Welcome to Litsy!

“If people knew the truth of history there would never be another Great War.” Truer words never rang like they do right now.

There might be a good story in here but it‘s, unfortunately, buried beneath clumsy, juvenile writing. The main character, who actually prays to the fuhrer like he‘s a god, is staggeringly naive and the focus is more on her forbidden romance than the history. I think I just like my historical fiction to have a little more meat on its bones, so I bailed around page 150.

These were also fantastic reads with Mom! The Immense World audio was marvelously narrated by the author; even through the science-heavy bits, his enthusiasm was engaging. Mom and I bring this one up a lot, and it was really fun to discuss the book as we read it.

Erik Larson is top-notch for making non-fiction feel like a thriller novel! This one isn‘t my favorite of his, but still compelling.

Lots of ongoing thoughts about all of these!

#BookReport

Finally finished Kristen Lavransdatter! It was slow going as my attention span this year has mostly been that of a gnat but I enjoyed it. Also enjoyed Josephine Baker‘s memoir. What an incredibly fascinating woman!

The format of What We Knew was interesting. The individual sections held my interest more than the rest but that is me not the book.

Caught up on buddy reads except the Picasso which I will read today.

“But I really don‘t trust them [Germans]….

#Magic!onday

I won‘t win the farthest travel distance so am jumping on the time travel train.

Here is the book proof for our travel back to Hitler and fascism. I‘m only part way into it but the parallels are there for all to see and understand if you‘d only care enough to open your eyes a bit to the relentless propaganda.

I can‘t say I wasn‘t warned. The above sentence appears in the introduction. While the methodology of the surveys is important for academics and the differences in interpretation of the data by the 2 authors points to some issues, this book is not readable. And it doesn‘t offer me any ideas on how to safely resist. How anyone can make such horror so dry is beyond me. The information is good, but if you put people to sleep they won‘t absorb it.

repost for @ChrisBohjalian

I am deeply alarmed by the state of the U.S. Many of you are, too. So, let‘s learn about fascism — a book club, perhaps. But, if nothing else, book suggestions. Let‘s start with WHAT WE KNEW: TERROR, MASS MURDER, AND EVERYDAY LIFE IN NAZI GERMANY.

#BuddyRead