2016 Calendar (in message 1)

[Sue]

Amazing list Asma. I'm really hoping to be able to join in for much of this.

[Betty]

Sue, your comments will be welcome.

[Sue]

Thanks---I'm still finishing up The Garden of Evening Mists and will contribute there when I'm finished.

[Betty]

Sue, I read your pre-review!

[Sue]

Asma Fedosia wrote: "Sue, I read your pre-review!"

Yes--now to write the full review Hopefully later today. Wonderful book.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I will only be participating in the books from countries I haven't read yet, but that will still include Angola, Algeria, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. Thanks for organizing it!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Also, I've already started doing some recipe research and felt like this Congo Cookbook was pretty good! Not just Congo. :)

[Betty]

Sue wrote: "...Wonderful book."

The Japanese arts, among them gardening, thematically move through The Garden of Evening Mists as does the anomaly of memory (remembering and forgetting).

[Betty]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "...Angola, Algeria, Sierra Leone, and Sudan...."

Btw, the coming #55 issue of Banipal magazine will feature modern Sudanese literature.

[Betty]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "...this Congo Cookbook was pretty good! Not just Congo. :)"

I like the many recipes, Jenny. There is a lot of recipes upon which to draw--Congo Cookbook through Global Table Adventure...Thank you for the link.

[Sue]

Asma Fedosia wrote: "Sue wrote: "...Wonderful book."

The Japanese arts, among them gardening, thematically move through The Garden of Evening Mists as does the anomaly of memory (remembering and forget..."

I was struck by the symbolic disappearance of the face of the statue of the goddess of forgetting. The ultimate in forgetting!

[Dioni]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I will only be participating in the books from countries I haven't read yet, but that will still include Angola, Algeria, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. Thanks for organizing it!"

Jenny, I also have my own personal project to read from all countries in the world so I can relate. Just a couple of days ago I printed out a map of Africa, so I can put it next to my shelf and mark the countries I've read. At the moment there are lots of blanks so hopefully next year I can fill in more. I saw your google doc of the African countries list and that gave me more ideas. I've read a few on your lists like Aya (Ivory Coast), Desert Flower (Somalia), and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (Sierra Leone). Would definitely recommend them all!

Regarding Algeria, I read Camus' The Stranger last year, so I "crossed off" Algeria, but I'm interested to join The Meursault Investigation. I kinda think that you need to read The Stranger first though, before Meursault. Have you read it or are you going to (before reading Meursault)? This is a question for the others too :)

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "Regarding Algeria, I read Camus' The Stranger last year, so I "crossed off" Algeria, but I'm interested to join The Meursault Investigation. I kinda think that you need to read The Stranger first though, before Meursault. Have you read it or are you going to (before reading Meursault)? This is a question for the others too :) "
I have read it but already feel like it was too long ago. It's a pretty quick read if you want to grab it. Are they related?

Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "I've read a few on your lists like Aya (Ivory Coast), Desert Flower (Somalia), and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (Sierra Leone). Would definitely recommend them all!"
Oh I love that you are doing this project too. I'm glad we are GR friends now so I can see what you read! I've had my eye on Desert Flower for a while now. I'm planning to start the new year with a few reads from Uganda, and then whichever South Sudan book gets picked in the Great African Reads group. I also may finish the book I already started from Ghana.

[[deleted user]]

Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "Regarding Algeria, I read Camus' The Stranger last year, so I "crossed off" Algeria, but I'm interested to join The Meursault Investigation. I kinda think that you need to read The Stranger first though, before Meursault. Have you read it or are you going to (before reading Meursault)? This is a question for the others too :) ..."

I would never discourage anyone from reading or rereading The Stranger, quite the opposite, but if it meant the difference between joining the group read of The Meursault Investigation or not, I think you could get by just as well by giving the wikipedia plot summary a quick review first:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Str...

[Maggie]

Sue wrote: "I was struck by the symbolic disappearance of the face of the statue of the goddess of forgetting. The ultimate in forgetting!"

I was, too, but I saw it was a reminder of Yun Ling's mental frailty. No matter how bright she appeared to be to the reader, we needed to be reminded that all was not well with her.

[Sue]

Maggie wrote: "Sue wrote: "I was struck by the symbolic disappearance of the face of the statue of the goddess of forgetting. The ultimate in forgetting!"

I was, too, but I saw it was a reminder of Yun Ling's me..."

That's true too but I guess I didn't see it at that moment since the other statue was intact. Perhaps that's part of the symbolism of it all, though, as you remind me.

[Betty]

Sue wrote: "...the symbolic disappearance of the face of the statue of the goddess of forgetting. The ultimate in forgetting!"

Cool observation, Sue.

[Betty]

Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "...I kinda think that you need to read The Stranger... before Meursault. Have you read it or are you going to..."

I read The Stranger and planned to reread it, if I found the the time.

[Betty]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "...South Sudan ..."

Independence since 2011 brings dreadful difficulties through the present day.

[Betty]

Don wrote: "Dioni (Bookie Mee) wrote: "...you could get by just as well by giving the wikipedia plot summary a quick review first..."

I read Wikipedia's plot summary and found it in-depth. Sparknotes also analyzed The Stranger.

[Betty]

Maggie wrote: "...No matter how bright she appeared to be to the reader, we needed to be reminded that all was not well with her..."

She was sensitive to her lapses of memory and her moments of fading eyesight. Was she overly sensitive to those random events? Were they the harbingers of her oncoming aphasia? By the book's end, Yun Ling's condition was not yet full-blown, but the hints of it were there.

[Dioni]

Don wrote: "I would never discourage anyone from reading or rereading The Stranger, quite the opposite, but if it meant the difference between joining the group read of The Meursault Investigation or not, I think you could get by just as well by giving the wikipedia plot summary"

Good to know Don. Though I feel a bit uncomfortable reducing The Stranger to a wikipedia page. It's a short book and worth reading in my opinion :)

[Carolinemawer]

Just found the calendar for 2016! It looks great!
Thanks so much, Asma - and everyone else.
I'm really looking forward - I lived in Kenya as a child, but know much less about other parts. I'm sure these recommendations will help.
Thank you!

[Marieke]

Asma, as always, phenomenal job with your curation of books to read this coming year. I hope to be able to participate a little bit. i am sad to have basically missed the past two years here.

[Betty]

Carolinemawer wrote: "Just found the calendar for 2016!...I'm sure these recommendations will help..."

Hi, Carolinemawer, I agree with you about so many recommendations. I'm sure I as well as you will be changed by all the reading we'll be doing. I wonder which book will be your favorite.

[Betty]

Marieke wrote: "Asma, as always, phenomenal job...I hope to be able to participate a little bit..."

Marieke, I've sorely missed you. So now the topic will be one of your expertise. Look in and lend some advice occasionally.

[Marieke]

Asma Fedosia wrote: "Marieke wrote: "Asma, as always, phenomenal job...I hope to be able to participate a little bit..."

Marieke, I've sorely missed you. So now the topic will be one of your expertise. Look in and len..."

i love that there is actually not that much overlap between this Africa project and the group i moderate...that's how huge Africa is!

[Sue]

Marieke, it will be nice to see you here since I've had some difficulty keeping up with the Africa group too. Perhaps I can find one or two with your group this year too--I hope.

[Susan]

I am interested in knowing more about the festival of books part of the challenge. Are we reading the books during the time the festivals are going?

[Betty]

Marieke wrote: "...there is actually not that much overlap between this Africa project and the group i moderate..."

That's a reason for the Challenge. There's such a limited number of books that can be accommodated in one year's time. And that's true, our lists probably don't converge at all.

[Betty]

Sue wrote: "Marieke,...Perhaps I can find one or two with your group this year too..."

By all means, Sue. Sometimes I read one book for several groups. Good luck with your quest.

[Betty]

Susan wrote: "I am interested in knowing more about the festival of books part of the challenge. Are we reading the books during the time the festivals are going?"

Good question, Susan. I hadn't planned it that way. Some of the tomes would be hard to read in a day or two. It's up to you on how you want to complete the challenge. Once January 1 comes around, I'll do my best to enter a topic for it and create an official challenge advertisement where readers can personalize their challenge. I know I can do the first one -- the topic; I'll have to test my technological savvy with the second one. Thanks for the inquiry.

[Sue]

Asma Fedosia wrote: "Sue wrote: "Marieke,...Perhaps I can find one or two with your group this year too..."

By all means, Sue. Sometimes I read one book for several groups. Good luck with your quest."

Thanks Asma. I love when I can do that.

[Betty]

Sue wrote: "Thanks Asma. I love when I can do that."

You're very welcome.

[Maggie]

Ladies and Gentlemen, in case you are interested The Poisonwood Bible is currently $2.99 on Amazon (US). If you don't have a Kindle, you can download the Kindle app to your phone or tablet for free. The link for it is on the same page directly below the picture of the book (at least it was for me).

[Betty]

Maggie wrote: "Ladies and Gentlemen,...The Poisonwood Bible is currently $2.99 on Amazon (US) ..."

Maggie, thanks for the up-to-date information. That title is very popular at the local library. Hopefully the book will be available when you need it; so the Kindle edition might be helpful. I actually did purchase it. Thanks.

[Live4reading]

Hi Asma, I'm here because you asked me to post to this list! Hopefully I do this correctly (I am an internet novice). I just read an Indie novel by an author called Ben Hinson titled Eteka: Rise of the Imamba. It's not on any public lists that I know of (if any of you have seen it anywhere else please let me know). I was completely blown away by it, and I think you should give it some consideration. I would classify it as historical fiction/action adventure, and it has tons of African culture and history in it from countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Congo, Algeria, Morocco and South Africa. In my opinion its one of the best books I have read this year. Tons of great characters, great storylines and some great insights as well. The author I believe is Ghanaian and/or Nigerian.

Thanks Asma for recommending I share here. Be well.