Welcome to Litsy!

Thanks for posting this @thegirlwiththelibrarybag since I would have never seen it otherwise. I‘m surprised I‘ve actually read 10 of these. Most I‘ve never heard of so I guess I could always add those to my ever-expanding TBR. 🤷🏻‍♀️ The tagged book is one I LOVED SO MUCH and can‘t get anyone else I know to read including my own family 😆 https://www.listchallenges.com/pulitzer-prize-novels/list/3

This is the one thing that I find disappointing about Litsy is the limited space for comments. There is so much to be said about this book. Bleak! A look into North Korean Society thru the eyes of a common North Korean turned national hero. If George Orwell predicted anything in “1984” it was North Korea. I have a much lengthier review on Good Reads.

WOW.. what a fantastic book! Johnson‘s characters convey tremendous ranges of emotion. His “hero‘s journey” takes us through a fully fleshed out North Korea, giving us a profound understanding of the toll of totalitarianism, and the human will to exist. The book is part thriller, part mystery, a page turner and a book worth discussing. What else do you need? 5/5 Loved it!

I read many reviews of this book as I started it and they were very polarized. My opinion, I loved it but it took a long time getting there. 443 pages may not seem long but there was a lot packed into those pages, a lot to handle and halfway in I wasn't even sure I'd finish. But a few chapters into part two I could barely put it down. I could write an essay on this book but I'm running out of characters. The Pulitzer was well deserved.

Any time is reading time. Especially getting to work 20 minutes early and hiding outside with a cup of coffee and a cigarette, stealing 15 minutes of peace and quiet.

Since my kids are leaving for vacation without me tomorrow I'll have plenty of time for a more serious book next. But do I actually start this undertaking tonight or wait for daylight. Decisions, decisions.
Sleep is for the week, starting it now.

Weekend goals! Author Adam Johnson is appearing at the 2018 Honolulu Book & Music Festival on Sunday. I'm listening to the audiobook in the car and reading a few pages of the library book at night. Both "reading" methods are great for this title, it's hard to recommend one over the other.

This has been on my list for ages! #nextup

Kindle deal 🎉 I loved this one. Set in North Korea (although by an American author, not a Korean one). Get it while it‘s cheap.

Everyone seems to rave about this one, but I confess I found it a bit of a slog. Perhaps it's that the satire on a totalitarian state seemed slightly pointless, or the fact that none of the characters really came to life. Bits of it were quite amusing but I was glad to reach the end.

Excited for my book club tonight to discuss The Orphan Masters Son ,should be a good one!🤓📖

I am listening to this book on audio on the #libbyapp.Such a story of survival in your own country,an everyday challenge. To have no identity of your own or your families, it‘s just appalling to me.But wow,I am listening and the writing is so beautiful,that under all the terrible things you feel something,you see beauty that isn‘t really there,you have to get drawn into the magical realism in order to continue with this resilient man.

Holy loudspeakers! This was intense. The remarkable biography of Jun Do, a young North Korean orphan, and the confessions of the powerful Commander Ga. Dramatic tales from the Workers Paradise that we know so little about...

Based on an amalgamation of North Korean refugees interviewed by the author, protagonist Pak Jun Do leads the reader through an odyssey of diverse and harrowing life experiences. While the book can at times be difficult to due to an ambitious plot and dark subject matter, I thought it was a very interesting (albeit heartbreaking) look into a hidden world. #theorphanmastersson #NorthKorea #PulitzerPrize #epic #thriller

“Finally, a solitary figure stood at the end of the pier. When they saw the red of a cigarette, they knew it was a man.”

@Alicia I received your package today. Thank you! This book has been on my TBR for a long time.

I sent something out to you earlier this week but it won't get to you until after Christmas. Sorry it'll be late. I hope you and your family enjoy the holidays!

(Here's the tracking number since I know your packages sometimes disappear. 1z8w1f320376814512 UPS)

New purchase. So excited to dive in! 😁

Day 4 of #Jingleshelves is #Onyourshelfallyear
All of these books have been on my shelf all year. I want to read them all, but I have so many others to read as well.

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @bookloo

I really hated this book and found it completely boring, but after slogging through 200+ pages, I felt like I had to see it through. Honestly, half the time I had no idea what was going on. Maybe that was part of the point? I know this is a good book but it really wasn't for me. I'm so glad it's over.

What a mesmerizing book! I am surprised I liked this as much as I did considering the subject matter, but the writing is so good, the chilling yet somehow very human world of North Korea so masterfully created, it gave me lots to think about. Love, family, relationships, self determination, free will, sacrifice: the many things that make life livable versus just bearable. This book just begs to be discussed.

I hate this so much but I'm 260 pages in and feel like I need to see it through I'm a glutton for punishment 😩

First I was bored, then I was confused, then I found myself really enjoying it. It is not easy to get into and it is very traumatic at times. Read it for a glimpse at life in North Korea, including the absurdity, and to reflect on the meaning of freedom. The story itself doesn't pick up for quite a while and is hard to take literally.

So technically I haven't bailed yet but wanted your thoughts!! I started this audio Friday on a road trip and so far it is nothing but snooze fest for me. I can't get into it at all!! I feel like maybe I should come back or slog through, but I also feel like it's not worth my time. I'm about 1/3 of the way through. I just don't care about the characters at all!! And half the time im just confused... 😩😤😱

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The first book finished in October! I'm deeply uncomfortable with the phrase #lookwhatyoumademedo because that's a common refrain of domestic abusers--but a comparison to the intense control North Korea has over its people would not be misplaced, I think. I much preferred the 1st 1/2 of the book to the 2nd, but it was a fascinating and gripping story. Trigger warning for some torture scenes though. #uncannyoctober

I have ~ 3.5 hours left of this book and ~ 3.5 hours left in September (I'm on the west coast of the US), but I have to finish because this would be book #20 of the month!

Within this bleak book there are these great little sparkling nuggets of humor, and you need them so badly.

This book. THIS BOOK

When my wife passed me this book she told me she couldn't read it before bed; it gave her strange, frightening dreams. 70 pages in and I see why. What an achievement though.

I love this book! I think it speaks to many important issues and themes, especially given the current presidential regime. Full review here: http://readosaurustext.blogspot.com/2015/01/?m=1. #occupationintitle #fallintobooks @RealLifeReading

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one; I was reading it as my "cat on the cover" book for my reading challenge. Although not written by a North Korean, it did a good job creating thought-provoking voices of those not only silenced by tyranny, but also deafened to the outside world. The tragic absurdity of so many of the scenes make this a memorable read. Also, it may be awhile before I eat peaches again.

I was planning to read All the Light We Cannot see next, while I wait for my turn for Lilac Girls (hurry up library slow readers!!) but this caught my attention. Off I go!

Deal alert! Lots of awesome deals on Kobo and Kindle today. 😍

My husband got into my car last night, saw the pile of books I'd bought a bit ago and left in there (they were bagged and it ripped), looks at me and goes "you have a book hoarding problem" ??
Oops. At least I'm always prepared if I accidentally leave my book behind! Couldn't help but take a photo for #Litsy because I started laughing so hard!
#noregrets #carbookshelf

This talk of "Beauty inside North Korea" really opened my views about this very on secretive country.

Reuben Teo (well that guy right there) went to North Korea twice, managed to capture the insights of North Korea by taking pictures and having conversations with the locals (includes the military as well).

I was completely surprised and awed throughout this talk (lots of uh and ahs). There is indeed a beauty of life lies in North Korea.

2017 #88 novel audio it was almost discarded at the end of part one and then it stole my heart and broke it. So believable and intricate, well read and thought provoking. I wish I could share how it rooted around in my brain and teased with my thoughts. Glad I stuck with it. Haunting

"Ah, there is no prison like a North Korean prison—so productive, so conducive to personal reflection. Prisons in the South are filled with jukeboxes and lipstick, places where men sniff glue and ripen each other's fruit!"

This is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time. The audiobook is particularly wonderful; Kang et al. do a magnificent job of bringing the clever absurdity of Johnson's prose to life. #nowreading #libby #audiobooks

I like to listen to audiobooks during my commute and while I clean. Two hours into The Orphan Master's Son and the kitchen is clean, the floors are vacuumed and the laundry is folded a put away. Tim Kang is doing an excellent job narrating.

My library was closed yesterday. 😕 So, I decided it was time for some retail therapy. I felt a bit like a book fairy, because my mystery packages will soon be out in the mail (📚📬😍) but the other two are for me! 😊🐦 #TBR #BOOKHAUL

"'A name isn't a person,' Ga said. 'Don't ever remember someone by their name. To keep someone alive, you put them inside you, you put their face on your heart. Then, no matter where you are, they're always with you because they're a part of you.'" ?

#currentlyreading not sure what I think of this yet... ❤️

To be honest, I remember liking this and all, but the details escape me. I have a bit of an obsession with North Korea, so this was part of phase of reading lot about that. #northkorea

4.5🌟 This story was heartbreaking & amazing. Of course despite all his research, which bumped it up half a star, it's so impossible to know what really goes on in the Hermit Kingdom. I'm completely fascinated by both fiction & nonfiction set there. For amazing reporting, check out PBS's Frontline Season 32 Ep 5 available to stream for free from PBS or paid on Amazon.

#LitsyAtoZ Letter J

I really loved Fortune Smiles, so I don't know why I waited so long to read this. I wonder how he did his research. Thanks for the push @CherylDeFranceschi 👍🏻👍🏻

David Mitchell called this book "An addictive novel of daring ingenuity". I loved every page of it. #recommendsday

The perfect end to a Saturday night: curling up with a highly recommended novel and some treats. #BooksAndTea #BooksAndCookies #SaturdayNightIn

{ "O" book for the #LitsyAtoZ challenge }

Had to take a pic from a NY Times review as I no longer own the book. This is a gripping SCARY story about life, culture and very scary politics in a closed society - North Korea. This was a gripping book and it has stuck with me a long time. It is NOT an easy read but, wow!, well worth the time. I notice obscure news items ( Japanese kidnappings) all of the time now. This book will make you glad to live in an open democracy!
#politicalfiction