Around the World discussion
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2012-2024 Discussions
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Where in the World Have You Been?!?! (Book Finished and Review Linked)
Judy wrote: "Friederike wrote: "I have finished my visit to South Vietnam. My review of Vincent Lam's The Headmaster's Wager is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."This looks like a different..."
It is indeed, Judy. It takes a perspective that we wouldn't necessarily know about.
Friederike wrote: "Sylvia wrote: "Friederike wrote: "I have finished my visit to South Vietnam. My review of Vincent Lam's The Headmaster's Wager is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/..."A very exten..."
Maybe there won't be a Dutch translation at all. I read most of my books in English, but if a Dutch translation is available I might prefer that, depends on the quality of the translation.
I've left India and Partition behind in The Sandalwood Tree. It seemed like the historical period was more a backdrop to the story and I would have liked to get a more authentic feel for what it must have been like.My review (such as it is): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I've been paying a visit to North Korea with Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. I read the Dutch translation and gave this book 5-stars. It's really amazing. My review is at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/306895695
Just finished my side trip to Iceland with Jar City. My review is http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....
No, I guess I missed her! Are you there now Gaeta?
I added The Greenlander though I don't know if it will be for this year's challenge. Sounds like it might be good and it certainly would be different for me.
I finally finished The Stonor Eagles. I've decided to leave this selection as my choice for Scotland because the book is about the extinction of the white-tailed sea eagle from Scotland in 1918, and it's successful reintroduction to the Isle of Skye (where my ancestors are from). Although I whined and complained that this book was a clunker, I think it was well worth the read.My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Finished a second book within a day, this time Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa. My review is http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Finally got the review finished for Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All: A New Zealand Story, my entry for New Zealand. I had very mixed feelings about this book. Here's the link for the longer review: http://www.epinions.com/review/Book_C...
Just left England and The Finkler Question. An odd read. If anyone else has read it, I would dearly love to hear what you thought. Here's my review (which may change after my book club meeting this afternoon): http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Judy wrote: "If nothing else, you have a great combo of doorstop and something sturdy to hold a window up with (that doesn't want to stay up.) LOL! Stonor Eagle Party!! Janice is buying. :-)"Come on over. I'm buying! :)
I've just been in the secretive and dangerous North Korea, with a former White House adviser as a guide in The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future. I learned a lot. A lot I felt I should have known, but didn't. For instance, that technically, North Korea and the United States are still at war. What was negotiated in 1953 was a ceasefire, not a peace treaty. Cha walks his readers through the history, economy and policies of all the players through the decades. The chapter on the famine and concentration camps are not for the faint of heart, and parts such as those about the negotiations over the nuclear program can be rather dry except for the policy-wonky--but for the most part, a fascinating read. My review is here:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Mod
I just took a tour of revolutionary Iran through the eyes of a child--in Marjane Satrapi's "graphic memoir" Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. On the back it's described as "the Persian love child of Art Spiegelman and Lynda Barry. Satrapi tells the story of her childhood by using black-and-white comic strips. I'm not usually a fan of graphic novels, but I admit, this was both poignant, informative, and at times really very funny. My full review below:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Just left Rhodesida (Zimbabwe), Malawi and Zambia in Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this book. But not in a warm, fuzzy way. It's just such an excellent memoir! My review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....
I've just been through hell in Sarajevo, with some time spent in Rome and Kiev. I recommend the experience of reading this book: Twice Born: A Novelhttp://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I was just running barefoot with the Tarahumara in Mexico and regaining some of my pride in being human. It got off to what I thought was a dubious start in the first fifty pages, but ultimately I thought Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen was awesome--informative, moving and inspiring. Review linked below:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I left Argentina via Washington with Holzman's MALENA. My review is here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Harmonybites wrote: "I just took a tour of revolutionary Iran through the eyes of a child--in Marjane Satrapi's "graphic memoir" Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. On the back it's described as "the Persian love chi..."I just recently finished this as well, and loved it. Have you seen the animated film version? I am waiting a bit to let the book settle, then I'll try it later this summer.
I just returned from my trip to the Caribbean (literal) where I also read several books set there, and one that is randomly set in Senegal (Caribbean author, source of my confusion). I also brought my south pacific books along, but only got through one of those. I figured... ocean, close enough.I still have to edit pictures but I'll eventually have bakery reviews (a French bakery in a Caribbean island? Yes please!) and photos and memories.
Haiti - Krik? Krak! (my review)
Tawara, Kiribati - The Sex Lives of Cannibals: Adrift in the Equatorial Pacific (my review, where I may or may not have called the author a tool... beware, I was not feeling kind)
St. Martin/ St. Maarten - The Making of an Island: St. Martin (history, my review)
Senegal - Redemption in Indigo (my review)
Trinidad - The White Woman on the Green Bicycle (my review. I loved this one!)
Just completed In The Sea There Are Crocodiles: Based On The True Story Of Enaiatollah Akbari and my review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Now finished Death at La Fenice, the first in Donna Leon's Commissario Brunetti series. This is my read for Italy. (Much as I want to read The Name of the Rose, I have too many very long books on the horizon right now. I really enjoyed the Leon and my review is here... http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I went to London to visit the queen.... nah, didn't get close to London. I stayed by the Ocean with The House at Sea's End.Here's my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I left Iran fast after reading The Bathhouse. A short, difficult novel with depressing subject matter.
I went to Scotland with a subdued, but beautiful collection poetry, Travellers: Poems by George Mackay Brown. I've given an example of his poems in my review here.
I've finished my history trip through Afghanistan reading Afghanistan: A Short History of Its People and Politics. A book with a lot of facts, not always easy to read, but certainly worth reading. See my review.
Just finished Tinderbox: How the West Sparked the AIDS Epidemic and How the World Can Finally Overcome It, an excellent book for anyone who wants to know more about the start of AIDS and the Public Health battle in Africa. My review is here... http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...I chose Cameroon as the country for this book as this is the country thought to be the starting point for the disease around the turn of the 20th century. Yes...that ;s right! Over 100 years ago.
I just left South Africa with Life & Times of Michael K - it was an excellent novel that is still haunting me. My review is here:http://coldread.wordpress.com/2012/05...
Now I'm off to 18th Century France with Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution.
Here's another entry that finally has the review up: A Razor Wrapped in Silk by R.N. Morris, a novel set in Tsarist Russia. Here's the link to the long review: http://www.epinions.com/review/A_Razo.... I was rather pleased by this mystery, lots of details on daily life without the plot slowing down one little bit.
Finished Zuivering aka Purge which plays in Estonia. For me it's a page-turner. I had some obligations, but I'd rather would have stayed at home to finish the book immediately. My review is short, because I definitely want to avoid spoilers. A great story!
I finally got a chance to post a review of Lucifer's Tears, my Finland book. I liked it, but didn't love it. I did think it was a good choice for the challenge, however.Here's the review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I just posted a review of my Cambodia book, The Gate, Francois Bizot's memoir of his experiences in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. I thought it was quite remarkable that he survived. Here's the review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I finished reading Under Milk Wood for Wales - a screenplay of the play. I've added the film to my Quickflix list, can't wait to see it! I also finished my Republic of Ireland read - Rachel's Holiday. Rachel Walsh gets sent to a drug treatment centre in Dublin. I didn't see much of Dublin, but a lot of what goes on inside a treatment centre.
Finally leaving Guernsey, having finished The Book of Ebenezer le Page. My review is here.I also finished trekking the Inca Trail in Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time. My review is here.
I have no idea where I'm headed next, so I'll probably just plop down in front of the books I have collected and see what inspires me.
I just finished Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West, a book I really enjoyed. My review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13....
I finished my review of Etgar Keret's Suddenly a knock at the door and it is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I've finished Is dit een mens which I read for Poland as it's content is the story of a survivor of the horror of Auschwitz. ( review )English version: Survival in Auschwitz
I was just in the Battle of Ia Drang in Vietnam in the year 1965--and as my guide was an American field battalion commander who fought there and a war correspondent on the ground. Unfortunately, I didn't feel this has the immediacy and interest of great books on war and battle such as Bowden's Black Hawk Down or Ambrose's Band of Brothers or Shaara's The Killer Angels. It's great at explaining how innovative and game changing it was to use helicopters as cavalry, it tells the tale from both sides, and if I were a military professional I'd find it essential reading, but I despite its bestselling status (because of the film?) I don't see this as particularly of interest to a general reader--too dry and technical and doesn't suck you in as those other books do. Review linked below:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Sharon wrote: "I just finished Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West, a book I really enjoyed. My review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13...." Looks a wonderful book to me. I put it on my TBR-list.
Leaving France now that I have survived the Revolution, and so did Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution. My review is here:http://coldread.wordpress.com/2012/05...
I really enjoyed this one!
Just left Imperial and Revolutionary Russia through Massie's Nicholas and Alexandra, a dual biography of the last Tsar, Tsarina and their doomed family. Wonderful hefty read (over 500 pages) but absorbing and informative and reads like a love. It's something of a classic that was first published 45 years ago but still remains in print (the author recently published a biography of Catherine the Great). I'm sure a wealth of information came out after the fall of the Soviet regime, but this doesn't feel dated. Full review at link below:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I've finished Riders of the Pale Horse. Read it in Dutch and here's my review It was a bit a disappointing read. I hope my next book will be better.
I am finally through with my tour of Asia, having finished The Lotus Eaters. This was an amazing book and I have a new author to add to my favorites! My review is here:http://coldread.wordpress.com/2012/06...
Echoes of an Autobiography by نجيب محفوظ Naguib Mahfouz of Egypt. I'd read it again and again, just like the echo in its title alludes to remembering it. Maybe the allure is in its dreams. In that case, writing the review of this book doesn't offer much about its allusive content.
I just left the Roman province of Judea in the time of Jesus, who is seen through the eyes of his wife Mary Magdalene in The Moon Under Her Feet. I know. But this was written a decade before The Da Vinci Code and was a gift from a friend whose literary tastes I respect. But I just didn't buy the underlying premise of this book--which FWIW was well-written. It wasn't the idea of a married Jesus. (Or even that Judas is his evil twin). It's the idea of a High Priestess ("Magdalenes") and Goddess worship within temple precincts and as an orthodox, mainstream practice centuries after the end of the Babylon Exile. In an era and place where a whiff of Paganism could touch off riots. I could never settle into the book as something I could take seriously. And given the Bibliography, the Notes and the didacticism, boy it sure wanted to be taken seriously. Link to review below:http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
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Around the World
Books mentioned in this topic
The Orphan Master's Son (other topics)Kino: A Novel (other topics)
True: A Novel (other topics)
Secretum (other topics)
Secretum (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Eduardo Galeano (other topics)Coleridge Cook (other topics)
Tomas Tranströmer (other topics)
Gloria Whelan (other topics)
Michael Morpurgo (other topics)
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A very extensive review. I ..."
You may have to wait for a while for a Dutch translation. The book is brand new and it is a debut novel.