The Queue | 
pickThis was an interesting dystopian book. I‘m not sure if I‘d put it on a list with the greats of the genre but sometimes, you need the perspective that time allows to realize how well those books stand. I really enjoyed reading an Arabic take on the genre. I would recommend this one to anyone who enjoys a good depressing dystopian book.
pickSurreal satire, with dark—very dark—humour that left me in despair for the future of humanity. Individuals are sometimes altruistic & help each other but what can be done against the greater power of authoritarianism? Maybe the bleakness prompted me to rate this 4 stars on Goodreads last night but I realized today that I‘ll never forget it, so 5 stars it is.
#Translation by Elisabeth Jaquette. #Audiobook superbly narrated by Mark Bramhall.
I finished The Queue at 9:30 last night, the 30th book I read in August. Looking back on these covers, I realize that I haven't reviewed them all yet on Litsy. Watch for a lot of activity from me because I will try to catch up today. #AugustReadingStats
Citizens #walklikeegyptians every day to queue in front of the Gate for permission for the most basic needs, the line grows longer but the gate never opens.
Great novel about the sinister nature of authoritarianism, illuminates the way that absolute authority manipulates information, mobilizes others in service to it, and fails to uphold the rights of even those faithful to it.
#wanderingjune @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB
About halfway through the book written by the amazing Basma Abdel Aziz and I am really enjoying the story. It‘s a dystopian novel and reminds me of “1984”. It‘s also been a goal of mine to read more works by non-western authors. I welcome recommendations! #currentlyreading (recommended to me by @JeannieReads )
so-soWhat?!? Ok, this got a so-so because of the ending...it‘s a good story otherwise. Anyone who‘s read it help me out in understanding the ending, please!
Another book finished during the #24b42019.
#litsyAtoZ2018 #endofyearreadingcrunch #Q #abecedarianTBR #diverseauthors #diversebooks #femaleauthor
Even #TwinkyToles is confused. #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #readingbuddy #gingerbrat #mybrat #Tolesbrats
Forgot to post this last night. I‘m hoping to finish this book tonight. #readathon #24b42019 #endofyearreadingcrunch #LitsyAtoZ #Q #AbecedarianTBR #diversebooks #diverseauthors
so-soThe concept was good, but the story rambled pointlessly.... This would have been better as a short story.
pickChilling and apropos in light of the current administration.
#SetInTheMiddleEast #MiddleEasternAuthor #GetReading2018 #18of36 #audiobook
Thanks to @ReadingEnvy for recommending this one! I heard it on her podcast #79 and I found it interesting. I will admit that I have OD on dystopian fiction but it seems that The Queue comes at it from a different perspective like Station Eleven. I hope it is!
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2018/mar/01/translators-vanguard-lit... A great article about the worth of books in translation with some recommendations. Happy Friday!
Up next! Can‘t wait to get started on this one. I need a novel after such heavy reading (We Were 8 Years in Power.) #TBR #amreading #readwomen
There‘s another really cute shark in my tea today!
Look at the cute shark infusing my tea!
so-soI‘m glad this one was only ~6 hours, I really wanted to enjoy it but it fell short of my hopes by a long ways. The concept is good, there‘s an element of creativity I appreciate, but execution lacked anything to really engage me and the end felt less deliberate and more like a cop-out.
Struggling through the last minutes of this one, but at least I have delicious food and drinks?
I wish I had something I knew I‘d enjoy waiting in the wings; if I had, I‘d Nancy P this one. It‘s all character development which I usually love, but I need more about the world in order to feel the tension that should be building. The narrator isn‘t helping, he‘s basically just reading the book aloud. 😕
Sadly finished the existing eps of The Penumbra Podcast today and needed something that wasn‘t too heavy or demanding of my attention. Cloud Library has been a giant fail for the most part since my library switched to it, but found a couple of titles today that may not suck. We shall see.
At home with a sick puppy. I read to her and she fell asleep.
Working on my own writing and reading a little bit this Sunday afternoon. #bookriotreadharderchallenge #writerslife
1. Give me Doritos over Cheetos
2. The Queue (6 books down so far)
3. Solo parenting stir crazy kids while husband is at work
4. Speak every language
5. I'm only a high school graduate
@jesshowbooks
pickA bureaucratic dystopia that wonderfully shows the effects of beating down the population by simply making the red tape impossible to unsnarl or cut through. It was chilling in it's realistic portrayal, not of uprising, but of a people that can't do anything but become numb to the government's ever closing fist.
It's a balmy 20 degrees so I'm having a quick drink in the garage with my Kindle 😂. I neeeeed my quiet space, the cold front was killing me.
Starting this for my A entry in #LitsyAtoZ. Shaping up to be a good one! Image from https://arablit.org/2017/08/31/basma-abdel-aziz-on-writing-the-queue/
pickIn an unnamed, probably Egyptian city, people are told to line up outside the Gate whenever they need government paperwork done. But the Gate never opens. Meanwhile, the movements of certain citizens are tracked constantly, and people are disappearing, but no visible government officials, just edicts. This was very disturbing- those in the queue didn‘t consider protesting, or even leaving. Even more scary: the events in this could easily happen.
At one point this morning I was all "I'm going to go for a run today."
Plans change. ???♀️
Side note: baileys side eye. ???
Drove the 40 minutes home from the boyfriend's house this morning to realize that I left my house keys there and had to go back.
I earned this coffee. Just going to stay here awhile. 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
#bookishconfession - does anyone else see short author bios like this and then immediately want to know more about them? I may (hypothetically) accidentally Internet stalk because I think someone's really badass but feel creepy later!? Please say I'm not the only one? 😳
This has been on my tbr for almost a year after hearing about it on Bookriot and I'm finally starting it! Anything being called Orwellian is in my wheelhouse
#translation #Arabic
Babysitting the collator in the Print Shop instead of reading like I want to be, but it's almost lunch time!
"Politics had eaten away at people's heads until they in turn had begun to devour one another." I just started this political fiction book based on life after the Arab Spring and it feels like it could be talking about life here in the United States as well.
Really enjoying this dystopia from Egypt. Bonus: it's by a kick-ass lady! #recommendsday
so-soEh. Relevant and interesting premise - dystopian stories of different people who queue in front of an authoritarian government building that never opens. The execution of the story, however, was vague and confusing. 😕
I'm not sure I need a fictional dystopia right now but wanted to squeeze this one in before the end of the year. the author bio is intriguing to say the least!! #africa2016
pickI read this on Christmas Eve and it is a strange little book that I may have to read again. A dystopian future where a Gate suddenly appears as does a secret type police. The Gate makes promises to those who wait, so people wait. The line grows, people live and die in the queue, and time just moves forward. There is more. Even though it is short, it is pretty dense as I kept drawing analogies and finding things. Good, but not for all.
Since I work on Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day morning, I am taking advantage of the Icelandic tradition (which desperately needs to be a US thing) of staying up all day to read this (until work time starts). It was in my #secretsanta package from @TheBookAddict Looking forward to the plunge.
