Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
2019 Read Harder Challenge
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Task #10: A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman
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Dec 17, 2018 09:37AM
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I read Kalpa Imperial: The Greatest Empire That Never Was by Angélica Gorodischer and translated by Ursula K. Le Guin a year ago. It fits this category perfectly and is wonderful.
I'm going with The History of Bees which is both written by and translated by a woman.This was a prompt for Reading Women last year and I read both Thursday Night Widows and The Only Girl in the World: A Memoir Again, both were written by and translated by women.
I'm reading Go, Went, Gone for this task. Written by Jenny Erpenbeck translated by Susan Bernofsky (Translator)
I'm planning on reading Dragon Sword and Wind Child for this one. It's both written and translated by women, and it looks nothing short of awesome.
For thriller junkies, I'd recommend Kanae Minato. I read Confessions a couple of years ago. This year, I will fill this category with another book of hers, Penance.
Will definitely be reading No Echo since I'm in the middle of that series. Great Norwegian crime series both written and translated by a woman. Also narrated by a woman in the audio.
I found the book Flights for the award winner by a woman/AOC and then ended up moving it here so I could use something else for that category. I've never even heard of it but it got good reviews from some of my friends here at GRs.Also planning on reading Human Acts next year and that would fit here.
I am planning on reading Disoriental which is written and translated by women. MPR named it one of the best books of the year.
I really enjoyed Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin, and plan on reading her next book, Mouthful of Birds for this prompt.
I think I'll be reading An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good. Love a good elderly sinister lady, gives me a great hope for my future.
I am planning to read Daughter of Fortune or any Isabel Allende book could fit here. Always been meaning to read her books.
If anyone is interested in doing a buddy read, I've been meaning to read Royall Tyler's translation of Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji for a whole bunch of years now, and I'm just not getting to it on my own.
I would love to suggest Things We Lost in the Fire - both written by and translated by a woman. Short stories, and a little gothic creepiness.
If you are OK with a little weird, I would highly recommend Memoirs of a Polar Bear. It was one of my favorite books this year, and I believe both written and translation by women. I'm planning on reading another of Yoko Tawada's books for this year.
Here are some translated works with female authors that were already on my to-read list. This list includes general fiction, speculative fiction & fantasy, young adult, a mystery, children's books, & graphic novels. At least two of the works have queer characters, & two of the authors are/were lesbians. I'm including the author's names so even if a specific title doesn't appeal you can check out their other works. *****
My Brilliant Friend by Italian author Elena Ferrante
Ruby Red by German author Kerstin Gier
The Book Jumper by German author Mechthild Gläser
Anything by by the Finnish/Swedish author Tove Jansson - I read The Summer Book for the 2018 challenge & loved it. I haven't read any of the Moomin books, or she has some other books for mixed ages.
Crow Blue by Brazilian author Adriana Lisboa
Convenience Store Woman by Japanese author Sayaka Murata
The graphic novel Dragon Sword and Wind Child by Japanese author Noriko Ogiwara
Snare by Icelandic author Lilja Sigurðardóttir
Troll: A Love Story by Finnish author Johanna Sinisalo
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by French author Muriel Barbery
Crossing the Mangrove by Guadeloupean/ French language author Maryse Condé
The graphic novel/manga My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Japanese author Kabi Nagata
One Hundred Years After Tomorrow: Brazilian Women's Fiction in the Twentieth Century - short fiction by assorted Brazilian authors
Roseanna, the first of the Martin Beck mysteries by Swedish author Maj Sjöwall
The Perfect Nanny by Moroccan/French author Leïla Slimani
Graphic novel What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1 by Japanese artist Fumi Yoshinaga
Vita Nostra by Marina Dyachenko comes to mind but the book was co-written by her husband. Does that still count?
I'm so excited about this prompt! I ran across an article about just this subject several years ago and marked several of the titles. Here's the article, just in case it is helpful to others: https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...
Kate wrote: "For thriller junkies, I'd recommend Kanae Minato. I read Confessions a couple of years ago. This year, I will fill this category with another book of hers, Penance."I second Confessions - a great and surprising read.
I suggest Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera translated from Spanish to English by Lisa Dillman.
hi there! i'm compiling lists of everyone's suggestions for the challenges in case that's easier for people (I know it is for me!) c:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
I checked out the PEN Translation Prize. 2018 went to Hungarian author Magda Szabo's Katalin Street...then after a search of her works, this led me to her novel The Door, which looks great and is well reviewed. This translation also won awards. So, I think I'll try The Door!
Does it count if there are two translators, one of which is a woman? I've been trying to finish Anna Karenina forever and this might help.Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy, Richard Pevear (Translator), Larissa Volokhonsky (Translator)
Dawn wrote: "Does it count if there are two translators, one of which is a woman? I've been trying to finish Anna Karenina forever and this might help.Anna Karenina
by Leo Tolstoy, Richard Pevear (Translator)..."
Dawn, I'd count it! PS I read this translation of Anna Karenina last year after the suggestion from (yet another) book that Pevear/Volokhonsky have done a great job with several Russian classics. It took months but I'm glad I finished it!
Mya wrote: "The graphic novel/manga My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Japanese author Kabi Nagata,..."Well, that's going to work for 3 tasks, then!
I've gone with Troubling Love by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein. I'm finding it a bit odd.
Thinking of reading The Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson. This is the first English translation by a woman.
Couldn't find who translated this but a bunch of the stories are written by women, so I'll finally read Never Stop — Finnish Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories.
I just came across Tell Them of Battles, Kings and Elephants, translated by Charlotte Mandell, which sounds interesting.
I read Love and it was pretty good. It's originally written in the 90s but just came out in translation in the US in 2018 and was shortlisted for the National Book Award translated literature.It's a day in the life of a mother and her 8 year old son, his birthday is the following day. Over the course of the day they get separated, and their stories are intertwined. The author/translator have done a good job in creating a feeling of dread/suspense as you read along....so many times in this book you feel that danger is imminent. I gave it 4 stars.
I had a ton of books on my kindle reads from World Day. I am happy that The House by the River by Lena Manta and translated by Gail Holst-Warhaft (Translator) will count toward this task. :)
Alice Walker (author of "The Color Purple") wrote a book of poems in both Spanish and English: "Taking the Arrow out of the Heart."
I read Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey for this one. I've read a number of translations, and this was really fantastic (no pun intended).
I read "Women are the Future of Islam" by Sherin Khankan. At the time of writing it also has under 100 reviews, so fits that challenge too.
I read The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante, who is Italian. The translator is also a woman. It was the first book I read (strictly speaking, listened to the audio) this year, and I didn't realize until after I looked at the challenge list that it met this goal. I think it's going to be that kind of year, where I'm not really trying to complete all the prompts but will when possible fit a book I've already ready to a category rather than seek out books to match a prompt (unless I decide that one of the prompts is a real "challenge" and decide to go for it).
Lindsey wrote: "Convenience Store Woman looks really good."Done! This is a short book - I read it in a day - and I really enjoyed it.
Just finished An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten and translated by Marlaine Delargy. It's a collection of short stories about an 88 year-old Swedish woman named Maud who has "no qualms about a little murder."
Margaret wrote: "I've been wanting to read Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata."I just finished it. It's wonderful! Short, punchy, and really terrific.
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