Geo Cat January

Welcome to 2020 and the kick-off of Geo Cat! We have some great hosts and I'm excited to read around the world. Only 2 rules: the setting of the book needs to match the geo area and HAVE FUN!

January's locations are in some little known "Asian" areas which include:
Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and. Uzbekistan. As some of these countries used to be Russian satellites there isn't a lot of lit out there, at least in translation. But here are a few:

Afghanistan:

Pakistan: additional titles: Moth Smoke, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, A Case of Exploding Mangoes

Nepal: Arresting God in Kathmandu, Under the Painted Eyes: A Story of Nepal

Georgia-This is the home of Joseph Stalin Georgia Diary, The Caucasus

Azerbaijani- Gentlemen of the Road, The World in Not Enough (James Bond, set in 4 countries of which Azerbaijani is one)

Armenia-Free book on Kindle History of Armenia: A Captivating Guide to Armenian History, Starting from Ancient Armenia to Its Declaration of Sovereignty from the Soviet Union

Kazakhstan-

More suggestions? Let us know!

Please don't forget to fill out the Wiki here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2020_GeoCAT#2020_GeoCAT

I am reading Don't Let The Goats Eat The Loquat Trees by Thomas Hale, about a missionary surgeon in Nepal. He wrote two other books about his time in Nepal, so I will see what I think of the first one.

For fiction, I like the look of these ones as well:
Ali and Nino, set in Azerbaijan on the eve of World War I.
A Time of Miracles begins its story in Georgia.
The Sandcastle Girls is a historical fiction/romance set in Armenia at the time of World War I.
The Dead Lake is set in Kazakhstan.

Out Of Steppe by Daniel Metcalfe looks like an easy to read travel memoir of the area - may be more suited to Travel KIT, but I think there will be some cross over between these two categories.

As part of my GeoCAT, I have also decided to cook at least one new recipe that month from the region. So I have found two cookbooks, Kaukasis: A Culinary Journey Through Georgia, Azerbaijan & Beyond by Olia Hercules and A Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan by Naomi Duguid. I do love to read cookbooks and particularly to immerse myself in the photography. I will let you know what I make!

I've set aside Paths of Glory, by Jeffrey Archer, which is about George Mallory's ascent of Mount Everest. I have the audio version narrated by Roger Allam, which is the reason I have the book in the first place :)

I'm going to be reading Water Runs Slow Through Flat Land by Cliff Jones, it is a novel set in Afghanistan. If I have time I'll also read I am Malala.

I'm planning on reading The Cosmic Clues, a mystery set in India.

>3 rabbitprincess: I love Jeffrey Archer, he is one of my favorite authors. I just put that book on my wish list. For this challenge I'm going to read My Dear Son: The Memoirs of Stalin's Mother. This memoir was kept by the Georgia Communist Party until 2012 when it was published. I'm not sure that it hasn't been scrubbed or if it's the real thing, but I'll give it a read.

I'm thinking of The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan, which I think covers Iran and Central Asia. Has anyone read it? Do you think it includes enough Central Asia to put it here, since we've included Iran in the Middle East?

>7 Robertgreaves: I think you can make it whatever you want! Just have fun!

Recommending Forbidden Journey: From Peking to Kashmir by Ella K. Maillart and News from Tartary by Peter Fleming, brother of Ian. Both books are about the same journey, undertaken in 1935.

Adding Robert Byron's The Road to Oxiana and Peter Hopkin's books about The Great Game e.g. The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia

I'm planning to read another by Ella Maillart, the Cruel Way or Turkestan Solo.

More recommendations: Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh; Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie; A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry.

Adding Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand.

I intend to read Remnants of Partition for this.

>9 pamelad: I read and enjoyed Brazilliian Adventure by Peter Fleming so News from Tartary sounds interesting!

>10 pamelad: Thanks for the recommendations! I'm looking for books by authors from one of these countries so this is really useful to me.

If anybody is interested in nonfiction I heartily recommend Freedom at midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins. It's about the independence and partition of India and Pakistan. It seems like it would complement nicely Train to Pakistan suggested by pamelad.

I am reading Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. I hope this one will work here, though I am not sure. I think they leave Pakistan so might not work.

>2 JayneCM: I like your cooking idea, and might adapt it. Melbourne is an ethnically diverse city, so I'll have a look for a restaurant for each region. Can definitely find Afghanistan, India, Pakistan or Nepal for January. Armenian would be interesting, if there is one.

There are at least three!

For January's GeoCat I am going to be reading a book set in Afghanistan, When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi.

>15 pamelad: That will be fun! Living in Hamilton, three and a half hours drive to Melbourne is a bit far for me! We certainly do not have such diversity in our town!
I would love to hear where you eat - maybe I can plan to visit some of them when I get to Melbourne (only about once or twice a year).

So, we are off!
I am thinking about Dalrymple's Return of a king or The last Mughal.

For Afghanistan, there is Flashman, a very un-PC tale about the First Afghan War of the British.

For Georgia, there is also Nino Haratischwili.

ETA: I was in a hurry yesterday, so let me just add that she has won quite a few prizes in Germany during the last years, and Georgia was partner country of the German Book Fair in 2018, which put her on my radar. Das achte Leben has just been translated into English, but at 1279 pages (in the German original) it's quite a commitment. The novel follows a Georgian family from 1900 to the present.

edited for touchstones

Is Russia included in the geographical area for this month? I thought it might be, since most of the former USSR countries are included, but maybe not. If it is, I'd like to read Katherine Arden's The Winter of the Witch, which contains some fantasy elements but is set in medieval Russia.

>19 christina_reads: Russia itself probably belongs in Europe. Next month!

>19 christina_reads:
>20 pamelad:

The group had that discussion in the planning stages. We thought it to be mostly in Europe as some said that's where textbooks place it. However, I don't think anybody cares if you place it here.

>20 pamelad: traditionally, Europe only includes the portion of Russia that lies east of the Ural mountains. So if you can tell where the story is set, it may well count for Asia instead of Europe. Anything set in Siberia, for instance, is in Asia, not Europe.

Some titles I am thinking about:

Ali and Nino (Azerbaijan)
In Other Rooms Other Wonders (Pakistan)
The Wandering Falcon (Pakistan/Afghanistan)

and I would highly recommend these two:
Partitions about the India/Pakistan split
The Golden Legend about religious conflicts in contemporary Pakistan

I’m considering Kite Runner and Mission to Tashkent.

I've subscribed to the ShelterBox book club and the next book for discussion is Orphan of Islam which is set partially in Pakistan. So I may well be fitting that in as well.

I set up a fiction by location wiki on here a few years back. Perhaps there are suggestions there for these countries or some of you could add to them as you discover them.

>26 thornton37814: Such a great resource, thank you!

>26 thornton37814: Well there goes my free time! I've added books for Paraguay and Uruguay, so there would be something there. My list-loving brain wants to spend the days adding titles to this wiki.

>26 thornton37814: Wow! That is an amazing resource, so detailed. I was expecting per country, not per state/region as well! Thank you.

>26 thornton37814:, it is a great resource. I've never found a way to find these kinds of resources.
Is there a way a person can find wiki material like this if they lose this thread someday?

I know there was a way to find the Decimal (Dewey) for library books that we used in the Dewey Cat a while back and I cannot find it now.

>26 thornton37814: It's great! I've added books for Armenia, Moldova and Belarus.

Had to delete Armenia because it's non-fiction. I see there's a non-fiction wiki by country too. Excellent.

>28 RidgewayGirl: You probably read more books set outside the U.S. than anyone I know. I hope you find time to add lots.

>29 JayneCM: You're welcome. I'd almost forgotten it until I read my own profile and found the link.

>30 Kristelh: It's part of LT's wiki. I hope they could find it. It is on the "Lists" page under LT Member Projects on the main LT wiki page.

>31 pamelad: Yes. Non-Fiction Wiki by Location is here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Non-Fiction_Location It can be found under "Lists" under the LT Member Projects on the main LT wiki page.

Oh my goodness, those wikis are gold! I have loads I can add to the non-fic wiki - that might be my afternoon's activity sorted!

>33 Jackie_K: I love that there are other people for whom this also sounds like a blast! I spent yesterday evening adding books for places like Uruguay and Paraguay and I enjoyed myself.

My mother gave me two books that fit this month's theme for Christmas! How awesome is she? :)
They are (in French): Djamilia by Tchinghiz Aïtmatov (from Kyrgyztan) and Dans les eaux du lac interdit (in the waters of the forbidden lake) - a French translation based on the English translation The dead lake of the original Uzbek - by Hamid Ismaïlov.

Both are short books so I can hope to read them both in January.

>35 chlorine: I've read Jamila and liked it.

>35 chlorine: How fortuitous! I hope you enjoy them.

I've been wanting to read Restless Valley: Revolution, Murder and Intrigue in the Heart of Central Asia for a while now, but kept balking at the price (no library copies available). Recently, the Kindle price dropped to $2.99 and I picked it up. I hope I like it after looking at it for several years, lol.

I have a few other possibilities as well. So many choices....

>37 Dejah_Thoris: This seems fascinating. I'll be looking forwards for your thoughts about it.

@chlorine suggested I check out Geocat as I have a location based category challenge this year. Anyway I have a couple of books I'd like to read from this region - Train to Pakistan by Khushwant Singh and The Gendarme which is set in Armenia.
I also have Fatima Bhutto's memoir Songs of Blood and Sword, I was her helper at a writers' festival some years back and wanted to read this after hearing her speak but have never got round to it.

For India, I'll also recommend Freedom at Midnight and add A Suitable Boy (long) and Sacred Games (fairly long). Rudyard Kipling's Kim is also good. J.G. Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur is another on my tbr pile.
Armenia; I also have The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel but it is a chunkster that I'm not ready to crack open this month.

Afganistan; Caravans by James Michener - interesting look at Afghanistan in the 1950s.
Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan is based on a true story, I read this YA a few years ago and found it quite moving.

From Around the world in 80 novels I liked the sound of Ali and Nino by Kurban Said (Azerbaijan) and Forgotten Fire by Adam Bagdasarian (Armenia).

As I was scrolling through old unread books on my Kindle looking for something else, I stumbled across The Art of Uzbek Cooking by Lynn Visson. I bumped it up to read for this month.

>39 avatiakh: The Siege of Krishnapur is on my wishlist. I've read The forty days of Musa Dagh and quite enjoyed it, but it _is_ long!

I may read one of the books I have on Afghanistan, one that's been on my shelves for several decades, The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers by M. Nazif Mohib Shahrani, or Afghanistan by Louis Dupree. But there's also several at the library I'm interested in : The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, and The Bookseller of Kabul by Åsne Seierstad. I'll probably read one of these - unless I get sidetracked by fiction.

Djamilia (or Jamilia in the English translation) by Tchinghiz Aitmatov is described by French poet Louis Aragon (who participated to the translation of the original Kirghiz text) as the most beautiful love story ever.
It's a beautiful text, full of the atmosphere of Kyrgyztan during WW2, when the people had settled down from their nomad ways not long before. The love story is told very sparingly, and in a sense nothing much happens, but the whole text is beautiful.

I previously read Siege of Krishnapur and I liked it so can endorse that one.

My Dear Son: The Memoirs of Stalin's Mother by Keke Jughashvili and translators. This was a very short memoir dictated by Stalin's mother; according to book notes from 1927-1935. It mainly recounts his mother and father's marriage, his father's descent into alcoholism, Stalin's poor health as a child (including smallpox), and the efforts of his mother to get him an education. Little is said, although it is acknowledged that Stalin was dismissed from the seminary for being rebellious. Nothing deep, but a good read if you are interested in Stalin's early life. CAT: GeoCat-Western Asia (Georgia)

>44 Kristelh: Checked that out Kristel and I've added that to my wishlist!

I am probably going to read Three Cups of Tea. That has been on my list for years, although the author has been somewhat discredited as to validity of the book.

Although I don't expect to finish it this month, I am dipping into and out of a book of short stories, Mumbai Noir, edited by Altaf Tyrewala

I read Empires of the Silk Road: A history of central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present for this month's category, hoping it'd help clarify my fuzziness on the history and geography of the region. Well, it turned out to be a bit too academic for either purpose (and my eBook copy didn't include any maps or images), but it was still moderately interesting. Beckwith does a great job of combating the stereotypes surrounding the "barbarian hordes" and reorienting the focus of world history to emphasize the importance of Central Eurasia. He's also got a major bee in his bonnet about Modernism (or at least his own, somewhat overblown idea of it), which drags the concluding chapters a bit off-course as well. Still, if you're looking for a scholarly summary of Central Eurasian history, this is not a bad option.

Now to look through more of the suggestions above--I'm interested in reading more about this region!

Finished Don't Let The Goats Eat The Loquat Trees by Thomas Hale, about a missionary surgeon who helps to eastablish a small hospital in Nepal. Fairly typical of this genre - stories of mistakes made due to cultural differences, stories of patients suffering and dying from easily treatable conditions. Books like this always underline just how fortunate we are.

Finished The Cruel Way, about Ella Maillart's travels from Geneva to Kabul in 1939.

>51 pamelad: I have a few of Ella Maillart's books on my list too. I found The Forbidden Journey online.

I joined Inspector Ghote for two cross-India rail journeys in Inspector Ghote Goes by Train, which I liked a lot.

Hoping I've done this right, February's thread is now up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/315605#7033724

I just finished Train to Pakistan and thought it was very good.

i read and enjoyed The Dressmaker of Khair Khana by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon about a young woman who starts a dressmaking business with her sisters in Afghanistan to support her family under Taliban rule.

>56 staci426: Great to hear - that's what I want to read for this month also.

I've started reading The Reluctant Fundamentalist.

>50 JayneCM: I also have that one on Planet TBR. If I have time, I'll try to read it, too.

I was looking for something else and came across A very pukka murder which is set in India, so I read this instead of my first choice. It is a historical mystery, set in the fictional royal state of Rajpore where the Maharajah is a hobby detective and investigates the death of the British resident on New Year's Day.
I cannot recommend it, though, too many things annoyed me, and the solution was simply preposterous.

I wasn't sure how my reading plans would pan out this month, but it looks like I might be able to squeeze in a book for this GeoCAT. I plan to read A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi, which is set in Afghanistan.

COMPLETED Buddha: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Carrithers

I also happened to read Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world by Jack Weatherford this month and would recommend it as a more accessible exploration of the influence of Central Asia on the rest of the world (than my earlier, official read for this category). As the title suggests, it starts with Genghis Khan and so focuses on the Mongol Empire and its successors (which included much of this month's region and then some). The earliest parts, on the early life of Genghis Khan, is of questionable historical validity, being based on a single, likely propagandistic account and including elements Christopher Beckwith would have seen as derived from the cultural mythos, but otherwise, this seems like a good account and is generally engaging and readable.

HAH! I finally finished A Suitable Boy (by Vikram Seth)! It took me one year, three weeks and two days to do it (3 weeks+ longer than I had originally planned as a year long read along for 2019); But I did it!

I have to admit that on page 1,415 when something of particular import happened, I was so upset, I not only nearly threw the book at the wall, but I actually considered with not finishing it at all! But I did finish it and overall I'm glad I did. There was a lot of pageantry, adventure, political machinations and, overall exposure to Indian culture and history that made it worth the read.

Will I read 'A Suitable Girl', the long anticipated jump sequel when/if it is ever published? We'll see;-)

>63 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Hooray! I read it years ago and remembering loving it. I WILL read it again one day. I, too, am wondering if there really is a sequel as it has been promised for so long!

>63 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congrats! I want to read it, but so far, there is no ebook and the font on the print book is too small for me. Good job!

I finished The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan. This in-depth look at Afghani women in this patriarchal society is fascinating, horrifying, and well worth reading. In researching this book, Nordberg also included a lot of side information about the history of that region, other male dominated groups, gender identity around the world and advocacy. Great read...4* for me.

>63 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congratulations on getting this done. I read it for the group read a few years back and loved it for the wide scope of plot.

>63 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Congratulations on finishing A Suitable Boy! I am eagerly awaiting the sequel myself, though I fear it may never appear.

For this challenge, I decided to cook a recipe from an Early Reviewers book that I'd received several years ago. This is the "Red Pepper and Mushroom Pilaf", an Armenian recipe, from The Silk Road Gourmet by Laura Kelley.



I've also started My Name is Parvana, the fourth book in the young-adult Parvana series by Deborah Ellis, set in Afghanistan.

>68 mathgirl40: This looks delicious! It reminds me that it's been ages since I cooked my personal, easy take of the pulau, the Indian version of pilav with cloves and cinnamon.

>68 mathgirl40: How cool!

I finished Disappearing earth, set on the Russian peninsular of Kamchatka, on the Pacific coast. It would have been significantly better without the last chapter, which really got up my nose.

I have finished my book for January's GeoCat: When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi was an excellent read.

I also read Caravans by James Michener which is set in Afghanistan.

Hamid Ismailov is an Uzbek author and his book The dead lake is set in Kazakhstan. I wasn't aware that the soviet regime had used a region of Kazakhstan steppe as a nuclear test site for 40 years, even though the region was (probably sparsely) inhabited. The book is placed in this region and tells the story of Yerzhan, a precocious boy whose growth stops at 12 years old due to radiation exposure. The story reads like a tale, with Yerzhan telling his story to a traveller in a train, and the traveller imagining part of the end of the story, which is a type of open ending I haven't seen before.
I read the French translation of the English translation and it was very beautifully written and poetic. It's a very short book (less than 150 pages) that completely immersed me in its story telling. Highly recommended.

>74 chlorine: Wow! That sounds great!

(LOL, I just checked: The Kindle edition is $4.99 and the paperback is $318.80--- I'll be e-booking this one! :-) )

>69 chlorine: That pulau sounds yummy! Also, The Dead Lake sounds really interesting.

>70 Tess_W: Thanks!

I finished My Name is Parvana, the final book in Deborah Ellis's Breadwinner series. I highly recommend this award-winning YA series, and I found out that Ellis has been donating royalties from My Name is Parvana to a fund that supports education for women and children in Afghanistan.

>75 Tanya-dogearedcopy: Wow out of print books sometimes do reach absurd prices! Yay for ebooks!

>76 mathgirl40: Is this story inspired by a real character?

I finished Orphan of Islam a non-fiction account of a child born of Pakistani father & English mother who spent a considerable portion of his childhood in Pakistan. Not an easy read, by any means, his childhood amounts to nothing short of religious and cultural sanctioned child abuse. The story ends when he is aged 16 and, to some extent, that's when I think it becomes interesting - how does he reinvent himself to become the person he is now after such an unauspicious beginning.

>79 Helenliz: that one goes on my wishlist!

Thank you all for participating in the January GeoCat. I got way too many BB's!

>78 chlorine: I don't think the book was based on a specific character, but I'd read that Ellis spent time in Afghanistan interviewing girls and women, so the book is probably based on their experiences.

My last book for January was The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall a fun mystery set in India. It's the first in a series and I'll be watching out for the next one.

A little behind, but I did manage to finish A House Without Windows by Nadia Hashimi for the January GeoCAT. Overall, a powerful tale of human rights abuse in modern Afghanistan, where a legal and social system is still deeply influenced by older, traditional beliefs, even in the face of change.

>83 VivienneR: That's such a fun series. I thought I had read all of them, but just discovered a new one came out last year. Hopefully I can get to it at some point this year.

Better late than never, I finally just finished my read for the January GeoCAT! Water Runs Slow Through Flat Land is the story of a journalist who ends up abducted in Afghanistan.

Adding one more book: The Strangler Vine is a historical mystery set in India in 1837 and so much better than my first choice for this challenge.

I didn't read it for this challenge, but I can recommend She-merchants, buccaneers and gentlewomen : the lives and times of British women in India 1600-1900 for anyone wanting a wide rangin view of the British female experience in India.

>88 Helenliz: I saw your review on your thread, one to keep in mind!