Alwynne's 2021 WIT challenge

[Alwynne]

I'm not going to set an initial goal but add books I either own or definitely plan to read as I go along.

[Liesl]

I'm thinking of doing the same, Alwynne. I have really enjoyed many of the WIT novels that I read during 2020 so I plan to look for more over the coming year.

[Alwynne]

Me too, a number of my favourites this year have been WIT novels. Look forward to seeing what you pick.

[Alwynne]

My first choice for this challenge was Matsuda Aoko's Where the Wild Ladies Are a hugely enjoyable collection of feminist folkloric stories.

Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Sanne]

wow you've hit the ground running this year! and very informative review. This book goes on my (ever expanding) to read list.

[Story]

Great review! I always admire the care and thoughtfulness you put into your reviews.

[Alwynne]

Thanks Sanne, hope you like it, the first books I've read this year have both been great in different ways, not sure how long the streak will last for though!

Story thanks, what a lovely thing to say! Feel quite chuffed as they say here. It was a very nice collection, much better than I'd expected. Oddly enough it reminded me a little of a series of slightly quirky, supernatural stories by a childhood favourite Joan Aiken. That mix of the everyday and the magical with a slightly tongue-in-cheek element.

[Story]

Alwynne wrote: "That mix of the everyday and the magical with a slightly tongue-in-cheek element. "

How perfect! I might have to look for some Joan Aiken too, as I think I may have missed her as a child. Any titles to recommend? (I work with kids so am always happy to read kidlit.)

[Alwynne]

Yes definitely, my favourites are the series set in an alternative past that begins with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - although only really takes off from the second book that introduces the wonderful Dido Twite - and the Armitage family stories The Serial Garden: The Complete Armitage Family Stories. She also wrote fairy stories for younger children The Kingdom Under the Sea and a very funny series about a young girl and a raven Arabel's Raven

[Story]

Brilliant!! Thanks so much.

[Alwynne]

If you're looking for inspiration for children's books then you should follow my friend Matthew - the only Matthew on my list - he lectures in children's lit and works with trainee teachers, so he lists what age groups books are suitable for as well as what they're about. You might have to look up the equivalents in Canada for some of the levels he mentions but he has great taste and is very wide-ranging in what he reads from classics to recent publications.

[Story]

Done! Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate it.

[Alwynne]

My second book for this challenge was Yan Ge's Strange Beasts of China

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[oshizu]

What a fantastic review for Matsuda's book!
The white-dressed woman in The Ring is a visual quotation from the Tokugawa-period kabuki play "Ghost of Yotsuya," so your review makes me want to read Wild Ladies even more!

[Alwynne]

Thanks and thanks for the reference too, I hope you enjoy the book, wish I could find more like it!

[Alwynne]

My next book was a 'Read Women' buddy read, Breasts and Eggs

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

My fourth for this was Park Wan-Suh's Lonesome You

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

My fifth book was also a Read Women Buddy Read, Yoko Tawada's
Memoirs of a Polar Bear

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

My sixth choice was the first novel by Catalan poet Eva Baltasar Permafrost it's lyrical and funny and fascinating although I'm not sure what I think about the ending.

My review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number seven is Nona Fernandez's Space Invaders

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number eight is Erica Fischer's Aimée & Jaguar: A Love Story, Berlin 1943 translated from German by Edna McCown.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Next is Sanmao's Stories of the Sahara

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Claire]

I loved Sanmao's stories, totally unexpected and wide ranging, and an uncommon perspective for adventure travel.

[Claire]

I loved Sanmao's stories, totally unexpected and wide ranging, and an uncommon perspective for adventure travel.

[Alwynne]

My tenth choice was Minae Mizumura's An I-Novel

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number eleven is a collection of short stories from Korean writer Bora Chung Cursed Bunny translated by Anton Hur. This falls broadly under horror, although there are elements of the surreal and the mythic. It's very readable but I didn't find it particularly striking or likely to be memorable.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number 12 is Shizuko Go's Requiem based on the firebombing of Japan in the final years of WW2 and centred on 16-year-old Setsuko and her dying thoughts. This one was highlighted by Hannah recently and it's highly recommended.

Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Next up is the final piece in Nathalie Leger's informal trilogy, The White Dress.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number fourteen is Disoriental

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number fifteen is Ana Maria Matute's The Island an impressive but not, for me, an enjoyable one.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number 16 is Kwon Yeo-sun's Lemon essentially literary crime.


Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Number 17 is Tove Jansson's Notes from an Island

Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jen]

Amazing reviews! There are some new to me titles here, thank you.

[Alwynne]

Thanks : ) Hope you find something you enjoy.

[Alwynne]

Number 18 is Scholastique Mukasonga's Our Lady of the Nile

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Story]

Such an interesting range of books you've been reading for this challenge! Favourites so far?

[Alwynne]

Probably the last one, it'll definitely stay with me, then the Matsuda - for sheer entertainment value - the Ge flawed but so inventive. After those Baltazar's for the writing, the Park because it's so quietly, beautifully observed, the Mizumura for similar reasons, and the Fernandez for its innovative approach to memory and trauma. And the Jansson because I love her work although this is not the best of hers I've read. I think I was quite lucky with my choices overall. 'Lemon' was the only one I'd happily skip, although I wasn't that keen on the Matute.

[Carol]

What an awesome reading year you've had. Really interesting choices here and I get so much out of your reviews. Thanks always for sharing your feedback.

[Alwynne]

19 is Stine Pilgaard's The Land of Short Sentences newly translated from the Danish.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

20 is Jawbone from up-and-coming Ecuadorian poet and writer Monica Ojeda. It's an atmospheric horror novel, flawed, uneven but very readable.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Hannah]

This looks fascinating Alwynne, thanks for your great review

[Alwynne]

It's very uneven but definitely memorable Hannah.

[Alwynne]

21 is a new translation of a novel from South Korea, Kyung-Sook Shin's Violets this features some very lyrical passages although the imagery can be a bit obvious at times, and deals with themes of misogyny, suppressed queer desire and urban alienation. It dips a bit at certain points where the pacing feels slow or the story a little repetitive but overall a powerful, memorable piece.

Link to my review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

Carol wrote: "What an awesome reading year you've had. Really interesting choices here and I get so much out of your reviews. Thanks always for sharing your feedback."

Thanks Carol : )

[Alwynne]

22 is Christa Winsloe's The Child Manuela which was a reversioning of material from the brilliant 1931 film based on her earlier play Madchen in Uniform and was reissued in translation as part of Virago's Lesbian Landmark series.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

23. A 'Read Women' buddy read, Nora Ikstena's Soviet Milk, mixed feelings about this one, particularly the second half of the book but definitely worth reading.

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alwynne]

24. Woman Running in the Mountains

Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Story]

What a fascinating year of WiT you've been enjoying, Alwynne. I hope toward the end of the month, you'll create a list of your top 5 for us.

[Alwynne]

I think I lucked out on my choices, a lot I really liked and a few not so much but still found worth the time.

[Alwynne]

25. Sònia Hernández's Prosopagnosia


Link to my review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...