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Confessions of the Fox
Confessions of the Fox | Jordy Rosenberg
56 posts | 31 read | 72 to read
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review
rsteve388
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Mehso-so

This was an okay story, there are two story lines the main narrator who comes across a manuscript for Jack Shepper, a Trans Rouge who meets up with the London underground and faces off against many foes as he transitions from female.to male. The main narrator who is reading the story intersperses their own Transition story. It was okay but the transition from the manuscript to present time in the story was not well done.

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bourne.shell
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Panpan

The first half of the book was amazing. Loved the characters and the story about having to break away and find his freedom, living in the streets and meeting the other girls. Some of the sex scenes are very well done, the language is brash and unexpected but it makes you pay attention.

But the second half was weird, hard to understand, didn't make sense ... I'm not sure what really happened at the end and the worst part is, I don't think I care.

TrishB I got half way through- but I was struggling as the MC had the same name as my son- so it was a bit weird!! I couldn‘t finish it in the end. 5y
bourne.shell @TrishB Haha, yes that would make it hard to read, he is a strange lead character. The best part of the book is the interactions between him and Bess, and those at times are a bit vulgar. Not what you'd want to picture your son doing. The plot was never really interesting enough to carry the book 5y
TrishB Very true 👍🏻 5y
5 likes3 comments
blurb
scripturient-ink
Confessions of the Fox | Jordy Rosenberg
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Back at work. Two months to go.
[Currently listening to: Leave Me Alone by NF]

review
balletbookworm
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Pickpick

This. Book. Is. Wild.

Jordy Rosenberg has given us a novel that is at once a purported seventeenth century memoir/narrative, that morphs into a rallying cry against the commoditization of bodies, of prison abolition, of anti-colonialism, of anti-racism, of trans self-determination. Surrounding this is a framing narrative in footnotes of the professor annotating this tale and his fight against a university increasingly...

#24in48

balletbookworm beholden to shady corporate and pharmaceutical interests, veering from Sterne-ean to Vonnegut-like levels of absurdity. A very complex book but well-worth the read. 5y
25 likes1 stack add1 comment
review
scripturient-ink
Confessions of the Fox | Jordy Rosenberg
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Pickpick

Finally finished it!
I didn't love it, even though I desperately wanted to. I think it's a book you need to read at least twice before you can fully appreciate it. I quite enjoyed the first half, then it got somewhat confusing, maybe because the character's motivations weren't all that clear to me. But it's a fascinating rewrite of history that reminds its readers that history may well not be as cis, white, and male as they think. Would recommend!

11 likes1 stack add
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scripturient-ink
Confessions of the Fox | Jordy Rosenberg
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A bit overzealous with the references to genitalia? This book?? Why'd you think that? Though I have to say I enjoy the footnotes (maybe not these in particular ...) a lot more than I expected to. Gives the whole thing this weird and somewhat parodistic academic vibe. Right up my alley.

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scripturient-ink
Confessions of the Fox | Jordy Rosenberg
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Next up! I kind of love the cover, although I don't quite get it (yet?). I'm hoping to use this for a translation project at uni and so far it's looking good!

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Welcome to Litsy 📖💖 5y
rretzler Welcome to Litsy! 📖 5y
7 likes3 comments
review
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Mehso-so

My experience with this was all over the map. It's a strange mix of genres: a trans man academic finds an 18th century manuscript about a famous thief, also a trans man. The majority of the story is the historical one w/ footnotes taking place in the academic's dystopian world. I was super into it at first but found my attention waning and felt uncomfortable w/the role WOC played and confused about how trans and intersex identities intersected.

38 likes1 comment
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Tonton
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Pickpick

A manuscript detailing the rousing misadventures of trans Jack, lockpicker extraordinaire, and Bess Khan, anarchist and the love of his life versus London‘s Thieftaker General falls into the hands of an academic. The story explores gender, class warfare, social transgression and power while the scholarly annotations parallels power plays in academia. Exhilarating, funny, and fascinating.

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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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The satire of academia in this book is gold. Although the fact that the American audiobook narrator is not very good at British accents is kinda distracting. Like, he's not terrible, it's just that the accent fades halfway through a sentence sometimes. #QueerBooks #TransBooks #audiobook

TrishB Stacked 👍🏻 sounds interesting . The HE bit interests me and the fact that the MC has the same name as my son! 5y
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @TrishB Hope you like it! 5y
36 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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"Faculty like to imagine being upset counts as political activism. Not like I was much better. I went to one [faculty] meeting just to see if there was anyone cute there." Hahaha. #QueerBooks #TransBooks

37 likes1 stack add
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CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian
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Two exciting queer #audiobooks coming up in my Libby account! #QueerBooks #LGBTQBooks #TransBooks

29 likes1 stack add
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jenniferw88
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#FebruaryStats

Highlights were
Taurus
The Coroner's Lunch
The Hangman's Daughter
The Burning
Madame Tussaud &
#MeToo

The only 3 🌟 went to A Minor Deception, the rest are 4 & 5 🌟's!

Jee_HookedOnBookz Omg what an achievement!! Congrats and bravo!! Great month! You shd check out mine. Only 4!!!😅😅😅 5y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Awesome month! 📚💖 5y
TrishB Cool 👍🏻 5y
75 likes3 comments
review
daniwithtea
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Pickpick

This was fantastic. At first I thought I might find the Professor‘s footnotes a bit annoying, but I absolutely grew to love his rambles. Not as heist-y as I‘d hoped, but still a great read.

SkeletonKey Yay! I loved it too. 5y
28 likes1 comment
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kgriffith
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The moment when you‘re searching for a title on Scribd and see an article by the author... and the professor you‘re taking Queer and Trans writing with starting in three weeks. 😳

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moonsinjune
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Got these speakers & turn table for xmas. Feels goodto be able to listen to records again after a good three years. I think they fit in great between the books & crafts. Finished the wonderful Confessions of the Fox while setting it up.

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moonsinjune
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Can't stop listening to this book. J is watching terrible #xmas movies and I'm just hangin next to him on the couch with my airpods in listening to this story unfold. Also: #knitting progress! Hat's like 3/4 done.

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moonsinjune
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Here's some of the last-minute xmas knitting. I fucking love some chunky yarn... They'll never know it only took me two hours to knit this long-ass scarf. #knitting #audiobooks

Eggs Welcome to Litsy 😊👋🏻 5y
9 likes1 comment
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moonsinjune
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Starting this'n while I do some last minute xmas knitting.

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Lindy
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Pickpick

Professor Voth, a “guy by design not birth” annotates a 18th c manuscript describing the bawdy adventures of a transgender thief. Copious footnotes & copious sex. Part contemporary campus satire, part queer theory, part romance, part social philosophy, part historical romp. #Audiobook deftly performed by Aden Hakimi. If, like me, you prefer to skim the piss drinking & other sex scenes, print or ebook would be a better format. #LGBTQ #trans

Bibliogeekery Love the review! #transbooks 5y
Lindy @Bibliogeekery Thanks. 😊 5y
47 likes2 comments
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Lindy
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An unexpected connection between these two novels: opposing perspectives on draining the fens in historical England.

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Lindy
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These two debut novels have a lot in common:

✅Queer characters acting with agency in historical London settings.
✅Underworld (or specialized) argot.
✅Many queer sex scenes. Many.
✅Sociopolitical commentary.

twohectobooks I want to pick a Sarah Waters book as my next book club selection but I‘ve never read her work and haven‘t made a choice yet. I‘ve heard Tipping the Velvet is the sexiest one. 5y
Lindy @twohectobooks Yep, that‘s correct. 5y
Lindy @twohectobooks Fingersmith, Affinity, and The Little Stranger are my top picks for discussion. No lesbian content in the last one, however, unless you count the house as queer. 5y
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twohectobooks Fingersmith has been on my tbr longest. The Little Stranger sounds even more up my alley but my book club doesn‘t react particularly well to horror ahaha. 5y
saresmoore Many. Ha! I tend to skip over sex scenes unless they're really well done or add to the story significantly. Do you think strategic skimming would detract from either of these? 5y
Lindy @saresmoore Strategic skimming is exactly what I do, unless I‘m listening to an audiobook (as in this case). The most skimming I remember was in one of the Jean Auel books; pages of text for each sex scene. 5y
41 likes6 comments
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Lindy
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All history should be the history of how we exceeded our own limits.

#trans #ownvoices #lgbtq

(Author photo from the Internet)

SkeletonKey Loved this book a lot. 5y
Lindy @SkeletonKey I‘ve been letting it settle in my mind before posting a review. Some parts I loved, other parts weren‘t for me. 5y
CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian This one's on my TBR. Interested to hear what you think! 5y
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SkeletonKey @Lindy - There were definitely some things that felt problematic but I‘m a beggar right now. 5y
Lindy @SkeletonKey There‘s much to admire, that‘s for sure. 5y
39 likes1 stack add6 comments
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Lindy
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Mindless tasks, like winding skeins into balls in preparation for knitting, are made pleasant with an #audiobook. Ditto for knitting test swatches. #knittersofLitsy

Beatlefan129 Props to you—I‘m always too impatient to knit a test swatch! 5y
saresmoore Oh! Such a smart way to wind! I've been trying to figure something out for longer than I'd care to admit. 5y
GloVerdino You need a swift and a ball winder! Makes it go so much faster! 5y
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Lindy @saresmoore @GloVerdino I avail myself of the swift and ball winder at the yarn store when I buy yarn there, but this skein came from Scotland as a gift. 5y
Lindy @Beatlefan129 I know. I‘m not crazy about swatches either. I have a particular mitten pattern in mind (giraffe gauntlets) but I think this yarn is too heavy, even with a small needle. If that‘s the case, I will work out my own design and that‘s best undertaken with a firm grasp on gauge. 5y
bookishkai Oh I admire your tenacity for knitting test swatches. Mine usually go something like this: “Pattern calls for worsted weight on 8‘s but this yarn is really more a DK, so I‘ll knit on 5‘s and hope for the best” and I do just enough to measure stitch gauge and then rip it out. 5y
Lindy @bookishkris I leave a loop in the final castoff stitch of my swatch so that after it‘s blocked and dry and measured, I can unravel and reknit the yarn. Thrifty. 5y
50 likes7 comments
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Lindy
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On the manuscript‘s continual theme of spread legs, well, this obsession I frankly postulate to be an inversion of Marcel Duchamp‘s genius/sick fuck masterpiece Étant donnés, which aimed to be the last word on spread legs.
(Internet image of Duchamp art + modesty sticker)

Soubhiville 🤣 5y
LauraBeth 😂😂 5y
sprainedbrain 😂😂😂 5y
33 likes3 comments
blurb
Lindy
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Inter-textual connections: from Rosenberg‘s MC, a trans man & professor, in his footnotes to “dear reader,” I learned that that there‘s a link between Esi Edugyan‘s Washington Black & Frederick Douglass‘ My Bondage & My Freedom. I looked it up online to confirm that Douglass inserts a fantasy narrative rather than give details of his escape from slavery: “Disappearing from the kind reader in a flying cloud or balloon, driven by the wind…”

Ruthiella Love that detail!😀 5y
Lindy @Ruthiella I‘m sure there are many literary allusions that I miss, but it‘s nice to spot one even if it‘s after the fact. 5y
AnneCecilie Thanks for sharing. I had no idea. 5y
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Lindy @AnneCecilie I get more impressed with Washington Black the more I think about it. 5y
saresmoore I'm very intrigued by the description of this book, and now I want to read Washington Black, too! 5y
Lindy @saresmoore I have more thoughts on Confessions of the Fox. Stay tuned. 5y
37 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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Lindy
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Emails containing foreign words have begun to mysteriously go to spam. Well, perhaps not so mysteriously. Surely this has something to do with the university outsourcing its electronic communications department to the private, mercenary, electronic corporation Militia.edu.

review
scowler1
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Mehso-so

I've never read anything quite like this. A very interesting concept - the narrator's story told in the footnotes of an imagined re-telling of the eighteenth century tale of Jack Sheppard; thief, jailbreaker and in this book, hermaphrodite. It's both confusing and fascinating with archaic language (all explained in the notes), and political, racial and sexual themes. A lot to take in. Extremely well written, not sure if I enjoyed it though.

RaimeyGallant Sounds interesting. 5y
3 likes1 comment
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SkeletonKey
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Pickpick

Finished this one on my trip. It‘s a manuscript about an 18th century transgender thief annotated by a modern day professor.

There were editing choices that I wish had been different. The footnotes can last for several pages of tangents about the professor‘s life when I think alternating chapters might have flowed better.

That being said, I‘ve never read a more realistic fiction book about trans men before and that was amazing.

#transbooks

lovelybookshelf Ohh you know, those editing choices were really clunky for me when reading an e-galley and I ended up DNFing. Maybe I would have better luck with this in print. But I found myself wishing for alternating chapters, too. 5y
SkeletonKey @lovelybookshelf - Oh wow, I can imagine an ebook being reeeally tough. The print version would be easier... there were so many worthwhile things in it if you feel like trying again! 5y
lovelybookshelf I think you've convinced me!! 😊😊 5y
kgriffith Ha, now I‘m even more interested to read it, I love tangents in footnotes, and the author teaches at U Mass, so I can take classes with him 😃 5y
SkeletonKey @kgriffith - I‘m jealous, lol. There were a few parts that didn‘t resonate but overall a really refreshing book! 5y
30 likes2 stack adds5 comments
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SkeletonKey
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“Thank god for the women who rescue us from the medusan horror of our mothers‘ gazes; for the women who see us as...us.”

There are some quotes in this book that resonate so deeply. I could write a whole essay about that sentence.

And it‘s a really good example of why more books by the people who experience these things need to be published.

#transbooks #lgbtq

batsy That's a great quote. "medusan horror of our mothers' gazes" wow. 5y
SkeletonKey @batsy - Agreed! 5y
31 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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SkeletonKey
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SNOW DAY READING!

I‘m really excited for this book. It‘s a fictionalized autobiography about a notorious thief in eighteenth century London. It‘s reveled in the manuscript that this person was actually transgender. It seems like a really interesting idea and a way to honor some of the erased histories out there.

The author is also transgender so YAY.

#transbooks #lgbtq

31 likes4 stack adds
review
Lauren.Archer
Panpan

I have so many thoughts on this one. First of all this was recommended by Book Riot‘s new TBR service. The comparison‘s to Sarah Waters ( who I adore) are real but this book made me feel so unnecessarily dirty. The story is fiction that wanted to be non-fiction and the footnotes were so distracting (pages and pages). At times the writing was beautiful but could not get over all the other factors.

ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Nooooo! I was so looking forward to this one! 😩 5y
70 likes1 comment
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Alicia
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Thank you so much @Shadowfat !!! I was out of town all weekend and only just checked my mail. I am really looking forward to this read! It‘s a #blameitonlitsy pick! Thank you so much again! 💗💓📚 #justabookswap

Reviewsbylola This sounds so promising! Stacked. 5y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I just ordered this yesterday! Looks fun! 5y
Alicia Right!!! @Reviewsbylola @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled !! I really wanted to read it after seeing how much @2BR02B raved about its awesomeness. Can‘t wait!!! 🙌🏽🙌🏽 5y
55 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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JSW
Pickpick

This book took a lot of concentration, due to historical slang. Earthy, honest, academic, brilliant observations, queer theory and characters. Completely unlike anything I‘ve ever read. #queerbooks

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Lauren.Archer
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This was of my first recommendations from Book Riot‘s #TBR. Never heard of it before then. But the personal notes they gave me showed a ton of thoughtfulness so I have extremely high hopes.

ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled This sounds different and fun!! Stacked! 5y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I just looked this up on Goodreads and it‘s described as Sarah Waters + Nabokov with footnotes. Be still, my heart! 😍 5y
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AlizaApp
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Pickpick

A queer reading of historical fiction, reimagining a famed 19th century British thief as trans and his allegedly white lover as WOC. At the same time, there is a historian making annotations whose own story is playing out in the footnotes. Imaginative and Trojan horse-d full of queer theory.

42 likes3 stack adds
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2BR02B
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1. 112 so far
2. 120. Clearly I'm going to need to bump it up to 150 or thereabouts.
3. I'm a broken record at this point, but the tagged book.
4. My Sister the Serial Killer, White Dancing Elephants

#2018checkin

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Seshat
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Pickpick

It'a a corker. My summary: A little ditty about Jack and Bess-Ann, two 18th-century, gender-non-conforming kids doin' the best they can. Oh, yeah. Archives go on, long after the thrill of the patriarchy is gone...

#catsoflitsy #bookkaraoke #currentread

No_One Lol!!!!! As soon as my brain saw "little ditty" I immediately started singing it!! ??? 6y
36 likes1 stack add1 comment
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2BR02B
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1. Visiting my mom, going to see Won't You Be My Neighbor? and reading.
2. See above
3. Bacon. Ech.
4. Despite being nearly six feet tall and getting asked constantly whether I played basketball, I was actually rather uncoordinated and had poor visual acuity due to a double astigmatism.
5. Thanks!

FantasyChick Yes!!!! Finally...someone else that doesn't like bacon! 6y
2BR02B @FantasyChick What's to like? It's nothing but salt and saturated fat. 🤢 6y
61 likes2 comments
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Nitpickyabouttrains
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Pickpick

This book was sort of two stories. An old manuscript and the footnotes from a professor who was going through it. It was a cute gimmick and I loved the footnotes.

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2BR02B
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The nuanced ways this novel addresses racial inequality in the eighteenth century (note: "lascar" is an old timey word for someone of Indian or Southeast Asian heritage) seriously makes my heart sing. I'm 68 pages in and predicting this will be a five star read, if not an all-time favorite. ?

#queerbooks

Clare-Dragonfly This sounds really interesting! 6y
2BR02B @Clare-Dragonfly It really is! The historical context is very methodically researched, but because it's an alternate history there's no compunction to fall back on the "everyone of significance was white/male/cis/het" narrative. I'm really digging it. 6y
Clare-Dragonfly Stacked! 6y
63 likes1 stack add3 comments
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kidmonster

"You're being neither rational nor virtuous, Jack"

big mood

5 likes1 stack add
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2BR02B
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Pretty jazzed to start this one tonight. Queer historical fiction with a trans protagonist, AND it's blurbed by my bae China Miéville? Gimme gimme.

#queerbooks

SamanthaMarie Ooo this sounds fabulous, thanks for sharing! 6y
Soubhiville Ok I need this book. Thanks for posting! 6y
JSW Sounds amazing!! Stacking. 6y
BibliOphelia I have this on Libby hold! 6y
LeahBergen I was just reading about this one. I‘m intrigued! 6y
65 likes8 stack adds5 comments
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Well-ReadNeck
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#LibraryHaul

Goodies from the library!!!!!

2BR02B Confessions of the Fox was in my most recent library haul, too. Can't wait to read it! 6y
JennyM Look at all that goodness 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 6y
CoffeeK8 I just finished this book and it was amazing and intense 6y
ns510reads Goodies indeed!! 😍👏🏼 6y
132 likes1 stack add4 comments
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kidmonster

"He was on the other side of a high thick Hedge of branches with vicious tips. He could not come through. And she could not come through to him."

oooohh that's a big #dysphoria feeling for me too Jack

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Kmatti
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Luna is obviously excited to start on Confessions of the Fox. Finished up two books I started earlier this month, so it‘s time to start in on my first new book of the day. #24in48 #readathon #24in48readathon

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StellarDoc
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ARCs for review. Must read faster!

CindyE09 What a nice problem to have! 6y
Soubhiville Wow! I hope there are some real winners in there! 6y
StellarDoc @Soubhiville I have high hopes for the Edgar Cantero and some of the YA books! 6y
15 likes3 comments
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kidmonster
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incredible footnotes and we are only just on page ten 👏

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ablachly
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Trans author, queer 18th century London thief isn‘t enough: this novel has FOOTNOTES. It‘s trying to woo me. And it‘s working.

kgriffith SOLD 6y
27 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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CindyE09
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#Bookhaul from online orders, an independent bookstore I just discovered, and from #halfpricebooks last night!! Tagged book is up next for me.

kishore_kk I loved Midnight's Children. It was the first book of Salman Rushdie which I've read. I enjoyed the movie adaptation of the book too. 💚 6y
CindyE09 @kitabi_keeda I have been meaning to get a copy for forever and had never gotten around to it. I have heard wonderful things though!!! 6y
kishore_kk Yay 🎉 now you got one for forever...congrats 😁 6y
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rwmg I just read State of Wonder last week. You've got a treat in store 6y
Naj Agree with everything @kitabi_keeda said. Midnight's Children is brilliant. I've read almost all of Rushdie's books but nothing can match the perfection of Midnight's Children. 6y
kishore_kk @Naj Weclome to Litsy 🎉📖🎉 6y
CindyE09 @rwmg I ❤️ Ann Patchett, I can‘t wait to read more from her 6y
CindyE09 @Naj Welcome to Litsy!! You and @kitabi_keeda have convinced me to read Midnight‘s Children very soon 6y
kishore_kk @CindyE09 you will love it 💚 6y
139 likes10 comments