Welcome to Litsy!

I wanted to read this after enjoying House of Doors and I have to say this one blew me away. The layers of this story, the questions left unanswered, the complexities of the characters and their relationships to one another. I loved the switching back and forth in time as Yun Ling puts down the story of her past.

Maybe if I was a bit into gardening I would ha e enjoyed this book a bit more!

I am posting one book per day from my extensive to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new. Don‘t judge me - I have a lot of books. Join in if you want!

#ABookADay2023

Tagged
Frank Gardner
The Greatest Showman
Gwen Stefani
Gallows - CocoRosie

#manicmonday #letterg @CBee

#truth #indeliblemoments @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

Weekend getaway with a friend of mine and I finally had time to finish this book I‘ve started in April! Thanks to the bad weather😁 I don‘t even know why it took me so long to finish, it‘s a beautifully written interesting story, that thought me lots about the second world war in Asia (which I had zero clue about). It‘s not fast paced, but as the main character is taught to slow down, breathe and let go of her rightful anger, so are we. 4/5⭐️

This book might not be a fast read but a very beautiful one! I‘m about halfway through and hope to finish it soon - after Yoshi is done using it as a pillow.

#AlphabetGame Letter G

This book had been sitting on my shelves for years. #ReadingAsia2021 was the reason I finally picked it up and how grateful I am for that. It turned out to be my favorite book of the challenge and an all time favorite. A wonderful mix of Malaysia and Japan.

Another 2021 read because none of my 5 ⭐ 2022 reads grabbed my attention to be listed for the #alphabetgame. #letterg

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Weekend getaway with a new book - bliss 💙

#bookmoods #byyourfavoriteauthor @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs
One of my favourite author! I‘ve enjoyed his prose much 😘

This book is beautiful. Historical fiction set in Malaysia. Even just the garden descriptions make this worth reading. But the story is also fantastic.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

This book‘s lush writing and nonlinear flashbacks had me slowing way down. That paired wonderfully with its subject matter: Japanese gardens, tea making, reflections on memory. I learned so much history and culture, all while engrossed in its simmering story. Nestled in the gardens, in the memories, is a story of war - ways people are complicit, the human wreckage it creates, and how to live on after the worst has happened. Rich and tender.

First book of 2022. I really enjoyed it! I‘ve actually watched the movie before, which I very much enjoyed, but, as expected I loved the book much more. It‘s very atmospheric and poetic, and even though there‘s so much sorrow, it is also full of beauty.

#beginswith #garden @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
This is one of my favourite read!

#12booksof2021 #January @Andrew65

Thankfully I'm doing a tournament of books style spread in my #bujo, so it should be easy for me to do each month! 😂

#WondrousWednesday @Eggs

1. From this year's books, the gardens in the tagged book. From all time, HOGWARTS!

2. Attending a very funny talk by David Suchet about Poirot with my Mum & a friend.

Tagging anyone who wants to join in & hasn't played yet.

This is a hella good opening!

I knew about the Japanese occupation in South East Asia during WWII mainly from a Dutch POV. I learned so much reading this book. About the war, about the communist guerrilla in #Malaysia afterwards, about Japanese gardens and about horimono tattoo art. And all this written in the most wonderful style. So serene - if that‘s possible - and so authentic. I am grateful I finally read it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My favorite book so far for #ReadingAsia2021 🇲🇾

#WeeklyForecast 36/21

I am hooked on 56 Days right now and hoping to finish it later today. This week I hope to add two more #ReadingAsia2021 books (Jordan and Malaysia) and a play for #Booked2021.

A rich and complex novel that took me to Malaya in the 1950‘s. It tells several stories of a wartime period, when the Japanese took over the country taking prisoners and killing many. It is the story of the lone survivor of a Japanese camp apprenticing to create a Japanese garden for her sister, killed in one of the camps, and her relationship with the gardener. It was a slow read but I learned a great deal as a result of reading it.

This book sounded like one I would enjoy reading, also I read a lot of positive reviews about it. Therefore, my expectations might have been too high. Because it turned out, it wasn't really the book I was hoping it would be.

Yes, I've learned a bit more about the war crimes the Japanese did to the Malayan people during WWII, and there were many beautiful descriptions of the landscapes and some touching moments.

But it just wasn't enough. ⬇

I first read and loved this book five years ago, and I knew I had to re-read it for #ReadingAsia

This book has so much: WWII from a non Western perspective, gardening, tea, grief, forgiveness, and so much more. It starts in the highlands of Malaysia where former war prisoner Yun Ling approaches Japanese gardener Arimoto to help her create a garden in memory of her sister who didn‘t survive the war. It‘s a beautiful book and I highly recommend it.

Why oh why is the work day so long and the lunch break so short??? This book is so good!

Life is good tonight. #NutsInMay

Teoh Yun Ling is the sole survivor of a Japanese war camp,and after retirement she comes back to the tea plantation where she tries to collect her memories.The tea plantation brings back very sad,but also some beautiful moments.The core of the novel is relationship between Yun Ling and Japanese gardener, and around that story are lined historical events in post WWII #Malaysia Beautiful written story about remembering and the meaning of forgetting.

The tagged book is in progress (and I will finished it today), Lara: The Untold Love Story is for Nonfiction challenge, and the rest are for Reading Asia. I‘m still waiting for book - Employees by Olga Ravn to complete International Booker Prize longlist ... I think that this is enough for one week. #weeklyforecast

Rainy day in Georgia, the hellebores (Lenten Roses) are doing well.

Current Read: The Garden of Evening Mists (tagged) and Braiding Sweetgrass
Ebook or audio: Ebooks
Last book finished in one sitting: Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
#WeekendReads

🎧 5 🌟 for the story, 4 1/2 🌟 for narration as the Asian accents were slightly off I felt.

#joyousjanuary @Andrew65 audiobook goal completed

#bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

#tbrdeckofcards #sevenofhearts #includesagarden @Clwojick

#readingasia2021 #Malaysia @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#weeklyforecast @Cinfhen
Finished The Plot to Betray America
Finish The Nickel Boys & The Garden of Evening Mists
Continue Wolf Hall & The Italian

#joyousjanuary update Read the chapter a day for #ItalianBuddyRead @Andrew65

A couple of Audible options for #readingasia2021 today. #audibledeal #uklittens #northkorea #Malaysia @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

One that‘s been on my TBR for a long time, and today put forward as a suggestion for our next book club read!

#Garden #BloomingBibliophiles
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

My reading slump continued all through October, mostly due to working so many extra hours that I only made time for audiobooks. But November will be different! Work should be slowing down a bit and I‘m going to deliberately carve out time for reading in my schedule.

I may not end up hitting my reading goals for this year, but I think I‘m okay with that.

#readinggoals #readtheworld #bookstack

A book that is set in 1949 and set in Asia. I have this on my TBR list and it would be the first book set in the 1940s that I have read that wasn't centered around WWII and set in Europe. I probably won't get to this book this year but hopefully soon enough.

#LetsTravelJuly #1940s #TBR #HistoricalFiction @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

I've had so much going on this month as my grandfather got ill suddenly & passed away, so I never got around to reviewing this. Overall, I admired the rich history, lush atmosphere, & the beauty in the writing. It was a bit tedious, with lots of description, shifting timelines, & multiple characters introduced. The MC was hard to connect with. An intricately written novel that requires a high degree of focus from the reader. 3.5 ⭐️!

Finishing this for #lmpbc while my oldest practices track drills on this fine Sunday afternoon! Great weather (although super HOT) so I thought I'd get a little reading in outside and complete the #maymadness #personalchallenge for this week!

This should complete at least 3 prompts from the #MayScavengerHunt

▪️ Flower on the cover
▪️ Over 300 pages
▪️ Author from a different country

#ShelfLove The right hand stack of my #MountTBRStacksOfDoom though there‘s about half that‘s cut off. I really need to get started on organisation of my overflow of books. The OCD in me is slowly losing her mind! See anything you‘re looking forward to reading?

@Jee_HookedOnBookz look what I found! It came super fast! (I actually think it arrived yesterday, but got put aside with some Amazon orders 😅) I looove the bookmark, card, and notebook you included! Thank you! Can't wait to dive into this! Now I just need to send my book! 😬

#lmpbc #round5 #groupW

@lele1432 Kaleah, the tagged book is coming your way! 😊

#lmpbc #GroupW #round5

@CSeydel @arubabookwoman

Do I share my opinion now or when everyone has read the book?

In the package, I've also included a composition book for everyone to share their notes and quotes 😊 Can't wait to know what you all think of the book!

1. Colors and flowers!!! 🌹🌹
2. *achoo!* allergies 😭
3. Getting to squeeze in some reading time
4. Try to get as much outside time as I can with my LO whenever it isn't raining!
5. Don't really read books according to seasons. But I'm planning to start with an #lmpbc read. Tagged. But hey look! Garden = plants & flowers = spring! 😁

#helloThursday @wanderinglynn

“Once I lose all ability to communicate with the world outside myself, nothing will be left but what I remember. My memories will be like a sandbar, cut off from the shore by the incoming tide. In time they will become submerged, inaccessible to me. The prospect terrifies me. For what is a person without memories? A ghost, trapped between worlds, without an identity, with no future, no past.”

Another book to movie adaptation set to premier in 2019.
This thoughtful historical novel is about self discovery and forgiveness. Of war‘s exiles and survivors, it tells a tale of cultural complexity after World War II in British-controlled Malaya.
#AugustIsATrip #garden

The best novel to read while staying at the E & O, is to the read the novel with scenes set at the E & O #penang #malaysia #malaya #colonialism