Welcome to Litsy!

Listening to rain and trying to catch up with #authoramonth reading. Tagged book was the May author. It‘s a pretty fast read so maybe I can squeeze in the June author too.

@Soubhiville

This man is a genius with words. The satire was on point throughout the whole book. I may have highlighted half the book.

“If you want to know a place, you talk to its history.”

Great author selection for #authoramonth @Soubhiville
#jumpstartsummer @TheSpineView

So good! #Authoramonth @Soubhiville

Wow. What a unique and powerful story! I'm still not quite sure how I feel about the ending, but what a ride. It is, in turn, horrific and heartbreaking, infuriating, and yet so funny at times. It felt wrong to find myself laughing when the subject is so dark, but Everett writes humor well. He does it all well. This was my May #AuthorAMonth selection @Soubhiville

#AuthorAMonth #Read2025 Aaaallll the 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Aaaallll the recommendations!! I‘m afraid if I start telling you about this book, I‘ll spoil it. I would hate to do that to you. It is incredibly powerful and if you want to read a work of fiction about very real events, then I believe you should read this.

Astounding! White men are showing up dead alongside long-deceased black men in Money, Mississippi and then around the country. Out west, the newly dead white men are accompanied by long-dead Asian men. A team of Black detectives start putting the pieces together in this deeply racist town where Emmett Till was murdered. And it seems extremely elderly Mama Z, who has recorded every lynching in the United States, may be connecting the dots, too. ⬇️

The topic of this book is so serious and sad but sometimes it‘s just so darned funny! Case in point…

#authoramonth @Soubhiville

Excellent chapter in the book

#authoramonth @Soubhiville

This is such a good book

#authoramonth @Soubhiville

I‘m starting this book tonight for #authoramonth @Soubhiville

repost for @Soubhiville:

It‘s May #AuthorAMonth readers! Time to pick up our Percival Everett books.

#AuthorAMonth is a no-pressure, no-commitment Litsy challenge. The goal is to celebrate the works of a particular author each month. Authors were chosen through polls by Litsy participants. Read as many as you like, skip months when needed, it's entirely up to you!

more info on original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2861864

This was a reread for me. The story of black detectives investigating a series of murders in Mississippi, this was brilliant and darkly funny, as are all the Percival Everett books I've read.

#52bookclub25 (Final sentence is less than 6 words long)
#gottacatchemall (Marshadow: a book with a murder) @PuddleJumper

Who knew a book about mysterious revenge killings related to lynchings and other violent, racial-based crimes could be so fun? This is one of the more unique works of fiction I‘ve read. The author achieved an odd balance of dark subject matter mixed with humor. If anything, I would have loved it if the book was a bit more serious. A less-skilled writer could never have pulled this story off. I can‘t wait to read more of Everett‘s work!

Day 9 of #12Booksof2024

@Andrew65

Very glad to have fit in this brilliant pick from @Deblovestoread ‘s #AuldLangSpine list! It was a brutal listen in some ways, between the violence, racism, painfully still relevant political references, and the constant use of the n word. Yet it was also really funny and clever and absorbing. And of course it was, because Everett wrote it. My third of his books this year and I can‘t wait to keep going.

I‘m loving the season to include the holiday-related reads…but I‘m really looking forward to the new year and the return to reading “more serious” stuff. #Auldlangspine has added an extra jolt to my TBR as I‘ve been paired with @Amiable and am intrigued by a number of her favorite reads from the past year. Above are just a few of her recommendations I plan to check out in January and well into 2025!

#auldlangspine2025
#ALSpine2025

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a hard book to review only because nothing I could say could truly convey how utterly brilliant it is. The (rightful) rage the author feels is palpable. The story, though, seems almost light-hearted and ridiculous. And somehow it works beautifully. Just a stunning book all around. And the cover, that seemed so simple when I picked it up, had me in tears towards the end of the story. Definitely the best book I've read this year.

My Barnes and Noble #bookhaul from yesterday. I think I'll start The Trees first.

This was a tough read at times, but an important one.

Updated #2024ReadingBrackets:
Completed 8 books in September, 7 of which were FICTION. The clear winner, however, was “The Trees” by Percival Everett. It‘s the third book by Everett I‘ve read this year, and it‘s my favorite. The man is a genius.

I marvel at the thought process that results in a book that makes it impossible to look away from a still-unfolding culture of racist violence and plays it for laughs.
I kind of enjoyed it, after a horrified fashion: it's sickening on many levels. (And, once again P.E calls me out: murder on all sides but it's the *language* that bothers me?)
When the weird 💩 went off-the-charts crazy it lost me rather; maybe I'd just reached saturation point.

This is funniest book about lynchings I have ever read. And yes, I know how bizarre that statement sounds. It‘s a savage satire on racism and the history of violent hate crimes. (Warning: it‘s pretty graphic.) My only quibble is that the ending felt rather abrupt. Read it. Percival Everett is absolutely brilliant.

Made me snort laugh! 🤣
This book uses humour to beat you over the head about serious subjects. Very well done! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

T for A to Z challenge!

A book about racism - it should have had more meaning . It gets excellent reviews but I was disappointed - it set off well and then became ridiculous and I still have no idea what happened in the end .

I loved this book. I had never heard of Percival Everett until his recent increased publicity from his new book James and the movie American Fiction, but I had a strong sense that I'd like his work. He pulls no punches in his criticism of southern culture, white supremacists, and, towards the end, president 45. He flirts with the supernatural, but keeps everything in this world in some excellent developments, and his quips are darkly hilarious.

I have been feeling a little blue lately, but it's been a good week overall:
1. Applied to a new job. Hoping to hear back, but it felt good just to take that first step to actively apply
2. Salmon fish & chips! (empty plate shown)
3. Giveaway box from @DebinHawaii
4. Episode 1 on the big screen this weekend
5. @WildAlaskaBibliophile being silly with me. She prefers a salon, but we will occasionally revert to COVID-era self grooming.
#5joysFriday

April #bookspin #bookspinbingo @thearomaofbooks

Bookspin: tagged
Double bookspin: Star Wars: Aftermath

Book #5 in #24in24. The writing gymnastics one has to have to have dry, witty and humorous, dialogue while still having this important weight of horrible history hanging over it is astounding. I found laughs bubbling through me on one page only to be so angry and sad on the next. The care certain characters got in here when it came to their murders while there was a whole century of people who sometimes didn‘t even get names to their bodies,👇🏼

I went to hear Percival Everett speak last month at the University of South Alabama. After that, I was anxious to read one of his books. This one was a stunner. The subject matter was hard, but there were still bits of humor throughout and really solid characterization.

I'm sure I haven't caught half the name jokes in this book, but that one's kinda on the nose. It seems... a bit weird, for a book where the theme is racial (in)justice. 🤨

Two special investigators from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are called in after White residents of Money start turning up gruesomely murdered, accompanied each time by the body of a mysterious Black man, beaten beyond recognition, who subsequently vanishes. The initial broadly comic tone gradually takes on the weight of a terrible and bloody history, as someone or something demands vengeance for the dead. Unforgettable.

#12DaysofChristmas #May I read 6 five 🌟 books in May.

The Trees edged out the others by the merest of margins so here are the others that I also loved:

Notes on an Execution
Honor
The Sun Does Shine
Home Fire
Black Butterflies

@Andrew65

The New Yorker described this as 'deadly serious comedy' which I think is a perfect description. It is a dark and brutally violent book and yet I laughed a lot. Yes it is filled with stereotypes and silly character names, but it is also incredibly thought provoking and a serious look at racism and the history of lynching. Some books entertain, while others do that and stay with you for life...this is one of those. I loved it. 4.5/5 stars!

The Lorraine Motel, Tennesse

"It's a museum now", Jim said
"And it should't be", Ed said
"Why not?", Quip asked
"Its just a motel. That's what it is. That's all it is", said Ed. "People should rent out that room and sleep in that very bed and step through that very door and stand on that balcony and realise what happened there".

I always think of James Baldwin when I read Black voices and realise how much of my world view is perspective ?

"

I read some great books in June and was having trouble deciding which was the best but then I realized it didn‘t matter because The Trees was hands down the winner for the first half of the year. If you haven‘t read it you should.

Considering this is a book about lynching, it's really very entertaining. I don't know how to sell you all on this but definitely give it a try. It's very clever. I thought it was really well done.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This was on several #Bestof22 list and I can see why. It‘s perfection and gets all my stars! 💜💜💜

First book done for #20in4…about 5 ish hours of reading today.

“Money, Mississippi looks exactly like it sounds.”

I‘m at chapter 21 and am LOVING this book!

Such an inventive piece of work. At times I chuckled at the dialogues and dark humour, next, I was silent at the gruesome crime scenes and the all-important, grave issues that Everett is putting across. An unexpected read, a page-turner, and the rousing finale… I want to read more of Everett. 👍

I listened to this one and knew pretty quickly I would need a physical copy on my forever shelf. I found it in one of my local charity shops for Q9 - bargain!

“Money, Mississippi, looks exactly like it sounds.”

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

I‘m a bit late with this months #2023readingbracket (as usual). It was a really difficult choice this month between two 5⭐️ books, but in the end The Trees won out. Thanks @chasjjlee for making this reading bracket. I really like the way it works this year 😊

19/23 I finished this book a couple of days ago but needed time to let it settle. I loved it, but when I talk about it, a book about lynchings, racism, bigotry, it doesn‘t sound right to say I found it very (darkly) funny, extremely entertaining and original. But that‘s the truth. The New Yorker described it as deadly serious comedy, this is correct. Everett is extremely talented and I will certainly be picking up more books by him. 5⭐️

Wow. This will be one of my best reads of the year. I have a crazy book hangover. All the stars for this fast read. Members of the families responsible for Emmet Till‘s murder start showing up lynched with a black cadaver left at the scene. The story telescopes out from there, an incredible balancing act between violence, America‘s ongoing racist legacyand biting humor and great hard-boiled detective dialogue.

Oh my. A novel with horror and dark humor about lynching in America. Emmit Till‘s murder is avenged. Heart aches one moment, laughing the next. Some whip smart humor in this very dark novel. Like Jordan Peele taken to 11. Or more like Peele with subtlety removed. Only 60 pages in. Was supposed to return to library today. No print copy in town! Will be a late night/early morning to finish. I will be reading more Percival Everett.

Just going to start with the one on the top 📚

#tbr

I would not or could not stop talking about this wild & bonkers & heart breaking story. So, my husband said he‘d like to try to it. Since I had listened to the audio version I ordered a physical copy on the spot! I‘m not sure he‘s going to like it, but I‘ll for sure read it again. 😄