Where in the World Have You Been?!?! (Book Finished and Review Linked) Showing 701-750 of 1,005

[Janice]

I was able to finally leave the Trueba's behind in Chile. My review of The House of the Spirits is

here.

[Beth]

I just left Peru and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa. It was light and fun. My review is http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I went to Ukraine through the memories of recent immigrants in A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. You can read my review here.

[Rusalka]

Left Romania with The Appointment. Much better than I imagined. Feverish review here http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/2012/...

[Betty]

Visited 1950's Baghdad, Iraq. The narrator viewpoint is Huda, a pre- and post-puberty child, who describes family, neighbors, traditional urban life, holidays and celebrations, pastimes, and train travel. Vivid imagery and slight ambiguity. Review of Naphtalene

[Suzanne]

I departed Estonia after abandoning The Czar's Madman. Halfway through, but just couldn't handle the boredom any longer!

[Sue]

Beth wrote: "I just left Peru and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa. It was light and fun. My review is http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20..."

Loved your review and added the book.

[Janice]

I fled Switzerland. With fiendish monsters and the mad scientist, Frankenstein I was happy to finish my time there.

[Suzanne]

Beth wrote: "I just left Peru and Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter by Mario Vargas Llosa. It was light and fun. My review is http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20..."

Sounds great!

[Rebecca]

Just managed to get the review up for my pick for China, The Red Chamber by Pauline A. Chen: http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Re...

[Lisa (Harmonybites)]

Just completed a tour through Ancient Sumer conducted by C. Leonard Woolley, in what is now modern-day Iraq. It is possibly the world's oldest civilization, with the earliest form of writing, some of the oldest cities, and evidence of some of the earliest uses of agriculture and its literature and legal codes may be one source for the Hebrew bible.

There is no introduction to this book, and no clue on the back cover as to date, and the title page says only that this edition was first published in 1965. I was disappointed to find out online this was first published in 1929. However, I'm not sorry I bought the book and have decided to keep it on my bookshelves. It's loaded with maps and illustrations and there are tantalizing facts. Many of the details of Sumerian society, however dryly presented, were intriguing. So, although I was at times frustrated not to have a more current book, still I think worth a read if you're interested in this ancient civilization, and this did whet my appetite for more. And if anyone has any suggestions on what to read next about these fascinating people, I'd sure be open to suggestions. Fuller review linked below:

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

[Betty]

Traveled back prior to Somali's Independence Day (June 26, 1960) with one of Nuruddin Farah's stories. Review of "From a Crooked Rib".

[Sue]

Rebecca wrote: "Just managed to get the review up for my pick for China, The Red Chamber by Pauline A. Chen: http://www.epinions.com/review/The_Re..."

Excellent review, Rebecca. The book sounds good and I'm going to add it.

[Rebecca]

Thank you Sue. I was rather impressed by TRC, as the original novel is more than 2500 pages.

[Sue]

Rebecca wrote: "Thank you Sue. I was rather impressed by TRC, as the original novel is more than 2500 pages."

I'm definitely more likely to read Chen's book than the original, sadly, as I know it's always good to read the original.

[Yrinsyde]

Sue wrote: Oooh! Highgate Cemetery! How was that?

Hi Sue! I really enjoyed the visit. Very atmospheric, especially the West Cemetery (the older half) which is restricted visiting only. large parts are overgrown and the ground in parts is unstable. The Egyptian Gate is amazing. If you get the chance to visit, do!

Here are some pics I took:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12453461...
(click forward to see some more)

[Sue]

I just looked at much of your trip. The Highgate photos do give a sense of the place. I really enjoyed seeing those Pharmacy Museum shots. It really does bring history alive, doesn't it, with the mix of alchemy, etc. Love the preserved bats. I wonder what their purpose was.

[Yrinsyde]

Thanks Sue! I really loved the Pharmacy Museum - I have to return for another visit.

I'm marking my Iceland book, Viking Age Iceland as 'read', even though I have about 50 pages left to read. My 8 books behind status was haunting me!! It is an interesting read though and I've learnt a lot about how the early settlement worked. I am 75% through with my Greenland book, but I find it is now in idling mode - I don't know where it is going ...

[Rusalka]

Left Ethiopia with a grumbling tummy after finishing Cutting for Stone. Review is here http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/2012/...

[Friederike]

Well, I have been all over the place with Helen Oyeyemi's Mr. Fox... New York, London, Egypt, Nigeria and beyond reality. My review is here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Yrinsyde]

I've finished No One Thinks of Greenland and I've decided I didn't like it. I also finished my Canadian read - a mystery by Dick Francis. I love Francis mysteries and so it just flew by! I'm now up to the US with Call of the Wild and then I'm off to Mexico with Like Water for Chocolate.

[Beth]

Just left Nigeria with The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives: A Novel by Lola Shoneyin. It was quick and I enjoyed it. My review is http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

[Sylvia]

I've finished Fiji: A Novel, which I read on my tablet as an Kindle book. That was good, because I couldn't scroll to the end to see if it had a happy ending. My review has some spoilers. I think the book is worth reading.

[Sue]

Just completed my 24th book, No One Sleeps in Alexandria, which I enjoyed very much. It combines history and historical fiction in a way that's new to my reading experience. My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Betty]

GREECE in 460 BCE

A historical mystery thriller during Greece's Golden Age (the flowering of democracy). The proxenos (consulate) to Ephesus is found murdered and the slave market is selling an unlikely slave. Surprising happenings, changing fates, and astounding cleverness lead Investigator Nicolaos to solve the mysteries of revenge and greed and to circumvent a Persian attack on Athens.

Review of The Ionia Sanction (sequel to The Pericles Commission) at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Quiz about this book http://www.goodreads.com/trivia/work/...

[Rusalka]

AsmahH wrote: "GREECE in 560 BCE

A historical mystery thriller during Greece's Golden Age (the flowering of democracy). The proxenos (consulate) to Ephesus is found murdered and the slave market is selling an un..."

Asmah, I could kiss you right now! I have been pulling my hair out trying to think of a present for my housemate's birthday and I think you may have provided the answer on a platter. Glad you enjoyed your read too ;)

[Betty]

Rusalka, The third in Gary Corby's Athenian Mysteries series is forthcoming in 2013. With the first one of the series, Marieke and I had an online conversation with Gary at The World's Literature. This second one brings out his knowledge of ancient cultures and his developed sense of humor.

[Rusalka]

I shall check it out. Thanks though! This is what I love about this group.

[Suzanne]

Just left Amsterdam with a wonderful book by David Liss called The Coffee Trader. My review is here:
http://coldread.wordpress.com/2012/08...

[Betty]

Setting Algiers, Algeria. Albert Camus' s decent character Monsieur Meursault finds his life on the chopping block after he's committed an premeditated murder. Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Janice]

I left South Africa behind with Dancing in the Shadows of Love. I didn't review it. (I'm bad, I know.) It's heavily steeped in symbology that I don't really understand.

[Sylvia]

I've finished two books:
1. Een noodlottig diner for Albania. My review is at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
2. One Hundred Years of Solitude for Colombia. My review is at: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I'm now traveling further to Congo-Brazaville with Verre Cassé

[Suzanne]

I just left Denmark with a fascinating tale of madness, adultery and a power struggle with The Royal Physician's Visit. My review is here:
http://coldread.wordpress.com/2012/08...

[Yrinsyde]

I'm now in Cuba with the Cuban revolutionaries. I got there via the US (Call of the Wild set in Alaska - I was glad to leave the Arctic and arrive somewhere warm and humid!!), Mexico (Like Water for Chocolate) and Guatemala (Grave Secrets). I'm learning a lot about guerilla warfare.

[Sharon]

I've spent the last several days sipping café creme with The Paris Wife, whose story alternately inspired me and filled me with sorrow. I'm happy to report that in the end she proved how strong, capable, and compassionate she truly is. She's had a wonderful life. Poor Ernest, though ... I do want to hear more about the story, so will join him shortly at A Moveable Feast.

This is an excellent example of why I cannot seem to do 52 books from 52 countries in 52 weeks! I keep getting sidetracked and have to spend far longer in each country than ordinally planned! Ah, but each time I linger and read more, it's turned out to be well worth it.

For those of you who are interested, my very short review is here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Barbarac]

I just left Ghana and Estonia with Wife of the Gods and Puhdistus . I enjoyed both. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... and http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Just hightailed it out of Romania with wolves and vampires hot on my trail. I am linking to my review on my blog, because it includes a playlist that people in Facebook and Twitter helped me create. Spooky and dark!

[Betty]

ITALY. The story is mostly set in Calabria, Italy, the pointy toe. In fact, some characters take a tour around the peninsula from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Ionian Sea and some celebrations depict Christmas Eve in fictional Roccalba. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Beth]

Just finished The Harafish for Egypt. Very timely in some ways, despite being written in 1977. Here's my review: http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

[Lisa (Harmonybites)]

With a Canadian guide (Yann Martel) I started in India, crossed the Pacific ocean with a Bengal tiger on a lifeboat to Mexico, and finally entered Canada in Life of Pi. I liked it. It wasn't what I expected. For one, given the description and cover, I expected something like magical realism, which I haven't had the best experience with. But although some events are surreal, and it takes some bizarre twists, I wouldn't describe it that way. It won the Booker Prize, and could be described as literary fiction, but I actually found it a light and very fast entertaining read. Fuller review below:

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

[Lisa (Harmonybites)]

Orhan Pamuk is Turkey's premier man of letters and a Nobel Prize winner--thus a natural to choose for that country in this challenge. However, I noted that more than one person on my friend's list was less than enthused over his most famous work, My Name is Red, so I deliberately chose instead the slimmest book by him on the shelves--The White Castle--a work of historical fiction set in 17th century Istanbul and purporting to be the first person account of an enslaved Venetian.

It was...well dull. It never engaged me and couldn't keep me reading even given the short 161 pages, I stopped half-way feeling this just wasn't worth my time. And it wasn't because this was a difficult work--the prose style was very simple--but it also missed anything at all vivid in terms of prose, characters or time and place. Review linked below:

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

[Janice]

I have left Sweden behind saying, "Yes, Chef: A Memoir".

My short but sweet review is: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Lisa (Harmonybites)]

Just had a tour of the Mongolian Empire with Jack Weatherford as a guide in Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. It's an entertaining, well-written and thought-provoking book. But I felt as if Weatherford was whitewashing Genghis Khan far too much--reading between the lines of what he did give me--and I know little of Mongol history beyond this book, I suspected Genghis was far more of a destructive force than Weatherford admits and far less a creative one than he claims. Still... interesting. Fuller review below:

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

[Janice]

I walked The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit in Spain with Shirley Maclaine.

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

[Betty]

BRAZIL. A historical fiction The War of the End of the World depicts Canudos and its apocalypse. The era covered is the late nineteenth century. Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel Laureate, fictionalizes the true event. Review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

[Shomeret]

AsmahH wrote: "BRAZIL. A historical fiction The War of the End of the World depicts Canudos and its apocalypse. The era covered is the late nineteenth century. Mario Vargas Llosa, a Nobel Laureate, fictionalizes..."

I tried the download e-book option on this book's GR page. I'm not sure whether it was in Farsi or Arabic. In either case, I couldn't read it. So I'm getting it from the library. I have a different book for Brazil, but this sounds interesting.

[Yrinsyde]

My Brazil read was Journey to the River Sea, a YA adventure read about a British orphan sent to live with relatives in Manaus near the Amazon. I've just finished it and it was a wonderful read. I finished Guerrilla Warfare and a very short but evocative read about a fictional Colonel set in Colombia. I had to change my read for Paraguay because the library no longer has the book but they have another - a fictional biography of the mistress of one of the country's presidents. Should be interesting!

[Betty]

The War of the End of the World was vibrantly told and very imaginative. There were many odd, interacting characters, some having grotesque physical features and others having extraordinary abilities. A reader could easily visualize the scenes and enter the character's innermost thoughts.

Many critics think that Rebellion in the Backlands is even better, if that's possible.

Vargas Llosa is Peruvian, but there are also so many excellent Brazilian authors.

[Shomeret]

AsmahH wrote: "The War of the End of the World was vibrantly told and very imaginative. There were many odd, interacting characters, some having grotesque physical features and others having extraordinary abiliti..."

Thank you, Asmah, for telling me about Rebellion in the Backlands. Because I have an interest in Brazil, I think I will want to read both books. The book I had picked out for Brazil is Tent of Miraclesby Jorge Amado which I still intend to read.

[Betty]

I hope that you will enjoy them, Shomeret.