Welcome to Litsy!

I'm calling it. March was fun but my brain has moved on to April. Going to Europe on the 1st (work) so I need to pack. And decide which books should come. Not taking forever books so I already started the tagged for IRL book club. Also put my #SundayBuddyRead on my kindle. See. Someone's ready for April.

#BookSpin #DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

I did it! #ToB2023 #ToB #ToBCompletist

Am on an airplane ✈️
Hoping this means I can get this done!

There‘s a lot going on in this Booker prize winning novel. Sometimes too much, especially with so much brutally gruesome material. Once I got used to the style it did flow better for me, and I did like the surprisingly hopeful way things were wrapped up. Still took me a couple weeks to get through, though. Will definitely be interesting to see how this does in #tob23!

I did it, I finished this book and I am glad I gave it another try. It is really good.

A Sri Lankan photographer dies and has a week (seven moons) to try come at peace with his life and his death in wartorn Sri Lanka. A typical #Bookerprize winner, and a worthy one.

With this one I finished the #ToB23 shortlist (bailing on two). I‘ll share my wrap-up soon.

I am diving into this one today! Finished Mouth2Mouth last night (um… Still thinking about it) so I am almost to completist status for #ToB2023. Then I will rank from favorite to least.

This one is my favorite cover. 🌟

#WeeklyForecast 08/23

Just started Newcomer and again I am loving a Japanese mystery! I‘m working on my courage to try the tagged one, the last one for the #ToB23. Checkout 19 is from the longlist and I hope to get to that one too!

I‘d had this on my list since the Booker and I‘m glad I read it. Different from the style of book I usually gravitate towards, and I appreciated that. At its heart is a beautiful expression of love and friendship in the context of a culture of discrimination and a horrific civil war. #ToB2023

You want to ask the universe what everyone else wants to ask the universe. Why are we born, why do we die, why anything has to be. And all the universe has to say in reply is: I don‘t know, arsehole, stop asking. The Afterlife is as confusing as the Before Death, the In Between is as arbitrary as the Down There. So we make up stories because we‘re afraid of the dark.

I am an official #tob23 completist! 🎉 This went between a pick and a low pick, but I think I agree with @Ruthiella that 3 or 4 moons would‘ve been enough. I do feel I understand the civil war in Sri Lanka better 👍🏻, but the plot was a tad(!) over complicated.

Almeida is a queer photojournalist in 1980s Sri Lanka. He has just been killed and has awakened in the afterlife. He has seven nights to make peace with his mistakes before moving on.

Trying to manage some anxiety around some medical stuff I‘m in the middle of (nothing dire, still stressful), so I did the logical thing and went to The Strand. The walk combined with picking up these two books definitely helped! Seven Moons is for #tob23 and Liberation Day is a signed copy that jumped in my bag - am a huge Saunders fan and had been meaning to pick it up ☺️

This was a weird one. My first thought was OH NO, HE'S USING THE SECOND PERSON... make it stop!! 😱😱 And then I spent a moon or two confused. Eventually this surreal tangle of stories kind of won me over.

I was hoping to learn more about Sri Lanka than I did. This is a montage of atrocities, a collage of corruption and violence, a mosaic of disillusion and apathy. As a novel it was more artistic than educational.

Still, it was different.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

We must all find pointless causes to live for, or why bother with breath?

Because, on reflection, once you have seen your own face and recognised the colour of your eyes, tasted the air and smelled the soil, drunk from the purest fountains and the dirtiest wells, that is the kindest thing you can say about life. It's not nothing.

Some Batik?

I‘ve now read 9 from the #booker2022 longlist.

I found this a little awkward on audio, opening with heavy satire. But I stuck with it, took it slow, through all those momentum-deadening dialogues, and I feel rewarded. It comes around. It has an overall structural arch that I can appreciate in hindsight and that made it all worth it. I got attached, and I got to really like Maali and his posthumous self in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1990.

I admire this novel for its craft and creativity. I see why it won the Booker Prize last year. I learned a great deal about Sri Lanka. It has some profound observations about war, love,betrayal, and forgiveness. I think this will stay with me for a long time. 4 🌟
#TOB23 #52BOOKCLUB23 #setinwar
@LauraReads @KarenUK @britt_brooke @CarolynM @Smarkies @LeeRHarry @Clwojick @BookBelle84 @Jennifer8 @AshleyHoss820 @Read4life @Bluebird

I just couldn‘t get into this. It felt like a zombie movie to me. I have too many books to read to waste time reading something I don‘t enjoy. #Allhailthebail
The cover is beautiful though.

I think it could have been 3 or 4 moons instead of 7 and none the worse. Maali is a supposedly apolitical photographer in late 20th century Sri Lanka who narrates the story from the afterlife. He documented some of the worst atrocities of the civil war. Is that what got him killed? Maybe I, like Maali, became numbed by endless brutality presented, but I found this Booker winner too long, too repetitive and occasionally ponderous. #ToB2023

Given the tepid Litsy response and my own less than stellar history with Booker winners, I fully expected to hate this and bail fairly early. But I didn‘t hate it! I didn‘t love it, either, but I liked this solid look at sectarian violence in 1980s Sri Lanka. It‘s overly long and I would have wanted it tightened up, but good enough for a low pick from me. Plus, cool cover. #tob2023

When this won the Booker I wasn‘t interested enough to pick it up. #tob23 made me give it a try and ultimately I am glad I did. I didn‘t love it, it could easily have been a couple of moons shorter and been all the better for it, but there parts that I couldn‘t look away from.

On a whole, this was a good read with an interesting narrative. It had a lot of insightful moments about people and their motivations and power struggles. But it would definitely have helped to know more about Sri Lanka and the war.

I have no clue why this has a blank gray audible book cover. I started on January 1. It‘s heavy satire which is tough on audio. I can appreciate it, and find it interesting. but I‘m not really enjoying it. #booker2022

1 Nov-9 Dec 22
#Bookerlonglist 6
Disappointed this won the Booker as I found it a real slog. I quite like magic realism but this was tedious and I found it difficult to decipher what was going on. Possibly did not help that I knew so little about the Sri Lankan civil war. None of the characters interested me and the plot went nowhere.

This has some mixed reviews but I really liked it! It‘s long for sure but the audio flowed well and didn‘t feel too dragging for me. The ending was very satisfying and I thought it was a very satisfying ending for an MC who didn‘t believe in anything. I also thought the second person narration worked really well - a hard thing to get right without it feeling pretentious and forced.

A lovely way to have spent a cold MN evening.

#ToB23

I started this one on audiobook, but it just didn‘t gel for me. I preferred the print which I saw the snarky and sarcastic bits better. The second person point of view didn‘t completely work for me. Liked it but didn‘t love it.

I found this book clever enough, with bits of stellar writing & whip-smart dialogue. It was too long, but my main problem is with the emptiness of its politics. Maybe I'm biased because my family is Jaffna Tamil, though we are Malaysian. I've not experienced any of this first hand, but have heard about it & lost close & extended family members to SL state violence. Maali's glib nihilism as a photographer who has seen it all felt aimless. #TOB2023

#ToB23 #ToB2023

I had a tough time with this one. I couldn't connect with it, and at first I was enjoying the format, which was almost like an interconnected short story book, but as it progressed I became bored and had to push myself to finish.

There were some thought provoking ideas presented and some lovely writing. In the end though, it just really wasn't for me.

So many of my library holds have come in at once. Going to start with this one as I‘ve been looking forward to it for ages

1 The Lonely Hearts Hotel
2 What is Not Yours is not Yours
3 Caleb‘s Crossing
4 Parable of the Sower
5 NW
6 The Luminaries
7 Oranges are not the only Fruit
8 Gustov Sonata
9 The Master Butchers Singing Club
10 For the Wolf
11 The Master
12 Holding
13 Hotel World
14 A Place Called Winter
15 The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
16 Lincoln in the Bardo
17 Library
18 Library
19 Audio
20 Audio
December #bookspin #doublespin @TheAromaofBooks

WOW!! Excellent novel about Sri Lanka in the 1980s and the Afterlife, both of which are filled with warring factions and violence. Surprising funny in parts but also quite thrilling https://cannonballread.com/2022/11/the-seven-moons-of-maali-almeida-a-novel-elci...

There is wisdom and beauty in this book: an appreciation of life in the darkest of tales.

Evil is not what we should fear. Creatures with power acting in their own interest: that is what should make us shudder.

Last night was wonderful. In previous years, the Southbank Centre has hosted readings from the authors before the result. Listening to this year's winner, Shehan Karunatilaka, and last year's winner, Damon Galgut was both thought provoking and entertaining (they both have great wit). Sara Collins was a brilliant host and her knowledge and understanding of the books meant great questioning.

"Evil is not what we should fear. Creatures with power acting in their own interest: that is what should make us shudder." Apt for UK politics at present.

Congratulation to Shehan Karunatilaka.

Loved this book - a great read.

Just been announced.

I‘m going to read this one later in the week, but I‘m even more excited to read it now than before.

What do you think of this winning the Booker Prize this year?

Well darn, I couldn‘t really get into this one. Had to push myself to finish. Satire is often a miss for me (though I LOVED The Trees) so not all that surprised. It just felt so busy and very dialogue-heavy.

If you‘re a fan of The Sympathizer &/or A Brief History of Seven Killings (both books that I appreciated, but didn‘t love), you might enjoy this more than I did. Great cover art. #Booker2022

I loved this conversations with the dead-style exploration of the complex history of Sri Lanka‘s Civil War. Magical realism is often hit or miss for me, but in this instance it‘s a real winner. This is a zesty, vibrant, grim, critical exploration of the meaningless nature of conflict. It‘s not perfectly paced, but it‘s original, challenging, and engaging reading in equal measure. I wouldn‘t be sad if this won the Booker.

#Booker2022Shortlist
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A photographer in civil war-torn Sri Lanka that dies & wakes up in the afterlife being given seven moons / days to figure out whether he will choose ‘the Light‘. It describes the not so distant atrocities committed in Sri Lanka. At the same time it takes a very honest and personal look at the life of the Maali. Another book that‘ll stick with me this year.

#Booker2022 shortlist! I am shocked that The Colony didn‘t make it. Four of the six were among my favorites and the other two (tagged and Glory) I haven‘t read yet.

I was laughing while reading the live chat on the announcement video. They started late and someone wrote “This is taking longer than it took to read Small Things Like These!” and someone else “EastEnders is on at 7:30, hurry-up!”

3 out of 6 is better than my usual strike rate!

#Booker2022
#Bookerchat

The last of the sweet peas (probably) and the last Booker from the longlist (probably) before the announcement.
I loved this one, kind of a crime story but told from the point of view of the dead man. Given "seven moons" before he has to make a decision on the afterlife, Maali tries to work out what led to his death. Problem is, too many suspects when you've taken work from all sides in a murky civil war (Sri Lanka, 1990).

#BookerLonglist2022

If you had a spirit on your back whispering in your ear, how would you possibly know? And, even if you did, how could you separate that voice from every other whisper?

#BookerLonglist2022

My fancy pudding reminded me of something...

'We have our job to do.'
'What's our job?'
'We protect the innocent,' says Detective Cassim.
'I thought we protect the powerful.'
'Do we need to discuss this now?' Cassim takes his finger off the button, which causes the doors to close. He curses and sticks his arm out to block the lift's jaws.
'I'm confused about another thing.'
'Get in the lift now!'
'Are we investigating this? Or covering this up?"

The afterlife is a tax office and everyone wants their rebate.

#Booker2022 #4Daystogo #ShortlistSoon

#ArtfulAugust Day 26: #TitleWithPersons - I have been trying to find this Booker Prize finalist in bookstores while in the US to no avail. 😭 Maali Almeida, you are trez elusive.