Talisman Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 As I start this thread I am about 15 percent through book no. 3 already. I managed 94 books last year, so am aiming for at least 90 again this year, which should hopefully be achievable. I read some great ones last year I have to say which were very mixed in a lot of ways - almost a third of them I believe were non fiction on various subjects. Of course I will also be continuing with the Around the World Reading Challenge, which I am now about two thirds of the way through. For this reason I will put the country the book is set in after the names of books that I use to help me finish the challenge. Around the World Reading Challenge 2016 2014 2013 2012 I thought I had a thread for 2015 as well, but can't seem to see it, so I will have to add the link for that later on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 (edited) January A Gift from Bob: How a Street Cat Helped One Man Learn the Meaning of Christmas - James Bowen Dragon Games (The China Trilogy) - Jean-Philipp Sendker (China/Hong Kong) This Is London - Ben Judah The Dark Net - Jamie Barlett Layla and Majnun: The Classic Love Story of Persian Literature - Nizami (Azerbaijan) Free Radical: A Memoir - Vince Cable Rupture: Ragnar Jonasson (Iceland) Reading the Ceiling - Dayo Forster (The Gambia) All Fall Down: Mark Edwards/Louise Voss February Why Did You Lie - Yrsa Sigurdadottir (Iceland) Beyond the High Blue: A Memoir - Lu Spinney The Reader on the 6.27 - Jean-Paul Didierlaurent (France) A Man Was Going Down the Road - Otar Chiladze (Georgia) March Cape Verde Blues - CW Childs (Cape Verde) The Good Immigrant - Nikesh Shukla No Men, No Cry - Ligne Barauskaite (Lithuania) Behold the Dreamers - Imbolo Mbue (Cameroon) Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City - Matthew Desmond (United States) Senselessness - Horacio Castellanos Moya (El Salvador) The Golden Shower: Or What Men Want by Luka Novak (Slovenia) Brexit: What the Hell Happens Now? Ian Dunt April Nothing is True and Everything is Possible: Peter Pomeransev (Russia) Earth Weeps, Saturn Laughs by Abdulaziz Al Farsi (Oman) The Earth Hums in B Flat Major by Mari Strachan (Wales) Beloved Land: Stories, Struggles and Secrets by Gordon Peake (Timor Leste) The Sea Around Them by Gordon G Gautreau (St Pierre et Miquelon) By Night the Mountain Burns by Juan Tomas Avila Laurel (Equatorial Guinea) Impossible Journey: Michael Asher (Mauritania, Mali, Chad, Niger, Sudan, Egypt) The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry May Skyfaring: A Journey with a Pilot by Mark Vanhoanacker Behind Closed Doors: Kathryn Croft Quiet: The Power of Introverts - Susan Cain The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland - Alda Sigmundsdottir (Iceland) The Eagle Tree - Ned Hayes Barometer of Fear: An Insider’s Account of Rogue Trading and the Greatest Banking Scandal in History - Alexis Stenfors Broken Glass: Alain Mabanckou (Zaire) June The Jesus Man: Christos Tsilkas (Australia) Night: Elie Wiesel (Romania) The Twin: Gerbrand Bakker (Netherlands) Shadows Before Dawn: Teal Swan The State is Out of Date: Gregory Sams Hillbilly Elegy: JD Vance (United States) July The Circle: Dave Eggers The Scroll of Seduction: Gioconda Belli (Nicaragua) The Transition: Luke Kennard Our Endless Numbered Days: Claire Fuller Helga's Diary: Helga Weiss (Czech Republic) The Poisonwood Bible: Barbara Kingsolver (United States/Zaire) August An Accidental Tourist: Jason Smart The No Spend Year: Michelle McGagh The Rosie Effect: Graeme Simsion (Australia) South of Forgiveness: Thordis Elva/Tom Stranger (Iceland/Australia/South Africa) A Streetcar Named Desire: Tennessee Williams (United States) The Legacy: Yrsa Sigurdadottir (Iceland) The Lucky Ones: Mark Edwards The Trans Partner Handbook - A Guide for When Your Partner Transitions: Jo Green Secrets of My Life: Caitlin Jenner (United States) Sky of Red Poppies: Zohreh Ghahremani (Iran) Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine: Gail Honeyman Naïve Super: Erlend Loe (Norway) September The Betrayers: David Bezmorgis (Latvia) Another Day in the Death of America: Gary Younge (United States) The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari: Robin Sharma The Jive Talker: Samson Kambalu (Malawi) Things Fall Apart: Chinua Achebe (Nigeria) 3096 Days: Natascha Kampuche (Austria) Attack of the 50 Foot Woman: Catherine Mayer Whiteout: Ragnar Jonasson (Iceland) A Life in Death: Richard Venables A Tunisian Tale: Hassouna Mosbani (Tunisia) Mans Search for Meaning: VIktor E Frankl October The Moonlight Palace: Liz Rosenburg (Singapore) After the Storm: Vince Cable How to Stop Brexit and Make Britain Great Again: Nick Clegg The Man in the High Castle: Philip Dick The Corruption of Capitalism: Guy Standing Walking the Nile: Levison Wood The Girls: Emma Cline Of Mice and Men: John Steinbeck November Kinder than Solitude: Yiyun Li (China) The Girl Who Beat Isis: Farida Khalaf (Iraq) The Doves Necklace: Raja Alem (Saudi Arabia) A Lullaby for No One's Vuk: Ksenija Popovich (Montenegro) Voices: Short Stories from The Seychelles: Glynn Burridge (Seychelles) The Girl Who Beat Isis: Farida Khalaf (Iraq) Sane New World: Ruby Wax A Course in Miracles Made Easy: Alan Cohen December The Good People: Hannah Kent (Ireland) Snare: Lilja Sigurdardottir (Iceland) The Psychopath Test: Jon Ronson Poverty Safari - Understanding the Anger of the Underclass: Darren McGarvey In Limbo - Brexit Testimonies from EU Citizens: Elena Remigi Under the Udala Trees; Chinelo Okparanta (Nigeria) On a Small Island: Grant Nicol (Iceland) The Shadow District: Arnaldur Indridason (Iceland) Outposts - Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire: Simon Winchester Equal Ever After - The Fight for Same Sex Marriage: Lynne Featherstone The Secret Life of Cows: Rosamund Young Edited January 1, 2018 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 Happy Reading in 2017 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 I have quite a bit of money on my Amazon account at the moment thanks to gift cards earned from various survey and cashback sites, so I have put them to good use downloading some books from more obscure countries that have been on my wish list for a while. I am about to go and have another look and see if any of them have been reduced today, as you never know your luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Have a great year of books and reading June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 13, 2017 Author Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) I finished my 4th book of the year last night - The Dark Net by Jamie Bartlett. This was a series of interviews really with people who either buy things from or in some way earn their living from the dark net, which also goes into detail about what it is and how it operates. Very interesting reading indeed but also quite disturbing in some places. Edited January 13, 2017 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Wishing you a wonderful year of reading, June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 Sounds like you've already made a good start in your reading this year, June. May it continue and you have a happy reading year ahead of you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 14, 2017 Author Share Posted January 14, 2017 (edited) I finished my 5th book of the year about half an hour ago and I get the feeling this is one that will stay with me for a while. Layla and Majnun is billed a classic tale of Persian literature, adpated from a late 12th Century poem penned by Nizami, a Sufi mystic born in what is now Azerbaijan. This is a beautifully crafted epic tale filled with passion and longing - a Persian Romeo and Juliet of star crossed lovers forced to be apart due to tribal feuding. The two characters Layla (the woman) and Majnun (the man - the word means madman in the ancient Persian language) are a Sufi representation of the soul's yearning to return to God. The song Layla by Eric Clapton was apparently inspired by this tale. This is the sort of book that anyone who is interested in mysticism or indeed ancient Persia needs to read. Edited January 16, 2017 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobblybear Posted January 15, 2017 Share Posted January 15, 2017 Have a great reading year, June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 I wish you happy reading in 2017 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 27, 2017 Author Share Posted January 27, 2017 (edited) I have finished another 2 books in the last week, both very different but also very good. The first was the biography of a man I have long admired - former Business Secretary, Lib Dem politician and one time Deputy Party Leader Vince Cable. For me this was an interesting read, that taught me a lot about him and his background, both personal and professional. The second was a book set in the small West African country The Gambia. This was a tale about a young Gambian woman who has to choose between three different men that she likes. Set in three parts, it explores the way in which her life would have evolved with each of the three different men and the consequences those choices have for her. This was a very interesting read that made me see this small country in a very different light to the one that we tend we hear about - poor African men preying on white middle aged female tourists for money, sex and maybe a way out of their homeland and poverty. Edited January 27, 2017 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted February 18, 2017 Author Share Posted February 18, 2017 I have read 3 books so far in February, each very different. The first (Why Did you Lie) was the latest novel by one of my favourite Icelandic writers Yrsa Sigurdadottir. I didn't enjoy this as much as most of her previous works, as the story seemed to take a long time to get going and it also seemed a little far fetched, but once you got towards the end and the threads started coming together it was not too bad. The second which I definitely recommend was Beyond the High Blue Air. This is about a young man in his 20's who is left with a catastrophic brain injury following a snowboarding accident and the effect it has on both him and his family. This was a very moving book that covered a lot of difficult subjects, both emotional and ethical. The final book was The Reader on the 6.27. This is a relatively short read at around 200 odd pages. Set in France, the main character is a man who works at a book pulping plant and rescues pages from these books which he reads aloud on his morning commute into work, hence the title. The book is really about his quest to find romance, which I am pleased to say he does in somewhat unusual circumstances. This is the sort of book that will leave a smile on your face without being too light and fluffy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Beyond the High Blue Air sounds interesting. I shall add that to my bookrecommendations list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted March 23, 2017 Author Share Posted March 23, 2017 I have finished a few more books this month from various interesting countries, some harder to find than others. The first was a book of Lithuanian women's short stories - No Men, No Cry by Ligne Barauskaite. Some of these were better than others, and I found it quite frustrating that of the better ones, none of the books that they are excerpted from are not available as English translations. Some of them really are very good. The second book, from Cameroon was Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue. There seems to be a bit of buzz around this book at the moment and I can see why. Set in the US, it tells the tale of a couple from this small West African country trying to make a new life for themselves in the US. This for me especially bearing the next book in mind, was an interesting take on the so-called American dream and how tough things are for those at the bottom of the pile. I won't ruin it by saying too much, except to say that for me, this is a book well worth reading. The book I followed this with was Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. I first heard of this book when the author appeared on a recent episode of The Big Questions and was delighted when I noticed that the Kindle edition was 45 percent off, as it would normally be quite an expensive book. This is a book that anyone who is interested in issues relating to poverty and inequality really MUST read. The lives of some of those profiled in this book and the abject poverty that they and their children have had to live through was absolutely shocking - and it takes a lot to shock me. If you thought the housing crisis was bad in our country, then it is nothing compared to what goes in in the US, where some families spend as much as 82 percent of their income on rent, facing the constant threat of eviction, which can occur with less than 5 days notice, sometimes just for calling the Police too many times in cases of domestic violence. Like I said, this is a book that everyone needs to read, whether you live in the US or not. The book I am reading at the moment is from El Salvador in Central America. The title is Senselessness by Horacio Castellanos Moya. This is a short book of around 160 pages and tells the tale of a man who is proof reading a manuscript to do with atrocities against the Native population. I am about halfway through it at the moment so will report back once I have finished it as to what I felt about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted May 23, 2017 Author Share Posted May 23, 2017 I have read some more great books in the last month or so, and definitely need to get better about writing about them on here. I also continue to make progress on the Around the World Reading Challenge with several more difficult to find African countries completed, three of them courtesy of just the one book, Impossible Journey by Michael Asher. This is about one man and his Italian wife's quest to cross the Sahara dessert by camel. Very interesting it was too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 I have been reading a bit more non fiction these last few months, trying to educate myself on various (to me at least) interesting issue to do with poverty, the state and how it functions and so on, triggered perhaps by the election result and my need to try and make sense of it. I have also read a fair amount of fiction, but nothing that really stands out. Probably the best fiction book I have read in recent months was by Greek/Australian born author Christos Tsilkas - the Jesus Man. This is quite a dark and disturbing tale about a young man who commits shall we say, certain crimes and the effect this has on both him and his immediate family. It covers quite a few themes including religious shall we say fervour, paedophilia, self harm and suicide. Quite disturbing stuff, but nevertheless right up my street. Those who know me will not be surprised to hear this, as I am definitely not one for shying away from the darker elements of human nature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talisman Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 (edited) Well, I have done it, I have managed for the first time to read 100 books in one year, which I think is quite a feat considering I work full time. A lot of them have been non fiction - some travelogues, some political science, a few biographies, but there have been some great fiction books as well. I have managed to make good progress with the Around the World Reading Challenge, getting through another 23 countries, some of them really hard to find. These are in no particular order: Chad, Mauritania, Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Falkland Islands, South Georgia and Sandwich Islands, Azerbaijan, The Gambia, Georgia, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Slovenia, Oman, Wales, East Timor, St Pierre et Miquelon, Zaire, Nicaragua, Latvia, Malawi, Tunisia, Montenegro and last but by no means least, The Seychelles. Here's to many more good books in 2018! Edited January 1, 2018 by Talisman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Congratulations on reading 100 books and getting through another 23 countries. I wish you many more good books in 2018! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaliepud Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Sounds like a great 2017 for you, June. I hope 2018 is just as good, if not better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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