Welcome to Litsy!

Readers who enjoyed this might also enjoy "The Tunnels" by Greg Mitchell, and "Stasiland" by Anna Funder.

It's Jill Paton Walsh, so if course it was incredibly thought-provoking and philosophical. A proper Art of Soul book, @BarbaraJean. I finished it in the midnight hours when I couldn't sleep and haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Beautiful writing, highly recommended. ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

'Behold: Kali Tragus, the Russian thistle.'

Making slow progress through this one, yet it's a steady one with much pleasure. So far, it's fabulous.
A dark modern fantasy steeped in Yiddish folklore, a road trip through the vastness of the USA and the heritage, myths and memories of its immigrants.

#folklore #fantasy #myths #legends #Ukraine #EasternEurope #Russia #BabaYaga #legacy

2.5/5⭐ This anthology of Yiddish stories translated into English is important from a cultural/religious standpoint. I can see it being used with great effect in a Jewish studies course. The editor did an excellent job organizing the stories and introducing each section with contextual information. However, the storytelling styles are very different from what I'm used to, often going on tangents and tedious to get through. #roll100

Well, color me intrigued.

I LOVE this cover.

This is one of the only history books that I truly enjoyed, Kaplan's writing style is so full of life, it makes you feel as if you know the people present in the story. A journalistic/travelling way of explaining major events is so enjoyable! Definitely a worthy read, even for people that aren't interested in history

I was hoping for a well researched and comprehensive analysis and narrative of the history of Eastern Europe and its complex relationship with nationalism and ethnic identity. Instead, Anne Applebaum delivered a rather heartless travelogue of her journey through the former Soviet Union. Her comments on people‘s appearances are prejudiced, condescending, and derogatory. She continuously fat-shames people to the point where I almost dnf‘d the book.

Fascinating reportage, between journalism and anthropology.

If man had no memory, he would live like an angel in this world

I'm 70 pages in. I've read a fair bit about Stalin. For me the details about the Holodomor and Ukraine are new.