Read Women discussion

My favourite challenge! This year I will aim for 30.
Here is my shelf of possibilities:

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

What a diverse and interesting list!

Looks good Hannah.

I love that your list isn't comprised entirely of the Usual Suspects. I look forward to seeing what you think of your choices as the year progresses, Hannah. Maybe we can buddy read Ms Ice Sandwich if you'd be interested.

Thanks everyone!

Hannah, what a list! I will be browsing for inspiration - thank you.

1/30 Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami. Japanese. 4*
This book is split into two parts which I believe were initially intended to be separate. I loved book 1 and struggled a little with book 2 at first but liked it by the end. The writing is fantastic throughout and many important issues facing women in modern Japan are tackled. I felt like the focus on feminist issues was achieved more naturally in book 1 than in book 2. Book 1 is more compact and focuses on a weekend reunion of 3 related female characters who all have distinct voices and feelings about their own bodies. There was some excellent development to Natsuko's (the narrator) character in book 2 that was a little lacking in book 1. I struggled at first with the many different peripheral characters who come and go throughout book 2 but felt that it came together by the end. I preferred the intense style of book 1 to the prolonged, disjointed style of book 2. Overall, a great and very interesting read.

2/30 Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. Japanese. 5*
11 year old Natsuki knows she is so different from the rest of her family and society that she firmly believes that she, and her beloved cousin Yuu, are destined to return to their home planet. She sees everyone around her as brainwashed tools of 'the Factory' who exist purely for the purposes of reproduction. I found the younger Natsuki to be wonderfully perceptive and relatable and I found my heart breaking as her situation became more and more desolate. Then things get really interesting....and very, very dark....

3/30 Broken Glass Park by Alina Bronsky. German. 3*
We watch 17 year old Satcha grapple with her unresolved feelings and impulses 2 years after her mother is murdered by her step father. I found this to be well written and interesting but not as gripping as Baba Dunja or Hottest Dishes. A good debut

Sounds as if it's going well Hannah and will check out the ones you've highlighted, thanks for the really clear summaries too!

I hope you don't mind Hannah but I recently read these same WiT books. I'm not trying to be a copycat but I took my inspiration from others who are doing this challenge and I guess your list really caught my eye.
I enjoyed Earthlings as the best of the three as well. It gave us a lot to think about.
As for Sascha in BGP, I found her situation heartbreaking. She comes off as being so self-confident because she is smart but I thought she was not emotionally mature, hence her awful choices. I also enjoyed getting a POV of what it was like as an immigrant in Germany.
I'm looking forward to following more of your reading in this challenge. : ).
p.s. I hope you are doing well.

I had noticed we've had a lot of overlap recently Sophie! I didn't think you were copying me, not that I'd mind! I like how we all share common interests in this group and take inspiration from each other's lists. I agree with your analysis of Sascha, that does explain her behaviour and make me feel for her more. I love how Bronksy isn't afraid of writing smart, opinionated and not necessarily likeable female characters. I noticed you read Hottest Dishes recently which I also loved and I highly recommend Baba Dunja's Last Love if you haven't already read it. It's my favourite of her works. I hope more of Sayaka Murata's books get translated, earthlings was fantastic

4/30 Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff 3* Finnish
I enjoyed this YA feminist fantasy, recommended for a budding young feminist but would have preferred a little more depth myself.

5/30 Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yōko Tawada 3* German
This strange, confusing novel was very hit and miss for me but really loved the last section from the perspective of Knut. Recommend if you are concerned about climate change, animal rights and fancy a trip to the land of the bizarre

6/30 Eartheater by Dolores Reyes 3* Argentinian Spanish
A young girl is haunted by the violent deaths of her mother and childhood teacher and discovers that eating the earth connected to the dead and missing gives her visions of their whereabouts. She finds herself torn between helping discover what happened to the victims and protecting herself from demonisation. I found this to be strange and fascinating but a little uneven in delivery

7/30 Real World by Natsuo Kirino Japanese 3*
A group of high school girls become eerily intrigued by their misogynistic classmate who murders his mother and then goes on the run. Kirino does creepy very well

8/30 Island of Shattered Dreams by Chantal T. Spitz 4* Tahiti/French
This read like a poetic love story written for a lost land and a lost way of life. Heartbreaking

9/30 The First Wife: A Tale of Polygamy by Paulina Chiziane 3* Mozambique/Portuguese
A lyrical and intimate examination of polygamous marriage which was very good but I found stylistically challenging

10/30 Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan 5* Armenia
I loved this quiet tale of a tiny, isolated mountain village and it's aging residents. Recommended for fans of Baba Dunja and the Eighth Life

11/30 Real Life by Adeline Dieudonné Belgium/French 4*
Good but disturbing coming-of-age in a poor, violent family in Belgium. At times devastating, at times horrifying. This was well done but an uncomfortable read. Similar to discomfort of the evening

12/30 Voices of the Lost by Hoda Barakat Arabic, unnamed country. 4*
A series of letters written by those who are lost, those who are searching, those who've been displaced. Deep confessions and innermost thoughts are shared. The darkest and most desperate corners of the human mind are explored without judgement.

13/30 The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa Japanese 5*
This book really touched my heart. Absolutely wonderful. Recommended for all animal lovers

I've fallen a little behind on my WIT goal but am looking forward to WIT month in August to catch up!

WIT month:

14/30 The Pear Field by Nana Ekvtimishvili Georgian, 4*
Set in a Residential School for Intellectually Disabled Children in Tbilisi, Georgia; this book tells a story of the voiceless and forgotten. I had to grapple a little with the initial bombardment of briefly introduced characters and the emotionally blunt language describing horrible events until I realised that this was part of the picture of survival being created. By the end I found this was very well done.

15/30 Heaven by Mieko Kawakami, Japanese 4*
An intimate and harrowing portrayal of the psychological effects of bullying on teenagers in Japan. Unique and haunting

I tried Ravens Before Noah which was on my WIT month list but couldn't make any sense of it. Perhaps I'll try again at a later date

16/30 The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yōko Ogawa Japanese 3*
This was well done and I can see why so many people liked it. I love Ogawa's writing and style but it just wasn't for me

17/30 I'll Go On by Hwang Jungeun South Korea 4*
An excellent, examination of the meaning of existence, familial bonds and what it means to keep on living despite great emotional loss whilst battling with the expectations and resentments of others. I loved the honesty and realism

DNF Touring the Land of the Dead. Something about the sentiment wasn't sitting right with me

I didn't get as much out of WIT month as I would have liked due to a flare up of my pain condition but I found some great reads and enjoyed the change of focus

Sorry to heat you've been in pain, Hannah. You chose an interesting range of books.

Thanks for the short reviews, Hannah. I hope you are feeling better. I need to update my tracking and also plan to start Real Life soon.

Thanks Story and Jen, I'm doing a bit better but still struggling on some days.

18/30 Hana by Alena Mornštajnová Czech 3*
This started out as an excellent portrait of ongoing family trauma after the holocaust but I really disengaged as the book went back in time. I averaged it out to a 3* read

19/30 Minor Detail by Adania Shibli Palestine/Arabic 4*
A fantastically written examination of occupied Palestine. Frought with tension throughout.

20/30 The Bitch by Pilar Quintana Colombia/Spanish 4*
Vivid, harrowing and shocking.

21/30 Tropic of Violence by Nathacha Appanah Mayotte/French 3*
Very violent and difficult to read once more. I need to take a step back from this one.

22/30 My Grandmother's Braid by Alina Bronsky. German. 4*
Another hilarious and despicable matriarch from bronsky. Recommended if you liked hottest dishes

23/30 Alpha. Abidjan-Gare du Nord: Abidjan-Gare du Nord by Bessora 3*
Graphic novel depicting the trauma of migration. Liked the story and artwork but found the writing to be somewhat understated

24/30 In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo French. 4*
This interesting look at the multiple impacts of the west aftrican ebola epidemic has really stayed with me

Hannah wrote: "22/30 My Grandmother's Braid by Alina Bronsky. German. 4*
Another hilarious and despicable matriarch from bronsky. Recommended if you liked hottest dishes

23/30 [b..."

I loved this one too! The grandmother was so fully alive and so fully herself. Bronsky needs to write faster. I'm already longing for her next one.

Story wrote: "The grandmother was so fully alive and so fully herself. Bronsky needs to write faster. I'm already longing for her next one."

Totally agree, I love her writing style, she has quickly become one of my favourite authors. The prose just flow so easily. Her complex female characters are both funny and entertaining but also believable and sad. Sometimes I see echos of my own family dysfunctions in her work, exaggerated though they are!

#25 Soviet Milk by Nora Ikstena. Latvian. 4*
This book was great on two levels: a really interesting look at latvian history and the psychological consequences of soviet rule and also a compelling tale of a troubled mother-daughter relationship. Although it didn't end as strongly as it began; I still really enjoyed it throughout

I dropped my goal for this challenge down to 25 last month due to a whopping pain flare up so challenge is modestly complete :)