Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I'm restarting some of my reading with the new school year. Long term, I am trying to read a book by an author from every country ,and this seems like the best place to start. I have made myself a google SS and have read an author from 23% of countries already. I will not redo countries and for me to count it, the author has to be from there.

Countries: India (10/1), Mali (10/25/20), United Kingdom (10/16/20), Mauritius (10/24/20), Slovenia (11/21/20), Austria (12/4/20), St. Vincent & the Grenadines (11/26/20), Taiwan (6/27/21), Vanuatu (11/10/20), and Myanmar (2/14/21)

I finished my first country- India: Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

I have read multiple authors from this country before and have done research in S India. This was a very well written but heartbreaking book ( 10/1/20-4 stars).

Skipped Mali so will get that next but read UK and Mauritius

Boyfriend Material - 10/16-****
Silly, fluffy and fun contemporaray romance set in London, UK

The Last Brother - 10/24 -****
Set in Mauritius in 1945 when a ship on Jewish refugees were held in prison there and a friendship between two boys

Went back and got Mali: It was a short book of vignettes but I found how it delt with women not my favorite - The Lieutenant of Kouta (3 stars - 10/25)

Skipping around a bit now to get all done by the end of the year. Read selections from Grace Mera Molisa's poetry for Vanuatu as her full book in out of print and the library copy is read in building only, which does not work when one is not allowed in the building due to a pandemic.

The Tree with No Name is my Slovenia book. It was very interesting with the way war and horrors become generational but I was bothered by the way the author treated women including the MC's wife. I gave it 3 stars (11/21).

I ended up with a short story for my St. Vincent & the Grenadines choice as it was all my library had. It was well done by H. Nigel Thomas in Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction (11/26). Some of the other stories in the book were not for me and some seemed problimatic in how they treated women and sexual assult so I gave the collection a 3.

One more done. I was not impressed by my Austria book. I read The Bone Man by Wolf Haas
(12/04/20)

Rating: 2 stars
Some of it I admit likely went over my head as I do not know much about the relationship between Austria and the former Yugoslavia. However, the treatment of women and the one trans character were pretty bad and the mystery wasn't really much by the end.

interesting way of reading

Finally got my Myanmar book in from the library. It took more than a few months and sadly was only 2 stars.
Smile As They Bow by နုနုရည်အင်းဝ

The relationships were very predatory and as far as I can tell, the author is from outside this specific community and there were some words used that I would be interested to see if those held by writings within the community itself.

I forgot all about posting my Taiwan book. I read Two Trees Make a Forest: Travels Among Taiwan's Mountains & Coasts in Search of My Family's Past (6/27 - ***). I do not think the author dealt well with many of the issues and the trees were interesting but only tagentially related. It was very average.

Next Five:

Zambia
Belgium
Trinidad and Tobago - Archipelago - 9/12/21
Kyrgyzstan
Syria

Switched out for Zambia as I have already read an author from there:

Denmark
Liberia
Bahrain
Oman

Switched out for Slovenia:

Sweden
Brazil
New Zealand
Singapore
South Africa

Final List for 2022 (11/12):
Belgium - The Secret of the Unicorn - 3 stars - Jan 2022
Kyrgyzstan - Jamilia - 4 stars - Feb 25, 2022
Syria - Alligator and Other Stories - 4 stars - March 1 2022
Denmark - The Old Man and His Sons - 3/21-****
Liberia - She Would Be King
Bahrain - Chronicles of Majnun Layla and Selected Poems - 8/23-****
Oman - Celestial Bodies -9/2 -****
Sweden - Detective Inspector Huss - 12/15-***
Brazil - The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas - 3/25-3.5 stars
New Zealand - The Whale Rider-12/27-****
Singapore - The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye - 5 stars - Feb 2022
South Africa - An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed - 3/14-*** (place not author)

I enjoyed The Old Man and His Sons (Faroe Islands) and will say that it sets up one perspective and then starts shifting things as the books goes on so you have to give it time to realize what the author is doing.

I have been updating up the above message, but I have read 10 of the 12 and will get the last two either by the end of the year or Jan so I can set up for 2023.

My favorite:
- 5 stars. A really interesting look at art and Singapore politics/history.

I also enjoyed:

Got 11 of 12 done in 2022 so only Liberia is rolling over to the next year

I got 3 from someone in the random thread and may just go use a randomizer for the other 8 so I can plan for the year

(10/12)
1. Japan - Tokyo Ueno Station-10/28-****
2. Mexico - The Daughter of Doctor Moreau- 5/19/23-***
3. Bhutan - Tales in Colour: And Other Stories

Adding:
4. Moldova - The Good Life Elsewhere -6/12/23 -***
5. Malawi - The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison-1/5/23-*****
6. Belarus - Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster-11/12-****
7. San Marino - found a short story only - https://theculturetrip.com/europe/art...-***
8. Cyprus - Selected Poems of Kyriakos Charalambides-1/5-***
9. Peru - The King Is Always Above the People: Stories - 8/6-***
10. Mauritania - The Desert and the Drum-1/13-***
11. Gambia - Toufah: The Woman Who Inspired an African #Metoo Movement-8/14-****
12. Liberia (from 2022) - She Would Be King

I read The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison yesterday and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a Malawi book or just a good book of poetry. I gave it five stars, which is rare for me, much less for poetry.