Welcome to Litsy!

best read of 2023 so far. should be required reading in high school. it connects the dots between the past oppression and subjugation of blacks in america and so much of our current situation. i loved the way the story was told through the lives of the migrants. check it out!

#JanuaryJazz @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
#Warmth

My library sale #bookhaul!

This book is lovely. But I highly recommend reading it in bits. Because it's repetitive. Like as if the chapters are meant to stand alone.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Today's plan + the tote I received in the book club gift exchange. 💛

5 ⭐
Warmth of Other Suns - Wilkerson
4.5⭐
Fresh Water for Flowers - Perrin
Galaxy and the Ground Within - Chambers
4⭐
Little - Carey
Paradise - Morrison
Elatsoe - Little Bader
Me (Moth) - McBride
Stay With Me - Adébáyọ̀
Devil Takes You Home - Iglesias
The Way We Never Were - Coontz
Swimming Home - Levy
3⭐
Girl from the Sea - Ostertag
Seven Days In June - Williams
Tales of the City - Maupin
Nine Perfect Strangers - Moriarty
Birnam Wood - Catton

5⭐
You can tell by my tabs I got so much information out of this book. But what I loved the most is the weaving of the history and analysis of the Migration with the biographies of 3 people who were involved (all three migrated from the south to different areas of the US) this made the book a much lighter and more engrossing read.
One of those books all Americans should read.

Big plans for this week! Trying to wrap up a bunch of books I started this year before the New Year. I have Fear of Flying, Trust Exercise, and Elatsoe on audio to speed things along.

Excellent book that I highly recommend.
The author, through personal accounts of black people moving from Jim Crow's south to the north, gives a factual account of this phenomenon that lasted several decades.
Informative and well-written, this book is also moving, sometimes hard to read because of its content, but so essential.

"Still it made no sense to Pershing that one set of people could be in a cage, and the people outside couldn't see the bars."

Such an excellent description of how racism and the people who allow it to continue.
#nonfictionNovember

Last few days of nonfiction November!
#readinggoals #weeklyforecast

I have been taking the tagged bit by bit and hope to finish this week. Also about half through Are Prisons Obsolete, and Souls of Black Folk those should be done by end of month. I picked up the audio for Wild Swans to finish #nonfictionNovember strong(ish) I didn't get as much as I wanted read, but got a few off my old #tbr

Nonfiction November continues. I have been a bit unmotivated this year. I randomly started rewatching White Collar reruns and can't seem to want to turn that off. But have a long weekend coming up so hoping to make a dent in these, and throwing a fun fiction book into the mix.

All of these are incredibly interesting I have just apparently hit a slump. Getting Beautiful Forevers and the Feynman one on audio to help move along

"times were the best they had ever been, which said more about how meager the past had been than how great the present was."

"Was it a braver thing to stay, or was it a a braver thing to go?"

"It was the first big step the nation's servant class ever took without asking."

I was intimidated by this book but the first chapters are very easy to read and absorb.

This book was an amazing and educational story. That should be read by all. Don‘t let the fact that it is a work of non fiction put you off.

#nonfictionnovember #bookspin @thearomaofbooks

An amazing work of history and storytelling 🙌🏻 Warmth will definitely be on my top reads for 2022.
I did print/ audio combo and both mediums were fantastic.Looking forward to discussing with my IRL bookclub 🤓

This book is fantastic but my two weeks away from the book has left me forgetting a bunch of relevant information. I feel like I need a little refresher course. #IRLbookclub

Getting a jump start on my #IRL #BookClub October read - So far it‘s fantastic and the audio narration is outstanding 🙌🏻🎧

The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
The Prophets by Robert Jones, Jr
Checkmate in Berlin by Giles Milton
Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M Valente

#Littenswanttoknow

Thanks for the tag @MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm !

Even though I didn't do great this month, continuing on with trying to get that old backlog down.
#bookspin list with @thearomaofbooks

Amazing, unforgettable, awful, how come they didn‘t teach us ANY of this? She‘s a magnificent author, makes me like nonfiction. Couldn‘t put it down

Very well researched book about the migration of African Americans from the south during the Jim Crow period. The book follows three people who make their way out of the south and end up in Chicago, NYC, and LA each in a different decade. 5⭐️

This was a great one to pick up. We read this for my family book club and we all learned a ton. Definitely recommend this one.

Nonfiction that doesn‘t read like a text book is always a plus for me.

#nonfiction #thewarmthofothersuns #isabelwilkerson #bookreview

January wrap up and currently reading

#wrapup #currentlyreading #januarywrapup

Currently reading on this rainy Wednesday night

#currentlyreading #thewarmthofothersuns #frostburned #isabelwilkerson #patriciabrings #mercythompsonseries

(2010) This is the January pick for my RL book club, and y'all, it's f***ing brilliant. (Not sure I can say that at Book Club, but it's true.) It's the story of the "great migration" of black citizens from southern states northward during the early twentieth century and into the 1970's. It's an enlightening history interwoven with moving personal stories of three people who made the move. Fascinating, affecting, enthusiastically recommended.

The night clouds were closing in on the salt licks east of the oxbow lakes along the folds in the earth beyond the Yalobusha River.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

A strong sociological study of the Great Migration. Statistics and historical facts revolve around three figures who escaped the South in order to be free. To become American citizens. I'm so grateful to have read this book. #OtherSuns @megnews

This book thought me so much. I had no idea that there had been an internal migration in the US from the South to the North and the West starting during WWI and until the 60s.

Wilkerson chooses to focus on three people; Ida Mae Brandon Gladney leaving in 1937, George Swanson Starling leaving in 1945 and Robert Joseph Pershing Foster leaving in 1953. Each represents their own decade for leaving and their receiving city. I loved reading about

#BookReport.

I appreciated this book on the Great Migration and wished the facts presented were more common. I‘m so grateful for the continued opportunity to learn and then share these truths. 5 🌟 Seven Days was not bad 3.5 🌟

The Winterson‘s is a reread one story a day. In the Midst of Winter is kind of meh and I might bail but have less than 3 hours. Halfway through Nantucket and will finish The Twelve Fates today.

I saw a few reviews go up this week. I‘ve read a little but still behind. Still, I wanted to post for the rest of the group. Anymore new insights? What really stood out in this section?

Worth five solid and fascinating stars. Wilkerson follows three people who leave the South and chase a brighter day. She tells about their dreams, many of which don‘t come to fruition the way the dreamer hoped. The migrants land in Chicago, NYC, and Los Angeles. So Wilkerson discusses life in all those areas during the turbulence of the 20th century. Highly recommend!

Full review https://www.TheBibliophage.com #thebibliophage2021 #OtherSuns

I loved this nonfiction book that examines the Great migration from the South to the North and West of large swaths of African Americans starting in WWI. Wilkerson does a great job here of telling the larger story of terror, upheaval, change, and culture shock by interviewing and telling the personal stories of 3 migrants and their families…looking to escape racism and lynchings and get a new start in under warmer (and hopefully pleasanter) suns.

I have to apologize to everyone because as much as I enjoy this book when I‘m reading it, I just haven‘t picked it up much recently with other things grabbing my attention. I am woefully behind. I wanted to get the audio from my drive to NC Tuesday but can‘t find it. I‘m going to keep trying to read but I can‘t imagine staying on schedule. I still want to post for those who are keeping up. What have you learned? What would you like to share?

TBR for #wintergames2021 #teamgamesleighers
The pictured, plus The Stupidest Angel (re-read on audio), The Warmth of Other Suns (already started but twice as long as most books so I figure it counts), A Highlander's Christmas Kiss (couldn't resist a holiday bodice ripper), Merry and Bright (cheesy holiday romance), and Long Road to Mercy (recently started). Holiday beer to accompany. Let the games begin!

I can tell you this stuff still happens. My ex is Black and this happened to us the first time we bought a new car together, significantly different than my own personal previous experiences. He was so used to stuff like this but I was ticked. We left and, like Robert, I contacted the Manager & told him we could have drove off the lot with any car there but they lost that sale. Still get mad thinking about it. #othersuns

Ida Mae, George, & Robert are finally settling in to their new homes. It‘s amazing to me how similar the reaction to Great Migration was to immigration. With previous generations, even from the same race & country, not necessarily welcoming new families in. What did you think? What were your thoughts on the advice provided by the Chicago Defender & Urban League? What else did you note in your reading this week?
#OtherSuns

“Come help me,” Win said. “I can‘t blow this light out.”
George found him standing by the bulb. Win had been blowing on the bulb until he was almost out of breath.
“Win you can‘t blow it out, you got to turn it off,” George told him, reaching for the light switch and shaking his head.

#OtherSuns

(Sometimes it‘s easy to forget how new electricity actually is)

Folks, I‘m behind again. My mom had a knee replacement last week and she‘s had some rough days. Been trying to help her and got behind on my reading. But here for those who are caught up is this week‘s #OtherSuns discussion post. What did you learn this week? What are your thoughts on arrival at their destinations? I will respond tomorrow when I finish.

By some miracle I‘m caught up! I think because the writing is so good and when you find the time it‘s easy to be swept away for awhile. In this section, Ida Mae, George, and Robert make their journey out of the South. Thoughts as you read? Stand out sections? #OtherSuns

This happened so often to so many Black veterans. It burns me up. The descendants of these racist white perpetrators are the same people saying don‘t kneel during the anthem out of respect for the military which is absurd. #OtherSuns

Stand out quotes from last week‘s reading #OtherSuns

The story of Bill Russell. NBA is not a thing in Norway, but this still gives you something to think about.

#OtherSuns

Dear #OtherSuns group, it‘s been a rainy🌧 week, I‘ve been purging ♻️ and organizing, and and my mind wanders every time I start to read 📕 anything. I‘m planning to finish this section this weekend in between watching my grandbaby trick or treat 🎃 and hitting Cedar Point 🎢 on closing day and then I‘ll answer and respond to comments.
How‘s everyone else‘s reading going? What did you learn this week?

One of the ways the South fought back the leaving of African Americans to the North.

#OtherSuns

As a newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, put this question to the ruling caste: “If you thought you might be lynched by mistake,” the paper asked, “would you remain in South Carolina?”

#OtherSuns

Time for this week‘s #OtherSuns discussion. Ida, George, & Pershing are in the midst of the Great Depression. None have left the South yet. What similarities and differences have you seen in their lives so far? What have they endured so far that would bring them to a decision to join the Great Migration? What else stood out to you as you read?

That is one way of waking up. I‘m glad no one ever tried that with me

#OtherSuns

Time for this week‘s #OtherSuns discussion. Impressions so far? What stood out this week?

If you haven‘t finished this week‘s section please feel free to chime in when you can. Let me know if I missed tagging you.