Welcome to Litsy!

Me: I know everything about Chernobyl now. I'm like an expert.

16yo: Tell me the names of all the people who were involved.

Me: ...Um...Russian names...a lot of them...

Audio. Difficult to listen to, with technical verbiage. This was a very educational experience either way. As such, I think I learned more about the downfall of the USSR after the meltdown. What I did not know was focused upon how the government handled it afterwards. Like how the families were prosecuted. How the meltdown indirectly could be said to have caused the down fall of the Soviet Union due to the payout to the families.

In our world there are always untold stories things in the past we don‘t want to believe or we feel a certain about, but it‘s our world our history. This book is another like my previous post (Stamped from the Beginning) history we need to embrace the good the bad and the ugly.

Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering history‘s worst nuclear disaster. In the thirty years since then, Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning. #feedyourmindbookclub

Excellent look into the accident at Chernobyl. I always forget that there were multiple reactors and it was only one, reactor 4, that failed/melted down.
Of course in classic bureaucratic fashion they blamed the workers and not the shoddy construction and inadequate materials used. They also ignored the multiple safety concerns.
The devastation that this caused is unreal.

Up next.
Man Cub, my parents, and I were talking about Chernobyl the other night because of a clue on Jeopardy Masters tournament and it was a segment on the show ‘Mysteries at the Museum‘ the artifact was a ginger counter.
Too many signs pointing me to this book 😆

#MayMontage #Yellowcolor

The first part of this is like watching a very slow-moving car crash. A call-the-police-and-ambulance-and-fire-department crash.

This is fascinating although it‘s sometimes over my head—physics is not my forte. It‘s very tough to put down. Thus, I‘m alternating between audio and print. 😄

Another book I wouldn‘t have picked up except for #auldlangspine. Thanks, @Sharpeipup 🙌🙌🙌
And thanks, @monalyisha 🤗🥳

Still struggling with my reading, I‘m actually getting depressed about it honestly. Reading is my life! So I‘m rereading this amazing book about Chernobyl & this passage jumped out at me. I had no idea the Hiroshima bomb could‘ve been so much more devastating than it was. How terrifying!💣☢️💀

🤯🤯🤯
With Chernobyl in the news again, I felt it was time to finally read this one.

The lies, the secrecy, and the outright disregard for citizens safety is absolutely deplorable. Even for 1980s Russia, it‘s hard to believe! I can‘t say I enjoyed this, considering the subject matter, it just seems weird to say that. But I‘m glad I read it. I was only 14 when Chernobyl happened, and now I know more in detail what happened, the attempted cover up, and the aftermath.

#bookspinbingo - free space
#pop22 - about a man-made disaster

An infuriating and heartbreaking true account of the nuclear power plant disaster that took place in Ukraine in the late 1980‘s. More than anything, the way the Soviet‘s tried to coverup the disaster and ultimately betrayed hundreds of thousands of its own citizens and others around the globe was devastating to read. Higginnbotham did a great job of making the science easy to grasp and humanizing the story.

Just wow. I feel so bad for those that were lied to in such a disgusting way just so the powers that be could save face. Very detailed and good accounting of what took place in Pripyat.

OMG!! The level of dishonesty, false information and total disregard for the public‘s well being is SHOCKING!!!! #PoP22 #ManMadeDisaster #NF22 #ImADisaster

Great book to read if you‘re obsessed with what happened in Chernobyl like me. Also I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was phenomenal!

Usually I read with a beer but this felt more appropriate when battling a cold and reading about much worse things than the sniffles.

I knew very little of this disaster. I pretty much only knew it happened. Holy crap the incompetence!! It's unbelievable. They wrote manuals on equipment not performing to its design rather than fixing it!!! So much of their actions I just wanted to pull my hair out.

#conflictedworlds #disaster

So accessible considering I know nothing about nuclear physics. Explains the science behind the reactors for anyone to understand! A really great read

Excellent narrative nonfiction. The audiobook was riveting, even though I had a little trouble keeping track of the Russian names in this format. Highly recommend!

This was a very interesting listen. I learnt a lot and was shocked with how things were covered up and not handled appropriately. Very sad and devastating consequences for a lot of innocent people.

This was well researched, well written, fascinating and terrifying. Not just the reactor itself exploding, which is horrific, but the dissection of the culture of secrecy, arrogance and fear of retribution that created the conditions that allowed the disaster to occur. Now I want to read Voices from Chernobyl.

I would give this a 10/5.
This book is absolutely terrifying and gripping. It‘s flabbergasting that this is a true story. That something this horrible happened a little less than 40 years ago.
I recommend this to anyone and everyone.
#nonfiction #chernobyl #historical

Good morning!
Coffee and books might be my favorite thing in the world.
#MorningReads #NonFiction #Chernobyl

For hosting a Readathon I have gotten very little reading done 😅. I‘m just too tired to concentrate lately it seems. I do have to work tomorrow, but I‘m really hoping to wake up early enough to sneak some pages in before I clock in. Any sorts of tips to improve energy and concentration would be really appreciated!

An incredible harrowing account of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear facility. Soviet bureaucracy is intense with so many layers and so many people all in charge of small little pieces but not really responsible for anything at all.

Scary part is that these terribly flawed RBMK-1000 reactors are still in use to this day!

One of my 2021 resolutions is to get more organized. Since I'm cleaning my downstairs today, I figured I should organize my book case down here too.

An amazingly well researched and well written account of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that I found chilling in its exactness. Many passages were riveting but the sheer breadth and density of characters, Soviet bureaucracy, decisions, etc. ultimately overwhelmed my admittedly lazy reading style. I stopped reading about halfway through but would still recommend it to anyone who is curious about the incident.

If you want to get angry and governments and men who are too proud to admit mistakes read this book. Don‘t get me wrong, it‘s an amazing book. I learned a lot, I cried for those affected and killed and cried even more for the pets left behind. But when you see how the meltdown could have been prevented in so many ways it just pisses you off.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The author did a great job of telling this horrific story without making it boring. “Thousands of dozing flies” stuck out to me. The government tried to cover this up from the very second it took place.

I'm not a huge reader of nonfiction, but I do enjoy deep dives of historical events, especially those I remember personally. #12Booksof2020 @Andrew65

Robin!!! Thank you sooo much for the books, one for Matty and one for me. I‘m very excited about Midnight in Chernobyl. So much so I‘m scanning Mindhunter so I can start it sooner! 🤣 Thank you again for the lovely gifts!

Update for #novelnovember!

Finish:

✅ Attachment for #authoramonth
✅ A Freak of Freedom for #readingeurope2020 #SanMarino
✅ Midnight in Chernobyl for #Ukraine (review to come)
4. The Historian for #Slovenia

Make progress: The Dogs of Riga for #Latvia

@Andrew65

I‘ve been listening to this audiobook since Monday on my business trip but only just now thought to check out my IRL book. My dear husband and his family were in Norway during this catastrophe. My sister-in-law was still living in Helsinki, Finland. She has survived leukemia, which I still blame on the Chernobyl fallout, although she disagrees. Scandinavia, and especially Finland, took hard hits from this as did Eastern Europe. Tragic for so many.

Started this one on the road trip to visit a client for a few days. #readingeurope2020 #Ukraine

This is been on my TBR for a while now, but like most non-fictions, I needed a kick in the pants to start it...it‘s my book club‘s November pick, so here goes!

Hard to get through in some places, especially when given details about acute radiation syndrome, but definitely worth reading. I didn't know very much about the disaster, or very much about radiation poisoning, so I learned A LOT while listening to this. A very thorough account of the disaster and what followed. Only complaint is that I wish he had gone more into what has happened to the nature surrounding the area.

I‘ve been wanting to read this book since watching the HBO series last summer. (The hold queue at my library was absolutely massive and then pandemic, of course.) It is an engaging read and well worth the time. I especially liked the sections devoted to the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident. I really enjoyed the HBO series as well. I definitely now have an idea of the liberties that they took (had to take?) with the story of Chernobyl.

Well-written manuals are not enough to guarantee safety, especially in the face of operational pressure to get the job done. And it‘s not enough to say “do this thing”; understanding WHY something needs to be done improves the odds of people actually doing it.

Going to have to get back to Sidney Dekker after this!

Can‘t decide what to start for the #CYOReadathon, so this ebook from the library is as good a place to start as any. I could also resume reading my public-domain ebooks. The Barclay is likely to be tomorrow, because I don‘t feel like getting off the couch 😂

Some fall colored books to ring in the new season 🍂🍁🍂

An in-depth investigation into what went wrong in Chernobyl: defective reactors, Soviet hubris, operator error, everything. Tense and riveting. Even though I knew what was coming, I somehow never realized how fucked up the whole situation was.

A rainy day is a good day to read.

So is a sunny day, or hot day, or dry day...etc...🤷‍♀️🤣

I hate limited characters here. 🤬 I need more than 400.
Basically, super dense & technical. Read from 6/19-7/31
Unless you're super into Russian history or Chernobyl, you're better off watching a few documentaries about it, rather than tackling this book. 3.5 star

Back to this for a minute. I started this book in June and still am not done. It's so technically dense it's a hard read for me. I'm currently 267 pages in, on chapter 15. 5 more chapters left. I might be done by August or September 🤣

It‘s hard to read something like this, and not compare it to what is going on with COVID right now. Obviously, with this I have the power of foresight, and knew how bad the fallout from this was, but it was so frustrating to see how tentative the politicians were to warn the public.

I‘ve been on the waitlist for this one for MONTHS, so I guess I‘m going right into another heavy audiobook.

Taking advantage of the cooler temps, hammock, fuck off I'm reading socks, and my book 🤓📖

I've been looking forward to this one