amanda4242's thread

Currently reading

January
1. The Changeling--BAC ★★★
2. The Elusive Fox--ANC ★★
3. Goat Mountain--ANC ★★★
4. Cuphead Volume 1: Comic Capers & Curios ★★★
5. Valerian & Laureline Volume 6: Ambassador of the Shadows ★★★★
6. Valerian & Laureline Volume 7: On the False Earths ★★★★
7. Valerian & Laureline Volume 8: Heroes of the Equinox ★★★★
8. Valerian & Laureline Volume 9: Châtelet Station, Destination Cassiopeia ★★★1/2
9. Valerian & Laureline Volume 10: Brooklyn Line, Terminus Cosmos ★★★
10. The Longest Memory--BAC ★★★1/2
11. iZombie, Vol. 1: Dead to the World ★★★1/2
12. iZombie, Vol. 2: uVampire ★★★1/2
13. iZombie Vol. 3: Six Feet Under & Rising ★★★1/2
14. The Illustrator's Notebook--ANC ★★★
15. iZombie Vol. 4: Repossession ★★★1/2
16. The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup--BAC ★★★1/2
17. The Witch's Brat--BAC ★★★★
18. The Far Pavilions--BAC ★★★1/2
19. Rosie Runs ★1/2
20. The Dictator's Last Night--ANC ★★
21. Gold Dust--ANC ★★★
22. Island Moors & Native Dance--ANC ★
23. The Ancient ★★
24. Just One Damned Thing After Another--BAC ★★★★
25. Heather, Oak, and Olive--BAC ★★★★
26. The Quick--BAC ★★★1/2
27. Beyond the Horizon--ANC ★★★

February
28. The Poe Clan Volume 1 ★★1/2
29. Cuphead Volume 2: Cartoon Chronicles & Calamities ★★★
30. What Abigail Did That Summer--BAC ★★★1/2
31. Sumi's Prize ★★★★
32. Mayombe--ANC ★★
33. The Poe Clan Volume 2 ★★1/2
34. The Epic of Askia Mohammed--ANC ★★★
35. What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 19 ★★★
36. We Killed Mangy-Dog & Other Mozambique Stories--ANC ★★★
37. Flame-Colored Taffeta--BAC ★★★1/2
38. Die--BAC ★★★★
39. Tales of Polynesia: Folktales from Hawai'i, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Samoa ★★★1/2
40. Who Am I?--ANC ★1/2
41. The Ultimate Tragedy--ANC ★★★1/2
42. The Conscript: A Novel of Libya’s Anticolonial War--ANC ★★★★1/2
43. Journey ★★★★1/2
44. The Queen Elizabeth Story--BAC ★★★
45. Fetch Book One: The Journey ★★★
46. A Symphony of Echoes--BAC ★★★★
47. Sumi's Special Happening ★★★★
48. Sumi and the Goat and the Tokyo Express ★★★★
49. Charlie's secret chocolate book ★★★
50. Angola Is Wherever I Plant My Field--ANC ★★★1/2
51. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories--BAC ★★★★
52. La Bastarda--ANC ★★★1/2
53. Quest ★★★★1/2
54. Return ★★★★1/2
55. All Passion Spent--BAC ★★★★
56. Notes on Grief--ANC ★★
57. Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses: Photographs of Yukio Mishima ★★★★
58. Every Leaf a Hallelujah--ANC ★★1/2
59. African Tales: Folklore of the Central African Republic--ANC ★★1/2

March
60. The Witcher: Ronin ★★★
61. The Exile ★★★★
62. The Bride Price--ANC ★★★1/2
63. Ossobó: Essays on the Literature of São Tomé and Príncipe--ANC ★★1/2
64. Sláine: Warrior's Dawn ★★★1/2
65. A Marsh Island ★★★★
66. The Witches of World War II ★★
67. The Salt Grows Heavy ★★1/2
68. Trotsky for Beginners--BAC ★★★
69. Shuna's Journey ★★★★1/2
70. Aya--ABC ★★★
71. Aya of Yop City--ANC ★★★
72. The Future God of Love--ANC ★★★
73. Aya: The Secrets Come Out--ANC ★★★
74. The River in the Belly--ANC ★1/2
75. Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 10 ★★★
76. Possum Magic ★★★★
77. The Open Curtain ★★★1/2
78. Lord of the Dance: An African Retelling--ANC ★★★
79. The Beggars' Strike, or, The Dregs of Society--ANC ★★★
80. The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories--ANC ★★★1/2
81. Natural Novel ★1/2
82. Genocide: Rwanda and Burundi--ANC ★
83. Why Goats Smell Bad and Other Stories from Benin--ANC ★★★★
84. Mema--ANC ★★★
85. Smouldering Charcoal--ANC ★★★
86. The Afersata--ANC ★★★
87. Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang ★★
88. A Note of Explanation--BAC ★★★★
89. Desert December--ANC ★★★
90. There Is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan--ANC ★★★

April
91. Blueblood: A Fairy Tale Revolution--BAC ★★★
92. William III & Mary II: Partners in Revolution--BAC ★★★1/2
93. Wash Day Diaries ★★1/2
94. Absalom: Ghosts of London ★★★1/2
95. Absalom: Under a False Flag ★★★1/2
96. Absalom: Terminal Diagnosis ★★★1/2
97. Where the Weird Things Are: An Ocean Twilight Zone Adventure--ANC ★★★1/2
98. The Parachute Drop--ANC ★★★1/2
99. Moriarty the Patriot Vol. 11 ★★★
100. Something is Killing the Children Vol. 5 ★★★★1/2
101. Something is Killing the Children Vol. 6 ★★★★1/2
102. The Complete Phonogram--BAC ★★★
103. Mary I : The Daughter of Time--BAC ★★★
104. The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert--ANC ★★★1/2
105. Harvest of Skulls--ANC ★1/2
106. The Rainbow Serpent ★★★1/2
107. Knot of Shadows ★★★★1/2
108. A Second Chance--BAC ★★★★
109. Teddy’s Midnight Adventure ★★★★1/2
110. The Stranger--1001 & ANC ★★★

May
111. Folk Tales and Fables from the Gambia: Volume 1--ANC ★★1/2
112. This past must address its present: The 1986 Nobel lecture--ANC ★★★
113. Map Reading: The Nobel Lecture and Other Writings--ANC ★★★
114. Long Goes to Dragon School ★★★1/2
115. The African--ANC ★★★
116. Scenes from Havian Life--BAC ★★★
117. The Adventures of Ben Gunn--BAC ★★★
118. Autumnal: The Complete Series ★★★
119. Fearscape Vol. 1 ★★★
120. The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film--ANC ★★★★
121. Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances ★★★1/2
122. The Late Bourgeois World--ANC ★★
123. The Mummy Awakens--ANC ★★★
124. Prisons We Choose to Live Inside--ANC ★★
125. The Trolley--ANC ★
126. Waiting for the Barbarians--1001 & ANC ★★★1/2

June
127. Song Bird--ANC ★★★1/2
128. Kibogo--ANC ★★★1/2
129. The Shadow of Things to Come--ANC ★★★1/2
130. From Hell--BAC ★★★
131. Sulwe--ANC ★★★1/2
132. The Kaffir of Karthala--ANC ★★
133. Eve Out of Her Ruins--ANC ★★1/2
134. A Trail Through Time--BAC ★★★★
135. A Bargain of Blood and Gold ★★★
136. The Paper Bag Princess ★★★★
137. A Draught of Ash and Wine ★★★
138. How to Read a Folktale: The Ibonia Epic from Madagascar--ANC ★★★
139. When Megan Went Away ★★★★
140. The Summer Isles {novella}--BAC ★★★★
141. Whisper of the Woods ★★1/2
142. Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 1 ★★★★
143. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 2 ★★★★
144. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 3 ★★★★
145. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 4 ★★★★
146. Mad Max: Fury Road: The Prelude to the Blockbuster Film ★★★
147. The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright--ANC ★★★★

July
148. Settled Wanderers: The Poetry of Western Sahara--ANC ★★★1/2
149. Chike and the River--ANC ★★★
150. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 1 ★★★1/2
151. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 2 ★★★1/2
152. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 3 ★★★1/2
153. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 4 ★★★1/2
154. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 5 ★★★1/2
155. Prosper's Demon--BAC ★★★1/2
156. Gilgamesh the King ★★★★
157. The Revenge of Ishtar ★★★★
158. The Last Quest of Gilgamesh ★★★★
159. How Leopard Got His Claws--ANC ★★★1/2
160. Inside Man--BAC ★★★1/2
161. Black Mamba Boy--BAC ★★1/2
162. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Marks of Woe--BAC ★★★★
163. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Best Version of You--BAC ★★★★
164. Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 12 ★★★
165. The Secrets of Insects ★★★
166. The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale ★★1/2
167. The Ghost in Bone--BAC ★★★1/2
168. The Starling's Song ★★★★
169. Stravaging “Strange” ★★★1/2
170. The Alchemaster's Apprentice ★★★1/2
171. Mansfield Park--1001 & BAC ★★★

Q4 reading

British Author Challenge

Wildcard: Doorstops
1. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye ★★★1/2
2. The Quick by Lauren Owen ★★★1/2
3. Die by Kieron Gillen ★★★★
4. The Complete Phonogram by Kieron Gillen ★★★
5. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen ★★★

January: Rosemary Sutcliff & Fred D'Aguiar
1. The Changeling by Rosemary Sutcliff ★★★
2. The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup by Rosemary Sutcliff ★★★1/2
3. The Witch's Brat by Rosemary Sutcliff ★★★★
4. Heather, Oak, and Olive by Rosemary Sutcliff ★★★★
5. Flame-Colored Taffeta by Rosemary Sutcliff ★★★1/2
6. The Queen Elizabeth Story by Rosemary Sutcliff ★★★

1. The Longest Memory by Fred D'Aguiar ★★★1/2

February: Short Stories & Novellas
1. What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch ★★★1/2
2. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke ★★★★
3. The Ghost in Bone by Mike Carey ★★★1/2

March: Vita Sackville-West & Tariq Ali
1. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West ★★★★
2. A Note of Explanation by Vita Sackville-West ★★★★

1. Trotsky for Beginners by Tariq Ali, illustrated by Phil Evans ★★★

April: British Queens (non-fiction)
1. William III & Mary II: Partners in Revolution by Jonathan Keates ★★★1/2
2. Mary I : The Daughter of Time by John Edwards ★★★

May: Jan Morris & R.F. Delderfield
1. Scenes from Havian Life by Jan Morris ★★★

1. The Adventures of Ben Gunn by R. F. Delderfield ★★★

June: Time Travel & Alternate History
1. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm ★★★★
2. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm ★★★★
3. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm ★★★★
4. From Hell by Alan Moore ★★★
5. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm ★★★★
6. The Summer Isles {novella} by Ian R. MacLeod ★★★★
7. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Marks of Woe by Simon Spurrier and Kat Howard ★★★★
8. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Best Version of You by Simon Spurrier ★★★★

July: Nadifa Mohamed & Tom Holt/KJ Parker
1. Prosper's Demon by KJ Parker ★★★1/2
2. Inside Man by KJ Parker ★★★1/2

1. Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed ★★1/2

August: Seafaring Stories

September: School Stories/Campus Novels

October: Monica Ali & Dennis Wheatley

November: Pre-Tudor Era Works (before 1486)

December: Malorie Blackman & E. M. Forster
1. Blueblood: A Fairy Tale Revolution by Malorie Blackman, illustrated by Laura Barrett ★★★

African Novel Challenge

January: North Africa
1. Morocco: The Elusive Fox by Muhammad Zafzaf, translated by Mbarek Sryfi and Roger Allen ★★
2. Tunisia: Goat Mountain by Habib Selmi, translated by Charis Olszok ★★★1/2
3. Egypt: The Illustrator's Notebook by Mohieddine Ellabbad, translated by Sarah Quinn ★★★
4. Algeria: The Dictator's Last Night by Yasmina Khadra, translated by Julian Evans ★★
5. Libya: Gold Dust by Ibrahim al-Koni, translated by Elliott Colla ★★★
6. Western Sahara: Settled Wanderers: The Poetry of Western Sahara by Sam Berkson and Muhammad Sulaiman ★★★1/2

February: Lusophone Lit
1. São Tomé and Príncipe: Island Moors & Native Dance by Gervásio Kaiser ★
2. Angola: Mayombe by Pepetela, translated by Michael Wolfers ★★
3. Mozambique: We Killed Mangy-Dog & Other Mozambique Stories by Luís Bernardo Honwana, translated by Dorothy Guedes ★★★
4. Cabo Verde: Who Am I? by Bela Monteiro ★1/2
5. Guinea-Bissau: The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Silá, translated by Jethro Soutar ★★★1/2
6. Angola: Angola is Wherever I Plant My Field by João Melo, translated by Luísa Venturini ★★★1/2
7. São Tomé and Príncipe: Ossobó: Essays on the Literature of São Tomé and Príncipe by Donald Burness ★★1/2

March: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Buchi Emecheta
1. Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie ★★

1. The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta ★★★1/2

April: The Horn of Africa
1. Eritrea: The Conscript: A Novel of Libya’s Anticolonial War by Gebreyesus Hailu, translated by Ghirmai Negash ★★★★1/2
2. Sudan: The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories by Tayeb Salih, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies, illustrated by Ibrahim Salahi ★★★1/2
3. Ethiopia: The Afersata by Sahle Sellassie ★★★
4. South Sudan: There Is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan by Nyuol Lueth Tong ★★★
5. Somalia: The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert by Shugri Said Salh ★★★1/2
6. Djibouti: Harvest of Skulls by Abdourahman A. Waberi, translated by Dominic Thomas ★1/2

May: African Nobel Winners
1. The Stranger by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward ★★★
2. This past must address its present: The 1986 Nobel lecture by Wole Soyinka ★★★
3. Map Reading: The Nobel Lecture and Other Writings by Abdulrazak Gurnah ★★★
4. The African by J. M. G. Le Clézio, translated by C. Dickson ★★★
5. The Late Bourgeois World by Nadine Gordimer ★★
6. The Mummy Awakens by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Raymond Stock ★★★
7. Prisons We Choose to Live Inside by Doris Lessing ★★
8. The Trolley by Claude Simon, translated by Richard Howard ★
9. Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee ★★★1/2

June: East Africa
1. Seychelles: Beyond the Horizon by Robert Grandcourt ★★★
2. Uganda: The Future God of Love by Dilman Dila ★★★
3. DRC: The River in the Belly by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, translated by J. Bret Maney ★1/2
4. Burundi: Genocide: Rwanda and Burundi by Edward L Nyankanzi ★
5. Tanzania: Song Bird by Tololwa M. Mollel, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger ★★★1/2
6. Rwanda: Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Mark Polizzotti ★★★1/2
7. Kenya: Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison ★★★1/2
8. Comoros: The Kaffir of Karthala by Mohamed A. Toihiri, translated by Anis Memon ★★
9. Mauritius: Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman ★★1/2
10. Madagascar: How to Read a Folktale: The Ibonia Epic from Madagascar translation & commentary by Lee Haring ★★★

July: Chinua Achebe or Ben Okri
1. Every Leaf a Hallelujah by Ben Okri, illustrated by Diana Ejaita ★★1/2

1. Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe, illustrated by Edel Rodriguez ★★★
2. How Leopard Got His Claws by Chinua Achebe & John Iroaganachi, illustrated by George Mogaka ★★★1/2

August: Francophone Africa
1. Central African Republic: African Tales: Folklore of the Central African Republic collected and translated by Polly Strong, illustrated by Rodney Wimer ★★1/2
2. Côte d’Ivoire: Aya by Marguerite Abouet, translated by Helge Dascher ★★★
3. Côte d’Ivoire: Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet, translated by Helge Dascher ★★★
4. Côte d’Ivoire: Aya: The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet, translated by Helge Dascher ★★★
5. Côte d’Ivoire: Lord of the Dance: An African Retelling by Véronique Tadjo ★★★
6. Senegal: The Beggars' Strike, or, The Dregs of Society by Aminata Sow Fall, translated by Dorothy S. Blair ★★★
7. Burkina Faso: The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo, translated by Christopher Wise ★★★1/2
8. Togo: The Shadow of Things to Come by Kossi Efoui, translated by Chris Turner ★★★1/2

September: Southern Africa
1. Malawi: Smouldering Charcoal by Tiyambe Zeleza ★★★
2. Namibia: Desert December by Dorian Haarhoff, illustrated by Leon Vermeulen ★★★
3. South Africa: Where the Weird Things Are: An Ocean Twilight Zone Adventure by Zoleka Filandar, illustrated by Patricia Hooning ★★★1/2
4. Eswatini: The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film by Richard E. Grant, read by the author ★★★★

October: Scholastique Mukasonga or Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o
1. The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, translated by the author, illustrated by Sunandini Banerjee ★★★★

November: African thrillers/crime writers

December: West Africa
1. Niger: The Epic of Askia Mohammed performed by Nouhou Malio, translated and edited by Thomas A. Hale ★★★
2. Equatorial Guinea: La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated by Lawrence Schimel ★★★1/2
3. Benin: Why Goats Smell Bad and Other Stories from Benin by Raouf Mama, illustrated by Imna Arroyo ★★★★
4. Gabon: Mema by Daniel Mengara ★★★
5. The Gambia: Folk Tales and Fables from the Gambia: Volume 1 by Dembo Fanta Bojang and Sukai Mbye Bojang, read by Kumba Maane Sanneh and Sukai Mbye Bojang ★★1/2

Create Your Own Visited Countries Map

I'm only listing the first book I read for a country because I don't want the list to get out of hand. I'll be ticking off a few more African countries in 2023.

2020
1. United Kingdom--Weight: The Myth of Atlas and Heracles by Jeanette Winterson
2. South Korea--Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri
3. Equatorial Guinea--La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono
4. Iran--Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur
5. Brazil--Along the Tapajós by Fernando Vilela
6. United States--Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire
7. Bangladesh--The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday by Saad Z. Hossain
8. Poland--Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
9. Japan--The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio
10. Canada--Fifteen Poems by Leonard Cohen
11. Spain--Bowie: An Illustrated Life by María Hesse
12. Nigeria--We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
13. Suriname--The Cost of Sugar by Cynthia McLeod
14. France--The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
15. Taiwan--Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin
16. Egypt--Heart of the Night by Naguib Mahfouz
17. Turkmenistan--The Revenge of the Foxes by Ak Welsapar
18. Russia--Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
19. Jamaica--Falling in Love with Hominids by Nalo Hopkinson
20. Rwanda--The Barefoot Woman by Scholastique Mukasonga
21. India--Shubh Diwali! by Chitra Soundar
22. Israel--Bear and Fred: A World War II Story by Iris Argaman
23. China--The Moon Opera by Bi Feiyu
24. Republic of the Congo--Jazz and Palm Wine by Emmanuel Boundzéki Dongala
25. Belgium--Cassio 1. The First Assassin by Stephen Desberg
26. Malaysia--Rupert Wong, Cannibal Chef by Cassandra Khaw
27. New Zealand--Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
28. Sweden--Vei Vol. 1 by Sara Bergmark Elfgren
29. Croatia--Harleen by Stjepan Šejić
30. Botswana--The Silence of the Wilting Skin by Tlotlo Tsamaase
31. Singapore--Farquhar by Joshua Ip
32. North Korea--The Red Years: Forbidden Poems From Inside North Korea by Bandi
33. Australia--Phoresis by Greg Egan
34. Mexico--Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
35. Netherlands--Rampokan Java by Peter van Dongen
36. Barbados--Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
37. Madagascar--Beyond the Rice Fields by Naivo
38. Zimbabwe--Running with Mother by Christopher Mlalazi
39. Algeria--The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud
40. Eswatini (formerly Swaziland)--Teaching English in Swaziland: essays on the life of Gordon James Thomas by Sarah Mkhonza
41. Angola--Good Morning Comrades by Ondjaki
42. Italy--Mirka Andolfo's Mercy Vol. 1: The Fair Lady, the Frost and the Fiend by Mirka Andolfo
43. Kenya--The Perfect Nine: The Epic of Gĩkũyũ and Mũmbi by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʾo
44. Turkey--Soulscape by Bahadir Baruter
45. Switzerland--Lyric Novella by Annemarie Schwarzenbach
46. Germany--Lucky Luke Saddles Up by Mawil
47. Austria--Little Death by Thomas Kriebaum
48. Norway--Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
49. Columbia--The Bitch by Pilar Quintana
50. Argentina--Petite Fleur by Iosi Havilio
51. Ireland--Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan by Declan Shalvey

2021
52. Finland--The Brothers by Asko Sahlberg
53. Burundi--Weep Not, Refugee by Marie-Thérèse Toyi
54. Zambia--The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell
55. Thailand--Arid Dreams: Stories by Duanwad Pimwana
56. Indonesia--The Original Dream by Nukila Amal
57. Cameroon--Black Caps and Red Feathers by John Nkemngong Nkengasong
58. Armenia--Three Apples Fell from the Sky by Narine Abgaryan
59. Côte d'Ivoire--Queen Pokou: Concerto for a Sacrifice by Véronique Tadjo
60. Mauritania--The Desert and the Drum by Mbarek Ould Beyrouk
61. Venezuela--The Caiman by María Eugenia Manrique
62. South Africa--Cape Town Curios by Colin Cloud Dance
63. Mozambique--Rain and Other Stories by Mia Couto
64. Iceland--The Blue Fox by Sjón
65. Chad--Told by Starlight in Chad by Joseph Brahim Seid
66. Djibouti--Naming the Dawn by Abdourahman A. Waberi
67. Uruguay--The Naked Woman by Armonía Somers
68. Sri Lanka--Dressing up with Archchi by Nadishka Aloysius
69. Afghanistan--Earth and Ashes by Atiq Rahimi
70. Libya--Under the Tripoli Sky by Kamal Ben Hameda
71. Albania--Three Elegies for Kosovo by Ismail Kadare
72. Uzbekistan--The Dead Lake by Hamid Ismailov
73. Czech Republic--Animal Adaptations: Unique Body Parts by Radka Píro
74. Ecuador--Crude: A Memoir by Pablo Fajardo and Sophie Tardy-Joubert
75. Kyrgyzstan--Jamila by Chingiz Aĭtmatov

2022
76. Palestine--Describing the Past by Ghassan Zaqtan
77. Yemen--From the Land of Sheba: Tales of the Jews of Yemen collected & edited by S. D. Goitein
78. Syria--The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala by Abū al-ʿAlāʾ al-Maʿarrī
79. Qatar--The Firefly by Ameera H. Al-Naemi
80. Oman--Mah and Me by Ibtihaj Al Harthi
81. Kuwait--The White Nights of Ramadan by Maha Addasi
82. Jordan--The Sandwich Swap by Rania Al Abdullah & Kelly DiPucchio
83. Bahrain--Blood & Moon by M. G. Darwish
84. Iraq--Ibn Fadlan and the land of darkness: Arab travellers in the far north
85. Lebanon--I, the Divine: A Novel in First Chapters byRabih Alameddine
86. Saudi Arabia--Wolves of the Crescent Moon by Yousef Al-Mohaimeed
87. UAE--The Sand Fish by Maha Gargash
88. Pakistan--A God in Every Stone by Kamila Shamsie
89. Uganda--Waiting: A Novel of Uganda at War by Goretti Kyomuhendo
90. Tunisia--Goat Mountain by Habib Selmi
91. Portugal--The Tale of the Unknown Island by José Saramago
92. Tajikistan--The Sandalwood Box: Folk Tales from Tadzhikistan translated by Katya Sheppard
93. Greece--The Archipelago on Fire - Part 1 by Giorgos Vlachos
94. Kazakhstan--Behind the Silk Curtain by Gulistan Khamzayeva
95. Serbia--Cross to Bear by Marko Stojanović
96. Haiti--Blue by Emmelie Prophète
97. Vietnam--The Secret of Hoa Sen by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
98. Azerbaijan--Ballad of the Stars by G. Altov and Valentina Zhuravlyova
99. Philippines--Juan and the Asuangs: A tale of Philippine ghosts and spirits by José Aruego
100. Guatemala--Barrilete: A Kite for the Day of the Dead by Elisa Amado
101. El Salvador--Magic Dogs of the Volcanoes by Manlio Argueta
102. Benin--The Barefoot book of tropical tales by Raouf Mama
103. Cambodia--Dara's Cambodian New Year by Sothea Chiemruom
104. Laos--Dia's Story Cloth: The Hmong People's Journey of Freedom by Dia Cha
105. Nepal--Dog Named Haku: A Holiday Story from Nepal by Margarita Engle, Amish Karanjit, and Nicole Karanjit
106. Mongolia--My Little Round House by Bolormaa Baasansuren
107. Myanmar--Smile As They Bow by Nu Nu Yi
108. Bhutan--Aunty Mouse: a traditional folktale from Bhutan by Kunzang Choden
109. Panama--Christmas Surprise For Chabelita by Argentina Palacios
110. Cuba--Child of the sun: a Cuban legend by Sandra Martín Arnold
111. Mali--A Gift from Childhood: Memories of an African Boyhood by Baba Wagué Diakité
112. Liberia--Why Leopard has spots : Dan stories from Liberia by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert
113. Ghana--Sosu's Call by Meshack Asare
114. Chile--The Composition by Antonio Skármeta
115. Bolivia--Waira's First Journey by Eusebio Topooco
116. Tanzania--Shadow Dance by Tololwa M. Mollel

2023
117. Morocco--The Elusive Fox by Muḥammad Zafzāf
118. São Tomé and Príncipe--Island Moors & Native Dance by Gervásio Kaiser
119. Seychelles--Beyond the Horizon by Robert Grandcourt
120. Niger--The Epic of Askia Mohammed performed by Nouhou Malio
121. Samoa--Tales of Polynesia: Folktales from Hawai'i, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Samoa
122. Cabo Verde--WHO AM I? by Bela Monteiro
123. Guinea-Bissau--The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Silá
124. Eritrea--The Conscript: A Novel of Libya’s Anticolonial War by Gebreyesus Hailu
125. CAR--African Tales: Folklore of the Central African Republic collected and translated by Polly Strong
126. DRC--The River in the Belly by Fiston Mwanza Mujila
127. Senegal--The Beggars' Strike by Aminata Sow Fall
128. Sudan--The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories by Tayeb Salih
129. Bulgaria--Natural Novel by Georgi Gospodinov
130. Gabon--Mema by Daniel Mengara
131. Malawi--Smouldering Charcoal by Tiyambe Zeleza
132. Ethiopia--The Afersata by Sahle Sellassie
133. Namibia--Desert December by Dorian Haarhoff
134. South Sudan--There Is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan edited by Nyuol Lueth Tong
135. Burkina Faso--The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo
136. Somalia--The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert by Shugri Said Salh
137. The Gambia--Folk Tales and Fables from the Gambia: Volume 1 by Dembo Fanta Bojang and Sukai Mbye Bojang
138. Togo--The Shadow of Things to Come by Kossi Efoui
139. Comoros--The Kaffir of Karthala by Mohamed A. Toihiri
140. Mauritius--Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi
141. Romania--Whisper of the Woods by Ennun Ana Iurov
142. Western Sahara--Settled Wanderers: The Poetry of Western Sahara by Sam Berkson and Muhammad Sulaiman

reserved

Wishing you a comfortable reading year in 2023, Amanda.

As you may well have guessed you will suffer from my regular company in 2023 as usual.

>10 amanda4242: 116 countries done is impressive.

Welcome back for another adventure!, Amanda!

>12 PaulCranswick: Wouldn't be the same here without you, my friend. I sometimes think you attend my thread better than I do!

>13 drneutron: Thanks! And thank you for setting this all up for us!

ed!!

>16 Berly: Welcome!

Happy new thread for the new year Amanda!

>18 WhiteRaven.17: Thanks!

Have a great year of reading!

>20 thornton37814: Thank you!

1. The Changeling by Rosemary Sutcliff

A very short book that's a twist on the stories of fairies stealing human children and leaving one of their own behind. Sutcliff comes up with a clever non-supernatural reason for such a swap, but the book is so short that everything's over before you know it. Not bad, but definitely a minor work.

2. The Elusive Fox by Muhammad Zafzaf, translated by Mbarek Sryfi and Roger Allen

Reading it was like hanging out with a bunch of stoners when you aren't partaking.

Two books done already?!

Your description of The Elusive Fox boggles the mind!

>24 PaulCranswick: Two *very* short books done already.

Pretty much everyone in The Elusive Fox is drinking, smoking hash, or trying to acquire something to drink or smoke, so it's very much like being sober around the stoned!

But still, two books!

>26 Berly: Really not that impressive when you consider that it's fewer than 150 pages combined.

Happy new year to you, too!

3. Goat Mountain by Habib Selmi, translated by Charis Olszok

A young man taking up a teaching position in a remote village enters into an antagonistic relationship with the village magistrate. Moody, atmospheric, and with a heady air of the gothic, this is a strange novella, but an excellent read.

Good start continues. I am now on The Eagle of the Ninth and really enjoying it.

>29 PaulCranswick: Short books and lots of rain to keep me indoors are making me look good!

Glad to hear you're enjoying The Eagle of the Ninth.

4. Cuphead Volume 1: Comic Capers & Curios by Zack Keller

I picked this one up because I like the Netflix series. It's a short collection of short (1 to 8 page) comics that have a wonderfully nostalgic feel to them. I probably wouldn't read a longer collection, but this was a fun way to pass the time while dinner was in the oven.

Happy new year and thread!

>32 vikzen: Thanks! Happy new year to you, too!

6. Valerian & Laureline Volume 7: On the False Earths by Pierre Christin, illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières
7. Valerian & Laureline Volume 8: Heroes of the Equinox by Pierre Christin, illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières
8. Valerian & Laureline Volume 9: Châtelet Station, Destination Cassiopeia by Pierre Christin, illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières
9. Valerian & Laureline Volume 10: Brooklyn Line, Terminus Cosmos by Pierre Christin, illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières

I'm still kicking myself for not getting the entire series when it was on Humble Bundle. The stories are fantastic and Mézières' art is exquisite.

Happy reading in 2023, Amanda!

>35 FAMeulstee: Thanks!

10. The Longest Memory by Fred D'Aguiar

I approach novels written by poets with trepidation, but D'Aguiar's tale of slavery in early 19th century Virginia is a masterful work. The rotating cast of narrators are well drawn characters, painting a heartbreaking story. Very recommended.

Don’t know how it happened, but somehow I missed adding your thread to the Threadbook. Sorry about that, all fixed now!

Thanks Jim, I was a bit perplexed looking for you, Amanda. xx

>38 drneutron: Thank you!

>39 PaulCranswick: It wouldn't do for you to get lost on your way to my thread, Paul; I rely on you to remind me to post here!

Hahaha I managed to get Jim to post again here too as I pointed out that you were missing from the Threadbook which I use to follow along with the threads rather than placing stars here, there and everywhere.

>40 amanda4242: Reminding you to post here!

(and also wishing my pal a great weekend)

>42 PaulCranswick: Thanks! I'll get to it just as soon as I finish the next chapter...

Happy weekend!

>43 amanda4242: Hahaha, that is some chapter!

>44 PaulCranswick: Well, it is about 100 pages long.

That is a looooong chapter!! Happy weekend.

>46 Berly: Technically it's a part with section breaks, but it's still very long!

Happy weekend!

11. iZombie, Vol. 1: Dead to the World by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred
12. iZombie, Vol. 2: uVampire by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred
13. iZombie Vol. 3: Six Feet Under & Rising by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred
15. iZombie Vol. 4: Repossession by Chris Roberson, art by Michael Allred

A refreshing take on zombies. I really wish the series had lasted longer.

14. The Illustrator's Notebook by Mohieddine Ellabbad, translated by Sarah Quinn

My Egypt selection for the ANC. The thoughts on art and insights into Ellabbad's own work were mildly interesting, but this one didn't make much of an impression on me.

16. The Minstrel and the Dragon Pup by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark

Lovely picture book.

17. The Witch's Brat by Rosemary Sutcliff, illustrated by Richard Lebenson

A children's novel set in 12th century England with an exceptionally well crafted main character.

18. The Far Pavilions by M. M. Kaye

A sweeping epic of adventure, war, and romance. I can certainly see why it's loved by many, but two things keep me from being completely satisfied with it: first, the love story is kind of weak because the lovers don't really spend that much time together; and second, the main character practically disappears for the last few hundred pages, leaving us with nothing to do but wait for the inevitable slaughter brought on by British political and military incompetence. Still, I'm glad I read it and may well read it again--albeit with some judicious skimming.

19. Rosie Runs by Marika Maijala, translated by Mia Spangenberg

Picture book about a greyhound who escapes the racetrack and keeps on running. The story is boring as hell and the childish scribbles that are supposed to be the illustrations are even worse.

>50 amanda4242: I think that you are right about The Far Pavilions, Amanda. Whilst the story is sweeping and largely engrossing, I do feel it probably rewards 'some judicious skimming'.

>51 PaulCranswick: I wish Kaye's editor had told her that while what she wrote was good, there's just too bloody much of it!

20. The Dictator's Last Night by Yasmina Khadra, translated by Julian Evans

An imagining of the last days of Muammar Gaddafi. Read only if you're interested in the banal thoughts of a petty tyrant.

21. Gold Dust by Ibrahim al-Koni, translated by Elliott Colla

A young man is given a marvelous camel and suffers much.

I kind of liked this one, but I think a great deal was lost in translation. Reading the translator's afterword before the book probably would have helped.

22. Island Moors & Native Dance by Gervásio Kaiser

Literally the only works I could find in English from São Tomé and Príncipe are these short stories. Sadly, they aren't any good: I wouldn't call them incomplete thoughts, rather they are thoughts that have barely even begun to form.

23. The Ancient by Nicholas Russ

There's some intriguing worldbuilding and I can see the seeds of an interesting story, but nothing was developed to its full potential. I often felt like I was skimming the Cliffs Notes of a really good epic fantasy while I was reading The Ancient.

>53 amanda4242: I seem to remember enjoying Khadra's book, Amanda and you have just made me particularly worried about the nature of my own character!

Have a great weekend.

>55 PaulCranswick: Let's not think too hard about this; I'd hate to think what my reading says about me!

24. Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm

The first book of one of my favorite series. The pace is a little off--years pass without the reader being fully aware of it--but it's a great start to the adventures of the time-travelling historians of St. Mary's.

25. Heather, Oak, and Olive by Rosemary Sutcliff

Collection of three short stories unified by themes of friendship, honor, and sacrifice. The final story, "The Truce of the Games," about the friendship that strikes up between an Athenian and a Spartan as they compete at the Olympic Games is a five star story.

26. The Quick by Lauren Owen

I enjoyed most of this tale of vampires in late-Victorian England, but the climax lacked a sense of urgency that was desperately needed and it just kind of fizzled out. Still 3.5 stars, but it should have been 4 or more.

27. Beyond the Horizon by Robert Grandcourt

This historical novel starts out strong, with the story of a group of people being kidnapped from eastern Africa and being sold into slavery in Seychelles. The first part is good, but the book becomes increasingly...improbable.

I waffled between giving it 2.5 and 3 stars, and eventually decided to be generous and give it the higher rating because it's not bad--it's just not great, either.

Stats

Books
new reads: 23
re-reads: 4
1001 books (all editions): 0
British Author Challenge: 8
African Novel Challenge: 7

Original language
Arabic: 4
English: 16
Finnish: 1
French: 6

Translations: 11

From
Edelweis: 1
Izneo: 2
Kindle Unlimited: 6
Library: 4
Open Library: 2
Scribd: 4
Shelves: 8

pages read: 4,378
audiobook hours: 9 hours 30 minutes
average rating: 3.05 stars

Authors
female: 8 books by 5 authors
male: 19 books by 12 authors
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 0 books

Nationalities
Algerian: 1
American: 5
British: 8
Egyptian: 1
Finnish: 1
French: 5
Libyan: 1
Moroccan: 1
São Toméan: 1
Seychellois: 1
Tunisian: 1
Unknown: 1

>58 amanda4242: Solid! I am struggling to find books from Sao Tome (which I have actually visited) and Seychelles.

>59 PaulCranswick: Literally the only works from Sao Tome I could find commercially available in English were those couple of short stories by Gervásio Kaiser. The pickings for Seychelles are slightly better: a novel by Robert Grandcourt, a novel and story collection by Glynn Burridge, and some non-fiction by James R. Mancham.

ETA: One of Mancham's books is on Open Library. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL5633066W/War_on_America?edition=key%3A/books/OL3...

>60 amanda4242: They didn't have the Kaiser stories on Book Depo. How did you find the Kaiser stories that you were so, um, enthusiastic about?

28. The Poe Clan Volume 1 by Moto Hagio, translated by Rachel Thorn

Child vampires and Romanticism. Not very good, but at least it was a quick read.

>61 PaulCranswick: They're only available as ebooks, and I don't know if they're even available outside the US. "Native Dance" I got on kindle, and "Island Moors" from google. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=Vd4VBgAAQBAJ&rdid=book-Vd4VBg...

>63 amanda4242: Ok I will do a bit of digging. xx

>64 PaulCranswick: Good luck!

29. Cuphead Volume 2: Cartoon Chronicles & Calamities by Zack Keller

Read to pass the time while dinner was cooking. Enjoyable, but I prefer the Netflix series.

30. What Abigail Did That Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

Abigail is one of my favorite characters in the Rivers of London series, so I was very pleased that she got her own novella. This stand-alone outing finds our heroine searching for missing kids with the help of a new friend and some talking foxes.

The story is a bit by the numbers, but Abigail's character truly shines here: she's intelligent, resourceful, and has a major distrust of authority figures. I do hope Aaronovitch writes another tale for her.

31. Sumi's Prize by Yoshiko Uchida, illustrated by Kazue Mizumura

Sweet story of a little girl who desperately wants to win any sort of prize. Her chance comes when her village holds a kite flying contest. Lovely little book.

32. Mayombe by Pepetela, translated by Michael Wolfers

Set during the revolution in Angola, Mayombe looks at the wounds caused by colonialism, racism, and tribalism through the eyes of a group of guerrillas; unfortunately, it looks at these issues mostly by having a couple of men speak in cliched Communist rhetoric at each other.

It's also kind of sexist.

33. The Poe Clan Volume 2 by Moto Hagio, translated by Rachel Thorne

Much the same as the first volume. I won't be adding the series to my collection.

34. The Epic of Askia Mohammed performed by Nouhou Malio, translated and edited by Thomas A. Hale

The only work I could come up with by a Nigerien author (NOT Nigerian as the search engines were trying to "correct" it to) is this transcribed and translated oral epic about the Songhay Empire. It's pretty short for an epic--the tale itself takes up less than fifty pages--and the robust introduction, notes, and annotations make up about half the length of the slim volume.

The first half of the epic tells of the birth and rise to power of Mamar Kassaye, as Askia Mohammed is called in the text, the founder of the Askia dynasty of the Western African Songhay Empire.We start with Mamar's mother, Kassaye, conceiving via an encounter with a water spirit and hiding her son from the current ruler who was given a prophecy that one of Kassaye's children will grow up to kill him and become ruler; Mamar fulfills the prophecy, goes on pilgrimage to Mecca, has adventures, and founds a dynasty.

The second half deals with Mamar's descendants, and I have to admit I got kind of lost there. There's a long genealogy given before we get to any more action, and I had very little idea of who anyone was and why they were important. Having notes alongside the text rather than at the end of the book probably would have helped a great deal.

Despite my difficulty with the second half, I did enjoy the epic and hope it becomes more widely known.

35. What Did You Eat Yesterday? Vol. 19 by Fumi Yoshinaga, translated by Jocelyne Allen

The series is something of a feel good read for me. It's not something that has me climbing the walls in anticipation for the next volume, but I'm always happy when there's a new one available.

36. We Killed Mangy-Dog & Other Mozambique Stories by Luís Bernardo Honwana, translated by Dorothy Guedes

I found most of the stories forgettable (as in, could barely remember them immediately after reading), but the title story and "The Hands of the Blacks" are both exceptionally well written and make this collection worth seeking out.

37. Flame-Colored Taffeta by Rosemary Sutcliff

38. Die by Kieron Gillen

39. Tales of Polynesia: Folktales from Hawai'i, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Samoa illustrated by Yiling Changues

This is a very enjoyable introduction to Polynesian folktales, appropriate for both adults and children. The stories are drawn from different regions and are divided into sections on tricksters, creatures of earth and sea, life and death, and family. I also appreciate the list of sources at the end of the book, complete with links to digitized editions of the collections from which the stories were taken.

My one complaint is kind of nitpick-y: the stories were printed nearly verbatim from late 19th and early 20th century anthropological works and there is no consistency in how the authors used footnotes. It would have been nice if this collection had done some light editing so the footnotes were uniform.

Received via NetGalley.

40. Who Am I? by Bela Monteiro

Bela Monteiro's father moved with his wife and children to Angola from Cabo Verde sometime in the 1960s. While his wife was away caring for one of their children who had been in a serious car accident, papa Monteiro fathered Bela with the maid's daughter. When his mistress again became pregnant, he convinced her that he should take two year old Bela with him to Cabo Verde to escape the conflict that was happening in Angola, and that he would send for her and their second child when he could; unsurprisingly, he never sent word.

Monteiro's later life contained much the same drama as her infancy: her stepmother wanted nothing to do with her, so she spent a large chunk of her childhood with an aunt; a neighbor molested her when she was nine; her stepmother eventually decided to allow Bela into her home, but the family had moved to the US by then, so young Bela was uprooted from the only home she had known to be flown halfway across the world. The family lived in Brockton, Massachusetts which is home to a large community of Cabo Verdean expats, so Monteiro was able to acclimate relatively well; unfortunately, she also acquired a string of bad boyfriends, was involved in a motorcycle accident, and tried to kill herself at least twice.

So, this was a short read full of much misery with some moments of joy thrown in. I wish I could say that it is well-written, but it is not. Monteiro is really bad with dates so I was never sure when something was happening, she jumps around so I was never sure where something was happening, and she would often start talking about people she had never mentioned before as if the reader was already intimately acquainted with them. I'm sorry for Monteiro's suffering and glad she has found happiness, but I really wish she had found someone who wasn't a friend to read her manuscript before she decided to self-publish it.

41. The Ultimate Tragedy by Abdulai Sila, translated by Jethro Soutar

42. The Conscript: A Novel of Libya’s Anticolonial War by Gebreyesus Hailu, translated by Ghirmai Negash

A novella about an Eritrean conscripted into the Italian army to fight Libyans. In this brief novella Hailu gives a wonderful examination of a culture that praises warriors, but also examines what it means to fight someone else's wars. Contains an amazing description of moving from the fertile coastal regions to what the Eritrean soldiers see as the burning hellscape of the Libyan desert.

43. Journey by Aaron Becker

An impressive example of how to tell a story without a single word.

44. The Queen Elizabeth Story by Rosemary Sutcliff

45. Fetch Book One: The Journey by Mike Sizemore

46. A Symphony of Echoes by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm

47. Sumi's Special Happening by Yoshiko Uchida, illustrated by Kazue Mizumura
48. Sumi and the Goat and the Tokyo Express by Yoshiko Uchida, illustrated by Kazue Mizumura

49. Charlie's secret chocolate book by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake

50. Angola Is Wherever I Plant My Field by João Melo, translated by Luísa Venturini

A superb collection of absurdist short stories, each packed with ironic humor and keen insight. I enjoyed every single story, but two stood out for me: "The Revolutionary and Counter-revolutionary Duck," in which an Angolan guerrilla expertly trolls a North Korean professor; and "Angola Is Wherever I Plant My Field," which shows people not only able to survive but thrive in desperate circumstances.

Received via NetGalley, where it's available until April 1st. https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/271075

51. The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories by Susanna Clarke, illustrated by Charles Vess

These are the kind of fairy stories you'd get if you lived in the world of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell: a little dark, a little academic, often witty, and completely entertaining.

52. La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated by Lawrence Schimel

53. Quest by Aaron Becker
54. Return by Aaron Becker

Just as beautiful as Becker's Journey. "Reading" this series is a wonderful experience.

55. All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West

All Passion Spent is a novel of, well, spent passion. Lady Slane has spent her life in service to others: supporting her husband, caring for her children, and being a patron of various charitable institutions have filled her days, but consumed her soul.

As I was reading this I couldn't help but think how sad it is that Sackville-West is generally only spoken of as a footnote to Virginia Woolf, if she's even spoken of at all. All Passion Spent is a contemplative work that deserves to be far better known.

56. Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The death of a loved one is a universal experience, even if the manifestation of grief is unique for each person. I do not judge Adichie for being crippled by grief at the sudden loss of her beloved father; I do judge the book she decided to publish, and I do not have a high opinion of it.

On the page, Adichie's grief is so all-consuming that it leaves no room for others' grief; indeed, she resents and dismisses the expressions of mourning from those around her. Her words alienated me rather than sparking empathy; there is no room for the reader in her pain.

On a side note, the only other book I've read of Adichie's is We Should All Be Feminists, so I was greatly surprised when in Notes on Grief she patronizingly tells her mother she should not engage in certain traditional mourning rituals without bothering to ask her mother if she wishes to observe them. Surely telling women what they should do based on your preconceived notions is the antithesis of feminism?

I would have given the book a lower rating if Adichie had not included memories of her father: it sounds like he was a truly amazing man, and I can understand how his death would leave a gaping wound in those who love him.

57. Ba-ra-kei: Ordeal by Roses: Photographs of Yukio Mishima by Eikō Hosoe

Surreal photographs of controversial novelist Mishima. Hosoe's photos are haunting, and his afterword gave a great deal of insight into the work and how Mishima's death affected perceptions of it.

58. Every Leaf a Hallelujah by Ben Okri, illustrated by Diana Ejaita

Ejaita's illustrations are fantastic, but Okri's story of environmental protection...let's just say it's not going to replace The Lorax on anyone's shelves.

59. African Tales: Folklore of the Central African Republic collected and translated by Polly Strong, illustrated by Rodney Wimer

The stories themselves are entertaining and worth a read even though Strong's very literal translation leaves much to be desired. I also wasn't impressed by her preface and afterword, as her thoughts came off as naive and amateurish.

>76 amanda4242: The translator is such an important job in bringing to life an author isn't it? I don't think they get near enough credit sometimes for giving the otherwise incomprehensible a clear voice.

Impressive book-a-day reading by the way, Amanda.

>77 PaulCranswick: Record rainfall has kept me in and reading even more than usual.

It's not until you run across a bad translator that you realize how very underappreciated the good ones are.

Stats

Books
new reads: 51
re-reads: 8
1001 books (all editions): 0
British Author Challenge: 15
African Novel Challenge: 18

Original language
Arabic: 4
English: 32
Finnish: 1
French: 6
Japanese: 3
Multiple: 1
No linguistic content: 4
Portuguese: 4
Sango: 1
Songhay: 1
Spanish: 1
Tigrinya: 1

Translations: 23

From
Edelweis: 2
Izneo: 2
Kindle Unlimited: 7
Library: 21
NetGalley: 2
Open Library: 6
Scribd: 8
Shelves: 11

pages read: 9,114
audiobook hours: 18 hours 25 minutes
average rating: 3.22 stars

Authors
female: 22 books by 13 authors
male: 35 books by 25 authors
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 2 books

Nationalities
Algerian: 1
American: 12
Angolan: 2
British: 17
Cabo Verdean: 1
Egyptian: 1
Equatoguinean: 1
Eritrean: 1
Finnish: 1
French: 5
Guinea-Bissauan: 1
Japanese: 4
Libyan: 1
Moroccan: 1
Mozambican: 1
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 2
Nigerian: 2
Nigerien: 1
São Toméan: 1
Seychellois: 1
Tunisian: 1
Unknown: 1

Impressive stats for sure!

Wow! You keep much better records of your reads than I do. Nicely done! And I love your book variety. Happy reading!

>80 PaulCranswick: Thanks!

>81 Berly: Thank you! I have a spreadsheet that makes it very easy to keep track of everything.

60. The Witcher: Ronin by Rafał Jaki

The story is standard Witcher fare, just set in Japan. The art is very cool, with a look reminiscent of Japanese woodblock prints.

61. The Exile by Erik Kriek

This graphic novel is inspired by Icelandic sagas, so be prepared for blood feuds and the will of the Norns to be a big part of the story. Most of the characters are pretty brutal people, yet few of them are without redeeming qualities.

The art is fantastic with a limited color palette that really enhances the story. Definitely a book worth seeking out.

Received via Edelweiss.

62. The Bride Price by Buchi Emecheta

Very well written, but I'd say this is a book I admire rather than enjoy. I'll have to see if I can get any more of Emecheta's books from the library.

Hope I didn't catch you with your duster in your hand!

Have a lovely weekend, Amanda.

63. Ossobó: Essays on the Literature of São Tomé and Príncipe by Donald Burness

This is two long essays that are a mix of literary criticism and brief overview of São Toméan history, and an appendix with 23 poems that constitutes the largest concentration of São Toméan writing available in English that I could track down.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to who Burness was writing for: the book is in English so it's probably inaccessible to most São Toméans, and the works he discusses are inaccessible to Anglophone readers as none of them are available in English. Burness isn't a terribly engaging writer, so the only reason to pick this book up is for the poems he includes, which I didn't think were that great, either.

64. Sláine: Warrior's Dawn by Pat Mills

A Celtic version of Conan the Barbarian. Wonderful pulpy entertainment.

65. A Marsh Island by Sarah Orne Jewett

What a pity this book isn't better known because it is a beautifully crafted novel. Jewett describes the landscape so richly I could see it as clear as day, her characters are lovely creations, and she dreamed up the most wonderfully undramatic love triangle ever put to page.

Apparently Jewett considered this her best work and while I don't quite agree with her, I can certainly understand her fondness for it.

Received via NetGalley.

>84 PaulCranswick: You did, but you're welcome any time!

66. The Witches of World War II by Paul Cornell

How can a book about occultists recruited by the British government to fight Nazis be this boring?

Received via NetGalley.

67. The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

It starts with a mermaid, standing in the ruins of the kingdom that thought it could contain her, and a mysterious plague doctor, stitched together from many parts, deciding to travel together. They come across a strange cult, worshiping a trio of "surgeons" conducting some *really* unethical human experiments. This is a dark and grisly tale that should be a small horror classic.

Why don't I rate the story higher? Because the most terrifying part of it is Khaw's tortured prose. Each page is littered with wince-inducing sentences like "in the penumbra, the fading dusk gorgeted by coral and gold" and "the zenith of her head barely grazing the circumference of the plague doctor's shoulders." Half the time the flowery words don't even quite mean what Khaw seems to think they do; it's like they spent all their time flipping through a thesaurus to find the longest synonyms they could without giving any consideration to the words' subtle variations of meaning.

Received via NetGalley.

68. Trotsky for Beginners by Tariq Ali, illustrated by Phil Evans

Exactly what it says on the tin. Ali does a decent job of giving the basics of Trotsky's life and ideology, but I have my doubts as to how balanced his portrait is. Evans's cheeky illustrations are what really make the book.

69. Shuna's Journey by Hayao Miyazaki, translated by Alex Dudok de Wit

The story, inspired by a Tibetan folktale, contains many of the same themes you'll find in Miyazaki's films, especially Princess Mononoke and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. The art is, as expected, divine.

70. Aya by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie, translated by Helge Dascher
71. Aya of Yop City by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie, translated by Helge Dascher
73. Aya: The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet, illustrated by Clément Oubrerie, translated by Helge Dascher

Slice of life graphic novels set in late 1970s Côte d'Ivoire, when the country was booming. Mildly entertaining, and, as Abouet intended, a very different view of African life than we're used to seeing in media.

72. The Future God of Love by Dilman Dila

Repetitive, but largely enjoyable.

74. The River in the Belly by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, translated by J. Bret Maney

And if I ate my own penis
would you still accuse me of cannibalism?
even though it's mine?

*eyeroll*

75. Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 10 by Ryosuke Takeuchi, illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi, translated by Adrienne Beck

Further adventures of Moriarty the antihero. Not great literature, but I enjoy the series.

>88 amanda4242: I read that one back in my college days when I would have been pretty much a fellow traveller.

>90 amanda4242: Congratulations on reaching 75, Amanda!

Congrats!

>91 PaulCranswick: I would have liked a bit of critical analysis, but it is a very good introduction to Trotsky.

>92 FAMeulstee: & >93 drneutron: Thanks!

76. Possum Magic by Mem Fox, illustrated by Julie Vivas

Really adorable picture book of a possum* who turns her granddaughter invisible and then has to road trip across Australia to find the food that will turn her visible again. Vivas illustrations are lovely, and I think this would be a welcome addition to any child's bookshelf.

*I should add that these are cute Australian possums, not the terrifying North American variety.

77. The Open Curtain by Brian Evenson

Unsettling story of religion, murder, and madness.

78. The Lord of the Dance: An African Retelling by Véronique Tadjo

This is subtitled as a retelling of the English hymn Lord of the Dance, but I think "inspired by" would be more accurate. Not bad, but not very memorable, either.

79. The Beggars' Strike, or, The Dregs of Society by Aminata Sow Fall, translated by Dorothy S. Blair

A satirical novel about a city that schemes to remove beggars from the streets, only to see the plan backfire as the citizens no longer have anyone to bestow charity upon, and thus can't receive divine blessings. Entertaining, but it needed to be a bit tighter for the satire to really work.

80. The Wedding of Zein and Other Stories by Tayeb Salih, translated by Denys Johnson-Davies, illustrated by Ibrahim Salahi

It's not immediately apparent that the two short stories, "The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid" and "A Handful of Dates," are particularly good, but by the end of both you realize they are truly exceptional. On the other hand, it's obvious from the start that the novella The Wedding of Zein is a great piece of literature; I've seen reviews calling the title character the village idiot, but I think he's more of a holy fool whose existence brings good things to his village.

81. Natural Novel by Georgi Gospodinov, translated by Zornitsa Hristova

130-odd pages of reflections on flies, flowers, and toilets, interspersed with whinging about a divorce. Yes, it is as awful as it sounds.

82. Genocide: Rwanda and Burundi by Edward L. Nyankanzi

This was really bad. Like, rough draft of a high school student's very first research paper bad. Here's a partial list of the book's problems:

•Nyankanzi doesn't properly introduce people in the text, but sends the reader to the notes at the back of the book to find out who's who.
•While he does acknowledge violence committed against Hutus, he only gives deeper exploration to violence committed *by* Hutus.
•Nyankanzi states that genocide in Africa would not have occurred without European colonization and starts to give an argument in support, but then just stops and moves on to something else.
•Argues that foreign aid is a new version of colonialism, but once again doesn't fully develop the argument. (Pity, because he did make some good points.)
•Goes well beyond the scope of the Rwanda and Burundi genocide, which really makes the book a scattered mess.
•Includes a truly bizarre chapter on what he claims are the biblical origins of genocide, in which he comes off as borderline anti-Semitic when discussing the Old Testament, and treats the New Testament as both myth and historical fact depending on what point he wants to make.
•Describes Roman soldiers tormenting Jesus as both sadistic *and* masochistic (page 111). (One or the other, dude!)
•Quotes the Song of Solomon in Latin as if that's its original language (page 119).
•Describes Thracians as a Nordic people (page 127).
•Comes up with gems like, "Many cases of homosexuality and sexual assault were recorded" (page 38). (As if the two are fucking equivalent!)

It is a poorly written, biased mess of a book that I only finished reading because I wanted to see how much worse it was going to get.

83. Why Goats Smell Bad and Other Stories from Benin translated and retold by Raouf Mama

Wonderful collection of folktales from the Fon people of Benin. Not only are the stories great, but Mama includes a little note at the end of each one, explaining the moral, how the story fits into Fon culture, and any changes he made to the original. Highly recommended.

84. Mema by Daniel Mengara

Well written novella of traditional village life and the clashes with new values. It's best when the story focuses on the narrator's mother, as the other parts tend to be far less memorable.

85. Smouldering Charcoal by Tiyambe Zeleza

86. The Afersata by Sahle Sellassie

The Afersata for which the book is named is a traditional investigative procedure in which a council of elders convene a community meeting to investigate and prosecute a crime; Sahle Sellassie uses an Afersata as a lens through which to view a Gurage community. Not a lot happens in the book, but it's short and it's an interesting snapshot of a culture.

87. Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler, illustrated by Dušan Petričić

Dull story with an annoying main character.

88. A Note of Explanation by Vita Sackville-West, illustrated by Kate Baylay

A sprightly little confection about a spirit that lives in Queen Mary's Dolls' House. This was recently reprinted, with lovely illustrations by Baylay, after lingering for years in the miniature library of the very dollhouse where the story is set.

89. Desert December by Dorian Haarhoff, illustrated by Leon Vermeulen

90. There Is a Country: New Fiction from the New Nation of South Sudan edited by Nyuol Lueth Tong

Short collection of short stories, only a couple of which really stuck with me. Despite being unimpressed by most of the stories, I do recommend this one because the couple of good stories are very good and Nyuol Lueth Tong's introduction is stellar.

Stats

Books
new reads: 81
re-reads: 9
1001 books (all editions): 0
British Author Challenge: 17
African Novel Challenge: 35

Original language
Arabic: 5
Bulgarian: 1
Dutch: 1
English: 52
Finnish: 1
Fon: 1
French: 11
Japanese: 5
Multiple: 1
No linguistic content: 4
Portuguese: 4
Sango: 1
Songhay: 1
Spanish: 1
Tigrinya: 1

Translations: 34

From
Edelweis: 3
Izneo: 2
Kindle Unlimited: 7
Library: 32
NetGalley: 5
New: 2
Open Library: 15
Scribd: 12
Shelves: 12

pages read: 13,415
audiobook hours: 18 hours 25 minutes
average rating: 3.19 stars

Authors
female: 31 books by 19 authors
male: 55 books by 45 authors
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 4 books

Nationalities
Algerian: 1
American: 15
Angolan: 2
Australian: 1
Beninese: 1
British: 21
Bulgarian: 1
Burundian: 1
Cabo Verdean: 1
Canadian: 1
Congolese (DRC): 1
Dutch: 1
Egyptian: 1
Equatoguinean: 1
Eritrean: 1
Ethiopian: 1
Finnish: 1
French: 5
Gabonese: 1
Guinea-Bissauan: 1
Ivorian: 4
Japanese: 6
Libyan: 1
Malawian: 1
Malaysian: 1
Moroccan: 1
Mozambican: 1
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 3
Namibian: 1
Nigerian: 3
Nigerien: 1
Polish: 1
São Toméan: 1
Senegalese: 1
Seychellois: 1
Sudanese: 1
Tunisian: 1
Ugandan: 1
Unknown: 1

Congrats on passing the magic 75! Although for you, maybe the goal is more like the impressive 200? : )

>103 Berly: Thank you! At the rate I'm going, I probably will hit 200 before the end of summer.

91. Blueblood: A Fairy Tale Revolution by Malorie Blackman

A re-telling of Bluebeard where the wife has secrets of her own. Not a bad take, but not really anything to to write home about.

92. William III & Mary II: Partners in Revolution by Jonathan Keats

A very short dual biography of the dual monarchs. Despite the brevity of the book, I learned a great deal about a king and queen who are often overlooked in the history books: I had no idea William and Mary were first cousins or that William advocated for greater religious tolerance than Parliament was willing to grant.

My one complaint about the book is that Mary doesn't get as much ink as William, but that's partly because she died early and partly because there are fewer primary and secondary sources about her. Still, Keats does make an effort to keep her in the narrative.

93. Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser

Graphic novel about women bonding through hair care rituals. Not really my cup of tea.

94. Absalom: Ghosts of London by Gordon Rennie
95. Absalom: Under a False Flag by Gordon Rennie
96. Absalom: Terminal Diagnosis by Gordon Rennie

The end of the series didn't quite hit the mark, but otherwise a very good horror comic.

97. Where the Weird Things Are: An Ocean Twilight Zone Adventure by Zoleka Filandar, illustrated by Patricia Hooning

Beautifully illustrated and very informative. I'm not a big fan of the anthropomorphized research vehicle, but otherwise it's a top-notch children's book.

98. The Parachute Drop by Norbert Zongo, translated by Christopher Wise

A rather picaresque story of a deposed dictator. It took me a little while to get into the groove, but I wound up really liking this one.

99. Moriarty the Patriot Vol. 11 by Ryosuke Takeuchi, translated by Adrienne Beck

Not my favorite since Moriarty barely even appears in this one.

100. Something is Killing the Children Vol. 5 by James Tynion IV
101. Something is Killing the Children Vol. 6 by James Tynion IV

Continuing one of my favorite horror comics.

See that your reading shows no sign of pause, Amanda. Way to go!

102. The Complete Phonogram by Kieron Gillen

Graphic novel about a group of people who practice magic through popular music. Interesting premise, but I was lost at times because: 1) the magical system is not well defined; and 2) I don't have a deep knowledge of obscure British bands.

103. Mary I : The Daughter of Time by John Edwards

A very short biography of "Bloody" Mary Tudor. Edwards argues that Mary isn't nearly as bad as her reputation, and while no one will ever call her a good ruler, she really wasn't worse than the rest of the rest of the Tudors.

104. The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert by Shugri Said Salh

A memoir from a woman who is the last in her direct line who lived as a nomad in Somalia. Well written and interesting.

105. Harvest of Skulls by Abdourahman A. Waberi, translated by Dominic Thomas

Waberi has the rare ability to craft a sentence I can forget immediately after reading.

>107 PaulCranswick: Thanks!

Awfully quiet over here, Amanda - you must have read a LOT of books in your absence from here!

Have a lovely weekend, my friend.

>110 PaulCranswick: Confession: I've actually been re-watching Black Sails instead of reading.

Enjoy your weekend!

>111 amanda4242: Quick I better catch up with you reading wise!

Still watching or now back to reading?!

>113 PaulCranswick: Bit of both, actually. And now I've got LT's coverguess game as an added distraction.

https://www.librarything.com/coverguess

>114 amanda4242: Had a quick look, but I think I had better not with my compulsive nature.

106. The Rainbow Serpent by Dick Roughsey

107. Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold

Always a treat to catch up with Penric and Desdemona.

108. A Second Chance by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm

Still enjoying my re-read of The Chronicles of St. Mary's.

109. Teddy’s Midnight Adventure by Yoko Mori, translated by Cathy Hirano

110. The Stranger by Albert Camus, translated by Matthew Ward

*shrugs* It's okay, but I think it would have been better at half the length.

111. Folk Tales and Fables from the Gambia: Volume 1 by Dembo Fanta Bojang & Sukai Mbye Bojang, read by Kumba Maane Sanneh & Sukai Mbye Bojang

This might be the best book ever written but I'll never know because the audio quality was terrible. I'm glad I got this as part of a promotion and didn't pay actual money for it.

112. This past must address its present: The 1986 Nobel lecture by Wole Soyinka

Change a few of the names and it could have been written yesterday. Still depressingly relevant.

113. Map Reading: The Nobel Lecture and Other Writings by Abdulrazak Gurnah

I enjoyed it while reading, but it didn't leave much of an impression.

114. Long Goes to Dragon School by Helen H. Wu, illustrated by Mae Besom

115. The African by J. M. G. Le Clézio, translated by C. Dickson

Interesting reminiscences of Le Clézio's father and a childhood spent largely away from other white colonists. Not brilliant, but a decent read.

116. Scenes from Havian Life by Jan Morris

These dispatches from a fictional country didn't really work for me. If you're going to go to the trouble of making up a country, why make it sound like a vaguely Mediterranean country without a really imaginative culture or history?

This is actually a selection from a longer work I couldn't get my hands on, so I'm willing to concede that the full work might be better.

117. The Adventures of Ben Gunn by R. F. Delderfield

Delderfield's imagined backstory for Treasure Island's Ben Gunn didn't do much for me. Gunn is annoyingly servile, Silver is a little too close to truly evil, and the moralizing at the end had me rolling my eyes. I'll stick to the original tale, thank you.

118. The Autumnal: The Complete Series by Daniel Kraus

119. Fearscape Vol. 1 by Ryan O'Sullivan

120. The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film by Richard E. Grant, read by the author

Diary entries from the days of making Wah-Wah, Grant's semi-autobiographical directorial debut, from the first pitch, through filming in Swaziland, to the day the final product got a distributor. Along with the usual ups and downs of trying to put together a film, Grant also had to deal with a producer who was incompetent, unprofessional, and, worst of all, convinced of her own brilliance; that the film got made at all and managed to be pretty good, too, is a testament to Grant, the cast, and the crew who persevered despite the myriad troubles caused by the producer.

Grant's narration is a delight, and his genuine gratitude toward the people who worked so hard on the film really shines through.

Nice to see you posting my friend. At least I can see clearly what you have been up to!

121. Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard

This is the first time I've been less than completely satisfied with a tale from the Dominion of the Fallen universe: we don't learn anything new about the characters, nor do they experience any real growth, and I didn't find the mystery memorable. I'm always happy to spend time with Thuan and Asmodeus, but I wish there had been a bit more substance to this one.

122. The Late Bourgeois World by Nadine Gordimer

Not nearly as radical as she thinks it is.

123. The Mummy Awakens by Naguib Mahfouz, translated by Raymond Stock

An ancient mummy is awakened and castigates modern Egyptians. Pretty good story that makes me want to track down the collection from which it is taken.

124. Prisons We Choose to Live Inside by Doris Lessing

Not nearly as insightful or intelligent as she thinks it is.

125. The Trolley by Claude Simon, translated by Richard Howard

>119 PaulCranswick: :)

Stats

Books
new reads: 114
re-reads: 12
1001 books (all editions): 2
British Author Challenge: 24
African Novel Challenge: 49

Original language
Arabic: 6
Bulgarian: 1
Dutch: 1
English: 80
Finnish: 1
Fon: 1
French: 16
Japanese: 7
Multiple: 1
No linguistic content: 4
Portuguese: 4
Sango: 1
Songhay: 1
Spanish: 1
Tigrinya: 1

Translations: 42

From
Edelweis: 4
Izneo: 2
Kindle Unlimited: 7
Library: 38
NetGalley: 6
New: 13
Open Library: 18
Scribd: 19
Shelves: 19

pages read: 17,467
audiobook hours: 36 hours 29 minutes
average rating: 3.19 stars

Authors
female: 43 books by 30 authors
male: 78 books by 63 authors
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 5 books

Nationalities
Algerian: 1
American: 21
Angolan: 2
Australian: 2
Beninese: 1
British: 35
Bulgarian: 1
Burkinabè: 1
Burundian: 1
Cabo Verdean: 1
Canadian: 1
Congolese (DRC): 1
Djiboutian: 1
Dutch: 1
Egyptian: 2
Equatoguinean: 1
Eritrean: 1
Ethiopian: 1
Finnish: 1
French: 9
Gabonese: 1
Guinea-Bissauan: 1
Ivorian: 4
Japanese: 8
Libyan: 1
Malawian: 1
Malaysian: 1
Moroccan: 1
Mozambican: 1
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 4
Namibian: 1
Nigerian: 4
Nigerien: 1
Polish: 1
São Toméan: 1
Senegalese: 1
Seychellois: 1
Somali: 1
South African: 3
Sudanese: 1
Tunisian: 1
Ugandan: 1
Unknown: 1

I see you are still not slacking. : )

>123 Berly: Yep, I'm still ticking along. :)

>124 amanda4242: Ticking along?!

40 nationalities and 126 books is some ticking. xx

>125 PaulCranswick: I keep telling you: short books are the way to look good!

>126 amanda4242: I'm listening. Still amazing.

>127 PaulCranswick: *blushes*

126. Waiting for the Barbarians by J. M. Coetzee

Life in a remote outpost of an unnamed empire goes to hell when an officer comes to put down an uprising that probably didn't exist before he showed up. Truly excellent writing.

Oh, and skip the movie.

127. Song Bird by Tololwa M. Mollel, illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger

A cute picture book about a girl who gets her village's cattle back from a monster with the help of a bird she saved.

128. Kibogo by Scholastique Mukasonga, translated by Mark Polizzotti

Kibogo tells of the conflict between native Rwandan religious beliefs and the Christian religion brought by European colonizers. This short book is divided into four parts, with each part revealing a little more of the legend of Kibogo, and how his worship is suppressed by the missionaries who twist their own religion to further their agenda. A very well-told and thought-provoking tale.

Received via NetGalley.

129. The Shadow of Things to Come by Kossi Efoui, translated by Chris Turner

130. From Hell by Alan Moore, illustrated by Eddie Campbell

Moore's take on Jack the Ripper is an exhausting read. He weaves together fact, conspiracy theories, and outright lies to create a secret history that is, despite its disparate origins, a cohesive whole. It's an immersive reading experience that is as engrossing as it is disturbing. Recommended only for those with a very strong stomach.

131. Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o, illustrated by Vashti Harrison

A gorgeous picture book about a little girl who is picked on and hates her appearance because her skin is darker than her family's. Sulwe comes to see her own beauty when a star tells her a story of night and day and how darkness and light are both necessary, which is lovely but I think it would have been better if her mother had told her the story rather than a magic star.

132. The Kaffir of Karthala by Mohamed Toihiri, translated by Anis Memon

It's really hard to come to a conclusion about this one because I'm not sure if its weaknesses are due to the translation or the story itself. Maybe a bit of both? I think it's supposed to be satirical, but the satire falls flat more often than not and everything just sort of wanders to a climax that really doesn't fit with the rest of the book.

133. Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman

Unrelentingly depressing.

134. A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor, read by Zara Ramm

135. A Bargain of Blood and Gold by Kristin Jacques

An apprentice monster hunter is sent to a remote community in Maine to dispatch a vampire that's been killing young women; upon arrival he discovers something far more dangerous is terrorizing the area.

Overall, I liked this one: the supernatural world-building was fair, the lead characters likable, and the mystery had some engaging twists and turns.

136. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko

How have I lived this long without knowing this book exists?! It has an absolutely perfect ending!

137. A Draught of Ash and Wine by Kristin Jacques

A Draught of Ash and Wine starts immediately after the events of A Bargain of Blood and Gold, with our heroes on the run from the Society, who have formed an alliance with a dangerous foe.

This is a typical second entry in a series, with much added to the world and absolutely nothing resolved. Still, while it's not great literature, it is damned fine entertainment and I look forward to the third book in the series.

138. How to Read a Folktale: The Ibonia Epic from Madagascar translation and commentary by Lee Haring

I stumbled across this one while searching for a Malagasy book available in English other than Beyond the Rice Fields or Return to the Enchanted Island. Haring's commentary isn't that great and really isn't necessary for the enjoyment of Ibonia's tale, which is pretty damn good even without knowing the cultural nuances.

The book is available for free in PDF format from the publisher. https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0034

>130 amanda4242: I don't think that I could cope with unrelentingly depressing at the moment!

>132 PaulCranswick: Truthfully, I wouldn't recommend it even if you were in the mood for depressing.

>133 amanda4242: You do take it on the chin for the group quite often, Amanda, I have noticed!

>134 PaulCranswick: Another good thing about selecting short books is that the bad ones are over quickly. ;)

139. When Megan Went Away by Jane Severance, illustrated by Tea Schook

140. The Summer Isles {novella} by Ian R. MacLeod

141. Whisper of the Woods by Ennun Ana Iurov

142. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 1 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
143. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
144. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
145. The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System Vol. 4 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

146. Mad Max: Fury Road: The Prelude to the Blockbuster Film by George Miller, Nico Lathouris, and Mark Sexton

147. The Upright Revolution: Or Why Humans Walk Upright by Ngũgĩ wa Thiongʼo, translated by the author, illustrated by Sunandini Banerjee

Stats

Books
new reads: 133
re-reads: 14
1001 books (all editions): 2
British Author Challenge: 27
African Novel Challenge: 58

Original language
Arabic: 6
Bulgarian: 1
Chinese: 4
Dutch: 1
English: 91
Finnish: 1
Fon: 1
French: 20
Gikuyu: 1
Japanese: 7
Malagasy: 1
Multiple: 1
No linguistic content: 4
Portuguese: 4
Sango: 1
Songhay: 1
Spanish: 1
Tigrinya: 1

Translations: 52

From
Edelweis: 4
Izneo: 2
Kindle Unlimited: 7
Library: 42
NetGalley: 6
New: 16
Open Library: 20
Scribd: 22
Shelves: 28

pages read: 21,516
audiobook hours: 46 hours 03 minutes
average rating: 3.23 stars

Authors
female: 54 books by 36 authors
male: 85 books by 70 authors
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 8 books

Nationalities
Algerian: 1
American: 24
Angolan: 2
Australian: 2
Beninese: 1
British: 38
Bulgarian: 1
Burkinabè: 1
Burundian: 1
Cabo Verdean: 1
Canadian: 2
Chinese: 4
Comorian: 1
Congolese (DRC): 1
Djiboutian: 1
Dutch: 1
Egyptian: 2
Equatoguinean: 1
Eritrean: 1
Ethiopian: 1
Finnish: 1
French: 9
Gabonese: 1
Guinea-Bissauan: 1
Ivorian: 4
Japanese: 8
Kenyan: 2
Libyan: 1
Malagasy: 1
Malawian: 1
Malaysian: 1
Mauritian: 1
Moroccan: 1
Mozambican: 1
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 5
Namibian: 1
Nigerian: 4
Nigerien: 1
Polish: 1
Romanian: 1
Rwandan: 1
São Toméan: 1
Senegalese: 1
Seychellois: 1
Somali: 1
South African: 3
Sudanese: 1
Tanzanian: 1
Togolese: 1
Tunisian: 1
Ugandan: 1
Unknown: 1

Dropping by to wish you a great weekend, Amanda, and congratulate you on 2x75!

>139 PaulCranswick: Thank you! And happy weekend to you, too!

148. Settled Wanderers: The Poetry of Western Sahara

149. Chike and the River by Chinua Achebe

159. How Leopard Got His Claws by Chinua Achebe and

150. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 1
151. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 2
152. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 3
153. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 4
154. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation Vol. 5

Entertaining, but the translation is clonky as hell.

155. Prosper's Demon by KJ Parker
160. Inside Man by KJ Parker

I dearly love KJ Parker stories: everyone is some shade of grey and they're all doing something morally questionable for impeccable reasons. The difference between his heroes and his villains is all a matter of perspective. I won't be reading this pair of novellas again anytime soon as the cynicism is cranked up to eleven, but I can see myself re-reading them the next time I'm feeling particularly misanthropic.

156. Gilgamesh the King by Ludmila Zeman
157. The Revenge of Ishtar by Ludmila Zeman
158. The Last Quest of Gilgamesh by Ludmila Zeman

Gorgeous picture books based on The Epic of Gilgamesh. Highly recommended.

161. Black Mamba Boy by Nadifa Mohamed

A Somali orphan, Jama, wanders around East Africa and the Middle East in the 1930s and 40s.

I had hoped for much more from this one, but I always felt detached from the characters and events. The book is almost entirely from Jama's point of view, but we rarely get a look at his thoughts or feelings so it feels like he's just there to occasionally glimpse the periphery of some of the most important events of the 20th century. It's not a bad book, but I can't understand why it was nominated for so many prizes.

162. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 1: Marks of Woe by Simon Spurrier
163. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 2: The Best Version of You by Simon Spurrier

Best Hellblazer books since the original series. It's a tragedy it was cancelled after only twelve issues.

164. Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 12 by Ryosuke Takeuchi

165. The Secrets of Insects by Richard Kadrey

This is an entertaining enough collection for horror fans, but Kadrey's short stories don't have anywhere near the punch his novels do. There are a few really memorable stories in the collection: "Black Neurology—A Love Story," a weird tale of rebirth; "Flayed Ed," which imagines serial killer Ed Gein as a priest of Xipe Totec; and the previously unpublished "Candy Among the Jades," where we catch up with one of my favorite characters from the Sandman Slim series.

Received via NetGalley.

166. The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen

167. The Ghost in Bone by Mike Carey

168. The Starling's Song by Octavie Wolters, translated by Michele Hutchison

169. Stravaging “Strange” by Sigismund Krzyżanowski, translated by Joanne Turnbull and Nikolai Formozov

Krzhizhanovsky's stories defy easy genre labels, and are absolutely riveting. If you enjoy Gulliver, Don Quixote, and Alice in Wonderland then give this one a try.

Received via NetGalley.

170. The Alchemaster's Apprentice by Walter Moers, translated by John Brownjohn

171. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

Fanny Price is a prig who is only considered virtuous because she lacks the imagination and courage to place a toe out of line. Austen created fantastic characters in the Crawfords, especially Mary, and it's a great pity she fixed on the odious Miss Price as her heroine.

Stats

Books
new reads: 154
re-reads: 17
1001 books (all editions): 3
British Author Challenge: 34
African Novel Challenge: 61

Original language
Arabic: 6
Bulgarian: 1
Chinese: 9
Dutch: 2
English: 105
Finnish: 1
Fon: 1
French: 20
German: 1
Gikuyu: 1
Japanese: 8
Malagasy: 1
Multiple: 2
No linguistic content: 4
Portuguese: 4
Russian: 1
Sango: 1
Songhay: 1
Spanish: 1
Tigrinya: 1

Translations: 62

From
Edelweis: 4
Izneo: 2
Kindle Unlimited: 7
Library: 49
NetGalley: 9
New: 17
Open Library: 21
Scribd: 24
Shelves: 38

pages read: 26,693
audiobook hours: 46 hours 03 minutes
average rating: 3.26 stars

Authors
female: 65 books by 40 authors
male: 95 books by 78 authors
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 11 books

Nationalities
Algerian: 1
American: 25
Angolan: 2
Australian: 2
Beninese: 1
British: 44
Bulgarian: 1
Burkinabè: 1
Burundian: 1
Cabo Verdean: 1
Canadian: 6
Chinese: 9
Comorian: 1
Congolese (DRC): 1
Djiboutian: 1
Dutch: 2
Egyptian: 2
Equatoguinean: 1
Eritrean: 1
Ethiopian: 1
Finnish: 1
French: 9
Gabonese: 1
German: 1
Guinea-Bissauan: 1
Ivorian: 4
Japanese: 9
Kenyan: 2
Libyan: 1
Malagasy: 1
Malawian: 1
Malaysian: 1
Mauritian: 1
Moroccan: 1
Mozambican: 1
N/A (multiple authors, unknown, etc.): 8
Namibian: 1
Nigerian: 5
Nigerien: 1
Polish: 1
Romanian: 1
Russian: 1
Rwandan: 1
São Toméan: 1
Senegalese: 1
Seychellois: 1
Somali: 1
South African: 3
Sudanese: 1
Tanzanian: 1
Togolese: 1
Tunisian: 1
Ugandan: 1
Unknown: 1

Congratulations on reaching 2 x 75, Amanda!

>148 FAMeulstee: Thanks!

Time for a new thread?

>150 amanda4242: Yep.