2014 Where in the world have you been? (Book finished and review linked!)

[Tejas Janet]

I've most recently been to Italy with Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World and I'm currently in England with The Woman in White. The first is nonfiction memoir, the second is fictional mystery romance, and both are highly readable and recommended.

(p.s. I loved Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China and second Suzanne's strong recommendation)

[Rusalka]

It usually does for me too, but I thought, if he's such an amazing French writer maybe *one* of us has read him... apparently not.

I looked up the third favourite to win Svetlana Alexievich , and she sounds interesting too.

[Lilisa]

She appears to have only two of her books translated into English and they sound "heavy." I do have a couple of previous Nobel Prize winners on my TBR list though - Mario Vargas Llosa and Mo Yan.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Val wrote: "I think I would have prefered Ngugi Wa Thiong'o to get it, or Haruki Murakami, or Assia Djebar, أسيا جبار, or Ismail Kadare, or [author:..."
Did you see this column that pictures Roth sadly waiting by the phone?

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Lilisa wrote: "She appears to have only two of her books translated into English and they sound "heavy." I do have a couple of previous Nobel Prize winners on my TBR list though - Mario Vargas Llosa and Mo Yan."

I read Yan after he got the prize, and I've read Llosa before, both worthy I thought, although Yan was very controversial.

[Val]

Rusalka wrote: "It usually does for me too, but I thought, if he's such an amazing French writer maybe *one* of us has read him... apparently not."

Did you really think I would dismiss an author without reading any of his work?
I think all the ones I listed are saying something more culturally significant.

[Val]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Did you see this column that pictures Roth sadly waiting by the phone? "

I hadn't seen that Jenny, thanks.

I have read some Nobel prizewinners over the years, some before and some after their award and heard of a few more. I have not read the foreign language poets, apart from Neruda.

[Rusalka]

Val wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "It usually does for me too, but I thought, if he's such an amazing French writer maybe *one* of us has read him... apparently not."

Did you really think I would dismiss an author w..."

Oh I apologise! I didn't realise you *had* read him. I just thought you were saying you really loved the others.

[Rusalka]

You too Hattie!

[Val]

Rusalka wrote: "Oh I apologise! I didn't realise you *had* read him. I just thought you were saying you really loved the others."

I should have made it clearer Rusalka.

[Rusalka]

All good. Now I know you have read him, did you enjoy him?

[Val]

I read Rue des Boutiques Obscures by Patrick Modiano some years ago when it won the Prix Goncourt. I thought it was not badly written, but with too much meandering waffle for me to really enjoy it.

I have read some of Pablo Neruda's poetry, in Spanish (so I know what it sounds like) with an English translation alongside (so I know what it is about) and loved it. It was one of my daughter's school books and does not seem to be listed on Goodreads, but I recommend it if you happen to find it and don't read Spanish well enough to get the full flavour of the original.

[Lilisa]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "She appears to have only two of her books translated into English and they sound "heavy." I do have a couple of previous Nobel Prize winners on my TBR list though - Mario Vargas Llos..."

I bought Yan's Big Breasts and Wide Hips and Jose Saramago's Raised from the Ground earlier this year and Vargas Llosa's The Feast of the Goat and Naguib Mahfouz's The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk / Palace of Desire / Sugar Street are on my TBR list. I have not read Neruda (Hattie - he passed away in 1973). Was curious to see which Nobel prize winners I've read - Orhan Pamuk - so-so, Derek Walcott - ok, Gabriel Garcia Marquez - don't care for, John Steinbeck - good, Boris Pasternak - good, Ernest Hemingway - good, Winston Churchill - good, Hermann Hesse - ok, Pearl Buck - good, Eugene O'Neill - I think I read one of his plays in school, John Galsworthy - ok, George Bernard Shaw - good, William Yeats - good, Rabindranath Tagore - excellent, Rudyard Kipling - good. I'm surprised I haven't read some of the obvious ones - maybe this will be my goal for the next five years -edited -- maybe 10 years!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

This kind of counts, maybe if you're looking for a more contemplative type trip to a country - For the Time Being by Annie Dillard includes her travels to the Middle East (mainly Yemen, Israel, Palestinian regions), also a prominent 20th century paleontologist in China. My review is here.

[Lilisa]

Finished Infidel. My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Was in India with Kevin and I in India. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

I read these:
For Micronesia
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Antigua and Barbuda
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and these for the second time:
The Isle of Man
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and Dominica
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Finished The Miniaturist. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Was in Turkey with Memed, My Hawk. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jan]

I was in China listening to the audio of . This was a complete surprise to me. I absolutely loved it!! I really enjoyed seeing our flawed heroine grow from a self-centered shallow woman into someone who really wants to become a better person. It was very well written and had some wonderful thoughts on life yet seemed very "real" and down to earth. Wonderful narration - I listened to the version narrated by Sophie Ward. She did an outstanding job! A 5* read all the way around for me.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I re-read A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra, set in Chechnya from 1994-2004. I liked it even more my second read, and I had given it five stars to start with! My review is here. my book club discussed it last night and everyone felt the same. We also had one of the best discussions we've had! Not bad for a first novel.

[Lilisa]

Was in India and with The Leaving of Things. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Also was in the U.S. with Everything I Never Told You. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Both good reads.

[Daisy]

I was in Paris in 1867 with Zola:(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). My translation wasn't the best but still, it was a pretty thrilling and exhausting read.

Before that, I read a beautiful Korean novel: I'll Be Right There. This was just lovely, one of the best books I've read all year.

[Lilisa]

Daisy wrote: "I was in Paris in 1867 with Zola:(https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...). My translation wasn't the best but still, it was a pretty thrilling and exhausting read.

Before that,..."

Thanks Daisy - I'll Be Right There sounds interesting; just added it to my TBR list.

[Rosana]

I was in France during WWI with By a Slow River. Actually I finished this book close to 24 hours ago, and I have not yet returned from WWI France.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Barbarac]

@Jenny, I'm so glad you re-liked the book.

[Sara]

I was in Germany with The Plum Tree and alsi in Vietnam with The Headmaster's Wager.

[Barbarac]

I've just recently been to balmy Cairo (or Libya if you go by the author's origin) and a flower plantation in Rwanda. I really enjoyed both of these books. Reviews for Anatomy of a Disappearance and The Flower Plantation here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was just in Lebanon with An Unnecessary Woman, which is on the shortlist for the National Book Award in the USA. I only gave it 3 stars but most of my friends who have read it really loved it, so don't let my hesitations detract you!

[Sara]

I am in Vienna with and quiet enjoying Freud's Theories and researches :0)

[Lilisa]

Was in France with My Life in France. My review here - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I visited Armenia and Turkey to explore the current views of genocide or not genocide in There Was and There Was Not: A Journey through Hate and Possibility in Turkey, Armenia, and Beyond by Meline Toumani. I got an advanced readers copy, but this book taught me more about Armenia than I'd had the chance to learn! My review is here.

[Val]

I am getting a bit behind with my touring at the moment, so I am including one book I had already read for Greenland:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

An old book of my Dad's for Kiribati:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

and one for American Samoa:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Was in Canada with The Long Way Home. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Rosana]

Lilisa wrote: "Was in Canada with The Long Way Home. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I enjoyed your review, Lilisa. I should add this to my TBR list.

As for me, I was in Finland with The Summer Book. My (not much of a) review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

I seem to have forgotten to include links to some of the books I read and reviewed earlier in the year, so I will apologise and add them now:

East Timor: The Redundancy of Courage
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Fiji: Kava in the Blood: A Personal & Political Memoir from the Heart of Fiji
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Reunion: The Map and the Territory
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Djibouti: The Land Without Shadows
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Western Sahara: See How Much I Love You
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Malta: Let Fair Weather Bring me Home
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Went back to Iceland, again, with The Blue Fox by Sjón. My review is here. It is a good representation of Icelandic literature without the length of a Haldor Laxness novel - poetry, landscape, fantasy.

[Val]

I enjoyed that one as well Jenny.

[Val]

I read Tales of the Tikongs for Tonga.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Haven't armchaired to Tonga yet so I'm going to add this one Val. If anyone has other suggestions for Tonga, as well as for Samoa and Vanuatu, please let me know. Thanks.

[Lilisa]

Rosana wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Was in Canada with The Long Way Home. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."

I enjoyed your review, Lilisa. I should add this to my TBR list..."

Thanks Rosana. I don't think I've armchaired to Finland, if I have, they've probably been mysteries or thrillers - The Summer Book sounds interesting - added it to my ever-growing list.

[Val]

Lilisa wrote: "Haven't armchaired to Tonga yet so I'm going to add this one Val. If anyone has other suggestions for Tonga, as well as for Samoa and Vanuatu, please let me know. Thanks."

Mine above might be a bit difficult to find as they are old. I also have Leaves of the Banyan Tree for Samoa, but it is one I did not finish. (I will return to it sometime.)

[Lilisa]

Thanks a ton Val - just added Leaves of the Banyan Tree for Samoa.

[Val]

I read Tales from the Torrid Zone: Travels in the Deep Tropics. Alexander Frater for Vanuatu. It is not all set there as he includes accounts of some of his other travels, but he was born there and keeps going back, and more importantly I enjoyed reading it.

[Lilisa]

Thanks Val - on my list from your recommendation a bit ago. I'm going to have to forego sleep to get to all these great books!

[Lilisa]

Was in Rome, Italy with Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders. A fun read. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

Here are two good ones, which I read in May, but have only just written the reviews for.

Cape Verde: The Last Will & Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Guadeloupe: The Bridge of Beyond
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Val - I'm going to lay the blame for my groaning bookshelf at your feet! :-) Great books from areas of the world I haven't ventured to yet - thanks.

[Val]

The Bridge of Beyond was one Jenny recommended when I was setting up my list at the start of the year.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Val wrote: "The Bridge of Beyond was one Jenny recommended when I was setting up my list at the start of the year."

I really liked that one!