Welcome to Litsy!

#readingoceania2024 #australia Fictionalized account of a real historical figure who was known as a bit of an Australian Robin Hood. Largely written as an explanation of events from Ned Kelly to his daughter it has a rough plot construction. I would have liked to hear more from other characters to have gotten more context but I did learn some Australian history along the way.

This was okay to listen to, but I felt myself being disinterested and zoning out during other parts. I think part of my issue was that it was dated- so much has happened since the Obama administration. #ReadingOceania2024

Reading for #ReadingOceania2024 by the fire tonight. It‘s good to get outside a bit.

#readingoceania2024 #kiribati A really wonderful illustrated chronicle of a trip to Kiribati. The authors and illustrators were curious in all the right ways and you get historical timelines, maps, about 30 little vignettes where you learn everything from what kind of fish to eat to how one shouldn‘t eat breadfruit before playing bingo. The illustrations are really well done and show everything including how to get your woman to come back to 👇

This short book packed a punch. About the last white man on an island in Papua New Guinea in the time of a Civil War. He teaches the local students about the power of literature using Great Expectations. A tough but good read. #ReadingOceania2024

#readingOceania2024 #palau #belau A significant collection of poetry, short stories and excerpts from across Micronesia including Kiribati and Palau. It leans heavily on work from Guam (Guahan). I couldn‘t find a Palau book so I am using this. The editorial was quite good. The quality of the writing is very high and the groupings are well done

#ReadingOceania2024 #Fiji I‘ve been reading A.S. Byatt so almost any book would seem slight in comparison but this was a nice mystery with a very unhard boiled protagonist detective. The book is set in an island paradise where British colonials have decided to import indentured servants from India to slave in the sugar plantations rather than disrupt the natives way of life. Racial, gender and class struggles illuminated without a heavy hand.

NI #550 has a feature on the album "Pasya", recorded 2021 to raise awareness & funds for the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), a #Philippines based NGO seeking change in the country's ban on abortion unless it is to "save the woman's life", despite the fact that lack of abortion services leads to thousands more deaths of pregnant people.
The album is a mix of female Filipino artists "offering danceable hip-hop, stunning ⬇️

Book 2 of the Hana Westerman series finds the remains of a 4 years missing high risk Māori teen discovered on the dunes of Hana‘s hometown Tata Bay. I found this book just as satisfying as book 1 and hope to see more. These books are really steeped in Māori culture and I love that. That don‘t strictly have to be read in order, but I think they‘re better if they are.

And that‘s a wrap on #ReadingOceania2024 #NewZealand

There were a few aspects of the way this was written, terminology used by the characters that seemed odd for the time and the switching between perspectives, that sometimes distracted me from the experience of the story. However, the story itself of a woman raising her children on her own in the Australian bush and meeting an aboriginal man on the run was powerful. I was completely caught up in their stories and how those stories came together.