Around the World discussion

I'm continuing my journey from 2012 and will add more as I go along (participating in 2 challenges with no due date). I've set myself 20 as there will be gaps! So, to start off, I finished They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie. It was fabulous!! And I can't believe I'm the first to post...

Just completed my first book for the year, Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President, about the brief Presidency of James Garfield. Really liked this one. Obviously for the US. review at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak set in Nazi-era Germany at 3 am after we rang in the New Year. No way was I letting this library book disappear from my Kindle without finishing it. 5* but I would give it more if I could.

Here's the link to my review.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Tanya (mom's small victories) wrote: "I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak set in Nazi-era Germany at 3 am after we rang in the New Year. No way was I letting this library book disappear from my Kindle without finishing it. 5* bu..."

It's one of my favorites too. I always recommend it, but it's hard to convince people when you tell them who the main character is.

I agree Tanya and Barbarac. Excellent book with so much emotional depth. It was definitely one of my top reads of 2012.

Yeah, The Book Thief is fantastic! And I'd never heard of They Came to Baghdad, but it sounds really fun--I might have to give that one a try!

I left Vietnam yesterday with The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood (review here), and left Sweden this morning with The Emigrants (review here). Sounds like fast reading, but really I started both of those last month for the 2012 challenge and just didn't manage to finish them in time!

This year I might do something different, if it's all right. Instead of picking my around-the-world-2013 books beforehand, I'll add them as I go. The shelf will fill up just as it did last year and there will be recommendations as I go along. Maybe I'm breaking the rules, but I joined this group because it is flexible.

So anyway, I just finished a gorgeous, moving book that takes place in Norway in the 1960s: Child Wonder.

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

Daisy wrote: "This year I might do something different, if it's all right. Instead of picking my around-the-world-2013 books beforehand, I'll add them as I go. The shelf will fill up just as it did last year a..."

I'm doing the same thing, Daisy--I made a list last year and then ended up changing my mind about more than half of them once I started reading. I think a lot of folks are doing it your way this time around!

Daisy wrote: "This year I might do something different, if it's all right. Instead of picking my around-the-world-2013 books beforehand, I'll add them as I go. The shelf will fill up just as it did last year a..."

I like your plan, Daisy, and I think I'll do the same thing!

I just left Italy in When We Were Strangers: A Novel - a great book for historical fiction lovers, which follows a young girl who leaves Italy for the America in the 1880's. My review is here:
http://coldread.wordpress.com/2013/01...
Also, I read Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace With Books, Not Bombs, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Greg Mortenson's follow up to Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time, for my trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan. My review for that book is here:
http://coldread.wordpress.com/2013/01...

Barbarac wrote: "Tanya (mom's small victories) wrote: "I finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak set in Nazi-era Germany at 3 am after we rang in the New Year. No way was I letting this library book disappear from..."

I was skeptical too when i first started reading it too either Death as the narrator, and i wrote about that in my review too how compassionate and insightful Death really is.

Daisy wrote: "This year I might do something different, if it's all right. Instead of picking my around-the-world-2013 books beforehand, I'll add them as I go. The shelf will fill up just as it did last year a..."

The rule is there is no rules ;) Do what makes your reading more enjoyable!

Warnie B. wrote: "Daisy wrote: "This year I might do something different, if it's all right. Instead of picking my around-the-world-2013 books beforehand, I'll add them as I go. The shelf will fill up just as it d..."

Phew, Warnie, Suzanne, Rusalka. I was worried that'd be frowned-upon. Here, then, is to more foreign and/or translated recommendations...

There is a quite a bit to think about in The Sheltering Sky, set in Morocco, but.....
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I have changed my mind a million times about whether I should read A Fine Balance. Audible changed their rules, now selling all books even the very long ones for one credit. So I bought it. What if they change their rules again! I hope it is not too depressing. I am satisfied if there is just a little, teeny bit of hope or some humor or just something to lighten it. So I am off to India now.

I should mention perhaps that I dumped The Garden of Evening Mists, set in Malaysia. Here is why:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Two down: Invisible by Paul Auster for the US and There but for the by Ali Smith for England. Liked them both, and really loved the latter. Review at http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

I just left Africa (several different countries) in tears, finishing Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan. The short stories take place in Niger, Nigeria, Gabon, Benin, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Rwanda. I read it with the Great African Reads group, which I know many of you are a part of. My review is here, but this book comes with a warning. The stories are meant to depict the challenges African children face these days, and they are full of violence and death. Important to read and know, but difficult. I'm looking forward to settling back into my fantasy audiobook set in Prague with seraphim and multiple worlds.

I've decided not to even make a new list. I'll just mark books by what year they are read. I'm also going to include multiple books for a country if applicable so I can get an idea of what I'm reading.

It's nice to be in a flexible group like this.

Just finished The Crisis of Zionism for Israel. http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

I've just finished The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. Review to come but I thought I'd put it up now because I'm putting it on Bookmooch if anyone would like to mooch it from me. I'm yrinsyde there too BTW. :)

My first book for 2013 brought me to India in 1900 BC with The Immortals of Meluha. I enjoyed it very mucht. Read my review at:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

And here is my review of The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul. It wasn't a wonderful read, but it had good pacing (though the ending was unbelievable and rushed). It is now on Bookmooch if anyone wants a book for Afghanistan.

I just visited Japan this past weekend with 1Q84. I don't know where I'm headed to next...

I left the beautiful and mysterious city of Prague with Daughter of Smoke & Bone. My review is here. It could so easily be full of magic!

I finished TRANSIT, which took me to Djibouti, in late December 2012 but finally posted my review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I just got back from Somalia: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... A very informative book, but pretty depressing (and dusty!) as well. Looking forward to reading something lighter.

Amanda wrote: "I just got back from Somalia: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... A very informative book, but pretty depressing (and dusty!) as well. Looking forward to reading something lighter."

Last year, just about every book I read for Africa was depressing. And there were so many. This year, if I venture into Africa again, I think I'll stick with Alexander McCall Smith or a travel memoir:)

I haven't even started my first book for 2013. Basically, my list consists of the 16 books I didn't finish in 2012. If I add books to the list, it will be books that I'm reading instead of planned reads.

Suzanne wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I just got back from Somalia: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... A very informative book, but pretty depressing (and dusty!) as well. Looking forward to reading somethin..."

Suzanne, sometimes I also feel like I'm reading one depressing book after another. Would you like some non-depressing Africa suggestions?

I just left China (Inner Mongolia) with Wolf Totem [review]. I thought it was really good, but yeah, also really depressing--I haven't sobbed like that in a long time! I'm definitely looking forward to something a little lighter for my next read as well!

Barbarac, try There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children.

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

Yes, the central subject is depressing, but there is hope in this book and there are some lines, when kids tell you stuff, that are simply priceless! I read this book a couple of years ago and gave it four stars. I liked it a lot, just as the four stars should mean.

Set in Ethiopia.

Warnie, I loved "Wolf Totem"! But, did the author really raise a wolf cub? I do get a teeny bit frustrated when I read a book of historical fiction and I don't know exactly what is fact and what is fiction! The preface by the translator says this is a quasi-autobiographical novel. I gave it four stars. Another book read before the group even existed.

Barbarac wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I just got back from Somalia: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... A very informative book, but pretty depressing (and dusty!) as well. Looking forward to ..."

A Guide to the Birds of East Africa was a hoot!

Tanya, I enjoyed AGTTBOEA too. I saw every body reading it and thought why, why why was everybody reading a bird guide book? Then I took a peak! It was fun!

I finished A Fine Balance, and I do recommend it! There is humor mixed in; without it you would sink. You are enveloped in another time and place. The characters become your friends. Yes, they are beggars, maimed, poor and destitute.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

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Now I am reading The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel, which is set in Cambodia. I hope to learn a bit about the Khmer Civilization (9th through the 15th Centuries) wrapped in a fun adventure story lead by a strong woman protagonist. What will characterize this book most: culture, feminism or adventure?

Just finished my read for England--George Eliot's Middlemarch: A Norton Critical Edition. The short of it? The best book I've read in years. The long of why in review linked below:

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

Chrissie wrote: "Warnie, I loved "Wolf Totem"! But, did the author really raise a wolf cub? I do get a teeny bit frustrated when I read a book of historical fiction and I don't know exactly what is fact and what is..."

I know what you mean--after I finished the book I wondered how much of what he wrote about actually happened and how much was pure fiction. The Wikipedia article on the author says that he actually did attempt to domesticate a wolf though!

I'll be interested to see what you think about The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel--I read When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge last year and am definitely planning on reading more about Cambodia this year.

Warnie B. wrote: "Chrissie wrote: "Warnie, I loved "Wolf Totem"! But, did the author really raise a wolf cub? I do get a teeny bit frustrated when I read a book of historical fiction and I don't know exactly what is..."

That's funny, we reacted exactly the same. Me too, I checked out Wikipedia!

Did you think When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge was good? I did.

I'll tell you, The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel, at least so far, is not that informative about the Khmer civilization. It is more an adventure/murder/crime mystery with romance thrown in. It did draw a good picture of Shanghai, but no where near as good as The Distant Land of My Father. But Kim Fay's book is not centered on Shanghai! I have listened to about half; finally they have arrived in Cambodia!

man, y'all read fast.

Lurk42 wrote: "man, y'all read fast."

or we don't sleep enough (which would be the theory of a guy driving near me today...)

Finished: The Map of Lost Memories: A Novel
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
A fun action novel, but not terribly much about the Khmer Empire, so not really what I expected.

I will start Sacred Hunger. This Booker Prize-winning work by Barry Unsworthy is about England and the slave trade.

Suzanne wrote: "Amanda wrote: "I just got back from Somalia: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... A very informative book, but pretty depressing (and dusty!) as well. Looking forward to reading somethin..."

Good idea, it's definitely hard to find books for Africa that don't focus on war or the AIDS crisis. I've got several travel memoirs on my tbr for Africa and I just recently picked up a couple of Alexander McCall Smith's books at the used bookstore that I'm looking forward to reading this year.

I just left Africa and visited several countries - Nigeria and Sudan were just two. The book was awesome! You can find my review here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

What Is the What

I can't seem to leave China, I keep coming back for more. Just finished The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations and really enjoyed it. Makes me want to stick around and read more about China. See my review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'm just leaving China myself after reading The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. Loved it. Review at http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

Traveled to Iraq with The Yellow Birds, then moved east to sweltering Mumbai to experience Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. The former filled with poetic realism and riveting cadence. The latter gritty and starkly harsh with rays of hope and goodness. BTW, I'm new to this group and wondering how to create and post a link to the books I've chosen to read. Thanks.

Barbarac, is The Secret Piano: From Mao's Labor Camps to Bach's Goldberg Variations as good as it looks? Please tell me a bit. How many stars? What did you like/dislike? Thanks.

Lilisa, what was your impression of Boo's book? I am thinking of going back to India and reading that too!

Chrissie - stark realism, very well done and pretty clear that Boo had access to the intimate daily toils of the Mumbai people she featured. She captures their lives superbly as they put their entrepreneurship to work alongside the rich, just a stone's throw away. Has flashes of inspiration amidst the quest to survive each day. I really liked it!

Just left Scotland with Buddha Da. Review:
http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

Nice review, Beth.

Lilisa, I am determined to read the books I have already purchased, but I think I will have to return to India when I am done. I do want to read Boo's! Particularly interesting after reading "A Fine Balance"!

Chrissie - and when you're done with Boo, you may consider staying in India for A Walk Across the Sun or Beneath a Marble Sky or The Splendor of Silence for a different but equally enjoyable reading experience!