Talisman
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Posts posted by Talisman
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I have finished - I completed the last country on my list last night!
When I get round to it I'll fill in all the books I read but the ones I have done since the last post are as follows:
An Evening in Guanima by Patricia Glinton-Meichalas for The Bahamas
The Tale of Aypi by Ak Welsapar for Turkmenistan
Yasmeena's Choice by Jean Sasson for Kuwait
At the Tomb of the Inflatable Pig by Jim Gimlette for Paraguay
An Island Away by Daniel Putkowski for Aruba
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My first job was a general dogsbody for a marine engineering company. It was okay for a first job and I have had a of other ones since - telex operator (remember them), receptionist, supermarket cashier, insurance clerk, showroom manager for a fitted kitchen company, exam invigilator, and cleaner which eventually led to my current job as a head housekeeper in a care and rehabilition unit for adults with brain injuries.
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Head Housekeeper in a care and rehabilittion unit for people with acquired brain injuries.
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Lady Marmalade - Labelle.
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I wish I had a like button too!
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For me its the score from the film The Gladiator. I always come back to this one.
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On 29/03/2021 at 8:22 PM, Hayley said:
Weirdly, this was the one I thought sounded really interesting on your list! Maybe it's a sign that I should get it
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That few!?
Good idea! Maybe you could keep updating on here anyway though? Anybody else doing the round the world challenge can use it to help them pick the books then. Plus I've found some books I'd never otherwise have heard of from this thread!
I'm more than happy to do that are there are just so many great books from different parts of the world out there. You could literally never run out of them.
It's been a really great thing for me to do I must admit. I have always been interested in world affairs and of course love to travel (something I am missing so much during Covid) and this has taught me so much about the world - other cultures, the way that refugees are treated and what it's like to be a woman in different parts of the world. Stuff that you can't read about to the same degree in any other way, not really. Some of the books about poverty in the US have been a real eye opener - I knew things wwere tough out there for many but not that bad. They have it much worse than we do here in every conceivable way - no free healthcare for one and hardly any workers rights.
On 30/03/2021 at 3:14 AM, poppy said:You're doing amazingly well, Talisman!
Books on your list I've particularly enjoyed are Mr Pip, The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, Out of Africa, and anything non-fictional by Lillian Beckwith.
They were all great books - especially the 100 Year old Man which made me just laugh an laugh - a brilliantly funny book and complete and utter wee take.
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On 26/03/2021 at 7:21 PM, Hayley said:
Aww, how many left to go?
Any particular favourites from your more recent ones?
The Trinidad book I would say, which like the other book I read from there was quite an unusual read.
As to how many countries - I can count them now on one hand. I will almost definately complete it this year, but there's still so many good books from different countries to read, that I think I'll unofficially carry on regardless.
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I am nearing completion of this challenge now with just a few countries left and must admit that I will miss it.
There have been a few more books to add though this year:
The Ardent Swarm by Yamen Manal for Tunisia
Gerta: A Novel by Katerina Tuckova for Czech Republic
Hurricane Season by Fernanda Melchor for Mexico
Back to Moscow by Guillermo Erades for Russia
The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey for Trinidad and Tobago
Monkeys are made of Chocolate by Jack Ewing for Costa Rica
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On 18/02/2021 at 6:21 PM, Hayley said:
There are a few non fiction books on there, ‘A Brief History of Time’, ‘Notes from a Small Island’, ‘The Selfish Gene’, ‘The Complete Art of War’ and ‘Long Walk to Freedom’ (there might be more, there are some books on there I’ve never heard of). I really don’t know how they compiled the list though, there doesn’t seem to be any sort of of theme. (I like your new profile picture by the way!)
I feel like I should also point out that I don’t think these lists matter in any way. The only books you ‘should’ read are the books you want to read, because everyone has different tastes and interests. My friend just thought this would be fun for me and that’s what I’ll be treating it as. There’s a very good chance I’ll never complete all of these these books, even if I manage to try them all.I guess I didn't look at the list carefully enough - but yes, there are some non fiction books in there. I agree though that there are no real 'must' reads as its all subjective and we like different things. I read a lot of non fiction but II know that most on here read predominantly fiction. Some read for escapsim, some read in order to learn something - I do a bit of both, but it's all good, and doesn't matter as long as you enjoy what you're reading.
I quite like that profile picure too though - it was taken during a visit to the European Parliament last summer. It might be a while before I manage to travel overseas again!
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This seems a pretty strange list of must read books to me - an odd mixture of both British and overseas 'classics' and more modern books - with not one non fiction book - not even The Bible! I have only read 11 of them, but it doesn't matter as there are tons of other good books I have read.
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And of course Major Tom Moore who did so much during his 100 years and died from coronavirus yesterday.
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A few more additions as the year is about to come to a close:
Lost in the Jungle by Yossi Ghinsberg for Bolivia
Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan for Taiwan
Why the Dutch are Different by Ben Coates for The Netherlands
In The Castle of My Skin by George Lamming for Barbados
Stay With Me by Ayobami Adebayo for Nigeria
The Phone Box at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina for Japan
The Dry by Jane Harper for Australia
Kim Jiyouong, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo for South Korea
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd for Palestine
A Single Swallow by Zhang Ling for China
Asking For It by Louise O'Neill for Ireland
Mythos by Stephen Fry for Greece
I Am an Island by Tamsin Calidas for Scotland
The Bee Keeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefreri for Syria
and loads more from Iceland - as always!
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We have booked our Christmas delivery slot from Sainsburys (there is NO WAY I am going there in person in the midst of a pandemic) and started to think about what we might want for our main course. We put the tree up yesterday and will hang the wreath on the door later on. We had a Christmas shopping event at work a week or so ago where I got some bits for my sister and I have bought a bottle of Amaretto for the Polish guy who works for me. We have another new cleaner starting in a weeks time but I want to get him something small so he doesnt feel left out, so I will probably get him a chocolate reindeer or something. We have got some Christmas treats for the cats too so they are all sorted.
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I am currently on book no. 61.
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Countries completed so far this year:
The Undesirables by Mark Isaacs for Nauru
To the Lake by Kapka Kassabova for North Macedonia
Zeina by Nawal El Sadaawi for Egypt
Walpurgis Tide by Jogvan Isaksen for Faroe Islands
Born a Crime by Trevor Noah for South Africa
Savage Island by Basil Thomson for Nieu and Tonga
Seven Graves by Christoffer Petersen for Greenland
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum for Palestine
Under a Maltese Sky by Nicola Kearns for Malta
I am Nujood, Aged Ten and Divorced by Nujood Ali for Yemen
Colony by Hugo Wilcken for French Guiana
French Sand by Catherine Broughton for New Caledonia
Getting Stoned with the Saves by J Maarten Troost for Vanuatu
Out of Africa by Karen Blixen for Kenya
The Fish and Rice Chronicles by PG Bryan for Micronesia and Palau
I think I've only got a dozen or so countries left now.
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Definately The Power of Now, but also Eckhart's other book A New Earth - that one has to be the best self help book I ever read. You have to savour it properly though and can't rush it.
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The Boat that Rocked - brilliant!
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On 01/12/2019 at 4:36 PM, Hayley said:
Aww that's really nice of you! The great thing about alcohol as a present is that nobody expects you to wrap it either
You have to look after them as they work hard all year, and I know how much I appreciate it when my boss does the same for me.
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The only people I have to buy for are my 3 staff - and its easy to do that, must get them all a bottle of wine!
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This is no doubt something to do with copyright and digital rights management which is still a tricky issue to resolve.
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Good for you Athena - I had no idea that authors could even do this, but when I think about it, why wouldn't or indeed shouldn't they? People crowdfund for all sorts of things.
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That's an interesting idea about buying the author a coffee Hayley - I suspect you're right though like tips in restaurants it would end up being up among loads of other people …..
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I would say that depends like everything else it depends on their own financial situation. It stands to reason though that paying full price for anything creative always benefits the creator as does when possible buying direct from them.
June's Around the World Book Challenge
in Reading Challenges
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It was a bit boring to be honest - but the only book I could find from that country alas.