Welcome to Litsy!

A essay about friendship, how undervalued it is in our society, and its potential for making society more open & egalitarian, & less family-centered. Based on his deep, cultivated friendship with ÉdouardLouis and Didier Éribon. With quotes from Barthes, Foucault, Wilhelm Reich, etc. Can't say I agree with everything, but it is thought-provoking & pleasant to read.

#LGBTQI+

I found this recording of an evening at Symphony Space with Justin Vivian Bond on Hoopla today. I became aware of Justin through the movie Shortbus. I have been interested in reading their memoir Tango, but haven't yet. This audio gave some insight into the contents of the book and their writing process.

In this book three seemingly separate storylines come together to help start a discussion about book censorship and how early young people can handle LGTBQ+ content.

It is very slow at work right now so I‘m going to start this and see how far I get before anyone else enters the building.

Middle grade novel with 2 story lines: one where two boys develop feelings for each other and begin a relationship, and the other where a 5th grader's mom challenges a book the class is reading because the main characters might be gay. And a 3rd storyline where we get excerpts from the book that's being challenged.

“…there‘s something important about going back to books you‘ve already read. You will always find new thing inside or have new reaction to characters you thought you already knew well. You learn more about the story and you also learn more about yourself as a reader, and where you are in life.”

This was hard to read at first in the midst of fielding challenges at my own library. Ultimately, it was joyful and satisfying. I really ought to read more Levithan; I always love what he does with narrators and points-of-view.

(Middle Grade) If you want to see me get on my soapbox just bring up book banning. Gah! Not all books are for all readers so if something offends you leave it for someone else. So simple. Loved Ban This Book (Alan Gratz) and this one gave me similar vibes but a different perspective.

There aren't many Equatorial Guinea novels and beggars can't be choosers, but still... I wished the translation flowed better, and the writing was less didactic. It's probably going to be a soft pick nonetheless.

#EquatorialGuinea #Africa #LGBTQI+

Picture of the writer from Wikipedia

I cannot even recall how this book came into my life but I am so glad it did. The trauma cleaning business was fascinating to learn about but this is also a biography of a woman, Sandra Pankhurst, who has spent her life, in some ways, healing (cleaning up) her own frequently messy trauma. The author‘s use of language and perspective honors Sandra and those whose lives she has impacted. This is a beautiful read I will not forget. #biography #lgbTqi