Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Time for a good old fashioned scavenger hunt! This week we'll be searching the stacks for a title that contains a language or a nationality in the title. In case your mind has gone completely blank and you can not remember a single language or nationality (and haven't we all been there?), here are some wikipedia articles to help you out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Index_o...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Don't forget there's no rule it has to be a real language or nationality! Have fun, book hunters!

Listopia: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I'm planning on The Last American Vampire.

These are my possibilities:

Russian Winter
The American Heiress
The Girl in the Italian Bakery

All of them have been on my TBR for 10+ years. The third I'm kind of iffy on, it was an Amazon First Read, back when they were called Kindle First, and the reviews aren't great. But I'm going to at least give it a shot before writing it off.

I'm going to read How the Irish Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe 

My mom gifted me with a cute YA novel called Sophomore Year Is Greek to Me a few years back. Seems a good time to read it :)

My top picks, which I just bought yesterday, are Zorba the Greek and The Russian Debutante's Handbook. Some others I'm considering: The Legend of Russian Bill, The Quiet American, The Polish Boxer (also works for hand writing on cover), Black Elk: The Life of an American Visionary, Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation.

I have a few on my TBR that would fit this prompt:
American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Under the Light of the Italian Moon by Jennifer Anton, and A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates.

I will most likely read The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.

Some other options:
French Braid by Anne Tyler
The French Gift by Kirsty Manning
The French Girl by Lexie Elliott
The American Girl by Kate Horsley
American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld
North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud
The German Midwife by Mandy Robotham
The German Wife by Kelly Rimmer
Miss Eliza's English Kitchen by Annabel Abbs
Lady of the English by Elizabeth Chadwick

I plan on one of these:
The House on an Irish Hillside - Felicity Hayes-McCoy
The English Patient - Michael Ondaatje
American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson

Recommendations:
The Dutch House
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
An American Sunrise

I'll be reading Broken Greek: A Story of Chip Shops and Pop Songs by Pete Paphides for this one.

I'm struggling with recommendations, apart from American Gods all my other suggestions are non-fiction (and the word comes after the colon for every one):

You Can Get Arrested for That: 2 Guys, 25 Dumb Laws, 1 Absurd American Crime Spree
Kiss the Sunset Pig: A Canadian's American Road Trip With Exotic Detours
Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States
The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way
Journeyman: One Man's Odyssey Through the Lower Leagues of English Football

I plan on reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. I also have Swiss Vendetta and The Yiddish Policemen's Union on my TBR list but will probably use them in other prompts.

At this point, I'm planning to read The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Phoenix Park Murders That Stunned Victorian England.

Recommendations:

Fiction:
The Welsh Girl
American Rust
American Spy
The Good German
The Japanese Lover

Non-Fiction:
The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt for the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road

I'm planning on reading Tinder Box: The Iroquois Theatre Disaster 1903 by Anthony P. Hatch.

I'm thinking I'll read Finntopia: What We Can Learn from the World's Happiest Country. I was also considering The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge and the Phoenix Park Murders That Stunned Victorian England or English and British History in 100 Bite-Size Chunks, American Cheese: An Indulgent Odyssey Through the Artisan Cheese World or American Made: What Happens to People When Work Disappears or American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World But Failed Its People.
I also highly recommend For the Love of April French if you enjoy contemporary romance.

Books I'll like getting to:

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
American Panda by Gloria Chao
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

I read A Russian Rose In An English Garden by Lara Hughes

I read Mexican Gothic for this prompt. I had been wanting to read this book. I originally had it slotted in the gothic prompt but another book came along that fit that prompt so Mexican Gothic ended up here.

I'd recommend Mexican Gothic if you do like a gothic read. I am a fan of them. This was a new gothic book that kept up with the gothic feel of old. I did end up rating it 3 stars but it was a good solid read and lots of intrigue for 2/3-3/4 of the book.

I read Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. for this prompt, which shows up on the 1001 books list and the 500 books by women list. It's in the public domain, and I'd been meaning to get around to it for ages. From my research, I learned that this collection of linked stories told from the perspective of Major Yeats, a royal magistrate assigned to a county in rural Ireland, was actually written by two women who were good friends. The female characters are noticeably strong or otherwise feisty, while the Major is a self-professed "coward" -- he's rather shy and gentle, more observer and reluctant partaker in the many often humorous stories' misadventures. There were numerous laugh-out-loud moments, but there is a *lot* of interminable foxhunting minutiae that I found myself skimming over. Worth a look if you're making your way through the big book Lists.

For this prompt, I read:
The Egyptian by Mika Waltari - 4.5* - My Review

I read American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson.

I finished The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley.

I just read French Rhapsody by Antoine Laurain.

I am reading The Secret Mandarin by Sara Sheridan.

I read American Royals for this. Light, fluffy, YA if you're looking for a good beach/pool/airplane read.

A couple five star books for me that would fit are An American Marriage and American War. Also enjoyed American Spy, Mexican Gothic, The Russian Debutante's Handbook, American Wife, and Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows.

I read Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow Cox.

I recommend

For this prompt, I read the wonderful graphic novel Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese-American.

I'm using American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson for this prompt.

I read One Italian Summer, I wasn't a fan but could see it being enjoyable to others.
I was only able to think of one book to recommend;
An American Marriage

I read Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson, which did not live up to its potential.

I read Why the Germans Do it Better: Notes from a Grown-Up Country by John Kampfner, a look at Germany post the Second World War to the present day, and what they do well, particularly in comparison to the UK.

The political situation, particularly with regard to voting does seem more grown-up (ours is a bit of a disaster area now). I learned a lot about the German systems and way of life. It's not an hagiography, and the author points out flaws. Interestingly, one of the danger points he spotted was the New Silk Road initiative, which may well be a problem, but it's Russian gas which is a difficulty at the moment.

I've decided on .

I downloaded the audiobook and was planning on starting to listen to it on my walk to work this morning but unfortunately it was in German... Oh well. I might actually have a disk copy floating around.

I read Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. Of course, the title is a reference to the Beatles song, and the Beatles song is apparently in reference to wall panelling, so nothing about Norwegians in any way here! Still a good fit for the prompt.

I would recommend:
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett (only vaguely about the Dutch but a beautiful book).
Hellspark by Janet Kagan (this one's a bit of a fun twist - a sci fi book and "Hellspark" is the name of an important language in the story. It does say that the language doesn't have to be real!)

I had planned on reading another book for this prompt, but the youth group at church planned to read All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely for a summer book discussion. Since my youngest is a part of the group and is also reading it, I read it this week. Wow! Everyone should read this with their kids (and even if you don't have kids). This book is written so well. The subject matter is heartbreaking, but I highly recommend it for everyone.

Reading English History Made Brief, Irreverent and Pleasurable.

Hoping this makes things interesting. Usually, thanks to colonialism and narrow minded historians, English history is shoved on as though it’s the end all and be all of history when there are so many more interesting things happening elsewhere. Would be nice if this could make it more interesting.

RachelG. wrote: "I plan on reading A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian. I also have Swiss Vendetta and The Yiddish Policemen's Union on my TBR list but will probably ..."

Thank you! A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian sounds just what I was looking for.

I read American Dirt. I highly recommend it.

I read the non-fiction The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio. A real eye-opener.

I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman

I read An American Princess: The Many Lives of Allene Tew

Would it be okay if the word is not being used to mean the language but rather is a character's name?

Your challenge, your rules

Death in the English Countryside by Sara Rosett. A cute cozy mystery set in a small English village. Would also work for #43, a book set in a small town or rural area.

I'd recommend The English Wife (historical fiction), Proper English (sapphic historical romance), Think of England (historical thriller), or Stubborn Twig: Three Generations in the Life of a Japanese Family (history).

I read An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor

I read the cozy mystery, A Big Fat Greek Murder by Kate Collins, for this prompt.

I read American Spy. It was interesting but it didn't make me proud to be an American.

I finally read for this prompt.

I read Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

Great Australian Volunteer Firies Stories Bill 'Swampy' Marsh

I've really struggled with this one but I think I'm going to use Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson, which I'm reading to my grandson, since Finn is a nationality.