2019 - Where in the World Have You Been? (Book Read and Review Linked)

[Lilisa]

Share what book you've read - did you enjoy it or not and why, but no spoilers please! Link to your review if you've written one so we can live vicariously through you or be enticed to add it to our TBR lists that are most likely sagging under the weight of the groaning stack! Hopefully you'll be adding great reads in 2019 as you travel around the world - enjoy!

[Shomeret]

I returned from my trip to Japan with The Kizuna Coast on December 31, 2018, but didn't have the opportunity to post about it until today. It was a trip back to Japan in 2011 post-earthquake. I learned about the situation in Japan at that time, and I learned about the concept of kizuna. I think it was one of the better books in its series.

See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

I've traveled a bit already in 2019 - to Denmark with The Keeper of Lost Causes, to Bulgaria with What Belongs to You, to Afghanistan with A Cup of Friendship, and to Turkey with Snow. All rated three stars, okay reads but not stellar.

[Claire]

Had a great time in Zimbabwe with Tsitsi Dangarembga's Nervous Conditions.

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

[Nadine in California]

I just returned from New York in the 1930's-40's with Manhattan Beach, and unlike the published reviews I've read, I was underwhelmed. More weaknesses than strengths.

My review.

[Claire]

Atmospheric, thrilling time in Patagonia, Argentina with Sandrine Collette's, Nothing But Dust.

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

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I loved this collection of folktales from Burma, which just came out last year: The Long Path to Wisdom: Tales from Burma by Jan-Philipp Sendker. The folktales were collected by Jan-Philipp and others in his family, over multiple years, multiple trips, after establishing good relationships. They also make sure to visit multiple regions. It seems like good folklore practices!

I loved the combination of traditional animal folktales plus some astrology plus some monks that are good or up to no good.

My review is here.

[Lilisa]

Spent some time in the U.S. -- here's my first two 5-star reads of the year: Fiction - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother set in the U.S. - amazingly inspirational, funny, and oh what a gutsy woman James McBride's mother was - the audio was so wonderful to listen to - 5 stars! The other audiobook - fiction - also set in the U.S. - Of Mice and Men - a short book, but it sure packed a punch - beautifully written and the narration did it total justice.

Also in the U.S. All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir - an adopted daughter's memoir on how it felt growing up adopted - Asian in a white family - and her search for her real parents and why they put her up for adoption - 4 stars.

And, was in Calcutta, India with The Epic City: The World on the Streets of Calcutta - interesting, but it jumped around quite a bit and the copy editor/proofreader didn't do a very good job - 3 stars.

[Shomeret]

I was in the U.S. with anthropologists, pharmaceutical executives and a spirit medium, and accompanied anthropological expeditions to the Peruvian jungle with Cloud Warriors by Rob Jung.

Interesting debut novel. See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Claire]

I was in Iraq through Desert Storm, sanctions and The Gulf War seeing it through the lens of one neighbourhood via an unamed narrator, her childhood, teenage years and an unknown future. Amazing in that it refuses to depict the horror or fear, focusing instead on those aspects of life that create a solid memory of the life, loves and connections within that neighbourhood.

When fear threatens, she enters the realm of imagination, where there are characters she can ask questions of, the Captain of a ship, her grandfather, voices that elevate her own wisdom and help her cope.

Extraordinary.

My review here

The Baghdad Clock by Shaha Al Rawi

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I've been in Hong Kong, with a little sidetrip to Kota Kinabalu, reading Blue Dragon by Kylie Chan. I've reached a crossroads with this series - not sure which path I will take. Admittedly I'm not a great fan of the fantasy genre at the best of times, so don't let my tepid review put you off if you're into this sort of thing.

She does a magnificent job with the Hong Kong location, having lived there for quite some time. In this one, a pivotal demon attack takes place on Waterloo Rd in Yau Ma Tei, which is where I prefer to stay when I'm there!! Next time I'll be looking over my shoulder.

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

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Back from Pakistan today. It feels a bit wrong to say I loved a book like Out of the Silence, considering its subject matter, but it certainly was thrilling. I think it's still available on NetGalley for a couple of days if anyone's interested.

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

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I've returned from Sweden with The Department of Sensitive Crimes. I think the author was just phoning this one in, but I still gave it 3★

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

[Claire]

I was deeply immersed in the streets and surroundings of Marseilles, France reading the late Jean-Claude Izzo's Total Chaos the first in his Marseilles Trilogy, in English translation.

My review here:

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

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I've been in Galway, Ireland with The Scholar. If you enjoyed Dervla McTiernan's 2018 debut, you'll enjoy this one too.

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

[Rusalka]

Andrea wrote: "I've been in Galway, Ireland with The Scholar. If you enjoyed Dervla McTiernan's 2018 debut, you'll enjoy this one too.

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

Fantastic to hear. I'm seeing her next week at an author talk at work.

[Yrinsyde]

I finished my second novel (Smoke Bellew) for the Yukon Territory and what a cracker it was! It was unlike any Jack London story I have read. Apparently it is little known - strange because it is a great story. I got it from Gutenberg and read it on Kindle.

[Lilisa]

Was in Australia with The Lost Man - wow, Jane Harper's stories, characters, and writing style are distinctive. I love the way her stories unfold. This one is probably the best. So tangibly human with emotional scars, strength and vulnerability, hope and despair, all swirl together in the complexities of a family against the backdrop of a mysterious death. 5 stars!

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I enjoyed my trip to Antarctica, courtesy of My Last Continent.

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

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

My trip to Mauritius was a bit of a downer, but I gave Eve Out of Her Ruins 3 stars.

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

[Shomeret]

I was in Scotland and 20th Century Spain with The Moon Sister by Lucinda Riley which was a dual period novel that is the fifth in a series dealing with adopted sisters discovering their backgrounds.

I loved the fact that the contemporary protagonist was devoted to protecting animals and the historical protagonist was a Romani Flamenco dancer.

See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I was in Colombia during Pablo Escobar's height with Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras.

My review is here.

It was a solid read, through the eyes of a child who couldn't always understand what was really happening, which I felt was a pretty engaging premise as a reader.

[Shomeret]

I've returned from Quebec in Canada with A Deadly Divide by Ausma Zehanat Kahn

Kahn felt she needed to write this book about a mass shooting in a mosque in Quebec after there was a real one in 2017.

See my review at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Back from Nigeria with My Sister, the Serial Killer - very entertaining.

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

[Lilisa]

Finished Stay with Me set in Nigeria - it packs a punch- culture, family, complex relationships, and life's challenges. Powerful writing and the audiobook's narrator does it complete justice - 5 stars.

Was in India with Selection Day - didn't care for it and was disappointed, particularly since I've enjoyed his other books. But I got it off my TBR list.

[Carol]

Lilisa wrote: "Finished Stay with Me set in Nigeria - it packs a punch- culture, family, complex relationships, and life's challenges. Powerful writing and the audiobook's narrator does it complet..."

I’m so glad you enjoyed Stay With Me. It’s been a year, I think, and I am still thinking about those characters, and the narrative as a whole. Just amazing.

[Lilisa]

Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Finished Stay with Me set in Nigeria - it packs a punch- culture, family, complex relationships, and life's challenges. Powerful writing and the audiobook's narrator ..."

Yes, I can why you would. While Yejide and Akin are not the exception in facing their situation, Ayobami, Adebayo does such a fantastic job of making it do personal and connecting Yejide with the reader/listener. And it was her debut novel. I wonder if she's working on a second.

[Nadine in California]

I just left Tasmania in the 1820's with Gould's Book of Fish: A Novel in Twelve Fish, a grotesque, fantastical, philosophical tragicomedy of inhumanity and fish. I can see why it won so many awards. My review.

[Shomeret]

I have been in Texas and Mexico with Summer of the Mariposas by Guadalupe Garcia McCall. The Mexico aspect was a magical/mythological adventure, but the ending was special.

See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

Finished Fate: The Lost Decades of Uncle Chow Tung set in Hong Kong about how Ava Lee's 'Uncle" got started in the triad. It was just okay and probably being a bit generous at 3 stars, but I have a fondness for the Ava Lee series.

Finished Daughter of Moloka'i, which started out in Hawaii and moved to the mainland - California - for the majority of the book. It's the sequel to the much-loved Moloka'i. Not the same impact as the first book, but was a good read at 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4 stars.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I want to thank Claire for introducing me to Gaël Faye's book about Burundi (and Rwanda), Small Country. I can't stop thinking about it, and wondering how much of it (if any) is autobiographical.

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

[Shomeret]

I've been in contemporary Chinese occupied Tibet with Bones of the Earth: An Inspector Shan Tao Yun Mystery by Eliot Pattison.

This is supposed to be the last book in this mystery series, and I thought it was a satisfying one.

See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Paris Time Capsule was solid but not special.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This one is much more accessible than Flights, which won last year's Booker International. Others picked up on references I missed, to Jung and Derrida for example, but I don't think they were an essential part of the book, more an added bonus if you get them.
I don't think it really works as an anti-hunting, animal rights protest as Janina is a bit too bonkers to be taken seriously by this reader as well as the local police, but it apparently caused something of a storm in Poland.

[Val]

Two more from the Booker International long list, both from politically troubled South American countries.

The Shape of the Ruins by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Columbia)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?

The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán (Chile)
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I've been back in Bhutan for a pleasant few days. Although I enjoyed Butter Tea at Sunrise: A Year in the Bhutan Himalaya, it wasn't my favourite amongst the similar Bhutan memoir/travel books I've read over the years.

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

[Shomeret]

I was in 17th century France with a healer who becomes involved in a revolt against invaders of her village. I liked it for the most part.

See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Val]

Another one from the International Booker list:
Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi, Oman.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I enjoyed it and hope it makes the shortlist.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I finished a memoir about growing up in the Philippines during an era of loss of wealth and government turmoil, Monsoon Mansion: A Memoir. My review is here.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm back from the Czech Republic, where I've been getting to know Lieutenant Josef Slonský with #1 in a series, Lying and Dying. I'll be reading on in due course!

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

[Yrinsyde]

Still in Malaysia with my current read but I have left Penang, finishing Days Gone By - Growing up in Penang. I loved reading it! The big house, the large complex family. Her grandparents were crazy rich Asians - big cars, fur coats (in the heat!)... Fascinating photos. I haven't written my review yet.

[Yrinsyde]

Oh, and I also recently finished Fur Country by Jules Verne, set in the Northwest Territories. It was a slow read but the ending was very abrupt! I haven't written by review of this one yet either. This read leaves me with one more for my Nth American Challenge which means I have read a book set in every state in the US and 2 for every zone in Canada. Go me!

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Yrinsyde wrote: " I have read a book set in every state in the US and 2 for every zone in Canada. Go me!...."

I'll second that - what a solid effort! Congrats

[Lilisa]

Yrinsyde wrote: "Oh, and I also recently finished Fur Country by Jules Verne, set in the Northwest Territories. It was a slow read but the ending was very abrupt! I haven't written by review of this one yet either...."

Congrats Yrinsyde - I third that :-) definitely an achievement in our book-devouring world!

[Claire]

I survived the Russian Gulag, with Zuleikha by Guzel Yakhina. Read in April 2019, exactly 100 years after these labour camps first began to be built and affluent peasants (kulaks) began to be sent to them for re-education (dekulakization).

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

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I really enjoyed my sojourn in Berlin this week, with A Guide to Berlin.

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

[Shomeret]

I was in Canada, but also time traveled to 18th century Scotland with a 21st century cellist in Song for a Lost Kingdom, Book I by Steve Moretti.

Yes, there were Jacobites , but for me, it was all about the music. See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Shomeret]

I was also in Australia with hard of hearing investigator Caleb Zelic in Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic.

The characters are very memorable.

See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Lilisa]

I was in:

India with The Twentieth Wife - about Empress Nur Jahan - 4 stars

In Palestine and the U.S. with A Woman Is No Man - 4 stars

In the Pacific Ocean with Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia - 4 stars

In The Netherlands with Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands - 3 stars

[Yrinsyde]

Here are my reviews for the two Malaysian memoirs I read recently: Days Gone By: Growing up in Penang | Eat Now Talk Later. I loved the first - a 5 star read for me. The second one I found more of a political history rather than memoir - only 3 stars.