Welcome to Litsy!

Picked this up for the beautiful cover illustration alone. The story of Atile‘i, Taiwanese folklore and magical realism were a highlight in this ecological parable. Some of the characters (Detlef and Sara) seemed superfluous and distracting and I still don‘t understand the ending. I could have enjoyed it a lot more and I‘m not sure how much of this is down to clunky translation or the original text. 6/10

For the first third of this one I wasn‘t sure I wasn‘t gong to like it. Eventually I got into it, and while the ending was incredibly weird and the moralizing was a bit heavy handed, I really did end up liking it. There‘s a terrifying garbage island, an adorable cat that doesn‘t die, and some serious discussions of environmentalism!

At the Vancouver Writers Fest yesterday, Taiwanese author Wu Ming Yi spoke about his admiration for Margaret Atwood and said she is part of the reason he became a writer. It was a big thing for him when Atwood tweeted in 2013 about his first book to be translated into English (tagged). #VWF2019

Sooooo... Squidapus did not finish this book. But he can't quite call it a bail. It is a very well written book with 3D characters and he learned an incredible amount about Taiwan and it's indigenous population. But...I just don't think it was for him. You know how you can recognize that something is good but not enjoy it? That's how he felt. So Squidapus feels it's disingenuous to say it's a bad book; for most readers it's probably excellent

Squidapus is gonna start this book tomorrow! Sounds very interesting!

This book started out strong, with beautiful descriptions of a remote island nation's lifestyle and sea-centered spirituality. The main character in Taiwan is also interesting. However, the story is soon overwhelmed by its heavy-handed environmental message, too many new characters, and digressions into meta fiction & myth. There are some lovely, lyrical passages about the heart of Nature, though. #ReadingAroundTheWorld #Taiwan

My top 9 photos on Instagram...
hmmm, I went full book! Guess you can tell that I didn't go anywhere amazing on holidays this year...

I've read all the books in this photo except The Man With The Compound Eyes which I bought on holiday in New Zealand in December of 2013...

#pinkandgreenbooks #augustphotochallenge @TheSpinecrackersBookClub

Started this book today. Have been in the mood for some magical realism.