Welcome to Litsy!

I started this book tonight. #Bangladesh #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

Tonight we made Bangladeshi Village-style chicken curry. It doesn‘t look like the picture in the recipe… but this might be because I had to swap Kashmiri chilli for a substitute so it isn‘t as red as it should be.

It still tasted delicious. And it was pretty easy, just lots of prep with all the spices (though they are standard ones for the most part).

#FoodAndLit #Bangladesh

The birth of #Bangladesh was excruciating, as it tore itself away from East Pakistan. The book is told from the perspective of a mother, Rehana, whose son and daughter are old enough to take active parts in the war for independence. Even Rehana engages in acts of rebellion. This is an excellent book for learning about the war without graphic details of the violence that took place. Sadly the narration of the audiobook provided practically no ⬇️

My daughter created the artwork I previously posted for Vesak Day. And then my coloring app had this! So I‘ll post it again! Happy Vesak Day! #Bangladesh #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

Buddha Purnima, also known as Vaishakhi Purnima or Vesak Day, is the biggest religious festival for Buddhists and was celebrated across #Bangladesh, where it is observed as a public holiday, with dignity and solemnity. Happy Vesak Day!

#foodandlit @Catsandbooks

#weekendreads #Bangladesh and #Rwanda for #foodandlit and Percival Everett book for #authoramonth @Catsandbooks @Soubhiville

@rachelsbrittain

“Rehana taught Silvi how to plunge the paratha in the hot oil, wait until it was almost crisp, then tip the egg into its centre. Mrs Imam was bringing the egg paratha in batches from the kitchen….

The egg-paratha finished, Rehana passed around a plate of wrapped betel.”

Looks so yummy!!

#Bangladesh #foodandlit @Catsandbooks

Aunt Pishi married an elderly man when she was 7, and she was widowed at 12. Our main character Somlata comes from a poor family and marries into the once-wealthy Mitra family. Somlata comes into possession of Pishi‘s box of gold jewelry when Pishi dies, gold that would help the family maintain its life of luxury but Pishi‘s ghost threatens Somlata with death if the gold is given away. So, Somlata must find another way to help this family ⬇️

This is a hard book to process as I think on reviewing it. I suspect a large part has to do with cultural differences that the translator described in a note at the end of the book. I appreciated learning this. In addition, the people of #Bangladesh have such very different priorities than I‘m accustomed to. But that‘s the benefit of reading books from around the world-learning the vast differences in our people live their lives. #foodandlit

Im going to have to look up these dishes from #Bangladesh made by the main character

#foodandlit @Catsandbooks