Welcome to Litsy!

Christmas books. Only a few this year, one I wanted (the Galaxie season 2 scripts), one I already have (Passés composés anthology) and one I could not care less about (volume 3 of the graphic novel adaptation of tagged, a not that great popular history book about human evolution that is already out of date). I guess I'll have to buy my own books this year!

Took me the better part of a year to finish this — but we finally did it.

Sapiens isn‘t groundbreaking, but it is a decent introduction to the basics of sociology (i.e., thinking critically about social constructs that might appear intrinsic, like human rights), and a crash course in economics (which is particularly resonant in the current capitalist crisis). Full review: https://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/sapiens-yuval-noah-harari-review/

On the whole Sapiens is a fascinating and thought provoking perspective on our history as a species. I felt the writing had a condescending tone which continued even when the author made some wild assertions, leaving me skeptical as to how factual and well sourced the book actually is. Nonetheless it presents an interesting idea of our past in an enjoyable read. 6/10

It's cold and rainy outside, perfect excuse to start another book

Fascinating!
This is the story of our ancestors and how we came to be. Combining knowledge from historical records, archaeological discoveries and even myths and legends into an easy to follow narrative, the author takes us on a journey from the deepest past to our current world. I can‘t get enough of books like this, and this is the best I‘ve read in a long time. Highly recommended!

This is a really great book

The history of humanity has unexpected twists and turns, starting with the fact that there were many species of humans. One of the oddities of the present is that only one species of humans roams the earth. Homo sapiens has been a destroyer of species (human and animal). Harari says we‘re are moving toward a global culture. He portends a future where this one species will evolve away from itself into some new.

Lots of interesting bits, but it‘s pretty long and I spaced out a lot

It's a pleasant read, well-researched and insightful, that occasionally moralizes at its audience. I especially enjoyed his point that foragers likely lived better lives than the first farmers, which made me realize how lucky we are to have been born after all that progress has been made.

Takeaway? Humans are horrid. The end.

..essential..

It‘s the exciting time of the year when we all post our “Best of 2022” lists, so these are my top non-fiction books for this year!
A Village in the Third Reich
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

#nonfiction #bestof #sapiens #history

I enjoyed this a lot. I felt like I was able to make connections that were, for me, missing links previously. I can understand that it is controversial in many aspects but I also feel that my job as a reader is to read more widely still and develop my own conclusions.

Finally finished this audiobook! I really liked it. Though I have to admit I didn't enjoy the last couple of chapters as much. There was just too much speculation and assumptions.

Still not 100% healthy. But I'm way better than a couple of days ago. I can even listen to an audiobook and do some easy crochet!

#audiocrafting

#2022Book123
There was a lot of great information in this book, but some parts of it were so dry and slowed down the pacing of the book way too much.

A low pick, this history of Homo sapiens started off really interesting but pretty tedious in the end. Harari makes a lot of unprovable assertions that he treats as incontrovertible fact but the book did make me think and reminded me of a lot I had previously learned in my History of Life class in college decades ago. Full review at http://booknaround.blogspot.com/2022/10/review-sapiens-by-yuval-noah-harari.html...

This was interesting and informative. Sometimes perhaps too informative as my mind wandered a bit while listening. It gave me a lot to think about so, overall, I enjoyed it.

Finished my socks! They're slightly different, one is a bit bigger 🤣 But I think after a couple of wears I will hardly notice. My very first socks! Yay! 😁

#audioknitting

Progress on my second sock while listening to the chapter about religion. Very interesting!

#audioknitting

I found #Sapiens in the communal bookshelf at our AirBnB on Corfu, Greece 🇬🇷. I spent yesterday at the pool, reading it. The first half was excellent, the second half, when the author got closer to the modern age, fell a bit flat.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5

I was never able to finish it but I'm sure is worth it and I'll try it again

My first library read after oh-so-long💖

July selection from Instagram #feedyourmind Bookclub by actor #luisadoliveira ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Started listening yesterday! So very interesting! I like the theory that we invented language to gossip better. It is very well explained, with fun little examples too. And the narrator for the audiobook has a very soothing voice.

“One of history‘s few iron laws is that luxuries tend to become necessities and to spawn new obligations”

My February #BookspinBingo results. Didn‘t get any bingos, sadly, as my reading ended up veering off from my original choices. I did at least read one book from my Kindle #TBR. And I finished both my #BookSpin and #DoubleSpin for the month!

Surprisingly, I think I would have preferred this in its original book form. While some of the concepts translated well to the graphic novel format, overall I don‘t think it was very easy to read such text heavy panels with the complex ideas being presented. The artwork was also lackluster. I feel bad giving this a so-so, since I definitely still learned quite a bit, I just didn‘t enjoy the visual reading experience.

6/10

This is the only book I brought on vacation to force me to work on it. This quote tickled me. And it explains a lot.

Is there anything more dangerous than dissatisfied and irresponsible gods who don't know what they want?

A few days late with my February #BookspinBingo board. I had a chaotic January, so I never got to make one last month. Lots of romance options for #Swoonathon. Most of these options are books off of my Kindle, plus a few library borrows I need to start/finish this month.

4.5/5

Night shift reading

Highly opinionated! If opinions of author are removed the book would be reduced to half of the pages it has. Even the opinions are flawed and contradicting each other at some instances, some opinions are based on now rejected theories. Not recommended if you want to read it to seriously know about history. It is a series of op-ed more than a history book, consisting chiefly of author's rant.
#History #Sapiens #Mankind

What you‘re telling me is that modern man, in all our infinite superiority, was NOT the only humanoid to walk the earth at an singular time in history. You mean the ever popular t-shirts showing man climbing from the primordial ooze and slowly developing a spinal column to traverse this land as a biped are NOT true? There were other compatriots who had scientifically proven higher functioning brains and desirable physicality!! 😉…

Finally got my hands on this one and I‘m surprised by how casually is written. I have also begun highlighted the interested moments I‘ve found. Let‘s see what all the hype is about shall we?

This has to be one of my favorite books of all time by one of my favorite authors. Written by an expert in the field, Harari takes the reader down a journey from our beginnings to now. You will not want to put this down.

Absolutely loved this book, I couldn‘t put it down. Yuval Noah Harari makes history more like a story of the history of man. It‘s a big book that seemed small as you read it. He covered so many topics and the book really gets you thinking about life and the human imagination. Brilliant and I can‘t wait to read his next one! To find out more about what I thought or the other members of Book Interrupted go to https://www.bookinterrupted.com/episodes

After more than a year on my TBR I finally finished this book about the history of the human species.

I absolute loved the first chapters but unfortunately it wasn‘t as fascinating all the way through. It‘s clear that it‘s been written to entertain and you have to keep in mind that this is how he views the world.
I did like his thoughts on the happiness of the human kind today, though.

3/6📚
Audiobook

3/5

What can I say about a book which has already been loved by millions?! I HAD to get the illustrated version of Sapiens; it's a must read for every sapient being out there!!

I loved this history book. It really took a look at anthropology and philosophy in the context of history and covered such things as religion and morality as well. I really enjoyed it.

Read along with Book Interrupted as we read Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. We explore this book over the next 6 weeks in our weekly podcast. To find out more go to www.bookinterrupted.com

Before we understand what humanity can achieve in the next 1000 years, it's important to understand what humans have achieved and destroyed in the past. As I turn 25 next month, I plan to learn and understand about the history of this planet before I start reading and appreciating my country's (India) history.

16-26 Jul 2021 (audiobook)
Initially, I loved this book - I even ordered the graphic version for Polly and Luke to peruse - but it did not maintain the same interest throughout. More ruthless editing of the middle section was required - I found there was some repetition. Nevertheless there were many interesting and thought-provoking ideas. I was particularly affected by the impact on the well-being of animals for food production - it is horrific.