39. A book by an author whose real name(s) you're not quite sure how to pronounce

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

There's no shame in admitting when we don't know how to pronounce something. Often that's because the word or name originates from a culture other than our own. But the first step in expanding your knowledge of other cultures is to admit that you don't know. So this week we're finding an author name that we don't know how to pronounce, While this group is almost always flexible and accepting of different approaches, this week there is one rule: learn how to pronounce the name of the author you are using.
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Suggestions:
Reader's Digest - Here Is the CORRECT Way to Pronounce Dr. Seuss (and 17 Other Popular Author Names)
The Millions - Hard to Pronounce Literary Names
Pinterest - How to Impress Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Sorry for poor quality!
Book Browse - Author Pronunciations
Soledad Unified School District Libraries - Pronouncing Dictionary of Author's Names

ATY Group Listopia
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Optional Questions:
1. What are you reading for this category?
2. Have you read the author before?
3. Where is the author from?

[Chrissy]

I might use The Ice Palace by Tarjei Vesaas...

I found this site to help with pronunciation:
https://www.rightpronunciation.com/la...

[Dana]

I plan to use The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

[Hilde]

I read ‘The Ice Palace’ many years ago, Chrissy. Remember it as very good, hope you’ll enjoy it if that’s the one you end up with for this prompt.

[Lauren]

I'll probably read The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski. I can guess on how to pronounce his last name, but I have no idea with his first name.

[Eva]

But if I follow those links then they will teach me how to pronounce the authors' names and I will no longer have any books I can read for this challenge! *Will remain strong and ignorant and not follow links until 2021.*

[Christy]

I think I'm going to go for Polish literature on this one, and either read something by Olga Tokarczuk or Insatiability by Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz. I've read very little Polish lit (maybe none?), so I'm excited about this one!

[Angie]

My plan is to do The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin.

[Nadine in NY]

Eva wrote: "But if I follow those links then they will teach me how to pronounce the authors' names and I will no longer have any books I can read for this challenge! *Will remain strong and ignorant and not f..."


LOL that’s me!!! I’m not clicking on any of those interesting links until AFTER I’ve read my book! I’m not even saying what the book is until I’m done, because I don’t want to risk a well-meaning reader telling me how to pronounce the name!

[SadieReadsAgain]

Thanks to many years in the health service, I have dealt with a lot of names, from a lot of cultures! I've made a prat of myself learning to pronounce patient names, but it's meant that now there aren't a lot that I come across that I can't figure out before offending someone. Still, some do throw me...

Åsne Seierstad As-knee, Ahs-knee, As-nuh, Ahs-nuh...help!
Diane Freund Froond, Free-und?
Christophe Dufossé Duh-foss-eh, Doofossie?
Suhayl Saadi Sue-ale, Su-hale?
Sara Gruen Groon, Groo-en?

Oh the shame...

[Johanne]

Sarah wrote: "Thanks to many years in the health service, I have dealt with a lot of names, from a lot of cultures! I've made a prat of myself learning to pronounce patient names, but it's meant that now there a..."

Well I know how to pronounce Åsne Seierstad, and I have a good idea of Diane Freund (if she is German).
I can tell you it´s not an A sound in Åsne, Sarah, it´s an Å... Somewhat close to the sound you say when you go "oh!" but not quite.

I am still uncertain how to pronounce a name as easy as Riordan. Is it like "riot" Riordan or Reeordan???

[SadieReadsAgain]

Johanne wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Thanks to many years in the health service, I have dealt with a lot of names, from a lot of cultures! I've made a prat of myself learning to pronounce patient names, but it's meant th..."

Haha, I'm still struggling with Asne!

Riordan is like Rye-or-dun, but the Rye-or is more like one syllable. Like fire but ryor...if that makes sense!

[Johanne]

Sarah wrote: "Johanne wrote: "Sarah wrote: "...Riordan is like Rye-or-dun, but the Rye-or is more like one syllable. Like fire but ryor...if that makes sense!..."

Yeah, that´s what I thought: I´ve been saying it wrong for years. Remember I am a children´s librarian so I get to say his name quite a lot. The kids are almost all Danish, so they don´t know better :) It was actually an Indian expat child who pronounced it correctly, who clued me in that I might have said it wrong all along...

If you want to know how Åsne is pronounced click here: https://da.forvo.com/word/%C3%A5sne/
edit: press the triangle next to "udtale" (means pronunciation)

It doesn´t answer how you pronounce Seierstad so you can still be in doubt and use her ;)

[AnnaG]

Could someone settle for me - how JK Rowling is pronounced - is she Row (as in a boat)-ling or Row-(as in argue)-ling?

For my week I'll probably choose from the below:
The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Bhagavad Gita by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

[Kathy]

I have lots of books by authors whose name I don't know how to pronounce.

I'll choose from these:
The Winter Queen - Boris Akunin
Disgrace - J.M. Coetzee
Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi
Thirteen Guests - J. Jefferson Farjeon
The Tea Lords - Hella Haasse 341p
Flights - Olga Tokarczuk

[Monica]

I'm going to read Death at the Bar by Ngaio Marsh.

[Wendy]

I have a bunch in mind, and I might have to go with The City & the City by China Miéville. I've read two of his books already and have no idea if I'm getting his name right.

Here are some others I've come up with:
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Perfect Nanny by Leïla Slimani
Oraefi: The Wasteland by Ófeigur Sigurðsson
The Man Who Died by Antti Tuomainen
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

[Tanu]

Collected Poems by Chinua Achebe

[Jody]

Anna - it’s neither, it rhymes with bowling. 😊

[Rachel]

I struggle with this one a bit because I'm pretty good with deciphering pronunciations of things in general. I'm thinking maybe someone like Marieke Nijkamp or Ruta Sepetys who I at least didn't feel confident about the pronunciations at first, although I think I've figured them both out by now.

[Rachel]

I'm going non-fiction with this one. I am in no way confident pronouncing his name.

Masaji Ishikawa.
His book is:
A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea

[Tracy]

Same as Sarah.... Working in the healthcare field for so long with almost all of the doctors and interns being foreign ( a lot of African and Indian names) and all of the patients, I feel pretty confident with pronouncing most of them. Irish names get me everytime. I have Shioban down, but was shocked to learn the pronounciation for Roisin ( in my head I was saying it totally wrong, then I started working with her directly LOL.... I'm glad I never said it out loud before I heard someone who knew her say it). Same with Saoirse.

I forget who I picked for this category... I had a few. I know one was Greg Iles.....how do you say that? I- less?..... Isles?.....Ill-es??? I dont know.

Edit to say I'm using All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva is it "ch" or "k" and long e or short e in the last name and where is the emphasis on all the syllables ???

[ladymurmur]

I know how to pronounce her name now, because I had her teach me at a signing - but for others who might be similarly challenged in pronunciation, let me heartily recommend Neve Maslakovic! In particular the series starting with The Far Time Incident - mysteries based in the time-travel lab of a small community college. Fascinating time travel mechanics and MUCH FUN!

[Kelly Sj]

Wizard of the Crow by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o - looking forward to this one!

[Ira]

I am half Greek half Norwegian, and I speak both languages fluently, so I am rarely confused about pronunciation. I think I have to go to Asia or Africa to find something that fits. Or maybe to some ex RSSR countries. And of course none book that fits is on my physical TBR. I have to go to the library and find something.

[Evelyn]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by
2. Have you read the author before? No is her first book.
3. Where is the author from? She is from United States

[R]

Tracy - if you'd still like to know how to pronounce Anjali Sachdeva, here goes.

Anjali = UN-J-LEE:
UN as in 'UNdo' or 'UNder'
J as in 'Junk' (just a short JUH sound)
LEE

Sachdeva = SUCH - DAY - VAH (rhymes with Bah)

I hope that helps. I don't know even a bit of the IPA to be able to do this the right way, unfortunately.

[Beverly]

I picked a book purely because the title was my name, but then definitely baffled over the last name for ages. Drnaso. Dirnaso? Drnayso? Dirnasoo?

The book was very meh.

[Ruth]

The book I picked for this prompt was Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress originally written in French with the title Balzac et la petite tailleuse chinoise but by an author originally from China Dai Sijie As I listened to the audio version I was able to hear the name, my approximation is "Di see gee". However I found the pronunciation of Balzac strange. Having studied French I've thought it was pronounced Bal - as in ballet or Albert but the narrator, B.D. Wong pronounced it Ballzac.

[Cheri]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2. Have you read the author before?
Yes. She's terrific!

3. Where is the author from?
Nigeria

[Tracy]

R wrote: "Tracy - if you'd still like to know how to pronounce Anjali Sachdeva, here goes.

Anjali = UN-J-LEE:
UN as in 'UNdo' or 'UNder'
J as in 'Junk' (just a short JUH sound)
LEE

Sachdeva = SUCH - DAY -VAH..."

Hahaha well that works for me because in my mind I was pronouncing it Ann-jelee (like Angelina sort of) Satch ( rhymes with with hatch ) Diva :-)

[Kathy]

1. What are you reading for this category?
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

2. Have you read the author before?
No

3. Where is the author from?
Russia

[Stacey]

For this category, I read the short-story collection Mad Country by Nepalese author Samrat Upadhyay. It was a tad difficult finding the pronunciation, but after some Googling of audio interviews, I learned it's: "saam-raat oopaad-a-hay".

[Emma]

I went with Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, who is from Rwanda, but grew up in France. She was a new author to me, and it was an interesting read.

[Aimee]

Emma wrote: "I went with Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga, who is from Rwanda, but grew up in France. She was a new author to me, and it was an interesting read."

I spent two months in Rwanda about 10 years ago - I don't know the name Mukasonga, but I met a lot of women and girls with names that began with Muka; often it's put before one of the parents' names e.g. a man called Gasana might call his daughter Mukagasana. These are given names, not surnames - they're not inherited. Rwandan children are usually given both a western (used to be French but nowadays more likely to be English) name and a Kinyarwanda name.
The 'u' in 'muka' is a short 'oo' instead of an 'uh' (as in 'June' not as in 'luck'), and the emphasis is on the 'ka'. I'm not sure on 'songa', as I said it's not a name I came across, but I think it would be pronounced like 'song' with an 'ah' for 'apple' at the end.

Scholastique is French and as you might have guessed, it means scholastic. It's pronounced similarly to the English word, except the -que at the end is pronounced like the end of 'mystique'. You can probably find a French-English dictionary online that would give you a better pronounciation guide!

[Pamela, Arciform Mod]

1. What are you reading for this category? Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
2. Have you read the author before? No
3. Where is the author from? Canada

I will say, I do know how to pronounce it now cause I listened to the audiobook and the reader said it at the beginning so I made a note! I'll still mess it up, I mess up all names. At college graduation, my roommate of 4 years who was from India, informed me I always pronounce her name wrong, I've never said a name right since then.

[Matthias]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I am reading City Life by Donald Barthelme
2. Have you read the author before?
I have. He is much anthologized, but I hadn't read this particular collections of short stories before.
3. Where is the author from?
He is American, but that doesn't mean the pronunciation is more straightforward (quite the contrary, I find).

[Maple]

1. What are you reading for this category?
The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals

2. Have you read the author before?
Technically yes. The first time, was right before reading this book. I read the first book in the series.

3. Where is the author from?
The United States.

[Susan]

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, who grew up in Malaysia. I hadn't read her before, and I don't think I'll continue the series.

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

I'm putting How Dare the Sun Rise: Memoirs of a War Child in here; by Sandra Uwiringiyimana. I've watched a youtube video of her saying her name (after reading the book) and I still don't think I can say her last name correctly.

[Sabrina]

The Rosie Project, Australia
Annihilation, US (South, state unspecified)

[Heather]

1)My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
2)No
3)Nigeria

[Emily]

For this prompt I read:

39. A Book by an Author Whose Real Name(s) You're not Quite Sure how to Pronounce: The Golden Son by Shilpi Somaya Gowda

It was an interesting story about a young lad from India who goes to Texas to do his doctor training and falls in love.

[Jana]

I read Small Great Things.

[Courtney]

1. What are you reading for this category?
The Silent Patient
2. Have you read the author before?
No, this is his debut novel.
3. Where is the author from?
His bio says that he was born in Cyprus.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Cheri wrote: "1. What are you reading for this category?
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2. Have you read the author before?
Yes. She's terrific!

3. Where is the au..."

I read Purple Hibiscus by this author, having already read Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah. She is excellent and I learned how to pronounce her name when she appeared on Trevor Noah's show. As an African and a speaker of multiple languages, he always pronounces guests' names correctly. My problem is remember how to spell her name!

[Kim]

1. What are you reading for this category? The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
2. Have you read the author before? No, although she is a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist.
3. Where is the author from? Alabama and New Orleans

[Arunimaa]

What are you reading for this category? 魔道祖师 Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu. It's a Chinese webnovel that's been translated in English.
Have you read the author before? Nope.
Where is the author from? China

[Karen]

I read Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for this prompt. She's from Nigeria. I've read one other book by her, which was Half of a Yellow Sun.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

2nd time around I am going with Ijeoma Oluo and So You Want to Talk About Race. I didn't even know if this author was male or female (Female!)

According to You Tube, it sounds like Ee-jyo-ma Oh-loo-aw