Welcome to Litsy!

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

This dreamlike book explores an Ethiopian-American man‘s relationship to his family through his life, plus the things kept from him and why. It explores family, identity, race, and hints at mental health. It didn‘t knock my socks off, but it feels like something that might stick for a while. #ToB25

Beautiful writing in this book from the #TobLonglist but a very confusing timeline. It was very difficult to work out if you were in the past, present or future, and who was alive and who wasn‘t.

I guess that‘s the whole point and I gave up trying to figure it out and just went with it, but it still made for a rather confusing read. (As did the MC‘s wife being called Helen in the blurb, but Hannah throughout the book 🤔)

A light pick.

I felt like I kept searching for meaning while reading this book - where was the narrator and what time was it? Once I gave into the fact that the uncertainty was a deliberate part of the experience, I absolutely loved it.

Saedi masterfully depicts the delicate balance between being an American teenager and an undocumented immigrant. Visit https://wowlit.org/on-line-publications/review/xii-1/3/ for our full review, including books it will pair with!

This was a difficult novel to read. It became more violent over time, but it is a novel about war. It was an interesting approach to the Vietnam War because all characters were flawed. It was impossible to determine who was right and who was wrong wich made the book more interesting. The story is told from the perspective of a Vietnamese refugee.#AAPI#vietnamwar#traumaticexperience#immigrantexperience

I picked up this concept art for work at the LQ auction in 2023. I was already stoked, but then Vo added this sweet card AND sent me a holiday card. I put the art on display, but I can‘t way to integrate it more meaningfully into programming.

A sweet picture book about a girl who has trouble communicating in her new language after moving to her new country. The art is adorable and the story does a good job of conveying what tells girl feels throughout the story. #PictureBook #ImmigrantExperience

Book #17 of 2023: “The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears” by Dinaw Mengetsu

A beautiful, sometimes melancholy, sometimes sad, sometimes hopeful story about a young man forced to flee his home in Ethiopia to build a new life in Washington, DC.