Rusalka's Random Route

[Rusalka]

Challenge dates: January 1, 2020 - December 31, 2020
Genre: Any genre. Books chosen may be by setting or by native/resident author
Page length minimum: No minimum page length

Here is the catch: You will not be choosing your own destinations. The ATW80 Randomizer will choose your countries for you. You may trade in a country you do not want to read, but it will cost you an additional 5 countries. Once you have read all of the countries in your initial list, you may consult the Randomizer for a new list, if you choose.
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I chose 10 countries to begin 2020:

Lesotho = She Plays with the Darkness
Singapore = Crazy Rich Asians
Bosnia and Herzegovina = The Cellist of Sarajevo
New Zealand = The Bone People or The Whale Rider
Mauritius = Eve out of Her Ruins
China = I Am China, The Girl Who Played Go, The Lily Theatre: A Novel of Modern China, The Dark Road, Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China, or Beijing Coma
Brazil = State of Wonder
Democratic Republic of the Congo =
Austria = Leviathan
Mali = The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu and Their Race to Save the World’s Most Precious Manuscripts

[Rusalka]

Singapore

Crazy Rich Asians

I really like Singapore. It shows me what a dictatorship looks like done reasonably well. I could live there for about 12 months I have decided before I need to go home to personal freedoms and random chaos. But the streets are safe, the public transport is fantastic, the place is clean, and oh my god the food. If you gave me a book of menus from Singapore I would read it, as the food is to die for. So give me food, a fluffy plot, some drama, and characters I quite like, and I am there.

I would still kill for proper Singaporean Lime Juice about now though...

[Rusalka]

China

Shenzhen: A Travelogue from China

Enjoyed this book, but it did feel like a first draft for Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea which I guess it was. Where as the Korean book has a feeling of benevolent bemusement throughout it, this one was vaguely cold and slightly resentful. Still a lovely way to explore a culture, but I think the author has matured from this book.

[Rusalka]

Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Cellist of Sarajevo

This little book packs a punch, with discussions about many heavy and important topics. War can completely break us, or galvanise us into the best of humanity, but usually both.

[Rusalka]

Lesotho

She Plays with the Darkness

I think of this book as a gathering of short stories about two siblings. The author says it's a novel, and who am I to disagree. Good look into a country I knew very little about, but I did not like a lot of the characters, including a sibling.

[Rusalka]

Mauritius

Eve out of Her Ruins

This book is set in the slum of the capital city of this increasingly touristy island destination. While the country changes with tourists, the slums are still occupied by people of poverty, usually arriving after natural disasters. And as usual the kids bear the brunt.

Full on content. Mediated by beautiful, poetic and lyrical writing.