Welcome to Litsy!

Not a popular opinion, but I had high hopes for this book. By the time I was done with it, I was just frustrated with Cummins. She stereotyped so bad in this book. There are good and bad people in all races. To me she just focused on the stereotype that all Latinos are involved in drugs somehow. I doubt that is true.
#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

Just finished American Dirt. Its a great book, Jeanine is a great writer. Handles a politically sensitive subject from a very human perspective

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Movie; Traffic

May #roll100 @PuddleJumper

I know everyone loves this book but the writing was just dense for me. It felt so slow in some ways and it never really got my attention fully. Interesting story, but I just didn‘t care for the way this was written.

“Trauma waits for stillness. Lydia feels like a cracked egg, and she doesn‘t know if she‘s the shell or the yolk or the white. She is scrambled.”

While I found the writing to be quite good, I couldn't get myself totally invested in the characters or the story. I often find in a setting such as this, that a book may be better served telling a true story rather than a fictional amalgamation of a bunch of different stories, as it can tend to feel far fetched.

"She'd reached an age where she expected each day to be the unveiling of some quiet new sorrow, and where she simultaneously believed there was nothing left in life that could truly surprise her."

"Javier reminded her, in the middle of her mothering years, that life was exciting, that there was always the possibility of something, or someone, previously undiscovered."

(Pic from authors note.)
This was extraordinary, heart wrenching, sometimes hard to read but always hard to put down. The personal story of a group of immigrants, with a mother and young son as the two central characters. Everyone is running from something but more importantly running toward a dream of a better, safer, more human existence in el norte. This is a story not to be forgotten as you watch and we struggle with immigration.

What heartbreaking reading. This will stay with me.

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins would be an awesome movie ... edge of your seat type ....

A harrowing journey of a Mexican mother and her young son as they run from a cartel that wants them dead. The story brings this plight home hard and gives you a sense of the desperate situation that‘s playing out in reality every day. Intrigued to read the book has become a topic of hot debate in literary circles about appropriation as Cummins is not Mexican herself, but instead spent 4 years researching this book. Not sure I agree, great book!

Quando l‘ho comprato non gli avrei dato 2€. Mi ispirava pochissimo, ma la mia libraia di fiducia ha insistito tanto. Ci ho messo quasi un anno a decidermi di leggerlo. Si è rivelato una delle letture migliori dell‘anno, davvero straordinario e inaspettato, ben scritto, scorrevole, emozionante e struggente.

Can‘t put this down and can‘t stop crying. Wow! Gut wrenching, especially if you‘re a mother.

I got it! You put a smile on my face! Thank you so much @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks ❤️ Grateful for the #LitsyLove family and I can‘t wait to begin writing you and getting to know you all! ☺️

I love a summer storm ☔️ This hydrangea has never been this big! Can‘t wait to see the blooms! I hope everyone has had a great weekend ❤️

Happy Sunday everyone!! What are you reading? I just finished The House in the Cerulean Sea and I loved it!

#HappySunday
📚📚📚

I‘m still reading this… 💔 a day late!

#MayMoms
#Courageous

Whew. Very good.

#ThoughtfulThursday

The seasons don‘t really affect my reading 📚

All of my beautiful flowers remind me of spring 🐝🦋🌺🌸🌼🌻🌹

Why have I not read this yet? It‘s excellent on audio narrated wonderfully by Yareli Arizmendi.

I‘m giving up the ghost … it‘s goodbye to this one. I made it through to the second half, but it was a struggle just for Bookclub. We had our meeting last night. There were mixed views, some loved it. It didn‘t seem to spark our usual full on discussion 🤷‍♀️. I‘m glad to be moving on.

Still struggling with this one on audible, for Bookclub. I‘m just not connecting with the characters. ( that speed looks wrong 😳 I‘m on 1.3X ) anyway , Bookclub Friday night , I better step it up.

I‘m listening to this book for Bookclub, and I‘m finding it hard to connect with … not happening for me , not yet anyway 🤷🏼‍♀️ I‘d bail.. but I don‘t want to miss out on the discussion.. I got the print on kindle , still not pulling me in

#Weeklyforecast

Hoping to read some more of these books. ( I had started Love Songs on audible, but decided it would be a lovely read .... it‘s pretty big though 😳 looked smaller on audible 🙃

Also American Dirt on audible for Bookclub

Happy reading everyone ❤️
Hi Cindy, I hope all is well with you.

This book was brilliant. Gripping, thought provoking and very real.
Highly recommended.

“Survival is a matter of instinct rather than desire.”

I hated the experience of reading this book, w/its graphically depicted series of horrors & exhausting litany of cruel & dehumanizing traumas.

There‘s an immediacy to the writing that pulls you into its current, and it‘s harrowing.

There are moments of selfless generosity: “For every wickedness, there is an equal and opposite possibility of redemption.”

Image: Fyodor Pavlov‘s tarot.

One of my favourite 🤩 reads of last year outstanding #americandirt #greatbook #toptenreadsof21

My book club picked this to read this year. I brought up how many Latinx and Chicano authors have expressed it is harmful, misrepresentative, and appropriating trauma-porn. It js also a book about the Mexican/immigrant viewpoint written by a white woman. MANY BIPOC authors struggle to have their own voices published and recognized. I was told that the known controversy was the reason for picking it as it will “add to the discussion.” ⬇️⬇️

This book hooked me from the very first page.

Oh lort. Just got the message from Libby that this is due in 3 days and there are people waiting, which means I have to cram 5 hours of this into 3 days which, let me tell you, I am not looking forward to. This is f*n GRIM and is affecting my day-to-day mood (#privilege, I know). I hate reading books like this (it‘s a book club pick). The Grueling Saga of Torments has to be one of my least favorite genres.

(It‘s well-written and all that)

I posted a Top 10 of my favorite books from last year. I read 66 and my original goal set in January of 2021 was 35, so that makes me happy. While I couldn‘t quite rank where each book on my Top 10 fell, I‘d say American Dirt is in my top 2.

Absolutely harrowing. So hard to not invest in the characters from early on in the book.
One of those books that you read that will stay with you forever.

#wintergames2021 #teamgamesleighers

I've been rubbish this week at updating on progress so will tot up both weeks points tomorrow!

This was a really uncomfortable read... Not overly festive! But enjoyed it nonetheless. Interesting to read some of the criticism also.

Difficult.

Instead she skims the news for emerging facts about the investigation, and it‘s as she expected: nothing. Because fear and corruption work in tandem to censor people who might otherwise discover the clues that would point to justice. There will be no evidence, no due process, no vindication.

OMG - So so so so good. One of my top 5 books ever. If this has been hanging out in in your tbr pile, make it your next read.

About to dig into this one. Apparently lots of controversy around this one, I guess I‘ll find out why.

Controversial or not, the story is solid but nothing I would want to re read or would be remembering past this week. Yes, it's a heartbreaking take on an immigrant's journey but the writing was a bit heavy handed while really not giving me much to sink my teeth into. The author seems to have all the details, mostly accurate, about what the happens when trying to cross illegally to the US, but for me, it needed a bit more of something...

#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Blow

My IRL book group picked this, so I gave it a go. As many people point out, the author is regrettably not LatinX. But in terms of storytelling, I liked it a lot. Lydia has guts and the journey is justifiably harrowing. Glad I get to talk with friends about it, because there are many disturbing incidents and themes. Between this and some border-related news items lately, I am feeling luckier than ever. Pair with Separated by Jacob Soboroff. ⬇️

Revolting, charming, believable but unbelievable, hard. These words crossed my mind at some point or another while reading American Dirt. About halfway through I wanted to put it down and never pick it up again because of how sad and hurt it made me feel. By the end I was happy to have finished it. While it may be more unrealistic than most accounts for migrants, I think it shines a much needed light on this difficult subject.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars

Great book! Truly enjoyed it! Jeanine Cummins is a great storyteller, and the Audible version is fantastic.
5⭐️!

I found this to be a gripping story. I don‘t know how accurately it depicts the reality of trekking across the desert to enter the US illegally, but it was a fascinating read. I know there is a lot of controversy about this book, but I don‘t think people should be limited to only writing about events they have personally experienced or about characters that look like them. How limited our reading material would be, if that were the rule! IMHO🤷‍♀️