Lisa (labfs39) quotes Aquinas: "Beware of the person of one book." (pt. 2)

Currently Reading


A Love Story by Emile Zola, translated from the French by Helen Constantine


The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner


The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson

Audio:

Books Read in 2026

January
1. The Conquest of Plassans by Emile Zola, translated from the French by Helen Constantine (TF, 3.5*)
2. The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández, translated from the Spanish by Natasha Wimmer (TF, 4.5*)
3. The Hollow Land by Jane Gardam (F, 4*)
4. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, narrated by Simon Vance (F, audio, 4*)
--Abscond by Abraham Verghese
--Finding Me by Viola Davis (chapters 1-10)
5. The Sin of Abbe Mouret by Emile Zola, translated from the French by Valerie Minogue (TF, 3*)
6. The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman (F, 4*)
--The Drover's Wife by Henry Lawson
--3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years by John Scalzi
--The Union Buries Its Dead by Henry Lawson

February
--Introduction to Huckleberry Finn by Toni Morrison
7. Pot Luck by Emile Zola, translated from the French by Brian Nelson (TF, 3*)
8. The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman (F, ebook, 3.5)
9. The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman (F, 3.5)
--Shtetl Days by Harry Turtledove
10. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys (F, 4*)
11. I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman (F, ebook, 3*)
12. The Ladies' Paradise by Emile Zola, translated from the French by Brian Nelson (F, 3.5*)
13. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, narrated by Simon Vance (F, audio, 3*)
14. Clear by Carys Davies, narrated by Russ Bain (F, audio, 4*)
15. A Fortunate Life by A.B. Facey (NF, 4.5*)
--The (Mis)Fortunes of Saint Ilia’s School for Gifted Girls, In No Particular Order by Catherine Tavares

April
16. The Boy on the Back of the Turtle by Paul Quarrington (NF, 4*)
17. A Time to Hide by Marion Seidemann Fredman (JNF, 4.5*)
18. A Love Story by Emile Zola, translated from the French by Helen Constantine (TF)

Links to my other threads:

Category Challenge
The Global Challenge
Holocaust Literature
Nobel Laureates in Literature
Fifty States Challenge

Book stats for 2026

I am trying to promote diversity in my reading and, for the lack of a more refined method, am tracking the following:

Books
total: 18
countries: 10
translations: 7 (35%)
in French:
nonfiction: 3

Authors
women: 9 (53%)
men: 8
nonbinary:
both:

nonwhite and/or non-European/US/British Commonwealth: 2
new to me authors: 7

Genres

literary fiction: 12
espionage: 3
memoir: 3

Target Audience
young adult:
children: 1

Formats
audiobooks: 3.5
ebooks: 2
graphic works:

January was a slow reading month for me. Usually I hit the ground running at the start of the year. Last year I read 16 books and 17 stories in January. This year 6 and 5 respectively. That said, I was pleased to finish two Zola books this month, and The Twilight Zone left a big impression.

For this month's bookish quote, I chose "Beware of the person of one book." I think in today's world being able to envision life from multiple perspectives is essential and sadly lacking in some of our leaders. Even Aquinas didn't fall back on the Good Book as the only good book. The quote is a reminder to myself to keep my reading diverse (I seem to be defaulting to white European dead men at the moment with my Zola and Dickens projects).

Which book have you read recently that most challenged you to see the world from a different perspective?

>5 labfs39: I would have to say Seascraper as far as “recently” goes, but really the only books that make see the world differently are Japanese. I just don’t happen to have read any Japanese literature in the past six months.

>5 labfs39: the closest i can get is Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney - but it didn’t change how i see the world, it just opened me up to getting interested in 18th century English literature. So, not sure that qualifies

>5 labfs39: Probably the most eye-opening for me was from last year: The Truth About Immigration: Why Successful Societies Welcome Newcomers by Zeke Hernandez (2024). Here's what I wrote at the time:

Hernandez, an economics professor at the Wharton School, provides facts, figures and numerous studies to show that immigrants are a plus to our society throughout our history. I couldn't possibly list all of his data points, but essentially immigrants are in general successful and by the 2nd generation a majority have economically equaled or eclipsed those persons born here. Hernandez is an immigrant from Uruguay who is now a U.S. citizen and he has a unique perspective on immigration. I first heard about this book on a Freakonomics radio broadcast in 2024.

The concept wasn't the eye-opening part--it's something I've generally believed in from anecdotal experience; it's the hard data that Hernandez provides that backs up that belief even more than I imagined.

>9 dchaikin: interesting. I'm with you on that last sentence. Not news to me, but specifics would be.

>6 kjuliff: the only books that make see the world differently are Japanese

Interesting, Kate. I would like to know more.

>7 dchaikin: I was thinking in very broad turns, so yes, a book that opened up a new field of interest qualifies, at least to my way of thinking. Women writers from the 1700s would definitely see the world in different ways.

>8 kac522: Sometimes books give us more data to validate our ideas or impressions, thus solidifying our broader perspective. Although not nearly as timely as your reading of The Truth About Immigration, I remember feeling similarly when I read Quiet many years ago. It didn't introduce me to new concepts so much as give me data and talking points that I needed at the time to advocate for my daughter. I'm surprised Hernandez's book hasn't gotten more hype.

>9 dchaikin: Agreed. And it would be nice to have more talking points and data handy when talking with sceptics.

>9 dchaikin:, >10 labfs39: To get a taste of Hernandez's work, the 3-part Immigration series on Stephen Dubner's Freakonomics Radio is available here:

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-true-story-of-americas-supremely-messed-up-...

Although he's not the only contributor, Hernandez is featured prominently in the series. After listening to the series, I then read the book to dig deeper.

>11 kac522: thanks. Noting. Looks like i need an hour for it

>12 dchaikin: Yes, each episode is an hour (it's normally broadcast here in Chicago on Sundays from 1-2pm on our public radio station).

>8 kac522:, >11 kac522: Thanks. I've acquired the book and queued up the podcast.

>5 labfs39: That's a really good question, Lisa. I guess I'd have to say the book about Charlotte Smith's poetry; she has been forgotten yet was hugely influential to the Romantic poets.

>11 kac522: Thanks for this, Kathy. I have ordered a copy of the book, and will check out the podcast too.

>15 BLBera: Adding "forgotten voices" to my running list of what makes reading diversified.

>14 qebo:, >16 labfs39: You are welcome!

>10 labfs39: I ghe only books that make see the world differently are Japanese

Interesting, Kate. I would like to know more.
I think all other books that I’ve read have struck some sort of cord and are about people or places that I can relate to. This includes books from all continents and many countries. Japanese literature is the only literature that I find difficult to understand in terms of lifestyle, morality, and what’s important in life. I find that I like the books that I’ve read by Japanese writers, particularly those by women writers, but it’s a new world to me very different from what I’m used to reading. I don’t relate to many of the characters I haven’t been to Japan

>18 kjuliff: Thank you for sharing more, Kate. It does make it easier to relate to a country's literature, if one has lived or travelled there, and even more so if one speaks the language.

I read this novel out of Zola's recommended order, but I think reading The Sin of Abbe Mouret after The Conquest of Plassans was a good call. One note: it takes place before the conclusion of The Conquest of Plassans.

Translated from the French by Brian Nelson
Originally published 1882, this translation 1999, 381 p.

>20 labfs39: A grim novel to set the reader up for the even more grim novels to come. Good thing we both like dark.

>21 SassyLassy: Pot Luck was surprisingly dark, not what I was expecting. When I think of ensemble casts living together in an apartment building, I subconsciously expect humor.

---

As a palate cleanser after two Zolas, I read two more cozy espionage books by Dorothy Gilman. The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax takes our heroine to Turkey to bring a potential defector a passport. True Pollifax style, she has soon befriended a young photographer and a gangster, and has a dead body on her hands. In The Elusive Mrs. Pollifax, she is slightly more experienced. She is bringing passports to the Bulgarian Underground, but quickly finds herself trailed by Bulgarian secret police, in trouble with her government minder, and orchestrating a prison break.

Completely unrealistic, inaccurate, and dated, the Mrs. Pollifax series has entertained me for four decades and is doing so once again.

Last night I read an interesting short work called Shtetl Days by Harry Turtledove. In this alternative history, the Germans won WWII, after which they murdered all the remaining Jews worldwide and enslaved the Slavs. With studious exactitude a shtetl has been recreated with actors playing both Jews and Poles. It's a 9 to 5 job, but some actors find it difficult to shed their Jewish personas at closing time.

Available online.

>23 labfs39: I had a quick look at this because I was very interested in the concept. I can read a little, but I’m not able to read more than a few sentences at a time. . I might try to do a copy and speak on my iPad. But I don’t like the artificial voice for literature.

>24 kjuliff: I was intrigued by the concept too. If you don't have any luck with text to speech, maybe I can read it for you.

>25 labfs39: that would be so lovely Lisa. I would really appreciate it.

Ok. I downloaded a voice recording app. I'll give it a whirl this weekend.

>27 labfs39: That is remarkable 'true friend' behavior.

>23 labfs39: Interesting premise, I bookmarked it to read between books. Along the line of short works (and referencing your prior thread), I'd given up on Amazon Singles/Shorts. Then your post on 3 Days, 9 Months, 27 Years sounded interesting -- I read it and liked it, very imaginative. So...no reading decision is final :)

>28 JoeB1934: :-)

>29 detailmuse: I found Shtetl Days quite interesting. It seems to be making the rounds of LT at the moment. As for Amazon Singles, I must confess that I tend to cherry pick stories by favorite authors or authors I've wanted to try. I've tried a few sight unseen with mixed luck.

I purchased an e-book today that I'm very excited about: The Unworthy by Roy Jacobsen. Like many of you, I loved Jacobsen's Barroy Chronicles and was sadden by the news that he passed away in October. The Unworthy/De uverdige was the last novel he published, in 2022. It's about a group of boys growing up in Oslo during WWII.

>31 labfs39: I'll keep an eye for this one when it will be translated into French. After finishing the Barroy series, I have Les Vainqueurs / Seierherrene on my book shelves. it's not translated into English (yet). Funny to see the translations are not in the same order in both languages!

>32 raton-liseur: It is interesting how different books are picked to be translated in different countries, and how the titles often differ. I am looking forward to having more Jacobsen to read.

---

For all the Demick fans out there, the e-book version of Daughters of the Bamboo Grove is on sale for $1.99USD today. It's shockingly easy to buy books for my e-reader...

>33 labfs39: *sigh* I did not need to know that. I don’t even have a plan to read this book! But I bought it anyway, because who knows. And since for some reason I always feel guilty buying only one book, I also got The Devils which was much more expensive.

>33 labfs39: Yeah, I try not to even look what is on sale most days or it gets complicated. At least they are not taking space at home, right?

And then there's the _very_dangerous_ Stuff Your Kindle days, and (many many) similar ones. Mostly (at least what I've found) romance, but it varies from full focus on the couple to a romantic subplot in a (SF, mystery, whatever) story. I have so many ebooks I've picked up for .99 or free... Oh, and Humble Bundles too. Fiction and non-fiction.

I am impressed by all your reading of Zola's works, Lisa. I only have a couple of his books in the house but I feel as if I really ought to actually read them. I can feel them softly whimpering over having been neglected for so long.

>34 FlorenceArt: And since for some reason I always feel guilty buying only one book

I love it! Have you read anything by Demick before? Her book, Nothing to Envy, is a fascinating look into North Korea.

>35 AnnieMod: You are right, Annie, I have many reasons for justifying to myself why I buy e-books, and space is one of them. Although I still prefer having the paper copy on my shelves, it's getting a bit crowded here. I have at least 25? bookcases, at least half being floor to ceiling and numerous smaller cubbies where books are stashed.

>36 jjmcgaffey: I'm still relatively new to using an e-reader, but I have been surprised at all the places I have gotten e-books: public domain sites, libraries, booksellers, review copies. It's a jungle out there, and the sales are so enticing.

>37 Fourpawz2: Thanks, Charlotte. I was fortunate to be able to join a group read here on LT that has greatly inspired me to finally tackle the Rougon-Macquart cycle, something I have put off for decades, but always wanted to do. The group is reading one book every two months, which is a good pace for me. I fell behind, but am almost caught back up. I would encourage you to try Zola. I find his works surprisingly engaging and modern-feeling.

It's been a year since Ace died, and my daughter has decided she's ready to get a new dog. When I saw this Early Reviewer book, I thought I would read it then pass it along. Nope! I'm buying her her own copy so I can keep this one.

The author is from my old stomping grounds in Seattle, a very dog-friendly city.

January was a slow reading month for me too, and like you generally it's the opposite. I guess with the news and the weather it's not surprising, but I find it hard to avoid expecting my reading habits to remain consistent. Hopefully we can have lots of quality at least!

It's always interesting to think about books which have an outsized impact on our view of the world (or knowledge of it) or even just on our reading life. I've been picking one book per year that fits that for me since 2025 marked the 20th year I've logged my reading. Last year I think the one that really gave me the most actually new and important information was Shifting Sands: A Human History of the Sahara.

>40 mabith: I do find that my reading life is effected by the news cycle and state of the world. Trump years, and this one in particular, make their impact felt in so many ways. It's easy to track how many books we read, harder to quantify quality. Then there's the enjoyment factor. A good reading life is, for me, a blend of the three, but only the first is simple to explain.

Looking back at my list of books read in 2025, I think three books stand out for their impact on my thinking. Cold Crematorium raised some interesting and uncomfortable questions about the role prisoners in the Holocaust concentration camps played in self-policing. The Germans dehumanized people, then created a hierarchy of power among them. It was effective in reducing the number of German guards were needed, yet completely diabolical.

Demon Copperhead was a brilliant adaptation that sparked in me a renewed interest in Dickens, as well as being a good book in its own right. It's treatment of the opioid addiction crisis was especially well-done, I thought.

Finally, Solito was one of the last books I read in 2025. It's a beautifully written memoir of a child's migration from El Salvador to the US that resonated deeply given the events of this winter. I learned more about the logistics of migration to the US, but more importantly, how it feels to a child caught in the insane system.

We are only a month into the new year, but I wouldn't be surprised if The Twilight Zone makes it onto my year-end list. Reading it taught me much about brutality in the US, despite being about Chile.

>41 labfs39: The Twilight zone is also highly likely to make it to my memorable reads of the year list (if I ever make one)!

Noting Solito, which will be available in paperback in a few months in France.

>38 labfs39: I’m guessing that it must important to read them in chronological order rather than publishing order so I think will begin with an ebook from the library as my Zolas are very far down the list.

>42 raton-liseur: It's definitely a book that resonates with the times. Solito was very interesting too, and not as grim, although also timely and disturbing.

>43 Fourpawz2: I think some of the books make more sense in chronological order, but some seem almost standalones, like The Dream. My one bit of advice would be to try and get the modern Oxford translations. Several people in our group started with free Vizetelly translations and realized that not only were they bowdlerized, but sometimes entire sections were cut.

>39 labfs39: new dog
Does she have a specific dog or type of dog in mind, or is she at the stage of considering all this?

>33 labfs39: Thanks, I guess. It's on the longlist for the Women's Prize for Nonfiction.

>45 qebo: Her boyfriend wants a King Corso, a dog he had as a kid, so they are going with that. They had a deposit on a puppy in a litter that was ready in January. The night before they left to drive down to Cape Fear, NC to pick it up, the breeder called to say that the entire litter had caught parvo. Unfortunately, she lost the entire litter. They were very sad as they had received lots of photos and videos of the puppy and felt attached. They will have pick of the next litter.

>46 BLBera: Sorry! I loved Demick's Nothing to Envy, and Besieged : Life Under Fire on a Sarajevo Street was good though not as good.

I chose to read this now for Paul's February challenge to read a book from a Commonwealth Caribbean nation. I have long wanted to read Wide Sargasso Sea, so this seemed to be the right time. Note that I read the Norton Critical Edition and benefitted greatly from the footnotes, introduction, and excerpts from Rhys's letter that relate to her writing of the book. I have not yet read the critical essays.

Written over the course of 20 years, published in 1966, 104 p.

Today I attended an Indie Lens Pop-Up presentation of the documentary film, The Librarians.



"The documentary follows librarians including Carolyn Foote, Suzette Baker, and Amanda Jones in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and other states, as they unite to combat book banning from Moms for Liberty and other groups in the United States."

Tellingly Moms for Liberty denied requests to be interviewed for the film.

Although I didn't learn a lot that was new to me, it reminded me that there are people out there fighting the good fight. It's good to remember that amidst all the horrors.

>48 labfs39: It's been a long time since I read this book. I remember not particularly liking the reading experience, but understood and appreciated the issues raised.

But now I'm wondering about the timeframe of the 1830s. Last fall I re-read Jane Eyre. I was looking at some online reviews of the book and one in particular mentioned the time frame of Jane Eyre as being roughly 1799-1809. This is based on a specific scene near the end of the book (Ch. 32). For her birthday (presumably her 19th) St John gives Jane a "newly published" copy of Marmion by Sir Walter Scott, which was published in 1808. This would put Jane's birth year at about 1789, then going to Lowood at age 10 at about 1799, and her 19th birthday occurring at the end of 1808. Also, if the book were set in the 1830s-1840s, presumably trains would have been mentioned for Mr Rochester's long travels, but the only transportation in the book is by carriage or horseback.

This is not to negate anything in Rhys' book, but it's an interesting fact which I had not realized, and I've been reading and re-reading Jane Eyre for some 50 years! Of course, I may have misunderstood your review and perhaps someone is looking back from the 1830s??

>50 kac522: No, you are correct in that Rhys changes the date, which doesn't really impact the Brontë timeline, but makes a big difference with the Dominican one. Also, Rhys changes the age of Antoinette/Bertha. In Bronte's book she is an older woman, in Rhys's she is in her early twenties. A carefully reading will also reveal that while I (and most critics) refer to the man who narrates Part Two as Mr. Rochester, Rhys very purposefully does not name him. This is all to say that although WSS is inspired by Jane Eyre, it is a separate work in its own right that is not aiming to be a prequel, but more of a commentary on JE, and even more so on British colonialism and the treatment of women.

I agree with you that it's not a particularly likeable reading experience, so much as an intellectual one.

---

The engraving below (top portion) was included in the Norton edition, but was also used in (or was created for?) this "Appeal to the Ladies of Great Britain", which alludes to the horrors of the apprenticeship program that replaced official slavery.

>48 labfs39: Jean Rhys is not that famous in France (at least for me, some other readers might differ), so thanks to bring her to my attention. I might try to borrow this book and give it a try.

>48 labfs39: A lovely review of Wide Sargasso Sea. I haven't read it, but of course have heard of it, and you make a great case for picking it up at once.

>52 raton-liseur: I wouldn't say Rhys is famous in America either, and maybe not even Britain. She wrote a few early books, then disappeared completely after the publication of Good Morning, Midnight in 1939. It wasn't until a dramatized version of the novel was broadcast in 1958 that she was traced to Cornwall. She was at that time working on Wide Sargasso Sea although it wasn't published until 1966. She is best known for this work.

>53 rasdhar: Thanks, Rasdhar. I'll look forward to your thoughts, if you do get to it.

>47 labfs39: King Corso
I had to look this up. So sorry about the parvo. I became aware of it a few decades ago when a neighbor kid's puppy died.

>48 labfs39: Wide Sargasso Sea
I read this in... 2013! back in the days when I was posting actual reviews. Seems my reaction was similar, interesting because of the historical and cultural issues.

>49 labfs39: The Librarians
This was shown here but I didn't realize until after the fact so I'll have to look for it.

>55 qebo: The Librarians can be watched here on the PBS website:

https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/the-librarians/

>56 kac522: Ah, thanks.

>56 kac522: Jean Rhys did indeed seem to disappear, but makes a reappearance in her older years in Difficult Women, along with Germaine Greer and Sonia Orwell. Plante's treatment of Rhys was atrocious.

There was only one review of the book, so I added mine from a couple of years ago.

>55 qebo: I didn't learn much that was new from watching The Librarians, but it did serve to remind me of that ongoing battle. There was a reception afterward, and the discussions were interesting, but it seemed to me that everyone there was already on the bandwagon before watching the movie. I hope it gets before a wider audience than it did here.

>59 labfs39: That sounds like a horrible book, written by a horrible man! Wow, that's one book I'll be delighted to skip.

>48 labfs39: Good to see people reading Wide Sargasso Sea

A mid-month reading update:

I finished I Who Have Never Known Men and was not overwhelmed. I still need to post a short review. I am continuing to read Ladies' Paradise, but am finding it hard to read more than a few pages at a time. I started Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey and am enjoying that quite a bit. Unfortunately the audio of Great Expectations is dragging on and on. I am 11 hours in with almost 7 still to go. So far it is my least favorite of Dickens' works I've listened to in the last year. My favorites in descending order are

1. Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
2. David Copperfield
3. Bleak House
4. Great Expectations

>61 labfs39: For me the characters in Great Expectations are hard to like. I did enjoy Mr Wemmick and it's hard to not like Joe. Who's the reader on the audio? I'd say my favorites, in no particular order, are David Copperfield, Bleak House and Little Dorrit. I think Our Mutual Friend is the most intricate and well-plotted, but it's not one that I love as much. I think the most interesting of his novels is Barnaby Rudge, just because of the historical aspect. And A Tale of Two Cities has the best ending.

I read The Ladies Paradise after watching the BBC mini-series (which they set in England with some other major changes) and it made it a bit more accessible knowing the story before reading. I ended up liking the mini-series better than the book, but that's probably just me.

>62 kac522: Pip is so childishly selfish, long past the age when I would have expected it. Mr. Wemmick (in his castle with his aged parent) and Joe provide some relief from wanting to shake everyone into sensibility.

I liked Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol too.

The only Zola adaptation I've seen is the 1993 film Germinal starring Gérard Depardieu. It might be fun to watch some of the others, I hadn't thought about it.

I read this one now thanks to reviews by Dan/@dchaikin and Kate/@kjuliff.

Translated from the French by Ros Schwartz
Originally published 1995, English translation 1997, revised 2019

>48 labfs39: this is a terrific review of Wild Sargasso Sea. I love seeing it here and knowing your response to it. I have the novel on my 2026 plan.

>64 labfs39: Nice to see your review. It’s a philosophical book with a deep psychological drive. So there isn’t a true or standard plot. And it provides no answers. I do hope you felt a little discomforting flummox at the lack of answers, and lack of insight behind its own laws, ones it devoutly honors…because i think it is designed to create that feeling.

>65 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan. Usually I try to reread the original before reading an adaptation or such, but I had no desire to revisit Jane Eyre. The Norton Critical Edition had relevant excerpts (the passages and scenes that mentioned Bertha), and I found that sufficed, especially since I was more interested in the historical aspects, and I have read JE more than once.

I would love to know what philosophical or psychological take-aways you had with Harpman's book. Perhaps it was too deep for me, I was bored. I like a good plot or good character development or good insights, something. And I guess I was expecting a typical dystopian novel, which it isn't. Was it supposed to be existential? What do you think the author's point was?

>66 labfs39: The problem is I can’t answer your questions. I don’t have a clear take away. Trying to come with one was a big drive for me while reading. But, it’s elusive

Perhaps:
We accept what we know?
Cruelty knows know bounds?
No one is running the show? It just happens
We are subject to larger and sometimes invisible forces?

We are all the child? I spent a lot of time thinking about this one. What if the child is really our universal condition. That we live in blindness and arbitrary extreme cruelty, and equally arbitrary kindness. That we don’t understand the larger world around us, and cannot understand it. That we are all ultimately alone, and lost, and searching, that is until we die?

Don’t know.

>67 dchaikin: That's such a bleak post...

I ended up putting a hold on this book at the library, so I hope to read it in a month or two. It has been in my wishlist for more than 10 years, so long before all the current hip, but I was not that sure I wanted to read it.
It's interesting to see so diverse reviews, from @dchaikin/Dan's positive review to >64 labfs39:'s lukewarm one. Now I am more and more curious to see how I will react to the book...

>66 labfs39: >67 dchaikin: One thing I loved about I Who Have Never Known Men was how there was just enough of a framework for a story but no clear answers. I found myself imagining all the things that could have happened in the world to lead to the events in the novel. And imagining all the things that could happen next. I almost always just go along for the ride with any novel and this one had my imagination working in overdrive instead of just accepting an author's story. I also found myself thinking about current world events today and wondering if these troubled times could lead to something as dramatic as what happened in the novel.

Within the novel itself, I was interested in the dynamics between the women in terms of alliances, friendships, etc. but also the trauma of knowing that as they died there weren't people to replace them - no next generation to love or teach or have an interest in the well-being of.

It gave me a lot to think about.

>69 japaul22: I have been thinking about reading this book and prior comments made me wonder if it was what I look for in a book.

I see in the comments by @labfs39 and @dchaikin excellent examples of their personal reading approach. Now, yours which I find to be more like I imagine for myself.

The bottom line is that at the age of 91 I decided to find books to read that I discovered by myself. Imagine not being a member of LT, or GR and just finding books somehow that had the attributes you believe in.

I don't hesitate anymore to drop a book as soon as I make a judgement that it doesn't suit me. Of course, I mostly listen to audio from libraries, so I don't have much 'skin in the game'.

I have discovered literally hundreds of books I never hear about from any of my usual sources on LT.

I'm so happy with your post here.

By the way we share 333 posts and somewhere around 50% of them popup on my reading preferences.

Loving the discussion of I Who Have Never Known Men. It's an easy reading decision when a book I'm interested in gets uniform yay/nay reviews, but it's so much more interesting when the reviews diverge as above.

>68 raton-liseur: >69 japaul22: >70 JoeB1934: >71 detailmuse: glad to see some responses on this curious book.

I love discussing books where there is such a wide range of reactions. Nothing is more boring than a discussion where everyone agrees.

>67 dchaikin: Perhaps I wasn't in the right mood for a book with such a nebulous (or nonexistent) point. It was not a boring book, but I finished with the sense that I had just spent too much time with a navel-gazer, although the navel in question belonged to a psychologically constructed Child with a capital C.

>68 raton-liseur: I'll be curious as to your impressions, raton. Few people seem to come away without one.

>69 japaul22: I love books that can engender this sort of post-reading reflection. Unfortunately, for me, I closed the book and thought, well, that's over, not even sure what "that" was. This might be a book where I would have benefitted from a book club discussion. Or perhaps I would have enjoyed it more at a different time. I have become a curmudgeonly mood reader of late. ;-)

>70 JoeB1934: Unlike you, Joe, I do find a significant portion of my reads from Club Reader recommendations. When more than one of my LT friends recommends a book, I pay attention. Most of the time that works well for me, and even when it doesn't, I enjoy the ensuing conversation, such has arisen from this book. I balance the rewards from the book itself with the rewards of discussion, even of a book I am not crazy about.

---

I am nearing the end of both Ladies' Paradise and Great Expectations (on audio), but unfortunately, I have to go outside now and battle last night's snowfall. 6" of increasingly heavy snow (as the temps rise closer to the mid-20s and the sun shines). Another storm in the pipeline for Monday, sigh.

>71 detailmuse: Exactly, MJ. Have you read this one, or do you intend to? I would be curious as to your thoughts.

>72 dchaikin: I can see why this book had a resurgence due to social media.

It isn't that I don't read about books from my LT friends. In fact, I do what I have always done when I read or hear about a book that sounds good from any source.

Every reader has some clues they are looking for in making any book as BB on LT or any other source. My thing is to study genres and sub-genres I prefer.

>69 japaul22: I Who Have Never Known Men had a similar effect on me. It is just sort of being one of my favourite novels. I disagree about it not having an end. The end is known from the beginning. The end is not good; there can be no happy ending. The novel is very European. I was interested to read that Harpman practiced psychiatry. I thought the book had a lot of depth. But I can see why some readers would find it shallow..

>66 labfs39:, >69 japaul22: late to the discussion, but.... I loved that the novel created this alienating world without explanation, leaving the reader to conceptualize the context. Because sometimes the explanations ruin the world/mood (I loved the world of Piranesi but when the situation was explained, it lost the magic).

Narrated by Simon Vance
Originally published 1861, this narration 2008, 18 hours

>75 JoeB1934: I didn't mean to imply you don't take recommendations from LT, Joe, but that you have a system and multiple sources. I rely almost solely on LT and my own inclinations.

>76 kjuliff: I wish I had known more about the author before I started reading. There was an brief bio at the end of the book, and there's when I learned she was a psychoanalyst and had been displaced during the Holocaust. I think it would have helped me adjust the lens through which I read the book, had I know beforehand.

>77 ELiz_M: I haven't read Piranesi, though I believe I have a copy around here somewhere. I wonder if I will like it more, since there is more resolution/explanation.

>79 labfs39: Yes, I think so. I knew about her being displaced during the Holocaust, and that was in my mind while I was reading the book.

Happy Sunday, Lisa. Do you also participate in another group? For some reason I did not have this one starred.

I responded to your post over on my thread. Your upcoming trip sounds amazing. This is what I shared:

"I use Ebird exclusively to track all my bird sightings. It is a fantastic tool. Sign up for it- it is free and download the app on your cell. Make sure you also have the Merlin app. If I were you I would practice with Ebird by starting a few lists from your backyard. Let me know if you have any questions."

>78 labfs39: Dickens can be a slog if the book doesn't grab you. I felt that way about David Copperfield, but finally managed to enjoy it this year.

Interesting that you did not feel more friendly to the main characters and that you found them self absorbed

>64 labfs39: Enjoyed your review of I Who Have Never Known Men and it confirms my feeling that it's not a book for me. I don't do well with that sort of nebulus "here is a situation but we never really know why this is happening" fiction. I'm fine when a book insists I come to some of the conclusions on my own, but there are plenty of titles where I feel the author is asking a little too much of me as the reader. Sometimes I still read those books, knowing I won't particularly like them (especially when they're making the rounds on LT) since it's good to challenge myself, but that one doesn't tempt me.

>80 kjuliff: I think so too.

>81 msf59: Maybe you only had my first thread starred? I am in a few other groups, but I'm not sure you frequent these:
Category Challenge
The Global Challenge
Holocaust Literature
Nobel Laureates in Literature
Fifty States Challenge
and haunt the Zola Group Read, although we don't have individual threads there.

Thanks for the advice about birding apps. I will definitely checkout Ebird and I need to download the relevant geographic pack for Merlin.

>82 baswood: Dickens can be a slog if the book doesn't grab you

That's for sure. It could be too that four Dickens in a year is too much too. :-)

Pip's attitude definitely grated. The way he treated Joe after coming into money was awful, understandable perhaps, but not pleasant. And his profligacy which threatened Herbert's prospects too, was self-absorbed. Miss Havisham only realizes how terrible she had been to those around her after Estella leaves her. Wallowing in self-pity for 20 years and raising a child to break men's hearts is not exactly endearing. Estella is perhaps least blameworthy, as she is what she was raised to be and is frank about it, but still, at some point we hope people grow up and rise above bad parenting. Anyway, for most of the book these three are not very nice, but Dickens being Dickens, everything wraps up well.

>83 mabith: I was attracted by the book's premise, as I like the occasional dystopian novel. As Dan notes, however, it is more of a philosophical thought piece than a typical dystopian novel. I wouldn't recommend it to readers who dislike ambiguous, go-nowhere sorts of books.

I am very much enjoying my current read: A Fortunate Life, a memoir by A.B. Facey. He is abandoned to his grandmother's care as a child, and she takes him and his siblings to the outback of Western Australia at the turn of the last century. In order to start supporting himself and taking some of the burden off his grandmother, he begins working for others at age nine. There are so many challenges, both from nature and from the adults in his life, but Facey tells his story in a warm, straightforward fashion without a hint of self-pity. His descriptions of life on farms in the outback and of the natural world are fascinating and beautiful. I'm a third of the way through and keep making excuses to go back to it, despite my laundry list of things to do.

>74 labfs39: It's in my wishlist, I intend to read. Some dystopian fiction is lately feeling more like contemporary/near-future memoir...

>86 detailmuse: Isn't that the truth? I found The Twilight Zone very difficult reading for that reason.

>85 labfs39: I haven’t read A Fortunate Life but should do so as it is an Australian classic. I did listen to a sample after reading your post and I noticed that the place where Facey grew up is where my daughter and grandchild live now. It’s now an up-market artistic community full of people seeking alternative lifestyles. When I last visited a few years ago, it was full of people who I went to Melbourne university with. Many people my age now live there, plus a lot of single mothers, and those who in Australia we used to call yuppies, but I’m sure there’s another term for them now..

>85 labfs39: A BB for the Facey - I love Nevil Shute, especially his Australian novels, and this sounds like it fits that style.

>89 jjmcgaffey: - I loved Shute’s On the Beach which was fascinating, disturbing and frightening to me. For a long time I have wanted to make the Book Club read it, but I am afraid they might club me to death for it. So -I hesitate.

>88 kjuliff: How interesting that that's where your daughter and grandson are. Near Narrogin?

>89 jjmcgaffey: So far I would heartily recommend Facey's memoir. I've been wanting to read more Australian literature; I'm glad I started with this.

>90 Fourpawz2: I read On the Beach as a teen in the 80s. It was terrifying and felt all too likely to happen. It has remained with me to this day, decades later.

>92 labfs39: - My feelings exactly.

I hesitate to suggest another book for you to put on your TBR, but this interest in Australia brought to mind two of the most powerful Australian books I have ever read.

They are about Australia early in their development and especially how newcomers dealt with living inhabitants who had been there for many thousands of years.

These books are Only Killers and Thieves and Dust Off the Bones by Paul Howarth. Both are 4.2 avg rating.

I was devastated by the stories.

>94 JoeB1934: Thanks, Joe. My poor wishlist is burgeoning.

>91 labfs39: They live in Castlemaine, which is mentioned in the part of the book that I read in the sample. From what I read, I understood that the father went to Western Australia leaving the boy and his siblings with their grandmother in Castlemaine and surrounding areas. Did Facey eventually go to WA? I had understood that he and his grandmother lived in Barker’s Creek and Campbells Creek which are now considered part of Castlemaine. My daughter has lived in both but is now in Castlemaine central.

Castlemaine is also known for the following. Fanny Finch, a truly remarkable figure in Australian history is often celebrated as the first known woman to vote in an Australian election. Her story is even more significant because she was a woman of African heritage. Her vote took place in Castlemaine on January 22, 1856, more than 50 years before women were officially granted the right to vote in Victoria

Recently a play about Finch was put on in Castlemaine directed by Bill Garner, Helen Garner‘s first husband. It’s also now the home of German Greer who has retired there. Lots of history in Castlemaine. My daughter does a radio show there called Trigger Warning.


Here she is ready to launch into her views on contemporary issues. I don’t listen to the music she plays as it of I type - her hashtag is #don’t AssumeMyGenre - is of singers I’ve never heard of.

>96 kjuliff: He was born there, but the family moved to WA when he's four. I'll be interested in your perspective on the book, if you do decide to listen.

How interesting about Fanny Finch. I read a little about her online. Thanks for sharing about her, Castlemaine, and your daughter.

Hooray for your daughter. That is awesome. I will have to search out Trigger Warning.

I am glad I got you starred again. Not sure how that happened. You got me with A Fortunate Life. Sounds like my kind of memoir.

>98 msf59: Note that the post about Trigger Warning and her daughter is by Kate, not me.

I think you would like A Fortunate Life, among other things, he describes the birds of the bush. :-)

>97 labfs39: Fanny Finch is such an interesting person, and I knew about the play that was put on in Castlemaine but I hadn’t realised that writer Bill Garner was a direct descendant. I looked up the play, “Finding Fanny Finch” and found this short interview about Fanny Finch and her heritage here. You might find it interesting..

I've been stocking up my e-reader in preparation for travel in three weeks. Not that I don't already have a ton on there, but variety, you know. Here's the latest:



The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi - because I'm always interested in Nigerian lit
Across the Cold Ground by Oisin McGann (short story) - recommended by Kerry/avatiakh
The Mauritanian by Mohamedou Ould Slahi - previously published as Guantánamo Diary

Almost halfway through the cycle! And I caught up to the group read. Phew.

Translated by Brian Nelson
Originally published 1883, this translation 1995, 438 p.

On The Beach is amazing and complex and all that - but read some of his other stuff, smaller but no less rich. In The Wet is...well, I mostly read SF, so it was perfect for me - a maybe-sorta-time-travel twist on a picture of a man living in the Australian outback. Trustee From the Toolroom is amazing (not Australia - Britain and then the South Seas) - I adore the hero. A Town Like Alice is what I was actually thinking about as a link to Facey - starts in...Java I think, during WWII, then Britain, but the fascinating part is in Australia as the MCs try to build a small and dying town into A Town Like Alice (Springs), that's actually working. And...yeah. He's got a _lot_ of really good stories.

>103 jjmcgaffey: This reminds me that I still have Nevil Shute books to acquire and read.

Hi Lisa. I see that you're reading Emily Wilson's translation of The Odyssey. I have this on my shelves but, to be honest, I've been intimidated to give it a try. I will follow your comments.

I read The Death of Vivek Oji in 2021 and gave it 4.5 stars. If you end up reading it on your travels, I hope you also enjoy it.

>79 labfs39: There is some resolution, but, at least for me, the wonder of Piranesi's world remains. And it can be revisited.

>103 jjmcgaffey: I need to read more Nevil Shute. I have had Pied Piper on my wishlist since TadAD reviewed it years ago. I'm making note of Trustee from the Toolroom and In the Wet too.

>104 rhian_of_oz: He was more prolific than I realized.

>105 EBT1002: I'm only 100 odd pages into The Odyssey, Ellen, but Wilson's translation reads like a dream. I've stopped to go back and read the introduction, but that's more for my own edification than any necessity to understand the story.

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed The Death of Vivek Oji. It was an impulse buy on my part.

>106 markon: Piranesi is one of those books that I avoided at first because there was so much chatter about it, but the premise continued to interest me. I finally purchased a copy. Now I need to find the time to read it!

I finished Clear last night and was impressed by this short and affecting story of a Scottish free minister and an isolated island holdout during the Highland Clearances. I had avoided all spoilers prior to reading, so was pleasantly surprised by the story and its resolution. I'm not sure if I will write a review, as so many of my fellow CRers have done so, but I would recommend the work to anyone who hasn't yet gotten to it.

Note that the audio version, narrated by Russ Bain, was excellent, and only three hours! After so many 30+ hour Dickens novels, this felt incredible quick.

>108 labfs39: I thoroughly enjoyed Clear as well. I’m beginning to enjoy novellas more, especially when they are in audio. I find longer novels difficult in audio especially when they have many characters. Glad to see that we enjoy another book in common.

>107 labfs39: Piranesi is a beautiful book. I absolutely loved it. Looking forward to hearing what you think of it once you get to it.

>66 labfs39: I might try Wide Sargasso Sea if it does not require reading of Jane Eyre

>110 Julie_in_the_Library: Concur on Piranesi, both the book and the artist!

>109 kjuliff: Clear was lovely, and I wished there were a sequel. I would love to know how the characters fared.

>110 Julie_in_the_Library: I can see Piranesi from where I'm sitting. I hope to get to it soonish, but my read-soon bookshelves are bursting.

>111 VladysKovsky: I don't think it is necessary to read Jane Eyre first, unless you are interested in it. It wouldn't hurt to read an online summary first though, just so you can make the character connections.

>112 VladysKovsky: Good to know it is a fav with some of my reading compadres.

>113 labfs39: Piranesi is not flawless but its flaws are kind of nice too

I keep forgetting to actually put Clear on my library lists, but have finally remedied that at least.

I also loved Clear: A Novel. I also liked West. I really like her writing.

Sweet Thursday, Lisa.

>108 labfs39: Oh, Clear was such a nice read for me last year. I really didn't expect where the story would go, either, but I really enjoyed it. It did a lot for such a short book.

>114 VladysKovsky: not flawless but its flaws are kind of nice too

That's an intriguing statement.

>115 mabith: I quite enjoyed it, Meredith.

>116 msf59: That's a couple of votes for West. I'll look for it when I return.

>117 JesseMC: I was actually a bit anxious when listening to it, as I wasn't sure which way it would turn at the end. Russ Bain did a nice job with the narration as well.

---

I'm in the homestretch with A Fortunate Life and what a great hidden gem this turned out to be. He's twenty now and fighting in Gallipoli. Such a horrific episode of the war, but one I am largely ignorant of. It seems to combine the worst of both beach landings and trench warfare with guerrilla sniping thrown in. Does anyone have recommendations for readings on this topic? The only other book I've read that was set here is Daughters of Mars, a novel about Australian nurses in WWI.

>118 labfs39: In the Gallipoli landing thousands of Australasians were killed. The British were in charge and knew beforehand that the campaign was hopeless. The day of the landing is commemorated on April 25 by a public holiday in Australia, “ANZAC Day”. Many see it as Australia’s unofficial national day, the day we recognised ourselves as a nation.

I haven’t read any books specifically about Gallipoli, but do recommend the movie “Gallipoli” starring the young Mel Gibson (when he was seen as normal). The are many books about the campaign, most called simply “Gallipoli”.

There is a dawn service every ANZAC Day and the following words are spoken, followed by the Last Post.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them.
From Laurence Binyon’s "For the Fallen”.

These words emphasize reconciliation, sacrifice, and the enduring bond between Australia, New Zealand, and Turkey.

One note - Turkey and Australia have reconcilated about this tragedy on Turkish soil. It wasn’t “guerrilla sniping” that caused the huge ANZACs defeat but the Turkish army defending its own country (then part of the Ottoman Empire).

To Hell and Back: The Banned Account of Gallipoli is a somewhat fictionalized Gallipoli memoir by Sydney Loch which was initially banned when he tried to publish it (while the war was still going, I forget how long after it was banned). Been a long time since I read it, but I remember being very struck by it and from the notes in the book I don't recall feeling like the fictionalized elements were a problem.

>118 labfs39: I haven't read it yet, but Les Carlyon's book about Gallipoli was highly recommended to me when I was looking for WWI nonfiction a while back.

>119 kjuliff: Thanks for this, Kate. One note: snipers are a fact of war whether defending one's country or not. I was commenting on the type of warfare the ANZAC forces were facing, I didn't intend to imply any moral judgement. It struck me that unlike many forces in WWI who were embroiled for the whole war in the trenches, the forces sent to the Gallipoli had to do a Normandy style beach landing, make it off the beach, dig trenches, fight in the trenches, and take out sniper nests. That's a lot.

>120 mabith: > 121 Thanks, Meredith and Jesse, for the recommendations.

>122 labfs39: thanks Lisa. I understand that and I was just trying to explain that the Anzacs were facing rows of machine guns as they left from the shore to cross flat country directly into the line of fire.

I really recommend the movie.”Gallipoli” if you can stand to watch Mel Gibson. It’s very well done and captures the spirit of the Anzacs in a realistic way. In Australia’s mind today the real enemy of the attack was the English rather than the Turks. Many ex-servicemen (veterans) of recent wars still travel to ANZAC Cove (Anzak Koyu) to commemorate Anzac Day, and are welcomed by the Turkish people.

>78 labfs39: Interesting to see your thoughts on Great Expectations and that it was your least favourite. That was one of the books we did at school, and it put me off Dickens for years.

>118 labfs39: There's also a song - "And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" - that's set in Gallipoli (and going and coming back). Bitter anti-war and anti- that particular campaign, with beautiful language.

>123 kjuliff: Yes, it reminded me very much of Normandy, with which I am more familiar. Facey spends much less time talking about the war than of his childhood, but his brief descriptions of the four months he spent on Gallipoli are harrowing. I've added the film to my queue for when I return.

>124 valkyrdeath: Perhaps I would benefit from reading some literary criticism, as I don't see why GE is so widely acclaimed. It killed my desire to listen to more Dickens right now. Did you eventually get over your experience and read more?

>125 jjmcgaffey: I listened to the song as performed by Stringybarkband and with photos from the war in this video. Uff da, very affecting. "And the old men they still answer the call"

Facey was 20 years old when he went, and although he only spent 4 months there, he was shot in the jaw and lost most of his teeth, but asked to stay with his mates, lost two brothers, and then was subject to a shell blast that gave him permanent internal injuries and a life-long limp. Despite all this three of his sons fought in WWII and one never made it home. In his one emotional moment in the whole book, he said he said he stopped believing in G--, no one who had been in a bayonet charge and hand-to-hand combat could continue to believe.

Thanks to Deborah/arubabookwoman for recommending this one. It's a fantastic read that I would recommend to anyone.



Published 1981, 331 p.

>126 labfs39: I haven't read a lot more Dickens but I did eventually get to A Christmas Carol and some of his short stories in more recent years which I've really enjoyed. And there's some adaptations of his work that I've loved, particularly the 2005 Bleak House TV series, so I definitely have intentions to get to some of his other books in the hopes that it's just that particular one that didn't work for me.

>125 jjmcgaffey: Yes, I love that song too . I saw it played and sung live in NYC by Eric Bogle some years ago. It can bring tears to my eyes. Walzing Matilda is the unofficial national anthem of Australia.Much better than the official one.

I just listen to “And the Band Played Walzing Matilda” just now, and along with the events of this weekend, tears came to my eyes again.

>127 labfs39: i’ve purchased this book on Audible and will be reading it soon. I have a feeling that I must have read it as a child, but I have no memory of it. I’m so glad you brought it to my attention. Thank you, Lisa..

>128 valkyrdeath: I didn't include Dickens novels that I had read in past years in my ratings in >61 labfs39:, but in memory I would rank Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist, and A Christmas Carol above Great Expectations too, although the latter two more for cultural touchpoints than the stories themselves.

>130 kjuliff: I'm glad you were able to get A Fortunate Life, Kate. I look forward to hearing your impressions as an Australian.

I've leaving in a couple of weeks for my trip to the Ecuadorian Amazon and Galapagos. Things are getting crazy as I try to get myself organized and get the girls set with their schooling while I'm gone.

Last night we went to see a Billy Joel tribute concert. The music was fun, and the band was good, but the vocalist most definitely was not Billy Joel, lol.



Recently I took my youngest niece to see Stellaluna, a play that combined music, puppetry, and American Sign Language.

Great Expectations is the only Dickens I’ve read, and it didn’t really make me want to read more. So maybe I picked the wrong one?

Enjoy your trip!

>132 labfs39: Have so much fun! Don't get sick and take pictures and tell us all about it when you get home.

>133 FlorenceArt: Well, it has it's fans, but I'm not one of them.

>134 RidgewayGirl: Thanks! I need to get over to your thread and read your India trip report. I'm excited. It's the first international trip I've taken since Covid, and the first trip I've taken with my dad since I was a kid. I hadn't let myself get too excited, because with the attack on Venezuela, I was worried the trip might be cancelled if things escalated. Now I'm two weeks out and finally allowing myself to enjoy the prospect.

>127 labfs39: Despite being West Australian I haven't read A Fortunate Life. I just read an excerpt and it's quite, as you say, straight-forward. It's also described as plain and unembellished.

How did you find it to read? I prefer reading with my eyeballs but I'm wondering if I might like this better as an audiobook.

>136 rhian_of_oz: I found it an easy read and engrossing, but then I'm not a Western Australian. Perhaps many of the things I found interesting would be rote for you? Or perhaps hearing all the place names, etc., you would find it more interesting not less? As for the audio, I think it would depend on the narrator. Kate/kjuliff is going to listen to it, you might check in with her when she's done. If you do read it, I would be very interested in your impressions.

>136 rhian_of_oz: I had just started A Fortunate Life in audio and the narrator is excellent. He has an Australian accent but not an overly strong one which can be off putting . The audio narrator. Roger Cardwell was a TV news reader in the letter part of the 20th century and also did radio work. So he speaks clearly and has a universal (non regional) Australian accent. I’m definitely looking forward to the book.. I get the feeling it’s going to start off a bit like Clean Straw for Nothing.

ETA I think I got the George Johnson book mixed up with Weevils in the Flour. I’ll have to look into this a bit more. Most likely I read both of these at the same time.

Yay for vacation-anticipation, hope you have buoyant weeks ahead and then a wonderful trip!

Boy am I ever jealous!

It is outstanding that you are making this trip at this time of your life.

I wish you great health and enjoy some of the world that most of us never get to experience.

Please consider creating a Power Point presentation of some of your pictures and experiences.
All you need are jpegs of your memorable photos.

>138 kjuliff: I'm glad the audio is working for you, Kate. I hope you enjoy the story.

>139 detailmuse: It is exciting to be in the countdown phase. A million things to deal with in the next couple of weeks. We've been warned not to expect internet service in the Amazon or in the Galapagos, so I won't be able to check in here until I return. I'm sad that I won't be able to use my Merlin bird ID app.

>140 JoeB1934: Thanks, Joe. I think it's going to be a special trip both because of the location and because I'm going with my dad (and middle sister). He's a little nervous, but excited too.

>141 labfs39: it’s going to be such an exciting trip Lisa. Have you been in a tropical rainforest before? I don’t know if you’ve posted your itinerary - if so I missed it. I remember last year you posting something about it, but can’t remember details.

>142 kjuliff: I lived near the Olympic Peninsula ,which is a temperate rainforest, and I have been to Hawaii twice, but this is my first time to South America. We are flying into Quito for a few days, spending five days in the Amazon, and the rest of the time in the Galapagos on a 16-passenger ship.

>143 labfs39: If any of you are prone to motion sickness, do ask for a prescription patch (or whatever the most current motion sickness prescription is). I went to the Galapagos on a similar sized boat about 15 years ago and it was really rough. I had a patch and was still a little queasy the whole time. Totally worth it though!

How fun that you're going to Ecuador and the Galapagos! My daughter went there when she was in college - the things Geology majors get to do! Which anti-malaria option did you choose? From what I recall, there was one that could cause hallucinatory dreams and one that caused digestive upset that Em could choose between, she went for the dreams!

They got very lucky when heading to the station in the jungle in Ecuador and saw a jaguar.

>145 ursula: Twice lucky - having seen a jaguar and having not been subjects to reciprocal interest from the beast

>132 labfs39: What an exciting trip is in store for you, Lisa! Enjoy!
I wonder if you have read The Voyage of the Beagle. I have not, I will at some point - I can reach it on the shelf with my right hand without leaving the chair. I certainly would read it right away if I were traveling to Galapagos!

You will be able to use Merlin offline, if you download the correct bird packs ahead of time. I don't think the audio ID part of the app will be available offline, but the field guide aspect is actually designed to work offline. There's even a category in settings called My offline birds which lists the bird packs you currently have downloaded.

>143 labfs39: It sounds so exiting. I stayed in an eco-lodge in the north Queensland rainforest, but there was no local indigenous culture around. Only tourists.

I haven’t been anywhere in South America. I just know you are going to have an interesting trip. Also it will be so relaxing to be away from the internet. Sounds like a trip of a life time. So happy for you.

A Fortunate Life sounds great, Lisa. I will look for that one.

Enjoy your trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos! How exciting. I have trip envy. Anyway, safe travels.

UPDATE: Well, the US has started joint military operations in Ecuador. Curfews are being established in four provinces beginning the day we are supposed to arrive. As of this moment, the trip is still on, I'm just not sure how comfortable I am with it. To complicate matters, there was been a major issue arise in my family. 9 days out and I have no idea if I'm going.

>144 japaul22: I have scopolamine patches ready.

>145 ursula: That sounds like an exciting trip for a college student. I didn't know one of the malaria drugs caused hallucinatory dreams. Did your daughter experience them? I did get some gastro upset after taking the typhoid oral vaccine.

>147 VladysKovsky: I have not read Voyage of the Beagle, but I am reading The Beak of the Finch which is excellent.

>148 Julie_in_the_Library: Good to know, Julie. I did download the bird packs. I'll miss being able to use the audio ID though. I enjoy sitting outside and running the app to ID the birds I'm hearing.

>149 kjuliff: The trip is scheduled to stay at the Yarina Eco-Lodge while in the Amazon.

>150 BLBera: Thanks, Beth. I think you would like A Fortunate Life.

>151 labfs39: I hope that you'll still be able to take your vacation, Lisa.

>151 labfs39: What a terrible timing for you Lisa!

I heard about the military operations in Ecuador and thought of you. I hope you are able to go safely. Or maybe just go directly to Guayaquil for the Galapagos portion of the trip?
Difficult decision, I'm sure.

>151 labfs39: So stressful to have such uncertainty. I hope things work out.

>151 labfs39: Fingers crossed that you can go, Lisa.

>151 labfs39: Oh no! I am so sorry to read this. After the events of last weekend I did start to wonder if ithey would affect your trip. Please keep us all updated. Fingers crossed!

Thanks, everyone. The joint force bombed a training camp on the Columbian border over the weekend. That's scarily close to where our eco-lodge is in the Amazon. It's so stressful not knowing if the trip is still going to happen and if we should go even if it does.

I'm not reading at all, other than news feeds.

I'm so sorry the military operations are giving rise to stress and uncertainty for you Lisa. Deep breaths and one step at a time.

>159 labfs39: It has got to be stressful, Lisa. I hope things happen to make your trip possible and for you to feel safe.

I am so sorry to hear about the situation in Ecuador, Lisa. I hope you can still pull off the trip but we all want to make sure you would be safe doing so. The troublesome times we are living in...

🙏🙏

Catching up on your thread. I was going to congratulate you on your trip, and then there was >151 labfs39:. I hadn't even heard about the Ecuador bombing. International bad news are just relentless. I hope the family issue is resolved.

On the book side, I've wishlisted Clear: it sounds like the sort of writing I like, and it could be a good title for May, when I'll be reading books set in Scotland.

Och Lisa. How frustrating and infuriating. Fingers crossed it can still safely go ahead.

Thanks to you, I have also started A Fortunate Life on audio and I love it in the early going. It reminds me of an Aussie version of The Land Remembers, which was also excellent.

Sweet Thursday, Lisa. I hope all is well there. 🤞

Wish you clarity on your trip. Stay safe. Wonderful review of A Fortunate Life.

First an update: After much indecision, talks with the trip leader, and voting amongst ourselves, we decided to go on the trip. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. I will have very limited internet access for most of the time, so I doubt I will be on LT until we get back. Thanks to everyone for your well wishes in what has been a stressful two weeks.

>160 markon: >161 RidgewayGirl: >164 AlisonY: Thanks, Ardene, Kay, and Alison.

>163 Dilara86: I really enjoyed Clear, Dilara. I hope you do too. I was surprised at how invested I was in the characters in such a short book.

>165 msf59: I'm glad you are enjoying A Fortunate Life, Mark.

>166 dchaikin: Thanks, Dan.

In other news, several inches of snow fell overnight, but it's supposed to be warm today, so I imagine it will melt. There are scattered I'm ready for spring. The girls are going to be homeschooled by my sister for half days while I'm gone. We'll see how that goes!

And most importantly, what I'm bringing for books on my trip!



The Beak of the Finch, which is excellent, but which I haven't touched in the last week.
Wildlife of the Galapagos, a field guide
The Boy on the Back of the Turtle by Paul Quarrington, a travelogue by a Canadian travelling in the Galapagos with his 7 year old daughter and 73 year old father.

I'll also have my phone with several books downloaded, including The Panama Hat Trail by Tom Miller.

>168 labfs39: Glad you've been able to decide on going. Excellent book choices.

>168 labfs39: Wish you a safe, adventurous and exciting trip!

I'm glad you're going! I predict you'll have an amazing time, although you'll have to state your opinion of Trump and his actions many times to make the people around you comfortable.

>168 labfs39: Interesting book choices for full immersion.

Safe travels Lisa. I can't wait to hear about your trip.

>48 labfs39:
I have read close to everything by Rhys, and also read a biography on her. It seems Wide Sargasso Sea takes a central (literally) and unique position in her work. Since I read it decades ago, I will need to go back to it some time, and a Norton edition would have so much to offer.

Great news in the trip! Have a fantastic time - can't wait to see some pics when you're back.

I am glad to hear you are going on your trip . I hope you have a wonderful time.

I’m. not on LT much anymore but try to check in ocasionally. Say hello to the equator for me.

So exciting, Lisa, have a wonderful trip!

Have a great time, Lisa! I'm glad that ulyou decided to go.

Wow, what an exciting prospect. Am so glad you're able to go after so much uncertainty. Have a fabulous time!

Looking forward to hearing all about your trip and all of the amazing things you saw when you get back!

Also, just an fyi, you want to be careful about using the Merlin sound id when you're not going to be near a charger for a while. It drains your phone battery at something like a percent a minute, maybe more.

Hope you have a fun and safe trip Lisa!

Ditto all the above, and I hope you will be sharing pictures when you get back. Have a wonderful time!

>181 Julie_in_the_Library: It's not to be relied on either. I survey as a volunteer for the BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) and we're under strict instructions never to use it as primary source. I've 'proved' it wrong fairly regularly! A useful indicator though.

Hope it's a great trip!

>184 Willoyd: Oh, definitely. I generally don't use it to id things at all, actually. I use it when I hear a bunch of different birds to get an idea of what might around, so I can keep an eye out. You can also post your recordings as audio observations on iNaturalist, which gets around the problem of the iNat app's native recording feature not working properly on android phones. (Unless they've finally fixed that?)

What an amazing trip we had! Ecuador is incredible, and I fell in love with the Amazon and the people I met there. The Galapagos is a nature-lover's heaven. We went snorkeling and hiking every day, and every day we saw something new and wonderful. Here's a small sample of what we saw:



And snorkeling:

>187 labfs39: Welcome home Lisa. I caught up on your thread last week as I hadn't starred it at the start of the year.

Those photos are amazing, your trip must have been an incredible adventure.

>187 labfs39: So glad your trip turned out well, after all the angst as to whether it was on or off!

>187 labfs39: I'm so glad your trip was wonderful. Look at all those rays!

Happy April, Lisa. Welcome home. The teaser pics look wonderful. Love those toucans.

>188 avatiakh: Thanks for tracking me down, Kerry. The first of the year is always a little crazy on the threads.

My pictures were all taken with my iPhone, even the underwater ones. I used a Shellbox waterproof diving case, and it worked great. I had only had my new phone (an iPhone 17 pro) for three days when I left, so while I loved the new zoom, I had a bit of a learning curve with the other new camera features. My sister had her Canon with a huge zoom lens, and she got some amazing photos, but it will take a while for her to get them downloaded and sorted. It's much faster for me to share photos from my phone.

>189 kac522: I am SO glad we went. We felt very safe while we were there, and it was interesting to hear from Ecuadorians their perspective on the US involvement in the crackdown on drug smuggling.

>190 RidgewayGirl: We saw three different types of rays. The golden or cow-nosed rays (from the picture), the huge manta rays, and the spotted eagle or leopard rays. The photo above was taken when a group of 22 golden rays swam around and right under me. They were beautiful.

>191 msf59: I added 57 new birds to my life list. I've only been keeping a list for the last year, and I had never been birding in Central or South America, so practically everything was new to me. Special finds were the Galapagos penguin, the blue-footed and Nazca boobies, the flightless cormorant, the Galapagos mockingbird, the red junglefowl, the Galapagos flycatcher, the pale-naped brushfinch, the red-capped cardinal, the silver-beaked tanager, russet-backed oropendola, the masked crimson tanager, and, well, you get the idea!

This is the only book I read while on my trip, and it was a perfect accompaniment.

What a great trip, Lisa. I went to Quito and the Galapagos back in 2008 and it is still the best trip I've taken. The wildlife is just amazing.
Our time in Quito was for the wedding of my best friend to an Ecuadorian man. So we stayed with his family there as some of the few Americans attending and really got the full experience of what it's like to live there. They took us around Quito and into the surrounding countryside and cloud forest. Amazing trip.

>187 labfs39: Glad it went so well.

Happy to hear it was a great trip!

Welcome home Lisa, and thanks for the photos. It sounds like a wonderful experience!

Welcome back! Very impressed by the photo of the rays, and the real experience must have been something.

What impressive photos you have! Glad to know the trip went well :-)

It sounds like your trip was amazing. Ecuador is on my list for sure.

Glad the trip was amazing! After all the stress beforehand I'm delighted that it all went to plan. The trip of a lifetime for sure.

Amazing trip, and I'm joining the chorus of being glad it went smoothly after all the uncertainty in the lead-up. Thanks for sharing some of your photos, the rays in particular are amazing!

Glad to "see" you back, and that you enjoyed this trip so much. It must have been amazing!

Glad the trip went well! It sounds amazing.

>192 labfs39: Wow what an amazing trip So glad you got to go Definitely want to see pictures Welcome home

Sorry everyone for going AWOL. It took 30 hours to get from M/Y Carina, the ship we were on in the Galapagos, to my door in Maine, and during that time I seem to have contracted something. I've been fairly ill with an inner ear ailment, but the ER got me started on some IV meds, and I'm on the mend, just slowly. Today I finally saw the girls, and we spent the morning together. It also snowed 4" today, so it's been quite the day.

I would like to share some photos, but don't want to blast LT with non-book-related content. Any recommendations for an easy photo-sharing site that isn't run by completely evil people?

Lisa your news of the trip was positively buoyant! (And now wishing you a speedy recovery!)

>206 labfs39: I've had a Flickr account since 2008. Scouting around for its degree of evilness, I see that I've missed episodes, but these seem more about customer (un)support than taking over the world. Spot checking old LT threads, the links are still good.

Sorry you got sick, though good that it didn't happen until you were back home.

Hooray for adding 57 Lifers. That is awesome. I have seen the blue-footed booby but I have not seen any of the others you mentioned. I am sure they were gorgeous.

Oh, I am sorry you aren't feeling well. I am hoping for a quick rebound for you. Boo to the snow. Ugh!

>206 labfs39: I'm sorry you're sick and hope you recover quickly, but also glad you got sick after the trip instead of in the middle of it. And I vote for filling your thread with pictures. We all want to see them!

cant wit to see the pics!get better soon

This was an Early Reviewer book I didn't get to before I left. Today was the first day I could read, so I picked it up. I thought it was really well done.

Published 2026, 94 pages

I'm sorry that you got sick after you returned home from your trip, Lisa. I hope that you're doing better now.

Nice review of A Time to Hide.

I hope you are well on the mend Lisa. Thanks for the review of A time to hide. I'll keep my eyes open for it at the library.

Great to "see" you back and wish you a full and quick recovery!

Feel better soon, Lisa. Feel free to add as many photos as you like. I'd love to see them.

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. I'm feeling better every day, it's just slow.

Well, I looked at Flickr and felt exhausted at the thought of organizing everything, so I guess I'll just post a few photos here. I apologize in advance to the LT purists who dislike nonbook chatter. Please feel free to skip. :-)

Quito has the highest airport in the world, so altitude sickness was a concern. Several people on our trip did experience effects, but we didn't fare too badly thanks to prophylactic medication and coca tea. The highest we went was a pass in the Andes on our way to Papallacta. This photo was taken at 13,330' above sea level. The Antisana volcano is in the background.


My sister (in white) and I

The photo of the volcano in >187 labfs39: was taken from the airplane window on our way from Quito to Coca in the Amazon. A week later it began spewing some lava. I was used to seeing snow-covered volcanoes after living in Seattle, but it was weird seeing them so lively!

In the Amazon we did dawn bird-watching,


(a hoatzin or stinky turkey as our guide called them)

day hikes,

(leaf-cutter ants, squirrel monkey leaping across the river)

and night hikes.

(A rainbow boa, a pink-toed tarantula, and one of MANY frogs)

The wildlife was amazing at every turn: fish that chew burrows into the clay banks, ants whose bite makes you think you were shot, yellow ants that taste like lemons (yes, I can personally vouch for it).

Here's a photo of my dad, sister, and I at the equator museum, just because it's cute. ;-)

I met some wonderful people in the Amazon, from our amazing Kichwa quide to the 21-year-old head of a village who is refusing to sell her land to the Chinese petroleum companies. I would return in a heartbeat.

But it was off to the Galapagos next, and that too had it's amazing experiences and wildlife, although not the people connection I felt in the Amazon.

The marine iguana is ugly but amazing. It's the only lizard in the world to forage in the ocean for food.



The Galapagos land lizard is nearly as astonishing at 4-5' in length.



I'll post a few more snorkeling photos later, but I hope this gives you an idea of the diversity present in Ecuador.

Great photos and descriptions of your vacation, Lisa!

Thanks so much for sharing your photos and experiences. It sounds like a truly amazing trip.

Those are amazing photos, Lisa. This was the trip of a lifetime.

Glad you had such a great trip. Thanks for the photos.

Love seeing your photos! Hope the last of your illness fades quickly.

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I am getting better, and busy with the girls again. I will post a few more pictures this weekend.

---

I watched a short documentary tonight called "Baby Cages: The Denazification of Hitler Youth". It's about a POW camp run by the Americans located in France that housed between six and ten thousand children between the ages of 9 and 17 who had been militarized during WWII. It's a subject I had never contemplated: What to do with the Nazi youth after the war.

Love your photos. Glad you had such a wonderful trip! And glad you’re recovering well from whatever got you sick on the way home.

>227 labfs39: Interesting! I was thinking about thousands of Ukrainian children deported to Russia for “re-education” in the last 4 years. A real problem to deal with independent of how events develop.

Aw - looks amazing, Lisa. Thanks for sharing. Live holiday pics.

>229 VladysKovsky: I agree. It's horrible, and yet it gets buried under so many other horrible things happening right now. I can't imagine the trauma that these children (and all children being bombed and removed at the moment) are suffering.

To escape the horrors for a moment, I want to share a last dozen photos. Please feel free to skim ahead to the next book post.

In the Galapagos animals have the right away, and our ranger/trip leader enforced a strict policy of either freezing and letting the animal approach or not on their terms (like when a marine iguana charged me hissing and bobbing its head, I was told to just freeze. Hard to do in the moment!) or maintaining a 6' distance. Yet the animals seem not to have gotten the memo, because they were everywhere, comfortable and relaxed, and even curious about us.

The sea lions in particular were ubiquitous.



The finches were fascinated with camera lenses and this one followed my sister up the trail, repeatedly landing on the lens and looking in.



I have a photo of a snake slithering over one of our hiking shoes, as we were once again instructed not to move, but LT won't upload it.

I also have a photo of my dad trying to skirt around an enormous Galapagos tortoise in the trail, but all that will upload is this picture of him giving me the "bodacious side-eye" as my youngest niece likes to say, as I sidle by.

And finally, we saw some beautiful sunrises



and sunsets

Your holiday looks and sounds amazing, thanks for sharing. I'm glad to hear you are feeling better.

>234 labfs39: Absolutely gorgeous photos!

Love the photo on the equator, and the sea lion lounging on a bench!

Beautiful photos, Lisa! It’s been 18 years since I was in the Galapagos. At that time they were strictly limiting tourists and the size of vessels allowed. And had naturalists with every group. Your trip sounds very similar - did it seem they are managing to preserve the spirit of the islands, or are they beginning to be overrun with tourists?

Love all the vacation photos, Lisa. It all looks gorgeous. I sure hope we can get to both places. 🤞🤞

Happy Sunday, Lisa.

>234 labfs39: Those photos are amazing, Lisa. Thanks for sharing.

>235 rhian_of_oz: Thanks, Rhian. I'm feeling better and even doing some yard work this weekend.

>236 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl. My sister brought her big camera, and I had my new iPhone. The agreement was that she would do the zooming, and I would do the scenery, candid shots, and underwater photos. We made a deal that we would share photos afterward, but unfortunately, she is in the process of retiring and moving to Arizona, so she hasn't had time to even look at her photos. She's got some amazing shots, but I don't know when I'll get them. The tradeoff between a phone camera and a more involved setup: accessibility and the weight of the camera, which she had to tote.

>237 FlorenceArt: Funny story: sea lions always tried to occupy the highest point. So they were always hogging the benches, and when we returned from our hike, the one in that photo had moved to the facing bench four feet away, so that it remained in the shade. The next photo I posted was taken at a beach, and the sea lions had commandeered the shade under the tree, while people stood around. I have another photo where people are lounging in hammocks while sea lions rest right beneath them. One was even trying to climb in a hammock! Another time I saw one in a mangrove forest that had somehow jumped up onto a fallen log suspended at least three feet above the water, and was sleeping on it.

They loved to sleep on the back of our boat, and every morning one of the deckhands would have to shoo them away and hose off the boat. One morning I watched as he shooed them away, went back inside, and not 30 seconds later, up popped two heads, they looked around and not seeing Jonathan, hopped right back up. This repeated like three times. It was a riot.

>238 japaul22: The Galapagos National Park is still strict regulated. We had to submit special immigration paperwork upon arrival and again when leaving (to ensure we had), OAT paid the $200 per person fee, and our itinerary was approved by the park. Only certain islands are open at a time, depending on nesting, etc, and hours are enforced at some locations, so that we had to be off by 1 or could snorkel at a certain area only between 9 and noon. All tourists have to be accompanied by an approved naturalist. Our OAT trip guide for the Galapagos part of the trip was actually a park ranger.

We did see other boats, some much larger than our 16 passenger one, at some of the sites. Other times, we would be alone, but more rarely. I noticed that if there was another group of tourists was there, they never seemed to stay as long as our OAT trip. OAT's motto is Learning and Discovery, and the guide used a whisper system, so that she could talk about the geology, wildlife, etc even while on the zodiacs or while hiking. This worked out really well for my dad as one of his hearing aids malfunctioned while on the trip. I, on the other hand, would sometimes take out my earbuds so that I could commune silently.

One thing that struck me, not only in the Galapagos, but in all of Ecuador, was how clean it was. I didn't see any litter in the Galapagos or Amazon, and very little in Quito. The streets, the markets, even the airport bathrooms were shockingly clean. We only saw maybe three people smoking the entire time we were there, so no cigarette butts either.

Our mainland guide, who was mestizos, said that Ecuadorians would like to become like Costa Rica, and rely on tourism rather than destroy the Amazon with petroleum drilling and palm oil cultivation.

>239 msf59: Ecuador is a birders paradise for sure, and the Galapagos has so many endemic species that exist nowhere else in the world. One challenge: the Galapagos finches. We'll have to scour my sister's close-up photos to see if we can discern the large ground finch from the medium and small ground finches from the large, medium and small tree finches, etc. It's all about beak size, baby.

>240 BLBera: Thanks, Beth.

Friday I took my nieces to see Wabanaki Stories, a group of Wabanaki nation members, who share indigenous stories through song, music, dance, and performance. The different segments ranged from traditional drum chants to a giant puppet story to modern rap and light show. My nieces loved it, I worried vertigo raise it's ugly head again. Or maybe I'm just getting old!

I want to post a link to this list for future reference: 54 Books by Women from Each of Africa's 54 Countries. Although I made progress on this list during Paul's Africa Challenge, I would like to read more. Thanks, Ardene for bringing this to our attention on the Just Lists thread.

Of the books listed, I have read four: The Madwoman of Serrano by Dina Salustio (Capo Verde), Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste (Ethiopia), Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembgaand (Zimbabwe), and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Ghana). Of these, Beneath the Lion's Gaze was a five star read, and The Madwoman of Serrano made a strong impression.



Of the author's mentioned, I have read books by an additional three: Assia Djebar (Algeria), Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique), and Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Uganda).

Since I didn't read a single book in March, my choices are few, but fortunately I read some good ones:

Best fiction: The Twilight Zone by Nona Fernández
Runner up: Clear by Carys Davies

Best nonfiction: A Fortunate Life by A. B. Facey

>243 labfs39: Thanks for posting this article, Lisa! Let's see...I've read Beneath the Lion's Gaze by Maaza Mengiste, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Anos Ku Ta Manda by Yasmina Nuny, The Moor's Account by Laila Lalami, Stay with Me by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀, and Three Strong Women by Marie NDiaye. I gave at least 4 stars to each of these books, along with an additional half star to Homegoing.

I've also read Children of the New World by Assia Djebar, The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste, Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, The First Wife by Paulina Chiziane, Coloured Lights, Lyrics Alley and The Translator by Leila Aboulela. I'm not a huge fan of Aboulela's works, but I do like all the other books I've read.

I own copies of In the Company of Men by Véronique Tadjo and Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga, but I haven't read them yet.

Although she wasn't included in this list I highly recommend The Last Brother by the Mauritanian author Natacha Appanah.

This article would be a great addition to the Just Lists page, IMO.

>245 kidzdoc: Lol, great minds think alike. That's where I got the link from actually. Ardene posted it while I was gone, but it didn't get much attention at the time.

I have copies of The Shadow King and Transcendent Kingdoms that I haven't read.

I loved The Last Brother too.

>246 labfs39: Oh! I missed it entirely. Thanks for reposting it, Lisa, and thanks to Ardene for being the initial poster.

I suspect there are other books I've read that deserve mention, but The Last Brother came to mind immediately.

Thanks for posting the pics, Lisa, and terrific commentary in >241 labfs39:

>245 kidzdoc: I'm sure it was just a slip of the finger from you, but just in case others don't know, Nathacha Appanah isn't Mauritanian: she's Mauritian (from the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean).

---------------

Lovely photos from your trip! I'm slightly envious. I hope you're feeling better now.

>249 Dilara86: Oh, you're right! Thanks for correcting me, Dilara.

>227 labfs39:, >229 VladysKovsky: An issue that I hadn't thought about. Also with children recruited to be warriors in various conflicts. (Thinking especially of Somalia.)

>251 markon: Have you ever read War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay? I thought it was well done. I think she's done a straight YA novel with the same title, but I thought the illustrations were powerful.

>243 labfs39: Definitely making that list, though I'll be double checking all the authors. Marie NDiaye was born in and grew up in France (raised solely by her French parent), and if I were writer in Senegal I'd be pretty grumpy that she was the representative.

>252 labfs39: I hadn't heard of War brothers Lisa. Adding it to my list.

The one I remember reading is What is the what by Dave Eggers which was a fictionalized account of Valentino Achak Deng's story. I live near Clarkston, GA, where the book begins, and I thought he (and I) would never get out of that apartment.

>253 mabith: I had mixed feelings about the inclusion of Yaa Gyasi as the representative for Ghana. Although she was born in Ghana, she has lived in the US since the age of 2.

>254 markon: Although not about child soldiers, but still about the effect of war on two young boys, the graphic novel When Stars are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed is phenomenal:

"Omar and his younger brother Hassan live in a refugee camp, and when an opportunity for Omar to get an education comes along, he must decide between going to school every day or caring for his nonverbal brother in this intimate and touching portrayal of family and daily life in a refugee camp"

>253 mabith: Very good point! It's especially galling in Marie Ndiaye's case because she calls herself 100% French, Three Strong Women is only partially set in Senegal, and Senegal is the country that gave us Mariama Bâ, Ken Bugul (she's a woman), and Fatou Diome...

>256 Dilara86: Determining nationality in an age where people no longer remain rooted in place, and move worldwide, whether at will or by force, is a conundrum. I use a complex algorithm based on country of origin, language, identity, where educated, setting of books, etc. for my Global Challenge. But for a list such as this, supposedly to highlight women authors from underrepresented countries in translated literature, it seems folly at best to include such authors.

Yesterday I found myself in the car without the girls, so instead of listening to Greeking Out, their favorite podcast with ten seasons of episodes, I got to choose. I had bookmarked a couple of podcast that I wanted to try. The first was LeVar Burton Reads. Although it is no longer being produced, there are 13 seasons of short stories read by Burton from which to choose. I chose the last episode.

The Toynbee Convector by Ray Bradbury
A time traveler agrees to meet with a journalist on the 100th anniversary of his one and only time flight, a flight which changed the course of the world. A predictable story, and I discovered that I didn't care for Burton's reading voice.

Next I tried a couple of stories from an episode of Selected Shorts, hosted by Meg Wolitzer. Each episode consists of three short works read by professional actors. The most recent episode was called "Remakes and Replicas".

The Vatican by Ben Loory, read by Santino Fontana
A couple travels to Italy and visits the Vatican. Impressed, they return home and try to change their own home into a replica, except they don't care for statues much, so they add a race track and nail parlor instead. Soon visitors come knocking, wanting to see the "Vatican", and save themselves airfare. A humorous story, but with no real meat.

I Love Betty by Kaitlyn Greenidge, read by Nathan Hinton
Dementia has reduced a man to a single phrase, "I love Betty". Since he hadn't been particularly demonstrative with his now deceased wife, his children are perplexed. His daughter decides to create a story that explains what is happening. A mildly interesting story about how people fabricate explanations of the world.

An incredible set of posts from you! The photos are all very interesting and brings me to those places I will never get to. Thank you for sharing.

Those books you have read are all intriguing and ones I will look into for ideas. I am amazed at how many you read during such a frantic period of your life.

>259 JoeB1934: Thanks, Joe!

Coming very late to the conversation, but wanted to say I've loved the posts on your trip and thank you for the photos. As a keen birder, I'm very envious of the 57 lifers - that represents about 20% of all species I've ever seen (limited to western Europe)!

>243 labfs39: I missed that link too, so thanks for the repost; very useful for my global project, even if I'm trying to stick as much as I can to long-form prose in English (although having to read some in French and German). I've read a few of the authors and have several books on my shelves ready to read for that project (eg Madwoman of Serrano, Edo's Souls, and the last 3), but the only 2 specific books I've actually read are So Distinct From My Life, and Co-Wives, Co-Widows. Former was OK and worth reading, but really loved the latter, on my best fiction short list last year.

>257 labfs39:
Always an interesting question - where does one draw the line? Initially my minimum was birth, but realised that really wasn't going to work. So, it's some sort of assessment using birth, upbringing and cultural association. The phrase 'complex algorithm' appeals (!), but have to admit 'guesstimate' is probably more accurate at times! N'Diaye definitely doesn't qualify for Sudan for me, but as I was underwhelmed somewhat but The Witch, I'm in no rush to read more anyway!