2015 Where in the world are you? (Currently reading)

[Rusalka]

Oh my god!

So glad to have you all back. *hugs*

Never leave me again.

[Rusalka]

Further to this, if you guys notice any problems with the Group, if something doesn't come back that you knew was there 2 weeks ago for example, there is a Feedback group thread here https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... that I've been talking to the Goodreads employees on.

Well, more they have talked at us, and not really listened to what we have said since first identifying the problem. But beggars can't choosers. Yay group back.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Rusalka wrote: "Oh my god!

So glad to have you all back. *hugs*

Never leave me again."

Thanks for the updates during those dark times!

[Rusalka]

Andrea wrote: "Thanks for the updates during those dark times!"

So so so dark :(

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Part of that reason Rusalka is that they communicated directly only with the group moderators. Maybe we should make you one since some of ours are MIA! They were very responsive but couldn't do much more than say "we are working on it."

Hopefully you got my group broadcast message; I never sent one before and didn't get a copy myself. But there was no way to contact everyone when the group was gone.

[Rusalka]

It worked beautifully, Jenny.

No no. My point was in the feedback thread, they responded enough to say what they were doing, and they weren't going to do what we asked (communicate with all users). But they didn't respond to our concerns that that was not on, for many reasons.

They did tell us the only avenue to communicate with affected (or otherwise people) would be for mods to send broadcasts after the group was back. Which while incredibly welcome, seems a little strange.

But all past now. Again, if people have issues, that's the thread to head to.

Lol I do think this "incident" highlights a need to rethink mods in the group. I'm happy to help if we want a few more. I think Lilisa is a great bet for modding too, as she's the one that noticed we were gone and mobilised the troops!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

One book I am reading is Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta. The author herself wrote it both in Finnish and English. It is a future dystopian world where China runs Europe, including all of Scandinavia. Everyone is running out of water and the main character is the tea maker, and has some responsibility for the water secrets. I would probably count it for Finland considering but it could count for any of Scandinavia. I like stepping outside the box a bit when I can!

[Rusalka]

I'm currently reading Crocodile on the Sandbank for Egypt, but have just put it down for a bit to read The Feast of the Goat for the Dominican Republic while it's July.

[Lilisa]

Rusalka wrote: "It worked beautifully, Jenny.

No no. My point was in the feedback thread, they responded enough to say what they were doing, and they weren't going to do what we asked (communicate with all users)..."

Yay, we are back! Thanks Jenny and Rusalka. Jenny - message worked great and Rusalka thanks for your alert to others and the updates. Can't take credit for the alert - it was Claire who noticed and messaged me - good thing we are friends on GR. I agree with Rusalka we should caucus on mods - with her as one and I'm happy to be a mod too. Thanks and good to have us back online!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I'm going to go ahead and add you both. I know one mod isn't in Goodreads anymore and one didn't know she was one. Lol. If we're going to keep talking about this though we should move it out of this thread because it's off topic!

[Sara]

I am reading The Invisible Mountainwhich takes place in Paraguay and Argentina. it's a family saga with lots of Political Changes of both nations in late 60's early 70's.
Next in line is The Thread which takes place in Greece.

[Lilisa]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm going to go ahead and add you both. I know one mod isn't in Goodreads anymore and one didn't know she was one. Lol. If we're going to keep talking about this though we should move it out of th..."

Thanks Jenny. Hopefully we are done talking about this episode :-)

[Rusalka]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm going to go ahead and add you both. I know one mod isn't in Goodreads anymore and one didn't know she was one. Lol. If we're going to keep talking about this though we should move it out of th..."

Thanks Jenny, sounds great. I like the mod who didn't even know she was one.

Agreed.

[Claire]

Great to have this group back up and running!

While it was in oblivion, I was in North Carolina with Rachel Carson's classic, imaginative creative non-fiction narrative of Sanderling, Scomber and Anguilla in Under the Sea-Wind
and now I'm walking with Olivia Laing along the river Ouse in England, that same river Virginia Woolf walked into one day never to return in To The River.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Claire wrote: "Great to have this group back up and running!

While it was in oblivion, I was in North Carolina with Rachel Carlson's classic, imaginative creative non-fiction narrative of Sanderling, Scomber and..."

Wow I hadn't heard of that Carlson book and it sounds good! Adding it to my list.

[Rusalka]

ooo me too!

[Lilisa]

Currently in Malaysia with The Rice Mother.

[Suzanne]

So glad we're back!!! I'm currently in Cornwall with the 11th book in the Poldark series The Twisted Sword. Well, actually the characters are in Paris at present. It's 1814 and Napoleon has just returned to France and the English in France are worried and leaving to return home. We'll see if the Poldarks decide to risk it and stay in France.

[Lilisa]

Oh boy, Suzanne - the Poldark series sound interesting. I am going to have to add it to my TBR list - 12 books, jeez! :-)

[Claire]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Claire wrote: "Great to have this group back up and running!

While it was in oblivion, I was in North Carolina with Rachel Carlson's classic, imaginative creative non-fiction narrative of Sanderli..."

I was looking for lyrical works by writer's passionate about the sea and stumbled across it, although I then read that she was most well known for Silent Spring, it was this debut that I was really attracted to, and what better recommendation than to learn that it had been the author's personal favourite of all her books. Loved it.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Claire wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Claire wrote: "Great to have this group back up and running!

While it was in oblivion, I was in North Carolina with Rachel Carlson's classic, imaginative creative non-..."

I also am new to appreciating creative non fiction but love love it.

[Suzanne]

Lilisa wrote: "Oh boy, Suzanne - the Poldark series sound interesting. I am going to have to add it to my TBR list - 12 books, jeez! :-)"

Yes, you definitely must read these! I just finished the 11th book and it was fantastic! You'd think a series would get a bit dull by 11 books in, but not this one. I read 200 pages yesterday because I couldn't stand to put it down. I just had to get to the ending!

[Lilisa]

Suzanne wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Oh boy, Suzanne - the Poldark series sound interesting. I am going to have to add it to my TBR list - 12 books, jeez! :-)"

Yes, you definitely must read these! I just finished the ..."

Lol Suzanne! Me, I haven't had a chance to read much this month. I'm still in Malaysia with The Rice Mother and have yet to make progress in New Guinea past the five pages of Euphoria from awhile ago.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I think I am in France, maybe also Germany, with All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

[Suzanne]

Lilisa and Jenny - all three books are on my TBR list. Can't wait to hear what you think of them!

[Sara]

I was in Afghanistan with Lipstick in Afghanistan which was just ok for me. I was expecting better story line but it was more chick-lit material. Now I am reading A Girl From Zanzibar which takes place in Zanzibar, Tanzania, England & US.

[Rusalka]

I'm still reading my last two books for Egypt and Dominican Republic (struggling to finish books at the moment, just hit that reading slump time). But picked up The Oxford Murders for Argentina, and am rather enjoying it so far. Only 40 pages in so far but it's a short book, so may break my drought.

[Claire]

I'm in Mexico with Roberto Bolano's 2666, my summer chunkster for 2015 and then it'll be all #WIT Women in Translation for the month of August.

[Lilisa]

I'm in Cambodia with Never Fall Down and in Lebanon with House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East.

[Claire]

I'm in Cuba with Cristina Garcia and Dreaming in Cuban.

Reading it for #WITMonth Women in Translation and because I'm on a bit of a streak of reading Caribbean writers, having recent finished some great reads by Jamaica Kincaid, Maryse Condé and Edwidge Danticat.

[Lilisa]

Claire wrote: "I'm in Cuba with Cristina Garcia and Dreaming in Cuban.

Reading it for #WITMonth Women in Translation and because I'm on a bit of a streak of reading Caribbean writers, having recent finished som..."

Sounds interesting Claire and it's been awhile since I read a book set in Cuba, so of course I added it to my list...

[Lilisa]

Headed to Italy with Pompeii and have been visiting France for some time with the audiobook The Nightingale set during World War II.

[Jayme]

I am finishing up Eveless Eden a very smart love story that centers around events during the Cold War. If you need a book for either Cameroon or Romania, this is a good one.

[Lilisa]

I'll be lingering in Italy for a bit with a few mysteries across Florence, Venice and Rome. First up Vita Nuova set in Florence.

[Lilisa]

Aargh, Vita Nuova was a total bust (1 star) - at least it was quick one. On to Death at La Fenice set in Venice - hope it's a better Italian mystery experience...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm in Cambodia right now, reading The Disappeared. At about half-way through I'm sorry to say it's a bit disappointing. Fingers crossed that it will pick up in the second half.

[Claire]

I'm in the 18thC Kingdom of Segu, somewhere between Senegal, Mali, NIger and the Ivory Coast with Maryse Condé's novel based on actual events Segu.

[Rusalka]

I read Jar City a couple of weekends ago for Iceland. I am now in the Greek Isles with The Messenger of Athens. So far, not sure what I think of this one.

[Sara]

I am in Palestine with Three Daughtersa family saga of three women, a very lengthy novel but I hope I can learn some cultural values of region: Palestine, Jaffa, Syria, Turkey & Jerusalem.
I finished The Lemon Orchard last night which takes place mostly in California border of Mexico about the hardships of undocumented immigrants to US from Mexico.

[Lilisa]

Sara - Hadn't realized Three Daughters was a hefty novel - I've had it on my TBR list for quite awhile. Will be interested in your take.

I'm headed back to Canada with Louise Penny's latest The Nature of the Beast. I love her Armand Gamache series so hoping the latest lives up to my expectations.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Following my disappointment with Cambodia, I've skipped north to Laos for a 6th outing with Dr Siri in The Merry Misogynist. It's like putting on my comfy slippers.

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I started The Dog by Joseph O'Neill in audio, which I will count for the United Arab Emirates. It was longlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize and I've intended to read it for quite some time. Being set in UAE is just a bonus!

I also started The Incarnations by Susan Barker, about a taxi driver in China and his past lives.

[Val]

I will be interested to hear what you think of The Dog Jenny.

[Lilisa]

Half way through The Agony and the Ecstasy set mainly in Florence, Italy - the biography of Michelangelo and also reading Corellis Mandoline.

[Claire]

I'm in Naples with Book Four of Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan Trilogy:

The Story of the Lost Child.

[Sara]

Lilisa wrote: "Sara - Hadn't realized Three Daughters was a hefty novel - I've had it on my TBR list for quite awhile. Will be interested in your take.

I'm headed back to Canada with Lou..."</i>

Lilisa, don't waste your time with [book:Three Daughters as it was a big disappointment. I've read other books about Palestine, Israel and Jaffa that are much more interesting and educational such as The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East &Mornings in Jenin, I Saw Ramallah

[Sara]

I finished The Unbearable Lightness of Being which took place in Czech & part in Switzerland of late 30's and WWII era. I am currently reading Bluebeard which is about Armenian Massacre in Turkey.

[Lilisa]

Thanks Sara. It's off my list now and I've added I Saw Ramallah. I've read Mornings in Jenin and have The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East on my TBR list. BTW, Susan Abulhawa author of Mornings in Jenin has a new book out.

[Lilisa]

I'm in Sweden with The Girl in the Spider's Web and in India with The Home and the World.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I began to read Mornings in Jenin yesterday. I'm finding it a bit jumpy at the moment, but that might just be because I am still learning who the characters are.