Welcome to Litsy!

My last read of May was simply wonderful! The #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge country was #Guyana (though there are sections on #Indonesia and #Paraguay) and in the 1950s, Attenborough traveled to the remote parts of the globe to film and collect animals for his BBC program, Zoo Quest. You can hear Attenborough‘s distinctive voice & sheer joy & wonder leap off the page! This provides a window into the past in a fascinating manner! Includes photos!

For April‘s #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge the country is #Ecuador, giving me the perfect reason to get this one off my TBR! This multigenerational magical realism story takes a little while to really get rolling with the bulky cast size (the titular grandmother has been married five times and has nine children- many married with children of their own). But the unique imagery & the drama of the story, hooks you in & makes the latter half move quick!

This month‘s #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge country is #Spain- so I dug this rather hefty novel out of my TBR stacks after it being unread for at least a decade! It‘s an epic piece of historical fiction with a lot of 14th century packed in from the economics of the feudal system to the plague and the Inquisition. Arnau‘s life includes a lot of different careers and relationships. I wish the characters were a bit more fully developed though!

Since this is a #LocalAuthor for me, I am also using this mystery as my #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge book for #USA- though most of the action is in #Chicago- there are also some scenes in surrounding states! I enjoyed this book- told mainly from two perspectives- sheltered Alice and more worldly Merrily, their lives intersect over a missing person and a lifetime of secrets begin to unravel! It‘s hard to put down and definitely entertaining!

This is my first #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge book of 2020! The country for this month is #Taiwan and I chose this noir-inspired mystery to listen to! It certainly has a lot of details on life in Taiwan and Taipei specifically! There are a lot of cultural points made clear and while I can see some being frustrated at the way this slows the pacing, I actually enjoyed these sections. It made for a great fit for the challenge! #AudioColoring

This #KindleUnlimited mystery was my #Togo pick for the #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge- and it was certainly a good view into an African country that I didn‘t know much about! The writing style leaned towards more telling than showing and head-hopped a lot, but I did finish another one off my TBR! #OrnamentHunt Too big for the palm of my hand #WinterGames #ReadNosedReindeer 26 pts

I chose this #NonFiction book about the Thula Thula game reserve in #SouthAfrica for this month‘s #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge. While the introduction and rehabilitation of a group of elephants is the focus here- all kinds of other wildlife is included as well as some of the social and political pressures involved with the reserve. This is fascinating- but I definitely didn‘t plan on sobbing through the end on my #AudioColoring!

This‘s my #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge book for #Germany- & I much preferred the WWII German setting to the present day El Paso, TX one but I think it‘s tricky to set books in this time period, especially with them having ties to the Nazi party. I had hoped for something more here & I really didn‘t care for any of the modern storyline at all or the characters there! Looking forward to listening to something a bit more seasonal next! #AudioColoring

I‘m not the intended audience for this one but it managed to fulfill both the #DiverseMiddleGrade prompt for #Booked2019 AND #Malawi for the #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge- plus it was available through #KindleUnlimited! I liked the details of daily life in Malawi, there wasn‘t enough there to overcome the more problematic parts of the plot. I expected the heavy-handed Sunday school lessons, but everything with the father made me uncomfortable

This is my first experience with this author- and most likely my last. I only picked this one up at all for the #ReadAroundTheWorldChallenge. This month is #Cyprus and this book was listed- though I feel guilty for using it since really only a few scenes took place there- for the most part this was a globetrotting disappointment of a thriller involving the #ZealousZest of extremists, a lame medical mystery and cartoon characters. #AugustABC