Play Book Tag discussion
January 2017: Foreign Literature
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Announcing the January Tag(s) - yes, Tags
AJ wrote: "Ooh, something new!"Just this month so read 'em while you can ;)
Ok, so I really have plenty to read for this month's tag. The hard part will be squeezing everything in.At the top of my list are:
War and Turpentine - a holiday gift!
The Idiot - seasonal read for 1001 Books group, but can I really finish it?
The White Tiger - friend highly recommended for me, and I do love books set in India as a general rule.
I am sorta shocked how little I have to recommend on my list of five star reads, but two books on the PBT Top 100 Fiction list that I'm happy to endorse are: A Fine Balance and The God of Small Things.
UPDATE: Just warned off The Idiot. Yikes. Well, that's okay. Plenty of other books in the hopper . . .
How fun! So glad to have plenty of time to plan as well. Must admit I am happy about the winner, as I already had a book picked out, lol! :-)
I may finally read Lolita. We'll see. I hope I get into some of the admin tags. I'm intrigued by how many of the "librarian" tags are risqué.
Jennifer P. wrote: "I'm intrigued by how many of the "librarian" tags are risqué."I noticed that too. I think it's the whole naughty librarian thing :-). I'm trying to figure out why all Malcolm Gladwell's books are tagged self improvement. For foreign literature I think it's time for Blindness and it will also knock off a book for me from PBT 100 fiction list.
The bonus tags are: (GUESSING)Everest Anita
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
librarian Cindy
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
psychological thriller Linda
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
self improvement Nicole
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Did I get it right? how many points for that?
Kristel wrote: "The bonus tags are: (GUESSING)Everest Anita
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
librarian Cindy
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
psychological thriller Linda
https://www.goodreads...."
Bingo!!! No points, but I am impressed :)
Anita, it took me a year to read The Idiot
Nicole wrote: "Anita, it took me a year to read The Idiot"Seriously?
Ok, forget the whole seasonal read thing. Sheesh. Was it boring or just long? If it is boring, forget it.
Thanks for warning me. There's plenty of other 1001 books, and I'd rather read one of those.
The extra tags sound like a fun idea. I'm not sure what I'll "try" to read for the tag, though, yet. I need to look at a few things first.
Nothing says "foreign literature" quite like Twilight. I recommend something by Murakami. (Japan)
and A Brief History of Seven Killings (Jamaica)
My options: (though Jen has me reading some very specific stuff for Chutes and Ladders!)
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage (Japan)
Things Fall Apart (Africa)
The Master and Margarita (Russia)
The American Girl (surprisingly Finnish)
A Beggar in Jerusalem (Hungarian in Israel)
OOOh ... how fun. Way to get PBTers to stretch our mental muscles in the new year!For Foreign Literature I'll probably read something by Isabel Allende - Portrait in Sepia or Island Beneath the Sea have both been on my TBR for a while.
I'd also like to get to My Brilliant Friend ...
So many choices ....
Book Concierge wrote: "OOOh ... how fun. Way to get PBTers to stretch our mental muscles in the new year!For Foreign Literature I'll probably read something by Isabel Allende - Portrait in Sepia or [book:I..."
I would really, really like to hear what you think of My Brilliant Friend.
I wonder what a fair definition of foreign literature is. Is it that which is published in another country and translated. Is world literature an equivalent tag for foreign lit. I tend to think of literature from US, Canada, UK and Australia as not foriegn literature. I see that American literature would be foreign literature to someone from Sweden. My suggestion would be
Russian: The Master and Margarita
Albania: Broken April
I will be reading The Idiot but not sure if I will read it in January. The 1001 BOTM hasn't been chosen yet. (Usually we are done before PBT). I hope something foreign gets chosen.
I am reading Homegoing in January but I don't think that it is foreign literature. I think it was written in English and published in the US.
If Camus gets chosen for January, that will fit, Algerian author who writes in French.
OK - I published my member 2017 challenges plan, and now onto the monthly tag... I am reading da da da... no surprise, 100 years of Solitude, which I have been saying for about a year, that I have been wanting a tag to match for this. I even threw a bunch of votes at foreign literature just for this purpose. But also high on my TBR, is The Spy by Paulo Coehlo, written in Brazilian and translated, but taking place in Paris and Europe, it is yet another of three recently published works about Mata Hari and I loved Michelle Moran's last Dance of Mata Hari and was mesmerized. So these are my two January tag reads. Now I need to read lists on psychological thriller, and self-improvement. Does Dark Matter count? I have it out from the library. But would have to review it after Solitude I suppose....
This is exciting! Hopefully my reading time increases after the silly season is over.
I'm thinking of The God of Small Things or Blindness or Silence would fit whatever definition of foreign literature I'd want to use. For Everest I would highly recommend Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest - even though it's a bit lengthy.
And I've got some easy stuff for the other extra tags:
Librarian: Booked for Trouble
Self improvement: Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Psycho-thriller: In a Dark, Dark Wood
What is the Silly Season? What's it like over there these days?So.. Psychological thriller for me has four books, but Dark Matter is on the list so it wins. Self-Improvement has five or so books, none too compelling, but I have Big Magic in my house and I'd love to read it. So that would be the extra bonus tag option.
Next post - Giveaway report.....
Amy wrote: "OK - I published my member 2017 challenges plan, and now onto the monthly tag... I am reading da da da... no surprise, 100 years of Solitude, which I have been saying for about a year, that I have ..."Nicole (our admin) LOVES One Hundred Years of Solitude, and I hated it, so very curious where you come out on this one, Amy. Read on!
Nicole wrote: "Anita, it took me a year to read The Idiot"Ok, but now I see you did give it five stars. So it took a year for you to read it because . . . .?
Amy, in Australia (at least where I am from) we call this time of the year the silly season as it is so busy, what with Christmas, the end of the school year, and all that comes with those two events. It has drastically cut back my reading time!
My recommendation would be The Feast of the Goat - Mario Vargas LlosaLooking at my TBR some January possibilities are:
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami
The House of Spirits - Isabel Allende
Daughter of Fortune - Isabel Allende
IQ84 - Haruki Murakami
The Three Body Problem - Liu Cixin
The Never-Ending Story - Michael Ende
I will have to take a look at the admin tags later.
So interesting that the end of the school year is when the calendar year is. But that makes sense as it's your summer coming up. December in the states is an insane time for families, but June is worse. I can't imagine major holidays at the same time.
Oh my goodness! I love these bonus tags. Also super-duper excited for foreign literature!For foreign lit I can't recommend enough Cry, the Beloved Country. Seriously, I feel like I recommend this book all the time. Read it! I also suggest Blindness, The God of Small Things, and Things Fall Apart.
As for what I will read, I am considering the following:
The Shadow of the Wind
And the Mountains Echoed
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum
Seeing
No Longer at Ease
Anna Karenina
Or something entirely different, but these popped into my head first.
Jennifer P. wrote: "I may finally read Lolita. We'll see. I hope I get into some of the admin tags. I'm intrigued by how many of the "librarian" tags are risqué."LOL! I guess I didn't check before I suggested it! For me, I guess there are some paranormal romances and/or cozy mysteries that I was thinking of!
Kristel wrote: "The bonus tags are: (GUESSING)Everest Anita
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
...."
I am also impressed! Probably Everest and librarian were the easiest to figure out (for those who have been around a while).
Nicole wrote: "Nothing says "foreign literature" quite like Twilight. .."LOL!
Have to admit I was hoping for either of the other two tags, but I do have one that will work: - Snow White Must Die / Nele Neuhaus
Not sure if I'll get to any of the admin tags or not. I'll have to see. Obviously, I don't get participation points, but it would be fun to read for them, anyway!
i enjoy translated or foreign fiction very much. these are a few books i have enjoyed. An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter
Mr. Gwyn & Three Times at Dawn
Silk
Of Love and Other Demons
The Most Beautiful Book in the World: Eight Novellas
The Bad Girl
Anita wrote: "Yowser! The overwhelming favorite for January is:foreign literature
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below!
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved a..."
Exciting!
ETA does "foreign lit" count? I just found a book in my January tbr that has been shelved that way.
Yeah, love this tag as it's been a goal to read more non-English authors/settings. I'm not sure what I will read yet, but I do recommend anything by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (The Shadow Of The Wind) or Arturo Pérez-Reverte (The Club Dumas). I'm not sure about the other tags as I need to decide what challenges I'm going to do for 2017, besides the PBT ones. I did like Dark Matter as a page turner.
You guys are planning to read some really great books! I won't mention them all, but I'm impressed with the variety and quality of books you are expecting to read.Some options on my TBR for "foreign literature":
War and Peace
The Brothers Karamazov
Madame Bovary
The Red and the Black
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale
Père Goriot
...some pretty heavy classics on my TBR! It's going to be tough!
Some books I would recommend for the same shelf:
The Little Prince -a kids' classic, also great for an adult audience
The Complete Persepolis - great graphic novel from Iran
A Thousand Splendid Suns - the best by Hosseini, imho
Nausea - definitely no easy read, though
White Nights - a great novella, if you want to read some Russian literature which is also a short book
Blindness - an all-time favorite
Sara wrote: "Oh my goodness! I love these bonus tags. Also super-duper excited for foreign literature!For foreign lit I can't recommend enough Cry, the Beloved Country. Seriously, I feel like I re..."
Oh, I didn't consider The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but I own a copy, and that has been on my list forever and has been highly recommended to me . . .hmmmm . . .ok, now I have too many choices!
Also, considering volume 1 of Three Kingdoms: Classic Novel in Four Volumes. Ack. I'm getting overwhelmed with the choices. Can we have three months of foreign literature?
More Murakami for me, probably! And Liu Cixin, finally. Maybe Shadow of the Wind, at last? And maybe another Jo Nesbo...
I recommend The Shadow of the Wind and The Ice Princess. I might try The Alchemist and after that, maybe The Girl Who Played with Fire, which would work for both foreign and psychological thriller tags.
I love the extra tags for January-that's fun!
I think I'm settling on 'translated to English' for my definition of foreign literature. There are so many good books to try.Here are two GR lists of books translated to English
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9...
I recommend:
The Diary of a Young Girl
The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
A Man Called Ove
Like Water for Chocolate
The Housekeeper and the Professor
The House of the Spirits
I'm not sure what I'll read, but it probably won't be Anna Karenina.
annapi wrote: "More Murakami for me, probably! And Liu Cixin, finally. Maybe Shadow of the Wind, at last? And maybe another Jo Nesbo..."All good choices. I completed the Liu Cixin trilogy this month. Many interesting concepts in this series.
Anita wrote: "Oh, I didn't consider The Elegance of the Hedgehog, but I own a copy, and that has been on my list forever and has been highly recommended to me . . .hmmmm . . .ok, now I have too many choices!."Yes, the time has come, the time is here. Anita a Moderator please read it now!
We may not always like the same books, but I think this will be one of the ones we both appreciate.
I didn't love Elegance as much as everybody else ... FYI
Nicole wrote: "I didn't love Elegance as much as everybody else ... FYI"Me neither... I think I gave it 3 stars, because it wasn't bad, I just couldn't see where all the hype came from.
Marina wrote: "Nicole wrote: "I didn't love Elegance as much as everybody else ... FYI"Me neither... I think I gave it 3 stars, because it wasn't bad, I just couldn't see where all the hype came from."
I gave it four stars, not because I loved the story, but I loved the writing and the philosophical nature of the book. One of my favourite parts of pbt is how disparate our tastes can be. Okay, disparate is just a word I like and used loosely, because often we can actually compare when our tastes are different.
I'm also on the didn't love The Elegance of the Hedgehog boat. Read it for a group read, and overall it was very love it/ hate it. I like to feel educated on my dislike for books though, so I'm glad I read it. I gave it 2 stars.
You're absolutely right, Karin. I love groups where tastes can be very diverse and nobody complains about that. I think it can enrich everybody's perspectives, and also encourage people to try something different for a change.
Nicole wrote: "I didn't love Elegance as much as everybody else ... FYI"Ditto
Cora wrote: "My recommendation would be The Feast of the Goat- Mario Vargas Llosa.."
GREAT recommendation for this tag!
Anita wrote: "Sara wrote: "Oh my goodness! I love these bonus tags. Also super-duper excited for foreign literature!For foreign lit I can't recommend enough Cry, the Beloved Country. Seriously, I f..."
You're in charge! Make it so! ;)
Nicole wrote: "I didn't love Elegance as much as everybody else ... FYI"Shhhh! This has been on my tbr for-evah and now you are making me wary. This is why despite wanting to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I have thus far skipped it. Because I trust you.
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foreign literature
Please share your reading plans and recommendations below!
Remember, for the regular monthly reads, the book can be shelved as foreign literature on Goodreads, or be a book that is not yet shelved that way but you feel should be.
To find books to read for this tag, please visit:
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
Bonus Tags:
In addition, we thought we'd give you a chance to supplement your participation points this month. Each administrator chose a tag that was not in the top 200 list of tags. Once you have completed a book for the tag of foreign literature, you are welcome to read and review a book from each of the four following tags to earn an additional 3 points per book. Only one book per tag will count. There will be a separate folder for these reviews. Please note that a foreign literature book must be read and reviewed in order to be eligible for these extra points . . .
The bonus tags are:
Everest
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
librarian
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
psychological thriller
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
self improvement
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...
UPDATE:
Q. Can we read one book for two tags and get the points for the two tags? i.e. if the book fits self improvement and librarian, can we get 6 points for reading the single book?
A. Sorry, but no . . .one book per tag please!