2016 - Where in the world have you been? (book finished and review linked)

[Melissa]

Just left the world's largest refugee camp, located in Kenya with City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp. Really emotionally draining read, but likely one of the top books of 2016 for me. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Melissa wrote: "Just left the world's largest refugee camp, located in Kenya with City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp. Really emotionally draining read, but likely one of..."

Just wow - added. Thanks Melissa

[Lilisa]

Melissa wrote: "Just left the world's largest refugee camp, located in Kenya with City of Thorns: Nine Lives in the World’s Largest Refugee Camp. Really emotionally draining read, but likely one of..."

Wow from me too. Added as well - thanks Melissa.

[Melissa]

Thanks Lilisa and Andrea. I hope you like the book as much as I did. If you have read Behind the Beautiful Forevers, it had a similar feel to it. Really hard stuff, but I'm glad I read it.

[Carol]

I just left Japan. See my 5-star review of The Devotion of Suspect X here.

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

[Hesper]

Finished The Girl Who Wrote Loneliness yesterday, and I now know a whole lot more about South Korean history than I could have anticipated when I started.

Here's my review.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Here is my 5★ review for A Fine Balance

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

[Suzanne]

i just left early 19th century England with A.S. Byatt's wonderful The Children's Book. 4 1/2 stars!

My review is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

[Val]

Two of my favourite books Andrea and Suzanne.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I finished The Vegetarian by Han Kang, for South Korea. Erotic thriller involving vegetarian cuisine, anyone? Hahaha. Well, this one is probably a bit out of the usual fare for South Korean lit! I was completely absorbed by most of it. My review is here.

[Joy]

Oh man, I just finished a great one, Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland's History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman.

It's the true story of 2 women in late 1800's racing each other to beat Jules Verne's fictional record of 80 days. So great!

I counted the book for Italy, but it covers all these countries: USA, England, France, Egypt, Yemen, Ceylon/Sri Lanka, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Ireland

Here's my full review http://tmblr.co/ZH98Ui223ns8l

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Finished reading Annapurna Circuit: Himalayan Journey last night. In the end I gave it 4★

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

[Lilisa]

Finished What Lies Between Us by Nayomi Munaweera - wow! Rview:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Carol]

Finished reading Hidden Moon by James Church. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Today I finished The Gurkha's Daughter, which I claimed for West Bengal although there were also stories set in Sikkim, Nepal and the US. 4★

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

[Pauline]

I've recently been in Egypt with The Red Tent - enjoyed it.

Also enjoyed Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea from North Korea and The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club from Denmark.

[Hesper]

Finished Six Korean Women: The Socialization Of Shamans yesterday, and I'm apparently the only person on GR to have reviewed it.

[Yrinsyde]

Here is my review for Beijing Coma. It was a long read but in many places compelling. I really enjoyed reading about everyday life and was sadden by the restrictions and cruelty.

[Suzanne]

I just left England with Jane Austen's delightful Northanger Abbey, and Russia (Soviet Union) with the page-turner of a thriller Child 44. Here are my reviews:

https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

[Lilisa]

"Likes" for your reviews Yrinsyde and Suzanne!

[Lilisa]

Hesper wrote: "Finished Six Korean Women: The Socialization Of Shamans yesterday, and I'm apparently the only person on GR to have reviewed it."

Nice one Hesper. Hopefully, many will follow you.

[Carol]

I just left Laos with Colin Cotterill's Disco For The Departed. I gave it 5 stars, and here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Claire]

Left Sri Lanka with Nayomi Munaweera's excellent What Lies Between Us, the first of her works I've read, and already got myself a copy of her first book, this was such an amazing read.

[Claire]

And after Sri Lanka, I went to South Korea and was completely bowled over by Han Kang's Human Acts.

I'm picking that this will be nominated on the longlist for the Man Booker International 2016 next week, absolutely stunning, a literary work of art.

[Hesper]

Just left Italy with The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici.

My review.

[[deleted user]]

Hesper wrote: "Just left Italy with The Tigress of Forlì: Renaissance Italy's Most Courageous and Notorious Countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de Medici.

Wow! She sounds amazing! Added to the heap.

[Hesper]

It was pretty hard to put down, especially once I got past the first half. Caterina was a serious badass!

[Suzanne]

I recently visited England and Australia. I struggled with Kate Atkinson's Life After Life (because of all the bouncing around). My review is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...
I enjoyed Tim Winton's working class family saga with Cloudstreet. My review is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

[Lilisa]

Hi Suzanne - I agree with you on Life After Life and wondered what the hype was all about. You were more generous than I was - I gave it 2 stars.

[Josie]

Friday I finished The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine Mumbai, India

...and yesterday I finished The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe Macau, China

[Lilisa]

Over the past several days I was in India, Samoa and the U.K. with: Monsoon Memories. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Leaves of the Banyan Tree. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Rebecca. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I finished Fields of Gold on the weekend. Set mainly in Bangalore and Kolar Gold Fields (India), I gave it 4 stars.

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

[Carol]

Last week I was in Scotland, South Sudan and - primarily - Dagistan with Leila Aboulele's The Kindness of Enemies.

Here's a link to my 4-star review:

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

[Suzanne]

I made two trips to Africa recently. The first, Rainbow's End: A Memoir of Childhood, War and an African Farm by Lauren St. John, was a memoir of the author's childhood war-torn Rhodesia. My review is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

The second, A Far Off Place by Laurens Van Der Post, is a novel about a young man and his companions who must trek across the Kalahari Desert to escape terrorist guerillas. My review is here: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

[Suzanne]

I also made a trip to England with one of my favorite authors, Sharon Kay Penman with a work of historical fiction about King Richard I, called A King's Ransom. Here is my 5 star review: https://coldread.wordpress.com/2016/0...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I just finished New-Generation African Poets: A Chapbook Box Set, which comes out April 5. There are other similar chapbook box sets from the same publisher, all of African poets.

Here is my review, where I've included some excerpts and even some video links of some of these poets performing live. Countries included: Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania, Nigeria, Sudan.

[Courtney]

I just left China and Mongolia in "The Lost Camels of Tartary" by John Hale. Mr. Hale is an "adventurer" and conservationist. During the '90s he travelled through the Gobi desert looking for wild Bactarian camels. He did a great job describe the landscape and his experiences.

[Carol]

I just finished A Midsummer's Equation with one of newly-found-in-2016 favorite authors, Keigo Higashino.

Here's my 4-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I finished Cruelest Journey: Six Hundred Miles To Timbuktu by Kira Salak, which I'm counting for Mali. Here is my review! I didn't like it quite as much as her Papua New Guinea adventures but still quite enjoyed it.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

It's National Poetry Month, so I celebrated by reading international poetry - living poets from the Caribbean. This covers Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana, St. Lucia and St. Vincent. Coming Up Hot: Eight New Poets from the Caribbean and here is my review.

[Carol]

I finished The Strangler Vine by M.J. Carter and gave it 4 stars.

here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I enjoyed it immensely.

[[deleted user]]

Carol wrote: "I just finished A Midsummer's Equation with one of newly-found-in-2016 favorite authors, Keigo Higashino.

Here's my 4-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/..."

This series sounds great!

[Carol]

Rachel wrote: "Carol wrote: "I just finished A Midsummer's Equation with one of newly-found-in-2016 favorite authors, Keigo Higashino.

Here's my 4-star review: https://www.goodrea..."

It's wonderful, Rachel. If you read one, let me know what you think.

[Carol]

Last evening I left Japan, where I finished Malice: A Mystery by Keigo Higashino. Here's a link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

I finally finished The Mountain of Light set in India - it took me awhile - haven't had much time to read lately. It was interesting - about the Kohinoor diamond passing from one ruler to another. Review to come later - 3 stars.

[Courtney]

I just left Macedonia and ancient Persia (with a short stop in India) with The Conqueror's Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shomeret]

Courtney wrote: "I just left Macedonia and ancient Persia (with a short stop in India) with The Conqueror's Wife: A Novel of Alexander the Great. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/..."

I have been finishing my MLIS degree which is why you haven't seen me here. I was recently in Palestine/Israel with The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem by Sarit Yishai-Levi. It was an interesting look at a Sephardi family which had re-located to Palestine after the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492.

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

[Lilisa]

Good to see you back Shomeret! Sounds like some hard work going on there on the MLIS. degree - are you done? If yes congrats, if not, congrats on it coming up anyway! Nice review.

[Shomeret]

Lilisa wrote: "Good to see you back Shomeret! Sounds like some hard work going on there on the MLIS. degree - are you done? If yes congrats, if not, congrats on it coming up anyway! Nice review."

Yes, I'm finished with the work. My degree will soon be awarded to me.

[Lilisa]

Shomeret wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Good to see you back Shomeret! Sounds like some hard work going on there on the MLIS. degree - are you done? If yes congrats, if not, congrats on it coming up anyway! Nice review."

..."

Congrats!