Welcome to Litsy!

Yeah. Really good book. Really well researched book too. It took me a minute to get into the flow, but it really is a series of short stories that happen to take place in the same location, bound together by a “modern” (by now, historical in its own right, having been written in the 60‘s) storyline. audiobook was ultimately the right choice for me on this one. That does not happen often.

When the audiobook starts with “the final chapter” 👀

Starting my Q3 #chunksterchallenge2024
I‘m planning on reading ~15 pages a day and should finish it toward the end of September.

@Amiable

I haven‘t read a lot set solely in ancient times, but I have several on my TBR mountain. Lol.
I seem to read more ‘time spanning‘ historical fiction that starts BC and often goes up to the present day (or close).
The tagged is my favorite.

Also enjoyed Hawaii by Michener and loved both Sarum and London by Edward Rutherfurd.
I also enjoyed Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel

#Two4Tuesday

Congratulations on your persistence and determination to complete #ChunksterChallenge2021, Karen!

@texreader

Michener uses an archeological dig to tell the history & stories of #Israel, birth of religion, horrific & graphic torture of Jews, & the fierce fighting in the region up to the creation of the country. He doesn‘t flinch from difficult philosophical or competing religious questions even within the same faith. Definitely instructive. A hard read for ongoing graphic violence. #readingasia2021 #foodandlit #chunksterchallenge2021 (1267 pages)

Onward! The last chapter! Page 1159, 92%

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

I had no idea that “hip hip hurrah” has some anti-Semitic origins. I googled the Latin phrase and found numerous articles on the subject. Here‘s a good concise one:

https://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/261/Q1/

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

Page 1023, 81%

I‘m now at the second level from the top of the archeological dig in #Israel. Page 995, 77%. The previous level had gruesome moments, as has most of the book. I will be very relieved when I‘ve finished. It‘s a good book, but brutal and emotionally draining.

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

Third level from top of the archeological dig. Yes I‘m still plodding through this one. I‘m at 69% on page 871. I took a bit of a break after some really gruesome parts of the book. I guess in stories about items discovered in a dig, everybody dies. But how makes all the difference.

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

An interesting theory on why the Crusades were rarely successful. The Crusaders were killing the wrong people!

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

Truth! I‘ve tried to find an ice cube during heat waves in other countries!

Not only is this book long, often it‘s hard to read: the violence & inhumanity it describes (because of religion & gender & slavery) can be very hard to take. I often hesitate to pick it back up fearing more horrific stories.

Page 771/1269, 61%

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

The bestselling book in the US in 1965 was this monster, 1240 pages of stories tracing the history of a Middle Eastern mound, from prehistoric peoples emerging from caves, up to the founding of Israel. Along the way it's much to chew on, about history, progress, community, and religion.

It's good but dang is it ever a lot of book.

I love learning new (to me) things like this!

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

And hence, the creation of Palestine—which I‘m sure I‘ll get to eventually in this book. This is so interesting.

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

Learning so much about Judaism.

I‘m currently on page 608, 47% finished. #readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

Another new word!

The dispatch reached Caligula at an evil moment. He raged at the contempt of the Jews and at the pusillanimity of his Syrian general. By swift messengers he sent news to Antioch that the Jews must be completely destroyed and that Petronius must commit suicide...

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

#chunksterchallenge2021 update. I‘m on page 525, 41% through the book. There have been atrocities against the Jews so far but nothing like what I expect from this chapter, which is opening with Caligula. ☹️

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

#thoughtfulthursday Thanks @Eggs for the tag!

1) To avoid spoilers I‘ll go with the popular answer—a character from the Harry Potter slaughter in the Deathly Hallows (pick any)

2) So many but none come to me now except Rebecca, having recently reread it. It was probably the first book I read as a kid that had continuous surprises toward the end of the book up until the last page. Im glad I didn‘t remember them in the reread.

3) tagged

I really didn‘t like Cleopatra: A Life, by Stacy Schiff, but having read it, I know exactly what is going on in this passage from the tagged book and the role King Herod played in Cleopatra‘s life. Also, I‘ve just passed 500-pages in this chunkster.

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

“Why didn‘t the Greek ideal catch hold in these parts?” Cullinane asked.

“For the same reasons it wasn‘t acceptable in Rome,” Tabari explained. “It‘s fun to chase after a running man, but it‘s more fun to sit in a comfortable stadium and watch lions chase him. The Greeks and the English developed sports. The Romans and the Americans degenerated them into spectacles. And the Arabs and Jews said to hell with the whole silly mess.”

😢

I‘ve made it through almost 1/3 of this chunkster! 400 pages of 1267! #readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

I learned a new word! If you don‘t know it either, feel free to look it up:

She was a woman hungry for the higher world, for the more complete song, and in Makor she was miserable, tied down to its uninspiring syncretism of ritual for Yahweh and worship of Baal.

There is an absolutely brilliant exchange among 3 archeologists (American, Arab, Jew) discussing their different perspectives of Israel. They also discuss how one has to be very careful about making assumptions about how people lived during any historical period. I love history, it was my major in undergrad. I love reading fiction and nonfiction about history. But by golly, if I didn‘t learn a new way of thinking about history in their dialog! ⬇️

Israel as the “focus of forces.” This book was written in 1965. How many more examples could he describe through 2021? #readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

#readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

I love how Michener has organized this book. In chapter 1 archeologists find many items, then hit bedrock. Chapter 2 is telling the story of the oldest find in the dig and it is fascinating. Presumably it will move forward in time with each object. #readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

“For two thousand years whenever we Jews saw a soldier, it could only mean bad news. Because the soldier couldn‘t be Jewish. He had to be an enemy. It‘s no small thing to see a Jewish soldier, standing on his own soil, protecting Jews … not persecuting them.”

I like when books give us maps and depictions about what‘s happening. Chapter 1 is about an archeological dig in Israel and every time the archeologist creates a card with a drawing of what he found, the depiction of the card is there to show us. #readingasia2021 #foodandlit #Israel #chunksterchallenge2021 @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @Butterfinger @Catsandbooks @Amiable

Starting this book to get a head start for #Israel #foodandlit for April because I‘m a very slow reader and this is one of Michener‘s chunksters. Also, it works for #readingasia2021 #Palestine

This ebook is on sale today. I bought it for #foodandlit #Israel coming up next month.

I wasn't raised in a religious household, so this book was really interesting to me. It tells a history of an Israeli community through the ages, and also a sort of history of Judaism and Christianity. It took me a while to get into it, but once I did I really liked it.

I started this book a while ago and eventually got about 1/3 of it read. Picking it back up now only to discover that I still have more than 19 hours to go?!? I‘ve completely lost the thread of the story, came back in at a very unpleasant scene, and I‘m bailing.

Sorry, Mr. Michener. I think maybe I‘ve moved on from you? At least for now.

#7Days7Books Day 3

This was required reading for a history class in college. I've re-read it many times since then.

@sblbooks @megnews #MiddleGradeMarch
1 my mom had to chase me out of the house, because I always had my nose in a book, I would be late getting ready, I would read with a flashlight...
2 Barbies, paper dolls, papercrafting, books, plus nancy drew, reading, wonderful world of disney, bonanza, dream of jeannie, Olympics, Saturday morning cartoons
3 JFK, MLK and RFK assassinations
4 see above(I was 12 when I read)

I‘ll add this #chunkster to my #SubjectOfTheMonth reads! Historical fiction rules 🙂👍🏽 How is everyone else doing? I‘m about to finish Here Be Dragons.

Worst year, month, week, day ever! Came in second trice after been interviewed for three jobs. I am at a looow point right now. Luckily, there‘s ice cream and wine, plus as a surprise I got these books in the mail, plus two packages at the PO. Also, I‘m off for the rest of the week!

#TuesdayTidbits
1. Tagged book, because it was an adult library book I read when I was 11, it opened the doors of Israeli history to me . I have been fascinated with all things Jewish ever since.
2. Jesus Christ to thank him. Next would be a woman like Jane Adams or Elizabeth blackwell who broke down barriers
3. Bad grammar
4. @BookLover_25 Welcome! And join the fun!

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! Happy April! These books are my #AprilTBR more or less.
-The Source
-Alice‘s Adventures in Wonderland
-The Nightmare
-Sunburn (if my library hold clears)
-Howl‘s Moving Castle
-Boy, Snow, Bird
-Beautiful Swimmers
#ReadingResolutions
#AprilBookishMadness

👍🏽 or 👎🏽?

Bad

I have never read James Michener. According to reliable sources (ha), this is his best one, so I picked it up yesterday. (Don't worry, I lifted it with my legs, not my back.) ⭐️

#Sweetsummerstack I've read this about 8 times, always in the summer. Never get tired of the stories.

#aprilbookshowers My first thought for #publishedinthe1960s was to tap our Michener collection. I was shocked when I started looking at publication dates by the length of his writing career. Some that I assumed were from the 60's were actually written in the 70's and 80's. I knew The Source would fit, because I read it in high school, and I was in high school in the 60's. And now I've definitely dated myself😊

#readinschool I went to a small church-affiliated college where you had to take at least one religion course. The prof for Bible as Literature didn't specifically assign this, but if you didn't read it, there was no way to ace his exams, since he was constantly referring to it. #photoadaynov16 #moraviancollege