Welcome to Litsy!

This was a well-written family saga and I did enjoy it. I just felt it was curiously dispassionate on the Japanese occupation of the #philippines and could, therefore, have been set anywhere. I think it was because the story was told by different narrators, telling their history to the MC, which made it feel rather distant.

A good read, nevertheless. Thanks for sending it to me Cindy! Would anyone else like this? #swapme

#readingasia2021

The author goes to #thailand from Canada on a Rotary exchange programme at the age of 17, in the mid 1980s. To begin with I thought she would be a typical whiny teenager but actually this diary is very honest about her feelings and insightful about Thailand, particularly when looking at the lives of Thai women at that time. The author is a poet and you can see that throughout the book.

Does anyone need this for #readingasia2021? #swapme

Its independence war leaves #Bangladesh torn apart - the country and its people. Maya and her brother Sohail have become estranged during the years. He has become a devote Muslim, she a fighter for justice and freedom. Their mother tries to keep the family together.

I enjoyed the glimpses into the Bangladeshi way of life and I learned a bit about the country. Like you said @squirrelbrain a book to #likenotlove.

#ReadingAsia2021 🇧🇩

I ordered this (used) book way before Christmas so I‘d completely forgotten about it by the time it arrived today. I‘m not surprised it took so long though - it came from America by way of France. 🤔

It‘s an ex-library book from Lake Tahoe Community College - I love it when my books have history!

This is for #readingasia2021 #brunei and is NF about an American girl in a harem - should be interesting! Another of my random finds Barbara! 🤪

Dear Helen, your book arrived today and it looks totally new! Are you sure you and Mum Squirrel both read it?! It looks intriguing though and I am interested in finding out more about this country- that I never have considered a destination for myself either 😀😉. Thank you so much! I‘ll make it up to you! ❤️#swapme #readingasia2021

A fascinating account of the author‘s year-long stay as an English teacher in one of the remotest villages of #mongolia, including a few months as a nomad.

Life there is incredibly tough and the author writes vividly of the privations but also of the friends that she makes and the positives that she can take away from her time there.

Available for #swapme once #mummysquirrel has read it too.

#readingasia2021

This one was hard work - partly a memoir of life in #Iran and partly literary criticism of a number of books, I found it very dense. I did learn about life during the Iran / Iraq war and the strict regime under Khomeini. What irked me most was the author claimed to be all about ‘her girls‘ (those who joined her book club) but it felt very me, me,me.

Having said all that this is available for #swapme if you‘re not completely put off! ⬇️

This was my #bookspin for January and also book number 3 for #readingasia2021.

The author travelled primarily to the non-resort islands of the #maldives in 2013 looking at history, politics, religion and environment. I liked the writing style and learned a lot and, although there was nothing truly groundbreaking about this book, it was a pleasant, interesting read.

Interesting fact: the highest natural ‘hill‘ on the Maldives is 7ft 10 inches!

#bookreport

I just finished reading Piranesi and loved it. Listened to another couple of hours on the Obama, but it‘s mainly been too icy to go audiowalking.

About halfway through the two physical books and, like @rockpools said earlier, I‘m really enjoying both of them when I do read them but somehow just not inspired to actually pick them up - an odd feeling for me. I think perhaps it‘s the big bad world out there, rather than the books.

As far as a ss collection goes this is VERY READABLE ♥️Every story was full bodied and offered something meaningful and insightful about human nature as well as life in Haiti or as a Haitian immigrant. I‘m generally not a fan of short stories but I appreciated what the author created. Still #BorrowNotBuy #ImpromptuBuddyRead #Pop21 #SomethingAboutForgetting #SwapMe