I have always been an enthusiastic reader. Books and education were valued in my family. I entered kindergarten being able to read and write. In fact, that’s when I began my writing career, drafting my first story about puppies. I grew up in the country and didn’t have cable TV until the end of collage when I left the dorms for an apartment. Books were my escape to other times and other places. For the past couple years, I have been a member of the International Book Club at the East Lansing Public Library. Each month, we read a book by a foreign author or set in another country. When I learned in November that our librarian leader was retiring, I volunteered to co-ordinate the club moving forward. It had been too special a group to see disappear.
When I learned from Angie Hilbert, our WanderLit book diva, that she was issuing a WanderLit World Tour challenge for 2013, I couldn’t wait to join. I felt like she was talking to me! Angie also turned me on to Good Reads which I had heard of but had never taken the time to explore. A number of readers there have also joined the Around the World in 52 Books challenge and you can view all of our proposed reading lists and progress by joining the site. The idea is to read a book each week of the year that represents a different country so that by the end of the year you have traveled around the world.
I really liked the idea of this challenge. I’ve always been a goal oriented person so I love that I am able to track my progress at Good Reads. To date, I have selected most of the books to meet the goal. I have chosen to mix up my readings rather than try to plot a true journey from one country to another. I am more choosing based on what book speaks to me as I go to grab the next one as well as trying to mix easy and challenging books along with short and long books so that I always have some variety. I thought you may also like to join me on this journey and learn about the books I am reading. At the end of each month, I will post the books I have completed as well as a brief review.
January turned out to be a great reading month for me as I had some vacation time in the beginning and then spent a lot of time in bed later in the month nursing an ear infection. That all added up to me completing eight books to start the challenge. I like getting ahead as I know some weeks ahead will be really busy and I will need the cushion I have built when I don’t have as much time to read. Good Reads tells me I am 15% to my goal. What a great way to start the year!
Title: Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness
Alexandra Fuller has gathered together entertaining stories about her mother’s privileged experiences growing up in central Africa in “Cocktail Hour Under the Tree of Forgetfulness.” She follows Nicola Huntingford Fuller through the challenges she faces as a wife and mother with adult responsibilities during uncertain times both personally and in the countries she lived in. Her mother always comes through though with style, grace and humor and despite how ridiculous she is at times, you still find yourself wishing you had been there too.
Title: In The Shadow of the Buddha
Come along with author Matteo Pistono on his Buddhist pilgrimage in Tibet as he follows the same path as Terton Sogyal in the late nineteenth century. His personal mission also becomes one for the Tibetan people as he bears witness to the human rights violations committed by the Chinese and smuggles photos and documents out for the world to see. “In the Shadow of the Buddha,” readers will travel both the world and in time as they learn about Tibetan Buddhism through the spiritual development of the author.
Title: Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All
Learn about the history of the Maori people of New Zealand through author Christina Thompson’s research and life experiences. While on vacation, the American Thompson meets and falls in love with a Maori man. Their personal story is reflected in her detailed accounts of early western contact with the Maori and the result of those interactions.
Title: Snow (Everyman’s Library (Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.))
Author: Orhan Pamuk
Some books are easy to read, others take self-discipline. The later was the case with “Snow” by Orhan Pamul. I always knew I was reading a significant book but that didn’t make it enjoyable. I found the characters hard to get attached to. That being said, there were a number of interesting ideas such as how news coverage can predict/cause events in the future to occur.
Snow follows a Turkish poet named Ka, who has been in exile in Germany, who visits the town of Kars, Turkey just as a blizzard strands the citizens for a few days. Drawn there to report on local politics leading up to an election and a number of suicides by girls forced to remove their head scarves to attend school, Ka finds himself suddenly inspired to write poems again after a long drought. He ends up writing 19 poems during his stay which he arranges around the points on a snowflake which he sees as a metaphor for man. Several sub-plots develop including his romance with his college friend’s ex-wife and a revolution lead by a troupe of actors. Although there were many interesting threads, I found myself hoping the snow would melt soon and that the novel would finally come to an end.
Title: The Sex Lives of Cannibals
A fun, easy read that follows the author and his fiancé on their move from Washington, D.C. to the small island nation of Kirabati. Sitting near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, Kiribati challenges newcomers with its humidity, temperature, regular blackouts and shortages of food options, water and beer. Explore the best, and the worst, the island has to offer along with Troost who writes about his adventures in an entertaining way. As enjoyable as this was to read, it did help me move Kirabati to the near the bottom of my “must visit” list.
Title: A Room with a Pew
Author: Richard Starks and Miriam Murcott
Join experienced tourists and authors, Richard Starts and Miriam Murcott, on their journey through Spain. Wanting to slow down and see a side of Spain most tourists miss, the authors chose to stay in active monasteries and convents scattered through the countryside on their road trip from Barcelona in the north to Malaga in the south. They intentionally avoid the monasteries that have been converted into luxury tourist hotels and in the process have some really unusual experiences. This book really appealed to me as I had stayed at an ex-convent while in Oaxaca, Mexico and had loved the history and ambiance of the building. There is a nice section at the end offering tips for planning your own trip in Spain. It should be noted that the authors are not Catholic and have in an attempt to be entertaining, taken an irreverent tone that may be offensive to some readers.
Title:The Spirit Catches You and Then You Fall Down
In Hmong, the phrase for epilepsy is “the spirit catches you and then you fall down.” Anne Fadiman documents the life and medical experiences of a young Hmong girl born in America to parents from Laos. Before she was a year old, Lia Lee begins to have bad seizures that are initially misdiagnosed, in large part because of the language and cultural barriers between her parents and her doctors. What follows is a heartbreaking story of how things go horribly wrong, despite the best intentions, when cultures clash and there isn’t the system in place to provide a bridge for understanding. In learning about Lia, you also learn what it means to be Hmong both in Laos and in the United States. I also learned a great deal about how the Hmong contributed to the American efforts in Vietnam and what the repercussions of that help have been to their society.
Title: Dreaming in Cuban
“Dreaming in Cuban” follows three generations of women, some remaining in Cuba while others have immigrated to the United States, through the important moments in their lives. The events leading up to and following the revolution are seen through different eyes as some family members support Castro and others escape to advance their lives through capitalism. There does seem to be a big streak of crazy running through this family as well as a fascination with mysticism and Santeria. Most of the characters are well developed but they are hard to like, which took away from the enjoyment of reading the book.
So, there it is. My eight international books read in January. Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Or what international book have you read recently that you want to share with me?
Book images courtesy of Amazon