Welcome to Litsy!

I am sitting here in awe of what I just read. I was given this book in a swap years ago and it‘s been sitting on my shelf ever since because I never really felt excited to read it. Once I finally started however I fell in love with the narrator Calliope Stephanides immediately. The story that he weaved from his grandparents in Greece to his parents in Detroit to his transformation into Cal was epic, heartbreaking and gorgeous.

Recessive genes meet in a Greek family which emigrated to the US in the 1920s and produce an intersex child.

Interesting enough while I was actually reading it but I had very little urge to pick it up again after interruptions for food, sleep, family, etc. so it took a long time to get through.

January #Roll100!!!
#96 - next in the Sookie Stackhouse series (GR lists all the collections that contain Sookie short stories as part of the series, so I‘m reading all of those too, and have really liked some of the stories from other authors). I actually only have 1 or 2 Sookie novels left.
#84 - This Is Where I Leave You (I‘ve seen and enjoyed the movie)
#45 - Broken Monsters (my 2nd Beukes; I loved The Shining Girls. SO excited for this one)

This took a long time to get through because it is a lot of history (really cool history tho). It‘s inspiring, tho it‘s hard to imagine these kinds of radical actions not getting squashed today (tho I shouldn‘t discount the amazing work people are doing right now). A great Haymarket purchase and won‘t be my last.

The ominous foreshadowing, frightening killer(s), language, and (fascinating) use of parentheses make this brilliant thriller unique. I do have to admit that Hannah, the housewife whose husband takes her for granted, grates on my nerves a bit. Now that there are more chapters narrated by Mikey & others, I am enjoying it even more. #amreading #serialkillers #thriller

#poetrymatters #skeleton @TheSpineView

#poetrymatters #devil @TheSpineView

Switching mostly between the actions of a man who kills without remorse and the cop trying to get the evidence to put him away along with some of the women in their lives, this was an enthralling change of pace in my reading. Although set in Detroit in the 1970s, it reads like a western. I also thought the audio narration by Frank Muller was fantastic.

#1001books #audiobook

Been a busy month. I have been reading - though not as much as usual - just not reviewing and posting. Sigh. Here's a debut about three black gay men in Detroit. The city is as big a character as the three men. I was pretty excited at the prospect of a story of gay friendship with a Michigan setting (my home state). I wasn't disappointed. Funny, honest and raunchy (sometimes really raunchy).

Full review: https://bit.ly/rvw-Boys-1st

I wanted to like this and push through but I couldn‘t. The first few chapters are just so strangely written—even if they are hauntingly beautiful—it feels like it‘s trying to be something it‘s not. And the more I read, the more the murder/mystery aspect just feels like the background and I cannot care any less about Hannah (main character). DNF.