First Impression Friday will be a meme where you talk about a book that you JUST STARTED! Maybe you’re only a chapter or two in, maybe a little farther. Based on this sampling of your current read, give a few impressions and predict what you’ll think by the end.

Synopsis:

A dazzling novel about a young black woman who walks the streets of Oakland – a debut that announces a blazingly original voice.

Teenage Kiara and her brother Marcus, are scraping by in an East Oakland apartment complex optimistically called the Regal-Hi. While Marcus clings to his dream of rap stardom, Kiara hunts for work to pay their rent – which has more than doubled – and to keep the nine-year-old boy next door, abandoned by his mother, safe and fed.

One night, what begins as a drunken misunderstanding with a stranger turns into the job Kiara never imagined wanting but now desperately needs: nightcrawling. Her world breaks open even further when her name surfaces in an investigation that exposes her as a key witness in a massive scandal within the Oakland Police Department.

Rich with raw beauty and piercing vulnerability, Nightcrawling marks the stunning arrival of a voice unlike any we have heard before.

Happy Friday everyone! Well, technically it is already Saturday; I am late on this weekly update again. I was too tired to even lift my fingers but I am, nevertheless, making up for lost time. Anyway, how was your work week? As you can glean from my opening sentences, mine was rather hectic as we worked on a document that was over two hundred pages long. We have to submit it to our head office before we submit it to our regulatory body. I hope you ended the work week on a high note. Thankfully it is the weekend which means my body gets some extra time to recover from the exhausting week. This being said, I hope that everyone hits their goals this year. More importantly, I hope everyone will be healthy, in body, mind, and spirit, during the rest of the year and in the coming year.

2022 and 2023 were such fever dreams. I did not expect to achieve a lifelong dream; not really a lifelong one but a dream that formed when I started reading fiction. I completed both years with over 100 books each. This makes me look forward to another prolific reading journey in 2024. The sky is the limit, after all. For this year, I lined up several amazing titles, several of which are titles I have long been looking forward to. However, more than resetting my previous reading records, I hope that 2024 will provide me another memorable and exciting journey across the world of literature. Kicking off this reading journey is a catchup of books released in 2022 and 2023 that I could not read in the years they were published.

I am currently reading Leila Mottley’s Nightcrawling, a book I honestly did not expect I would pick up. Before 2022, I have never heard of Mottley nor have I encountered any of her works. I guess the fact that she started her literary career as a poet was a major factor, and also because there are so many writers out there whose oeuvre are waiting to be explored. Anyway, it was through the Booker Prize that I came across the American writer/poet and her book Nightcrawling. Her debut novel, Nightcrawling was longlisted for the prestigious prize. Unfortunately, it did not make the shortlist. Still, the Booker Prize worked its magic as our paths converged.

Set in the slums of Oakland, Nightcrawling gives voice to seventeen-year-old Kiara Johnson. She was seventeen and had an older brother, Marcus. Their father had already passed away. On the other hand, their mother was locked up in a detention rehab facility. With both parents virtually absent, the siblings had to find a way to survive on their own. On top of this, they had a new mouth to feed on Trevor, a nine-year-old boy left behind by their neighbor. Bills were piling up and the skyrocketing cost of living exacerbated their situation. Rent prices were going up. Marcus, who was supposed to be the dependent older brother, was stuck in a world of disillusionment, lost in the beats of his music.

Kiara was left with no other recourse but to find a remedy on her own. A chance encounter with one of her brother’s side chicks opened a window of opportunity. It is not the best but it provided her money to alleviate their situation. Kiara became the titular nightcrawler. Long story short, she became a prostitute. The opening pages of the story set the records straight. Drugs and sex were prominently featured so it does not take a genius to figure out that these elements will be leitmotifs as the story moves forward. However, what catches my curiosity is how Kiara’s situation evolves.

Will Kiara find herself in dire straits? The night streets of Oakland seemed ominous. Power struggles and corruption pervade the air. I am curious how Mottley will steer the story forward as these are all familiar territories. Will she usher something new with her story? All of these make me look forward to how the story will evolve. Moreover, I have high hopes for the story. Beyond the Booker Prize, the book received several accolades, including being a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction. I guess the Lambda nomination also gives a hint of the story. Oh, by the way, I find Mottley’s writing compelling. Her background in poetry is trickling into the novel. I hope she sustains the story and the voice until it ends.

How about you fellow reader? What book or books are you taking with you for the weekend? I hope you get to enjoy them. Again, happy weekend everyone!