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

[Laurel]

I read The Great Passage by Shion Miura

This is the first book I’ve read by the author. She is from Japan.

This book would also work for prompt #12, a book that is a collaboration between two or more people (it was translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter) or prompt #32, a book related to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo (set in Tokyo, author is Japanese)

[Milena]

I read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I have been hearing about the author for years here, but still have no idea how to pronounce the first name. The book was part of a free quartet of novellas from Tor.com.

[Virginia]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read The Map of Salt and Stars. The author is transgender, so the name on my ebook is Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar but his name is now Zeyn Joukhadar.

2. Have you read the author before?
No, I think it was a debut; he has a new book coming out this year which I am interested in reading.

3. Where is the author from? The author's Goodreads page says from New York.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Milena wrote: "I read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I have been hearing about the author for years here, but still have no idea how to pronounce the first name. The boo..."

I would guess Shawn Ann but I don't know.

[Shelley]

I read Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, which I can appreciate but I wasn't a huge fan. It bounced around more than I like.

[Beth]

Milena wrote: "I read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I have been hearing about the author for years here, but still have no idea how to pronounce the first name. The boo..."

From her website FAQs: "My name is pronounced "SHAWN-in," with the stress on the first syllable."

http://seananmcguire.com/generalfaq.p...

[Milena]

Beth wrote: "Milena wrote: "I read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I have been hearing about the author for years here, but still have no idea how to pronounce the firs..."

Thank you, Beth.

[Tracy]

The author of There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom's Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids, Linda Åkeson McGurk, is originally from Sweden. This is her only book on Goodreads, so I haven't read anything else.

[Sherri]

I read Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo for this week I gave it 4 stars. Very powerful story. This was my last prompt.

[Anne]

I am reading The Visionist by Rachel Urquhart. It is her first novel and although she writes articles I have not read any of them. She is from Brooklyn, USA, but the surname is Scottish and the Scottish pronunciation is different to how I would say the surname.

[Angela]

1. What are you reading for this category?
Oh, the places you’ll go, by Dr Seuss

2. Have you read the author before?
Countless times as a child. About a month ago I found out I’d been mispronouncing the name my entire life.
3. Where is the author from?
He was American of German extraction.

[Katie]

Okay, question. What if I think I know how to say the author's name, and then I find out I was wrong. Do you think that would count for this category? Or it should be something I know I don't know?

Katherine Eban - I thought it started with an "eh" sound, but it's an "ee" sound.

[Robin P, Orbicular Mod]

Katie wrote: "Okay, question. What if I think I know how to say the author's name, and then I find out I was wrong. Do you think that would count for this category? Or it should be something I know I don't know?..."

I think that counts.

[Samantha]

1. What are you reading for this category? The Proposal
2. Have you read the author before? Yes
3. Where is the author from? California

[GailW]

1. What are you reading for this category?
I read Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
2. Have you read the author before?
I had not.
3. Where is the author from?
Poland and the book was translated from the Polish

[Pam]

1. What are you reading for this category?
The Sadness of Beautiful Things: Stories by Simon Van Booy
2. Have you read the author before? No
3. Where is the author from? Born in the UK

I showed my husband the book and his comment was, "How do you pronounce the author's name?" so I thought it made sense to fill this prompt. I looked his name up since I wasn't sure either.

[Sue]

I am reading Aké: The Years of Childhood by Wole Soyinka. It is a memoir, and I haven't read anything by him before. He is from Nigeria.

[Hannah]

I read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. I haven't read any other books by her. She was born in Singapore, but is ethnically part of the Punjabi/Sikh diaspora. I chose this book for this prompt partly because the characters talk about Sikh naming and how it is often confusing to outsiders - and Jaswal herself has the Khalsa name "Kaur" as her middle name. Now I know how to pronounce it!

[MN]

I read Siri Hustvedt, The Summer without Men for this prompt. I've read several of her novels, and they've all be astounding. I chose this book for the prompt after it occurred to me that I didn't know whether I was pronouncing the author's surname correctly. I checked, and it transpires I didn't!

[Jill]

What are you reading for this category?
I read When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro

Have you read the author before? No, but I have some of his others on my TBR list

Where is the author from? Japan , but he moved here in 1960

[Joanne]

I read A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. I assumed the author's first name was pronounced like the spanish word for "love" (a-MOR) and the last name was either TOW-lez or like "towels" but I watched a youtube video that started with the author introducing himself. Turns out his name is pronounced like AYMOR TOLLS.

[Marie]

I read Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg. He's Danish, and I've not read any of books before. I chose this one because I have no idea how ø should be pronounced. I've watched a few things on youtube, and I think his name is pronounced kind of like "hooge", but a bit softer at the end. Maybe "hooj" is closer.

[Hannah]

Marie wrote: "I read Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow by Peter Høeg. He's Danish, and I've not read any of books before. I chose this one because I have no idea how ø should be pron..."

Oh, how funny! I'm about to read Smilla's Sense of Snow too, but I'm using it for the prompt about a book you didn't recognize on your TBR. But I did strongly consider using it for this prompt, since his last name was a complete mystery for me!

[Johanne]

I'm Danish, I understand why you don't know how to pronounce this :). Ø is not really close to any sound in English, but if you speak French it is close to how you pronounce "oe". In this case it's longer and the gh is a soft sound, like Y at the end of English words (like hey).
So H sound, French OE sound drawn out, and English Y (but not quite).
Peter isn't pronounced the same either :D

[Johanne]

Here is a course :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ-ep...

[Emily]

I read Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine for this prompt. I had never read her before. She's from Denver, Colorado, which is also where the majority of the stories in this book are set.

[Andrea]

For this task, I read Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas by Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis. He lived from 1839 to 1908, yet I only discovered this Brazilian author recently.
I cannot speak Brazilian Portuguese, but I can pronounce this author's rather lengthy name passably now.