2013 Where in the World are you?!? (Currently Reading)

[Lesley]

I've just started Things Fall Apart for Nigeria.

[[deleted user]]

I'm doing fill-in non-countries and replacement upgrades now. I'm halfway through Bakunin's Son for Sardinia.

[Lilisa]

Among the Beautiful Ruins in Italy. A couple of quotes so far - "And he waited - as he always had - for life to come and find him." And - "Life, he thought, is a blatant act of imagination." Just finished the first chapter and waiting to enjoy the rest...hopefully. And oh, here's another one - "...a place for sailors and fishers to find women of...a certain moral and commercial flexibility."

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm in France with The Whole Fromage: Adventures in the Delectable World of French Cheese.

[Barbarac]

I am about a third into The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope and enjoying it. I'm going to try and get a hold of the TED talk too...but I think I want to wait until the book is over, to avoid spoilers.

[WanderShopper]

I'm so glad to finally have some time to read again this weekend! I'm in Egypt with In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale and expecting to really enjoy the book as I've loved several others by Amitav Ghosh. Hey, and if you want some other ideas, check out my blog post today where I give my reviews for my March reads: http://wanderlustandlipstick.com/blog...

[WanderShopper]

Barbarac wrote: "I am about a third into The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope and enjoying it. I'm going to try and get a hold of the TED talk too...but I think I want to wait ..."
Barbara, I really loved this book when we read it as part of a book club a couple years ago. It was so inspiring to see his drive for education and innovation. I also learned a lot about famine through this reading.

[WanderShopper]

Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic slice of the count..."
Barbara, I really liked The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca and the follow-up book, In Arabian Nights. They both give a lot of details about Moroccan culture.

[Chrissie]

WanderShopper, "In an Antique Land" is very good. I definitely prefer Ghosh's earlier works.The Shadow Lines is my favorite.

[Lilisa]

WanderShopper wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic sl..."

Thanks a ton WanderShopper - they both sound interesting and added them to my To Read list too!

[WanderShopper]

Lilisa wrote: "WanderShopper wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that s..."
Glad I could help, Lilisa. I think you will really enjoy them. It's the kind of book that inspires me to want to buy an old house in a foreign land and restore it with local artisans. Maybe some day I'll find just the right place. I hope you enjoy them, let me know!

[Diane]

Currently in Spain with The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte

[Lilisa]

WanderShopper wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "WanderShopper wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want s..."

WS - Will do, but won't be for a while. I'm like a kid in a candy store - I want it all and keep adding books to my to read shelf. Good thing books don't spoil! :-)

[MiA]

Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic slice of the count..."

Barbara, there's also an interesting read This Blinding Absence of Light by Moroccan Author Tahar Ben Jelloun. It's a read with a political background if you're interested in a story of suffering and endurance.

[Rebecca]

Right now I am reading The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan for my entry for China. (and to get another book knocked down for my Mt. TBR challenge...)

[Lilisa]

Still at the Beautiful Ruins - the first chapter showed so much promise but it's been downhill ever since. Half way through and afraid it's not getting any better. Most are self-centered and shallow characters. Disappointing. And I don't care for the writing style either...

[Chrissie]

Lilisa, I cannot make up my mind about Beautiful Ruins. Everybody says the audiobook format is particularly exceptional but the story itself seems blah. I don't want to like a book just because of the narration. The story itself must be good too. the movie set of people doesn't attract me.

[WanderShopper]

I finished In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale this morning. It gives good glimpses of life in rural Egypt. I'm headed to France now with Paris Was Ours: Thirty-Two Writers Reflect on the City of Light.

[Shomeret]

I have left 16th century Russia and have traveled back in time to ancient Roman Italy. I am currently on Mount Vesuvius with Spartacus and his fellow rebels in the pages of Spartacus: The Gladiatorby Ben Kane.

I am a huge fan of Spartacus, so it's not surprising that I'm enjoying this book.

[Lilisa]

Chrissie and Gaeta - I definitely would NOT recommend Beautiful Ruins. Seriously, it is quite awful. I would give it a "0" rating if there was such a thing. I can't believe The New York Times included it in the top 100 Notable Books for 2012 and it received quite a stunning review. It feels like the first chapter was written by one person and the rest of the book by another with no redeeming merits at all as I said earlier. If anyone has read the book and has a different opinion I'd love to hear it as I would like to figure out why it got some rave reviews. Ok I've said enough!

[Chrissie]

Lilisa, what you say confirms what a few readers have dared to say. Sometimes a new book comes out to high acclaim; the critical readers then doubt their own their own less favorable opinion. More and more people are admitting now this book isn't all that great.... I don't know, since I haven't read it, but thanks for giving us your opinion.

[Astrid]

Diane wrote: "Currently in Spain with The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte"

Hi Diane, it's in my wishlist! How was it so far? Are you having fun in Spain?

I am now in Japan, in the middle of this crazy gory story - Out!

[MiA]

I'm traveling between Anna Karenina's Russia(it'll be a while before I finish that one :) ), My Name is Red's Medieval turkey and I Sweep the Sun of Rooftops which is collected short stories by Lebanese Author Hanan AlSheikh.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Lilisa wrote: "Chrissie and Gaeta - I definitely would NOT recommend Beautiful Ruins. Seriously, it is quite awful. I would give it a "0" rating if there was such a thing. I can't believe The New York Times inclu..."
I liked it, enough to add the author's other books to my to-read list. I think the characters are a bit shallow, but they need to be for the story to work.

[Lilisa]

Jenny wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Chrissie and Gaeta - I definitely would NOT recommend Beautiful Ruins. Seriously, it is quite awful. I would give it a "0" rating if there was such a thing. I can't believe The New Y..."

Good to hear you liked it Jenny - funny, but even though it wasn't for me, I feel better there are folks who did enjoy it!

[Astrid]

Gaeta: yes it is a gruesome book!!!

[Diane]

Astrid wrote: "Diane wrote: "Currently in Spain with The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte"

Hi Diane, it's in my wishlist! How was it so far? Are you having fun in Spain?

I am now in Japan, in the middle of th..."

It was pretty good. My favorite aspect of the book was the references to many other books, especially the Three Musketeers. I just love books about books. Very clever premise. It really held my interest throughout, but I thought the ending could have been better.

[Diane]

Currently reading Obabakoak: Stories from a Village, set in the Basque country in Spain.

[Terri R]

I really liked Beautiful Ruins as an audiobook. It was ironic and tender, with non stereotypical characters, even the ones you expected to be so.

[Anne]

Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic slice of the count..."

How about The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles?

[Chrissie]

Re a book for Morocco:
Anne, have you read The Sheltering Sky? I am not sure if you have simply heard it was good or have read it yourself. Many do enjoy it; clearly, since it has a rating of 3.93 and 8,800 have read it! It disappointed me, and for that reason have not mentioned it when the question arose of a good book for Morocco. I explain in my review why I only gave it two stars: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

If you have read the book and liked it, maybe you could link your review so others can determine for themselves if they think the book might fit them. I feel strongly ratings should not be seen as a statement about a book's value, but rather one has to fit the right book with the right reader!

[Lilisa]

Terri wrote: "I really liked Beautiful Ruins as an audiobook. It was ironic and tender, with non stereotypical characters, even the ones you expected to be so."

Glad you enjoyed it Terri. It wasn't for me but it's good to hear that it did bring pleasure to others!

[Lilisa]

I'm with Bend, Not Break: A Life in Two Worlds straddling China and the U.S.

P.S. i just figured out there's a ton of controversy surrounding this book. I had put this on my TBR list when it was first published. It'll be interesting to see what the passionate discourse is about - the memoir being fact, fiction or somewhere in between.

[Shomeret]

I have left Spartacus at the end of volume 1 of his story. I'm now in England. The protagonist has just arrived at a circus in The Julius Romeros Extravaganza, Part 1, the Bearded Girl. I think it's taking place in the Victorian period. The Crimean War might be going on in the background, but I'm not entirely sure.

It has a Gilbert & Sullivan feel to it--if G&S had written a novel.

[Astrid]

Shomeret wrote: "I have left Spartacus at the end of volume 1 of his story. I'm now in England. The protagonist has just arrived at a circus in The Julius Romeros Extravaganza, Part 1, the Bearded Girl. I think i..."

Oh wow..I just read the reviews and it looks like a very interesting book! Am now in Netherlands - Girl with a Pearl Earring. I always feel that Tracy Chevalier's books are lacked of something. I dunno why.

[Shomeret]

The Julius Romeros Extravaganza is really unique, Astrid.

I'm now in Mexico with Frida Kahlo who has just survived her tragic accident in The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo: A Novelby F. G. Haghenbeck. I am enjoying the way this author portrays Frida. Frida before the accident was a revelation to me. Most authors who write fiction about her start with the accident or after it. They're invested in portraying her as a tragic victim. I think there was a great deal more to her than that, and this book is confirming my perception.

[Barbara]

Lilisa wrote: "Terri wrote: "I really liked Beautiful Ruins as an audiobook. It was ironic and tender, with non stereotypical characters, even the ones you expected to be so."

Glad you enjoyed it Terri. It wasn..."

I really enjoyed this book! Just finished it up while on a beach vacation and it was perfect.
I loved the characters and the setting(s).
Walter's writing style was beautiful and poignant.
I am still thinking about the characters and all of their stories, including the secondary and tertiary ones, i.e.; the artist in the pillbox and the prostitute. Each story left an impression.
It's a story about what does happen throughout a life, what could have happened, and the possibility of some sort of redemption in between the two.
Loved it!

[Barbara]

WanderShopper wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic sl..."

Thanks, WanderShopper. The Caliph's House looks very interesting.
I will out it on my tbr shelf.

[Barbara]

Marwa wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic sl..."

Thanks for the recommendation, Marwa.
I will put it on my tbr.

[Barbara]

Anne wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Can anyone help me with a good read set in Morocco? I am trying to do mostly mysteries but a good character driven novel is fine too. I want something that shows me a realistic sl..."

Thanks for the recommendation. The reviews are quite varied on this book, and controversial. Looks like a good read.

[MiA]

@Barbara
You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it.

Now it's me who needs help with a NONFICTION book on The Arab West (Mauritania – Morocco – Algeria – Tunisia – Libya). Suggestions, anyone??

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm in Brazil with State of Wonder.

[Shomeret]

I'm now in Paris with The Paris Lawyerabout a novice lawyer who is defending an African immigrant accused of killing her French husband.

[Lilisa]

Gearing myself up for Anya set in Poland during World War II.

[Chrissie]

Lilisa, I really liked "Anya"! I have just checked and audiobooks that were previously not available to me now are: both The Snow Fox: A Novel and Buffalo Afternoon One for Japan and one for Vietnam! NYT said the latter was really good writing on the Vietnam war experience. Oh, I have to get to at least one of them soon!

Enjoy!

[Lilisa]

Chrissie wrote: "Lilisa, I really liked "Anya"! I have just checked and audiobooks that were previously not available to me now are: both The Snow Fox: A Novel and Buffalo Afternoon One for Japan and one for Vietna..."

Good to know Chrissie. I'm into the first couple of chapters and it's drawing me in. This is my first book by Schaeffer - have you read any others? Glad you can now listen to the other two you mentioned.

[Chrissie]

Lilisa, I have only read one and I read it long ago, but I liked it!

[Lilisa]

In the land of the Khmers withTemple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors. Reading it alongside Anya Enjoying both.

[Chrissie]

Is this your first Shors, Lilisa? Have you read others that you like? I have not had the courage to try him. The reviews are cut down the middle, so I am a bit skeptical.

[Lilisa]

Chrissie wrote: "Is this your first Shors, Lilisa? Have you read others that you like? I have not had the courage to try him. The reviews are cut down the middle, so I am a bit skeptical."

Chrissie - I've read a few - I loved Beneath a Marble Sky; the others were in the middle as you said. I'm enjoying this one more than the "middlings" and hoping it will be more like Marble Sky - and it might well be...