Welcome to Litsy!

Op shop after school pickings from a while back. Love cheap costume jewellery, crochet blankets and vintage linen! Started the tagged book on audio but always prefer a physical book.

An interestingly structured book. An Australian journalist and his friend a half Icelandic half Australian academic visit Iceland primarily to investigate Icelandic history and to record several sagas, Icelandic family tales in the style of Beowulf and Homer. But also a story about family, parental love, secrets and a sense of self and belonging.

I enjoyed this mix of stories. I was not familiar with the sagas and hadn‘t realised their importance. Iceland has a culture of story-telling & poetry (& highest % of published authors in the world). The sagas are dry compared with (for example) the dramatic heroics of Greek myths - but I loved the sense of history & characters of Iceland. It‘s also part-travelogue with interesting digressions & anecdotes. A bit too long, but a fun immersive read.

This was at moments entertaining, charming and funny but at other times long winded and even a little dull. I enjoyed the combination of Icelandic sagas and family drama but it felt a bit too long.

Third day of #riotgrams .... #nakedhardcovers

How gorgeous is this cover?

"It's not the edge of the world for the people who live here." As an Aussie I relate to this!

#NonfictionNovember

A little bit Who Do You Think You Are, a little bit Vikings, plus some tidbits of Icelandic history, Saga Land has cemented Iceland's place on my bucket list.

A couple of chapters (chess great Bobby Fischer's story & the Cold War Reykjavik summit between Reagan & Gorbachev), while interesting, felt tacked on.

The book's highlight is the sagas themselves - just an intro here but I'm keen to read more!

#crushingongiveaway

Congrats @Cinfhen on your 150k milestone!! Litsy wouldn't be the same without your sunny self 😘 always bringing the sunshine ☀️

Saga Land is a mix of Icelandic history, saga retellings and travelogue that I'm really looking forward to. Come to think of it, this would have been perfect for last week's #nfaboutacountryyoudliketovisit #probablymangledthathashtag