Welcome to Litsy!

Yesterday my son & I enjoyed another #makingmemories day in NYC.The cold,damp,& rain did not deter us! We took a 6:10 a.m. Amtrak train to the Metro North line which let us out at Grand Central Station.Breakfast for me was 2 mini bacon quiches & Starbucks coffee. Perfect start to my day! The MET exhibit was truly breathtaking. I love how the drawings, etchings, & oil paintings took us through Friedrich‘s artistic & spiritual life chronologically.

Won this in a contest. It was a hard read, but not for the way it was written. It‘s about a witch trial in medieval Europe and, unlike my usual fantasy fare, I cannot split my mind and read it dispassionately. This stuff really happened. Anyway, I highly recommend it. Especially if you like creative prose. Sangarcía‘s method really adds to the intensity of a story that we probably think we know well. Also timely, atc.

Another uncomfortable read from the Women‘s Prize list—this was just shortlisted, while I was in the middle of reading it. Nila is the “good girl” who relocates to Berlin with her Afghani family, both parents successful but forced to work in fast food in their new country. Shes miserable and constantly trying to escape her own skin by engaging in damaging behaviors with substances and unhealthy relationships. A rocky coming of age. Good audio.

Nila,the daughter of doctor refugees from Afghanistan,grows up in poverty in Berlin because both parents cannot work in their profession.she hides her identity,saying she‘s Greek or Israeli&instead of studying for college,goes to raves&techno clubs.One night she meets Marlowe&is mesmerised by the older man whose debut novel made him an Indy celebrity.lots of drugs,sex,art,books,self hate,hate for Germany&its racism,Islamophobia,oppression of women

This book HURTS! I have, over the course of this trilogy; developed anxiety, heart palpitations, and my depression is definitely not living the good life. I think these books are an important read and a deeply emotional reminder. I learned a lot, and am horrified by all of it. 5/5 stars ⭐️

I usually enjoy books about wandering Berlin, but this one not so much.

A bildungsroman featuring a lot of drugs, bad sex and bad choices, I winced for the protagonist as she made one awful decision after another. Lots of interesting individual elements, but I never felt I really understood where the author was going (and in placed desperately just hoped it would all just Stop!)

#WomensPrizeLL25

I was home neither in Rosenwald nor in Gropiusstadt. And like so many children before me, I became my own exile.

At school, the girls wore padded down jackets and boots I had seen only in equestrian ads. They knew how to ride horses and drank expensive water and used Dr. Hauschka products, which felt so expensive back then, I believed only millionaires could afford them. Longingly, I used a pump of their creams, inhaling that herbal scent.

Book 9 #WP25
This is a low pick for me. The last 100 pages were a bit of a struggle, I didn't want to pick it up and read more about her self destruction, but I was still interested in her life as an Afghani-German and what it was like as a German immigrant with so much hate that we don't talk about.
The writing throughout is solid, and the perspective is one I don't see a lot of in English Lit so it makes sense why this was chosen for the WP

She turned on the radio in the mornings, dancing when rock songs filled the kitchen with bygone delight. Recited poetry in an old, formal Persian-lines that I didn't understand but whose cadences imprinted themselves onto my brain-and took me to local libraries, where I was allowed to read as much as I wanted, the weight of the laminated library card like a luxurious treasure in my hand, my own name written in blue ink underneath: Nilab Haddadi.

...as if to signal to us idiots that reality still existed...

(How do you let someone know the party's over?)