Welcome to Litsy!

No stars will be wasted with this review.

There are tons of great travel stories and personal accounts of volunteer experiences in Ecuador, written with humor and respect and reverence.

This is not one of them.

(Read “The Puma Years” if you want a winner, though!)

In 1932, a pregnant Margret Wittmer moved with her husband and young stepson to Floreana, a small island in the Galapagos. They believed that getting out of the city and going back to nature was the only way to cure their sickly child. This is her memoir of how the family managed to survive then thrive on this basically uninhabited (at the time) island. This is a story about strong people who had more courage and fortitude than I could ever have.

Great and short book about an outsider living in the Amazonas area. I think I am in love with Southamerican writers now! Found this book thanks to @Lunakay - cheers for that!

I didn't care for this all that much. #roll100 @PuddleJumper

Enjoying Catalina today

This drew me into the characters. I don't know that it would have been a top choice but it was on a friend's tbr so I gave it a whirl. Between this and Piglet, I appreciate that we like different things 😂

#DoubleSpin @TheAromaofBooks

Playing catch-up with reviews….

I really liked this novel, which did feel rather like a memoir at times, and it feels even more relevant now after the events of last week, being about undocumented migrants.

At times it was a little bit too ‘stream of consciousness‘ for me and I struggled to understand the relevance or tangent of Catalina‘s thoughts but, overall, a hard-hitting worthwhile read.

Thank you for gifting it to me @MicheleinPhilly 😘

Karla Cornejo Villavicencio is a terrific stylist. If you liked Elif Batuman's The Idiot you'll enjoy this.

I‘ve read memoirs that feel like novels and here is a novel that feels much like a memoir in places. Catalina‘s story as an undocumented Harvard student is informed by that of the author and reminds us that no one is a monolith. I thought this was good but that it could use a little more of a punch towards the end.

NBA longlist, fiction

Our most recent book club pick was an emotional read. Two sisters, Chinese American, live in opposite corners of the globe following the men in their lives. Stable, worried Miranda is in Switzerland but makes trips to visit Lucia whenever trouble arises. And it sure does: Lucia‘s life is erratic. She‘s suffering from a mental illness and therefore quite impulsive, living in Ecuador with her man‘s family. I‘m lukewarm: the middle section was a slog