Welcome to Litsy!

My favorite day of the year, the local AAUW used book sale! Added some series titles I needed, found a O‘Nan book I never heard of, added to my Hilderbrand collection. Only one nonfiction and I was happy to find it. All in all a great haul. I always say buying a book and reading a book are two separate pleasures! #bookhaul #MountTBR

#readingoceania2024 #antartica I selected this for my Antarctica reading as it has some amazing black and white photographs taken during Shackleton‘s failed expedition to the South Pole by photographer Frank Hurley. Shackleton‘s story of amazing leadership and perseverance comes alive in all its brutal cold conditions in the photographs. The book, sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History, is also fairly well written.

OK so the library card is renewed... But I ended up with 2 new books on my TBR...

1. Stranger in the Mirror
It‘s been hard coming to grips with how much I‘ve changed since getting pregnant and having The Wyrmling. Not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well. Although it‘s still a surprise when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. My mental image of myself hasn‘t updated to the new outer look…

2. Tagged. Excellent book about an adventure I could never hope to survive, but loved reading about.

#Two4Tuesday

I‘ve read Caroline Alexander‘s book about Shackleton‘s expedition, & I have Alfred Lansing‘s on my shelf, so I couldn‘t resist downloading this audio as well. It‘s more straightforward & scientific in a logbook sort of way than Alexander‘s, but I still found most of it fascinating as a more immediate, first person version. The part about the Aurora got long to me, but other than that, I‘m amazed by this survival story every time I read about it.

A great read, atmospheric and gripping. I had an on again off again Readathon but this was the highlight for me.

5 ⭐️s
An absolutely amazing story of survival. What these men went through is unimaginable and they faced it all head on. Shackleton was a rare kind of leader that got his men through the most unforgiving place on Earth. Nothing could stop them and the way they kept their humanity through it all is inspiring. Lansing brought all their accounts together in one compelling book, giving the reader a first hand look at what humans are capable of.

Mensun Bound was the Director of Exploration to attempt to find Ernest Shackleton‘s shipwreck at the bottom of an Antarctic sea, the Endurance, which sank during his attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. This book covers both attempts in 2019 (unsuccessful) & 2022, which was successful. The 2022 search was bookended first by the pandemic, and then the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both affecting the morale of the crew. Even so they ⬇️

I started this audiobook today for #Antarctica #readingOceania. I decided to forego Greta and Valdin. I‘ve read way too many books on #NewZealand (6 or 7) and once I started listening to it I wasn‘t too keen on it. This will be only my second book for Antarctica

@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB