I was initially confused but completely blown away by how Johnson unraveled this story. A young woman searching for a mother who had abandoned her years before. Switching from present to their past life on a boathouse, we also follow the enigmatic Marcus who stayed with them for a period of time. Again, initially confusing but so worth it once you start piecing it together. A love letter to language, a modern take on myth, an astonishing debut.

An epic read that got me out of a recent reading slump. Perfect for fans of A Little Life, this is the story of a series of characters who lives in the New York building that gives the novels its title. Spanning from the 1980s to our present decade, it‘s a hard-hitting, beautiful, sweeping novel about youth, motherhood, adoption, art, addiction, activism and the AIDS crisis that wreaked havoc on so many communities. So glad I picked this up!

My ever-growing stack of current reads... I don‘t think I‘m in a slump as much as I don‘t have enough time to read with clear headspace. How do you deal with busy times and reading??

Sunday reading ✨

A crazy experimental novel that blends time-travel/horror/feminist theory into a book packed with witches, artists and black metal. Maybe I read this at the wrong or didn‘t dedicate enough time to unpacking it, but I didn‘t enjoy this as much as I was expecting to: it sounded exactly like the sort of fiction that I am normally thrilled for. Definitely want to check out Hval‘s other work.

(Yes, this is a print and not the actual book 😂)

A short, hard-hitting debut about two people who fall slowly in love and then all at once, as often happens in the best of love stories. While the story revolves around two Black artists and their experiences in London/Dublin being seen merely as Black bodies, the author writes a love letter to Black art, media and thought. I can‘t say I enjoyed the writing 100% but it is an impressive debut to check out. Hoping to read more of the author!

An easy pick. Miller‘s beautiful writing really drew me in despite this being a very lengthy memoir. An account of sexual violence, the difficult trial in which she had to relive her trauma and the aftermath of these experiences on the survivor‘s identity and wellbeing.

I startes this with the misconception that this was YA and it‘s more MG but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Reynolds weaves together 10 stories about 10 kids and what lies beyond the schoolgates on their ways back home, at home, and/or with their friends. It‘s worth noting author deals with some difficult situations without making it a book about black trauma. Some unexpected outcomes and endings had me smiling. Sensible, simple, very accomplished.

Ooh #TBRtemptation! This sounds like it would be a perfect candidate for future #ScreamsByMail picks 😍

Frothy coffee and a new Melchor = a great start to the day

I have mixed thoughts on this one. I couldn‘t put it down but found the characters extremely unlikeable...and that‘s not normally a problem for me, but I felt like we didn‘t get as much character development as I was expecting for a lengthy novel like this one. Also, the exercise in POV was impressive but I found myself asking WHY. Why is this character the narrator? Still a pick, still would recommend, but just not overall interesting enough.

Thanks for the tag, @Kalalalatja !

1. Well, my TBR is off the charts and unorganized but I mostly do have titles in mind that are new releases or maybe TBRs that I feel like I want a copy of. But I have to think about making a recent list every once in a while because I mostly just buy on a whim!

2. Nope, never have been for some reason!

I saw on Goodreads that this has VERY mixed reviews but I thought this was well done. I didn‘t think it was overwritten, I think the writing goes hand in hand with the unsettling storyline. A major blackout leaves a family and the owners of the AirBnB they were renting isolated in the countryside without any way of knowing what‘s going on. The reader doesn‘t know either but what the novel emphasizes is how we navigate these moments of uncertainty.

This isn‘t my usual thing but graphic novels almost always get me hooked!

Like @BookishTrish said, I think this‘ll best be enjoyed by people who know Francis Bacon and his work. I gave this two stars but I‘m not panning this one (an exception I can only make for the best) because I truly believe Porter is a genius and that might shine through this book for other readers in ways I haven‘t been able to grasp. I was confused the whole time about what I was reading but Max, I‘ll read anything you put out ❤️

@Kalalalatja going with this one first because I need a palate cleanser after a few slow, mediocre reads. I‘ll move onto Yaa Gyasi afterwards 🤗 thanks for the push I needed!

Timely and uncanny, a girls‘ school on an island has to go into quarantine because of a mysterious illness, the Tox, infecting the students and other life forms on the island. The protagonist Hetty sets out to try and figure out what really lies beyond the gates of Raxter and if there really is a cure coming. This YA has an interesting body horror storyline but felt underdeveloped in the end, as did the relationships the author tried to explore.

Who‘s excited? Out September 2021! No cover yet eeeeeek!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54626223

Not exciting at all. And even that wasn‘t the point. Yes, this is a new young voice in Irish lit. No, this isn‘t anything like Sally Rooney, move along.

It never feels like the right time to pick this one up! But I‘m waiting. I see you on my shelf everyday and I‘m waiting and I‘m hopeful that at any moment I might feel ready!

This seems to have been a hit-or-miss read for a lot of people despite it‘s popularity but I can only say that I knew that this was going to be a 5 star read for me from the start. There is something so special about the writing, it‘s witty and funny and unapologetic, and just really original for a seemingly simple novel about a black girl navigating her uncertain early twenties after a certain amount of trauma and problematic relationships.

Bumped up on the TBR because I just borrowed it from a friend ✨ I think this‘ll be my mood this week.

Exciting news! New novel by Sally Rooney coming September 2021. Litsy, get this in your database so we can start stacking! ✨✨✨ #fangirl

Treated myself to this last week so now I‘m jumping on the hype train!

Addictive, brilliant, terrifying, heartbreaking

This one fell a bit flat for me. Etgar Keret gives the reader glimpses of his life as a writer and father through very short chapters that focus on very specific anecdotes. The fact that it was so fragmentary kept interrupting me from getting into the flow of the book and didn‘t allow me to feel like K was getting to know the author. I normally love fragmented narrative styles but it didn‘t work for me this time :(

😭💔Shuggie! I spent most of this book with my stomach in knots because of everything these characters have to go through but it is very worth it. Stuart brings to life the Bain family in a poverty-stricken neighborhood in 80s Glasgow. A devastating account of alcoholism, queerness, loss and growing up (but accessible for a Booker winner!) that I couldn‘t put down once I was 80 pages in.

I was so excited to hear the lovely @readingismagical as a guest with Traci on the most recent episode of The Stacks!! Head over to wherever you listen to podcasts to hear them talk about their fave reads of 2020. They had a great conversation 😍

I spent the whole afternoon reading this and it was a great way to start the week. Believe the hype! This is an addictive, honest story about two estranged sisters who decide to lead different lives and how their stories intertwine later on, involving their daughters. It reminded me in a way as if Morrison‘s “Sula” and the recent “Such a Fun Age” had a baby 😂

A revelation! Simone Garcia-Hampton, a funny, artsy, bi(curious), and HIV-positive teen, must learn how to navigate self-love and racism in a not-always-accepting community, especially after what happened at her last high school when they found out about her status... Perfect for readers looking for original and different YA stories. Very feminist, diverse, sex-positive and surprisingly informative.

This only got better after a reread. So much to unpack! Fairy tales, dystopias, uncanny doppelgangers and psychological terror that reads like realism - through these otherworldy elements and settings, Machado explores our world, which condemns (queer) women's fears, desires and bodies while bringing them to the forefront and celebrating them for the force that they carry.

#TBRtemptation!

"We are in the midst of a global crisis of care. How do we get out of it?

The Care Manifesto puts care at the heart of the debates of our current crisis: from intimate care--childcare, healthcare, elder care--to care for the natural world. We live in a world where carelessness reigns, but it does not have to be this way."

(Cont. in comments)

I have no words for Danez Smith. Just stunning, hits you with a force I haven't felt before. Even if you're not a poetry reader, they're a good entry way to the genre. Plus, this design, this edition, this publisher gahhhh 😍

When the sun hits just right ✨

How can I rate anything she writes less than 5 stars? This limited-edition including all 6 issues is STUNNING and I, who's never been a graphic novel person, found this story to be impeccably put together. Graphics and story goes so well together and the imagination behind this can only come from my one and only queen 🔥
Including a spooky town, supernatural creatures, lesbian teens and an exploration of the neverending violence against women.

Recently hauled books, bought and borrowed, TBR and currently-reading!

I'm so excited to let you all know that I recently decided that I'll be writing my Master's thesis on Carmen Maria Machado's work: Her Body and Other Parties and the more recent In the Dream House. My supervisor is 100% on board and I'm so excited to be able to talk about texts that really speak to me in an academic setting where contemporary lit is often pushed aside.
Tips will be so appreciated as well as any good luck you can send my way!!

Devoured this this morning! I loved the story and the art. I also felt like I wanted to be friends with Skim (I'd be a better friend than Lisa for sure 🙄). Coming of age, sexual awakening, dealing with heartbreak and being an outcast in a world that pushes you to the side for being fat and Asian. Intense but also laugh-out-loud funny. The Tamaki duo make magic 😍
(TW for teenage suicide)

A riveting and impactful read exploring the aftermath of the murder of Nelson's aunt Jane (that might sound familiar to those of you who have read Jane). Years later, after the case had been put on hold, new evidence surfaced targetting a new suspect. I was expecting more reflection on murder and the causes and consequences of violence against women, but this is more about Nelson's family and the memories surrounding this event's effect on them.

A vibrant, funny, tender and intimate graphic autobiography that explores the author's relationship with the process of eir understanding of eir sexual and gender identity. HOWEVER, this has been marketed as a sort of "how-to-guide" to being trans or genderfluid, and it is NOT that. This is one experience, and shouldn't be read as a masterclass for anything else. But it is a wonderful guide to understanding Maia's experience ✨

Aren't I the luckiest? This novella seems to be coming May 2021 but has just recently been, exclusively, published in Spanish.

Thoughts? I disliked (I wish I could say dislike is a strong word but it isn't...) this for a number of reasons and I'm really looking forward to discussing when this is out in English. Maybe then I'll have more material from Braithwaite herself to be able to understand what I maybe just didn't get? 🤷

WOOHOO literary prize announcement days are the best days.

Heartfelt congratulations to Douglas Stuart on winning the Booker with their debut novel! This has been sitting on my TBR shelf for WEEKS but I'm excited to pick it up very soon. Also excited to read the rest of the shortlisted books (so far I've only read Burnt Sugar and Real Life). After last year's fiasco, it feels redeeming to have so many talented and diverse nominated authors.

This was everything I'd hoped it be and more. Mark my words, Carmen Maria Machado is changing the field of contemporary literature regarding content and genre in the ways she writes the materiality of the body, experience and sexuality. I drank in every chapter, every sentence and every word of this brilliant text. Astonishing and heartbreaking. I'll be rereading this soon, I want to further inspect every gem hidden in these lines. All the stars!

I had no idea about this. What a great iniciative! I wish this was more widespread across Europe. US and UK friends, check out @bookshop_org_uk on Instagram for more info! ✨✨✨✨✨ Indie bookshops need our help, more than ever. So many have already had to shut down in the current economic climate.

Nightstand stack, never-ending, ever-changing ✨ (basically my best friend)

@vivastory I'm with you on this one. This started out brilliantly, but I was struggling to get through the last 100 pages or so. Sophie Ward constucts a narrative using devices that I normally love, including different points of view, some of them very spaced out throughout time, but this took a Black Mirror-esque turn towards the second half where I didn't expect it to go. That shouldn't necessarily be a bad thing but, for this novel, it was.

I seriously do NOT understand how I achieved this, given this year's circumstances, but I did it! Have been reading more than ever (for school, for work, and for me) and it feels so good. In the Dream House was my most recent read, finished it today, review coming soon 👀

I'm still in shock to finally have a copy of this. I've been waiting for the paperback for almost a year and now that I can finally start it I've been stuck staring at it for the past 10 minutes. You all don't know how excited I am, she is my favorite, "Her body and other parties" changed the way I think about literature, and I know this is going to be even better than I've been imagining in my wildest dreams. I'm going in, on the verge of tears.

A slim 80-page essay about rape. Plain and simple. Rape statistics, the pressures put on women in trials, how relations between the sexes on a wider scale aren't improving against the backdrop of the constant menace of rape. Greer argues for the need to rethink our assumptions about rape and address the power dynamics behind it in this short, accessible text that added to another of my current reads, Missoula by Jon Krakauer.

Details from No Archive Will Restore You -- from my previous post. You can read my review looking through the book's posts on Litsy. I seem to be the only person who's posted about it 😜
An absolute gem! I really hope more people feel compelled to pick this up. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.