Indian Readers discussion

For 2021 I hope to be more active in the group and to have more time to read.

I will go on with my usual challenges that are not real challenges because I don't have a deadline.


New challenge to which I decided to take part with 15 books:

Snakes and Ladders Book bingo 2021:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

16/15

4. A comfort read: Stella Nera by Marco Freccero
+ 6
10. A book with your favorite setting: India WARI: A collection of Manipuri Short Stories
+ 5
15. Historical fiction set in Asia/Africa/South America: And the Mountains Echoed
+ 6
21. Re-live your childhood: Racconti del giorno e della sera 3: Dalla fiaba alla cronaca
+ 5
26. Less than 200 pages: Educazione europea (this is the edition I've read, with 174 pages)
+ 3
29. The oldest book on your tbr/book that has spent >10 years on your tbr; Ebano (was on my to-read since 2016
+ 5
34. A book whose screen/stage adaptation you have loved: A Long Way Home
+ 2
36. A book based in a country which starts with your name's first character: Denmark --> Doghead (set in Norway and Denmark)
+ 2
38. Historical fiction set in Europe: All Quiet on the Western Front which is about WWI
+3
41. Book about art (fiction or non fiction): The Passion of Artemisia historical fiction about Artemisia Gentileschi
+ 6
47. Nonfiction: Il Cenacolo di Leonardo (about the Last Supper of Leonardo da Vinci)
+ 4
51. Asian author, western setting: Quichotte (written by Salman Rushdie, setting in the USA)
+ 6
57. Book with less than 5 characters: The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself
+ 1
58. Dealing with death/after death: Il contributo di Lavagnola alla guerra 1915-1918 nelle cronache de "Il Letrimbro"
+ 4
62. Love the cover , shall read the book: La parabola degli eterni paesani

(I finished my challenge to read 15 book for this challenge, but I'll see if I manage to read some more books.)

+ 2
64. Debut author: Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir
+ 1
65. Award winner

Far and wide through India

previous year: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

visited 18 states (51.4%)
https://douwe.com/projects/visited?re...



States:
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar: India: A Wounded Civilization
Chhattisgarh
Delhi:
The Wildings
Delhi
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
Giligadu: The Lost Days by Chitra Mudgal
Goa: Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh
Gujarat:
The Algebra Of Infinite Justice
Il libro di Krishna
Haryana: Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata
Himachal Pradesh: Nine Lives
The Dalai Lama's Cat
The Dalai Lama's Cat and the Art of Purring
Jammu e Kashmir: Kashmir Saivism - The Central Philosophy of Tantrism
Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir by Malik Sajad
Jharkhand
Karnataka:
India. Cinque racconti, sei reportage, tre fumetti
Waiting for the Mahatma by R.K. Narayan
Kerala: Idris : Keeper of the Light
Madhya Pradesh:
Five Past Midnight in Bhopal: The Epic Story of the World's Deadliest Industrial Disaster
Un'isola di mistero : seguito delle avventure di viaggio di Dalle caverne e dalle giungle dell'Indostan
A Long Way Home
Maharashtra:
Sacred Games
Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
Saturday Date
The Moor's Last Sigh
ŚRĪ JÑĀNEŚVARA : Lo yogin cantore della libertà
Family Matters
Sri Sai Satcharitra: The Wonderful Life and Teachings of Shirdi Sai Baba
Manipur: WARI: A collection of Manipuri Short Stories
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Orissa: eFiction India Vol. 1 Issue 07
Punjab: Train to Pakistan
Rajasthan: India Was One
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu:
Shilappadikaram
The Toss of a Lemon
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh:
Sea of Poppies
Krsna: The Supreme Personality of Godhead: v. 1
Uttarakhand
West Bengal:
Freedom at Midnight
The City of Joy
The Sleeping Dictionary
Sister of My Heart
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice
The Lives of Others
The Hungry Tide
A Long Way Home

India without a real setting:
Kamasutra
71 Golden Tales of Panchatantra
A Fine Balance
L'Induismo
Timeless wisdom from ancient India
The Dance of Siva: Essays on Indian Art and Culture
The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma
Animal's People

Far and Wide through Africa

previous year: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Sadly I haven't read a lot of books set in Africa in 2020.


visited 14 states (6.22%)

https://douwe.com/projects/visited?re...


Algeria: The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles
The Plague by Albert Camus
Angola
Benin
Botswana: Precious Ramotswe, detective by Alexander McCall Smith
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Camerun
Capo Verde
Ciad
Comore
Costa d'Avorio
Egitto
Eritrea
Etiopia; The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Gabon
Gambia
Ghana: Stelle nere by Ryszard Kapuściński
The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Gibuti
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea Equatoriale
Kenya: I Dreamed of Africa by Kuki Gallmann
Lesotho
Liberia; The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Libia
Madagascar: Ghost of Chance by William S. Burroughs
Malawi
Mali
Marocco: Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood by Fatema Mernissi
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mozambico
Namibia
Niger
Nigeria: The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Rep. Centrafricana
Rep. del Congo
RD del Congo: Stelle nere by Ryszard Kapuściński
Ruanda: The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
São Tomé e Príncipe
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia: Don't Tell Me You're Afraid by Giuseppe Catozzella
Sudafrica
Sudan: The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Sudan del Sud
Swaziland
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda: The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuściński
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Novel Cure Challenge

previous year: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

In 2020 I haven't even read a book for this challenge.

Review with all the books listed for this challenge: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Countries visited in 2021:

previous year: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

https://ibb.co/CMTWpGc

https://map1.maploco.com/visited-coun...

(I pledge to read at least 10 books)

1) Italy Stella Nera
2) India (Manipur) WARI: A collection of Manipuri Short Stories
3) Africa (Kenya) I Dreamed of Africa
4) Afghanistan And the Mountains Echoed
5) France Promise at Dawn
6) Poland A European Education
7) Africa (Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Sudan, Liberia and Rwanda): The Shadow of the Sun
8) Australia A Long Way Home
9) Denmark Doghead
10) Germany All Quiet on the Western Front
11) Africa (Algeria) The Plague
12) Scotland (UK): Adam Lyal's Witchery Tales: The Darker Side of Old Edinburgh
13) USA: Quichotte
14) Iran: My Father's Notebook: A Novel of Iran
15) Netherlands Un pappagallo volò sull'IJssel
16) Spain The Life of Saint Teresa of Ávila by Herself
17) Kashmir Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir

Wow! very nice, Dely :) Countries set in Africa. Carrying over from previous years for various States in India is very nice. All the best!

Kavitha wrote: "Wow! very nice, Dely :) Countries set in Africa. Carrying over from previous years for various States in India is very nice. All the best!"

Thank you!

will keep a close watch to see whether I can pick books from your shelves.
good luck for 2021

Em*bedded-in-books* wrote: "will keep a close watch to see whether I can pick books from your shelves.
good luck for 2021"

Thanks!

Dely, Amazing progress last year and good luck for 2021 too!
I'd love to see your 2021 picks as well!

Makrand wrote: "Dely, Amazing progress last year and good luck for 2021 too!
I'd love to see your 2021 picks as well!"

Thank you!

dely wrote: "Far and wide through India

previous year: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

visited 17 states (48.5%)Create your own visited map ..."

wow

Nice challenges, Dely. All the best. :)

your far and wide challenges with those map representations are really very interesting... all the best.

thanks for sharing interesting titles on the Indian ones. Will keep an eye on teh remaining states.

All the best for the Challenges Dely, and happy Reading

Thanks everyone!

Great challenges. All the best dely!

I am planning to read authors across the world. Your Africa challenge might have an overlap - I will pick books from your list in addition to building my To-read list (atleast) from your thread!

Girish wrote: "Great challenges. All the best dely!

I am planning to read authors across the world. Your Africa challenge might have an overlap - I will pick books from your list in addition to building my To-r..."

Thank you! I hope to visit Africa more often in 2021; I didn't do very well this year.

1) La via della bellezza by Vito Mancuso 2,5

No English edition. It's a kind of philosophical book about beauty. It was interesting, some parts were too difficult for me, others were again flowing. It deals with the meaning of beauty from the point of view of different philosophers, but also writers or musicians.

I started this book in 2020, but seen that I finished it today, I will add it for my 2021 challenge!

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

Happy New Year, dely. I have not been able to find our usual tea and chat thread for some time, so am posting here to you. If I can relocate it, I will post to everyone else. Hope you and son are OK.

Carol wrote: "Happy New Year, dely. I have not been able to find our usual tea and chat thread for some time, so am posting here to you. If I can relocate it, I will post to everyone else. Hope you and son are OK."

Hi Carol! Thank you and it's nice to hear from you! I wish you a happy and good 2021 too.

Here's the link to the chit chat discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

dely wrote: "Carol wrote: "Happy New Year, dely. I have not been able to find our usual tea and chat thread for some time, so am posting here to you. If I can relocate it, I will post to everyone else. Hope you..."

Thanks dely, but have just found it.

wow Dely, your Indian list is exhaustive. that's fantastic research great for swipers like me to lift.;)) Thank you.

wonder if you could try out The Pot Tief mysteries. they are set in New Mexico

hey, aren't you looking at Pakistan? Came across a Pride and Prejudice adaptation by Sonia Kamal called Unmarriageable

Leena wrote: "wow Dely, your Indian list is exhaustive. that's fantastic research great for swipers like me to lift.;)) Thank you."

Thank you!

Will surely check out The Pot Tief mysteries though I'm not a huge fan of thrillers/mysteries.

Yes, sure, if I find something interesting I read also about Pakistan. Will check out also the book you mention. Usually I have problems finding them because there is not a translation, or they are not available on Amazon for my kindle.

2) Stella Nera by Marco Freccero 4*

No English edition. The translated title would be: Black Star

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

setting: Italy (armchair travels IR 2021: 1/10)

(Snake&Ladders; "A comfort read" 1/15)

3) WARI: A collection of Manipuri Short Stories by Linthoi Chanu 3,5

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

setting: India / Manipur
(armchair travels IR 2021: 2/10)

IR India challenge 2021: 1/5

(Snake&Ladders: "A book with your favorite setting" 2/15)

4) Sognavo l'Africa by Kuki Gallmann 1*

English edition: I Dreamed of Africa

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

Africa / Kenya (armchair travels IR 2021: 3/10)

I have been meaning to comment here. I find it absolutely amazing that you keep reading Indian books translated from various Indian languages year after year. I was most active on GR in 2017 and I remember even then you had similar reading goals about Indian literature.

I kind of feel a little ashamed but not afraid to admit that I myself being Indian have read next to nothing from Indian literature. :/ So my awe at your reading journey is double-fold.

Moreover, I have been in Italy for a few months in Salerno province until March 2020. I have fell in love with your country and the Italian language. :) I made up my mind to learn Italian well enough to speak and read, but learning journey I keep procrastinating. But seeing you reading Indian lit brought back the resolutions I made about Italian language after coming back to India :)

If and when I learn Italian enough, what easy-to-read fiction book in Italian language would you recommend for me?

Sankara Jayanth wrote: "I kind of feel a little ashamed but not afraid to admit that I myself being Indian have read next to nothing from Indian literature. :/ So my awe at your reading journey is double-fold. "

You don't have to! I, for example, don't read a lot of Italian literature. Maybe because we already know what's going on around us, so we prefer to read books set in other countries.

And you tell me only now that you lived for a couple of months in Italy?! Did you go back to India because of the lockdown? Were you here to study? I have never been in Salerno, but my parents don't live far away from there (though in the nearby region).

I don't know what I could suggest for easy Italian fiction. Maybe something by Gianni Rodari. He wrote stories for children, so his Italian is not difficult. The stories are also short, so you don't have to remember names or settings.

Ora maybe the Sandokan (Pirates of Malaysia) series by Emilio Salgari. Maybe you know it! They did also TV series, back in the 70ies or 80ies, with Kabir Bedi!

Thanks a lot for the recommendation! Would save them for later when I can read Italian. :D

I was in Pagani actually, for a work assignment. I was supposed to stay there until June but had to return in March because the pandemic hit Italy just then and I was worried that I'd be stuck in italy and won't be with my family when it eventually reaches India. I luckily travelled 1 day before india announced international travel ban.

I was slow in touring Italy because my planned assignment was long and so I was sightseeing rather slowly. but with the pandemic, I returned without seeing Rome, Pompeii, Capri, Tuscany, Sorrento, Puglia. :( recalling the list makes me sad. but I also feel guilty because I'm ruing not seeing places while the world is ravaged with a killing virus. :/

Sankara Jayanth wrote: "Thanks a lot for the recommendation! Would save them for later when I can read Italian. :D

I was in Pagani actually, for a work assignment. I was supposed to stay there until June but had to retu..."

I hope you can come back one day and visit what you couldn't visit the first time! I'm slow too in visiting Italy, I've never visited those places neither, so I miss Pompei, Costa Amalfitana, Capri, etc. but also cities like Florence :D And when I was in Rome, I had to visit everything very fast in only one day!

5) E l'eco rispose by Khaled Hosseini 3,5

English edition: And the Mountains Echoed

Afghanistan (armchair travels IR 2021: 4/10)

(Snake&Ladders: "Historical fiction set in Asia/Africa/South America:" 3/15)

6) Racconti del giorno e della sera 3: Dalla fiaba alla cronaca 4*

No English edition. I've read this book for the Snake and Ladders Book Bingo, for the field "Re-live your childhood".
This is a book we used at school to learn Italian. It has a lot of very short stories, most of which have a moral teaching. There are stories by famous fable writers like Aesop or Brothers Grimm, but also stories from the popular tradition.
In between there are also some poems about seasons and nature, and also suggestions for a few children games. Being it a text book for children, on each page thare are cute drawings.
I loved reading this book after all these years: I still remembered some of the stories, though not all the details, and it was really a lovely step back in time.

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

(Snake&Ladders: "Re-live your childhood" 4/15)

7) La promessa dell'alba by Romain Gary 5*

English edition: Promise at Dawn

I love this author and everything he writes. This book is a kind of autobiography that talks about his relationship with his mother. She was a single mother from Russia (end of the 19th century, early 20th century) that had to flee to Poland because she was a Jew and persecutions already had started. They live in Poland till he is 12 (or 13) years old. His mother does everything to have a living and allow his son to go to school and doing sports. She had a lot of dreams for him and wanted to educate him at his best. Then they move to France and she has to look again for a job. Here he graduates and then leaves to become an officer because WWII was already in the air and he wanted to fight. The last part of the book is dedicated to the 5 years he spent in North Africa fighting in the French army as aviator against Germany and Italy.

This book was so moving and touching. I've cried a lot at the end of the book.

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

France (armchair travels IR 2021: 5/10)
(also Poland, but I count only one)

8) Educazione europea by Romain Gary 3,5

English edition: A European Education

We are in Poland, World War II, the siege of Stalingrad is underway, and we follow the Polish partisans who hide in the forests. We read about the hard life in the woods, the hunger, the cold, the battles, those who die for the cause, those who betray to feed the family, their hopes. It is not only a book on resistance, but also a book in which the author urges the rebirth of a united Europe, without nationalisms. But it is also a book that encourages hope, not to become ugly because of the war or the evil that surrounds us, but to always look at the beauty of life: love, books, music, well aware that there will always be wars, but there will also be people who will fight believing in peace and solidarity.

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

Poland (armchair travels IR 2021: 6/10)

(Snake&Ladders: "Less than 200 pages" 5/15)

9) Ebano by Ryszard Kapuściński 4,5

English edition: The Shadow of the Sun

This book covers more than one African state and the author has been a Polish reporter that lived and worked in Africa for over 30 years.
We have a flowing book, but despite this it has enough details to know better some of the African history, culture, and way of living. The book goes from 1960 to nearly 2000 so it's not updated, but reading it the reader has a very good overview of many civil wars that they are still fighting in that continent. Despite all this content, the author is able to keep the reader's attention high from the first to the last page.

Africa: Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Nigeria, Sudan, Liberia and Rwanda. (armchair travels IR 2021: 6/10)

(Snake&Ladders: "The oldest book on your tbr/book" 6/15)

10) L'approdo by Shaun Tan 4*

English edition: The Arrival

My first graphic novel and I loved these drawings! There are no words, but the reader understands everything perfectly. It's about a man that leaves his family to seek a better life elsewhere. We can find the fears, the problems and the hopes of people that must emigrate. It's very touching.

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

Australia
(armchair travels IR 2021: 8/10)

11) Lion: La strada verso casa di Saroo Brierley 3*

English edition: A Long Way Home
I had already seen the movie and loved it. The book is a first person narration of the author that tells his story to the reader. It is not high literature because the author is not a writer, but it's however very flowing and easy to read. And of course his story is absolutely incredible!

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

India
(Madhya Pradesh and West Bengala)

IR India challenge 2021: 2/5

(Snake&Ladders: "A book whose screen/stage adaptation you have loved" 7/15)

12) E poi basta: Manifesto di una donna nera italiana by Espérance Hakuzwimana Ripanti 4*

There is no English edition. The author (a black Italian) explains what it means to be Italian but have a black skin. Sadly here in Italy there is still a lot of racism and discrimination towards strangers. The author has been adopted by an Italian family when she was 3 years old, but she is native from Rwanda. In this book she explains how hard her daily life is. Not only because of racist sentences people tell her, but also because: stores don't want to hire her because this would keep people away from the store; people still ask her for a visa (though she has Italian nationality); men stop her on the street asking "how much she wants" giving for granted that if she is black she is automatically a prostitute, and many other things.
This book is above all an eye-openere for people who say that they are not racists, because we can't even imagine how often our simple questions can hurt other people that have a different skin color.

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

13) Testa di cane by Morten Ramsland 2*

English edition: Doghead

It's about a disfunctional Norvegian/Danish family. Nothing for me. It's a wonder I manged to finish it. Thankfully I took it in the library so I didn't spend money for it.

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

(Snake&Ladders: "A book based in a country which starts with your name's first character" (8/15)

Danimarca
(armchair travels IR 2021: 9/10)

14) Voci dal silenzio: Un viaggio tra gli eremiti d'Italia by Alessandro Seidita 5*

There is no English edition. This books contains interviews to hermits that live in Italy. It was really very interesting and the book contains also photos of some of these hermits, house, etc.

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

15) Niente di nuovo sul fronte occidentale di Erich Maria Remarque 3*

English edition: All Quiet on the Western Front

(Snake&Ladders: "Historical fiction set in Europe" (9/15)

Germany
(armchair travels IR 2021: 10/10)

16) La passione di Artemisia by Susan Vreeland 3*

English edition: The Passion of Artemisia

Interesting and flowing fiction about an Italian Baroque female painter that had to face a lot of problems because in those times a woman was not allowed to do a "male" job. She had been also raped by a colleague of her father, but though she had been the victim, she has been stigmatized.
She is very famous and her father was a famous painter too.

Recommended if you want to read about Italian art of the 17th century. I went often to check her (and her father's) painting or frescos online. They are just wonderful!

(Snake&Ladders: "Book about art (fiction or non fiction)" (10/15)

setting: Italy

17) La peste di Albert Camus 3,5

English edition: The Plague

Algeria / Africa

(armchair travels IR 2021: 11/10)

18) Il Cenacolo di Leonardo 3*

English edition: Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper

(Snake&Ladders: "47. Nonfiction" (11/15)

19) Donne dei Vangeli 3*

No English edition. It's a collection of short essays about female characters in the Gospels written by female theologians.

20) Adam Lyal's Witchery Tales: The Darker Side of Old Edinburgh 3*

This was short but a very interesting read about Old Edinburgh: real stories about witches, plague, misteries, ghosts, etc.
It induced me to do some researches online to know more about these stories.

Scotland (armchair travels IR 2021: 12/10)

21) Quichotte by Salman Rushdie 4,5

Rushdie is a genius. I love him. I don't rate this book with 5 stars only because a few parts were a little bit dragging. But I was nearly rating it with 5 stars.

IR India challenge 2021: 3/5

(Snake&Ladders: "51. Asian author, western setting" (12/15)

USA (armchair travels IR 2021: 13/10)