The author starts his walk across Korea at Cheju Island, or Jeju Island, the location of my most recent book The Island of Sea Women. I hope he mentions the Haenyeo.
#SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
The author starts his walk across Korea at Cheju Island, or Jeju Island, the location of my most recent book The Island of Sea Women. I hope he mentions the Haenyeo.
#SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
#Micronesia has gone through its own painful occupations
#readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
This is already a grim read about the South Pacific islands. There‘s a detailed description of the #MarshallIslands, including how dreadfully its residents are treated thanks to the ultra-secret US base there. #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
I thought it‘d be neat to post my first review of this book back in 2021 to compare it with my new review:
The Korean “sea women” endure frigid waters to collect sea animals to sell & survive, for they are the breadwinners & heads of family on the island of Jeju, Korea. Men care for the children. I loved this matrifocal book about fiercely strong women thru the terrorizing Japanese & American occupations (read it & you‘ll understand) to today. ⬇️
Two friends grow up on Japanese-occupied Jeju island, through WWII, marry, and suffer through the transition to the island becoming part of #SouthKorea. On Jeju, many women including the friends are haenyeo, who can tolerate extremely cold temperatures and hold their breath for inordinate amounts of time to dive for seafood. This is their astounding story, as well as the heinous acts and murder of Jeju residents by South Korean soldiers under ⬇️
American-Korean girl meets cute Korean boy in LA, has loads of fun, and falls head over heels. But he goes back to #SouthKorea & doesn‘t respond to her texts. When she travels to Korea with her Mom to help with her ill grandmother, she meets him again-& surprise! He‘s a k-pop superstar! This is a super cute fun read, with many good food references. Highly recommended! #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
My next audiobook. Works for #Korea #foodandlit and some unknowable number of countries for #readingOceania, that I will identify as I go along. @Catsandbooks @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
Little Free Library haul tonight
I‘ve been at these ricotta meatballs for almost 1-1/2 hours! Thank heavens for audiocooking. #authoramonth #Australia #readingOceania #serieslove2024 (book 3) and #letterE #litsyatoz
@Soubhiville @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @TheSpineView @Andrew65
My next ebook for #SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
I‘m squeezing one more book in for #authoramonth
It also works for a few challenges: #Australia #readingOceania #serieslove2024 (book 3) and #letterE #litsyatoz
@Soubhiville @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB @TheSpineView @Andrew65
Audiocrafting tonight. #SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
Thank you @Read4life and #litsylove for the book. Received today!!! I understand I need to be emotionally ready to read this one.
#whatsnewwednesday Thanks @Read4life & @TheSpineView for the tag!
My life is predictable so this was a hard task—I guess it‘s the college planning for my son, who‘s been accepted to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Arizona in the fall. The school is hosting a fancy dinner for new students at a steakhouse here in San Antonio this weekend so we‘ll start to get questions answered. It‘ll be hard as heck to send my youngest away! 🥹
My Little Free Library trade tonight
There‘s a lot of Korean food in this book for #SouthKorea #foodandlit
I‘m glad I‘m reading this book. It‘s light reading compared to the other two books I‘m reading for South Korea this month, which are both about its independence from Japan.
@Catsandbooks
I‘m going way outside my comfort zone for my next ebook for #SouthKorea but opted for it because it also satisfies the #letterX for #litsyatoz, which is always hard to find. #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
As expected this was a fast read. Well-written, the best parts are the descriptions of the food (pretty much everything is cooked in coconut cream) and events, which sound fun and unique. The islands, however, all sound alike: vibrant, powder-soft white beaches, clear turquoise water. Not bad at all! But I would have liked a bit more differentiation. I hope to find a book that delves more into the island chain‘s history. #readingOceania
For the time being, I'm going to try to read this book for #Tuvalu for #readingOceania
I‘m sad to say I‘m bailing on this one. The premise is interesting but the writing is so amateurish it is difficult to read. I‘m opting for a #Tuvalu tour guide book that has history and culture and I can skim the “how to travel there” parts. I also put a library hold on a book called Pacific by Simon Winchester that comes up in GoodReads when I search for Tuvalu. It looks really good. #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
Help my fellow Litten cooks. I fried up cabbage and onions thanks to the tagged book describing the family‘s garden, and it looks amazing and smells amazing and was bland as heck. Any suggestions?
#SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
Ben Kella is the aofia (the leader) of his people in the #SolomonIslands and a police sergeant working for the Brits as they are slowing turning the Islands over to independence. Sister Conchita is the new nun posted to his island, some of whose people are Catholic but many remain true to their mystical roots. A series of murders and other illegal activities lead the sergeant and the nun on the hunt to unravel this complex web and do their ⬇️
Second in the Aaron Falk series, this time he‘s pulled into heavily forested land to find a missing woman, who he‘d “recruited” to help him uncover financial wrongdoings at the company where she works. The company planned the team-building retreat, but Alice doesn‘t make it back. Meanwhile, her young teenage daughter is undergoing her own trauma. The convoluted story finally all comes together to reveal a surprising ending. If I had any ⬇️
I‘ve picked this for my next ebook for #Tuvalu #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
I feel so fortunate. I have a few hours to read tonight with my reading buddy. I‘m about to finish the tagged ebook, then I‘ll pick up my IRL book again, Beasts of a Little Land. 😌
How are you spending your Sunday evening?
#SolomonIslandsw #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB #SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
This sure makes me want to look up these two books!!
#SolomonIslands #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
Reread!! I loved it the first time. So I‘m doing an audiobook this time. #SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
So perfect when my #foodandlit choice describes the food. Here‘s a breakfast in #SouthKorea. @Catsandbooks
Cameron, middle son of the Bright family in the far far outback, is found dead miles from his well-stocked truck. It looks like an unpleasant suicide but why end it this way? His older brother Nathan, the town outcast for many years, has his own demons but manages to slowly put unusual pieces of information together to find out what happens—and it truly is a surprise! I did feel like things ended a little too well, everyone‘s problems solved. ⬇️
Aaron Falk‘s childhood best friend Luke apparently killed his family and himself. Falk, the smalltown outcast for years, is now a Melbourne white collar crime investigator and wrangled into helping the town cop to investigate whether Luke really was the culprit. The ending isn‘t at all what you‘d expect—but entirely logical once you know everyone in town a bit better. This one was hard to put down. #authoramonth #Australia #readingOceania
Hmmm. We humans are “long pigs.” Quite a history of cannibalism in Oceania.
#SolomonIslands #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
Daughter and I take turns completing a bag of Legos building the Natural History Museum. When it‘s her turn I‘m reading the tagged book. #SouthKorea #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
I finished The Dry a few days ago and just finished The Lost Man. So I‘ve picked this one as my next audiobook. #authoramonth @Soubhiville
We just loved our dinner made with food from #SouthKorea
We had Korean BBQ, Korean dumplings, Korean black raspberry wine, and sticky rice (made in India). I didn‘t like the kimchi as much as I thought I would. It was fine but I don‘t anticipate eating it again. For dessert we had the Korean chocolate waffle cookies. We plan to have everything (except the kimchi) again. #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
Maps always appreciated. #SolomonIslands #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
The plans for #SouthKorea inspired dinner! #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
Daughter and I went shopping today here so we can make some Korean food tomorrow night for #SouthKorea #foodandlit. I‘m so excited!! @Catsandbooks
I‘ve picked my next ebook for #SolomonIslands #readingOceania @Librarybelle @BarbaraBB
I tried reading the tagged book while also reading Harper‘s The Lost Man but it was too confusing. Both have main characters who are snubbed in town for something they allegedly did years ago, & there now was murder, deep in the heart of #Australia. To top it off, they are slightly linked. I‘ve decided to finish this one first. I just learned the “who done it,” and dang was I ever surprised! Did anyone else figure it out before the big reveal? ⬇️
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 book tonight, my second for #SouthKorea for #foodandlit @Catsandbooks
An LA cop accepts the position of chief of police over all the Micronesian islands in the late 1970s to 1980s, and dang was it ever an adventurous true story. Sometimes it was downright scary and at least twice it was hysterically funny thanks to very real cultural differences from island to island. I don‘t think any book could better describe the islands‘ cultures, and adapting to them than this book. Very readable nonfiction. The author is ⬇️
Hoonie is born in the late 1800s with a cleft palate and twisted foot but he‘s very strong, a hard worker, and loyal to his wife Yangjin. Their only surviving child is Sunja, and this book mainly tells her life story, her mother Yangjin‘s story, and Sunja‘s children and grandchildren through the late 1980s. Pachinko, a game of chance, makes this poor family eventually very wealthy. I like family histories but this one didn‘t work well me. ⬇️
I‘ve discovered the reason not to read two books by the same author at the same time. One is slow and drags, but still interesting. The other, however, is my pick when deciding which one to read. So it‘s hard to be motivated to read the other one. I won‘t tell which is which, but I‘d be interested to learn if anyone else has a favorite between these two.