Around the World discussion

Share what book you're currently reading and which country (countries) you're traveling in.

In Turkey with Snow, in Bulgaria with What Belongs to You, and in Denmark with The Keeper of Lost Causes.

I’m in Korea with The Plotters by Un-su Kim, and in Colombia with The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

I am in Laos with ແພງແມ່ Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos by Outhine Bounyavong/

I'm in Patagonia with Nothing But Dust by French writer Sandrine Collette.

Claire wrote: "I'm in Patagonia with Nothing But Dust by French writer Sandrine Collette."

Good to "see" you Claire!

Hi Claire! I'm finishing up my Nth American book journey and have started a book called On the Yukon Trail.

In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir. Enjoying both and I'm thinking definitely more than a three-star for both hopefully.

Lilisa wrote: "In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir. Enjoying both and I'm thinki..."

I've only ever heard praise for Color of Water from friends who have read it, so feeling good about your odds on that one.

I'm in Japan with Pachinko, but from the perspective of residents of Korean descent. I've just finished The Plotters by Un-su Kim and am seeing a trend of reading several more books focused on Korea in 2019.

Diane wrote: "I am in Laos with ແພງແມ່ Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos by Outhine Bounyavong/"

I'm also here! Nice to see you Diane.

Elizabeth wrote: "Diane wrote: "I am in Laos with ແພງແມ່ Mother's Beloved: Stories from Laos by Outhine Bounyavong/"

I'm also here! Nice to see you Diane."

Hi, Elizabeth! I hope you are enjoying your stay in Laos!

I am now in South Africa with A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn.

My ears are in Barbados with Washington Black and will be headed to Canada and the Arctic I believe based on the book summary. Enjoying it very much so far. My eyes have begun checking out South Africa/Botswana with White Dog Fell from the Sky

I am in Palestine with One Night, Markovitch, Ayelet Gundar-Goshen’s debut novel. It is published by Pushkin Press and everything about the feel of this book, from the cover to each page, is a tactile reading treat.

I am ripping through The Ruin this weekend, which is set in Galway, Ireland. Super impressed so far.

Rusalka wrote: "I am ripping through The Ruin this weekend, which is set in Galway, Ireland. Super impressed so far."

Loved that one, too! I have the follow-up (The Scholar) to look forward to in the next few weeks.

Apart from that, I’m a bit slow off the mark with my ATW journey this year. So far I’ve been staying in Australia, and generally I don’t count those unless it’s something pretty special in terms of the setting. In fact, The Lost Man may have made the grade but for the fact I began reading it on New Years Eve! For the remote, hot, red, dusty, dry Queensland outback, it would be hard to beat.

She's coming to work for an author's talk in Feb, so I thought I should read it and see if I would go along. Will definitely head along and pick up The Scholar there, and get a sneaky signing.

Glad you enjoyed The Lost Man too. I nearly picked it up while I was Christmas shopping and decided to be good. Very weird for me while book shopping. I thought it was book 3, but just found out it's a standalone the other day. Hot, dusty QLD sounds like it would hit very close to home at the moment will all the problems in the Darling basin.

Also, we wouldn't judge you if you sneaked it in for 2019. NYE is pretty much 2019 :P

Starting my 2019 journey today! I’m in Hong Kong with Blue Dragon, which I’ve been putting off for quite some time. It’s probably a good indication that I’m done with this series, but I’m giving it one more chance.

I'm in the Philippines with Insurrecto.

Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir. Enjoying both..."

Missed this earlier - I think you’d enjoy The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, Carol. Are you still with Pachinko? I enjoyed that one too - quite a chunkster though.

I’m in Russia with Dancer, in France with Birdsong, and in the U.K. with The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - the last one is so intriguing and different. A mystery that’s done with such a clever twist, it’s intriguing - not my usual fare but glad my ears picked it up. It was a 2018 Goodreads Choice Award Nominee in the Mystery & Thriller category.

Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and All You Can Ever Know: A Memoir...."

I do need to read Color of Water. I didn’t get into Pachinko far enough and then had other book group obligations that pushed it aside, but I am hoping to return to it in February with the Read Women group. It is long though with tiny print and I’m aware that it’s quite sad, in parts, so perhaps not ideal for me notwithstanding my interest.

I started Sins as Scarlet: An Inspector Iwata Novel by Nicolás Obregón. It takes place in LA, but Obregon’s background — he’s a British-Spanish dual national, spent some time on assignment in Japan, and generally has knocked around a bit — is making this novel highly interesting. I’m still reading The Street and One Night, Markovitch, as well.

I'm in Baghdad 1991 reading The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi. It won the Edinburgh Forts Book Award and was shortlisted for the the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. It's quite beautiful, the way the girls cope with changes in the neighbourhood, the use of imagination.

Claire wrote: "I'm in Baghdad 1991 reading The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi. It won the Edinburgh Forts Book Award and was shortlisted for the the International Prize for Arabic Fiction. It's q..."

I just downloaded that one a couple of weeks ago. Let me know what you think of it when you're done.

I am in Pakistan with The Crow Eaters by Bapsi Sidhwa.

I don't know where I am with Checkpoint because no one at the checkpoint knows where it is or why they're there But the author is Serbian, so I'm guessing that's the neighborhood.

I’m still in Hong Kong with Blue Dragon, but this morning I am on a side-trip to Sweden with Varg In Love. It’s just a short story prequel to Alexander McCall Smith’s newest series. It’s astonishing how prolific that man is!

Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and [book:All You Can Ever Know: A Me..."

I'm not recalling that it's intensely sad but it's all relative, isn't it. It is an investment though so you'd have enjoy it to want to trek on. I thought it was interesting - the dynamics of being Korean in Japan...

Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and [book:All You Can E..."

I am also quite interested in the issues of persons of Korean ethnicity in Japan. I first learned about this, oddly, in reading a true crime novel last year. Japan very carefully manages its image in the West, but the more you read, the more you learn about the realities behind that image.

Now I find myself in Pakistan with Out of the Silence (not from my list, not one of my paperbacks - oh well 🤫)

Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "Carol wrote: "Lilisa wrote: "In the U.S. with two non-fiction books - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother and [boo..."

Yes, every country’s got its secrets...

Andrea wrote: "Now I find myself in Pakistan with Out of the Silence (not from my list, not one of my paperbacks - oh well 🤫)"

Join the club, Andrea! :-)

Diane wrote: "Claire wrote: "I'm in Baghdad 1991 reading The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi. It won the Edinburgh Forts Book Award and was shortlisted for the the International Prize for Arabic ..."

I thought it was excellent, I was a little unsure to begin with, the early part is a child narrator, but it evolves quite quickly as she becomes a teen and a university student. Engaging characters and quite philosophical. My review here:

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

I've left Iraq and I'm now in Zimbabwe, reading Novuyo Rosa Tshuma's House of Stone: A Novel.

Last night I started From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, which is about a man from the minority Kavan Padaung people of southern Burma (known for the women with the long necks.)

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Last night I started From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, which is about a man from the minority Kavan Padaung people of southern Burma (known for the women with the long..."

I've heard about this a few times, Jenny, and would love to see your final take on it. I'm intrigued but on the fence.

Claire wrote: "Diane wrote: "Claire wrote: "I'm in Baghdad 1991 reading The Baghdad Clock by Shahad Al Rawi. It won the Edinburgh Forts Book Award and was shortlisted for the the International Pri..."

Cool. I will move it up my list.

I am in Cameroon with Your Madness, Not Mine: Stories of Cameroon by Makuchi.

I started in the Philippines and moved to Southern California with America Is Not the Heart

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Last night I started From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, which is about a man from the minority Kavan Padaung people of southern Burma (known for the women with the long..."

Is this a reread, Jenny? I swear I stole this off you years ago.

Rusalka wrote: "Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Last night I started From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, which is about a man from the minority Kavan Padaung people of southern Burma (know..."

Remember when we were all just starting our Around the World lists and starting to collect books? So yeah, I bought this book back in 2012. Never read it.

Oh so I stole it from your list! Makes so much more sense. Hope you enjoy it!

Rusalka wrote: "Oh so I stole it from your list! Makes so much more sense. Hope you enjoy it!"

Hope you're enjoying From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey, Jenny. Like Rusalka, I heard of the book here so probably from Jenny as well. Read it some time ago and enjoyed it - so interesting.

Currently in Israel with One Night, Markovitch by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. Maybe I'll run into Carol, since she's there, too.

I'm finishing my Nth American journey and read On the Yukon Trail, by William MacLeod Raine. What a great adventure story! I'm reading 2 books for Canada because there are less states/territories than the US so next up is a London set in the Yukon.

After being in two war zones, Iraq and Zimbabwe, which received very different authorial treatments, and were vastly different kinds of war, I'm venturing somewhere just down the road for me, I'll be in Marseilles with the late, Jean-Claude Izzo's Total Chaos the first in the Marseilles trilogy, this one is a personal war, a vendetta and I can't wait to read it, more for his own descritpion of what elevates this novel:

" I think I have been rewarded for having depicted the real beauty of Marseilles, its gusto, its passion for life, and the ability of its inhabitants to drink life down to the last drop."

In Japan with 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

I’m in Sweden again, this time with a full-length (but still slim) book, The Department of Sensitive Crimes. I haven’t read anything by this author for quite some time. I think I’m on the fence.

Diane wrote: "Currently in Israel with One Night, Markovitch by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. Maybe I'll run into Carol, since she's there, too."

Indeed! Although other book deadlines and then lack of discipline caused me to put it aside for a couple of weeks. I want to return to it. Love, love, love her writing.