Around the World discussion

Beth wrote: "Just left Scotland with Buddha Da. Review:
http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20..."

I agree with Osho. Very nice review and I've added the book.

Beth, me too! I enjoyed your review and added the book! Thank you.

Lilisa wrote: "Chrissie - stark realism, very well done and pretty clear that Boo had access to the intimate daily toils of the Mumbai people she featured. She captures their lives superbly as they put their entr..."

Lilisa, I will have to read it. Thank you for explaining. Also, I forgot to say before that the other India books you mentioned are on my to read list, except for Indu Sundaresan's. I was not pleased with her book The Twentieth Wife.

***************

I just finished Sacred Hunger.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I am going to stay in England and listen to St. Peter's Fair. The problem is the recording is very poor. I hope Audible can solve the problem for me. There seem to be two recordings with different release dates. I guess I got the wrong one. You hear voices in the background!

I broke my good intention to read books of other countries than were on my list in 2012.
I read another book which plays in Switzerland Lawines razen aka Avalanche!
It was an enjoying read. Here's my review

I just left Sweden with Astrid and Veronika. I can't praise this book enough! Here is my review: http://coldread.wordpress.com/2013/01...

I forgot to link my review of Mandarin Gatehere. It's at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

This was not the best in the Inspector Shan series.

Finished my India read - an autobiography by an American female journalist about her time in India. In Australia the title is Searching for Women who Drink Whisky but in the US (and maybe Canada?) the title is Sideways on a Scooter.

I just visited post-WWII Italy with the so-called book of 2012 Beautiful Ruins. I didn't enjoy it.

Next, I'm thinking of going to Somalia. If anyone wants some non-Black Hawk Down type stuff from Somalia, I made a list (I'm not sure how to link it here... but you can probably find it on my profile).

Yesterday, 16/1 I finished St. Peter's Fair and I must highly recommend this! I gave it four stars. It does not count toward this challenge because I already have a book for Great Britain.
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Now, finally, I like cozy, historical mysteries. There are so many more in this series left for me to read. I will be reading The Leper of Saint Giles as soon as I have a chance to download some books into my Ipod! I HAVE to read the two I already have there. This isn't terrible. I have started Pure set in France. It is one of those books that the atmosphere of the place draws you in immediately. Paris, back in the end of the 1700s. OK, it is stinky, but it is still Paris, and Paris has a charm of its own, doesn't it?! I really am enjoying this.

I am slowly but surely getting through The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance. I read a chapter a day. It is impossible to read this without feeling you just might be sick! And you wash your hands incessantly. Maker sure you have a good supply of soap at home when you read this book.

Osho, that makes at least two of us and the soap! :0))) It is not a bad book, just scary!

Just dipped in and out of Monaco with The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides. It is a double dip with my Around the US (RI). Here's my review: http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

I took a side tour from my other African reads and went to Nigeria to catch up with Helon Habila's debut novel. My review is here http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I went to Sri Lanka with Anil's Ghost.

I liked it! http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/2013/...

Just finished a tour of post-world war II Paris and Marseilles through the eyes of Julia Child in her My Life in France. It was an interesting and evocative look at that time of place--and especially of her love affair with French food. My full review can be found linked below:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Rusalka wrote: "I went to Sri Lanka with Anil's Ghost.

I liked it! http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/2013/..."

I'm glad you liked Anil's Ghost. I also liked it and I enjoyed doing a buddy read discussion of the book last year.

Although most of The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir deals with immigration to the U.S. There is a significant portion dealing with events in Laos. So I am linking my review here.

It's at http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....

I did like the book. It was good to read a book from a Hmong perspective.

I finally finished Snow by Orhan Pamuk, which I read with the World's Literature group. It was slow going, but my review explains why. Oh this was from Turkey, by the way. (Güle güle)

I'm not sure it is the first book I'd recommend by the author, although I have not read any of his others. By the end of the year I'll have a better sense. Has anyone else read multiple Pamuk novels?

Jenny, I disliked "Snow" and thus I never read another by the author. I found it repetitive. The description of repression was overly repetitive, like the message had to be given many times to hammer it in. I read it long ago so I cannot give you an exact example, but that is what I remember disliking.

Oh yes, I did try another. It was Istanbul: Memories and the City. I found it flat, so never finished it.

Shomeret wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "I went to Sri Lanka with Anil's Ghost.

I liked it! http://rusalkii.blogspot.com.au/2013/..."

I'm glad you liked Anil's Ghost. I also liked it and I enjoyed doi..."

Ooo I didn't realise there was a buddy read. I may have to try and find the thread. Cheers Shomeret!

I finished a book for France and I did enjoy it!

BOOK 5: Pure
Read 18/1, 3 stars, set in France
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Now I am going back to Great Britain again! I want to read another by Ellis Peters. I have chosenThe Leper of Saint Giles.

Minutes ago I finished The Leper of Saint Giles. I adored it. It was fabulous. What a story!!!!!!! I will write a review and then past it in here. My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... The audiobook narration by Johanna Ward was just p-e-r-f-e-c-t!

I am on a roll. I have to read another. It will be The Sanctuary Sparrow. So I am definitely staying in Great Britain.

Chrissie wrote: "I want to read another by Ellis Peters."

I read all of those back to back years ago, and I remember being very sad when the author died, knowing there wouldn't be any more.

I am loving them, Beth! do you have one that is your favorite?

Jenny, I finished Snow yesterday too. I found it an exercise in self-discipline. I could tell I was reading significant literature but it didn't mean that I liked it or the characters. It was my second book by him, having read My Name is Red, last spring after visiting Istanbul. That is only slightly more readable if you are interested in illuminated painting in the way you would have to like snow in Snow.

Chrissie wrote: "I am loving them, Beth! do you have one that is your favorite?"

Unfortunately, I read them too long ago to remember which ones are which, but I liked them all!

WanderShopper wrote: "Jenny, I finished Snow yesterday too. I found it an exercise in self-discipline. I could tell I was reading significant literature but it didn't mean that I liked it or the characters. "
It sounds like my World Lit group intends to read two more by him, but if it is more of the same, I'm not sure I'll participate. I really do want to read more of Turkey and fantasize about traveling there.... How was Istanbul?

Jenny, Istanbul is an incredible destination. It is a mix of East and West and has layers and layers of history. It's easy to travel around and totally safe for women travelers. Another book I learned about while there is Birds Without Wingswhich is a really phenomenal book set in Turkey. I would definitely add that one to your reading list. I can't seem to get enough of Louis de Bernières.

Wandershoper, I whole-heartedly second your appreciation of Birds Without Wings. If you are one who enjoys audiobooks, you simply must choose this format. It is narrated by John Lee. I adored the book!!! Another very good book (it all depends on how you draw the country border; I put it in Armenia) is Armenian Golgotha. It is the book that best covers the Turkish genocide of the Armenians during WW1.

Chrissie wrote: "Wandershoper, I whole-heartedly second your appreciation of Birds Without Wings. If you are one who enjoys audiobooks, you simply must choose this format. It is narrated by John Lee. I adored the b..."

Thanks for the recommendation. I had a credit ready to use, and snapped it up on Audible just now. They need to redeem themselves after the lousy narration on The Marriage Plot

Beth, have you read anything else by Eugenides? I did enjoy Middlesex, particularly for the Greek family traditions and history incorporated into the central theme. Did the narration of "The Marriage Plot" wreck what could have been a good book? The theme didn't attract me much so I haven't added it. So few authors can really produce great books, one after the other.

You know I had to spend two coupons for Birds Without Wings, and I never even regretted it. I liked it better than Captain Corelli's Mandolin. It isn't a light book though.... Red Dog is good too, but not AS good. I wish they had more of his books at Audible. Now all books cost only one coupon. That is wonderful! When they changed that rule I went and grabbed A Fine Balance, thinking maybe they would revert to the old system. They haven't, but I did enjoy the book so the coupon wasn't wasted.

Chrissie wrote: "Beth, have you read anything else by Eugenides? I did enjoy Middlesex, particularly for the Greek family traditions and history incorporated into the central theme. Did the narration of "The Marria..."
I liked the book. It was my first Eugenides (have Middlesex on the shelf waiting for me). I am a former college professor and I'm a psychologist, AND I went to Brown, where the books starts, at the same time that it takes place, so I was pretty much guaranteed to want to read it. You can read my review and see what you think: http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

Beth, I went to Brown too!!! I didn't graduate from there b/c I moved to Sweden(Stockholm University). I was accepted as a junior high school student into the medical program, but by the time I got there I didn't want to study medicine any more. I took a smattering of other courses. But this was a long, long time ago....... It is definitely fun when a book takes you to a place you have been! I will check out your blog. Bad narration can really wreck a book!

Osho wrote: "Hey, I'm a college professor and psychologist and went to Brown, too!

ETA after looking at your profile: And I went to college just outside Philadelphia. Hmm."

Ok, this is getting really funny! When were you guys at Brown? I graduated '85. Husband (college sweetheart, but married him in 2005) was '87. He worked at Hillel for a few years too, and we are both planning to apply for jobs there now. Osho, please tell me I won't be competing with you for the Dir of Counseling job....

Jerusalem after WW2. Book published in 1951. The first I've read of Olivia Manning, apparently one of her lesser-known novels. I plan to read more. Oh yeah.
School for Love
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

OMG, I was at Brown in 68 and 69. Then I moved to Sweden. I was accepted into the medical program as a junior high school student, but by the time I got there I had changed my mind so took other subjects. I didn't quite know what I wanted to do. Sound familiar? I finally graduated from Stockholm University in Culture Geography, but ended up working in accounting and finance. Nice to know you guys. Osho, I had not idea you went to Brown!!!

Just leaving Cuba with Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire. Loved it, narrator and all! Here's the link to my review: http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

Beth wrote: "Just leaving Cuba with Waiting for Snow in Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy by Carlos Eire. Loved it, narrator and all! Here's the link to my review: http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20......"

Great review Beth. I want to read both books.

I counted Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulnessfor Zimbabwe. It was my first book of this challenge. :-)

I really enjoyed that book, too, Beth. We read it as part of a Library book club.

Judy, I love Fuller's writing. Her biographical books always make me feel I know the family. They have people that you can empathize and relate to. Great book:Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness. I hope you have read Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight first. Equally good. And you learn about the time and place.

Beth, I MUST get to "Snow in Havana". Check out Blessed by Thunder: Memoir of a Cuban Girlhood, also set in Cuba.

Beth, I MUST get to Snow in Havana! Check out Blessed by Thunder: Memoir of a Cuban Girlhood. Another very good book set in Cuba.

Judy, I hope you have read Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight first. I really relate to the people in her family. She is quite a writer and I have given all the books I have read by her 5 stars. Very unusual for me. I have one book left: The Legend of Colton H. Bryant.

I finished another of the Brother Cadfael series: The Sanctuary Sparrow. Still very good!
My review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I have begun Speaks the Nightbird, the first of a promising new series set in the Carolinas, historical fiction about witchcraft and murder. I will be reading this with a friend.

Just left Madagascar. Not crazy about the book: Over the Lip of the World: Among the Storytellers of Madagascar by Colleen J. McElroy. You can read more at http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/20...

I'm doing another challenge but inserted this book as part of my journey for this group. I've just left Nunavut in Arctic Canada with a collection of short stories by Farely Mowat. It was a hard but wonderful trip. I'm now in Mongolia with Genghis Khan's armies on their conquering sweep of Eurasia.

I am leaving Palestine and read Fast Times in Palestine: A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland by Pamela J. Olson. It was a wonderful read. Here is my review. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Debbie wrote: "I am leaving Palestine and read Fast Times in Palestine: A Love Affair with a Homeless Homeland by Pamela J. Olson. It was a wonderful read. Here is my review. http://www.goodreads.com/review/sho..."

Thanks Debbie. Sounds interesting - it's going on my To Read list.

I finally can fire up the old jalopy and leave my native land of Canada. I finished Any Known Blood: A Novel. I haven't done a review yet - not sure I want to give it 2 or 3 stars.

Sad, sad, sad. Vienna around the turn of last century into WW2.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

Freud's Sister: A Novel

Janice wrote: " not sure I want to give it 2 or 3 stars."

Ugh. Bummer.

I've traveled to Iceland and followed a pair of blood brothers on their adventures in the 11th century with The Happy Warriors Halldór Laxness has a fine way to tell their funny adventures. My review gives this book 4 stars.