Welcome to Litsy!

A real eye-opener, especially for these times, unless, of course, you don‘t want to think about pandemics😉.
A really thorough explanation of the Spanish flu, including its precedents, false nomenclature, impact and diverse responses all over the globe and particularly links to World War I, outcomes related to healthcare support systems and deeper understandings of the biology of viruses and pandemics.
#Booked2023 #Pandemic
#Nonfiction2023 #Toxic

War has a victor, and to him the spoils, the version that is handed down to posterity… when the story of the Spanish flu was told, it was told by those who had got off most lightly, the white and well-off. With very few exceptions, the ones who bore the brunt of it, the ones living in ghettos, or at the rim, have yet to tell their tale. Some, such as the minorities whose language has died with them, never will.

“Hemoglutamine, ‘H,” looks like a lollipop. Its stalk projects into the membrane. It is the metaphorical crowbar that allows the virus to break into a cell, while neurominidase, ‘N,‘ is the glass cutter that allows it to exit again.”

H1N1 was the later-assigned code for the “Spanish” flu, as well as the more recent “swine” flu.

“We avoid things we find disgusting…when contagion is a threat. The Caribbean spiny lobster is highly sociable by nature, but it refuses to share its den with another lobster that is infected with a lethal virus.”

This guy looks pretty healthy: he can share my den anytime!

I knew very little about the Spanish Flu other than it happened. This book provided an interesting look into the history & how it changed the world, specifically public health & epidemiology. But I felt it started to bog down in the last half.

Book 7 for #joyousjanuary
About a pandemic for #booked2023

The book starts with a quote from Terence Ranger, The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19 (2003):

“The brevity of the influenza pandemic of 1918 posed great problems to doctors at the time . . . It has posed great problems to historians ever since.”

This is my book about a pandemic for #Booked2023

This was a great follow up to my recent read, Emma Donoghue‘s The Pull of the Stars. It covers how the Spanish Flu got worldwide, how it was treated, medical understanding at the time of illness in general and the flu in detail. It also talks about the exhaustive scientific study that went on for decades after the flu to understand the how and why of it and how to prevent or cushion subsequent outbreaks. Our vaccines weren‘t made overnight 🤣

My latest audio read

On hold at the library

I listened to the audio. My mind wandered in and out. I lost interest a bit more looking at the countries individually than looking at the pandemic in a broader sense. It sure was interesting to see the parallels to today – one of those parallels being the health measures that governments try to take with varying results of compliance.

Oddly comforting read. Nice to hear about a pandemic that the world survived in the past. Loved the writing. 4 🌟 highly recommend.

I was looking for a book to give me an idea of what the Spanish Flu was like, how it started, how it finished and it was managed at the time. This book does cover it and some more. It's filled with interesting stories about countries and people from all over the world. The similarities with the current pandemic are undeniable which proves the old saying that history repeats itself... unfortunately. I reccomend this book 100%.

1. I‘ve probably recommended the tagged book the most, because it‘s so...pertinent.
2. I don‘t usually seek out recommendations. They seem to come at me from all sides without my having to look for them.
#two4tuesday

I know I‘m late for #Booked2020 but wanted to catch up with myself anyway. I previously posted The Fateful Lightning as #liveandlearn but Pale Rider definitely applies too!

Reading a book set in Australia is probably as close as I‘ll get for the foreseeable future. #armchairtravel

I didn‘t especially like the romance, but it does have a #hatoncover

In under 350 pp, Spinney takes us around the world, detailing pandemic experiences in both remote and urban places. She covers the science and the medicine, such as it was back then. Also the personal impact to generations beyond just those alive at the time. The lessons learned here improved our approach to pandemic. Yet, disappointingly many things remain the same.

Full review http://www.TheBibliophage.com #thebibliophage2020
#nonfictionnerds

An educational read. In all the histories I've read about WWI, the early 20th century, the Spanish flu is a footnote to the larger story. A great book that looks at the life and impact of a worldwide pandemic and how it shapes politics, war, society, culture, art, history. While the book is a little all over the place, I highly recommend.

Many fascinating stories, facts, and ideas crammed into this one. A very ambitious scope for a little over 300 pages making it a bit scattered but also dense at times. Biggest/most distressing takeaway is how human behavior does not seem to have changed at all and we seem to be repeating all the same mistakes over again. 🤦🏻‍♀️ All in all a worthwhile read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Next up on #audio. Have been avoiding virus lit so far, but how nuts is it that it now seems like a good distraction????

I fell asleep on the couch before I could finish this and post my #bookreport but not because it was a boring book! A little scattered maybe, but interesting.

I‘m a little scattered too and will probably set aside the McEwan #authoramonth choice to finish later.

For the moment, I‘m only five books off the pace for my Goodreads yearly goal. It is what it is.

How to contain a pandemic. A few pages later she talks about...social distancing. This is one book that will NOT go to the #littlefreelibrary when I‘m done. #biblioMAYnia

I enjoyed this book, but overall it felt too fragmented.

Still a little obsessed with pandemics, viruses, and the like. This book is fantastic for understanding the scope, progression, and impact of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic (which definitely did not originate in Spain and didn‘t completely burn out until 1920). When I read Tuchman‘s “A Distant Mirror”, I was enthralled with a new understanding of the ways the Black Death changed the world. This book is worthy but lacks that broad vision.

Working from home has meant longer hours on the computer and a lot less reading. So I‘ve started getting up an hour earlier to read before logging on. The cat doesn‘t know what to make of this abrupt change to her daily schedule of napping, eating, stretching, lounging on the couch and staring disdainfully at the humans in her life. Nobody really thinks about how pandemics affect the felines of the world. 🤷🏻‍♀️ #KittyLivesMatter

#catsoflitsy

Starting this one tonight. Because why not thoroughly immerse myself in pandemic news. 🤷🏻‍♀️

#pandemicreading

1. Playing Lego with my grampy right before he died -- he taught me to overlap the bricks so I could build a solid structure.
2. One sister, one brother-in-law, one guy I call my brother.
3. Uhhhh a year ago ish?
4. Pale Rider -- it's about the 1918 flu pandemic. Fascinating so far, and less focused on the West than the other I read.
5. Anyone who wants it!

Nocebo- harmful anti-placebo effect. I've never come across this before: linked to a loss of faith in your doctor.

Determined to read some of my own books that have been hanging around. A weekend of reading!

Not an intimate portrait of the Spanish Flu, but a global, distanced perspective.

I love history of disease books. But I love histories of plagues and epidemics best of all!! I was super excited to pick up this book from the library today. Now I know what I will be doing for the rest of the day: reading about the flu 😷 🤧 🤒☠️