Welcome to Litsy!

For #ReadingOceania2024 #Kiribati I decided to read this one. It was by turns funny, depressing and yes, gross. Suffice it to say I won't ever visit and it's proof you can be near the ocean and be most miserable. #bookspin @librarybelle @BarbaraBB @thearomaofbooks

This book about life on a small island in the pacific amused me and repelled me in equal parts. I‘m going to read more of his books but not right now.

Troost—somewhat addicted to travel—jumped at the chance to move to #Kiribati (pronounced kir-ee-bas) when his girlfriend got a job there. Troost is funny—and he can put a hilarious spin on just about the worst things imaginable (except he‘s very serious about the tribute to the victims of one of the worst WWII battles there). Thankfully he has this outlook on life because Kiribati sounds about like the worst place on the planet to live. ⬇️

#Kiribati sounds so unappealing

#readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

That‘s VERY descriptive for a geography lesson

#Kiribati #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

It‘s time to clear up some mass confusion for everyone doing the #readingOceania challenge (or is it just me who‘s confused? 😂). #Kiribati is not pronounced how it looks. I was so confused listening to this book I checked out the ebook so I could confirm what I was hearing. So, here ya go. @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

My next audiobook for #Kiribati #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

My main point in posting this is TW: there is A LOT of violence against dogs in this book. I get that it‘s the culture of the area at the time but with my current headspace I probably wouldn‘t have read it now if I had know.
This book had parts that were laugh out loud hilarious (my favorite was his bringing home a fish on a bike) and it was written in 2004 (at this point almost 20 years ago). But this is not a book for the squeamish.

Maarten and his wife move to a small equatorial Pacific Island due to his wife‘s new job. Right away, Maarten realizes life on an island is way different than life in the states. This is a funny exploration of learning to reshape one‘s life, and yet there‘s an undercurrent of serious issues. I think this is the first of his books - Maarten has written a series of sorts about his family‘s adventures. #JourneyToTheIsland #SoaringScores

When he was in high school, Hunter S. Thompson was so impressed by The Great Gatsby that he used to type the book on a typewriter in the hopes of being able to subconsciously capture F. Scott Fitzgerald's style in his own writing. I never came across an author that made me want to do this...until I read this book several years ago. One of my all-time favorites!

A must-read if you enjoy a laugh out loud cultural assimilation piece or have ever spent some time on tiny islands, especially those in the South Pacific!

These were the first #farflung books that came to mind. A tropical location doesn't always mean paradise, but it can provide a beautiful backdrop for some awkward adventures with the locals.

#maybookflowers

There is still time to submit the best book(s) you read this year to the Reading Envy Podcast. The book does not have to be published this year. Other podcasters welcome too! Instructions at the link. http://readingenvy.blogspot.com/2016/11/be-on-podcast-tell-me-best-book-you.html

(this is an old favorite picture of Bailey, who loved books more than anything else in the world.)

Hilarious guy who moves to small South Pacific island, expecting Paradise... ha! Not that way at all. A very real memoir, about living in a fascinating (from the outside) part of the world.

This was a hilarious and refreshing change to my usual thrillers and mysteries and heavy nonfiction topics. Maarten found himself listless and unmotivated after grad school. His girlfriend Sylvia landed a job on the remote island of Tarawa, and they ended up leaving their civilized lives behind. The story was pretty funny, pretty sarcastic, and very lighthearted.

Got this from the library forever ago and I'm just now getting through it. I thought the writer wrote a bit pretentiously at first but once I adjusted to his style, I've found this book quite humorous. A witty and downright funny tale of the author and his girlfriend moving to a tiny obscure island when she lands a job there.