Around the World discussion

Setting off on a new literary journey? What book is it? Which country/countries will you be passing through? Do you have any first impressions to share? While many of us are confined to our own little patches of Earth, let's share and get excited about each others' literary travel plans!

Happy 2021! May this be a much better year!

I am currently in Zimbabwe & the US with We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo.

Japan. Gate, by Soseki

I’m in Denmark with The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country, in France/Iran with Disoriental, and in Mexico/Spain with The Vineyard.

To start off my focus on Europe this year, I'm in Montenegro with Catherine the Great and the Small by Olja Knezevic, translated by Paula Gordon and Ellen Elias-Bursac. I've been reading a lot about Montenegro along the way. They've been in the news in the past few weeks with some tensions between Serbia and Montenegro over who can own the land occupied by the Orthodox church. Everything in the Balkans is so complicated and always depends on how far back you go....

I'm starting off with a YA fiction set in Spain - Madrid of the post Civil War Franco era - The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys.

In Iran with The Stationery Shop and japan with The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change your Life and Achieve Real Happiness

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "To start off my focus on Europe this year, I'm in Montenegro with Catherine the Great and the Small by Olja Knezevic, translated by Paula Gordon and Ellen Elias-Bur..."

I just added that one to my list!

I am in Canada with The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy.

I’ve been pretty slow off the mark this year, but have now made my way to Ooty in the hills of Tamil Nadu with The Mission House. So far it’s a gentle, quick read and I’m loving the vivid descriptions of this southern Indian hillstation.

Now I’ve travelled a little further east in southern India, to Bangalore, with Ghachar Ghochar. It’s just a short book - won’t be here long. The title is apparently a nonsense phrase meaning a knot that can’t be untied.

Andrea wrote: "Now I’ve travelled a little further east in southern India, to Bangalore, with Ghachar Ghochar. It’s just a short book - won’t be here long. The title is apparently a nonsense phras..."

Oh Andrea, I hope you like it! I enjoyed it immensely.

I’m in Turkey and the U.K. with Honor.

I'm finally getting myself organised for 2021! One book that doesn't quite fit in my lists or neatly into one of these threads is Suite Française which I was reading for France. But after 7 months of trying, I have abandoned it. Still not a great abandoner of books, so still wondering if I should go back, but I will be strong. Slightly sad though that a book so many people seem to love just didn't do it for me, but c'est la vie!

I’ve just arrived in Switzerland with The Sanatorium, and it’s January 2020. It’ll be interesting to see if the author was on the front foot with the pandemic. Nothing obvious yet, although the MC seems to have a proximity issue with other people.

Andrea wrote: "I’ve just arrived in Switzerland with The Sanatorium, and it’s January 2020. It’ll be interesting to see if the author was on the front foot with the pandemic. Nothing obvious yet, ..."

That will be interesting!

I was reading something the other day about artists and the pandemic in their art/writing/music and how it's not really prevalent at the moment. There was a response from Tim Minchin that said (completely paraphrased) that while those things were really important for society to process what's happening, that artists were too traumatised at the moment to deal with it.

Rusalka wrote: "I was reading something the other day about artists and the pandemic in their art/writing/music and how it's not really prevalent at the moment. There was a response from Tim Minchin that said (completely paraphrased) that while those things were really important for society to process what's happening, that artists were too traumatised at the moment to deal with it..."

Personally I think it's still too soon to do anything really overt, in fiction at least. Chris Hammer tried to do it in his recent release Trust, but it wasn't successful in my opinion. I explain why in my review from late last year. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Oh that's annoying.

Thanks for the reminder, I really need to read Scrublands this year. I used to work with his wife, so should really read the book.

Rusalka wrote: "I'm finally getting myself organised for 2021! One book that doesn't quite fit in my lists or neatly into one of these threads is Suite Française which I was reading for France. But af..."

A book club I used to be in loved that book but I never picked it up, glad to know I wasn't crazy. ;)

I read Suite Française quite a few years ago - with a book group - and liked it a lot. If I recall we had a lively discussion. One of the gals had a neighbor who was a Holocaust survivor, and shared some of his paperwork with us - it brought home the chilling reality of the atrocities.

Oh that would be very powerful to see, Lilisa.

See, why didn't I?!? /sigh.

That happens - I find that time and place in our lives matter when reading books. Sometimes I’ve started a book and it doesn’t grab me, picked it up later and I’m into it. Then there’s a great many books (authors) that folks love and whose judgment I value, and I go, “whaat?” Kristin Hannah is one of those authors. I just can’t figure out the fuss about her books - The Nightingale is a prime example. And against my better judgment reading The Great Alone, a book group read, and I feel the same way but being a sport. ..lol. So, it depends.

Rusalka wrote: "I'm finally getting myself organised for 2021! One book that doesn't quite fit in my lists or neatly into one of these threads is Suite Française which I was reading for France. But af..."

Suite Française I found to be a more challenging read than some of her other novellas, which surprised me. I remember reading her book Fire in the Blood after reading Edith Wharton's Ethan From and they're like the perfect comparative pair of reads, facing the same issue but with their different cultural sensibilities.

I'm reading Lucy by Antiguan (Caribbean) author Jamaica Kincaid, whose The Autobiography of My Mother was an outstanding read for me the year I read it.

I have a particular fondness for Caribbean women writer's voices and Jamaica Kincaid is one of the best, so I'm catching up with a couple of her works I have, in anticipation of having heard that her collected works (10 titles) have been recently acquired by Picador and will be introduced to a wider audience in the UK.

I’ve embarked on a rare re-read, and am back in Trinidad with the audiobook edition of Love After Love. Lilisa promised me a 5+ star read, and I don’t doubt it.

Andrea wrote: "I’ve embarked on a rare re-read, and am back in Trinidad with the audiobook edition of Love After Love. Lilisa promised me a 5+ star read, and I don’t doubt it.

[bookcover:Love Aft..."

Oh dear, Andrea, I do hope it lives up to expectations - if not,🤦‍♀️!

I'm in Lesotho with Everything Lost Is Found Again: Four Seasons in Lesotho by Will McGrath. It's true it is written by an outsider, but it wasn't easy to find books from Lesotho. At least it isn't a Peace Corps memoir. ;)

McGrath's wife is a cultural anthropologist who studies AIDS and orphan care, and 25% of the adults in Lesotho are HIV positive, so it was an obvious place she needed to live and work for a while. He ends up teaching at a school and is ingrained into the community, and I've been impressed so far by how detailed and empathetic his understanding of the culture is.

Did you know that Lesotho is pronounced Le-soo-too? Now you know!

Lilisa wrote: "Oh dear, Andrea, I do hope it lives up to expectations - if not,🤦‍♀️!..."

Absolutely nothing to worry about, I’m loving it! Just reached the end of Part 1, and now I’m taking a break to research some chai rum recipes 😛

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "I'm in Lesotho with Everything Lost Is Found Again: Four Seasons in Lesotho by Will McGrath. It's true it is written by an outsider, but it wasn't easy to find books from Lesotho. A..."

I had no idea of the pronunciation, I admit. Sounds like a good book.

I’m in the Andes (Uruguay, Chile, Argentina) with Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors and in the Balkans (Bosnia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Kosovo, etc.) with Rose of Sarajevo.

I’m reading Fortune by Lenny Bartulin, which I didn’t initially have pegged as something for my ATW challenge, as the blurb indicated the story was literally all over the place! But now at about 40% in, I’ve changed my mind as the story is strongly linked to Suriname 🇸🇷, which is a small hole on my map. Happy to take the opportunity to fill it!

Also, it’s a good story, very fresh in the telling. If any NetGalley users are interested, it’s Read Now until 16 Feb.

Now I’m in 1930s Ceylon with the first in a series I’ve been wanting to try for a while, Trouble in Nuala. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to have a problem with the colonial attitudes, but we’ll see.

I’m in Nigeria, Canada, and a bit in the U.K. with Butter Honey Pig Bread, in Guyana/U.K. with The Small Fortune of Dorothea Q, and in Scotland, U.K. with Shuggie Bain.

In South Korea with Land by Pak Kyongni.

Diane wrote: "In South Korea with Land by Pak Kyongni."

That one has been on my TBR for an embarrasing long time.... How do you like it so far?

I'm in Mali with Amkoullel, l'enfant Peul by Amadou Hampâté Bâ. A great memoir by someone who is so knowledgable about Peul culture and the history of Mali, and is able to weave that into the story of his life! It's giving me (a trained historian) loads to think about when it comes to written sources vs. oral history/knowledge. I'm reading the Dutch translation, but I see the English one will be published later this year...

I'm in 1950's/60's Iran with a beautifully crafted novella Beyond Black There Is No Colour: The Story of Forough Farrokhzad by Maryam Diener

The book tells the story of one of Iran's pre-eminent mid-20th-century writers, an influential feminist poet and film maker, whose life was short but her creative output urgent and prolific, as if with the foreknowledge that her time on earth would be cut short. She died in a car accident at the age of 32 in 1967.

Sanne wrote: "Diane wrote: "In South Korea with Land by Pak Kyongni."

That one has been on my TBR for an embarrasing long time.... How do you like it so far?"

It is very good. It was on my TBR an embarassing long time as well. I finally broke down and rented a copy.

I’m in 1940’s Louisiana with Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying. It is luminous, even though I dislike the main character and am disgusted at the initial premise, that a 22 year old man is a hog who must be taught to be a man. I trust Gaines to take me on the journey.

Andrea wrote: "Now I’m in 1930s Ceylon with the first in a series I’ve been wanting to try for a while, Trouble in Nuala. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to have a problem with the colonial attitudes..."

What did you think? The net seems to be middling 2 or 3 stars, but ...

Carol wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Now I’m in 1930s Ceylon with the first in a series I’ve been wanting to try for a while, Trouble in Nuala. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to have a problem with the col..."

Strong on location, but weak for the genre. I’ll review it today and will probably rate it 3 - that’s enough for a second chance from me.

I’m back into the food, this time in Iran with The Temporary Bride: A Memoir of Love and Food in Iran. Already by p6 I was reaching for my Persian cookbook, which is a promising start!

Andrea wrote: "Carol wrote: "Andrea wrote: "Now I’m in 1930s Ceylon with the first in a series I’ve been wanting to try for a while, Trouble in Nuala. I’ve got a feeling I’m going to have a proble..."

Thank you, Andrea!

I'm jumping through the decades from 1910-1920- and now 1930 Ottawa edit: Ontario, Canada with In the Skin of a Lion

Rusalka wrote: "I'm jumping through the decades from 1910-1920- and now 1930 Ottawa, Canada with In the Skin of a Lion"

How odd! I think I just heard about this in the past day or two. I can’t recall the context though. Perhaps it was a podcast because I remember noticing the pronunciation of ‘Ondaatje’. Is this book a companion to The English Patient?

Ummm possibly. I think I just spoilered the end of this book for me by looking up The English Patient

Rusalka wrote: "Ummm possibly. I think I just spoilered the end of this book for me by looking up The English Patient"

😬 sorry

Lol all good! It was just not what I was expecting from the blurb.

Now I've finished the book it sounds like two characters we meet in The Skin of a Lion are characters in The English Patient.

I'm in Japan again with The Hole by Hiroko Oyamada. I received it since I subscribed to the New Directions Publishing classics club (new classics? I can't remember what they call it. Basically they send books they've published every month.) It's also on the long but not shortlist of the Tournament of Books this year. It's also very very short - 112 pages. I've previously read the author's earlier novel - The Factory.

I’m in late 1950s England with The Hours Before Dawn by Celia Fremlin. While it’s not at all what I expected, it’s quite good and I’m intrigued to see where Fremlin will take this plot.