Welcome to Litsy!

Still playing catch-up with #FoodandLit finishing October‘s Samoan read. This book was the first to be published in the United States by a Samoan woman. It‘s a coming of age story that catches the Samoan life and culture beautifully. I wish I knew there was a glossary of Samoan words in the back while I was reading as there are a lot of phrases and words not translated. Dinner, Samoan Chicken Moa Fa‘Asaina aver coconut rice.

Indeed it is!!!

This is a great look at Ardern's life to this point. Such a compassionate and thoughtful woman. It was interesting to hear how she overcame feelings of inadequacy and how she worked through so many life altering crises. I love QE2's advice to her when she asked about raising kids in the public eye and doing public work "You just get on with it."
I thought this was well written and paced, easy to read and relatable - she is quite funny

Calamity says "Men, ?"

Ardern says: Fl"For years, my love life, if you could call it that, had been beset by both minor humiliation and consistent failure [......] Or the lovely journalist who decided to move to Africa - or at least I think he moved to Africa."

Ardern is just as cheeky and relatable in this memoir as I had hoped

I‘m not usually a fan of child narrators, but @squirrelbrain ‘s review convinced me to give this a go. Helen, you were right. The pacing and structure of this book are so good, pulling you in, letting you figure out what‘s happening before the characters do, then wondering how they‘re going to respond when they learn the truth. Just superb.

Best line I‘ve read in a while

Admittedly this book was written at a sorrowful stressful time in the author‘s life, his wife having just told him she‘s divorcing him. So he‘s very sulky as he travels across Oceania in his portable kayak that he carries with him as he flies from place to place. But that doesn‘t excuse his utter lack of humility, and a serious superiority complex with his smug judgments about 90% of his encounters with folks. He starts by blasting New Zealand ⬇️

I continue with my late book reviews but this help me to keep track of what I read in 2025 in GR. readers habits😂
I really liked this book. In some way reminded me Eleanor Oliphant is completely Fine. In this case I saw Sally as a woman with a neurocognitive condition (functional diversity) and how hard could be to adapt herself to a typical world. Family secrets, manipulation and even abuse. That‘s how I saw that family behavior (no spoiler)⬇️

#weeklyforecast
Chipping away at Far From The Tree with mixed feelings, should finish this week.

Reading the tagged for a break from that. Hoping to get to Cheese War this week also. The stack behind is hopefuls for next weekend. I grabbed Frozen River on audio so might dive into that while on my walks (if I get walks it is insanely windy here!!)

Very late #BookReport for October. All good reads, In a Fishbone Church the standout.