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2021 - Where in the World Have You Been? (Book Read and Review Linked)
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Andrea, Slow but steady
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Dec 31, 2020 08:56PM
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I just finished the YA novel The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. The setting is Spain - almost entirely in Madrid. Review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... I enjoyed it and will read more by this author. She did a good job of weaving together many historical threads through a few characters. Knowing some of the history, I could often see where the plot was headed, but this did not lessen my pleasure in the storytelling. Great historical fiction for teen readers.
I recently took a trip to Paris with The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien CharlesIt would have been better if the protagonist had been different.
See https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Kicking off my 2021 travels a few weeks later than I planned, but I finished Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami, set in Tokyo (and sometimes Osaka) in 2007/2016. My review here.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I've been in Kenya following Mama Rose in Rhino Charge, the third in a mystery series by Victoria Tait. I learned about the Hindu community in Kenya through this novel.See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I started the year with a novel from my country of birth, New Zealand, a wonderful title Potiki by Maori author Patricia Grace, originally published in 1987, released as a Penguin Modern Classic in 2020. It's a wonderful depiction of the struggle of a Maori family to retain their land, their way of living on it and in harmony with their surroundings, against the forces of the colonizing class, in their capitalist pursuits and the underhand tactics of governments (past) that facilitated them getting what they want - for the so-called 'greater good'. Brilliantly depicted, it is indeed a story that will endure.
My review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
On a similar theme, I also read an Australian novel that might well be destined similarly to become a future classic, the prizewinning The Yield by indigenous author Tara June Winch, an incredible triple narrative.
In the present day, there is the third person narrative story of August, returning to Australia for the funeral of her grandfather Albert (Poppy) Gondwindi, so it's a kind of late coming-of-age, where someone returns and sees their country, culture and people anew after living in a foreign country. There is also here the story of land confiscation for dubious (mining) reasons.
The first person narrative is given to Poppy from beyond the grave, he has been compiling a list of words from his native language, one of over 200 indigenous languages that have gone or are becoming extinct. Language is one of the elements of proof of culture and his purpose was to save the language and perhaps the land. It's a wonderful collection of words, each that tell a story or anecdote, of his life experience and help us understand the meaning of the word.
The third narrative is a serialization of letters by a German/British missionary from the late 1800's, revealing the recent history of the impact of white settlers on the region and one man's attempt to bridge the divide between two extreme cultures, when one is set on annihilation of the other.
My thoughts here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I visited two new countries yesterday!First, the Mexican Mystery Stories for Girls trilogy by Helen Randolph, a vintage children's series from 1936 for fans of the original Nancy Drew. ( The Secret of Casa Grande, The Mystery of Carlitos, Crossed Trails in Mexico )
Series review here.
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Second, Iceland in the fall of 1686 with The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea: a Gothic-inspired book that really capitalizes on its setting (but which I ultimately disliked a lot).
My review.
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Sounds like you had a good time with Fortune, Andrea. Re: Napoleon, you may want to check out The Second Empress: A Novel of Napoleon's Courtby Michelle Moran. I read it awhile ago and enjoyed it.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I recently finished The Expats by Chris Pavone, a spy thriller set in - Luxembourg! Do you know how hard it is to find a book set in Luxembourg? I'm working toward that ever distant goal of a book in every country. It was decent, and a nice change in pace from what I read most of the time for my around the world stuff.
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Luxembourg setting, thanks Jenny! Have to add to my list. At some point in time I’m going to have to get serious about every single country....
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Glad it was well worth the time, Andrea!
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I loved , loved, loved The Expats, for all of its obvious flaws; probably, as you because it is /was unlike anything else I generally read. I had forgotten that it ticks the Luxembourg box!
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Great to hear! I was hoping to read that one next week
Carol wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I recently finished The Expats by Chris Pavone, a spy thriller set in - Luxembourg! Do you know how hard it is to find a book set in Luxembourg? I'm wor..."It is flawed a little but does it make sense that I still might want to read book 2? :)
I've been in Afghanistan with A Door in the Earth by Amy Waldman. An Afghani-American who left Afghanistan at the age of two with her parents, returns to Afghanistan because of a prominent humanitarian's memoir.I wondered why the protagonist continued to believe in the memoir and its author so long.
See my review at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I have been in Syria (and France and Libya) with The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf - the first of five volumes of this graphic memoir. I liked it and have ordered the second. Counting it for Syria.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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But here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Uuuhh, that looks yummy, Andrea! That was a good book for sure.
Andrea wrote: "I was in Iran courtesy of The Temporary Bride: A Memoir of Love and Food in Iran and it's taken me a while to write my review because I've been caught up in the food! I finally got ..."I loved this book! The relationship was unusual and the food was delicious!
I finished Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim, a magical-ish women's fiction novel about a Chinese-American woman who can see the future.My review here.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I finished Days in the Caucasus by Banine, about her Azeri childhood in the early 20th century. Reminiscent of Teffi's writing style in many ways but different culture for sure. I write about the 21st century view in my review. Thanks to Sanna in this group for recommending it!I also finished Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo, a novel-in-verse targeted at a YA audience but would be enjoyable for adults. My review is here. I'm a big fan of Safia, who is an American born to Sudanese parents. In this novel, her protagonist is from Sudan and has only recently moved to America, and part of the novel takes place in Sudan, in a way.
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Andrea wrote: "I was in Colombia with Infinite Country by Patricia Engel. It's a book that I would have loved to quote from extensively to illustrate what I got out of it, but ala..."I've just been in Colombia too, reading the same novel, a wonderful blend of narrators and perspectives, that pulls at the heart strings, is infused with Andean myth and taut with the tension of not knowing whether the family members are going to be able to reunite.
I quoted Patricia Engle from an interview she did, due to the same issue with the eARC.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Completed Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara. I enjoyed it until the end.Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
Yes, I know what you mean, Karen. Unfortunately, reality sometimes wins even in fiction :-( - I enjoyed it too.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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Nice review Andrea, thanks for linking to the article too!
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Finished An African in Greenland, which had been on my TBR for ages - setting starting out in the Togolese Republic, then briefly through a few countries, followed by Greenland. I’m claiming it for the Togolese Republic. It was really interesting to learn about the author’s experience and his perspective on living among the Inuits.
I finished up with the poignant Home Is Not a Country - U.S. and unknown country - YA - book in poetry, which was really well done. It captures the turmoil, otherness, the feelings of not belonging in a culture, country, or neighborhood, and yearning for another life so well from a teenager’s point of view - in some ways the universal teenager and then, so much more.
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Not me, but I will be checking it out! Glad you enjoyed it lol
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Rusalka wrote: "Oh. I have already added it heh. But looks like it was Jenny who read it"I read it but not in audio!
In the past few weeks I have visited quite a few countries in my reading.
First, Korea with The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun. The audio is in Hoopla and is pretty short, under 6 hours. It's about a woman who works for a tourism agency that specializes in disaster tourism and then takes one of their trips. Kind of Kafkaesque, seems to be saying something about Koreans as well, maybe. My review is here.
On Fragile Waves by E. Lily Yu is about Afghani refugees in Australia with some sections retold stories or poetry. I'm not sure it completely works but does tell a story I hadn't read yet, about the refugee experience in Australia (spoiler alert - it isn't great.) My review is here.
My Heart by Semezdin Mehmedinović, translated by Celia Hawkesworth, is from a well-loved Bosnian writer. It's told in three sections, about his heart attack, in illustrated journal entries to his son, and his wife as she battles illness. As I say in my review, what it reminds me of most is autobiographical fiction by Deborah Levy or Rachel Cusk (which means I really liked it.)
I listened to Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe for my book club. I can see why people like it but it was a slog in audio for sure. My review is here.
Every once in a while I'll read a book that is a real challenge - Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson is set in Canada but comes from a completely indigenous mindset, of the Anishinaabe. But I think it's important to read books from other people groups that specifically *aren't* for our sensibilities, and this is one. My review is more of an intro, there are some more in-depth reviews by indigenous readers that I would recommend.
Finally, in my quest to finish reading a book from every country in Europe, the one book set in Monaco - Loser Takes All by Graham Greene. Not my favorite of his, but a quickie! My review is here.
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Osaka, Japan with Min Jin Lee's Pachinko. Epic.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
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I was in Australia, kind of, more on an isolated Papuan island with a lot of refugees from places like Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq, Sri Lanka, etc. with No Friend but the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison - it was a difficult read and I had to alternate it with other books. My review is here.And then, because I hadn't had enough difficult reads, I read the upcoming novel We Trade Our Night for Someone Else's Day, which is a thriller type novel based in Croatia in present day, with a strong underpinnings of violence leftover from the Balkan Wars. You can see me really wrestling with what I don't know about that history in my review.
I was in Northern Ireland with Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen. A Five Star read for me. Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I just popped down to Mexico with Mexican Gothic-- a spooky, adventurous read digging into the word of a haunted, incestuous family in the 1950s.Before that, I spent some time in the English countryside following Dr. Herriot on his rounds, my first time reading the classic All Creatures Great and Small
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Around the World
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