UK Book Club discussion

Ian wrote: "Sounds like a satisfying job, despite the Sundays.Is it just little animals or big ones included?"

it's mostly small animals...do you know of any animal hospitals there that are hiring? looking for a job over yonder! :)

Africa is better than it looks. There's a few small countries visited that don't really show up as they are next to the Congo and Nigeria......but I will be trying to fill in the blanks.

@ Catherine - not my field I'm afraid and the UK economy is bad and getting worse so not much hiring going on anywhere..

@ Em - you're in recruitment - do you know of any specialist agencies in this field??

51. Laos - by Colin Cotterill. Enjoyable crime thriller with a pensionable coroner at it's heart. Cleverly weaves in history, politics, mysticism and gentle but slightly dark humour along with the murders and the mystery. Sort of Inspector Morse set in post revolution 1970's Communist Laos.

Ummm not unless you consider small children to be animals, I only recruit teachers and child care workers!

Depends on the child.

52. Czech Republic - by Philip Kerr. Enjoyable noirish crime thriller set in wartime Prague.

53. Sierra Leone - by Aminatta Forna. Very disjointed tale about the experiences of 4 sisters set against the backdrop of another African country's post colonial implosion.

54. Ukraine - by Andy Szpuk. Moving but patchy memoir of the author's father - about growing up in the Ukraine during the Stalinist era and the then further struggle to survive during World War Two which eventually leads to emigration to the UK.

Ian wrote: "51. Laos - by Colin Cotterill. Enjoyable crime thriller with a pensionable coroner at it's heart. Cleverly weaves in history, politics, mysticism and gentle but slig..."

I enjoyed The Coroner's Lunch very much. Totally agree with your review/ thoughts on it.

Think it was you Bill who gave me the idea.

55. Morocco - by Laila Lalami. At last a bit of Africa. Really liked this.....bit of a melodramatic ending but still an enjoyable read.

Two more to add:

56. Saudi Arabia - by Qanta A. Ahmed. Fascinating memoir of a British Muslim woman's experiences of working as a doctor in that country.

57. Pakistan - by Amit Majmudar. Excellent novel based around the 1947 creation of Pakistan out of British ruled India and the flight of whole communities as ethnic cleansing was perpetrated on on all sides of the new borders.

Did you go to Iraq yet? The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak..is really good.

Nope but I've got a good one already lined up for it.

think you would like this one too! :)

58. Lebanon - the excellent by Mischa Hiller. One of my favourite reads of 2012.

so...brushed aside AGAIN! lol :)

59. North Korea - by Barbara Demick. Very illuminating recounting of real life stories from this closed off rogue Stalinist state. Amongst many other things, managed to explain how and why the dictators are revered by the mass of the people......see mass crying over the death of the last one several months ago.

60. Iraq - by Mona Yahia. Really interesting novel (that is I think pretty much a memoir by the author) about growing up as a young Jewish Arab girl - from very young to 16 - in Iraq in the 1960's.

And as I'm now three quarters of the way "Around the World in 80 Books" it must be time for a map.

Not far to go now Ian, well done hun!

Wow Ian - that's impressive, BTW Sabra Zoo is interesting, not exactly "enjoyable" but a good read, will probably finish it tonight

You've really made a great stab at this challenge, Ian. Wow!

Trying to find novels on kindle set in some African countries is proving to be the real challenge.....time to re-inflate the balloon and go to country no 61 after my current read.....Romania possibly or Palestine I think.

A Burnt-Out Case is set in Africa Ian.

Good read too.

Thanks Kev but I've done The Congo. Just finished the disappointing...
61. Palestine - by Selma Dabbagh. Started as a quite gritty portrayal of life in Gaza but veered off into pointless melodrama. Shame, as the first third was good.

An Ice Cream War by Boyd is set in German East Africa during the first world war, the places mentioned in the book come back as Tanzania, really enjoying the story. My knowledge of the war in that region is confined to The African Queen, another good book. Read it years ago so can't count it.

Just pontificated on same on random chit chat....may have to go DTB for this one??

so Ian...how far around the globe have you travelled?!?!?! are you getting weary!??!?! lol :)

62. Zimbabwe - by Layton Green. Really enjoyed this missing person/crime novel set in contemporary Zimbabwe. Really well written and plotted and some very interesting and sometimes scary stuff about magical religious beliefs.

63. Romania - by Herta Müller. Novel about a woman who is about to be interrogated for the umpteenth time by a loathsome state security policeman. Whilst travelling to make her 10 o'clock appointment of the title, she reminisces about her life in Ceaușescu's Romania. By a Nobel prize for literature winning author but although good in places, it was often just a bit too rambling for me.

Ian wrote: "62. Zimbabwe - by Layton Green. Really enjoyed this missing person/crime novel set in contemporary Zimbabwe. Really well written and plotted and some very interesti..."

Glad you like this Ian, I loved it, The next book The Egyptian is pretty good too, but I have to say the Summoner was my favourite. I like the ending too, not an unrealistic "happy ever after", but more baggage for the continuation of the series.

Can't say I fancy the 2nd one Chris. Sounds a bit Dan Brown-ish.

64. Mauritius - - really interesting if flawed novel about an unashamed piece of US/UK 1960/70's connivance to enable the building of a US naval base in the Indian Ocean, and bugger the consequences for the native people forced to leave the island.

hey...go to Cambodia yet?

here's one for youThe Lost Goddess: A Novel..Tom Knox

Ta for the tip Catherine, but I've read Marks of Cain by the same author and it was awful, so I'll pass.

no worries. :)

And now in Cambodia...or Kampuchea as it was at the time.

I'm presuming you've got a book Ian, if not I seem to remember reading The Gates of Ivory by Margaret Drabble many moons ago which was set in Cambodia, it was 3rd part of trilogy but also stand alone! If you've got a book already Bon voyage!

Thanks Andrew I did have a book and it was great.

65. Cambodia - . Novel based on the memories of a child survivor of the Killing Fields of the 1970's when 2 million Cambodians died at the hands of their countrymen. Harrowing but highly recommend.

66. Hungary - by Vilmos Kondor. Debut crime novel with a journalist investigating the death of a Jewish prostitute. Set in pre-war Budapest as the Fascists begin to take control, so interesting historically as well as being an enjoyable crime mystery. Reminded me a bit of Philip Kerr.

67. Myanmar/Burma - by Amitav Ghosh. Disappointing, meandering historical fiction. Really enjoyed it places but ultimately it went off on too many tangents which I found deeply frustrating.....so just OK in the end.

Now preparing for the last 13 trips to finish my challenge off before the end of the year. Countries and books selected, just need to repair the balloon, blow it up again and set off on the final leg of my trip.

Well done! Won't be catching up with you now!! I have been recommended Ghosh's Sea of Poppies a couple of times but it's never go to the top of my tbr pile.

68. Colombia - by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez......really didn't enjoy this. Started off well but as the main event of the unrequited love affair took hold it became very dull indeed.

69. Azerbaijan - by Dan Mayland. Enjoyable thriller based around US fears about Iran which is on Azerbaijan's southern border. The next as yet unpublished one in the series is to be set in Uzbekistan.

70. Namibia - . History books tend to get me hooked and I couldn't put this one down after a while. Fascinating insight into the cultural and pseudo scientific roots of Nazi racial theories, lebensraum and the birth of the death camp in Africa.

70 down with 10 to go....concentrating on Africa mostly on my final leg......map time.

Wow Ian I am very impressed! I keep reading the same countries at the moment! Not doing very well about half way I think!

I'm impressed too!!! Have been trying to catch up with USA states and book clubs have got me nowhere I haven't been. Impressed with your South America too.

I love reading about other countries and cultures particularly in novels so it's been a labour of love and as well as reading them, I have really enjoyed searching for books that I might like.

Ian wrote: "70 down with 10 to go....concentrating on Africa mostly on my final leg......map time.

Ian's Around the World Trip



Make yours @ BigHugeLabs.com
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I'm very impressed, Ian, I don't think I'm even half-way yet!