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emma

@lemonheadlit

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minneapolis • ♍️ 🏳️‍🌈 • publishing
🍋 fresh-squeezed book content 🍋
📚moody mixed girl reading a moody mix of things 📚

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“After her mother is sentenced to life in a hilltop prison, Suzanna vows to visit her on the hill forever.”

a fascinating and singular premise for a book, and harriet clark’s stunning prose and poignant characters did not disappoint.

quirky and observant, young suzanna comes of age amidst challenging circumstances. THE HILL explores identity from adolescence to young adulthood and mother-daughter relationships across separation.

i love that clark’s prose electrifies this debut with life, its meaning veering into that of a fable. clark builds up meaning in the characters in such unique ways, and offers such incisive reflections and ways of seeing the world. it’s impossible not to feel with young suzanna, and be in awe of the world towering around her. that being said, it is the prose that makes this story — i don’t think this book needed a traditional plot to be compelling, but in the second half, it began to sag a bit, making me wish it had been trimmed just a bit (or added just a touch more plot). regardless, i was still in awe of clark’s writing, and i look forward to watching for more of her fresh writing style!

4/5 ⭐️

thank you @fsgbooks for the copy! by @lemonheadlit

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3 months ago

@lostkiteeditions is a new minneapolis-based indie publisher focusing on voices and literary practices that have been underrepresented, particularly surrounding incarceration.

LKE has a unique editorial process that includes writers and editors whose lives have been impacted by the carceral system

i cannot recommend their first two publications enough. in 21 BIRTHDAYS, kennedy amenya gisege reflects on each of his daughter's birthdays while incarcerated. in DISFIGURED HOURS, b batchelor shares poems with sixty syllables each, representing the passage of time while incarcerated.

harrowing themes, striking work, and beautifully printed, these books are necessary reading, and LKE is a publisher to watch. by @lemonheadlit

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3 months ago

happy pub day to these two gems 🎉

in katherine packert burke’s novel ALL US SAINTS, a family reenacts the violent night that upended their lives

emily labarge’s experimental nonfiction DOG DAYS explores the aftershocks of trauma, stemmed from labarge’s experience being held hostage while on vacation. a therapist encourages her to reenact the scenario until the “pain comes out”.

i’m so fascinated by how these two very different books, in two different styles and genres, seem to explore similar themes. i can’t wait to read them alongside each other and have them in conversation! by @lemonheadlit

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5 months ago

on my tbr for spring 🌱

I GAVE YOU EYES AND YOU LOOKED TOWARD DARKNESS by irene solà is described as an “audacious and entrancing novel” the explores lineage, gender, witches, and the blurry lines between life and death

SATANTANGO by lászló krasznahorkai is a hypnotic tale told over a few days of endless rain. said to be bleak, singular, unforgettable, and intense — my kind of book!

have you read either of these? or are they on your tbr as well? by @lemonheadlit

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7 months ago

🍋a fresh-squeezed review🍋

THE DISAPPEARING ACT by maria stepanova

an unnamed writer from an unnamed city sets out to attend a literary festival in a nearby country. while on her way to the event, a series of mishaps leaves her lost in the wrong city. this turn of events invites endless possibility, and when a traveling circus invites her to join them, the possibility of starting anew and untethered is dangled in front of her. will she go, or will she return to her existing life?

it’s difficult to formulate a traditional review for this one, because this unsuspecting lil book blew my mind — a new all time favorite. i read this book in one sitting, annotated just about every page, and immediately gushed to my very patient husband about the entire experience !!

esoteric and subtly profound, stepanova crafts insurmountable depth from the reflections of our main character. i related deeply to her in the beginning — tense, anxious, and routine-oriented. each revelation explores intense feelings surrounding nationality, belonging, creation, purpose, while each uncanny turn of events detaches her from her comfortable routine. stepanova has such a special way of verbalizing complex feelings with gorgeous yet simple language.

i wholly recommend if you too: are a virgo discovering free will, have complex feelings about your country, pull tarot cards to address any major life change, and have ever seriously considered throwing away your phone and living off the grid

5/5 ⭐️ by @lemonheadlit

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7 months ago

🍋a fresh-squeezed review🍋

a taut, captivating book about an author, christine, whose debut novel dredges up old resentments with her former art professor.

i loved how christine’s observations and reflections on her life, art-making, and relationships slowly unraveled into a powerful, twisty ending.

this felt like the perfect read for me in this specific moment as i return to writing this winter. pham’s explorations of nostalgia and creative pursuit were so resonant for anyone who considers themself an artist.

5/5 ⭐️ a must-read for the thought daughters !!!! by @lemonheadlit

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7 months ago

a lil classics stack 📚

as you can tell by the spines, i’m already in progress with WUTHERING HEIGTS and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO, both of which i’m loving more even more than anticipated!

have any favorites in this stack? any i should add? by @lemonheadlit

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8 months ago

screaming into the void again?

everyone who has checked in, donated, and shared is amazing :’) thank you all for giving me hope and community amidst the chaos. by @lemonheadlit

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8 months ago

🍋a fresh-squeezed review 🍋

With the uncanny edge of Laura van den Berg, the sincerity of Ocean Vuong, and the incisive wit of Brandon Taylor, Scott Broker’s THE DISAPPOINTMENT is wholly original and encapsulating literary fiction debut. Jack, a disillusioned playwright, and his husband Randy, a successful photographer, embark on a long-overdue vacation to the Oregon coast following the loss of Randy’s mother. Their attempt at reconnection takes a surreal turn when a quirky cast of locals infiltrates their getaway, each character prodding their wounds and unraveling their precarious marriage. As Jack’s resentment and Randy’s grief take center stage, their hold on reality slips. In a chaotic and powerful conclusion, Jack and Randy are forced to reckon with the faults in their marriage and themselves. With taut prose and a candid voice, Broker expertly captures the all-encompassing nature of grief, the contradictions of love, and the weight of creating art despite failure.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT is equally unsettling and moving, as Broker reminds us of the unknowability of those closest to us — and the invitation to love each other anyway.

5/5 ⭐️

thank you for the digital advanced copy @catapult — be sure to grab this one on pub date in a few weeks !! by @lemonheadlit

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8 months ago

hello to all my new followers — i’m so happy to have you! whether you’re here for books or minneapolis updates, i hope you’ll stick around as i continue to share both. this page has been and always will be political, just as reading has been and will always be political.

january in minneapolis was grueling and february shows no signs of slowing down. but over a decade of organizing in this city has shown me that WE save us. and although every day brings great pain, i notice i always circle back around to a sense of great hope, pride, and collective power.

it felt timely to find NOW I SURRENDER by álvaro enrigue on my doorstep from @riverheadbooks this week

“A woman’s desperate flight from an Apache raid unfolds into a sweeping tale of the Mexico–US border wars. Orchestrated with a stunningly imagined cast of characters, both historical and purely fictional, NOW I SURRENDER radically recasts the story of how the West was ‘won.’ “

described as part-epic and part alt-western, this book sounds wholly original, and like the immersive journey i need to get through february.

i definitely have some other books on my february tbr i’ll be sharing — will i actually get to them? TBD 😵‍💫 doing my best to balance being away from the books and in my community, while also taking time to recharge.

what books are you reading this month? any that are helping you through this moment? any recs? i’d also love to continue hearing how youre organizing beyond minneapolis — seeing all your comments, messages, and donations have been invigorating ❤️‍🩹 it’s the daily, “small”, tangible actions of the masses that push change!

in solidarity,
lemonheadlit 🍋 by @lemonheadlit

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8 months ago

i’m shocked by the response to my post — i have to say thank you all so much. continue to watch my stories, highlights, and link in bio for continued ways to remain engaged from afar — and sending you all the good energy to organize and keep showing up in your cities, too 🫶❤️‍🔥 by @lemonheadlit

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9 months ago

EDIT: resources for donation and support will continue to be in my stories, highlight reels, and link in bio!!

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apologies if this is not the most eloquent. i write it with shaking hands and a heavy heart from Minneapolis ❤️‍🩹 by @lemonheadlit

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9 months ago