let her grandkids read fiction at her house. I feel back for them, too! 4d
Tamra @GingerAntics wow! 😖 4d
GingerAntics @Tamra yeah. It was actually REALLY sad. We would sure hate for kids to have imaginations. 4d
GingerAntics @Tamra she was a really sweet lady outside of that. It was just hard to think well of her when she was SO adamant against literature. 4d
51 likes7 comments
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BkClubCare
Someone Like Us | Dinaw Mengestu
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Mehso-so

This was a book that absolutely did not grab my attention, I sensed an unreliable narrator who does things that make no sense; I went into it thinking it might be a devastating immigrant story, but once I put it down and then a few days go by, and then when I do open it back up with low motivation and hit a snag (drawn curtains are closed! Not open), WHAT DO I Do? I find many of my friends loved it. #sigh A case of “it‘s me, not the book.”

42 likes2 comments
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Jas16
Someone Like Us | Dinaw Mengestu
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Mehso-so

There are lines and moments that this book that made me want to love it but overall this #tob25 title left me cold. An incredibly unreliable narrator reflects on his upbringing by his immigrant Ethiopian mother and her life long friend who may be his father . There is a lot about the immigrant experience that was well conveyed but everything else was too much of a jumble to make me care. This wouldn‘t have made my shortlist.

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charl08
Someone Like Us | Dinaw Mengestu
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After our son was born, I asked her why she didn't get a new Ethiopian passport so she could travel to Europe to visit her grandson. "It's that easy, you think. I get an Ethiopian passport and then go wherever I want? No. How long do you want to stay? How much money do you have? Why do you want to come here? I'm not going to go beg some country to let me in. They want to make you feel like a thief for traveling but look at them...

ChaoticMissAdventures I have been really active in travel communities the last 10 years or so and people really do not understand the hurdles many people (especially from poorer countries) have to jump to travel anywhere. It is a really frustrating global issue. 2w
46 likes1 comment
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BkClubCare
Someone Like Us | Dinaw Mengestu
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Just a cute pic of my snowy ❄️ lil Christmas trees 🎄 on my front porch…

41 likes1 stack add
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melissajayne
Cutting for Stone: A Novel | Abraham Verghese
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My #April selection for #12booksof2024. Love this book.

Andrew65 This is on my TBR and I need to get to it. 3w
Julsmarshall I loved this book! One of the first long #audiobooks that I was immersed in and couldn‘t put down. 3w
melissajayne @Julsmarshall it‘s so good; I should get in audiobook form 3w
29 likes3 comments
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Billypar
Maps | Nuruddin Farah
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Pickpick

A strange story of a boy growing up in late 1970s Somalia, and after being passed from his adopted mother to his wealthier aunt and uncle, must choose between the university and fighting in the insurgency against Ethiopia. His mother is originally from Ethiopia, making for some interesting dynamics where the person he is closest to is identified as 'the enemy'. Weirder still is how the close quarters of their housing affects their relationship 👇

Billypar He can't avoid noticing when his mother has sex or her period (this novel has more descriptions of menstrual cycles than any other I've read). Many of these portions are written in a surreal, dreamy style and made me think the author was influenced by some kind of psychoanalytic theories that were popular after Freud. I can't say I loved those parts, but overall it was an intriguing character study set against a pivotal moment in Somalian history. 3w
BarbaraBB Your review sounds dreamy already! 3w
Anna40 Great review! 3w
Billypar @BarbaraBB @Anna40 Thanks! It was a tough one to sum up. 3w
35 likes4 comments
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Chelsea.Poole
Someone Like Us | Dinaw Mengestu
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Mehso-so

I read this a bit ago and just realized I forgot to review it. Another for #tob25 and I feel meh. A community of Ethiopian immigrants in the US, focused on a young journalist who relocated to Paris and started a family. He returns home and learns about Samuel, his father (maybe??) who made a living by driving. I regret not reviewing this sooner because I‘m struggling to remember much about it, apart from the sense of seeking/loneliness.

BarbaraBB I am on the fence about this one. It doesn‘t appeal at all, I‘d just read it because of the #tob25. 4w
squirrelbrain I agree with your review - I just didn‘t *get* this one. 🤷‍♀️ 4w
TheKidUpstairs I felt similarly about one of his previous books, so haven't really had the drive to pick this one up 3w
71 likes3 comments
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Megabooks
Someone Like Us | Dinaw Mengestu
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Pickpick

This was a bit hard to follow on audio. It is a bit hard to distinguish what is actually happening from the MC‘s imagination. That said, I‘m still thinking about it, which surprises me and took it from a so-so to low pick.

An Ethiopian immigrant returns to the US from Paris where he has a family. A death causes him to reflect on his childhood, relationships, and his family‘s immigration story. #tob25

BarbaraBB Still on the fence about this one. I prefer some longlisted books above this one. 1mo
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I don‘t think it‘s top half for me, but I appreciate it. There are definitely ones I like better. 1mo
squirrelbrain It was hard to follow in print as well…. 🤷‍♀️ 1mo
Megabooks @squirrelbrain well there goes that theory!! 🤣 1mo
70 likes2 stack adds4 comments