Welcome to Litsy!

I doubt Captain Cook met a fuzzy blue whale on his last voyage, but I‘m about to find out.

#currentlyreading

I didn't really know anything about Captain Cook before reading this. Very interesting to read about his approach to exploration and the people he encountered.

Modern explorers do exist, especially in Canada's vast and unforgiving wilderness. We follow Shoalts as he seeks out an uncharted waterway. I've seen reviews complaining that the author comes off as vain and egotistical, but I didn't really get that from the audio. I think every explorer in history has to be vain to some degree, to even attempt their exploits. I do wish I had read a physical copy tho, as I assume it would include photos & maps.

1. The Battle of the Nutcrackers, obvs 🩰

2. I have not yet read this one about the Shackleton expedition but I do have it, as well as Worley‘s take. I went on a spree collecting mountain climbing accounts & other like, already read a few takes on the 1996 Everest climb, Rainbow Valley, don‘t cha know. I myself cannot understand the high mountain-climbing urge. I don‘t wanna die when tis easier to look at pics of it. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@TheSpineView

The story of Endurance is truly inspiring, highlighting resilience, courage, and the vital role of leadership in survival. However, the writing style didn‘t work for me. The heavy focus on technical details about sailing and weather felt repetitive and slowed the pace, making it hard to stay engaged. While the message is powerful, the execution made it a challenging read.

5-9 Nov 24 (audiobook)
We, of course, learned a great deal about Cook‘s first voyage at school but I knew very little about his other two voyages and had not known what a prominent figure he was in his own time. This was a very informative account but it was also engaging. I appreciated hearing about Cook from a modern viewpoint - Sides did not shy away from the sometimes brutal misdeeds of Cook and his men which no doubt led to Cook‘s death.

#Readingoceania2024 I was going to use this for Tonga as Cook did stop there in addition to New Zealand, Tahiti, Kiribati and, of course, Hawaii. However, there was exactly two pages on Tonga. I‘ll have to find another book. This was a good view into Cook‘s third voyage of discovery though. It illustrated well the geographical and cultural differences between the islands and it really highlighted how the European and Oceania cultures clashed.

#schoolspirit
#team
Antarctic exploration - the ultimate team survival
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@Eggs

My heart belongs to the Franklin expedition, but I‘m trying to branch out! Endurance doesn‘t disappoint (truly HOW did they survive that) but I do have an unpopular opinion™️. I am not sold on Shackleton‘s leadership skills! Lansing glosses over mistakes and tends to give Shackleton full credit for feats that were group efforts (or even just Frank Worsley efforts, justice for Frank.) It felt biased and made me wonder about other sides to the story

This book tells the story of Captain Cook‘s final voyage and its well written. Just enough historical diary entries, explanations of ship maintenance and navigation, and a variety of characters lead this book to be entertaining. The colonialism isn‘t avoided, critiques about decisions are included, and shocking avoidance of death make it interesting.