Litsy

The Last Days of Caf� Leila: A Novel | Donia Bijan

pick

Beautiful, all of it. The lives and history of all involved with Cafe Leila. The family history and the love and heartache of this family. The food, oh my gosh. Even the bratty teenager. The love of a homeland. The rich and beautiful culture of Iran along with its terror.

4 likes

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian

Martyr!: A novel | Kaveh Akbar

#BookBracket2025 was very hard for July! I read six 5-star books, including two audio adaptations of all-time favourites, Anne of Green Gables and Dykes to Watch Out For, plus TJR's 1980s lesbian astronaut book and Alison Bechdel's brand new graphic novel. I decided Martyr! was the winner because it's so beautiful/complex, but I had to sneak in DTWOF as a wild card because it was so well done. It was so fun seeing my old comic friends in new form!

32 likes

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian

Martyr!: A novel | Kaveh Akbar

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Don't know how to describe this except as a masterpiece, one of the best books I've ever read. It's got the most beautiful, insightful, poetic writing and deep feeling for its characters and their crises (material, spiritual, existential, relational). Reading this only once feels like just scratching the surface of its meaning and beauty. Also: queer love!!

"Love was a room that appeared when you stepped into it. Cyrus...stepped."

ChaoticMissAdventures I agree! I loved this so much even through the darkness. He is an amazing writer. 2w

Suet624 I loved this one too and agree that it requires a second read at least. 2w

Tamra I enjoyed it too! However, the group I read it with wasn‘t thrilled. 2w

See All 9 Comments

Christine I have put this one off for so long, you are making me want to remedy that! 2w

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @Suet624 especially knowing the reveal!! 2w

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @ChaoticMissAdventures yeah it had some dark themes but didn't make me feel dark, you know? 2w

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @Tamra to each their own i guess! 2w

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian @Christine hope you love it too! 2w

Kitta Oooh maybe I‘ll add to my TBR, I‘ve been unsure about it for a while. 2w

46 likes3 stack adds9 comments

danx

Persepolis | Marjane Satrapi

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Beautiful work. Equal parts adorable and harrowing. How had I not read it before?! By chance I found this on a sale table the week of the (most recent) bombings of Iran, what a context to be reading it in. History rhymes indeed, and the people always suffer for it.

Chrissyreadit I think we need High Schoolers to read more books about people from other perspectives and experiences and somehow it feels like there is less and less exposure. This is a great book! 4w

britt_brooke Sooo good! 4w

danx @Chrissyreadit absolutely agree; instead they have a tendency to end up banned unfortunately. 3w

16 likes3 comments

TheBookgeekFrau

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books | Azar Nafisi

so-so

The history of Iran just before, and following the revolution was interesting. I didn't care for the writing, however; and it was too long.

45/80

#ReadingMyTBR #Reading2025 @DieAReader

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

#MonthlyNonfiction2025 @julieclair

Karisimo If you want to revisit this time/place, a good fiction story is

The Lion Women of Tehran

1mo

TheBookgeekFrau @Karisimo Thanks! 😊 1mo

DieAReader 🥳 Next up!! 1mo

TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 1mo

43 likes4 comments

CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian

Martyr!: A novel | Kaveh Akbar

Reading this book kind of makes me feel drunk? In a good way.

36 likes

bio_chem06

Martyr!: A novel | Kaveh Akbar

Great books this month, however I‘m the only one in my Bookclub who didn‘t love Martyr!

Hooked_on_books I didn‘t love Martyr, either, so it‘s good to see I‘m not alone! 1mo

bio_chem06 @Hooked_on_books I was literally the only one in 10 people. I felt bad having critiques, made people look at me like I had two heads🤣🤣 I hope I made the conversation more interesting! 1mo

Hooked_on_books @bio_chem06 I have no doubt you did! I always find it interesting to hear the point of view of others, even if how we felt about the book is different. As long as all are respectful of others‘ views (which of course doesn‘t always happen). 1mo

3 likes3 comments