Welcome to Litsy!

A great collection of short stories.

For the rest of my review, visit my Vlog at:

https://youtube.com/shorts/vsUc2FrtdB4?feature=share

Enjoy!

THE LACTATION CONSULTANT'S OFFICE is in the Boys' Quarters. We squeeze past two jeeps in the narrow driveway to get to the one-room office at the back of the main house. The signage is lopsided, dusty, but my doctor said Dr. Laoye is good at what he does.

I liked this strange collection of stories - another satisfying read from the #TOB2025 longlist that I may not have picked up otherwise. In some ways they reminded me of Carmen Machado‘s story collection that I loved - bizarre events presented in a matter of fact style that I am really drawn to.

I‘ve tried twice and read a few of the stories. It‘s on several long lists for prizes but I uncharacteristically have decided to bail on it mid-read.

Well, here I am again squirreling around with my books. This one was available on Libby as an ebook, and I impulsively downloaded it, thinking I would try a story or two. And shock and awe—-I‘m enjoying another short story collection! Ghostroots is all I want to read currently 😆 Thanks to #tob25

When the National Book Awards shortlist was announced, this was one of two on the fiction list I had not yet read, and the only one I hadn't heard of. It also happened to be available right away on Libby. I was hooked from the first.
Short stories of the eerie, unsettling, and sometimes horrific, set in Lagos, Nigeria. Aguda knows how to ensnare with just a few short sentences, how to skew the everyday just enough to shift reality... cont'd

“A long time ago, there was a woman who lived elsewhere in the city. What is a house - this woman wondered, as her husband dragged her body, like a mop, over faded linoleum floors - but a pressure cooker, a vent pipe screaming steam?“

I'm really into this collection so far - full of arresting, unsettling imagery. And I just love this cover!

This collection of stories set in Nigeria gives a flavor of place and culture. There are magical realism elements in most of the stories, which I wish had been carried all the way through, as they‘re very effective. Good collection.

NBA longlist, fiction