Welcome to Litsy!

I have a soft spot for meta-fiction where the book appears inside the book. I know some think it's gimmicky, but Mott knows what he's doing in this case. It's the perfect choice for a story about an author on a book tour who has a condition that blurs the line between fiction and reality. It satirizes how the American publishing industry capitalizes on police killings of black citizens in a bitingly funny way, but also...👇

For a huge portion of this book I was so confused! At the end it all makes sense and the message is important and the author did a great wrap up.

I chose this for my bookclub‘s March topic- dark humor, and while it has some definite dark humor there is less than I expected considering I found it on a list of humor books.

Overall a pick, even though I was lost for a bit.

If I taught contemporary literature, I‘d want to teach this book. It‘s exactly what the title says.

This is an interesting novel. Highly erratic and untrustworthy narrator. You never know what is true or part of his imagination.
Filled with dark humor, and discussions of how to hold the news stories of the day. The narrator is a bit annoying, but that was meant to be. Importantly there is a deep thread of the horrors of being Black in America.
The tone is disjointed and messy, reflecting our world.

#FirstLineFriday @ShyBookOwl

"In the corner of the small living room of the small country house at the end of the dirt road beneath the blue Carolina sky, a dark -skinned five-year-old boy sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and his small, dark arms wrapped around his legs and it took all he had to contain the laughter inside the thrumming cage of his chest."

What a fantastic opening.

I don‘t know how to review this fever dream. I read it in one go, couldn‘t put it down. Five million stars.

This powerful, thought-provoking book explores what it means to be Black in America thru two storylines, one which follows a best-selling novelist on a book tour that has him cross-crossing the country & one that follows a young boy, who may or may not be real, living in a rural town. In telling their stories,the book explores love, friendship, racism, police brutality, family, justice, & much more. Compelling, inventive, & challenging.

The librarian I volunteer for recommended this one so thought it would be the perfect book to read on the way to my shift.

#OutAndAbout #ReadingOnTheTrain #LibraryVolunteer

I don‘t want to give anything away, because this book is best gone into cold. But it is so powerful, funny, heavy, funny, important, sad, intriguing, funny. You should read this book!

I hope this is a fast read, because it‘s for book club next week. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Check out my review of “Hell of a Book” by Jason Mott on Book Interrupted‘s Manuscript Monday. https://www.bookinterrupted.com/post/manuscript-monday-hell-of-a-book Also, we‘ve picked our books for next seasons podcast. We are doing all Banned Books and the pictures this year are pretty funny (as usual), so check out the home page of the website to see them.

I‘ve read a few books this year with a similar perspective/theme. I love his voice in this book, it‘s poignant and timely while being entertaining. He makes you think about scary issues that plague or current times, yet at that same time you laugh and relate to the characters

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I found this book challenging and excellent. I went in almost blind and I‘m glad I did. The author treats the reader with intelligence, which I love. The vision the author had for this book is unique and so, so effective. I HIGHLY recommend that everyone read it.

This is the first book in awhile to hold my interest and not let go. It‘s surreal. It‘s gripping. It‘s self-referential in a way that puts it in conversation with itself and its readers.

It‘s really hard to describe but easy to see why author Jason Mott won the National Book Award for the novel: it‘s truly a hell of a book. I can‘t wait to meet the author-which feels really weird to say about the author of a book featuring a horrible book tour!

Succeeds in communicating the endemic racism of the US and the poisonous effect it has on generations of Black children in a way which is moving and subtle. It's also frequently very funny.

Book 114🎧 3.5⭐️

The gift of invisibility. A very thought provoking book. It shined a different light on some very current issues and it was refreshing to hear this authors view, and his way of story telling.

I did get a little confused with the stories going back and forth but it started coming all together at the end.

Insightful and heartbreaking 💔

We need to do better.

I enjoy books that have a unique take and I like what Mott did. He left the book open ended leaving you wondering, but not just about the ending, the whole damn book. It‘s a character driven book, but we don‘t know the character‘s name. It‘s about being a black man in America. It‘s about an introverted author on a book tour. It‘s about life experiences and trying to move on. It‘s about mental health. It‘s about a lot, in a very unique style.

A quirky book!

I finished May #bookspin over the weekend and I still haven‘t decided if it‘s truly a pick or just a so so. A hard book to review because I didn‘t really connect to it and the magic realism was hard to get past. However I also thought it was very creative, well written and had some great observations.

This started with a laugh and I was amused for 100 pages. It bogged down in the middle and I wondered what all the fuss was about. The last 70 pages were a rush and left me in tears by the end. That‘s a roller coaster ride of emotions to pack into only 320 pages.

Haven‘t been able to read much lately, but I‘m trying to finish this one for bookclub before the end of the month. Really good so far, just can‘t concentrate on anything.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Is this a thoughtful musing on racial injustice or a heavy-handed, self-indulgent dose of metafiction? Both? I‘m conflicted. Parts are clever and meaningful while others are quite vexatious; the narrator, unreliable. It‘s stylistically busy, though I do appreciate how the stories converge. How this won the #NationalBookAward, idk, though. Should make for an interesting #bookclub discussion, regardless!

The rest of my HPB haul. Harbach's novel of baseball & Melville. Perfect timing! I'd never heard of this McCoy before, but intrigued. I've been meaning to read more Tyler & this is frequently cited as a favorite. And on the clearance shelf, the tagged book for just a couple of dollars. No dust jacket, but irresistible regardless!

👀🐰 #audiowalk #bookclub #dogsoflitsy

May #bookspin pick. Coincidentally I started this one over the weekend. I‘ve been looking forward to it for awhile now.

Love this quote…

Loss, denial, grief and anger are all examined in this imaginative and creative look at what it means to be black in today‘s America.
Simultaneously laugh out funny and incredibly moving, this National Book Award winner for Fiction (2021) is an eye-opener for all.

Witty and sarcastic writing, but with a deep and disturbing message. Timely and poignant. Solid recommend.

My haul from Semicolon Bookstore today. I had to buy the tagged book after hearing @annebogel rave about it several times. I‘ve been meaning to read Chloe Brown forever. And I got Miles Morales from the store‘s “free books” shelf! (Bonus bookmark from After-Words, another shop we visited today.)

Boosted my mood after a long day with a stop to the library. 💗 I probably should have saved this spree for 10 days from now when I have vacation from work! But hey, no time like the present.

Basically all of these are from recent Litsy recommendations. Where should I start?

I‘m surprised I haven‘t seen this hyped more - it‘s absolutely brilliant. Mott‘s phrasing is unique and wonderful, and the story itself is fresh. Hell of a book is right - Highly recommend!✨✨

This book kicks off with a jaunty comic tone, but a sense of foreboding soon creeps in. An author on a book tour can't remember what his book is about; the interviews he gives are a blur. He loses himself in alcohol and casual flings, ignoring news of a shooting. He writes off The Kid, a child with strikingly dark skin, as a figment of his very special imagination, but The Kid is more than that: a truth too painful to face, that cannot be ignored.

This is definitely a Pick for me. Debating between 4 or 5 🌟. His use of the perfect witty words had me chuckling. The whole time reading it, I think I know where it is going but never 100% sure. It was a bit disjointed for me but at the same time so poignant that it literally felt like my heart was cracking in half.

I'm never going to be able to explain how awesome this book is. The #audiobook is quite amazing. I'm glad my bonus IRL book club picked this. It doesn't get nearly enough hype.

#DoubleSpin done! @TheAromaofBooks

The first few sentences left me laughing out loud and ready for an insightful and perhaps hopeful tale of a novelist that wrote a Hell of a Book. Instead, it was a heartbreaking reminder of the injustice and injury suffered by many. I was not always ready to hear the truth and trouble of the author and the boy, but Mott‘s storytelling made me linger, listen and learn a little. It is a pick with 4+⭐️. Be ready when you read.

Wow! I don‘t know why this book is not getting more attention. Beautiful, but sad. 4.5 stars.

"But happy? No....all you can do is hate your past and, by proxy, hate yourself."

A hard book to describe but is a must read.

“Anything worthwhile takes time. Maybe that‘s what time is for: to give meaning to the things we do; to create a context in which we can linger in something until, finally, we have given it…something we can never get back: time. And once we‘ve invested the most precious commodity that we will ever have, it suddenly has meaning and importance. So maybe time is just how we measure meaning. Maybe time is how we best measure love.”

Powerfully reflects the present in my part of the world this week, which is the whole point. 😔

High marks for creativity!

I really enjoyed Mott's book. Somehow he found the means to write a book that is irreverent, while remaining serious; funny, with an undercurrent of sadness and dread.

🚨Kindle bargain alert 🚨

I check my very long kindle wishlist every few days to see if there are any bargains. There has been nothing for ages and then today 4 99p BARGAINS ON INE DAY!

All of the books in the photo above are currently 99p in case anyone has them on there list too 😊

Wow…just…wow. I have ever had a book leave me speechless.

Unpopular review ~~
I get what this book is trying to say and like the message. However, I had trouble getting into the storyline.
This book is between soso and pick to me.

Book 13

Hell of a Book by Jason Mott started off compelling because of its witty point of view-an author on a publicity circuit about his book, Hell of a Book. Both books are ultimately about police brutality and scratch the surface of its emotional weight on children and families. The original novel is short on story and becomes long-winded and discursive but is worth the read.

3.5 stars

Books about books! Does it get any better?

bookriot.com/books-about-books-for-bibliophiles

Went to my favorite tea store to replenish my stash. And since it‘s located next door to my favorite bookstore, I stopped in there to pick up two new books. And then I came home and made cookies. Now I‘m on the couch with my favorite fleece blanket, drinking tea and eating cookies and reading. Tea, books, cookies, and couch. I may actually have tears in my eyes from the perfection of this day. 🙌🏼

“But, in the end, as it is with all of us, he could not be protected from the world.”

This is a book about how hard it is to grow up as a black person in the US. It is also satirical and clever. It has different storylines. It‘s a book in a book. It‘s funny and sad. There is even some magical realism. Or is there? It‘s a hell of a book and a good one to finish the year with.

Wow! This book has left me feeling drained after reading it, but it was such a creative, emotional read that has me still connecting the dots and thinking about all the various topics presented.

Jason Mott has delivered a book about race that I can say is unlike anything I've ever read. It definitely lived up to its name for me.

Like many others, I‘m surprised this didn‘t make the Tournament of Books shortlist. Maybe they decided winning the National Book Award was enough! Not sure it‘s one of my top favorites of the year, but it is clever and thought-provoking.