MissBrangwen travels on the pages

I have been fascinated by the global readings going on around LT for a long time, but I cannot deal with the commitment of more monthly challenges, so I was thrilled when I found this one. It is perfect for me - a long list and the ability to fill it at leisure, over time.

Because I couldn't decide which list or which countries to use, I ultimately decided to use a UN+ list I found online.

Update April 2024: I found the methods of my thread a bit too complicated in the long run, so I decided to simplify a lot of things.

Update August 2024: I revamped my thread yet again and now I am finally satisfied with it!

My rules as of August 2024 are to read books (fiction, non-fiction or poetry) set or at least firmly rooted in the country and by an author from that country (by birth, nationality or family). I don't list each and every book, especially when it comes to places like Germany, the UK or the US, but only those that feel representative and really show something about the country.
The only exception when it comes to native authors is Antarctica since it does not have a native population.
If I read more books by the same author, I list them behind the author's name, but I do not count them.
The challenge is completed for a specific country when I have read five books by different authors for that country, but I add more books when I read more.

This is the first time I am doing a challenge where books are counted that I have already read, so I decided to start from November 2006 - this was the most significant month in my life until I met my husband: I traveled to Australia for the very first time, and it was also my first trip on my own and my first ever trip on a plane. It changed my life!
When I came back in 2007, I became seriously interested in other countries for the first time and the same year I started uni and began to read literature apart from genre fiction. So I think using November 2006 as a starting point really fits.

Countries completed:

Australia
Austria
Canada
England
Germany
Ireland
Scotland
Thailand
United States
Wales

Abkhazia

Afghanistan

Aland Islands

Albania

Algeria

American Samoa

Andorra

Angola

Anguilla

Antarctica

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Armenia

Artsakh

Aruba

Ascension

Australia - visited - completed
1. Mark Peel - A Little History of Australia
2. Nugi Garimara - Rabbit-proof Fence; Under The Wintamarra Tree; Caprice - A Stockman's Daughter (Martu)
3. Richard Broome - Aboriginal Australians
4. Sally Morgan - My Place (Bailgu)
5. Herb Wharton - Cattle Camp (Kooma)
6. Bronwyn Rivers - The Reunion
7. Amanda Lohrey - Vertigo
8. Boori Monty Pryor - Maybe Tomorrow (Birri Gubba / Kunggandji)

Austria - visited - completed
1. Hugo von Hofmannsthal - Der Schwierige; Der Rosenkavalier
2. Arthur Schnitzler - Lieutnant Gustl; Reigen; Traumnovelle
3. Adalbert Stifter - Das Heidedorf
4. Marlen Haushofer - Die Wand
5. Stefan Zweig - Schachnovelle
6. Franz Grillparzer - Der arme Spielmann

Azerbaijan

Bahamas

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belarus

Belgium - visited

Belize

Benin

Bermuda

Bhutan

Bolivia

Bonaire

Bosnia and Herzegovina
1. Melina Borčak - Guidelines for Accurate Reporting and Speaking about the Genocide in Srebrenica
2. Mirsada Simchen-Kahrimanović - Lauf, Mädchen, lauf!
3. Hasan Hasanović - Srebrenica. Kein Vergessen. Kein Vergeben.

Botswana

Brazil

British Virgin Islands

Brunei

Bulgaria - visited
1. Fedia Filkova - Nachtgras

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cabo Verde

Cambodia - visited
1. Santel Phin - Cambodia In My Dream

Cameroon

Canada - completed
1. Thomas King - Medicine River; Green Grass, Running Water
2. George Elliot Clarke - Whylah Falls
3. Stephen Leacock - Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
4. Hugh McLennan - Barometer Rising; Two Solitudes; The Precipice
5. Mordecai Richler - The Incomparable Atuk
6. Joy Kogawa - Obasan
7. Rudy Wiebe - A Discovery of Strangers; Sweeter Than All The World
8. Aritha van Herk - No Fixed Address
9. Margaret Atwood - Alias Grace
10. Dionne Brand - What We All Long For
11. Louise Penny - Chief Inspector Armand Gamache {1-3}
12. Waubgeshig Rice - Moon of the Crusted Snow (Anishinaabe)

Cayman Islands

Central African Republic

Chad

Chechen Republic

Chile

China

Christmas Island

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Colombia

Comoros

Congo, Republic of

Cook Islands

Costa Rica

Cote D'Ivoire

Crimea

Crotia

Cuba

Curaçao

Cyprus

Czech Republic - visited
1. Tomáš Halík - Das Geheimnis der Weihnacht

Dagestan Republic

Democratic Republic of Congo

Denmark - visited
1. Peter Høeg - Fräulein Smillas Gespür für Schnee
2. Katrine Engberg - Krokodilwächter; Blutmond

Djibouti

Dominica
1. Jean Rhys - Till September Petronella

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

England - visited - completed
1. Jane Austen - Northanger Abbey; Emma; Pride and Prejudice; Persuasion; Sense and Sensibility; Mansfield Park
2. Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre; Shirley; The Professor
3. D.H. Lawrence - The Rainbow; Sons and Lovers; Women in Love; Stories, Essays and Poems; Lady Chatterley's Lover; The Trespasser
4. Emily Brontë - Wuthering Heights
5. George Eliot - The Mill on the Floss; Silas Marner; Middlemarch; The Lifted Veil
6. Mary Shelley - Mathilda
7. Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall; Agnes Grey
8. Elizabeth Gaskell - Mary Barton; Ruth; Cousin Phillis
9. Maria Edgeworth - Helen
10. Ellen Wood - East Lynne
11. Christopher Lee - This Sceptred Isle
12. Mary Wollstonecraft - Mary; Maria or The Wrongs of Woman
13. Charles Dickens - Oliver Twist; David Copperfield; The Great Winglebury Duel
14. Anthony Trollope - The Warden
15. Thomas Hardy - Far From The Madding Crowd
16. John Preston - The Dig
17. Samuel Pepys - The Great Fire of London
18. Julian Barnes - The Sense Of An Ending
19. Sebastian Faulks - A Week In December
20. Louisa Young - My Dear I Wanted To Tell You
21. Alice Oseman - Heartstopper Vol. 1
22. James Herriot - All Creatures Great And Small
23. Alexis Hall - Glitterland
24. Edward Thomas - One Green Field

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Estonia

Eswatini

Ethiopia

Falklands

Faroe Islands

Fiji

Finland

France - visited
1. Leïla Slimani - Lullaby
2. Jules Verne - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea

French Guiana

French Polynesia

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany - home country - completed
1. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing - Emilia Galotti; Minna von Barnhelm; Miss Sara Sampson
2. Friedrich Schiller - Kabale und Liebe; Die Räuber
3. Heinrich L. Wagner - Die Kindermörderin
4. Theodor Fontane - Effi Briest; Der Stechlin; Irrungen Wirrungen; Unterm Birnbaum
5. Annette von Droste-Hülshoff - Die Judenbuche
6. Georg Büchner - Woyzeck; Lenz / Der hessische Landbote
7. Frank Wedekind - Frühlings Erwachen
8. Johann Wolfgang Goethe - Die Leiden des jungen Werthers; Götz von Berlichingen; Die Wahlverwandtschaften; Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre; Novelle / Das Märchen; Gedichte
9. Heinrich Heine - Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen
10. Bernhard Schlink - Der Vorleser
11. Christa Wolf - Störfall; Nachdenken über Christa T.; Kein Ort. Nirgends
12. Arno Holz - Die Familie Selicke
13. Friedrich Hebbel - Maria Magdalena
14. Thomas Brussig - Am kürzeren Ende der Sonnenallee
15. Heinrich von Kleist - Prinz Friedrich von Homburg; Der zerbrochene Krug; Michael Kohlhaas
16. Ingo Schulze - Simple Storys: Ein Roman aus der ostdeutschen Provinz
17. Theodor Storm - Der Schimmelreiter; Immensee; Der Doppelgänger; Aquis Submersus; Eine Halligfahrt; Pole Poppenspäler; Bulemanns Haus
18. Kurt Tucholsky - Rheinsberg
19. Stefanie de Velasco - Tigermilch
20. Peter Prange - Das Bernstein-Amulett
21. Gerhart Hauptman - Der Biberpelz; Bahnwärter Thiel
22. Bov Bjerg - Auerhaus
23. Ulla Hahn - Das verborgene Wort
24. Kevin Kuhn - Hikikomori
25. Louise Aston - Wilde Rosen / Meine Emancipation
26. Stefanie Zweig - Irgendwo in Deutschland
27. Alfred Andersch - Der Vater eines Mörders
28. Friedrich Maximilian Klinger - Das leidende Weib
29. Petra Oelker - Drei Wünsche
30. Jasmina Kuhnke - Schwarzes Herz

Ghana

Gibraltar

Greece - visited
1. Ahmet Yorulmaz - Children of War

Greenland

Grenada

Guadeloupe

Guam

Guatemala

Guernsey

Guinea

Guinea-Bissau

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Hong Kong - visited

Hungary - visited
1. György Dalos - Ungarn in der Nussschale

Iceland
1. Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - Thóra Guðmundsdóttir {1-5}
2. Ragnar Jónasson - Dunkel

India
1. Rupi Kaur - Milk and Honey

Indonesia

Ingushetia

Iran
1. Shida Bazyar - Nachts ist es leise in Teheran

Iraq

Iraqi Kurdistan

Ireland - visited - completed
1. Maeve Binchy - Scarlet Feather; Quentins; The Return Journey; The Lilac Bus; Echoes; This Year It Will Be Different
2. Catherine Doyle - The Storm Keeper's Island
3. Sally Rooney - Normal People
4. Dervla McKiernan - The Ruin; The Sisters; The Roommate
5. Roddy Doyle - A Star Called Henry

Isle of Man

Israel

Italy - visited

Jamaica

Japan
1. Shoji Morimoto - Rental Person Who Does Nothing

Jersey

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Kenya

Kiribati

Korea, North

Korea, South
1. Han Kang - Die Vegetarierin
2. Yi Munyol - Der Dichter

Kosovo

Kuwait

Kyrgyszan

Laos - visited

Latvia

Lebanon

Lesotho

Liberia

Libya

Liechtenstein - visited

Lithuania - visited
1. Ruta Sepetys - Between Shades Of Gray
2. Alvydas Šlepikas - In The Shadow Of Wolves
3. Žemaitė - Tofylis, or The Marriage of Zosė
4. Czesław Miłosz - Die Straßen von Wilna

Luxemburg - visited

Macau

Madagascar

Malawi

Malaysia - visited
1. Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain

Maldives

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Martinique

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mayotte

Mexico

Micronesia

Moldova

Monaco - visited

Mongolia

Montenegro
1. Milena Petrović-Njegoš Thompson - My Father, the Prince

Montserrat

Morocco

Mozambique

Myanmar

Namibia

Nauru

Nepal

Netherlands - visited
1. Geert Mak - Amsterdam
2. Guus Kuijer - Wir alle für immer zusammen
3. Marcel Prins and Peter Henk Steenhuis (ed.) - Versteckt wie Anne Frank
4. Gerbrand Bakker - Birnbäume blühen weiß

New Caledonia

New Zealand
1. Katherine Mansfield - The Garden Party and Other Stories

Nicaragua

Niger

Nigeria
1. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Dear Ijeawele

Niue

Norfolk Island

North Macedonia

Northern Cyprus

Northern Ireland - visited

Northern Mariana Islands

Norway

Oman

Pakistan
1. Mohsin Hamid - Exit West

Palau

Palestine

Panama

Papua New Guinea

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines
1. José Rizal - Noli Me Tangere

Pitcairn

Poland
1. Jurek Becker - Jakob der Lügner
2. Andrzej Sapkowski - Der letzte Wunsch

Portugal

Puerto Rico

Puntland

Reunion

Romania - visited
1. Herta Müller - Herztier
2. Ioana Pârvulescu - Life Begins on Friday
3. Catalin Dorian Florescu - Der Feuerturm
4. Bogdan Suceavă - Miruna, A Tale

Russia
1. Alexander Pushkin - The Queen of Spades
2. Anton Chekhov - Die Dame mit dem Hündchen

Rwanda

Saba

Sahrawi

Saint Helena

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Martin

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

Saint Vincent and The Grenadines

Saint-Bathélemy

Samoa

San Marino

Sao Tome and Principe

Saudi Arabia

Scotland - visited - completed
1. Lin Anderson - Rhona MacLeod {0.5-2}
2. Val McDermid - Karen Pirie {1-3}
3. Neil Oliver - A History of Scotland
4. Muriel Spark - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
5. Ian Rankin - Inspector Rebus {1-9}
6. George Mackay Brown - Andrina and Other Stories
7. Peter May - The Blackhouse
8. Robert Louis Stevenson - Kidnapped
9. Daniel Burnstone (ed.) - Robert Burns (Illustrated Poets)

Senegal

Serbia
1. Melinda Nadj Abonji - Tauben fliegen auf

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Singapore

Saint Eustatius

Sint Maarten

Slovakia - visited

Slovenia

Salomon Islands

Somalia

Somaliland

South Africa
1. Zoë Wicomb - David's Story

South Ossetia

South Sudan

Spain - visited

Spitsbergen

Sri Lanka

Sudan

Suriname

Sweden - visited
1. Stieg Larsson - Verblendung
2. Henning Mankell - Kurt Wallander {1-4}
3. Åke Edwardson - Erik Winter {1-2}

Switzerland - visited
1. Friedrich Dürrenmatt - Die Physiker; Der Besuch der alten Dame
2. Max Frisch - Biedermann und die Brandstifter; Homo faber
3. Gottfried Keller - Kleider machen Leute; Romeo und Julia auf dem Dorfe

Syria
1. Samar Yazbek - The Crossing
2. Samer - The Raqqa Diaries

Taiwan - visited
1. Shawna Yang Ryan - Green Island

Tajikistan

Tanzania

Thailand - visited - completed
1. Kirsten Ritscher (ed.) - Thailand fürs Handgepäck
2. Veeraporn Nitiprapha - The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth
3. Pitchaya Sudbanthad - Bangkok Wakes To Rain
4. Thanorm Maha-Paoraya - An Elephant Named Maliwan
5. Rattawut Lapcharoensap - Sightseeing

Tibet

Timor Leste

Togo

Tokelau

Tonga

Transnistria

Trinidad and Tobago

Tristan de Cunha

Tunisia

Turkey

Turkmenistan

Turks and Caicos

Tuva Republic

Tuvalu

Uganda

Ukraine

United Arab Emirates

United States - completed
1. Charlotte Perkins Gilman - The Yellow Wallpaper
2. Louise Erdrich - Love Medicine; Tracks (Ojibwe)
3. Willa Cather - The Professor's House; My Antonía
4. Henry James - The Bostonians; The Romance of Certain Old Clothes
5. F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
6. Barack Obama - Dreams From My Father; The Audacity of Hope
7. Jandy Nelson - I'll Give You The Sun
8. Tayari Jones - An American Marriage
9. The Constitution of the United States
10. Kamala Harris - The Truths We Hold
11. Tom Hanks - Uncommon Type
12. Sandra Dallas - A Quilt For Christmas
13. John Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men
14. Amanda Gorman - Call Us What We Carry
15. Mason Deaver - I Wish You All The Best
16. Washington Irving - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
17. Abraham Verghese - Abscond
18. Rainbow Rowell - Slow Dance

United States Virgin Islands

Uruguay

Uzbekistan

Vanuatu

Vatican

Venezuela

Vietnam - visited

Wales - visited - completed
1. J. Graham Jones - History of Wales
2. Jan Morris - A Writer's House in Wales
3. Wynford Vaughan-Thomas - Wales: A History
4. Dylan Thomas - Under Milk Wood; A Child's Christmas in Wales
5. Siôn T. Jobbins - The Welsh National Anthem: Its Story, Its Meaning

Wallis and Futuna

Zambia

Zimbabwe

I want to add that Annie's thread was a great inspiration for what I did in my own thread, both the original organisation and the first update! Lisa's thread inspired me to the third revamp - thank you both!

Extra (in case I wish to add anything else at a later point)

Extra

Extra

Welcome, Miss Brangwen! Looks like you're off to a good start and I'm looking forward to practising my German a little bit with your books!

>29 MissBrangwen: The set-up really does take a while, doesn't it?

I finally decided to go with listing one book for every country I could and then I'll slowly backfill the rest. For example, in December read a book set in India, by an Indian author, but I knew I had already read many books for that country and instead filled in the category with the various read 1001-books.

Welcome to the group! I like the low-pressure nature of this challenge too!

>33 Cecilturtle: Yes, there are a few German and Austrian publishers specializing in travel books, that is why there are so many German titles on this list! Generally I read more English than German books, but not when it comes to travel or history books.

>34 ELiz_M: That sounds like a good approach!

>35 Jackie_K: Oh yes, that is really nice, isn't it?

>2 MissBrangwen: I love the story behind your start date

>37 labfs39: Thank you! It is a period of time that is dear and special to me.

Under my new rules I am not counting Der Ritter mit der Web-Adresse - Walisische Panoramen by Michael Bengel, but I am leaving the review here.

"Der Ritter mit der Web-Adresse - Walisische Panoramen" by Michael Bengel
Publisher Series: Lesereisen
This collection first published in 2006
Picus Verlag
Hardcover, 132pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

This book is part of the publisher series Lesereisen ("reading journeys") by the Austrian publisher Picus Verlag. The series contains many, many books on different places in the world, all of them feasible travel destinations, and each book containing essays or short reports about the place written by one contemporary author. I like this series a lot and although it is not my aim to collect all of the books, I often buy books about places I have already traveled to or plan to visit in the near future.
This book is about Wales and while I liked it, it fell a bit behind others I have read before. There are thirteen essays/reports that all have previously been published in German newspapers and magazines.
The essays range from descriptions of activities and places to more historic overviews. Of course, my favourite ones were the one on Hay-on-Wye - the town of books! - and the one on Welsh writers, which was mostly about Dylan Thomas and Roald Dahl. I also liked the chapter on Bodnant Garden because I loved my visit there in 2016.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this, but I would have liked a bit more emotion and a bit more enthusiasm for Wales and the places featured in the book. The reason for this is probably that I enjoyed my two trips to Wales a lot and while the author seems to be fascinated with Welsh history and trivia, I think he should have included more about the sheer beauty of that country and the kindness of the Welsh people - at least that is what I experienced.

Under my new rules I am not counting Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee by Klaus Scherer, but I am leaving the review here.

"Auf der Datumsgrenze durch die Südsee" by Klaus Scherer
First published in 2005
Malik/National Geographic
Paperback, 155pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Klaus Scherer travelled along the date line as a reporter with his camera man and his sound man to produce a TV documentation about the islands located along the line. Afterwards, he published this book. It is written in diary format, with an entry for each of the 46 days of the trip. They start in New Zealand and travel by plane, stopping at the Cook Islands, American Samoa, Niue, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Wallis, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and Hawaii.
What sounds like the boasting adventure of three white men who deem themselves "well traveled" is in fact a very thoughtful and reflective text that also provides a lot of information about the history of these islands. Scherer's style is effortless and very readable, and he comes across as someone caring about the people he meets and reflecting both on the places he visits as well as on his role as a traveler and the limits of it. The topics he covers are various: He describes beautiful places and wonderful adventures such as diving with whales, seeing marvelous coral reefs and visiting picture-perfect beaches. But he also does not shy away from the topic of colonization and the effects it still has, from aspects like climate change and pollution, and the consequences of the nuclear tests conducted at the Bikini Atoll. Scherer studied sociology, so the structures of society and family often play a role, too.
Scherer shows that while these islands are often portrayed as a kind of paradise, it may not always be so for the people living there, many of them leaving to Australia and other places to get jobs, and some of them torn between the possibilities, or the lack of precisely those.
The book was first published in 2005, so I was aware that things will have changed since then, especially when it comes to the pressure imposed by climate change, but probably other factors, too. It is also apparent in the choice of some colonial words that probably wouldn't be used today.
Altogether, this was a rewarding read that was much better than I expected and I will look out for more by this author.

A note to myself about Fiji:
The chapter on Denarau explains about the divide of the people living there - original inhabitants and the Indian population, descendants of workers from India who were forced to work on the sugar plantations in Fiji during British colonial rule. There are also reflections on Bula.
On Viti Levu, the three men take part in an adventurous rafting trip, meeting local people along the way, and the author asks the guide about the monarchy.
The chapter on Taveuni is a mixed bag of different aspects such as memories of his first trip to the island to film the first sunset of the millennium, an interview with the Indian owner of a local shop, and problems they have with their next flight because of a strike.

>41 MissBrangwen: Interesting, I know nothing about the history of Fiji.

>42 labfs39: Yes, I was surprised by some of the facts, too! I knew that a lot of Indians live there because I read a travel blog about it some years ago. But I had no clue about the reasons or how they came to be there.

I finished my first book for New Zealand! This is a category A read because Katherine Mansfield was born in Wellington and grew up there. Several of the stories collected in The Garden Party and Other Stories are clearly set in New Zealand, while a few take place in England and some do not seem to have a specific setting.



New Zealand

"The Garden Party and Other Stories" by Katherine Mansfield
First published in 1922
Penguin Modern Classics
Paperback, 255 pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

I am so happy that I discovered Katherine Mansfield as a writer because I adore the stories in this volume. They have so much real feeling, they are so true to life and character, and I was drawn into most of them with such force. The majority are somewhat sad and deal with insecurities, loss, hope and flawed dynamics between family members or couples - but always with such subtlety and from a cautious and nuanced point of view.
Another aspect I liked is that it is evident that Mansfield experimented with different structures and forms, so the writing is more varied. This is most striking in the last story in the collection, "The Lady's Maid", which is told from the point of view of a maid who talks to a visitor - it is a dialogue, but the questions and answers of the visitor are left blank, so that the text reads almost like an inner monologue.
Of course there are a few stories that I liked less than others, but most of them are short masterpieces, and I felt like discovering one gem after the other, admiring Mansfield's observation, her ability to characterize so unobtrusively, yet so on point.
The stories that are most remarkable to me are: "Marriage à la Mode", "The Voyage", "Her First Ball", "The Stranger" and "An Ideal Family".

Today I finished my first book for Iceland! Das glühende Grab was written by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, an Icelandic author, and takes place on the Westman Islands. The real events of the eruption of the Eldfell volcano play an important role in the story. The following evacuations as well as the impact these had on the local population are described, too. All this was new to me and led me to some further online research.

I bought the first three books of the series and intended to start with the first, but somehow I confused them and read this one, the third book. It did not matter, though, because the story did not lack any necessary info and it was possible to understand the plot easily without previous knowledge.

The English title of this book is Ashes to Dust and the main character is called Thóra, but it is Dóra in the German version, so I am sticking to that one because I don't want to confuse myself.



Iceland

"Das glühende Grab" by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Series: Thóra Guðmundsdóttir
Original Title: Aska
First published in 2007
S. Fischer Verlag
Hardcover, 365pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

Strong trigger warning for eating disorder (not for this review, but for the book - a supporting character has an eating disorder and it is described in detail).

This is the first Icelandic novel that I have read, and I enjoyed many things about it. It mainly takes place on the island of Heimaey in the Westman Islands. Large areas of the island were buried by lava and ashes when a volcano erupted in 1973. Now some of the houses are excavated as part of an archaeological project. A local man tries to prevent the excavation of his old family home. Dóra, the main character of the series, is his lawyer. However, things do not look good at all when the house is excavated after all and three bodies are found there, plus another severed head in a box...
As you can see, the case is quite gory and I could have done with less details and less blood. However, the story was exciting and I enjoyed the twists and turns, and trying to solve the riddle with Dóra. She goes deep into the history of the island and its families, uncovering secrets and old stories, feuds and alliances. The historic events surrounding the eruption of the Eldfell are real and it seems to me that the research was well done. This gave the novel an authentic feeling and an interesting backdrop going further than just the crime story.
The reason that I cannot give it four stars is that some characters felt very flat and sometimes I was annoyed because the police, and Dóra, seemed a little blind to the obvious. There is also a lot of focus on appearances, especially women's bodies, and while the novel might simply show its age, it still felt unnecessary.
All in all, while it is not a masterpiece, it was a quick and easy read that kept me turning page after page, and I am looking forward to reading the first book of the series when I need a read like that again.

>45 MissBrangwen: Congrats on your first Icelandic book. I love the cover. I don't read a lot of crime novels, but I like the setting and idea of the archaeological dig.

I absolutely love Katherine Mansfield! I'm glad you discovered her!

>46 labfs39: Thank you! Yes, the setting and the dig made this novel a bit more special than others!

>47 Cecilturtle: Thank you - I am so glad, too! It is always wonderful to discover a new favourite author, isn't it?

Under my new rules I am not counting Malaysia - The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture by Victor King, but I am leaving the review here.

"Malaysia - The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture" by Victor King
Publisher Series: Culture Smart!
First published in 2021 (?)
Kuperard
Paperback, 200pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

Victor King is a professor with a long professional history concerning South East-Asian Studies. His book about Malaysia covers a lot ob subjects, divided into nine chapters: Land and people - Values and attitudes - Religion and festivals - Meeting the Malaysians - The Malaysians at home - Time out - Travel, health and safety - Business briefing - Communicating. While most of the chapters were very interesting, there were some that were a little too detailed, which made it hard to grasp the essential aspects. It is also aimed a little more at expats and business travelers rather than tourists, which made some parts of the content not that interesting to me, but I skipped some of those (for example, how to behave at a business lunch).
All in all, though, the book was very interesting and made me understand some of things I experienced during the trip a little better: For example, seeing the foodcourts packed with people who gathered there with the whole family, everyone respectfully calling my husband "Sir" all the time, the stylish and chic clothing of most people in the cities. The chapter on Malay English was also very helpful - while most people spoke "normal" English to us, there were a few phrases I didn't know and because I had read this book I wasn't surprised and understood them at once.
Still, although this book is interesting and helpful, I cannot help but cringe a little because it was written by a British professor, explaining the culture of the Malaysian people to other (presumably) inhabitants of the global north. He comes across as a bit patronizing from time to time. And although I do read books like this I am wondering if it wouldn't be possible to find a Malaysian or someone of Malaysian heritage to write this, and to make these books "own voices books" in general.
The author also seems to be a bit absolute sometimes, making very clear statements that leave little doubt or room for questioning (all Malaysians are like this... if you do this, then that and that will happen...) - I am criticizing this style of writing because I think that culture is not that absolute, and it is a bit daring to write like that especially if you are not writing about your own culture. It would have been better to add an In my experience... from time to time.
To conclude, despite these flaws this book was helpful and I do not regret reading it.

Under my new rules I am not counting A Line To Kill by Anthony Horowitz, but I am leaving the review here.

"A Line To Kill" by Anthony Horowitz
Series: Hawthorne & Horowitz
First published in 2021
Penguin Books
Paperback, 375pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This is the third installment of the Hawthorne & Horowitz series. It takes place on the island of Alderney, a Channel Island that is part of the bailiwick of Guernsey. There are many descriptions of the island in the novel and its history plays an important part, too.
Alderney was under German occupation in World War Two and there were two work camps and two concentration camps. In "A Line To Kill", there are plans to build a new power line that will cut through a cemetery where victims of the occupation are buried. These plans divide the island's population and lead to a conflict about honoring the past vs. technical progress and financial gain. The murder that happens and is investigated by Hawthorne seems to be linked to this conflict.

"A Line To Kill" is my favourite installment of this series so far! The descriptions create a high sense of place and the history of the island is an important aspect in the plot, too.
Hawthorne and Horowitz travel there because they are guests of a local literary festival, but soon Horowitz suspects that Hawthorne may have his very own secret reasons for this journey. Then a murder happens, and nobody is allowed to leave the island...
The setting and plot feel very classic (of course it reminds the reader of Agatha Christie), and on the other hand, because of the characters and how they are portrayed, reading this felt like watching one of the earlier Midsomer Murders episodes (which is not a surprise considering Horowitz wrote many of those). Another aspect I liked was that this novel provides a lot of insight into the publishing world and the work of an author, into literary festivals and the process of getting a book out there. While it must of course be kept in mind that this is a novel and Horowitz writes about himself as a fictional character, it was nonetheless very interesting to me.
I enjoyed this novel very much and hope to read the fourth book of the series soon!

>50 MissBrangwen: This isn't my sort of book at all, but that's such a good review I'm tempted!

I've not been to Alderney, but I have a friend from Guernsey so went there in 2010 (I think it was) for her wedding, it's a lovely and interesting place. The underground hospital from the German occupation was both creepy and fascinating.

>51 Jackie_K: I hope you like it should you decide to pick it up! It is the third in the series, but that shouldn't matter, because previous events that are important for the plot are explained to the reader.

That sounds like a great trip! And the hospital sounds creepy indeed. I must admit that I shudder at the thought of such places.

I haven't updated my thread in ages, somehow I just didn't manage it! But now that the new year has started, I am intend on adding the remaining reviews from the last year, so there are a few to come. Those who follow my threads in other groups might have already seen all of these.

Tauben fliegen auf by Melinda Nadj Abonji (available in English as Fly Away, Pigeon) had been on my wish list for a long time. When I had to choose two books from a list of four for a new course I had to teach, and saw that this novel was on the list, I naturally chose it.

It is a bit hard to decide where to put this novel: The author was born in Vojvodina, then in Yugoslavia, now Serbia, and she belonged to the Hungarian minority. The family moved to Switzerland when she was five years old and she is a Swiss national now. I decided to count this novel for Serbia, though, because while the racism and discrimination occurring in Switzerland are a huge part of the novel, the events and descriptions of the Vojvodina are even more definitive.



Serbia

"Tauben fliegen auf" by Melinda Nadj Abonji
First published in 2010
dtv
Paperback, 315pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

Ildíko, the narrator of the novel, has a similar life story to the author - although it is not an autobiography, there are definitely some parallels. And the list of places - Vojvodina, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Serbia, Switzerland - might already show the reader that the question of belonging, of identity, is central to this novel and that it might not be easy to find an answer.

Ildíko tells her story in a stream of consciousness: Her old home in Vojvodina, and her wish that nothing will ever change there, and that her grandmother will always be there in her old house, a safe haven and anchor. There are those long-awaited visits home, full of bliss, but also of new disappointments when Ildíko and her sister learn that indeed they have changed, their perspective has changed, and they are seen in a different light now.
The parents' hopes when they come to Switzerland, disappointment and sorrow, feelings of guilt, fears because of the war. Above everything, there is the pressure to conform, to fit in, not to stand out - because it is the only way Ildíko's parents can see in order not to lose the only chance they have, the chance to build a life in this new country. But Ildíko and her sister slowly realize that it is not their way and that, like pigeons, they have to fly, to find their new identity in the in-between.

Chapter after chapter the reader gets more glimpses into Ildíko's everyday life, from one time of her life or the other: Parties and political discussions back in Vojvodina, the casual racism of the customers in the family's restaurant, conservations with her parents trying to make them understand her point of view, new freedoms, but also new conflicts. The stream of consciousness and many flash backs and time warps made it a bit hard to get into the narration at first, but after some time, I settled into it and appreciated the way the author tells this story: Directly, raw and emotional.

I feel like I cannot do this novel justice in my review, but I want to end with the statement that it will stay with me for a very long time.

>54 MissBrangwen: Somehow I missed this review earlier and am glad I saw it now, as it definitely going on my wishlist. Determining where to slot books is getting more and more difficult it seems, as authors (and people in general) are on the move.

>55 labfs39: I will be interested in your thoughts when you get around to it one day!

In October I finished another installment of the Thóra Guðmundsdóttir series by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Das gefrorene Licht. This one includes parts of Icelandic mythology and generally evokes a strong sense of place.
This novel is available in English as "My Soul To Take".



Iceland

"Das gefrorene Licht" by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Series: Thóra Guðmundsdóttir (2)
Original Title: Sér grefur gröf
First published in 2006
btb
e-book, 414pp.
Rating: 3 stars - ***

This crime novel sees Dóra, a divorced lawyer, traveling to the Icelandic coast where she stays in a hotel offering all kinds of esoteric services. The hotel's owner wants her to investigate a possible breach of contract concerning the sale of the land. He believes that the place is haunted. Dóra does not believe in ghosts, but she agrees to have a look at the problems because she could do with a little holiday... Her holiday turns out a bit more stressful than expected when the hotel's architect is found dead on the beach. Is the murder connected to a wartime story that Dóra finds some hints to? Is all this about land and money? Or is there really a ghost, returning from the dead each night?

It is hard for me to rate this novel because while I loved the setting and the case, Dóra got on my nerves in this one, as did her private life. In my view, her relationship to Matthias, a German banker whom she meets in book 1, is strange in this novel, and he adds nothing to the story. To my mind, Dóra acts weird about him, and the added plot line of her children just seems like a distraction and is over the top. This caused my enjoyment of the novel to dwindle, although I am not sure if some of it is down to the translation (the jokes, for example, might come across differently in Icelandic or English).
In contrast, I adored the bleak seaside setting, the rocky beach, the old farms with their desolate buildings and dark secrets. Although I am not an experienced reader of the genre, I believe that this setting is nordic noir at its best. The background stories of revenants and superstitions add to the eerie atmosphere.
The characters seemed very real to me and I enjoyed uncovering the secrets and different layers of this place's history with Dóra. However, I do think that the plot could have played out a little better and the investigation could have been more interesting. I was hoping for a little more excitement.

The Welsh National Anthem - Its Story, Its Meaning was written by Siôn T. Jobbins, a Welsh author.

On my first trip to Wales (in 2012) I spent St David's Day in Cardiff. I walked around the city enjoying the festive atmosphere, when I arrived on a square full of people who started to sing the Welsh anthem. I have never really been one for national anthems, and nationalism of any kind is not something that is close to me - but experiencing the singing of Hen Wlad fy Nhadau that day in Cardiff was one of my best travel moments. The memory still gives me goosebumps. It was simply beautiful. This anthem has been my favourite anthem ever since.
Four years later I traveled to Wales again and spotted this small book about the anthem in the souvenir shop of Pembroke Castle, and of course I had to buy it.



Wales

"The Welsh National Anthem - Its Story, Its Meaning" by Siôn T. Jobbins
First published in 2013
Y Lolfa
Paperback, 62pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This is a very short book and a quick read, but it still manages to pack quite a lot of content. After a short introduction, the author starts by the creation of the original song, its development and how it gained the form it has today. He then traces its history through concerts, rugby and football matches and other events until it was established as the official national anthem of Wales. There is a short chapter on the composers, Evan and James James (yes, that is his name!), and another one on versions of this anthem in other countries and nations. The last chapter is a line by line explanation and interpretation of the anthem, followed by a sheet of music, the Welsh text, an English translation and a phonetic version.

I read this book with interest and while I have some basic knowledge of Welsh history, I learned some interesting facts that I did not know about and refreshed my memory of other aspects. The book is entertaining but not sloppy. The author is one of the co-founders of YesCymru, so of course he has a strong viewpoint of Welsh independence and especially the Welsh language. He does not hide that he is not an admirer of the British Royal Family. I found it interesting to learn about his points of view in the light of the discussions following Prince William becoming the new Prince of Wales.

On a trip to Ireland in October I wished to read a crime novel set there and found a blogpost listing several options. The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan appealed to me at once and it did not disappoint at all.



Ireland

"The Ruin" by Dervla McTiernan
Series: Cormac Reilly (1)
First published in 2018
Sphere
ebook, 380pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Cormac Reilly has recently relocated to Galway from Dublin, where he was a member of a highly specialized unit. Now he has to get used to working in a rather usual station again and needs to adapt to a new team. So far, he has only been assigned cold cases, which is rather boring, until one pops up that was his own case many years ago... One chilly night, he was sent to a disrepaired house where the mother of two neglected children had died, apparently from a drug overdose. Reilly traveled to the hospital with the two pitiful children, only for one of them to disappear and never to be found again.

The other main character is Aisling Conroy, a young doctor hoping for a glittering career, when her boyfriend is found dead in the Corrib river. His death is quickly ruled a suicide. Aisling cannot really believe that, but does not see any other way. She throws herself into her work again and tries to come to terms with what happened, but then things take a turn...

This novel totally gripped me and the characters and events haunted me whenever I was not reading. I liked how the author combined two genres - it is one part police procedural and one part thriller, and the cold case part as well as the recent mystery are equally compelling. The only aspect that I found wanting was the ending because it felt a bit too rushed, as if the author suddenly had the need to finish. It could have been a bit longer and more detailed.

The Galway/Ireland setting is something out of the ordinary, at least for me. The author also succeeds in introducing social topics and aspects of Irish history into the novel without overdoing it or overshadowing the plot or the characters.

I am happy that I discovered this series and hope to read the second installment soon!

I first read A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle when the German translation was published in 2000. I was fourteen or fifteen at the time and was a bit disappointed. My mom worked in a bookshop and had given it to me because I loved the Maeve Binchy novels and devoured all books set in Celtic places, but I must admit that A Star Called Henry went right over my head at the time, even though I had a basic knowledge of Irish history.
Looking for more novels set in Ireland but not wanting to read another crime novel, I came across this one and figured that it was time for the reread I had long envisioned, so I downloaded the original version to my kindle.



Ireland

"A Star Called Henry" by Roddy Doyle
Series: The Last Roundup (1)
First published in 1999
Vintage
ebook, 341pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

"A Star Called Henry" starts brilliantly. In the first part Henry remembers his childhood as a poor boy living in the slums of Dublin in the early 1900s. He narrates it tongue in cheek, unreliable, not sparing any details, but still full of heart and funny. The text is the saddest I have read for some time, but still I laughed out loud quite often.
In the next part, Henry is older and is caught up in the Easter Rising, and the subsequent parts deal with how the Irish revolution plays out and Henry's role in it. I am not writing in more detail to avoid spoilers.
In these parts, Henry is still the cheeky, courageous and overly self-assured person he once was, but I became a bit tired of this after a while and would have liked to see more development. There are a lot of sex scenes and also a lot of violence, and while I understand that this is a part of the story and the characterization, it was a bit too much for me.
The historical details play a big role as well and help paint a vivid picture of the time, although sometimes I got tired of some of the military (or rather paramilitary) aspects.
Still, Henry is one of the most memorable characters I have read about so far. Doyle's usage of language is dazzling, and the dialogues are witty and poignant. I hope to read much more of this writer in the future and am glad that I decided to give him another chance after my teenage self could not appreciate his writing.

On that same trip, I also read my first novel by Swedish writer Åke Edwardson.

The original title of this book is Dans med en ängel and the English version is Death Angels. The English version is probably cheaper because of the fixed book prices in Germany, but I prefer reading Nordic Noir in German.



Sweden

"Tanz mit dem Engel" by Åke Edwardson
Series: Erik Winter (1)
Original Title: Dans med en ängel
First published in 1997
List Verlag
ebook, 480pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

There were many excellent aspects in this novel, and others that were not so good, but altogether it was a fantastic reading experience.

To begin with, I really like the investigator in this novel. Erik Winter is in his late thirties, he has affairs with several women, and his parents are so wealthy that he does not have to work for a living, but only does so because he likes it. His lifestyle is very luxurious. All of this would usually make me loath the character, but somehow it is not so with Winter - because he has a lot of empathy, I like his work ethics, and he treats his fellow policemen rather well.

The story takes place in Göteborg where a young man from London is murdered in a hotel room. Shortly after, it is discovered that the same also happened reversed - a Swedish young man was killed in a hotel room in London. The murders are very gruesome and the police are at a loss.

Well, the plot is interesting, but what is even more striking is the language. In the beginning the author includes many metaphors and similes, the language is sometimes almost lyrical. It seems a bit too forced, though, and hems the reading flow. After a few chapters, this is toned down, and from then on I loved the language and the atmosphere it creates, creating pictures in my mind and slowing down the reading to make room for emotions like fear and uncertainty.
I became totally engrossed in this story and did not want to put it down. The language remains a bit uneven from time to time, but I am quite sure that it is due to the translation. Other reviewers have commented on that as well and I am happy to see that the translator (Wolfdietrich Müller) changes after the second book.

The only thing that could be improved is the ending because there are several investigation lines left hanging:
Why did the murderer wear a wig?
Why did he dance, or what else did the footprints signify?
What about the aspect of homosexuality? Was it a coincidence or does the murderer hate gay men?
What happened to the burglar who found the clothes?
Why did the murderer choose to kill in two cities, and why London and Göteborg? Was it just to confuse Winter? I thought there might be a deeper meaning.

I also think that the motive is too weak and could have been made stronger by giving more of a background story, by explaining more about the childhood/teenage stories of Winter and Bolger.

I have not read as much Nordic Noir as many others, but I do think that this is very good novel apart from the few points I mentioned above. I am looking forward to continuing with this series very much.

>59 MissBrangwen: Although I don't usually read police procedurals, your review has piqued my interest in this one.

>62 labfs39: I certainly enjoyed this one because of the Irish background and the atmosphere.

I read Nachts ist es leise in Teheran by Shida Bazyar and am using it as my first book for Iran. The author is German, but was born to Iranian parents. About 50% of the book take place in Iran, and the other chapters also heavily deal with it, although the family's experiences in Germany play a role, too.
As far as I can see, there are Dutch and French translations, but no English one so far. The meaning of the title is At night it is quiet in Teheran. The author, whose family has a similar background, was only 28 years old when the novel was published.



Iran

"Nachts ist es leise in Teheran" by Shida Bazyar
First published in 2016
Kiepenheuer & Witsch
Paperback, 275pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novel consists of four parts, each concentrating on a different member of one family, and each ten years apart. The story starts with Behsad, who is a communist revolutionist in 1979 Teheran, but whose hopes and ambitions are shattered. In the next part, told from his wife Nahid's perspective in 1989, the reader learns that the couple had to leave Iran and start a new life in Western Germany, struggling to come to terms with the cold language, the strange neighbors, the memories that hurt so much. Fast forward to 1999, there are reforms and new hopes in Iran, and through Laleh's (the daughter's) eyes the reader experience's her first visit back to Iran after she had to flee when she was just four years old. There is a wild mix of emotions, of feeling both like belonging while still being an outsider. Clashing expectations make this visit difficult, as well as questions about her own identity. And in 2009, there is Laleh's brother Mo who has only ever known Germany while still being read as non-German by most of the people he meets. He does not feel a connection to Iran until he is suddenly glued to his screen, watching YouTube streams and Facebook posts of the Green Revolution. When he sees his fellow students in Germany protesting against tuition fees and feeling smug about it, he cannot help but feel estranged from them, knowing that his relatives in Iran risk all they have for their protests, as did his parents in the 1970s.

The author includes a lot of aspects in this novel, she touches upon many subjects. The structure of four decades and four characters enables this, but it is also restricting because it means that some points of view are excluded. I would have liked to know more about how Behsad and Nahid felt in the end of the story, but this does not play a big role anymore in the end. While all characters are strong, Nahid was my favourite and I would have liked to learn more about her. I feel like I am craving more of a conclusion, but maybe that is not the point of the novel.

In the end, there is another short chapter, told from the youngest sister, Tara, who was born in Germany. There is no given year, but it is simply called an epilogue. Tara and her niece - the third generation of the family - return from holiday and learn that there has been a new revolution that has finally succeeded, and the novel ends in euphoria. Thinking about the current situation in Iran, this scene hit deep. It is a utopia, as this chapter must take place around 2030. I have no words except that I hope that it will become true, as soon as possible.

Dunkel by Ragnar Jónasson was published as The Darkness in English, the original, Icelandic title is Dimma. The German version was translated from the English text, not the original one.
Another Nordic Noir from Iceland - this one has a lot of description of the Icelandic mountains and lava landscapes, as well as the weather and the changing of the seasons.



Iceland

"Dunkel" by Ragnar Jónasson
Series: Hulda / Hidden Iceland
Original Title: Dimma
First published in 2015
btb
Paperback, 367pp.
Rating: 3 stars - ***

I am only lukewarm about this novel and will not continue with this series. There were some aspects that I enjoyed, most of all the wonderful descriptions of the landscapes of Iceland, which made we want to jump on a plane and travel there instantly. The main character, Hulda, a police officer who is just about to retire and is offered to look into one last cold case, is unusual and interesting. She chooses the death of a young asylum seeker which was quickly written off as a suicide. The book is a page turner. I read it very fast because I wanted to know what happened. The case itself was not the most gripping, but not boring either.
However, there were also a few aspects that were off-putting to me. Hulda is a difficult character and it was often hard to sympathize with her and to understand her actions. I also think that her character was not round and there are some contradictions which made the novel less credible. The most off-potting point, though, was the ending. Apparently Hulda dies in the end, the investigation comes to nothing, her body is not found. It is so frustrating! As far as I can see the trilogy moves backwards and the next book takes place fifteen years before, and the third one even further in the past. Why would I like to read more about a character who I know will meet a terrible end, and whose life held almost no joys? I learned online that there is a new series about her successor and that readers hope that there will be a book where he will find out what happened to her - maybe even find her alive somewhere - but as of now there is no real hint to that. I can see myself googling these spoilers in the future, or looking for them on LT, but I do not think that I will read more of this series, if anything by this author, although I have heard that the "Dark Iceland" series is supposed to be better.
I see that many readers love this book, but because of what I mentioned above, it is just not my cup of tea.

We have booked a trip to Lithuania for April, so I have been looking for books about this country and came across Between Shades Of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. She was born and has always lived in the US, but her parents are from Lithuania.



Lithuania

"Between Shades Of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
First published in 2011
Penguin Books
Paperback, 344pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

"Between Shades Of Gray" is classified as Young Adult, which is apparent in the language and the perspective of the main character, Lina, but this did not diminish the reading experience. In contrast, I felt that the character's voice was stronger and more authentic because of this because it was in line with her age.

Lina, her younger brother and her mother are deported from Kaunas in Lithuania to a work camp in Siberia. The novel relates the long journey in a cattle train to the camp, the events in the camp and more - I am not describing the further plot to avoid spoilers.
This book will stick with me for a very long time because of its characters, but also because I learned so much about the events under Stalin at the time. Of course I learned about it at school, but that was almost two decades ago, and the focus was not on the Baltic countries.

I read this almost in one sitting, within one day, because I just couldn't stop! The reason that it is not quite a five star read is because the ending felt a bit abrupt and I would have liked to meet Lina for real once more, and not only through the capsule that is found in the 1990s, although the afterword explains this choice. I also felt that sometimes Lina was a little bit too brave and adventurous to make it credible, and these were instance where it did indeed feel strongly like YA, but it is only a minor point of criticism in an otherwise excellent novel.

>59 MissBrangwen: That sounds interesting and also that it might work well as an audiobook.

>60 MissBrangwen: I read that years ago, but have held onto my copy in the hopes of someday reading the trilogy in one go.

>67 RidgewayGirl: I think so, too - its two short prequels were published as audiobooks only.

Under my new rules I am not counting Der eiserne Wolf im barocken Labyrinth - Erwachendes Vilnius by Cornelius Hell, but I am leaving the review here.

"Der eiserne Wolf im barocken Labyrinth - Erwachendes Vilnius" by Cornelius Hell
Publisher Series: Lesereisen
First published in 2009
Picus Verlag
Hardcover, 132pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

This book is part of the publisher series Lesereisen ("reading journeys") by the Austrian publisher Picus Verlag. The series contains many, many books on different places in the world, all of them feasible travel destinations, and each book containing essays or short reports about the place written by one contemporary author. I like this series a lot and although it is not my aim to collect all of the books, I often buy books about places I have already traveled to or plan to visit in the near future.
This one was even better than most others because the author, who is from Salzburg, has strong ties to Vilnius as opposed to only having traveled there a few times. He moved there in the 1980s to teach German at the university, learned Lithuanian, and has since then worked as a translator, traveling there at least once a year. His love for Vilnius and Lithuania shines through every page, although he also talks about negative aspects and is not shy to criticize when that is due. Weaving his personal experience over the years into the history of the city, telling stories about close friends while describing buildings, streets and other points of interest, he creates a vivid impression of the city. It was wonderful to read this book and learn about Lithuanian history as well as the Lithuanian language, the architecture of Vilnius and its culture. Sometimes the namedropping of the author became a bit much and I would have liked to learn a little more about the city in general than about his life, but that is just a minor point. I am glad that I read this and am now looking forward to the trip even more!

On my search for Lithuanian books, another one that frequently came up was In The Shadow Of Wolves by Alvydas Šlepikas. It was translated from Lithuanian to English by Romas Kinka.



Lithuania

"In The Shadow Of Wolves" by Alvydas Šlepikas
Original Title: Mano vardas - Marytė
First published in 2011
Oneworld
ebook, 146pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novel deals with the wolf children - Wolfskinder, German children who lived in Eastern Prussia shortly after World War Two and crossed into Lithuania to find food to survive, or even to bring back to their families. The story starts with one such family, a mother and her five children, who try to survive the first winter after the end of the war. They are under constant thread of starving or freezing to death, of being raped or killed. While at first the reader gets to know the situation mostly from the mother's point of view, the story then follows some of the children who go to Lithuania, crossing the wilderness and meeting locals to find food and shelter. Some are welcoming, others are not. While at first Lithuania seems like some kind of paradise, it soon becomes clear that the locals have their own problems, too.
Chapter after chapter loosely follow each other, and there is no considerable structure, which mirrors the existence of the characters who live from day to day because they cannot look further. The writing is beautiful in parts, reminiscent of a fairytale, but it is sparse and harsh in others. The author first intended this to become a documentary, and it still shows - I could imagine the scenes as a film, it is cinematographic in its descriptions, evoking haunting images in the reader's mind. The ending comes very sudden, which left me wanting more. Likewise, some characters just disappear from the story and the reader does not learn anymore about them. While this is unsatisfying, I think that again, it mirrors the experience of the characters, who lost family members or friends, sometimes by sheer accident, without any chance to learn about their fate.

>70 MissBrangwen: it is cinematographic in its descriptions

That's how I felt too. It's a book that has stayed with me, despite some construction flaws.

>71 labfs39: I agree. It definitely isn't perfect, but it makes a lasting impression.

I bought Tofylis, or The Marriage of Zosė by Žemaitė a couple of weeks ago in Vilnius because it caught my eye and looked like something I would like. I read it in one sitting this morning.
Žemaitė was the pen name of Julija Beniuševičiūtė-Žymantienė, a Lithuanian writer born in 1845. This story was first published in 1897, and not in Lithuania, but in the US. Lithuanian books had to be smuggled into Lithuania because it was a part of the Tsar's empire at the time and works written in Lithuanian were forbidden.
This edition was published by Paper and Ink, the text was translated by Violeta Kelertas.



Lithuania

"Tofylis, or The Marriage of Zosė" by Žemaitė
Original Title: Topylis
First published in 1897
Paper and Ink
Paperback, 76pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

I cannot really say that I enjoyed this story, the reason being that it is very gloomy and depressing. Nevertheless, it is interesting and worth reading. It is a short tale about a young peasant woman called Zosė, who works as a maid on an estate. She is caught up in a web of miseries. At first she is deeply in love with Tofylis, the dazzling huntsman, but when he finally marries her, the marriage is a deeply unhappy one. In addition, Zosė is pursued by her employer and her mother blames her instead of supporting her.
The story is mainly told in inner monologues and dialogues, which makes it a bit constructed at times and hems the reading flow a bit. On the other hand, like this Zosė's pain and loss of hope is presented in a direct, unembellished style. She is caught within the constraints of her class and her gender, and the author makes this clear in an unmediated way.

>73 MissBrangwen: Ooh, this sounds like one I should read. Your description reminds me of a Slovenian novella called Self-Sown, although Self-Sown was written much later (1940).

>74 labfs39: It is definitely worth reading, although it is short. I just read your review of Self-Sown, it sounds similar, especially in its message. It looks like Tofylis spans a much shorter time, though.

>75 MissBrangwen: I added it to my wishlist

My husband has loved the Witcher series, written by Andrzej Sapkowski, for a long time and in 2020, during the first lockdown, we watched the first season of the Netflix series together. I had wished to read the books since then and now I finally started, reading the first one, Der letzte Wunsch (The Last Wish).
The series was originally published in Polish and I read the German edition (translated by Erik Simon) owned by my husband. Although it is a fantasy book, I am counting this for Poland. Not only was it written by a Polish author in the Polish language, it was also heavily inspired by Slavic mythology.



Poland

"Der letzte Wunsch" by Andrzej Sapkowski
Series: The Witcher (1)
Original Title: Ostatnie życzenie
First published in 1993
dtv
Paperback, 380pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

It took me some time to get used to Sapkowski's style, but when I finally did, I did not want to put this book down. This is not a first book in the traditional sense (as in most other fantasy series), but it introduces the reader to its world through a series of stories. These stories are connected through a continuing frame story: Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher, stays in a temple to rest and reflect on his life. His memories and flashbacks make up the short stories. In this world, Witchers are mutants who are paid to fight monsters, but it becomes clear that sometimes the horrid creatures are not the only monsters.
Sapkowski draws heavily from Slavic mythology, but also from Grimm's fairytales and other stories. He creates a fascinating and turbulent world that is as funny as it is dark, as sexy as it is dangerous. But still, there is an underlying sentiment that goes deeper. Geralt knows that he will always be different and more often than not, those who seek his help fear and hate him at the same time.
I did not want this to end and now I cannot wait to read the next book!

A couple of weeks ago I finished another book for Lithuania. When I was looking for books about Vilnius before our trip in April, I came across this beautiful one published by Hanser Verlag: Die Straßen von Wilna by Czesław Miłosz. The curious thing is that I wasn't able to find any other information about the book and its contents. It is not included in the bibliographies of Czesław Miłosz that I found, and I don't know if it is a work standing on its own (it looks like it from the publishing information included in the book) or a collection composed by Hanser (which somehow seems more likely to me). Moreover, there is an English version shown on LT (Beginning with my streets), but upon a closer look, this is an entirely different book containing different texts, at least in part.
Well, I read this one and I liked it very much.

Czesław Miłosz is considered a Polish writer, but I am still counting this for Lithuania since he was born and spent parts of his early life in today's Lithuania.



Lithuania

"Die Straßen von Wilna" by Czesław Miłosz
Original Title: Miasto młodości / Vilnius - Wilno - Vilnia / Dykcyonarz wilénskich ulic / Platońskie dialogi / Dialog o Wilnie
First published in 1997 (this edition/German translation at least)
Hanser
Hardcover, 175pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

This book consists of three parts that are interspersed by a couple of poems. In the first part, the author gives an overview of the history of the city, and like that, of Lithuanian history. This might sound a bit dry, but it is not, because Miłosz is a masterful storyteller and thus, this slice of history is immensely readable and highly fascinating. To be honest, I think most historical facts that I remembered during our trip came from this chapter and not from the travel guide we also had with us.
The second part is a description of some of the streets of Vilnius. Miłosz, who spent parts of his childhood and later also studied there, connects the streets with his personal memories, and thus, he paints a somewhat nostalgic picture of Vilnius before World War Two. He writes about the activities he took part in as a child, the people he met, the buildings and atmosphere of the streets.
The third part includes a letter Miłosz wrote to the writer Tomas Venclova, and Venclova's reply. Venclova is an ethnic Lithuanian, unlike Miłosz, who was of Polish descent and wrote in Polish (and is considered a Polish author). These two letters cover a lot of ground and deal with Lithuanian history, with many other writers the two have known, and especially with the ciity's position between Polish and Lithuanian culture, its unique status of being a provincial town, but also a capital, its changing hands for so many times. There are many interesting - and still relevant! - thoughts in these letters, especially when the writers reflected on possibilities of the future. The letters were written in the late 1970s, and they hoped for a democratic Lithuania with Vilnius as its capital, but also feared that nationalism would remain a danger to Europe. It was almost eerie to read their predictions now, 45 years later.

We spent a long weekend in Denmark over the Whitsunday weekend and there I read Krokodilwächter by Danish author Katrine Engberg (Danish original: Krokodillevogteren, English edition: The Tenant). There was a lot of publicity for it when it was first published in Germany, and I rather tend to first avoid hyped up books, but I am happy that I finally got to it because I liked it very much.
It is set in Copenhagen.



Denmark

"Krokodilwächter" by Katrine Engberg
Series: Kørner & Werner (1)
Original Title: Krokodillevogteren
First published in 2019
Suhrkamp
ebook, 506pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

This novel is set in Copenhagen and starts with a brutal murder: A young student is killed in the flat she shared with another girl. The murder seems to be connected to the elderly woman who owns the house and lives upstairs, or rather to something she wrote. Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner, two very different characters, are assigned to the case, but there is no trace of the killer and they are at a loss.
Although the murder is a bit too brutal for my reading tastes, I loved everything else about this novel: The characters, the style, the composition. I could not stop reading and it simply never got boring, but not in a cheap, page-turner type of excitement. I really cared about the story. The only thing I criticize is that in the end, things became a bit too far-fetched in my opinion, and I would have wished for a simpler solution.
The Copenhagen setting is well done, too, I loved the descriptions of the city and the mentioning of streets and places, but it did not overshadow the plot or feel artificial.
I highly recommend this novel and will definitely continue with this series.

You are doing a great job focusing on specific countries! Wish I had that willpower!

>80 Tess_W: I am motivated to read a lot about certain countries because of my travels, but I am spectacularly failing to read about all the other countries... But hopefully one day I'll get to those, too!

>78 MissBrangwen: Have you read anything else by Milosz? I loved The Issa Valley and some of his poetry. I've also read his History of Polish Literature. I'm about halfway through A Captive Mind and stuck.

>82 labfs39: I haven't so far, but I have The Issa Valley on my shelf!

>83 MissBrangwen: The Issa Valley is lyrical and paints a lovely picture of the Lithuanian countryside at the time Miłosz was a child. I highly recommend it and hope you like it when you get to it.

Yay, I finally have something to post again! I did not forget this challenge, I just did not read anything really global. While the majority of my reads will probably be German and British, I still do hope to share some more international books here this year!

I bought Das Geheimnis der Weihnacht by Tomáš Halík last autumn when I saw it in a catalogue I receive. The topic spoke to me and I also wished to do some intentional advent reading for the first time and thought that it would be perfect for that.



Czech Republic

"Das Geheimnis der Weihnacht" by Tomáš Halík
Original Title: Procitají andělé
First published in 2023
Herder
Hardcover, 123pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Tomáš Halík, who was born in 1948, is a Catholic priest as well as a philosopher and a professor of sociology at the Charles University in Prague. He served secretly as a priest during the communist regime and has rather progressive views when it comes to topics such as LGBT+ and women's rights.
This book is a collection of twelve sermons held in 2022 between the First Sunday of Advent and the Sunday after Epiphany, but while I read each sermon on the designated day, I read the last two sermons today to finish the book.
While, as always with collections, some of the sermons spoke more to me than others, all of them were interesting to me. Halík touches a lot of topics and moves easily from the personal to the theological to the political and the social, without ever being confusing. It is evident that he is a great thinker and I found every text to hold meaning, some thoughts almost seem prophetic when we look upon how 2023 developed.
While I do not agree with him in all aspects (yes, I would even like him to be more progressive), I think that this is a very interesting and worthwhile book and will certainly read more of his work.

Regarding this challenge, it was fascinating to learn a bit about the time of the communist regime when Halík worked a usual day job while also being an undercover priest. These memories only appeared in a few paragraphs from time to time, but I read them with interest.

I like the idea of an undercover priest.

>87 labfs39: Definitely, yes!

I am currently reading The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Veeraporn Nitiprapha, which made me have a thorough look at my thread again. I updated and reworked it to reflect my current reading goals and tastes, which means that I simplified it a lot. I also deleted a few titles and added a few others that I had overlooked when initially I created the thread.

While I still enjoy reading nonfiction/history books, I realized that I have lost almost all interest in travel books, so I assume that I will read less of those in the future and rather concentrate on literary fiction and other novels.

I like your "visited" tag - I'll adopt :)

It's nice to get an update, Mirjam. I like how you've refreshed your self-challenge. Your thread is so tidy compared to mine. I too like the "visited" tag.

>90 Cecilturtle: I thought it was a good way to see how the countries visited on travels and in books correspond and match!

>91 labfs39: Thank you, Lisa! I think my thread doesn't look really tidy because my list of countries is endlessly long, but I don't know where to stop!

The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Veeraporn Nitiprapha was mentioned on LT somewhere some time ago (I can't remember where) and I took note of it, so when I was looking for Thai novels it was the first one that came to mind and I decided to read it.

This is my fifth book for Thailand, but I am going to replace most of those that I have read so far, and plan to read more Thai novels in May and June.



Thailand

"The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth" by Veeraporn Nitiprapha
Original Title: ไส้เดือนตาบอดในเขาวงกต (Saiduean Ta Bod Nai Khaowongkot)
First published in 2019
River Books
ebook, 207pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novel is unlike anything I have read before, but I did not worry about that - I just went along for the ride. The protagonists are Chareeya and Chalika, two young sisters who grow up with their emotionally unavailable parents, and Pran, a boy who does not have a real home and spends his time at their house. The novel follows these three for many years, but not in strictly chronologically form. The reader receives snippets from their lives, chapter after chapter, but has to piece together much of it. The things that happen are often heartbreaking: Loves are lost, feelings betrayed, someone dies, children are left to themselves, emotions are hidden. All of this is infused with metaphors and images, more often than not botanical, as well as described through music (there is even a playlist in the end). Many aspects are exaggerated and even appear magical - influenced by Thai classical theatre and popular Thai soap operas - and after reading the last pages, I feel like waking up myself in the humid air of Thailand, amongst a tangle of colorful flowers and listening to tropical birds.

The novel was translated into English by Kong Rithdee, who also added a very interesting introduction about the pitfalls and difficulties of translating from Thai to English.

>93 MissBrangwen: That sounds like an interesting, if unusual, novel. I'm tempted by the introduction alone.

>94 labfs39: So am I!

>94 labfs39: You have read so much more world lit than I have, so it might be not as unusual to you! But yes, the introduction is very interesting! >95 Dilara86:

>96 MissBrangwen: Not at all! I have not yet read a single book from Thailand, so I am woefully ignorant.

Bangkok Wakes To Rain by Pitchaya Sudbanthad had been on my wish list for a long time, and now I finally bought it and read it.



Thailand

"Bangkok Wakes To Rain" by Pitchaya Sudbanthad
First published in 2019
Sceptre Books
ebook, 360pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novel is a kaleidoscope of the city of Bangkok, across time and the city's places, featuring many characters and stories. The earliest stories are set in the 19th century, while some take place in the future when what we know as Bangkok today is under water and people have adapted to a new life above the flooded ruins. In-between these points of time, we travel across the decades, meeting people who are flawed, insecure and real, and all tied to the city in one way or the other.
At first the novel seems to be just a collection of short stories, but then, chapter after chapter, the connections between the stories become apparent. Reading this feels like being a detective or archaeologist, uncovering layers upon layers of threads and events.
While I am fascinated by this approach and the novel is well-written, I found it hard to connect to many of the characters and it did not have the kind of emotional resonance that would make it a five star read to me. Still, it is well worth a read and it sucked me in the further I got into it.

>98 MissBrangwen: Although not a short story reader usually, this sounds like it hangs together. I don't think I've read anything for Thailand yet.

>98 MissBrangwen: I loved Bangkok Wakes to Rain. I'm glad you at least liked it, if not as much as me. For some reason, loosely connected short stories are my thing.

>99 labfs39: It does, although it needs some time to unravel.

>100 RidgewayGirl: I read your review of it on the work page! I must admit that this format/genre is not my favourite, although I appreciate all the thought that goes into it, and I will surely read more works such as this.

This afternoon I read An Elephant Named Maliwan by Thanorm Maha-Paoraya, another of the Thai books I wanted to read this year. It was translated by Marcel Barang. This short novel was written during World War Two and the first chapters were published as installments in a magazine in 1942, but the publication of the magazine came to a halt. The novel was then published in full in 1946.



Thailand

"An Elephant Named Maliwan" by Thanorm Maha-Paoraya
Original Title: Phlai Maliwan
First published in 1946
Thai Modern Classics
ebook, 86pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

Although this short novel was published in the 1940s, it had a much older feel to me, rather like a 19th-century novella. In the afterword it is said that the first novel written in Thai was only published in 1929, so that might be one reason. The whole structure and characterization has an old-fashioned feel, and that is also supported by the time it is set, in the early 20th century when Thailand was still an absolute monarchy.

The main character, Suriya, is an aristocrat who drinks heavily and knows that he is a disappointment to his wife. When he ends up in a forestry concession by accident, he remains there, prolonging his stay further and further and drinking his days away. He also befriends an elephant who is characterized almost like a human. But of course, this situation cannot go on forever, and one day Suriya must decide what to do.

It was a bit difficult for me to emphasize with Suriya and his actions, and to get used to the setting of the forestry concession where people work hard, drink and sweat. But the story became more interesting chapter after chapter, and I admire the author's careful construction and the characterizations. The last chapter was unexpected and gut-wrenching. I am glad I read this book, even more so as the afterword informs the reader that this is a standard text at Thai schools.

>102 MissBrangwen: In the wishlist it goes!

>103 Dilara86: I hope you enjoy it when you get to it!

I started Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap before our trip to Thailand this summer and finished when we were there. I read one of the short stories every few days and this worked well for me.



Thailand

"Sightseeing" by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
First published in 2004
Atlantic Books
ebook, 250pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Rattawut Lapcharoensap is a Thai-American writer who grew up in Bangkok, and the seven short stories in this collection are all set in contemporary Thailand. As usual when it comes to such collections, I liked some of the stories more than others, but all in all it is a great collection!

One of the best stories, in my opinion, is At The Café Lovely, which is about two young brothers who try to find their way after the death of their father. The relationship of the brothers is portrayed in a humane, realistic way that is emotional and heartbreaking without reverting to clichés.
Another remarkable story is Draft Day which deals with the drafting of young men to the military and the effect it has on their friendships and prospects. It highlights the consequences of corruption and financial inequality in Thailand, and I reflected on it for a long time. This story was like a gut punch.

One I did not enjoy that much was Don't Let Me Die In This Place about an elderly British man who moves to Bangkok so that his son and Thai daughter-in-law can care for him. I found it hard to feel empathy for the narrator who is determined to see everything in a negative light, although there is some development towards the end.

The short stories show different aspects of life in Thailand behind the façades and images that tourists are allowed to - and like to - see: Fraud and deceit, hostility toward Cambodian refugees, the effects of tourism, the lack of perspectives for many people. Most stories also deal with family relationships, especially between parents and their children.
Reading this collection was very worthwhile and I would certainly like to read more by this author, but it looks like he hasn't really written anything else since publishing this.

>105 MissBrangwen: I would love to hear more about your trip to Thailand. I've never been to Asia, nor have I read anything from Thailand. Although I'm not a huge short story reader, something like this might be a good way to begin.

>106 labfs39: Is there anything particular you are interested in concerning the trip? I'll just write something, but please feel free to ask if there is anything specific!

This was actually my fourth trip to Thailand (although the third one was really short, just a stopover on the way to Cambodia). But it was the first one with my husband, which was wonderful. Contrary to what most people do, we only spent a short time at the beach, but concentrated on Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a city in the north which is much more quiet than Bangkok and a great base to do day trips to the surroundings. We also spent three days in Khao Yai National Park - this was amazing. I had never really seen any wildlife in Asia before (apart from the "usual" like monkeys and lizards), and we had a guide for three days who was fantastic. We saw wild elephants, gibbons, jackals, hornbills and many other animals. It really was one of the best experiences of my life so far!
I would like to travel to so many countries, and so far have mostly been to Asia because apart from the flights it is such an affordable destination and so easy to organize. It feels adventurous, but the infrastructure for tourists is all there and traveling is really easy.

After my first trip to Australia, which I referred to in the beginning of this thread, I made a conscious decision to travel as much as I can in my life. Luckily my husband, although he had not really travelled when we met, decided to join me :-) We work a lot, we don't own a house but rent an affordable apartment, we only have one small car shared between us, we live close to work to minimize commuting costs and generally live quite frugally (apart from buying books!!!) in order to be able to travel. I just want to add this because I am always afraid that people think I might have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth when they hear about my travels.

>107 MissBrangwen: I think it's wonderful that you are prioritizing travel in your life. Once upon a time that was my dream as well, but life has turned out differently, and I must settle for being an armchair traveler. The stay in the north and in the park sounds wonderful. That's how I would choose to travel too, away from the maddening crowds.

>108 labfs39: Thank you so much for your kind words, Lisa!

I started reading 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea by Jules Verne some years ago - I think it was in 2019 - but did not make it far. I made several more attempts, but it was so difficult for me to stick to it. This July, when it was perfect for two prompts in the Category Challenge and Reading Through Time, I knew that it was my chance to finally see it through!
I read an unabridged translation to English by Mendor T. Brunetti.



France

"20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" by Jules Verne
Original Title: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers
First published in 1870
Signet Classic
Paperback, 447pp.
Rating: 3 stars - ***

When I started reading this, my expectations were very different from what I found. I have never seen any of the film adaptations of this novel, but still, there must be some cultural heritage that planted images in my head that made me expect a novel full of adventure and excitement. Instead, I found a Victorian travelogue chronicling fish and other marine life, days at sea, and an exciting incident only from time to time. I struggled to continue. While I see its worth (the topics of ecology and humanity, Verne's inventive mind, the question of abandoning the world), I was still bored for long stretches and only found it to be a really engaging read for the last 20% or so, mainly the chapters in Antarctica and the ending.
This novel was published first in serialized form and I think that then it might have felt less repetitive and more exciting. I tried reading one chapter at a time myself, but it didn't work because I simply forgot to pick it up or was more eager to return to my main read. Another thing I tried to keep in mind was that it must have had much more impact on its contemporary audience who did not know submarines, who had not seen documentaries of marine life, who had maybe not even seen the sea and who had no access to snorkeling equipment or glass bottom boats. It was another time and the novel must have been marvelous to them.
So while reading it was hard for me, I am glad I did not give up.

>110 MissBrangwen: Interesting observations, Mirjam, about the impact the book would have had on earlier readers. I have only read juvenile adaptations of Verne's works, so have no real sense of his writing.

>111 labfs39: The writing was so much dryer than I had imagined! I have never read any of the juvenile adaptations, but there seem to be so many.

I read Herztier (The Land of Green Plums) for the first time in 2010, shortly after Herta Müller had won the Nobel Prize. I was absolutely stunned by it back then. I decided to reread it now because we are planning a trip to Romania in October.

I had not added this book to my challenge here so far, but when I looked for Romanian books I saw that it absolutely fits.



Romania

"Herztier" by Herta Müller
First published in 1994
Fischer Verlag
Paperback, 253pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Like the author, the narrator of the novel belongs to the German minority in Romania and leaves the country for Germany in the 1980s. The protagonists of this work are four friends from rural Romania who document what they see of the activities of the Securitate and write oppositional poems. The story is not linear, but the reader learns about their daily lives, about the measures they take to stay as safe as possible, about the relationships between them and the people around them. There are also glimpses of the narrator's childhood and of the friends' lives in Germany where they still are not safe.

The narration is oddly detached and that makes it a bit hard to become invested in it, but I interpret it as a means of coping with the horror which was a kind of banal reality for these characters. On the other hand, there are lot of metaphors, personifications and images which convey much more than can be guessed at a first glance. To me, the strength of this novel is that the terror, restriction and loss experienced by the characters over a long time is shown in a way that slowly develops and grips you, without any dramatic arcs of suspense or turning points that make your heart beat faster, but like this, it might be even more haunting and powerful.

>113 MissBrangwen: I read Land of Green Plums and had some of the same reactions: detached, almost emotionless narration; poetic metaphors and images; and an understanding that it may be a coping mechanism on the part of the author. I liked it less than you, however. I had read Hunger Angel first and liked it a little more, although the middle chapters had little propulsion to them. Although I can appreciate her writing, she's not an author I connect with very well.

>114 labfs39: Although I liked this novel very much, your words Although I can appreciate her writing, she's not an author I connect with very well. resonate with me and I am not sure if I will tackle The Hunger Angel.

I totally revamped my thread once again and now I am finally satisfied with it!

>116 MissBrangwen: I too list each author only once, with subsequent novels after their name. I like how you mark which countries you have visited.

>117 labfs39: I saw the author listings on your thread and really liked them, so I adopted the idea! I hope you don't mind. I enjoy how tidy my thread looks now.

>118 MissBrangwen: Of course! I may borrow your idea of noting which countries I've visited. Like you, I don't stop listing at five, but use this group to keep track of my global reading long term.

>119 labfs39: I think it is a great way to see how real-life travel does or does not correspond to our reading! And I so enjoy the option of long-term tracking in this group.

I just finished Glitterland by Alexis Hall. The second in the series, Waiting For The Flood, was a cover buy earlier this year, and when I discovered that it was part of a series, I bought this one for kindle to read it first.



England

"Glitterland" by Alexis Hall
Series: Spires
First published in 2013
Sourcebooks
ebook, 327pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

This book starts with a lot of trigger warnings: Sexual content, bipolar depression, the topic of suicide, self-harm, ableism, drugs, mental health. And yes, it packs a punch, as all of it is there. But still, it is an incredibly tender book that depicts life and emotions that are raw and true to life, but never in a way that shows off in a "hey, look how brutally I dare to write" manner.

Ash is a young author who has had an Oxbridge education. He is the darling of the literary scene, but he has severe mental illnesses and these stop him from really living his life. When he meets Darian, a glittering man from Essex who is funny and kind and everything that Ash is not, his life is turned upside down. He soon falls for Darian, but he believes that they can never have a chance because of how and who he is - resigned, bitter and without hope. But Darian does not go away and slowly winds his way into Ash's life.

The novel is told from Ash's perspective and mental health is a topic that is always present. Other aspects are the class consciousness and differences in education in Britain. Darian's way of speaking is represented through the writing, and the two men have to overcome their own prejudices as well as the expectations of their friends. There are a lot of sex scenes as well, but they are there to support the characterization, and because of that, although they are detailed, they never felt pornographic to me. The characterizations are deep and the dialogues are long and ring true. I felt for these characters so strongly, and don't know when I ever rooted for a couple that much and felt their pain and happiness that closely while reading. I cannot wait to discover more by this author!

I read The Ruin by Dervla McTiernan, the first book in the Cormac Reilly series, in 2022 and loved it, and I also enjoyed its prequel The Sisters, which I listened to last year. The Roommate is the second prequel of the series, and as far as I know it is an Audible exclusive at the moment.



Ireland

"The Roommate" by Dervla McTiernan
Series: Cormac Reilly (0.7/3)
First published in 2018
Audible Originals
Digital audiobook, 02h 23min
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Niamh is a young primary teacher who lives in a shared flat in the south of Dublin to make ends meet. When her roommate is murdered, she is saddened and shocked, and also stressed by the prospect of having to pay the rent alone. But soon her situation becomes even more dire because her headmistress seems to suspect her of bringing scandal to the school, and things that she cannot explain start to take place. The young policeman Cormac Reilly seems to be the only one there who wants to help her.

This novella is short, but still I was totally drawn into it. The main character is well-crafted, and no elements that are crucial to the plot are missing. The narrator, Aoife McMahon, is excellent. I am looking forward to continuing with this series.

When I was looking for Romanian novels I quickly came across Life Begins On Friday by Ioana Pârvulescu and decided to read it because of the interesting title as well as the time and setting.



Romania

"Life Begins on Friday" by Ioana Pârvulescu
Original Title: Viața începe vineri
First published in 2009
Istros Books
ebook, 355pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novel is like a hidden picture book, or, as Romanian author Mircea Cărtărescu puts it in the afterword: "Like a children's pop-up book from whose pages spring three-dimensional places and people, Life Begins On Friday is a multi-dimensional scale model" (p. 349). The setting is Bucharest, and the year is 1897, precisely the last thirteen days of that year. For these thirteen days we follow a set of characters through their daily lives, while several mysteries occupy them: A precious icon that was stolen, a young man who was wounded in a duel, and a mysterious stranger who was found in the snow. Only the stranger himself and the reader know that he is a visitor from the future.
And so the reader follows them: A policeman trying to unravel the mysteries, the daughter of a doctor entrusting her diary with thoughts of her secret love, the stranger trying to make sense of where he is and what happened to him, and many more people who are somehow tied up in the story. Most are connected by Nicu, an errand boy who delivers messages. Another prominent feature are the newspapers and the men who produce them.
Through all of this runs the thread of hope for the future, the new millennium, excitement for new inventions, advances in the field of medicine, and even the first signs of women's emancipation.
There really is a lot to discover in this novel, and I bet that many aspects went over my head. It took me some time to find my way and there were parts that felt a bit lengthy due to a lack of focus. But there were also very beautiful parts, and all in all it just felt like a bewildering, yet exciting trip to another place and time. It is a novel defying specific genres. The translation by Alistair Ian Blyth feels natural and flowing, and the afterword by Mircea Cărtărescu adds further depth and understanding. There is also a list of characters which is immensely helpful.

>123 MissBrangwen: That does sounds interesting, Mirjam. I'll look for it next time I loop around to Romania.

>124 labfs39: Oh, I'd love to know your thoughts about it!

Another Romanian novel, Der Feuerturm (The Fire Tower) by Catalin Dorian Florescu. The author has written several novels, but I chose this one because it is almost completely set in Bucharest.
Unfortunately, it has not been translated to English, nor have any others by this author as far as I can tell.



Romania

"Der Feuerturm" by Catalin Dorian Florescu
First published in 2022
C.H. Beck
Hardcover, 361pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Catalin Dorian Florescu was born in Romania, but moved to Switzerland as a teenager. He writes in German, so I read this novel in the original.

The story is told by Victor Stoica, a factory worker. It spans five generations, from his great-grandparents to his daughter - all of these Stoicas have lived in Bucharest, and their lives have always been tied the fire tower. Victor's male ancestors have all been firemen, and he was the first one who chose another job, although he still loves the tower. It does not only hold his childhood memories, but the stories and recollections of his family, and these make up the novel.

It slowly becomes clear that Victor himself narrates the story from December 1989 - the days leading up to the Romanian revolution. His current experiences are interspersed with the family stories and memories, and the reader slowly learns about Victor's life, too. All of this is ultimately a history of Bucharest or even of Romania: Its wars, its architectural and societal changes, the dictatorship, and in 1989, the hope for change. This history seems even more powerful as it is told through the eyes of the people, their day to day hardships, the little details of their lives.

Although these are heavy topics, the pages just flew by when I was reading this novel. Some aspects were a bit repetitive, but apart from this, it was a wonderful reading experience and a book that I will think about for a long time. The author's way of characterizing usual people and their emotions touched and fascinated me.

>126 MissBrangwen: Oh that sounds great - I've tried to find the Romanian version (I'm sure there will be one) but unfortunately it's not on Amazon, that I can see. I'll keep a note of this though and look for it every so often.

>127 Jackie_K: I saw that most of his novels have been translated to Romanian, so I am quite sure this one will be translated, too. I'd love to read your review of it one day.

>126 MissBrangwen: Sounds fascinating! Unfortunately, it isn't available in a language I can read AFAIK. I might try one of his two novels carried by my library, though.

>129 Dilara86: His other novels sound interesting as well, so I hope you find something good!

I read another Romanian novel, the last one for now, although I still have one on my shelf. I found Miruna, A Tale by Bogdan Suceavă through LT. This book was translated from Romanian to English by Alistair Ian Blyth.



Romania

"Miruna, A Tale" by Bogdan Suceavă
Original Title: Miruna, o poveste
First published in 2007
Twisted Spoon Press
ebook, 141pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novel is a mixture of family story, history and mythology/folklore. The narrator, now an adult man, remembers the times he spent as a young boy at his grandparent's house with his younger sister, Miruna. His grandparents lived in a village in the Carpathians where modernity had not yet reached, and his grandfather told stories to the children, especially to Miruna who was more open to the enchantment.
The stories mix memories of the grandfather's life and those of his ancestors with folk tales and local history and also the wider history of Romania. Wars and battles, threats of bandits and shapeshifters, the magic of old wise women against the power of the church, and the art of surviving in the Carpathian Mountains, where life is not safe not only because of the harshness and cruelty of nature, but also because of non-human beings that inhabit these parts and might bring you to strange places...

Although this is short, I needed a long time to read it because it needs to be savored, but also because there is no plot and sometimes I had to force myself a bit to go on, although all in all I enjoyed it very much. The translation flows well and seems effortless, and I felt myself drawn into this world that is only some decades old but feels timeless.

There is a very interesting afterword in which the author lays out his intentions and the background of the book. He explains that because of the rugged terrain and secludedness, mountain villages like that of his own grandparents were less effected by the communist regime as they did not have much economic value.
Thus, in this book he depicts a world that he experienced as a young boy but that since has vanished, a world of oral literature and traditional society.

>130 MissBrangwen: I'm hopeful!
>131 MissBrangwen: I might try this one too :-)

>132 Dilara86: I'm so happy to spread the love!

I haven't read anything from or about Romania in a while. Both of these sound very interesting. Noting.

>134 labfs39: They really are worth reading!

I read A Quilt For Christmas by Sandra Dallas, a historical fiction novel that I am including here because I learned a lot from it.



USA

"A Quilt For Christmas" by Sandra Dallas
First published in 2014
St. Martin's Press
ebook, 241pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Eliza lives on a farm in Kansas with her two children. Her husband is fighting for the Union in the Civil War, and she has to manage the farm on her own. The novel follows her over the course of a year, as she lives through heartbreak, danger and hardships, but also hope. I only have very basic knowledge of the American Civil War, and I learned a lot while reading this, although the book does not include any info dumps. It is a vivid portrait of the strength of women during that time and it also shows the value of women's friendships. While the novel starts in a quiet way, it becomes a page turner after a few chapters.

I only have two aspects of criticism: I have issues with the portrayal of an enslaved person who tries to reach safety. While the portrayal is not overtly racist, it still includes stereotypes and the person could have had more agency. I also was a bit disappointed by the abrupt ending of the novel.
Apart from this, I enjoyed this book a lot and plan to read more by this author.

Please note that despite the title, this is not a typical Christmas novel. Christmas plays a role in the plot, but it is only one of many aspects.

I had wanted to read Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice for a very long time and finally got around it.



Canada (Anishinaabe)

"Moon of the Crusted Snow" by Waubgeshig Rice
Series: The Whitesky Saga (1/2)
First published in 2018
EWC Press
ebook, 218pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Evan and his partner Nicole live on a reserve in northern Canada with their children. Their community is a tight-knit one, although there are problems like unemployment and addiction. Some of the community members have resumed living in a more traditional way, such as going out to hunt or learning about plant medicine.
When the reserve is suddenly cut off from the south, with no reception and no power while being almost snowed in, these traditional skills become more important than ever. But new challenges arise, especially when outsiders find their way in. As time goes by, the story becomes considerably darker and the danger grows.

In the beginning I found it a bit hard to connect to Evan and Nicole, but apart from that, I was captivated by this novel and read it straight through in two sittings. It is not only an extremely gripping and exciting read, but also a glimpse into life on a reserve and into Anishinaabe culture and history. The author weaves this together with shades of horror literature and Indigenous mythology in a skillful way.

I have already bought two more novels by Waubgeshig Rice and cannot wait to read them!

>137 MissBrangwen: I’m so glad to find someone else who liked Moon as much as me. I will be looking forward to your impressions of the other two.

>138 labfs39: Yes, the reviews I read were generally mixed, so I did not expect to like it so much, but I loved it! I am glad you enjoyed it, too.

I specifically chose Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck for the letter S, one of January's AlphaKIT letters over in the Category Challenge. This book had been waiting on my shelf for eight and a half years!



USA

"Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck
First published in 1937
Pan Books
Paperback, 95pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

I am so happy that I finally read this, although happy might not be the right word. I bawled my eyes out at the end, I really did. What a masterpiece. How can so much be conveyed in such a short text? The impotence, the helplessness, the desperation. I don't know if I would give five stars to such a bleak text under usual circumstances, but I have to, because the characters and their emotions were so real to me and I know that I will think about this story for days and days to come. Apart from George and Lenny, Candy is the character who stood out to me the most and whose story broke my heart.
And well, of course I felt that it would all culminate in tragedy, but I did not see that ending and I am still recovering. I still feel it like a punch in the gut.

>140 MissBrangwen: I read it such a long time ago. I remember loving it and feeling bereft like you describe. Your description makes me want to reread it!

>141 Cecilturtle: I hope that, if you do reread it, you will have a worthwhile experience! Rereading can be so interesting, especially after a long time.

I read The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman in spring last year and then wished to read her poetry collection, Call Us What We Carry. However, I had not realized that the poems mainly dealt with the pandemic. So while the poems are amazing, it took me a long time to read through them because it is still hard for me to remember the pandemic and it is a topic I seldom feel equipped to focus on. This is why I only finished now. In the past few days I made a concerted effort to read through the remaining pages.



USA

"Call Us What We Carry" by Amanda Gorman
First published in 2021
Vintage
Paperback, 236pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

This is a diverse and quite large collection of poems, but all of them are powerful. As said above, the main topic is the covid-19 pandemic, and Amanda Gorman writes about how it felt - the shock, the loneliness, the distance, the fear. She connects it to the 1918 flu, and also to the experiences of Black Americans, both in history and in the year 2020.
The author's style is incredibly poignant and sharp, her way with words is often surprising, but never feels forced. She also plays with form, for example, there are erasure poems using historical letters and documents, as well as visual poetry and one poem resembles a game of hangman.
It was not possible for me to read more than two poems in a row because there was so much to ponder and the words left such a strong impression.
Despite all the despair and sadness, a deep strength runs through these poems, and I am glad that I persisted despite the difficult topic.

>140 MissBrangwen: Of Mice and Men is a story whose impact has remained with me over decades.

>143 MissBrangwen: I almost purchased Call Us What We Carry last week, but I'm a poetry wimp.

>144 labfs39: I am trying to get into the habit of reading poetry again. I used to read lots of it, but have found it difficult for some years now.

>143 MissBrangwen: I loved this collection. I thought the way she played with words was incredible. I read that she has an auditory processing disorder and I wonder if that plays a part in how she uses words.

>146 Jackie_K: I read about that, too, but never thought about that there might be a connection!

A colleague lent The Poet by Yi Munyol to me. She has been learning Korean for years and has also traveled to South Korea, but she mainly insisted for me to read this because of the topics of poetry and literature. I read the German edition, Der Dichter.



South Korea

"Der Dichter" by Yi Munyol
Original Title: 시인 (Si-in/Shiin)
First published in 1987 (I also found 1991 and 1992 - not sure why!)
Bibliothek Suhrkamp
Hardcover, 276pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

This novel is a fictionalized biography of the Korean poet Kim Pyong-yon. I must admit that I had never heard of Yi Munyol before my colleague brought the book to my attention, but apparently he is one of the most popular South Korean authors. There are parallels between Kim Pyong-yon's and Yi Munyol's lives, and the story has also been interpreted as the story of Korean writers in general.
Kim Pyong-yon is born to a rich and noble family, but their fortune comes to an end when his grandfather becomes a traitor and joins a group of northern rebels. According to Korean culture, the following generations are shunned, and his parents, his brothers and the boy himself have to flee and live in poverty. The novel explores how he becomes a poet in the aftermath.
Yi Munyol himself was born to an upper class family, but his father defected to North Korea, and being the son of a traitor had a devastating effect on his life.

It was very hard for me to get into this novel, mainly because the narrative perspective is so far removed from the actual story that it almost feels like reading a legend. Because of this, the story felt weirdly emotionless to me, although it is such a sad story. The second half was more interesting, especially because different purposes and the raison d'être of poetry are explored and presented.
All in all, the novel has a dreamlike quality and I am sure that I would have understood it better if I knew more about Korean culture. It was an interesting and at times fascinating read, but also laborious!

Next month we will spend a week on Crete, our second trip there. The first time was in 2022 and I was very stressed because of the pandemic and other things, and did not succeed in reading any books set there before the trip. This time I did some research and bought Children of War by Ahmet Yorulmaz, which I finished today. It was originally written in Turkish and was translated by Paula Darwish.



Greece

"Children of War" by Ahmet Yorulmaz
Original Title: Savaşın Çocukları
First published in 1997
Neem Tree Press
ebook, 167pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

The author Ahmet Yorulmaz was born in 1932 into a family of Cretan Turks. The story depicted in this novel might have some similarities to his family's story, but it was based on three diaries found in the city of Ayvalik in Turkey where Yorulmaz lived.
The Cretan Turks were Muslims who lived on Crete for several hundred years. They were displaced in the 1920s after the Treaty of Lausanne. A population exchange between Turkey and Greece was decided, which forced the Cretan Turks and other Muslims to move to Turkey, mainly Anatolia, and Christian Greeks living in Turkey to move to Greece. About two million people were displaced and often had to move to places where they did not understand the local language at all.

Children of War starts in 1897 and it is the story of young Hassan who lives in a village on Crete with his parents and siblings. They have a hard life as farmers tending to olive trees and growing vegetables, but they are content and they are fully a part of the village where Christians/Greeks and Muslims/Turks live together as a community. However, tensions arise mostly due to events in other parts of the world. After a while, the family decides to make their way to Chania, the main city of the island. On the way they are forced to stay in a refugee camp for a while where horrible things happen, and then they finally reach Chania, where they stay until the 1920s. Hassan grows up and finds his way in the adult world. We learn about his jobs, his relationships to women, his friends and his aspirations, but always there is the conflict in the background, the catastrophe that is looming. From the beginning of the novel, it is clear that Hassan will eventually have to leave Crete.

I learned a lot from this novel. There are a few notes to each chapter as well as a glossary and an immensely helpful introduction written by the translator. I also looked up many things online because I realized how little I knew about the subject and the creation of the states of Greece and Turkey.
Although the novel deals with such a heavy and sad topic, it is quite a quick read. The language flows easily and Hassan is an outgoing and, despite it all, rather positive character. I rooted for him and wanted to know what would happen next. Ultimately, I think the novel could have been a bit longer - the ending felt too abrupt to me. This fits the overall style of the book, but still I would have liked to learn more. Another thing I must criticize is the depiction of women, especially when it comes to Hassan's relationships.
The novel still is absolutely worth a read and I am happy I came across it and had the chance to learn about these important parts of history.

>149 MissBrangwen: I too know little about Crete, either history or literature. I am noting this one.

>150 labfs39: I think it is just perceived as a holiday destination nowadays, without anyone realizing its complex and often dark history.

I bought I Wish You All The Best by Mason Deaver as a kindle deal last year. I have many books for the USA already, but I decided to count this one, too, because it shows a slice of American life (high school, therapy, growing up) and it represents nonbinary people.



USA

"I Wish You All The Best" by Mason Deaver
First published in 2019
Pan Macmillan
ebook, 327pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Benjamin is in the last year of high school when they come out to their parents as non-binary and are thrown out of their house with only the clothes they wear. Not knowing what else to do, Ben calls their sister Hannah whom they have not met for years, and moves in with her and her husband. They transfer to a new school, where they meet Nathan, a popular and handsome boy. The two develop a close and complex friendship, but after their first coming out went so wrong, Ben does not dare to open up to Nathan - not about their gender identity, and not about the feelings they have.

This is a wonderful novel that drew me in because of the characters who felt totally real and authentic to me. Usually I don't prefer high school settings, but this one was well done and felt like a school with a positive atmosphere, so I enjoyed reading about it. I rooted for Ben and their personal story of growing confident and strong, and for Ben and Nathan as a couple. There are so many tender and touching scenes, and I could't stop reading. The only aspect I have to criticize is that some of the dialogue feels a bit artificial, especially towards the end. I still totally loved this novel, though. The author is non-binary, too, so that makes me confident that the book is a good representation of non-binary identities, and I am looking forward to reading more of their work.

I read Der Vater eines Mörders by Alfred Andersch. This has been published in English as The Father of a Murderer. This was the second book I read by this author, although I don't remember much about Sansibar oder Der letzte Grund (Flight to afar) and plan to reread it at one point.



Germany

"Der Vater eines Mörders" by Alfred Andersch
First published in 1980
Diogenes
Paperback, 140pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novella depicts a Greek lesson at a grammar school in Munich in 1928. In the beginning of the lesson, the headmaster enters the room to inspect the class. The reader experiences the lesson from the perspective of student Franz Kien, who does not have good grades in the subject. However, the two striking aspects of the novella are that the headmaster is Gebhard Himmler, father of Heinrich Himmler (one of the main architects of the Holocaust), and that the text is autobiographical, with Franz being the alter ego of Alfred Andersch. He really was a student at this school, and he really met Gebhard Himmler during a Greek lesson.

The story is like a chamber play, the blackboard and teacher's desk are a stage, and we witness it all play out. The interactions between the headmaster and the young teacher, the fear and excitement of the students, Franz's nervousness and his thoughts about Himmler. Moreover, there is the political background, and it is apparent when Franz thinks about his family, his classmates, and about what he knows about his headmaster's son.

There is an afterword by the author in which he explains why he decided to fictionalize his experience and that contains more information about the text.

This is a quick read, but it is gripping and disturbing, and I do recommend it.

I read Blutmond by Katrine Engberg, the second book in the Kørner & Werner series set in Copenhagen. Some books of this series have been translated from Danish to English, but not this one. I read the German translation.
I read the first book in the series almost two years ago and loved it - now I finally continued.



Denmark

"Blutmond" by Katrine Engberg
Series: Kørner & Werner (2/5)
Original Title: Blodmåne
First published in 2017
Diogenes
ebook, 472pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner are two police persons in Copenhagen who are quite different, but they are a good team nonetheless. In this novel, they deal with the brutal murder of a Danish celebrity from the fashion scene who is found in a local park.

Once again, I really liked this novel. Although it is not short, there are no lengthy parts at all, it kept my interest from beginning to end. The case is woven masterfully and I simply loved when all the puzzle pieces finally came together. The reader learns more about the characters in the police team and once again, I enjoyed the Copenhagen setting which is described wonderfully. However, both aspects do not overshadow the story. My only slight criticism is that I was not that interested in the parts of the story taking place in the world of companies and founders, but that is a matter of personal taste.

I am looking forward to continuing with this series very much.

One of the prompts over at the Category Challenge this month is "Aboriginal Australia". I have several books on my shelves and kindle that I could read for this, but I decided to reread the first book I ever read fitting this topic: Rabbit-Proof Fence by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington). I first read this in 2008 for a university course and I was excited to see how my reading experience would differ from it 17 years later.



Australia

"Rabbit-Proof Fence" by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington)
First published in 1996
Miramax Books
Paperback, 135pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This is the story of three girls (Molly, aged 14, Gracie, aged 11, and Daisy, aged 8), who were removed from their home in the Pilbara to a school close to Perth, as a part of what became known as the Stolen Generations. They had Indigenous mothers and white fathers, and the plan was to let them grow up apart from the families, make them forget their cultural roots, and train them to be workers and servants.
However, the author starts the story much earlier. In a sequence of scenes, she depicts several generations of First Nations Australians and how they deal with the arrival of white colonialists, how they adapt to the circumstances, until finally we arrive at Molly's life and how she is snatched from home, her family watching powerless. Thus, the trip to the Moore River Native Settlement (the so-called school) and the long trek up north back to their families only starts around half way through the book. This really surprised me the first time around, and again this time, since I had nearly forgotten about it.

The style of the book is rather simple, but it feels authentic. The author is Molly's daughter and she conducted interviews with Molly and Daisy before writing this. The book defies expectations of an exciting adventure novel or gripping nonfictional report, but if you set these expectations aside, it is possible to feel the orality in the writing, appearing, I think, in the details of the descriptions of trees and flowers, of the meals the girls prepared and also in the detachedness after so many years. It does not make the writing really thrilling, and I would have wished for more background information, more emotions and a longer book involving what happened afterwards. However, this doesn't make the book and the story behind it any less special.

>155 MissBrangwen: Nice review, Mirjam. I have never read the book, but I have seen the 2002 film based on the book a couple of times.

>156 labfs39: Thank you! I have watched the film, too, but only once many years ago, and in the German version. I have ordered the blu-ray and hope to watch it again soon.

I came across Cambodia In My Dream by Santel Phin on Amazon last year and bought it immediately because the author's intention appealed to me. Now I finally read it!



Cambodia

"Cambodia In My Dream" by Santel Phin
First published in 2018 (this collection)
Self-published
ebook, 116pp. (English texts: 71pp.)
Rating: 3 stars - ***

Santel Phin is a Cambodian blogger who is very successful in his home country. This is his first English book (at least English in part), composed of some of his texts and translated by himself. His goal is to tell a Cambodian story other than that of genocide and Khmer Rouge. He explains this in the foreword and the blurb, and his cause spoke to me very much, which is why I decided to read the book.
The first 71 pages of the total 116 are in English.

There are two short stories. I enjoyed The Rice Fields very much. It is about a writer who returns to Phnom Penh from France and gets drawn into a criminal plot. The writer seems to be an alter ego of Santel Phin as he also wishes to write a story about Cambodia. The second story, The Secret Lover, is about a business man who falls in love with a bar girl. While it kept my interest, I had my issues with how the girl and the relationship are portrayed.

Next, there is a collection of fictional love letters. To be honest, it was hard for me to grasp what they really want to say, and I am sure that much is lost in translation and because the cultural context is not given.

The English part concludes with a collection of poems, mostly love poems. Unfortunately, the issues with the portrayal of women continue in these. They are also written (or translated) a bit clumsily. However, some of them evoke a lively image of Phnom Penh and a dreamy atmosphere.

The Khmer part includes more poems and the original text of The Rice Fields.

I think that Santel Phin has much to say as a writer and his idea of writing another story about Cambodia is so important. However, he needs an editor and a professional translator to really be able to shine. There are many grammatical errors in the writing, and more explanations would make it possible to understand the texts on a deeper level.
One can only imagine how much work it must be for him to translate his writings by himself so that we can read them, and although my review is only three stars, I deeply appreciate that.

>158 MissBrangwen: I like your review of Cambodia in My Dream and how you balance the author's intent vs execution.

>159 labfs39: Thank you! I am glad to hear that because it was important to me to get it right.

I'm catching up on your thread and so many titles look interesting... I'll see if I can find a translation of Der Vater eines Mörders. Children of War would fill a geographical blank spot for me. It's good that those books contain extra information (but then I like footnotes, glossaries and introductions). Speaking of which, it looks like those would have been useful for The Poet, which I also really want to read.

>161 Dilara86: I am glad that you found some books of interest here!

One of the chosen texts in this year's German Abitur exams in Bremen was an extract from Das leidende Weib (The suffering woman) by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger. I liked the extract very much and bought the play because I wanted to read the whole thing.



Germany

"Das leidende Weib" by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger
First published in 1775
Holzinger
Paperback, 60pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

This play is a tragedy, but the emotions of the characters are displayed in such an exaggerated way and the language is so pompous that it almost seems like a comedy at times.

The central character is Malchen, the wife of a kind but boring envoy. She has an affair with another man whom she has loved for years. There are two side plots as well: There is a third man who also loves Malchen and tries to be close to her, and there is another couple who are not allowed to love each other. On top of that there are numerous intertextual references (e.g. Lessing, Shakespeare, Richardson, Rousseau) and sentiments upon sentiments.
The play shows the restrictions of life at the time, and the conflict between duty and passion, between obligation and what is perceived as real life - something that Klinger felt in his own life as well while he juggled being a freedom-loving writer and a military man following a career at the Russian court.

To be honest, I only came to grips with the text after I had already read half of the play, but then it really was fun and I rooted for the main character, which, this being a tragedy, of course came to nothing.

Apparently Klinger was immensely productive throughout his life but his works are not read anymore, although the Sturm und Drang literary movement is named after one of his works. I must say that reading one work by him seems to be enough to me, although I am glad that I persevered and read this one.

>163 MissBrangwen: reading one work by him seems to be enough to me
I often feel that way too!

And I'm off to see which authors were chosen for this year's French baccalaureate...

>164 Dilara86: I'm glad I'm not alone!

I have already read more than five books for Scotland, but here is the next one: Blood Red Roses by Lin Anderson, a prequel to the Rhona MacLeod series.



Scotland

"Blood Red Roses" by Lin Anderson
Series: Rhona MacLeod (0.5/18)
First published in 2005
ebook, 63pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This prequel is a short novella, but it still includes a full story and does not feel diminished in any way, which shows what a good writer Lin Anderson is!

Rhona MacLeod is a forensic scientist in Glasgow. When a young woman is found dead after her hen night, the evidence leads to the city's nightlife. Rhona works around the clock, although she has just met a handsome saxophonist who seems interested in her.

The characterization is surprisingly deep and nuanced considering the novella format. Anderson's style is concise, but skillful, and the story and plot are round.

I must admit that I wasn't fully aware that The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was a classic story until I came across it when looking for something on the topic of ghosts for this month's ScaredyKIT over in the Category Challenge. I'm wiser now!



USA

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving
First published in 1820
Independently published
ebook, 30pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This story was surprising to me because it was so entertaining, but also far less gruesome or eerie than I had expected. Instead of that it was interesting to read about life in a Dutch settlement in the US in the end of the 18th century.

I finished Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan, the first novel I ever read set in Taiwan.



Taiwan

"Green Island" by Shawna Yang Ryan
First published in 2016
Vintage Books
Paperback, 385pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

Shawna Yang Ryan is a Taiwanese-American author who spent several years in Taiwan researching for her novel, speaking to people, reading diaries and books, watching documentaries and home videos. This really shows because the story feels so authentic that I often forgot that I was not reading about an actually existing family.

This novel is the story of the Tsai family, but also the history of Taiwan, from 1947, when the Japanese occupation had just ended, to 2003 and the SARS epidemic. The shadows of Taiwan's political events fall over the family from the beginning when the father of the narrator, a doctor, gives shelter to a victim of an uprising that coincides with the narrator's birth, and later speaks his mind during a gathering. Like many other men he disappears in the days that follow, and the narrator's life will never be free of care because of that. Even when she moves to the US in the 1970s, Taiwanese politics grasp for her and determine her life.

I did not know much about Taiwanese history before reading this, and while I did a little googling from time to time, the novel still was easy to follow, as it mostly gives the context you need to understand the action. It looks at things from a human perspective, which is what makes it a strong and engrossing story. The characters often find themselves in impossible situations where every decision is somehow wrong, yet they have to make one. Reading this, the reader cannot help but ask what they would have done. Where does loyalty lie, what is most important in life, what can you save when every choice has devastating consequences?
The author presents all of this in a way that left me gripped and breathless. It is a novel that shows people as they are: Raw, flawed and human, but mostly trying their best. I will think about this book for a long time.

>168 MissBrangwen: Fantastic review, Mirjam. The book went straight to my wish list. I was reminded of Beneath the Lion's Gaze when reading your review. I knew very little about the Ethiopian Revolution beforehand, but reading the story of this one family, I was completely engrossed and able to follow the history with just a little googling.

>169 labfs39: I'm adding Beneath the Lion's Gaze to my WL, too. I don't know anything about the Ethiopian revolution, either.
I find that the knowledge sticks with me much more when I read about events from the perspective of the people as opposed to a more neutral nonfiction book.

>170 MissBrangwen: Beneath the Lion's Gaze was a rare five-star read for me. I recently purchased another novel by her called The Shadow King.

Yesterday I read The Lady With The Dog by Anton Chekhov. I had selected this for a prompt over at Reading Through Time many months ago, but never got around to it, although it is so short. Now I finally did. My German edition also includes The Darling.

This is only my second entry for Russia, the first one is a short story as well.



Russia

"Die Dame mit dem Hündchen" by Anton Chekhov
Original Title: Дама с собачкой / Dama s sobachkoy
First published in 1899
Diogenes
Paperback, 115pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

The lady of the title is a young woman who takes a holiday in Yalta and meets an older man. Both are unhappy in their respective marriages and fall in love, but see no possibility of being together.
This was the first time that I read Chekhov and I was entranced by his style. I totally loved The Lady With The Dog. It is a slow story and over many pages nothing much happens. On top of that, the characters are not even that engaging or sympathetic. But still, Chekhov has a way of telling the story that made me feel the scene and that fascinated me.

The Darling is the story of a young woman who does not have a personality of her own apart from being pleasant, naive and agreeable. She takes on the interests of any man she spends time with, and this determines her life.
While I did not like this one as much as the first one, I still enjoyed it. It is a spot on portrayal of co-dependency. I did not see it as misogynistic, but as a text showing what might happen to people who do not have chance of creating their own lives.

I cannot wait to read more by Anton Chekhov and I am so happy that I finally picked this up!

I had wanted to read Caprice - A Stockman's Daughter by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington) since reading Rabbit-Proof Fence earlier this year, so I finally did it this afternoon.



Australia

"Caprice - A Stockman's Daughter" by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington)
First published in 1991
University of Queensland Press
ebook, 75pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Rabbit-Proof Fence is much more famous, but Caprice - A Stockman's Daughter was the author's first book. It is not a memoir, but a novel, although it reads like a memoir and it might have been heavily influenced by her family's history (I tried to find out more but found conflicting information about this).

The novel is narrated by Kate, who later calls herself Caprice. She was born at the Moore River Native Settlement, an institution where so-called "half-caste" children were educated to make them forget their indigenousness. These children, who became known as the Stolen Generations, were forced to give up their languages, their cultures, their belief systems and their roots.

The novel starts when Kate tries to find out about her grandmother, an Indigenous Australian, and her grandfather, an Irish immigrant. She meets two old friends of her grandparents who tell her the story of her family, including how her grandparents met and married against the odds and how her mother was born and later brought to the Moore River Native Settlement. Kate then recalls how she grew up in often severe circumstances, and then we follow her as she creates a new life for herself.

In many way, this novel is more readable and more accessible than Rabbit-Proof Fence. The language is often beautiful, but also simple, and it feels like the reader is told the stories directly by the characters, in their own words and from their own minds. The horrors that the indigenous people had to endure are told in unembellished, plain words.

However, towards the end the events are rushed a little too much and aspects and events are missing that would have made the story more round and powerful.

This short novel is still worth a read, especially if you are interested in Australian history or in own voices stories of the consequences of colonialism in general.

>173 MissBrangwen: I have seen the movie based on Rabbit Proof Fence, but have yet to read anything by her. This one sounds interesting.

>174 labfs39: She did not write much. I plan to reread her third and last book for adults next. As said above, I think that Caprice - A Stockman's Daughter is more accessible than Rabbit-Proof Fence, although it might be different if you have already watched the movie.

I haven't visited this group for quite some time, mainly because of work obligations and health problems. I do hope to be more active again, though! And here is one review I still need to share.

In the beginning of November, I read Under the Wintamarra Tree, the third and last book written by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington).
I bought this book during my semester abroad in Queensland and read it back then (in 2009), but now it was time for a reread.



Australia

"Under the Wintamarra Tree" by Nugi Garimara (Doris Pilkington)
First published in 2002
University of Queensland Press
Paperback, 211pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

This book can be considered a sequel to the much more famous Rabbit-Proof Fence. It shows Molly's life on a cattle station after she escaped from the Moore River Native Settlement, and the birth of her daughter Doris.

"What is the baby's name, Molly?" asked Mrs Dunnet.
"Her name is Nugi," the young mother pronounced.
"Nugi, that's a stupid name," said her employer. "Give her a proper name, call her Doris," she ordered.

This dialogue makes clear how little control Molly had about anything in her life, and soon enough, history repeats itself, as Doris is taken away from her and forced to live in the same place her mother escaped from: The Moore River Native Settlement in the south of Western Australia.

The major part of the book is about Doris's childhood and teenage years in several institutions. The author wrote this memoir in the third person and in simple words, but nevertheless, it is heartbreaking. The reader follows as the young girl grows up at different schools far from home, finding a little comfort where she can, but becoming more and more estranged from her culture. Garimara also shows what this estrangement did to her as she grew up, and what difficulties it caused when she finally met her family again, brainwashed to see her relatives as devil worshippers and uncivilized, wild people.
Later, she becomes a nurse and marries, trying to build a life for herself, but things are never easy.

To me, this is the best book of the three that this author wrote, although all of them are worth reading.

>177 MissBrangwen: I didn't know there was a sequel. I'm adding it to my wishlist.

>178 labfs39: I hope you like it when you get to it!

I bought The Reunion by Bronwyn Rivers as a kindle deal simply because of the blurb and the setting, and I read it almost right away.



Australia

"The Reunion" by Bronwyn Rivers
First published in 2025
Constable
ebook, 333pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Ten years ago, six teenage friends embarked on an overnight hike in the bush, but tragically, one of them lost his life in the course of the hike. Now, his mother has invited the five surviving friends to a reunion held on the isolated property where the hike started a decade ago. They do not feel good about it but do not want to reject the wish of a still grieving mother. Once they are there, they soon regret their decision, though. The mother seems to be in much more distress than they expected, and the sheer isolation of the place adds to the sinister atmosphere. Above all hangs the question: What did really happen on that hike ten years ago?

This story gripped me from the start and I simply could not stop reading. Layer upon layer of secrets is revealed, and both plot lines were equally compelling to me: What happened on the hike, and what will happen to the friends on the isolated farm?

The setting is absolutely well done. It is described as "Australian gothic", a term I had never heard before, but that is very fitting. Both the property as well as the bush, a setting clearly modeled on the Blue Mountains, are eerie and striking.

I kept thinking about this book long after I had finished it, and I certainly hope that this author will write more.

I read a book from my box of German Christmas books: Drei Wünsche by Petra Oelker. The title translates as Three Wishes.

Apparently this is a prequel to a series of historical mysteries by this author, and I am very interested in reading those now.

I have many books for Germany already, but I decided to include it here because of all the interesting information about historical Hamburg.



Germany

"Drei Wünsche" by Petra Oelker
Series: Claes and Rosina (0.5/11)
First published in 2011
rororo
Paperback, 127pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This novella is set in Hamburg in 1773. It tells the story of three women, and each of them wishes for something.
Theda Harling has lost her position as a lady's maid and now has to go back home to the countryside and marry a repulsive civil servant, although she wants nothing more than to stay in Hamburg and work as a maid again.
Elsi is the daughter of a somewhat shady secondhand dealer. She has fallen in love with a seed seller who is in a much better position, but she fears that he sees nothing in her.
Madam Augusta has recently lost her favourite maid and companion and feels very lonely. She wishes for company again, but does not find it easy after spending decades with the woman who had become her confidante.

All this is woven into a lively background of 18th century Hamburg. The descriptions of the city were fascinating to me. I had to get used to the writing style in the beginning, but then I got lost in the story and absolutely loved it. The Christmas market at the Hamburger Dom also plays an important role in the story, and it was so interesting to read about that, as it's the origin of what is nowadays the biggest festival in the north of Germany.

The book also includes some wonderful illustrations by Andrea Offermann which bring the story even more to life.

I have owned A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas for many years, and now I finally read it. I already have listed Under Milk Wood by the author for Wales, but I still want to add this.



Wales

"A Child's Christmas in Wales" by Dylan Thomas
First published in 1954
Puffin Books
Paperback, 41pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

This is a fictionalized account of Christmas as the narrator experienced it as a young boy - the amalgamation of all the Christmas days in his childhood, which were similar to each other. The reader learns about Christmas caroling, about adventures in the snow and at the beach, about visiting relatives who smoke, sing and drink, about presents and wonderful food, ghost stories and postmen braving the weather to deliver letters. All this is told through the lens of the young boy, reality becoming blurred when suddenly there is a hippo in the street or he becomes lost in the snow only to be saved by a St. Bernard dog.

Dylan Thomas has a wonderful way with words, and the text is witty and funny, but also dreamy at the same time.

It is a wonderful read that holds so many surprises. It made me chuckle and swoon, and it really has the atmosphere of childhood, when everything seems larger and more adventurous.
I am glad I finally read this and I am sure I will reread it at some point.

In 2022 we traveled to Malaysia. Usually I try to read books from a country before a trip, but we were still in the stress of the pandemic somewhat (and other things on top), and I didn't succeed in reading anything Malaysian. Now I finally did: The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng. I have wished to read something by this author for a long time.



Malaysia

"The Gift of Rain" by Tan Twan Eng
First published in 2007
Canongate
ebook, 510pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

I went into this novel not really knowing what to expect - I didn't read any reviews before I started - but I was blown away. I'm experiencing a massive bookish hangover now and I know that this book will stay with me.

The novel starts with an elderly man living by himself on the island of Penang. He receives an unexpected visitor from Japan and tells her the story of his life, which is the framing story of the main one.

Philip Hutton is the son of an Englishman and a Chinese woman. His mother died when he was young. His father is a company owner and one of the richest man in Penang, but Philip feels like he belongs nowhere - not among the English and not among the Chinese. One day a Japanese diplomat, Endo, leases an island from Philip's father and when the youth meets the foreign man, the two start an unlikely but extremely deep friendship that will shape Philip's life forever, especially when Japan invades Malaya during World War Two.

This is an introduction to the plot, but it doesn't do the novel justice. The friendship of Philip and Endo goes so far that it is hard to comprehend as a reader, but still I believed it. The style is almost lyrical in parts, with many similes and beautiful descriptions. The narrator paints such a lively and colorful picture of Penang before the war that the desperation and cruelty in the second part of the book hits all the harder. It is not an easy read and sometimes I had to stop to reflect on it, but still I savored it. One thing I especially admired is that many of the characters are ambiguous: They perform good and bad actions, they are both victims of their situations and cause severe consequences which they often cannot foresee. This is true also of the main character, Philip, which is reflected in how different the assessments of him are in the various reviews of the novel that can be found.

>183 MissBrangwen: Wonderful review of a wonderful book. I also loved Garden of Evening Mists, and although I rated it 1/2* lower than Gift of Rain, the themes in it have stayed with me better, despite having read it first.

>184 labfs39: Thank you so much! I have Garden of Evening Mists on my kindle and on the one hand I can't wait to get to it, but on the other hand I feel like I need a break because The Gift of Rain was so intense.

>185 MissBrangwen: I can certainly understand that.

One Green Field by Edward Thomas was a second hand cover buy several years ago.



England

"One Green Field" by Edward Thomas
Publisher Series: Penguin English Journeys
This edition first published in 2009, original texts first published in 1906 and 1909
Penguin Books
Paperback, 106pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

This is a collection of mostly short chapters of nature writing. While it rather is nonfiction, it often resembles prose, as the author's style is very dense and rich, full of similes and metaphors, using many adjectives and words that speak to the reader's senses. Thomas observes the tiniest details of nature as well as the whole picture while he walks through the English landscape, through meadows and woods, discovering old farms, ponds and groves. The writing is beautiful and evocative, a celebration of nature and the English countryside.
Reading these descriptions was a delight, but it also required a lot of concentration. Therefore, reading one chapter every few days was enough. I presume that otherwise I would have tired of the book a bit.

It makes me sad that Edward Thomas was killed in the First World War. He might have written so much more. He was quite prolific during his life-time, though, and I have an anthology of some of his texts on my shelf to read in the future.

I did not have time to read all week, so today I started with a novella to get into it again. I read Vertigo by Amanda Lohrey. I had never heard about this Australian author before, but came across her through LT and immediately bought this book.



Australia

"Vertigo" by Amanda Lohrey
First published in 2008
Black Inc.
ebook, 87pp.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars - ***°

Luke and Anna are a couple in their thirties who live in Sydney. Fed up with the high cost and the competition among their friends and acquaintances as to who leads the best lifestyle, they decide to move to the country. They acquire an old house in a tiny coastal hamlet. The bush lies only a few steps behind their house and it is hard to settle into their new routines, which is full of new experiences and also hardships.

The atmosphere of this story is tense and somewhat bleak. Although the descriptions of the natural world are beautiful, it is not possible to fully enjoy them because of the underlying sense of dread. The narrator is detached and thus it is hard to really get to know the main characters or to feel for them. Another character that appears is a strange boy and in the beginning it is not clear who he is. To be honest, I could have done without this element.
However, I was still fascinated by the novella and especially by the author's way with words and how she portrays the relationship of Luke and Anna with sparse words, yet in such a deep way.
There is a lot of imagery as well. Sometimes it feels a little forced, especially when it comes to the birds, but all in all it serves to make the story more meaningful. I needed more time to read this novella than I'd usually need for 87 pages because I read slowly and reread many passages so I wouldn't miss anything and take everything in.

I am hosting CultureKIT over in the Category Challenge this month with the topic "A book in translation" and my plan was to read something by Mieko Kawakami, but I felt that her books might be too bleak for me at the moment. On a whim, I chose Rental Person Who Does Nothing by Shoji Morimoto.

This is my first book for Japan. I read a few Japanese books years ago, but they were books of the Marie Kondo kind, and I did not count them here.



Japan

"Rental Person Who Does Nothing" by Shoji Morimoto
Original Title:「レンタルなんもしない人」というサービスをはじめます / "Rentaru nanmo shinai hito" to iu sābisu wo hajimemasu
First published in 2019
Picador
ebook, 151pp.
Rating: 2 1/2 stars - **°

I had never heard about Shoji Morimoto before I discovered this book on Amazon, but apparently he is quite famous in Japan and there have been newspaper articles about him in Germany, too. He provides a rental service where he does nothing. He accompanies people to restaurant visits or concerts because these people do not want to go alone, he sits in their flat while they study or work so they manage more because they feel accountable, he waits in line for them while they do other things, or he sits at court hearings just so that somebody is there. It is an intriguing idea that tells us much about society, especially Japanese society.

The title of the book caught my attention at once and I expected something funny, but also deep. Unfortunately it wasn't really any of the two, although there were some funny moments. I do not know much about Japanese society and culture, otherwise I might have had more of an insight (maybe?), but still, I learned quite a lot. It was striking to me that many clients booked Morimoto for occasions that usually, to my mind, would be accompanied by friends or family - not because they didn't have any, but because they did not want to lose face, be obligated to reciprocate or show feelings that would make them seem weak. The descriptions of these bookings and occasions were my favourite part of the book.

Morimoto also spends quite a lot of time explaining his philosophy of doing nothing and how he views his job as a rental person, his guidelines of what he does and does not do and how he feels in certain situations. While I initially found this interesting and it reminded me of the debate about the unconditional basic income, it became drawn out and repetitive. Some parts of the book were really boring to me because of that.

All in all, while it is a worthwhile read if you are interested in the main idea, I would have wished for much more: More insight into Japanese culture, more stories about clients and bookings, more about Morimoto's life.

I agree that the idea of rental people is interesting, too bad the book’s execution is poor. Good review

>190 labfs39: Yes, I think more could have been made of this topic.

I finished Maybe Tomorrow by Boori Monty Pryor. This book had been on my wish list for ages and last year I finally bought it when I decided to read more about Australia.



Australia

"Maybe Tomorrow" by Boori Monty Pryor
First published in 1998
Allen & Unwin
ebook, 193pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

Boori Monty Pryor is an author, performer and didgeridoo player from Far North Queensland who was born in 1950. In his memoir he tells us about his life and his art as well as about his broader view on Australian society, especially the relations between white and Black people.
The memoir is written as if the author is sitting next to you and talking to you, which is how it actually was written, as it was put down by Meme McDonald according to Boori Monty Pryor's words. This orality is apparent in the structure as well. The text is not chronological, but rather ordered by topics and connections.

Pryor is an amazing man who has suffered a lot of heartbreak because of what white Australians did to his family and to his people. He often performs at schools and meeting children from all backgrounds gives him hope. Many of these occasions feature in the first half of the book and that felt a bit repetitive, but that is the only criticism I have.
I was impressed by Pryor's outlook on his life, Australia as a whole and humankind in general. Despite the terrible things he experienced, he did not loose his kindness or his belief that people can be good. I learned a lot about First Nations culture in Australia from this book as well as more about the recent history of the country.

>192 MissBrangwen: This sounds very interesting. Noting.

>193 labfs39: I'm glad! I think it deserves to be more widely known.

Today I took The Romance of Certain Old Clothes by Henry James as a BB from Jayne, and I read it at once because it is so short and I just felt like it.



USA

"The Romance of Certain Old Clothes" by Henry James
First published in 1868
JollyJoy Books
ebook, 28pp.
Rating: 4 1/2 stars - ****°

When a young man comes back to New England after finishing his studies at Oxford University, he brings his friend from England. His two younger sisters have high hopes at once, since said friend seems so much more knowledgeable and cultured than his colonial counterparts. But of course, he can only marry one of them. Jealousy and tragedy ensues.

I really enjoyed this short tale that contains an element of horror, but also a picture of New England society as well as a fascinating portrayal of the relationship between the two sisters and how it is eroded once an eligible man appears. The horror element is only short, but I found it to be scary enough.

I read another short story for the US, this time one of the Amazon Original Stories: Abscond by Abraham Verghese. It was the first time I read anything by this author.



USA

"Abscond" by Abraham Verghese
First published in 2025
Amazon Original Stories
ebook, 37pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Ravi grows up in New Jersey as the son of immigrants from India. His father is a successful surgeon, while his mother is devoted to caring for the family. The boy is torn between the expectations of his parents and his own desire to become a tennis star. A sudden death changes the quiet and regular life the family leads and all at once, Ravi faces growing up.

This short story is well-written and I was amazed by Verghese's ability to characterize the characters in such a deep way despite the shortness of the story. The topics of multicultural life, grief and family relations are portrayed in a profound way. Ultimately, I wished for even a little more, especially towards the ending, but I still liked it very much and hope to read more by this author.

>196 MissBrangwen: Both books I've read by Verghese, Cutting for Stone and Covenant of Water, I've loved. Since he's a noted physician, he doesn't churn out a lot of books, but boy, the one's he does are excellent.

>197 labfs39: Yay, both of these are on my wish list!

>196 MissBrangwen: didnt know he had a short story; love his other books

>199 cindydavid4: Good to know you enjoy his books, too.

We are planning a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina (and Montenegro) for this summer, and I realized that while I know about the very basics of the Bosnian war, there is a lot that I don't know, and I looked up a lot of the things I came across or that came up somewhere online. I have also followed Melina Borčak, a Bosnian-German journalist, for some time. Her instagram page offers a lot of insight into the topics of genocide, anti-muslim racism and how the media covers these topics.
She has published Guidelines for Accurate Reporting and Speaking about the Genocide in Srebrenica, which were published by the Srebrenica Memorial. The document is listed under "books" in her wikipedia article, so I decided to count it as a book read.
The document can be downloaded here.



Bosnia and Herzegovina

"Guidelines for Accurate Reporting and Speaking about the Genocide in Srebrenica" by Melina Borčak
First published in 2025
Srebrenica Memorial
ebook, 38pp.
Rating: 5 stars - *****

I my opinion, this is a must read for anyone interested in the history of the Balkans, in the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina or in the politics of genocide. I learned a ton of things from this short book/document.
Melina Borčak is a Bosniak woman born in Sarajevo in 1990. She fled to Germany as a child, but later returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Today she lives in Germany and works as a journalist and social media commentator. She is an expert about the last genocide against Bosniaks both from a scholarly and from a survivor's perspective.

While these guidelines were mainly written for journalists, even as a person who does not deal with this topic on a professional level, I gained a lot from reading it. The author shows the harmful language that is often used in the media to portrait the genocide and the ways in which this enables genocide deniers and covers up the truth. The guidelines are very practical and demonstrate which kind of language to use, explain different terms and why they are correct or false, and point out other problems with the portrayal of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They also include a lot of information about the genocide itself and the wider history of the country and the region.
Although there is so much information in this and the topic is a complicated one, the text is not difficult to understand. Borčak uses clear and concise words.

I see myself looking up things and terms in these guidelines time and time again.

>201 MissBrangwen: Thank you for sharing the link. I have read the first third so far, and it is compelling, clear, and concise. As you say, good guidelines for us all.

I just discovered this on-going challenge today.
I love the way that you have set up your thread alphabetically. I am going to copy your format!
Thanks!

>201 MissBrangwen: Thank you for the link. I've also downloaded it for further reference.

>202 labfs39: Yes, I really think everyone can learn from this!

>203 rhondak101book: Welcome to the group! I am looking forward to following your thread.

>204 Dilara86: You're welcome!

>205 MissBrangwen: Thank you! Right now, I am adding things I read eons ago. I am looking forward to starting to read and review new additions.

My next read was Lauf, Mädchen, lauf! by Mirsada Simchen-Kahrimanović. I came across this book while searching for books from Bosnia. The author lives in Germany and it was written in German.



Bosnia and Herzegovina

"Lauf, Mädchen, lauf!" by Mirsada Simchen-Kahrimanović
First published in 2022
wbg Theiss
ebook, 135pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Mirsada Simchen-Kahrimanovic was born in northern Bosnia in 1979. She was thirteen years old when the Bosnian war started and she was brought to Trnopolje concentration camp. She tells the reader about the (from her point of view) sudden start of the war, the destruction of her village, and the horrible time in the camp, where rape, hunger, brutality and torture defined the daily life of the Bosniaks. After being released from the camp, Mirsada, her mother and her sister fled to Croatia and then to Germany, where they started a new life. This was not easy and it took a lot of strength for Mirsada to find her way. In the end, the title of the book has two meanings: Run, girl, run is what a Bosnian soldier told her when her village was attacked, but sportive running is also what helps her nowadays, in order not to be paralyzed by all she had to live through, to feel her body and find her strength.

This book was written for adults, but also for younger people, so while it is made clear how terrible the author's experiences were, these are not described in detail. Her account is gripping and emotional. She does not shy away from explaining the physical and psychological toll the events took from her.
Towards the end, it becomes a bit preachy, when she talks about the importance of peace and living together in harmony. She gives talks at schools and I think that took over - the message is essential of course, but it is expressed mainly in platitudes. The last chapters, when she tells the reader about her life as an adult, her marriage and her jobs, jump a lot in time and I think that she should have taken the time and space to narrate this properly, or left it out. Like this, it is rather unsatisfactory.

Nevertheless, it is a great and powerful book and I am immensely thankful to the author for sharing her story. It is important to have such an account from a girl's and woman's perspective.

The book includes an afterword by Christian Schmidt, the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, who is from Germany. The afterword gave me some weird vibes, and he also used some words that, according to Melina Borčak's guidelines, are not accurate. I really wondered about that and after doing some research, I learned that Schmidt's actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are highly controversial, and he himself is a difficult figure. If you are interested in this, there is a very good episode of a German satirical late night show about him that you can watch on YouTube with subtitles (you might have to turn them on): ZDF Magazin Royale about Christian Schmidt in Bosnia and Herzegovina

I read another Bosnian memoir straight after this one: Srebrenica. Kein Vergessen. Kein Vergeben. by Hasan Hasanović.



Bosnia and Herzegovina

"Srebrenica. Kein Vergessen. Kein Vergeben." by Hasan Hasanović
First published in 2021
Boons on Demand
ebook, 292pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

This book was translated by Bosnian-German activist and author Sejfuddin Dizdarević. I don't know if it was translated from the author's manuscript or if there is a Bosnian edition of the book.

Hasan Hasanović was a young man living close to Srebrenica with his parents and siblings when the Bosnian war started. He had deserted from the Yugoslavian army when he had noticed that it was used to suppress Croatians in their homeland. When Serbian nationalists attacked his village, he tried to defend it with a few other men, before fleeing to Srecrenica. The book chronicles the events in that town, a time full of death, hunger and misery, until the army started overrunning it. Together with about 20,000 men, Hasan formed a column to flee from Srebrenica and to make their way to independent Bosnian territory. The way was full of terrible risks and dangers, and the majority of the men died, but staying in Srebrenica would have been certain death as well. Hasan actually made it, and he wrote this book about his experiences nearly thirty years later.

Unlike "Lauf, Mädchen, lauf!", this book does not spare you the details. Hasan tells the reader about unspeakable crimes and cruelty. He also describes what witnessing and living through this did to him. The book shows that the Bosniaks who were subjected to these crimes were simply ordinary people - not "wild Balkan people" who were somehow used to this, but normal people who just wanted to live with their families in peace.

I learned a lot from this book and I read many passages to my husband because they were so incredible to me.

Having said all this, the book would be even better if it had a good editor. There are many grammatical errors and missing words. Sometimes people appear as if the reader should know who they are although they were never mentioned before. Some chapters could also be shortened a bit because the narration is lost sometimes in the details of who said what, who went where and who organized what. The structure could be more tight.

This does not take away from the emotional power of the book, though. I just think that it is a shame that it is not published by a big publisher and edited to make it even better. It deserves a wider audience and an even more professional treatment.

Jasmina Kuhnke is a screenwriter and activist who especially posts about racism and misogyny in Germany. I am not following her actively, but her posts have come up in my feed time and time again. I bought her debut novel Schwarzes Herz (Black Heart) when it came out in 2021 and I have used one chapter in my lessons, but now I finally read the whole novel.



Germany

"Schwarzes Herz" by Jasmina Kuhnke
First published in 2021
rowohlt
Hardback, 208pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Jasmina Kuhnke is a Croatian-Senegalese-German born in 1981 who grew up in the Ruhr Area. This novel is largely influenced by the author's life, so much that sometimes it is hard to distinguish if Kuhnke or the novel's narrator is the one who is speaking. Be that as it may, it is a compelling story.

When the narrator, who is not given a name, is born, the doctor is shocked that the baby is Black and asks the mother if she knew about that. This is the first instance of racism the narrator is subjected to, and systemic as well as casual racism heavily influence her life throughout childhood and adolescence. As a young woman, she enters into a marriage that is full of violence and hatred, and it takes a lot of time and strength for her to finally find her voice and independence.

The novel includes many shocking incidences that portray how Black Germans were and are treated, and how women often suffer under the men in their lives, be they (step)fathers or partners. The dangers, the suffocating atmosphere and the consequences of living under control of a violent and unpredictable man are described in a very realistic way.
The style and the language of the novel are left behind a bit compared to the contents. The writing is a bit pedestrian and flat and there are some grammatical errors. While the language is authentic and the text is easy to follow, it just could have been written more interestingly and distinctly.

Nevertheless, the novel is well worth a read and I admire Jasmina Kuhnke for her courage and the stamina to put this kind of book out there.

Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell was my first ever read by this author. I really enjoyed it and wonder why it took me so long! She was all the rage already about a decade ago, but then I only really started reading romance in 2022 or so.

I decided to include this here because I learned quite a lot about life in the poorer suburbs of Omaha, Nebraska. It was the first time I read anything set there.



USA

"Slow Dance" by Rainbow Rowell
First published in 2024
William Morrow
ebook, 391pp.
Rating: 4 stars - ****

Cary and Shiloh were best friends at high school and always felt drawn to each other, but for one reason or the other, they never became a couple. After having no contact for fourteen years they meet again at a friend's wedding and wonder if they will be able to reconnect and rekindle their friendship, or even more. Their feelings have not diminished, but neither have their problems or the things that hold them back.

Second chance is not my favourite trope, but still, I really enjoyed this novel. Cary and Shiloh are real and authentic people with real-life problems. I appreciated that they are not your usual beautiful, wealthy and successful protagonists. In contrast, they do not look perfect, they do not have advantageous backgrounds and they struggle in their lives. Still, they do their best on a daily basis and they are always there for those who need support.

While the main story, which is set in 2006, is linear, there are a lot of flashbacks which jump around in time. In the beginning this disturbed my reading flow a little, but then I settled into it and I really liked how the author used the flashbacks to provide deeper characterization. The story absolutely drew me in and I felt for these characters so much. I think I haven't read any dialogues as well-written as these ones in any romance novel before. However, I must say that Shiloh was a bit much sometimes, especially towards the end. Her behavior started getting on my nerves because while I understand that dating again as a single mom is not easy and the challenges were portrayed very well (as far as I can judge), it is not like there aren't any other patchwork families in the world and she really should have stopped managing everything and should have started to trust Cary sooner.
The ending also felt a bit drawn out. I think it is great that the HEA didn't happen at once and the reader gets to read about Cary and Shiloh before their marriage, but the pacing was a little odd.

Despite these criticisms, though, all in all I loved this novel and cannot wait to read more by the author.

One of the first books I came across when searching for Montenegrin books was My Father, the Prince by Milena Petrović-Njegoš Thompson. Those few ratings it has are really high, so I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately, I did not like it that much.



Montenegro

"My Father, the Prince" by Milena Petrović-Njegoš Thompson
First published in 2000
Xlibris
ebook, 204pp.
Rating: 2 1/2 stars - **°

This book is a biography of Milo Petrović-Njegoš, or Milo of Montenegro, a member of the Montenegrin Royal family who lived from 1889 to 1978. It was written by his daughter Milena. He left her mother and her in the US when she was a baby. She only met him again when she was in her late thirties and he was an elderly man living in exile in Connemara, Ireland. The biography traces his upbringing in Montenegro and St Petersburg, his activities during World War I after which he had to go into exile, his quest to raise awareness for Montenegro's plight when it lost its independence and his resignation and reclusion in rural Ireland.

While the story is interesting, it is not very readable because the author includes so much historical background (a lot of it unnecessary because it is common knowledge, such as the basics of the two world wars), as well as a lot of name dropping. So many European royals are named. I gather that she wants to show how well connected her father and the Montenegrin Royal family were, but it makes the text unwieldy and hems the reading flow. Quite often, the book reads more like a history text book rather than a biography, and I would have wished for a lot more personal information abut Milo. Even when it comes to the fact that he left the author's American mother and her, being just a baby, to go back to Europe and continue his political work, the consequences and implications of this are hardly mentioned. While there is one scene that shows how disappointed she was as a teenager when he called off a planned visit, apart from that, we do not learn anything about her emotions. The relationship between father and daughter clearly was difficult until right before his death, but the author never lets the reader know her feelings. Was she disappointed, resentful, did she long for him? How does she feel about being a princess, of only getting to know the country of Montenegro as an adult? I would have loved to learn about that.
On the other hand, while she gives sources, the historical bits are deeply steeped in personal opinions. For example, it is clear that she writes from a royalist point of view, no matter the country, and I often wondered if I could really trust the information I was given.

All in all, I did learn some things about Montenegro and the story is interesting, but the book would have needed a good editor and a clearer aim of what the author wanted to achieve - a personal story or a history of Montenegro.