Welcome to Litsy!

I‘m very content with my first grid of 2025 because even a 4.5 breaks down to a A- with my subjective logic. Next Dec I believe I‘ll be including the tagged when posting about my favorite reads of the year.

5* = Loved It, want to shout out loud about this book! I do/will own/keep a physical copy. A+
4*= I liked it, would love to discuss. Solid B
3*=Meh, no need to discuss. Avg C
2*=Nope D
1*=DNF F

2 things the government told teenage me in the 1980s- sex with anyone, ever will give you AIDS and you will die. Hide under the stairs or a table and you‘ll survive nuclear war. As we know, both are a big, fat lie. I learned politicians lie.
‘Humans‘ ability to do science has helped humans refine killing.‘
There will be no winners in a nuclear war.
6 minutes to decide how and who to kill?
Terrifying scenario.

Well 💩, this was terrifying. Required reading if you dare. But holy 💩!

#2024ReadingBrackets I read a lot of really good NONFICTION this year. The tagged book was my pick for December. However, after the dust settled in this category I had to give the nod to “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” by Adam Higginbotham. Higginbotham managed to keep me on the edge of my seat – even though I knew how the story ended. That‘s a master journalist right there.

Read a detailed, minute-by-minute narrative about how nuclear war would likely unfold and destroy life as we know it just a few weeks before America‘s love child of Caligula and mad King George retakes the White House? Sure, why not? I already wasn‘t sleeping.

Jacobsen takes us through a scenario of the USA response to a nuclear attack. As she tells the story, she details the research she has done into the USA‘s defenses and plans for counterattacks. She includes sidebars that explain the history of policies and procedures. She includes a section of notes and an extensive bibliography. I would like to do more research into the accuracy of her information, but she is convincing. This book is terrifying.

Are you feeling stressed by today's political climate? Then have I the book for you! Escape into a hypothetical scenario of nuclear war!
What I assumed would be a book as dry as radioactive concrete debris was actually a propulsive and engaging minute-by-minute scary AF timeline about how 12,000 years of civilization can be wiped away in just mere hours.

"Humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation."

This is one of the most terrifying books I have ever read 😱

“The survivors will envy the dead.”

Are you looking to feel even worse about the state of the world and what the future holds? Have I got the book for you!

Just kidding (kind of). This was seriously terrifying. An important reminder though in terms of the immediacy of the threat (the situation humanity has gotten itself into really is insane) and how very important it is to elect wise, responsible leaders who aren‘t volatile.