Welcome to Litsy!

Oof. This was rough—from injustice and political corruption to violence. The title doesn‘t so much describe a season of good things, but rather comments on the impermanence of good things.

I read this based on the strength of Adebayo‘s first book, Stay with Me—which was SO GOOD. This didn‘t quite measure up. It follows two characters from vastly different circumstances: 16-year-old Eniola (“a boy who looks like a man”), whose family struggles ⤵️

@bookish_wookish
My holiday swap! I can‘t wait to start this book! Thank you @BarkingMadRead
#littlechristmasswap

3.5 out of 5

I‘m not sure how I feel about this book, but feel that so-so fits best. I started before going on vacation, but had some trouble getting into the story (that might have been my vacation mood). When I started reading it again once I got back, I still found it hard to get into the story, but if I read a lot at the time I get into it.

A book about two families, one rich and one poor, and how their actions effect each other.

#BookReport

Not one of my better reading weeks. I guess that is what happens when your away on vacation.

I‘ve just read a little bit of this one

#TBRTatot #BookerLongList

#SummersEndReadathon Book 5 of 20

This was slow to start but picked up after 50 pages or so. Told from two perspectives: one a family barely making it day to day and the other a family with wealth and education in Nigeria. The title suggests hope to me but there is very little to be found in these pages. 3.5 🌟

Opens as a quilt of Nigerian life that crawls along with problems and subtleties, and for 2 hours of audio time I was kind of bored, but then it came alive for me. Suddenly i somehow became invested these characters and their families and problems. The book escalates more, becoming a satisfying and striking novel. #booker2023

#TBRTarot

Been trying to pick this back up and the tarot card has added incentive.

An effective and affecting story of two people on different ends of Nigerian society: a school boy whose family is struggling to pay for food, rent, and school fees, and a young trainee doctor from a wealthy family trying to find out what she wants from a life full of societal and familial expectations. This one started slow, but the characters are so fully and genuinely realized that they drew me in. Cont'd...

1st #booker2023 was a brilliant novel so hope it will make the shortlist. Set in Nigeria it tells the story of 2 people whose lives differ. Eniola a teenage boy whose father is made redundant + life falls apart as his family struggle to pay bills, + wuraola is a junior Dr and daughter of a prosperous family but abt to marry a man who may not be right for her. The storytelling is absorbing and characters one's who I didn't want to leave at the end.

My latest audiobook, on different economic worlds in Nigeria. Started slow and plain, for like 2 hours, but then it picked up. I‘m really into it now, about half way through. #booker2023

Tifé rolled her eyes as she speared a piece of catfish. “Who told you there's a special feeling? She did not acquire a new finger. She's just wearing a ring on one of her old fingers.“

I love Tifé and wish there was more of her in this book!

Another Booker longlister (#6/13) that I wasn‘t particularly looking forward to. I grew a bit jaded with African literature being about poverty, the mistreatment of women or civil war. (Generalising much, me?!)

Whilst this book was really all about those first two things, I found it quite readable as it had a dark humour running through it (a bit reminiscent of My Sister, The Serial Killer).

But then the ending happened and I hated that bit.

Reading this for our Booker panel. I didn‘t love it honestly but I gave it a “pick” because I think it was overall a good book. I felt disconnected from the characters which is odd for me bc I typically love Nigerian literature and often have strong emotional reactions to these types of books/content. Reading it through the lens of our Booker panel, it was a solid meh for me. Full review when we post our panel reviews

I found it difficult to connect to this novel. The inconsistent pacing made it difficult for me to really ‘get into the story‘. In a story littered with misfortune and trauma, only one of the characters sparked my empathy. I felt this was a story that was doing many things I‘d read before, but not quite as well? It was saved by the blockbuster vibes of the final section but even this felt a little convenient as a ‘bringing things together‘ for me.

This was a fantastic book, set in Nigeria, two young people, one poor and the other well off. The course of their lives change over weeks. It has politics, corruption, class, and family relationships.

I am really enjoying this book, only about halfway through it.

An absorbing, brutal novel about Nigeria. Hard to read at times but worth the effort. The characters felt real and I grew quite attached to some of them; Wuraola especially has my heart.

This really grew on me as I read more and more. Early on, I thought it might be a DNF because I was finding the one story line to be really slow. But the compelling story turned out to be SUPER compelling and the boring one turned out to be quite good. And they wove together in a very intriguing way.

For some reason I just couldn‘t connect to this book at all, when I put it down I wasn‘t to keen on picking it up again. I have been sick the last couple of weeks so I think this may be a me thing rather than anything to do with the book. I only finished it as it was due back to the library or I would‘ve left it for another time which would‘ve been better
Can‘t fault anything the author did but it was probably the wrong time to read this

Now Available! 🥳🎉📚
A Spell of Good Things by Ayobami Adebayo

Book Review- https://www.boleybooks.com/2023//a-spell-of-good-things/

#boleybooks #aspellofgoodthings #ayobamiadebayo #bookbeast #bookreview #netgalley #bookbuds #bookchat

I'm a Saturday Librarian.😁 I'm cataloging this cart of books coming out on Tuesday.

This was a slow burn but it is really very good. This follows 2 families from very different circumstances in modern Nigeria. One narrator is training to be a doctor while the other is struggling to even pay school fees. And they all get caught up in politics.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

Pub date is 2/7/23
#ARC #Netgalley

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚
#boleybooks #aspellofgoodthings #ayobamiadebayo #bookbeast #netgalley #bookbuds
What are you reading? 😊