Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s the final week of January and I finally chose a book by a Dutch author from the 1001 list. Yesterday, I thought to check LibriVox and started the tagged book. I also made hopjesvla, and this morning I had coffee custard that tastes much like a caramel latte for breakfast.

#FoodAndLit #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #Netherlands #translated #audiobook #1001books

I finished this book while driving to Thanksgiving celebrations. I don‘t know that I would‘ve made it through a print copy as I took me a long time to become invested in the family. I liked how the chapter titles were all transitional words, and it had some interesting things to say about writing, women, and mother daughter relationships, but it never had enough plot for me.

#audiobook #1001books #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #FoodAndLit #Canada

This story mostly takes place in Turkey in the 1990s and is very much a discussion of the intersection of religion and politics. I found it interesting at times and long at other times. It may have been better if I had more understanding of the historical context.

Chosen for #FoodAndLit in July but just now finished.

#audiobook #1001books #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #translated #Turkey

Andrea comes to Barcelona to live with family while attending university. Once there, she learns things are not good in her family home and she makes few friends attending class. Yet, she perseveres through a difficult year to finally find her way. The mood of much of this book is dark, but the detail in creating that mood and the hope in the end made it a light pick.

#1001books #translated #Spain #FoodAndLit #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld

There were a few aspects of the way this was written, terminology used by the characters that seemed odd for the time and the switching between perspectives, that sometimes distracted me from the experience of the story. However, the story itself of a woman raising her children on her own in the Australian bush and meeting an aboriginal man on the run was powerful. I was completely caught up in their stories and how those stories came together.

I made a breakfast quesadilla this morning to have alongside a few pages of my new book. This is my pick for Spain this month.

#Spain #FoodAndLit #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #1001books #BookAndBreakfast

I liked this, but I think I either needed more context for the historical aspect than the few minutes of online reading I did or more love for Great Expectations to truly appreciate it.

#ReadingOceania2024 #PapuaNewGuinea #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #audiobook

It was a beautiful evening, so I spent a bit of time in the hammock in the back yard with Gandalf and my current audiobook. Mr. Pip is set in Papua New Guinea and includes the only white man remaining on the island reading Great Expectations to students in the local school.

#audiobook #ReadingOceania2024 #PapuaNewGuinea #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld #HammockReading

This book is an interesting mix of an older parent trying to find new happiness in the face of loss, family dynamics, immigration (to England), and Ukrainian history. It‘s definitely got some dark humor while also delving into realistic family issues. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

#1001books #Ukraine #ReadAroundTheWorld #ReadTheWorld #ReadingTheWorld

This afternoon I made spicy jollof rice with chicken while I listened to the end of this audiobook. I had sympathy for most of the women at some point during the story. I could believe in the beginning that Afi was naive enough to think her situation would change, and in the later part, I appreciated her determination to not just go along with the family‘s expectations. This was absolutely a different cultural experience for me to read about.