2018 - Where in the world are you? (Currently reading)

[Shomeret]

I'm now in a fantasy version of Nigeria with Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. I am drawn to it by the mythology, but I've just started it.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m back in India with The Tea Gardens by Fiona McIntosh - all very jolly so far.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Now I've landed in the Ottoman Empire (present day Sanliurfa, Turkey) with The Seamstress of Ourfa. I can't quite work out whether it's fiction or not; quite probably a family history dressed as fiction. Some very interesting characters so far.

[Carol]

I'm in the US with I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara. It's an IRL book club read and I was not particularly excited to read it, but I was wrong. It is a compelling read, about the East Bay Rapist, primarily but not exclusively in Sacramento, active over decades.

[Lilisa]

I'm crisscrossing several counties setting the stage for the last voyage of the Lusitania with Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania.

[Rusalka]

I'm currently in Ancient Greece and Anatolia with The Song of Achilles.

Beautifully written doom.

[Carol]

I’m in 1913 England with The Shooting Party by Isabel Colegate. I typically don’t prefer writing this dense, with a great focus on details of the landscape; however, in this instance I am charmed.

[Shomeret]

I'm in alternate Austria in the Roma Nova continuity again. The book is Retalio by Alison Morton. This is the most recent Roma Nova book.

[Carol]

I am India in 1920 with historical mystery, A Necessary Evil: A Novel by Abir Mukherjee, And loving it as much as his first in the series, A Rising Man.

[Shomeret]

I'm in England in 1877 withThe Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan enjoying the most entertaining dialogue I've ever seen in a romance. The author had me at "suffragette". The heroine owns and edits a feminist newspaper.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in a wintery London with Happiness by Aminatta Forna - taking it slow so that I can squeeze every ounce of enjoyment out of it.

[Shomeret]

I'm currently in Iraq during an air raid in Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations. This is an anthology of seven short stories from the original seven banned nations in the unrevised U.S. immigration executive order of 2017.

[Carol]

I am in Nigeria with Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and in 1946 England with Fire in the Thatch by E.C.R. Lorac.

[Diane]

I am in Oman with Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs by Abdulaziz Al Farsi

[Carol]

Diane wrote: "I am in Oman with Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs by Abdulaziz Al Farsi"

I'm not familiar with that one, Diane. Do you like it?

[Diane]

Carol wrote: "Diane wrote: "I am in Oman with Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs by Abdulaziz Al Farsi"

I'm not familiar with that one, Diane. Do you like it?"

It's not bad. Could be written better, though. Could be the translation.

[Sara]

I left Argentina with A Young Wife, and today I finished My Life as a Traitor: An Iranian Memoir in Iran on my way home.
Next up is The Blue Notebook set in India.

[Leslie]

Just finished a beautifully written book about the creation of Bangladesh. It was a heartbreaking story, but quite interesting. A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam

[Carol]

I am still in Nigeria, but also in Belarus with Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich, and in Greece with Baby Blue by Πολυχρόνης Κουτσάκης. Both are excellent.

[Claire]

Leslie wrote: "Just finished a beautifully written book about the creation of Bangladesh. It was a heartbreaking story, but quite interesting. A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam"

I loved this book, which I came across last year when her third book The Bones of Grace came out. This initial story, inspired by her grandmother's story is truly special and enlightening in terms of understanding the region.

[Leslie]

Ooh. Thanks for the new book update. I'll look for it. I loved learning about Bangladesh.

[Leslie]

Just wrapped up a few short stories (USA), The Flowers, To Hell With Dying by Alice Walker l Summary & Study Guide, Am I Blue, and So Much Water, So Close to Home.

[Carol]

I am in Japan with People Who Eat Darkness: The Fate of Lucie Blackman by Richard Lloyd Parry

[Leslie]

Finally finished a terrific read by Peter Chapman of the BBC and the Guardian, Bananas!: How The United Fruit Company Shaped the World. Highly recommend it. (Central America)

[Diane]

Currently in Spain with Memoirs of a Peasant Boy by Xosé Neira Vilas.

[Claire]

I'm in New Zealand with Fiona Kidman's Songs from the Violet Café

[Sara]

I just finished The Housemaid's Daughter set in South Africa.
Next on the list is Dreams of Bread and Fire. set in Turkey and Armenia.

[Leslie]

I just finished a five star collection of poetry - Whereas. (Minnesota and North Dakota, USA mostly)

[Leslie]

Wrapped up another five star collection of poetry told from the perspective of a small child. It was clever, fun, and heart-warning. Inside Out & Back Again (Vietnam).

[Carol]

I'm in Korea with a graphic novel, The Color of Water by Kim Dong Hwa. The illustrations are fab, and the story -- focused almost equally on the romance of a widowed mother as it is on her third-crush-ever teenage daughter -- is not one I generally would select. I'm glad I did.

[Leslie]

Carol wrote: "I'm in Korea with a graphic novel, The Color of Water by Kim Dong Hwa. The illustrations are fab, and the story -- focused almost equally on the romance of a widowed..."

I can't help but smile. I spent at least thirty minutes this morning in our library trying to track down a graphic novel, also Korean, said to be in house but definitely not visible. Where's Halmoni? by Julie Kim.

I just finished a short story by Celeste Ng (2010), no specific location, USA - Girls At Play

[Carol]

I’ll have to look for Where’s Halmon next, Leslie, partly in honor of your futile search. :)

I’m in early 20th Century Manitoba with The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, and in Nirth Korea with Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (a book club book I need to read by tonight).

[Lilisa]

I'm right now in Charlottesville, Virginia in the late 60s/early 70s but while be traveling back in time to Germany and Russia shortly with I Was Anastasia.

[Carol]

I’m taking a break from other books to spend time in 1970s Laos with Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill.

[Lilisa]

Carol wrote: "I’m taking a break from other books to spend time in 1970s Laos with Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill."

Someday I'm going to have to try another of his books - I just can't seem to get into them - read two and they were just okay for me although many - like you really like them...

[Diane]

I'm in Swaziland with When Hoopoes Go to Heaven by Gaile Parkin.

[Leslie]

I just finished from Korea and loved all three!

The Not Forgotten War by Nicholas Dick Jr (first hand account of the Korean War from pre-enlistment through many years afterward. It's graphic but I loved the honesty of it, from beginning to end)

Where's Halmoni? by Julie Kim (for fun I read this children's graphic novel). It was fun and went through a few of the folktale figures)

Mother's Hitching Post by Pak Wan-So I loved this Korean short story. It is Part 2 of a 3 part series, but the other two parts are not yet available in the United States. That said, I didn't feel that I was unable to enjoy this because of the lack of availability of Part 1. The writer is terribly gifted in her prose and walks the reader through a very emotional series of experiences.

[Shomeret]

I'm in Barbados with The River Where Blood Is Born, a multi-generation historical novel that begins in an unspecified country in Africa--probably Ghana based on searches I've done on cultural references. There are African deities who are occasional narrators. I'm liking parts of it more than others, but the cover is gorgeous.

[Carol]

Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "I’m taking a break from other books to spend time in 1970s Laos with Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill."

Someday I'm going to have to try another of his..."

You know, Lilisa? I think two of any series is a fair shot. This series is indeed comfort food for me, but if I were in your shoes, given the wealth of potentially wonderful books out there, I’d cross Cotterill off my TBR and read something else.

Sometimes I feel myself getting in a very dark rut and I have to make a swift reading turn toward the light.

[Leslie]

Just finished a beautiful story of a writer's relationship with her beloved bookseller. New York and London.
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm in Ireland with The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan, and I'm hooked!

[Lilisa]

Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "I’m taking a break from other books to spend time in 1970s Laos with Don't Eat Me by Colin Cotterill."

Someday I'm going to have to try..."

Sound advice Carol :-)

[Diane]

I'm in Madagascar with Beyond the Rice Fields by Naivo.

[Claire]

I'm in the Scottish Highlands in two time periods 200 years apart, reading outside my comfort zone having agreed to read this, as its been a firm favourite of a friend for many years.

Cross Stitch by Diana Galbadon.

[Shomeret]

I'm in contemporary Egypt which is the surprising setting for the short story by Charlaine Harris and Andrew Gross in MatchUp ed. Lee Child. This anthology also contains a Diana Gabaldon and Steve Berry set in Scotland, but that's very expected.

[Lilisa]

I'm in 12th century England with The Pillars of the Earth and after a brief interlude I'm back with Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania, just a breath's hair away from Ireland right now...

[Carol]

I’m in Iraq with an ARC: Baghdad Noir by Samuel Shimon. Short stories predominately by Arab authors. I’m on the third story and recommend it so far. Release date is August.

[Leslie]

I've been in Ireland! :-)

Finished The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot and a terrific children's book The Irish Famine: The Birth of Irish America by Tony Allan.

[Diane]

I'm in Lesotho with She Plays with the Darkness by Zakes Mda.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I've just arrived in Pakistan with The Bones of Grace, part 3 of the Bangladesh trilogy by Tahmima Anam. Before I began, I had to go back to read the epilogue from The Good Muslim, just to remind myself who was who.