Welcome to Litsy!

Adiche's father died during the covid lockdown.

This really is Notes on Grief. Each chapter is short. Sometimes it's a memory of her father, others a particular feeling in a moment of grief. It's snippets of seconds in time, conversations, meaningful looks, hindsight.

This is a grief companion. Adiche isn't here to guide you, or help you, it's purely her notes on her grief for her father and its beautiful.

This was a really impressive collection of writing. It feels like Adichie both strips away and calls out the bullshit surrounding grief, pointing out the useless things other people say and do and it seems more of a rallying cry to not deal with grief how other people think you should, to be posed and graceful, but to truly allow yourself to feel it, wallow in it and truly experience it, rather than quickly trying to overcome it.

Part 1 of 3: My favorites from the 144 books I read (in no particular order). I don‘t include rereads. I‘d love to hear your favorites!

1) Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano
2) Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
3) Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
4) Tom Lake by Ann Patchett
5) Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

"I am writing about my father in the past tense, and I cannot believe I am writing about my father in the past tense."

"Grief is not gauzy; it is substantial, oppressive, a thing opaque. The weight is heaviest in the mornings, post-sleep: a leaden heart, a stubborn reality that refuses to budge. I will never see my father again. Never again. It feels as if I wake up only to sink and sink. "

I wish I read this one last year when I lost my father.

I‘d been looking forward to/dreading this one for years. I waited until the 25th anniversary of my mom‘s death. Adichie writes beautiful & intimate descriptions of grief. Her words echoed my own feelings back to me.

“Grief is not gauzy; it is substantial, oppressive, a thing opaque. The weight is heaviest in the mornings, post-sleep: a leaden heart, a stubborn reality that refuses to budge."

“We don't know how we will grieve until we grieve.”

Grief is so very personal. Adichie writes her personal story about losing her father and the grief that followed. It‘s a very intimate story. Maybe I was looking for consolation or similarities because I lost my father too, but I didn‘t really find them. That doesn‘t make the book less good. Adichie‘s recount is very touching and I still ended up a little teary. Like her, I still am “my father‘s daughter”.

#52books #BookWithADedication

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this book. The book was very personal for the author, yet it was still relatable. It was far too short, in my opinion, but maybe that's what made it have such an impact. It was amazing, one I would gladly listen to again.

I'm not going to go into a lot of personal detail, but there have been a few grief memoirs that have been released the past couple of years that I have been intrigued by. This is the only one that I have been able to actually read. H Is For Hawk & Crying in H Mart are both on my TBR shelves. They will be there when I am ready. I was able to read this one due to the brevity. It was no less memorable for being short & certain passages contain (cont)

At another book talk at the 92Y!

This was good. Adichie writes about losing her beloved father during Covid lock down.
It reminds me that grief is a strange and personal thing.

I got my library card renewed. This is a short one and I love her. So far good.

#alphabetgame #LetterM #LetterN

I read the Mavis Gallant book of Montreal Stories while in Montreal years ago- I bought it there. We were staying in the city for a wonderful week, right near McGill. Notes on Grief I read when published. I recommend both books.

A short and moving read.

“How is it that the world keeps going, breathing in and out unchanged, while in my soul there is a permanent scattering?”

#grief #death #mourning #loss

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 “For the rest of my life, I will live with my hands outstretched for things that are not there”
A deeply profound book. Recommend audiobook as her voice is as comforting as her words.

I recently lost my grandpa. He was to my mom what I think Adichie's dad was to her. I'm sending her a copy of this short book because I think it does a beautiful job at dealing with the after effects of losing a loved one.

A great explanation on grief and how you don't ever get over it, it's like a slow burn.
A bit of over kill with descriptive explanations sometimes but over all a good book. Short audio book.

#readingthelibrary #librarybook #reading #femaleauthor #readathon #readyforthefuture #read #grief #currentlyreading #audiobook #audiobooks #litsyfamily #litsyfamily #readyforthefuture

September isn‘t a great month for me. Both my cousin and best friend were born in and died in September (2017, 2020), a few days after their birthdays.

I love every last thing Adichie writes - she's truly gifted. This one was super personal as she lost her father during the Covid lockdown and turned her grief into this short book that packs an emotional punch. 😢 I can't wait for her to publish another novel.

Short, precise. She paints such an acute image of her grief. A strong recommend.

Have you ever realised that you have only one chance to read a book for the first time so you want to do it right? In bed, warm, mind cleared, phone off, so that you can fully absorb the words. Scour the pages and be one with the text. This book is beautifully painful (and I think I have been overusing this description of late). It is my equivalent of Hazel‘s ‘An Imperial Affliction‘ in The Fault In Our Stars.

Today I woke up to good news, that my book will arrive! So getting out of bed in this cold winter was a bit more bearable. I cannot wait to get back home and read this. P.S, the delivery guy was rude 😒

This past December my uncle unexpectedly passed (not Covid related) and it has been a struggle ever since, I feel this book might wreck me but also rebuild me.