Welcome to Litsy!

All schoolteachers in South Korea, Singapore, and Finland come from the top third of their school classes, but nearly half of American teachers come from the bottom third of their classes.

Just because a publisher is willing to print 500 pages doesn‘t mean you have to write that many. The former copy editor in me was driven nuts by the large number of redundancies.

However, Diamond does present an interesting framework for looking at historical crises in Finland, Japan, Chile, #Indonesia, Germany, and Australia. I learned a lot about the histories of these countries, but I think only bits and pieces will stick. ⬇️

Finished this audiobook last night while doing a new national parks puzzle. As usual, Diamond provides provocative thought for the ways of the world, society & human survival. An interesting read with my concurrent read of The Book of Strange New Things. Fantastically terrifying overlapping themes. I‘ll probably end up purchasing this book as a reference, although I know it would be an arduous read, as JD‘s works are technical & thorough analyses.

“At one or more times during our lives, most of us undergo a personal upheaval or crisis, which may or may not get resolved successfully through our making personal changes.”

Another good one by Jared Diamond. I read Collapse many years ago and both insightful on policy, world geography and anthropology. This one also touches on the personal.

#FirstLineFridays
@ShyBookOwl

Currently reading. I was going to put this one off for a while, but now that we're in the middle of a pandemic, this one seems appropriate. Of course, I don't need to read this book, because I already know that we're not going to be okay--at least not until we get a grown-up in the White House.

So this week was meh. I read a lot but most was so-so. Finished GIVE ME YOUR HAND Megan Abbot & story collection SUICIDE WOODS Benjamin Percy. Both were twisty & dark but not my favs. I'm going to bail on the tagged book bc it's not what I'm looking for--though I did read 140 pgs & found it to be pretty interesting. Read a picture book re: the Dust Bowl which was 👍. Finally, halfway through TRUE GRIT & loving it! Can't resist Xmas chocolate! 😆

Not much reading done today. A little over b-fast but then I did yoga, grocery shopping, & attended a book event where I read from one of my short stories!

#weeklyforecast is tricky bc for the 1st time in a long time I'm reading more than 1 book. Almost done w/Abbot's novel & also want to finish Percy's short story collection. The tagged book needs to be back at the library in 3 weeks so I've split it up & hope to finish section 1 this week. 🤞

Hundreds of books were donated to our #blinddatewithabook coffee house! It was tons of work wrapping them up but so fun to see what people chose and the big reveal inside! 📖💜📚

I honestly couldn‘t put this book down! Don‘t let its size stop you: Jared Diamond is a compelling writer. The bulk of the book consists of 6 national case studies (so it feels like 6 mini books that are each very interesting). The final portion of the book concerns the USA and the world. Reading this must add some intelligence points‼️ #botm

My #botm order arrived today. 2 chunsters!!! The prologue and first chapter of Upheaval were a bit dry, but the later chapters are highly readable! I think this is going to be a very good book 📚🤓

In this follow-up to Guns, Germs, and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond shows how nations have overcome crises through methods individuals often practice. Through historical study and examination of current crises, Diamond reveals how certain factors like honest self-appraisal can help predict resilience. This is a fascinating and informative read that gave me a new perspective on the crises facing our country and our world today.