Ivaska's reading log

[Ivaska]

I would like to take part in ATW's reading challenge (one month = one country), and keep track of my progress here. This is my first ever participation in a discussion thread, so I'm a bit nervous about how it will go for me :)

These are the countries I would like to "visit" this year:

January: Jordan
February: Afghanistan
March: Tajikistan
April: Marshall Islands
May: Belize
June: Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
July: Liechtenstein
August: Malta
September: Moldova
October: Madagascar
November: Namibia
December: Zimbabwe

I took this list from here, but I won't keep up with the monthly themes as I want to keep an open mind on topics of my books.

Well, that's the intro. Let's start packing! :)

[Ivaska]

For the January theme of Jordan I selected following books:

Pillars of Salt by Fadia Faqir Read (my review here)
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie (taking place in Petra) Read
The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber (I like non-fiction, and what's best this is about food. Win-win! Read

---update---
I really much enjoyed reading about Jordan through these books, filled with scents and sensations.

[Ivaska]

For the February theme of Afghanistan, I am going for one or two (maybe three?) titles from the candidates below. I purposely omitted Khaled Hosseini from the list, as I have read his prose already (and liked it) and I found him too famous for this challenge :)

An Unexpected Light: Travels in Afghanistan by Jason Elliot I started reading this book while traveling in the U.S. and unfortunately, I haven´t had time to finish it, but I would like to come back to it later in the year as it was quite interesting
The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor by Zahirud-din Muhammad Babur
A Woman Among Warlords: The Extraordinary Story of an Afghan Who Dared to Raise Her Voice by Malalai Joya Read
Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi Read
The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

[Ivaska]

As the March is already here, I´m a bit late with this month´s picks. I don´t know much about Tajikistan (besides that the country has beautiful mountains, authoritarian regime and was previously part of the Soviet Russia) and would love to expand my knowledge. So, to cut this short, the books I might tackle this month are:

The Sandalwood box: folk tales from Tadzhikistan Read
Beyond the Oxus - Monica Whitlock

[Ivaska]

For the April´s voyage around the Marshall Islands I read Surviving Paradise: One Year on a Disappearing Island by Peter Rudiak-Gould