Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m going to try to squeeze in one last book for #Finland #foodandlit

@Catsandbooks #letterC #Christmasatoz #xmaschacha #wintergames @StayCurious

A bit shorter it would be a pick. #WITmonth
Finnish dystopian novel set in the current day but about a 100 yrs ago there was selective breeding of women to be submissive, (eloi) for sex and procreation, while intelligent, independent women are relegated to menial labor and sterilized.(Morlocks) We follow Vanna raised as an eloi but secretly intelligent whose growing addiction to illegal chili peppers leads her on an adventure.
#booked2019

"I feel no pain, for the chile is my teacher."
#womenintranslation

One of the blurbs on the back: “will appeal to dystopia lovers and fans of darkly offbeat suspense.”

A fucking mess. Racism, transphobia, ableism, transmisogyny, general misogyny, wholesale acceptance of various eugenicist myths about genetics (gender variance as genetic; queerness and transness as genetic and eradicable by eugenic means; "intelligence" as genetic; "submissiveness" as genetic). Violent erasure of the racist violence at the core of fascism. A total fucking waste of paper.

"Minus men," insufficiently masculine, are also automatically less intelligent. Because genetics. Transmisogyny adds extra spice to the author's internalized misogyny. Just ONE MORE fucked up thing needs to be embedded in this story for me to call it quits. I bought the fucking book, or I wouldn't have stayed even this long.

I'm bored to death of hearing about "elois." I want to hear about the enslaved underclass of "morlocks" and "minus men" who aren't allowed to reproduce. I want to hear about ANYONE who's non-white, queer, trans, and/or gender-variant beyond "she played with trucks as a kid and likes science." I want to hear how THEY live and resist, not more about how "elois" live and don't resist. FOR FUCK'S SAKE, YOU BURIED THE GOOD STORY.

Its analysis is starting to read really simplistic, like something I might have written at age sixteen after reading The Second Sex. I really hope it surprises me. I also hope it actually explicitly addresses the racial politics of what seems to be a white ethnostate. At some fucking point.

I really hope it doesn't get TERFy. I'm secularly praying hard.

This book was caliente! A very Finnish look at a dystopian future where women serve as nothing more than eye candy & baby makers. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are eradicated and the chili pepper serves as the source of illegal, illicit highs. Deep down this is a story about society, culture, gender roles, conformity, addiction and yes...chili peppers. Think Handmaid's tale with chili peppers

Started this one this morning. Handmaids Tale-ish with chili peppers 🌶.

April reading. I read about half of my intended list, but got distracted by a number of library holds that came in all at once. Plus I HAD to reread The Handmaid's Tale, since the series is on now. Respectable reading month, but my TBR pile needs some attention. 😟 #BestofApril was definitely The Core of the Sun. #aprilbookshowers

I'm still thinking about this book. This paragraph gave me chills. It sounds unsettlingly like what's been happening in the US recently.

For those who are doing #popsugar2017, I just realized that this book fit the task for genre/sub genre I had never heard of before: Finnish Weird (suomikumma). That is an genre descriptor that some Finnish authors use for their work that blurs the lines between fantasy, sci-fi, and just plain weird. I thought it might be helpful info for some of you other Littens.
There's an online site devoted to Finnish Weird: http://www.finnishweird.net.

Only eight days behind. Better late than never! #apriltbr #aprilbookshowers

This book was right up my alley. Dystopian society that crosses Margaret Atwood with H.G. Wells, secret resistance, and just a little bit of weirdness - black market in chili peppers!? The scariest part is the interspersed "scientific articles," which are frighteningly plausible. Many are adapted from in-vogue eugenic theories of the early 20th century. (FYI, the article on sterilization was *actually published* in the 1930s.) Fascinating read.

I'm going back a few days to pick up the #womenintranslation prompt for #aprilbookshowers, because this book is so good! It's kind of a Finnish take on The Handmaid's Tale, without the religious element. I'm very sad that my work schedule kept me from reading much last week, but I am settling in tonight. Grateful for the task in the Seasonal Reading Challenge on Goodreads that directed me to read a book by a Finnish author. #srcspring2017

I just started this one and I'm already enthralled. Can't wait to get further into it! #srcspring2017 #aroundtheworldin80books

Plans for tomorrow: go get a library card in the county that is literally five minutes away from where I live in my county, so I can plunder their libraries and Overdrive too, in addition to my county's system. I can't believe I've been in this house 5 years and just thought of this. Duh. Pretty excited to access an additional library system. 📚😀📚#aroundtheworldin80books #srcspring2017

I figured that out at about 18. And in construction it has given me at least an hour more sleep a day 😀

Love, love, loving this book. Can't wait to finish the Finnish Noir!

Gingerkitty highly recommends this book to fans of The Handmaids Tale. From the back cover: "The Eusistocratic Republic of Finland has bred a new human subspecies of receptive, submissive women, called eloi, for sex and procreation, while intelligent, independent women are sterilized." Well-written speculative fiction very much in the same vein as Atwood. Plus addictive chili peppers ? (Look carefully at the cover)

Seriously no idea what's going on in this book except it's awesome and terrifying. Handmaid's Tale plus chili pepper addiction. If you like your world-building on the dystopia-masquerading-as-utopia spectrum, this is for you. Plus, the author is Finnish so whee! First of 195 down!
Full review over on Goodreads.
#readingaroundtheworld

Finland is an eusistocratic dystopia where feminine women are domesticated for breeding and non-feminine women are sterilised. It's been touted as A Handmaid's Tale with a dash of Finnish Weird. Except here we have clunky exposition, a paper-thin plot, characters that are just cyphers and a presentation of gender roles that I found deeply problematic. Atwood it ain't.

Thanks, Leigh at #bklynbookmatch for the recommendations at #brlive

Awesome book to read on a lazy Sunday - a feminist dystopia by a Finnish Weird author, where people get addicted to hot chili peppers, funny and thought-provoking.

If I read fast and drink slow I can finish these at the same time.

Would it be bad if I asked the people at the pool to keep it down so I can read?

Truly bizarre, but so much more than that. Sinister, infuriating and uniquely creative - I'm sure this book will stay on my mind for a while. And I'll never look at chili peppers the same way again.... 🌶🌶🌶

#DiversityMonday (a day late) #Translatedbooks
I would like to think religion is more than this, but sometimes I feel this book is right.

So how's this for an alternate ending to Little Red Riding Hood? (Um, no. No way.) Just a peek into the truly disturbing world Sinasalo has created in this one.

About to start paying rental fees...it's a wonder libraries don't lock up when they see me coming.

Up next. I didn't love Troll: A Love Story, but this one sounds promising.

Reading between turns in a 6 person game of Star Fluxx!

Just translated into English from Finnish, Sinisalo's novel is a terrifying and surreal take on the strict gender roles in an alternate Finland in the very near future. Feminism & chili peppers abound.

It's comparable to Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale? Sign me up.