2024 - Where in the world are you? (Currently Reading)

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Are you on a new literary journey? Share a bit about what you’re reading - title of the book, author, which part of the world it’s set in or maybe where the author is from. How are you enjoying it (or not) so far?

This discussion thread is a great resource for ideas for our reading journeys!

[Diana]

I’m just starting Lightseekers by Femi Kayode
The book is set in Nigeria 🇳🇬 and by a Nigerian author.

[Erica]

I'm currently read Date With Malice by Julia Chapman, this book is set in Dales, United Kingdom!

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

After a slow start to the year I've arrived in Algeria, my first new country for 2024, with A Bookshop In Algiers.

[Diana]

I’m reading Pietr the Latvian. The book is set in France but the author is Belgian. It’s the first in the Maigret detective series. I’ve read random ones but decided to start at the beginning after seeing number one at the library. I was in France last year and stayed on the same street as Maigret’s fictional residence. I had to take a walk to view it and take a picture.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm all-in for Africa this week; Ivory Coast with The Bitter Side of Sweet (only a few chapters in and can already get an idea of the title's significance) and Democratic Republic of the Congo with Gone to Ground.

[Diana]

I’m in London now with Death of a Bookseller

[Diana]

I’m on the continent of Antarctica for My Penguin Year: Life Among the Emperors

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Chennai, India, with Minor Disturbances at Grand Life Apartments. It’s off to a good start!

[Lilisa]

I’m also in India listening to The Museum of Failures: A Novel.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Nigeria with Ogadinma: Or, Everything Will Be Alright which I picked up for free on Audible, as it’s narrated by one of my favourite African voice performers, Adjoa Andoh. Enjoying it so far.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Japan with the newly translated bestseller Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder, and I’m feeling torn. It’s a relatively long novel and I’m 1/3 of the way through. For the past day or two I’ve been thinking about abandoning it for the strong anti-feminism and body negativity themes. But I also kind of want to know what happens… I guess I’ll give it another day and see where it takes me.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Croatia with a new release called The Dubrovnik Book Club. The book is divided into sections named after the books that the club is reading, and I’ve read several of them, so that could be interesting. Mainly set in the Old City, there’s also lots of references to the filming of Game of Thrones. I might be the last person in the world who hasn’t watched that show 😆. It’s not really my thing, but this morning I did check to see where I could take a look at it, so you never know!

[Diana]

Andrea wrote: "I’m in Croatia with a new release called The Dubrovnik Book Club. The book is divided into sections named after the books that the club is reading, and I’ve read several of them, s..."

I haven't seen any of GOT either but I believe Dubrovnik is beautiful so interested to hear about this book.

[Lilisa]

I’m in Bolivia with The Puma Years and in Syria with As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm currently in Fiji with A Disappearance in Fiji, which I'm reading as an audiobook. Set in colonial 1910s, the main character is a young Punjabi Sikh police officer who has served in both India and Hong Kong before being sent to Fiji for a transgression that hasn't yet been revealed. Fish out of water. Very enjoyable so far, despite (just) one disconcerting accent.

[Lilisa]

I’m in Sweden with The Oyster Diver's Secret and in Ghana/U.K. with Rootless.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Italy with Vroom by the Sea, following a Vespa journey two years on from the one regaled in Vroom with a View, which I read many, many years ago. I used to practically inhale this type of comedy travelogue, but haven’t read one for a long time now. Not sure why, as I’m enjoying it very much.

[Lilisa]

I’m in Laos with Where Rivers Part: A Story of My Mother's Life - memoir by the author about her mother’s life. I’m liking it so far.

I’m also all over the Middle East listening to Arabs: A 3,000-Year History of Peoples, Tribes and Empires - 26 hours but it’s super interesting. When I need a break, im also listening to cozy mystery Murder Lo Mein - the third book in a cozy murder mystery I’m not counting for ATW but for others could be. It’s set in the U.S. and centers around a Chinese/Taiwanese community. I’m enjoying the series.

[writer...]

Spent time for St Patrick’s in Ireland with


Murder in Galway


Murder at an Irish Chipper


Murder in an Irish Pub

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm in Sri Lanka with Song of the Sun God by Shankari Chandran. Although I've already read Sri Lanka once this year (another by the same author - but very different), I was prompted to delve into this one after seeing the author at the Melbourne Writers Festival last week. She was asked what she'd learned about her Sri Lankan Tamil heritage in researching her novels, and had the entire audience welling up as she unflinchingly spoke about the culpability of both sides in the Sri Lankan civil war. She's a remarkable person and I'm enjoying the book so far.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm back in Ireland for a quick, comfort read with The Spinning Heart. I was a bit wary at first, as every chapter is from a different character's POV, but at about 6 chapters in, I no longer have any concerns. I need more of this writer (Donal Ryan) in my life. Luckily I have a few more books to read, including a new release in a few months time.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Now I’m in Papua New Guinea (first time!), Japan and Los Alamos during WW2 with the audiobook edition of a new release, To Sing of War. It’s pretty clear from the locations where this is heading, but with the main focus on PNG I’m very curious as to how the story will lead there. I wasn’t on the Oppenheimer movie bandwagon (TL;DW), but yesterday I began my own serialised viewing at home for background.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I'm back in India, listening to an audiobook edition of The God of Small Things. I also have a pristine but brittle 1997 paperback edition on my bookshelf, with a bookmark tucked behind the front cover, that I would have bought just after it won the Booker Prize, then ignored ever since. If someone had told me about the gentle humour of the storytelling, I would have read it decades ago!

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Iceland this week, with Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland. I’m really enjoying it, and there are probably two reasons for that. 1) I enjoy Sarah Moss’s fiction and 2) I read another book called How To Live Icelandic a year or two ago. The memoir covers a period around 2008/09 and they’re just thinking about returning to England but I’m only halfway through so I expect there will be a turn of events.

[Mark]

As a travel writer my brain is typically pulled in many different directions at any one time. At moment I'm:
a) publicising my recent travel book (set in Spain)
b) working on a conservation story here in South Africa
c) planning a guidebook writing gig in Indonesia
d) reading Tom Wolfe's excellent 'Back to Blood' (set in Miami)
e) also reading an old adventure story called 'Among Malay Pirates'...

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m back in Georgia 🇬🇪 this week, with a new release, The First Friend. It’s about a man named Murtov, who was a childhood friend of Lavrentiy Beria, and who now works as Beria’s personal driver. It’s pushing me out of my comfort zone a little, but I always love a story that makes me regularly go off to check things on Wikipedia 😆

[Diana]

I’ve just been to Scotland with The Perfect Passion Company.
Next up I’m in the US with Fastest Things on Wings: Rescuing Hummingbirds in Hollywood

[Lilisa]

I’m in Fiji with A Disappearance in Fiji by Nilima Rao. I might have stumbled across the title because someone in this group read it. It’s an easy listen while doing chores.

[Lilisa]

I’m also in Turkey with The Sultan of Byzantium by Selçuk Altun - it’s definitely interesting.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

Now I’m in Nepal with The Sky Beneath Us. I’m trying to overlook the little errors that I’ve noticed so far… It’s a dual timeline story, with the contemporary timeline set in March 2020, so I probably don’t need to spell out where some of the tension is coming from. I have read a few other pandemic novels, and overall I’m not sure how I feel about it. But the main focus here is on horticulture and the natural world, so I’m really enjoying that aspect of it.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately, but I’m trying to get back on track now with a visit to Indonesia in The Birdwoman's Palate. It doesn’t rate that well here on GR, but I think it shows promise. It’s about an epidemiologist who specialises in avian flu and who is obsessed with food. Where I live we’ve had fairly severe egg shortages in recent months, so this could be very relatable, maybe even enlightening!

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m also back in Sweden with the highly anticipated #6 in the Tuva Moodyson series, Ice Town. I know I’m like a broken record on this, but honestly this is my favourite crime/thriller series which I have read in its entirety in audiobook format. The narrator is just so perfectly brilliant 👌

[Meg]

I'm jet lagged from reading:

Their Chosen Way

I'm being whizzed from Russia to Britain and back again and back again.

[Andrea, Slow but steady]

I’m in Poland with Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead. This book is not what I thought it would be, but I’m digging it.

[Pineapple Pizza]

This year I travelled a lot!
Through India with Notturno indiano and the USA in the early 20's with Passing, I'm currently in Norway (again, after Hunger) in a undetermined period, being marveled by the very unique style of Jon Fosse's Trilogy. I almost left it, but happy I stayed. Now, I'm hooked!
Next destination? Probably Switzerland with La montaña mágica