June's books 2014

[Talisman]

Books read 2012

 

Books read 2013

 

Around the World Reading Challenge

 

I didn't set any specific goals last year other than to enjoy the books that I read - and I certainly did that - all 90 of them, with 43 more countries for the Around the World Reading Challenge. 13 of these though were from an African anthology, so I may have cheated just a teeny bit.

 

This year then once again, I am not setting any limit on the amount of books that I read, although it would be nice to read at least the same amount. It would also be good, bearing in mind those 13 countries from that one anthology, to get through another 30 countries for the Reading Challenge. 

 

So, here we go ...

 

January

 

Butterflies in November - Audur Ava Olafsdottir (Iceland)

The Hired Man - Aminatta Forna (Croatia)

Kiskadee Girl - Maggie Harris (Guyana)

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra (Chechnya)

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman - Eve Harris (England/Israel)

The Dove Flyer - Eli Amir (Iraq)

 

February

 

Where the Hell is Tuvalu - Philip Ells (Tuvalu)

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou (United States)

The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer (England)

In Darkness - Nick Lake (Haiti)

 

March

 

Seasons of the Witch - Arni Thorarinsson (Iceland)

The Reader - Bernhard Schlink (Germany) 

The Alchemist - Paolo Coelho (Brazil)

On the Trail of Genghis Khan - Tim Cope (Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia)

Hotel K: The Shocking Inside Story of Bali's Most Notorious Jail - Kathryn Bonella (Indonesia)

How to Fall in Love - Cecelia Ahearn (Ireland) 

Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (United States) 

 

April

 

Because I am a Girl - Tim Butcher (Togo/Sierra Leone/Ghana/Cambodia/Uganda/Brazil/Dominican Republic)

The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology - John Sweeney (England/United States) 

Allegiant - Veronica Roth (United States)

The Baby Laundry for Unmarried Mothers - Angela Patrick (England)

The Balkan Odyssey - Jason Smart (Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia, Albania)

The Humans - Mait Haig (England)

Sao Tome: A Novel - Paul D Cohn (Sao Tome et Principe) 

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden - Jonas Jonasson (Sweden/South Africa)

Panama City to Rio de Janeiro: A Journey through South America - Jason Smart (Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil) 

 

May

 

One Moment, One Morning - Sarah Rayner (England)

The Silence of the Sea - Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Iceland)

The Last Hundred Days - Patrick McGuinness (Romania)

Temples, Tuk-tuks and Fried Fish Lips - Jason Smart (Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei)

The Red Quest - Jason Smart (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Germany)

The Boat - Clara Salaman (Turkey)

Season of Mist  - McDonald Dixon (St Lucia) 

 

June

 

Survival in the Killing Fields - Haing Ngor (Cambodia)

My Name is Salma - Fadia Faqir (Jordan)

Living Inside the Meltdown - Alda Sigmundsdottir (Iceland)

The Reason I Jump: One Boy's Experience of Autism - Naoki Higashida (Japan) 

The Creator - Gudrun Eva Minervudottir (Iceland)

 

July

 

Running Free: Breaking Out from Locked in Syndrome - Kate Allatt and Alison Stokes (England)

The Land of Decoration - Grace McCleen (England)

What is the What? - Dave Eggers (South Sudan)

Flashpacking through Africa - Jason Smart (Morocco, Egypt, Senegal, The Gambia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Seychelles, Comoros, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland)   

We Were Liars - E Lockhart (United States)

The Extraordinary Life of Frank Derrick, Age 81 - JB Morrison (England)

 

August

 

The Ring Tone and the Drum - Mark Weston (Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso) 

Voodoo Slaves and White Man's Graves - Tim Coote (Benin, Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mali)

Place of the Heart - Steinunn Sigurdardottir (Iceland)

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey (United States)

A Well-Tempered Heart - Jan-Philip Sandker (Burma)

 

September

 

Singapore Sling - John Malathronas (Singapore) 

An Exquisite Sense of What is Beautiful - J David Simons (Japan)

The Swimmer - Joakim Zander (Sweden)

Burma's Spring - Rosalind Russell (Burma)

Canoeing the Congo - Phil Harwood (Zambia, Congo)

The Last Gift - Abdulrazak Gurnah (Tanzania)

The Brothers - Asko Sahlberg (Finland)

 

October

 

If I Close my Eyes Now - Edney Silvestre (Brazil)

Strange Shores - Arnaldur Indridason (Iceland)

The Outsider - Albert Camus (Algeria)

Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan (United States)

I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai (Pakistan/England)

Gaddafi's Harem - Annick Cojean (Libya)

Above His Station - Darren Craske (England)

 

November

 

Before His Time - Darren Craske (England) 

Beyond his Years - Darren Craske (England) 

The Cove - Ron Nash (United States)

Peace of Mind - Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnam)

Loving What Is - Byron Katie (United States) 

The Empathy Trap - Jane MacGregor (England)

 

December

 

Forbidden Archaeology - Michael Cremo (United States)

The Living - Lean Cullinan (Northern Ireland)

The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta (United States)

The Mission Remembered - Jelaila Starr (United States)

 

Edited January 1, 2015 by Talisman

[Talisman]

Butterflies in November - Audur Ava Olafsdottir

 

After a day of being dumped - twice - and accidentally killing a goose, the narrator begins to dream of tropical holidays far away from the chaos of her current life. instead, she finds her plans wrecked by her best friend's deaf-mute son, thrust into her reluctant care. But when a shared lottery ticket nets the two of them over 40 million kroner, she and the boy head off on a road trip across iceland, taking in cucumber-farming hotels, dead sheep, and any number of her exes desperate for another chance. Blackly comic and uniquely moving, Butterflies in November is an extraordinary, hilarious tale of motherhood, relationships and the legacy of life's mistakes.

 

Given my love of Iceland, and all things Icelandic, it seems fitting to start the year off with an Icelandic book. This one had been on my wish list for a while, having read about it in the airline magazine after my most recent trip in October, so when I saw it was reduced to 99p I downloaded a copy straiight away.

 

The narrator of the book is a thirty three year old woman with a gift for languages. When we meet her at the beginning of the book, she has been recently dumped by both her lover and her husband, who tells her that he is expecting a child with another woman. When her pregnant best friend and already single mother Audur is on the way over to help her commiserate, she slips and falls on the ice, necessitating a stay in hospital. Our heroine is then given the task of caring for Audur's five year old deaf-mute son. Following, not one but two lottery wins - one monetary, one a pefabricated summer bungalow, the two of them set off on a road trip around Iceland's coast to claim the bungalow. 

 

The remainder of the book is about this road trip and the things that the two of them encounter - including yes, a cucumber farm, a dead sheep and several exes. During the journey our heroine learns what motherhood really means and makes some life changing decisions.        

This is somewhat of a quicky book that would appeal mostly to other women, due to the motherhood theme and will no doubt have a sizeable audience after the success of her previous work. For me though the book seemed a bit lack lustre and lacked that certain spark. Icelandic is a difficult language to learn, so maybe some of the book was simply lost in translation. It is by no means the best book I have read, but no means the worst either, so I would give this an average rating of 3 stars. 

 

The Kindle version is still 99p for anyone who is interested.    

Edited January 4, 2014 by Talisman

[chesilbeach]

The Around The World challenge has led you down some incredibly interesting reading roads, June, and although I'll admit that most are probably not my cup of tea, I always find it fascinating to read your reviews of these unusual and little known books and authors.  Looking forward to reading about your reading again in 2014.

[chaliepud]

Have a great 2014 June, I hope you continue to enjoy your reading this year. 90 is a splendid amount of books!

[julie]

Good luck with your reading this year. You did great last year and I'll bet you can do it again 

[Marie H]

Happy reading with your challenge in 2014   .

[Devi]

Happy reading and good luck in 2014!

[Talisman]

Thank you everyone - here's to another great year of books !   

[Athena]

Happy Reading in 2014, June !

[Talisman]

The Hired Man - Aminatta Forna

 

Gost is surrounded by mountains and fields of wild flowers. The Croatian winter brings freezing winds. Beyond the boundaries of the town an old house which has lain empty for years is showing signs of life. One of the windows, glass darkended with dirt, today stands open, and the lovely chatter of English voices carries across the fallow fields. Laura and her teenage children have arrived.

 

A short distance away lies the hut of Duro Kolak who lives alone with his two hunting dogs. As he helps Laura with repairs to the old house, they uncover a mosaic beneath the ruined plaster, and, in the rising heat of summer, painstakingly restore it. But Gost is not all it seems, conflicts long past still suppurate beneath the scars.   

 

I was surprised to find that the latest of Aminatta's books was set in Croatia, as her previous works, like the author herself, were African themed, and some say, partly autobioghraphical in nature. This then is an interesting departure from her more usual style, and yet it was also the same in that it was set in the aftermath of war, this time in the Balkans.

 

The narrator is builder Duro, who lives alone on the outskirts of Gost with his two hunting dogs. Gost seems an appropriate name in many ways for this fictional town, as it is one letter removed from ghost, the state in which many of the residents appear to reside. Duro first encounters Laura through the sight of his gun, while out hunting in the woods. When Duro learns that Laura has recently moved into the so-called blue house, and plans to renovate it, he volunteers his services, being in need of the work. As the story unfolds, we learn that Duro is already intimately acquainted with both the house and its history, as the former home of his childhood sweetheart and sister of his once best friend.

 

There are dark under currents beneath the surface as we learn the secrets of both Duro's and towns past with its role in the ethnic cleansing that took part of the Balkans war. The war has understandably left scars, both physical and psychological upon the inhabitants, not least of all Duro himself. The book cleverlly addresses many of these issues and for many will I am sure leave unanswered and unresolved questions. 

 

The relationships between the various characters are brilliantly betrayed - Laura and her sunny, trusting personality, Kresimir's brutlaity and Fabjan's hypocrisy. As I said, this book covers many themes. Most of all though, it is a book about survival and the effects of war on a community, a community where the various occupants took sides against each other and are now forced to live with the consequences of that betrayal and guilt. I would give this book 4 stars.  

Edited January 8, 2014 by Talisman

[Marie H]

Glad you enjoyed Hired Man  . I have Memory of Love in my TBR list, recommended by quite a few of my library group. Hope you have a good year for your Around the World Reading Challenge.

[Talisman]

Thank you Marie.

[Talisman]

KIskadee Girl - Maggie Harris

 

In the small Caribbean town of Guyana town on the South American coast, a fifteen year old schoolgirl is forced to face her father's sudden death, pre-empted by a strange foreboding.
 

This memoir of growing up in the 50s and 60s reflects a society that was trying to find its path after centuries of slavery and colonialism. Life for teenagers was at a crossroads between tradition and discipline, political awareness and a new-found voice influenced by literature, the music of Donovan and the new reggae sound, and the movies of Britain and America. In a world within worlds, love and dreams exist side by side as a young girl on the cusp of maturity discovers her sensuality in the midst of her country's own movement towards independence.

Kiskadee Girl vividly re-imagines Guyana, named from the Amerindian Land of Many Waters. The Berbice River runs like an artery through the book's emotional and geographical landscape, carrying tug-boats and ghosts, bauxite, bones, and long-forgotten stories.

 

This is charming and relatively short read, about the authors early life growing up in what was at the time, British Guiana.  Perhaps not the best or most interesting book I have read from this part of the world, but nevertheless poignant and beautifully honest in its descriptions of teenage emotions against the backdrop of the country's move towards independence. I would give this an average rating of three stars.     

[Talisman]

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra 

 

In a snow-covered village in Chechnya, eight-year-old Havaa watches from the woods as her father is abducted in the middle of the night by Russian soldiers. Their life-long friend and neighbour, Akhmed, has also been watching, and when he finds Havaa he knows of only one person who might be able to help.

For tough-minded doctor Sonja Rabina, it's just another day of trying to keep her bombed-out, abandoned hospital going. When Akhmed arrives with Havaa, asking Sonja for shelter, she has no idea who the pair are and even less desire to take on yet more responsibilities and risk.

 

But over the course of five extraordinary days, Sonja's world will shift on its axis, revealing the intricate pattern of connections that binds these three unlikely companions together and unexpectedly decides their fate.

 

This is by far the best book I have read this year, although the year is of course still young.

 

The book begins with a man named Akmed fleeing from his village in war torn Chechnya in the company of a young girl, his best friends daughter, her father having been taken captive and transported to what the author refers to as the Landfill. This somewhat ominous name conjures up images of mass graves, but as the book progresses we learn that it is in fact an interrogation camp, to which most of the characters in this book have been at some point. 

 

Akmed takes the girl to a nearby hospital, entrusting her to the care of a female surgeon named Sonja. Akmed strikes a deal with Sonja that in return for the girls safety, he will work at the hospital, where he is soon assisting with amputations, among other things. As the story of these three characters unfolds, we learn of the interconnecting threads that link them together.

 

For a first novel (at least first published novel), this is an extraordinary piece of work that grips the imagination and will leave the reader pondering as to the nature of war, life and death for many days. This most definitely deserves four stars. 

[Chrissy]

The Marra book has gone straight to the top of my wish list, June. I hope you encounter many four and five star (and beyond) books this coming year.

[Devi]

Its gone on mine too.

[Marie H]

Ditto Chrissy & Devi for me, and thank goodness for public libraries   !

[Talisman]

The Marrying of Chani Kaufman - Eve Harris

 

19 year-old Chani lives in the ultra-orthodox Jewish community of North West London. She has never had physical contact with a man, but is bound to marry a stranger. The rabbi’s wife teaches her what it means to be a Jewish wife, but Rivka has her own questions to answer. Soon buried secrets, fear and sexual desire bubble to the surface in a story of liberation and choice; not to mention what happens on the wedding night…

 

This delightful mid length book (350 pages) tells the story of seven orthodox Jews, all of whom are interrelated by either marriage or friendship. Baruch, who is the son of Rabbi Chaim, and his wife Rivka sees Chani at a wedding and decides that the two should meet with a view to arranging a match of their own. His mother, the snobbish and irrepressible Mrs Levy, has other ideas, as no woman, least of all Chani, who comes from a less monied background, could ever be good enough for her son. She as the mother knows best. When she attempts to bribe the matchmaker Mrs Gelbman to put her son off, this backfires spectacularly, as Mrs Gelbman turns the tables. She also pressures Chani, who determinedly digs in her heels, in more ways than one, and so against all the odds, the match is sealed.

 

The other characters are Avromi, the groom to be's best friend, who stifled by his orthodox upbringing enrols at a secular university. He soon embarks upon a relationship with a non Jewish girl who introduced him to more secular ways. Torn by his conflicting emotions, he ends the relationship and enrols instead in a religious college in Jerusalem. Then there is the Rabbi (Avromi's father), who is to officiate at Baruch and Chani's nuptials, and his wife Rivka. We see flashbacks of their life together in Jerusalem where they met as students and their gradual move towards orthodoxy with the restrictions that this brings, most of all to Rivka.

 

The wedding eventually goes ahead, with both parties very nervous about the wedding night, as neither (unlike the groom's best friend, or as it turns out his parents before they married) have any knowledge about sex. Predictably it is a complete disaster, but out of that disaster comes communication and understanding, which eventually leads to freedom. These three words are if anything, the theme of the book, for each of these like the characters themselves are inter related. As Baruch and Chani, and indeed Chaim (the Rabbi) and Rivka start to communicate honestly and openly about what they both want and expect from the other, an understanding develops, which ultimately leads to freedom for both of them.

 

Although I know a little about the lives of orthodox Jews, having been to Israel twice, this provided for me a fascinating insight into their world. I would give this book four stars.

[Talisman]

The Dove Flyer - Eli Amir

 

When his Uncle Hizkel is arrested, Kabi and his family face an uncertain future as do all Jews living in 1950s' Baghdad. Each member of Kabi's circle has a different dream: his mother wants to return to the Moslem quarter where she felt safer; his father wants to emigrate to Israel and grow rice there while Salim, his headmaster, wants Arabs and Jews to be equal, and Abu Edouard just wants to continue to care for his beloved doves.

 

There have been quite a few books written on the effects on the Palestinians of the formation of the state of Israel, but this is the first book that tackles its nemesis - namely, the effects that the formation of Israel had on the Jews, in this case those living in the city of Baghdad, Iraq. I was surprised when I first came across this book to realise that there had in fact been a Jewish population in this country, until of course I remembered that this was the birthplace of that religion, as home to the Biblical Abraham.

 

The narrator of the story is the teenage Kabi, and the story is set as the blurb states, in the aftermath of World War 2 and subsequent persecution of Jews across not just Europe, but also the Middle East. The voices of many of Kabi's extended family and friends add to the story with their own hopes and dreams - while one feels safer by staying put, others wish to leave and join the exodus for the new state. The one thing they all have in common is hope - hope for a better life. In the background Kabi is growing to manhood and finding his own voice.

 

I found this at times quite a difficult read, not because of the subject matter, but more because of the length of the story (532 pages) and the myriad of different characters, which were at times difficult to remember. It was though worth persevering with, for this is an interesting subject which forms an important part in world history from both a religious and humanitarian point of view. It is difficult then in some ways to gauge how many stars to give this book, and on reflection I will award it 3 stars.

[Talisman]

Where the Hell is Tuvalu - Philip Ells

 

How does a young city solicitor end up as the People's Lawyer of the fourth-smallest country in the world, 11,000 miles from home?
Everyone dreams of ditching the rat-race, jumping off the treadmill, turning their life on its head and doing something worthwhile, but Philip Ells turned that fantasy into a reality. Imagining turquoise seas, sandy beaches and lush tropical trees, Ells flies off to the Pacific island state of Tuvalu armed only with his Voluntary Service Overseas briefing and his hopes of finding paradise...

Nothing, however, could quite prepare him for the reality of life on Tuvalu. Housed in a filthy, humid bunker, Philip learns to deal with the heat, rain, murders, incest, recalcitrant islanders, bizarre constitution and the unforgivable crime of pig theft, along the way realising that you never look a shark the eye or ask the octogenarian Tuvaluan chief why he sits immobilised by a massive rock permanently lodged in his groin.

In this hilarious dramatic and insightful book, Philip Ells describes with self-deprecating wit the collision between himself and the Pacific Islanders' sometimes extraordinary behaviour.

 

Part travelogue, part biography, this is the often hilarious tale of how a city lawyer ditched the rat race to live on the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu as people's lawyer for a little over two years. Ells kept a diary of this stay in Tuvalu and this forms the basis for the book. It is a relatively short read of around 278 pages, and a colourful tale filled with humour at the often non-sensical ways of the Tuvaluans. During his stay Ells also travelled to neighbouring (relatively speaking as the nearest other island group is 1000 miles away) nations of Kiribati and Fiji and he tells of his time there as well, filling in for the people's lawyer there during periods of absence. What makes this such an interesting book is the colourful characters and the way in which island life is described, which really brings it to life.

 

It is hard to get books from this part of the world, and harder still no doubt to find anything actually written by a native, so this for me was the next best thing. Mainly because of the humour, I would give this book 4 stars.   

[julie]

June

That sounds like a good book. I like books about far off places like that , that you've never heard of before and it always helps if they add some humor to the story !

[bobblybear]

Sounds interesting. I have added it to my wishlist.

[Talisman]

Maya Angelou - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

 

A classic coming-of-age story

 

In this, the celebrated, bestselling first volume of her autobiography, Maya Angelou beautifully evokes her childhood with her grandmother in the American South of the 1930s. She learns the power of the white folks at the other end of town and suffers the terrible trauma of rape by her mother's lover. As a black woman, Maya Angelou has known discrimination and extreme poverty, but also hope and joy, celebration and achievement; loving the world, she also knows its cruelty.

 

This is one of the truly inspirational books, and Angelou a truly inspirational woman. Well known for her works of philanthropy and a spokeswoman for black rights across the United States, this is the first of her six part autobiography. It tells of humble beginnings with her grandmother and beloved brother in the deep south and later move to the north, where she suffered terrible abuse at the hands of her mothers lover.  

 

although much of her story makes difficult reading and is not for the faint hearted, this is as much a tale of triumph as adversity. The underlying theme is one of hope, and of how both Angelou herself  and those around her rise above and learn to overcome the prejudice and lack of power that is foisted upon them. It is also a tale of community and how during times of difficulties, those communities band together to help each other.  

 

Despite what was clearly a difficult childhood, there are no signs of bitterness about any of the things that happened to her - this book can be seen in many ways as part of the authors spiritual journey, for ultimately that is what life is. I would recommend this to anyone wishing to know more about American history, particularly with regard to our darker cousins. It should be compulsory reading in American classrooms. This is most definitely worth five stars.  The remaining volumes have been added to my wish list and will be read in due course. 

[chesilbeach]

I read this when I was a teenager, and I can still remember it well - it's one of those books that really stays with you, and had a big impact on me in learning about some aspects of the history of black people in America when I was young.  I've always intended to read more of her books, but am yet to do that, so I'll be interested to see how you find the remaining volumes.

[Talisman]

The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Filer

 

I’ll tell you what happened because it will be a good way to introduce my brother. His name’s Simon. I think you’re going to like him. I really do. But in a couple of pages he’ll be dead. And he was never the same after that.’

There are books you can’t stop reading, which keep you up all night.

There are books which let us into the hidden parts of life and make them vividly real.

There are books which, because of the sheer skill with which every word is chosen, linger in your mind for days.

The Shock of the Fall is all of these books.

The Shock of the Fall is an extraordinary portrait of one man’s descent into mental illness. It is a brave and ground-breaking novel from one of the most exciting new voices in fiction.

 

My own family has been touched by mental illness, with a sister who experiences schizophrenia, and a father (now deceased) who had severe depression, so this for me was a much read, and a poignant one at that, having recently re-established contact with said sister.

 

It was for me then a somewhat difficult and challenging read, written as it is from the perspective of the experiencer. I choose to use this word rather than sufferer because of its negative conations. We are introduced to Matt and his brother Simon, who has Downs syndrome at the beginning of the book, on a typical family holiday. The title of the book comes from what happens next when Matt encounters a young girl who is burying her doll - it later turns out this doll is symbolic of the girls mother who has recently died. Matt reaches out to comfort the girl and falls, and the story goes on from there. I will not say too much more as it would only act as a spoiler.

 

The book though focusses very much on the effects that Matt's illness has on him - its symptoms and its causes, most of which only become clear towards the end. This is why I found it as times such uncomfortable reading, but I persevered and am glad that I did.

 

There is no happy ending for Matt, and he does not get miraculously better, but he does in his own way come to terms with what happened to his brother and the role that he played. In the process of doing this he also manages to mend relationships with the rest of his family and help them.

 

I can see exactly why this book won the Costa Prize and cannot think of a more worthy winner. This for me would also unhesitatingly be 5 stars.    

Edited March 1, 2014 by Talisman