Welcome to Litsy!

I found this book about jellyfish completely fascinating. The author has the unique perspective of having been trained in the sciences but eventually deciding to pursue writing instead, so this is much more “science-y” than one would expect from a journalist but not such hard science writing as to cure insomnia. I‘m using it for #Japan for #ReadingAsia2020, but it works for #Israel as well.

Kyung and Gillian are facing financial issues when suddenly a horrific crime befalls Kyung‘s parents. What follows is a tragic, devastating crumbling of the family, seen from Kyung‘s perspective. This book is masterful—in a lesser writer‘s hands it may well have seemed silly or too much. But this is just heart-wrenching. So, so good.

I created my own “challenge” for 2020 with monthly themes and for the most part, it worked well, giving me just enough structure for when I couldn‘t decide what to read next. I‘m creating a new one for 2021, but I also signed up for #readingasia2021 and #booked2021 because the 2020 versions looked like so much fun, I was a little sad I didn‘t try them. I probably won‘t finish either, but I couldn‘t stand to be left out again. #fomo is real. 🤣🤣

This was an interesting but often tedious short book written by an English journalist in the 1990s—the height of the Balkan crises. In a way it is dated, much has changed, but this book chronicles why & how this region split into a myriad of small countries. I read it for #readingeurope2020 #Montenegro and I certainly learned more about that country than I would have thought. The book is peppered with references, plus a chapter devoted to it & ⬇️

One state left to read for #ReadtheUSA2020 and that is #NewMexico can't believe I've nearly completed it after also completing #ReadingEurope2020 aswell 😮