Around the World discussion

Share what book you're currently reading and which country (or countries) it's set in. Bon voyage!

I'm in Iran with The Septembers of Shiraz.

Currently reading a book that reflects the 'new way' museums and scholars are beginning to look at artefacts. It's a collection of essays edited by Anne Gerritsen and Giorgio Aiello entitled The Global Lives of Things: The Material Culture of Connections in the Early Modern World. I work as a volunteer docent in the Ancient Civilisations Museum in Singapore and have noted that more and more of our galleries and special exhibitions relate to what we used to call cross-cultural subjects--the Spread of Buddhism, Port Cities, Ancient Religions.... This book builds on earlier popular works such as Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, Craig Clunas' Superfluous Things and Riello & Roy's How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles, 1500-1850 together with newer one such as Stacey Pierson's From Object to Concept: Global Consumption and the Transformation of Ming Porcelain. It's a fascinating and addictive way of looking at the world (through the ideas and artefacts and people that traversed it) and will probably be my main reading theme this year. PS -- I'm based in Singapore and Bangkok and my specialty is symbolism in Chinese art and Chinese history.

I am in Italy with If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino,

I am now in France with Une vie by Guy de Maupassant.

I am in Finland with Troll: A Love Story and the Congo with Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart

I am in Sri Lanka with Nayomi Munweera's Island of a Thousand Mirrors

Lilisa wrote: "I'm in Iran with The Septembers of Shiraz."

I hope you enjoy this. I thought it was a special one, and I typically find prison stories very, very difficult.

I am in Russia, London and Scotland with, respectively, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler, and In the Cold Dark Ground by Stuart MacBride.

Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "I'm in Iran with The Septembers of Shiraz."

I hope you enjoy this. I thought it was a special one, and I typically find prison stories very, very difficult."

I did Carol - it was a fast read and I liked it - 4 stars!

I'm in Armenia and the countries of the Armenian genocide diaspora - Turkey, Syria, Italy - with Skylark Farm. This is the book my book club is discussing a week from today. So far I have been fascinated to find that many Armenians relocated to Aleppo... suffice to say that has not worked out for anyone!

I've just skipped over to Ireland with The Good People. It has hooked me in, literally from the first page.

I read a lot of books at the same time!

I am in England with Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Autumn, Amsterdam, Offshore, The Harrowing, and Excellent Women.

I am in Canada with All My Puny Sorrows, One Native Life, and somewhat with The Collected Stories.

I am in America with All the Ugly and Wonderful Things and The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.

I am in Slovenia with Newcomers.

I am all over Europe with The Collected Stories - Mavis Gallant was a Canadian short story writer who lived in Paris from 1950 until her death a few years ago; most of her stories are set in continental Europe. She is also, in my humble opinion, the greatest practitioner of the short story.

I am in Australia with The Last Magician.

I am a Canadian, living in Japan, and I am in Japan with Oishinbo a la carte, Volume 2 - Sake.

Whew!

Shawn you make me laugh. You are omnipresent!

I'm in Bulgaria with Under the Yoke, which was written in 1888 and is about Bulgaria under Ottoman rule. The English translation has quite a few typos, which is irritating, but the story is interesting.

This is my first read in Bulgaria. Anyone have recommendations for other books set in Bulgaria?

I am in Le Havre, France with Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal. This is a paranormal historical thriller that takes place during WWI. There is secret project involving British spirit mediums relaying information from dead British soldiers.

Shawn wrote: "I read a lot of books at the same time!

I am in England with Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Autumn, Amsterdam, Offshore, [book:The Harrowi..."

That's impressive Shawn! :-)

Lilisa wrote: "I'm in Bulgaria with Under the Yoke, which was written in 1888 and is about Bulgaria under Ottoman rule. The English translation has quite a few typos, which is irritating, but the ..."

What Belongs to You is by an American author but is predominantly set in Bulgaria. It came out last year, was overhyped as being THE gay novel of the century, but I quite enjoyed it.

Another novel I read last year that was not only set in Bulgaria but written by a Bulgarian was Everything Happens as It Does. The plot kind of reminded me of a Wes Anderson movie, for better or worse; several months later, I still can't decide what I think about this strange book.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Shawn you make me laugh. You are omnipresent!"

I reckon!

Lilisa wrote: "This is my first read in Bulgaria. Anyone have recommendations for other books set in Bulgaria? ..."
I read Party Headquarters by Georgi Tenev, which came out last year from Open Letter. It is about Bulgaria in the transition period of the 80s and 90s, and it's short.

Shawn wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "I'm in Bulgaria with Under the Yoke, which was written in 1888 and is about Bulgaria under Ottoman rule. The English translation has quite a few typos, which is irrit..."

Thanks a ton Shawn - will check them out!

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "This is my first read in Bulgaria. Anyone have recommendations for other books set in Bulgaria? ..."
I read Party Headquarters by Georgi Tenev, whic..."

Thanks a ton Jenny - will check it out!

I'm in the Caribbean with Shani Mootoo's Cereus Blooms at Night

The author was born in Ireland and grew up in Trinidad, her novel is set on the fictional town of Paradise, Lantanacarmara.

Carol wrote: "I am in Russia, London and Scotland with, respectively, The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov, Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler, a..."

I've added 1960's Sudan to the mix. I'm doing a buddy read with a GR friend of Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih.

I'm in Nigeria with Half of a Yellow Sun.

Although I'm still in Bulgaria with Under the Yoke, I'm taking side trips to Hungary with The Door and to Sweden with Britt-Marie Was Here.

Jenniferdwalker wrote: "I'm in Nigeria with Half of a Yellow Sun."

When I saw your post I went back and read my own review of this book and decided to add it to my Favourites shelf. I often think about it, so I hope it is good for you too.

Lilisa wrote: "Although I'm still in Bulgaria with Under the Yoke, I'm taking side trips to Hungary with The Door and to Sweden with Britt-Marie Was Here."

The Door is great! It's a little too close to home for me (my mother is Hungarian and I live in Budapest, and my grandmother is kind of like Emerence, but not in a good way).

Jenniferdwalker wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Although I'm still in Bulgaria with Under the Yoke, I'm taking side trips to Hungary with The Door and to Sweden with Britt-Marie Was Here

I'm enjoying The Door so far although I'm not sure how I would handle Emerence if I encountered her in real life - she's volatile and unpredictable and to borrow a phrase from Britt-Marie Was Here "socially incompetent." I feel for you re: your grandmother! :-)

I'm in the Berkshire with The Canterville Ghost . But it will a brief humorous visit :-)

Onto In a Free State by V.S. Naipaul - a book set in a fictitious African country (based on Rwanda or Uganda) by an author from Trinidad (of Indian heritage). I love V.S. Naipaul, and loved A House for Mr Biswas, so looking forward to going deeper into this one.

I'm in South Korea with I'll Be Right There by Kyung-Sook Shin, and Sweden, with Borkmann's Point by Håkan Nesser.

I've been all over the place this weekend, but nothing reviewed as yet. Was in Canada with Hag-Seed, a retelling of The Tempest. Then went back to Fjällbacka in Sweden for The Preacher for some quick, light, nordic noir crime. Now in 1849 Denmark with We, the Drowned

In Albania with Ismail Kadare's The Palace of Dreams.

I'm reading The French Promise by Fiona McIntosh; currently in Sussex, but shortly to move on to Tasmania, then back to France at some point I imagine.

This is the sequel to The Lavender Keeper, which I read 2 years ago and I have to say I'm struggling to remember the plot in much detail. I'm not sure if that makes it 'forgettable' in hindsight? I enjoyed it at the time, but apparently it failed to take root in my brain.

I just finished reading The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam which took parts in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.

I started The Paris Wife last night and hope to finish it this weekend.

I'm in London, England reading Jo Malone's My Story, a courageous biography of a girl who never really had a childhood, she was playing the parent for most of it, who never passed an exam at school, was dsylexic and yet managed to find her passion at a young age and become a successful entrepreneur, the mistress of scented fragrances. Utterly riveting.

I'm in the U.K. with Different Class by Joanne Harris, the author of Chocolat series.

I'm in the Soviet Union (Cold War era) with The Big Green Tent by Lyudmila Ulitskaya. I'm a fan.

I'm in Rwanda with Baking Cakes in Kigali. A warm and funny story!

I'm splitting my time between the Soviet Union and Edwardian England, having started Five Children and It by E. Nesbit with another GR book club.

I'm taking another run at My Brilliant Friend hanging out in Italy. I'm doing the audio this time...

In Ireland with The Good People and reading poetry in Cuba with Margarita Engle's The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom.

I am currently in the U.S. but I'm reading a biography of foreign correspondent Martha Gellhorn, Nothing Ever Happens to the Brave: The Story of Martha Gellhorn so I have been to France, Spain and Czechoslovakia (what it was called then) with this book.

There are a number of biographies of Martha Gellhorn. I admit I chose this one because I wanted to know how or why the author considered the title a true description of her life. It does seem to be true so far that she's had no physical consequences for all the risks she's taken, though she's had plenty of emotional consequences. Since this is an unauthorized biography, I will probably be reading the authorized one with access to her letters later.

I'm in Nagasaki, Japan with a reread of A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton, which my book club will discuss a week from tomorrow. I also read Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War to get more background, but haven't written a review yet.

I'm in Sweden with Who Watcheth by Helene Tursten, and taking a short break from Russia. I'm halfway and, after a slow-ish start, am enjoying it.

I'm in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus with Kurban Said's Ali and Nino: A Love Story.

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm in Nagasaki, Japan with a reread of A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding by Jackie Copleton, which my book club will discuss a week from tomorrow.

I'm also in Nagasaki with the atomic bomb in Burnt Shadows.

Jenniferdwalker wrote: "I'm in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus with Kurban Said's Ali and Nino: A Love Story."

Sounds interesting - added to my TBR list!

Lilisa, it's interesting and definitely highlights the complexity of the Asia vs Europe divide in the region. Also, I love it from a travel pov, as it takes place all across the region in Baku & Tbilisi to Iran and then Caucasus Mountains.