My unintentional travel around the world via books continued in September with visits to China, Norway, and Rwanda, along with seven neighboring African countries. Continue reading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately (September 2020)
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Tag Archives: #WhatIveBeenReading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately (August 2020) & #WITMonth
August Was Women in Translation Month!
I spent much of July planning my stack for August’s Women in Translation Month, a yearly monthlong initiative to promote women writers from around the world who write in languages other than English. Since I tend to read many Scandinavian female authors throughout the year, I usually focus on female writers from other parts of the world for this event. Originally, my TBR pile for August included Chilean, Mauritian-French, Franco-Moroccan, Thai, and Japanese authors. However, my reading took unexpected turns when special author experiences presented themselves, so it wasn’t just female authors from far away lands this month as planned. Continue reading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately (July 2020) & #WITMonth Plans
I’m back with my monthly round-up of what I’ve been reading lately inspired by Modern Mrs. Darcy’s monthly Quick Lit where readers share short and sweet reviews of what they’ve been reading lately. My reading rhythm hasn’t changed much since last month. I continue to enjoy listening on my early morning walks and reading while lounging outside in the late afternoon/early evening. I’ll continue this as long as I can. Continue reading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately & My Latest Virtual Book Events (May 2020)
Now that month #3 of staying at home has passed and summertime with its more relaxed schedules is here, I think I’ve finally fallen into a more regular reading rhythm. Two of my favorite times of the day now are when I can sit outside and read during lunchtime and in the early evening.
I continued to attend virtual book events this past month. I thoroughly enjoyed the LA Times’ Book Club conversation with Emily St. John Mandel on May 19. More significantly, I got to “travel” to Norway last month for the Norwegian Festival of Literature in Lillehammer which took place May 29-31. In particular, I enjoyed the panel discussion on Maja Lunde’s success around the world and her lecture as winner of this year’s Bjørnson Prize.
Through my reading this month, I’ve traveled the world in time and place. I’ve experienced 1918 Philadelphia during the Spanish flu pandemic, an Indian immigrant community in London, a small Danish coastal town, and Norway in 2017/France in 2041. Here are my latest reads and listens. Continue reading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately (April 2020) & Virtual Author Events
As we’ve now passed week #8 of staying at home, I haven’t really found myself reading more than I usually do. What I have been able to do is take advantage of virtual author events, though!
I’ve dropped in on a few virtual author events, but three stand out. Continue reading
What I’ve Been Reading Lately (January 2020) & Reading Challenges Wrap-Up
2019 didn’t quite end as I would have liked in regards to completing the reading challenges I had undertaken. I did complete the Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge (see what I read here) as well as the Reading Women Challenge (except for one prompt, a play, which won’t be completed, see what I read here). Sadly, it was my Scandinavian Reading Challenge that lingered unfinished! I bit off too much last year, but I am in the process of completing it now as I also embark on my 2020 reading intentions. (I intend to finish my Scandinavian Reading Challenge this month and look forward to sharing my complete list of Scandinavian reads soon!)
In the meantime, here are my latest reads. What have you been reading lately?
One Day in December by Josie Silver
The main character Laurie experiences love at first sight through the bus window and spends the next year trying to track down the guy only to find him again as the new boyfriend of her best friend. I enjoyed the beginning and loved how it all eventually ended about ten years later, but I felt it was too long and winding in between. Maybe it was because it took me too long to read the book. When I found myself with longer chunks of time to read, I definitely enjoyed it more.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge 2020—N/A
- Modern Mrs. Darcy 2020 Reading Challenge—A book recommended by a source you trust
A Modern Family by Helga Flatland
(Translated from the Norwegian by Rosie Hedger)
This was a complex character study of how adult children deal with the late-in-life divorce of their parents. The story begins with the whole family – grandparents, parents, and kids – on a trip from Oslo to Rome to celebrate the grandfather’s 70th birthday. What happens instead on the night of the celebratory dinner is that news of the grandparents’ impending divorce comes out. The three adult siblings – one married with kids, another struggling with fertility issues with her boyfriend, and the third a free-thinker when it comes to love and marriage – struggle very differently in coming to terms with this new reality when they’re back in Oslo. The story alternates between the perspectives of the three siblings with some overlap of events. It’s a deep and thought-provoking look at family relationships, perceived responsibilities, family history, and parenting.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge 2019—A Scandinavian book recommended or gifted to you
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading 2020 Challenge—A book in translation
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
(Audiobook narrated by January LaVoy)
This came highly recommend by a colleague at work and it was on Modern Mrs. Darcy’s list of favorite audiobooks of 2019 as well as her book club pick for February. It didn’t disappoint; it was a wonderful journey. It’s an historical fantasy book combining many interesting elements: a coming-of-age story, a book within a book, adventure, love, and friendship. It’s creatively done and the language is beautiful. It was a nice change of pace from books I generally read.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge 2020—N/A
- Modern Mrs. Darcy 2020 Reading Challenge—A debut novel
What have you been reading lately?
Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
What I’ve Been Reading Lately (November & December 2019)
The last two months of the year continued to be a good and varied period of reading. Contemporary fiction, historical fiction, a short story collection, and thrillers that took place all over the world. What have you been reading lately?
The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin
I am drawn to stories about complicated families, and this is such a story. It’s about four siblings and their relationships during and after the Pause, a period of a few years in their childhood after their father died unexpectedly and when their mother basically removed herself from their lives due to severe depression and left them to fend for themselves. It was interesting to see how each sibling was affected by the Pause and how each coped with the past and related to the others as the years passed. The story is told by the youngest sibling Fiona at the age of 102 years in the year 2079. After being a recluse for 25 years, she’s finally agreed to tell the story of the inspiration behind one of her most famous poems. It’s a thoughtful and touching look at one family’s trials and tribulations.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—N/A
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book recommended by someone with great taste (Modern Mrs. Darcy’s Summer Reading Guide 2019, minimalist pick)
The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys
A fan of YA historical fiction author Ruta Sepetys, I was thrilled to discover she had a new book coming out this year that was set in a time period I hadn’t read too much in, the 1950s in Spain during Franco’s fascist dictatorship. Specifically, the story takes place in Madrid in 1957 when the country is opening up to American tourists. There is great contrast between what tourists experience, in particular 18-year-old Daniel, the son of a wealthy Texas oil tycoon visiting with his parents, and how locals live, such as Ana, the hotel maid assigned to their rooms. The book opened my eyes to the brutal and heartbreaking history of this period. I really liked Daniel and admired his desire to veer from his dad’s vision for him and to pursue his photography instead. I cheered for Daniel and Ana’s growing friendship. A bonus was the primary source materials cited between chapters and the historic photos included at the end. This was a 5-star read for me.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A book you bought or borrowed in 2019
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—Three books by the same author
Forty Days Without Shadow: An Arctic Thriller by Olivier Truc
(Translated from the French by Louise Rogers Lalaurie)
I loved the setting of this book – wintertime in northern Norway above the Arctic Circle in the land of the Sámi indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Even though it’s a fiction book, I learned so much about Sámi history, culture, and issues. I had no idea there was such a thing as a reindeer police! I liked the two main characters, Klemet Nango and Nina Nansen, reindeer police who are involved with solving the crime of a stolen Sámi drum and the murder of a Sámi reindeer herder. Klemet is an older officer of Sámi heritage and Nina is a young Norwegian woman fresh out of police school. They are a good pair. I was not a fan of the male perspective and the language usage at times. Also, the male chauvinist behavior by a couple of the side characters was off-putting. However, overall it was a very enjoyable and interesting read. It’s the first in a series written in French and I hope the rest of them are translated into English.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—A book written by a non-Scandinavian set in Scandinavia
- Reading Women Challenge—N/A
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book in translation
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
This was a fine book but not totally my cup of tea. I couldn’t relate to a sister helping to cover up a murder. It didn’t seem plausible, yet in this book they were able to do it more than once. I liked that the story was set in Lagos, Nigeria, giving me a glimpse of contemporary life there, and I did appreciate what the author made us think about – sisterhood, family, and social media. However, the dark humor and satire did not land with me.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A book by an author from Nigeria or New Zealand
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you; A book I’ve been meaning to read
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
(Audiobook narrated by Matilda Novak)
I read this collection of short stories as an audiobook (upon Modern Mrs. Darcy’s recommendation in 15 terrific audiobooks you can listen to in 6(ish) hours or (much) less), and it was mesmerizing. I enjoy immigrant stories and books that take me to foreign cultures, and this collection had both. I loved the range of characters (from children to elderly) and the wide variety of experiences explored. Most stories were about Indian immigrants in America, but one was about American Indians visiting India and another about Indians in India. The characters and their stories are still with me. This was another 5-star read this year.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A book by Jhumpa Lahiri (Bonus)
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you
The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
This was a total impulse read. I needed something totally different than my previous reads. I started listening to it, but I had to speed up the narration to 1.5x to keep it somewhat engaging. The audiobook still wasn’t working for me, but I liked the story so ended up switching to the print edition. I got a little annoyed with the main character at times. I was frustrated that she couldn’t control her actions, but I understand that is easier said than done for someone in her condition. I didn’t see the twists before they came, but I wasn’t surprised by them either. Overall, it was an entertaining and engaging read.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—N/A
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you
What have you been reading lately?
News to readers interested in Scandinavian reading, I will be introducing the 2020 Scandinavian Reading Challenge soon. Stay tuned!
Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Reading Lately (October 2019)
Lately, I’ve been very focused on working towards completing my reading challenges for the year, and this past month I made great progress. My latest reads brought me to many different places: East Prussia during World War II, to Sri Lanka during their civil war, to a remote part of northern Norway, and to the Philippines. It was a nice and varied month of reading. What have you been reading lately?
Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction is a favorite genre of mine, especially when lesser known events or people of history are explored. I really enjoyed Sepetys’ Between Shades of Gray earlier this year (see Reading Lately, February 2019), and when I heard Sepetys was coming out with another historical fiction book this fall, I decided to make Sepetys the author whose books I would read three of this year for the MMD Reading Challenge. Salt to the Sea takes places during World War II and explores the events leading up to and including the sinking of the German ship Wilhelm Gustloff in the Baltic Sea which was used to evacuate refugees escaping the advancing Russian soldiers. The story alternates between the perspectives of three individuals making their way to the ship (a Lithuanian young woman, a Polish girl, and a young German man) and a German enlisted man stationed there. It’s a story of hardship, heartbreak, courage, and most importantly, found family. I loved the book. Interesting sidenote, the Lithuanian girl is a crossover character from Shades of Gray.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A historical fiction book
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—(Book #2 of ) Three books by the same author
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
This is a beautiful but heartbreaking story of the civil war in Sri Lanka (which officially began in 1983 and ended in 2009) from the perspectives of two women, one from the majority Sinhalese ethnic group and the other from the minority Tamil group. I chose to read this book for the Reading Women Challenge because of my college friend Ayub who is from Sri Lanka (and also I’d seen a fabulous exhibit of Sri Lankan art at the Los Angeles County Museum at Art this past summer). I’m ashamed that I didn’t know more about what was going on there since my college years were right in the middle of the civil war period. The author paints a vivid picture of life and its challenges on the island. Readers experience village life along the coast as well as city life in Colombo, the capital. The story even takes readers to Los Angeles as one of the families seeks refuge there. Even though it’s a fiction book, I feel I have a much greater understanding of the conflict in Sri Lanka.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A book written by a South Asian author
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you
The Looking-Glass Sisters by Gøhril Gabrielsen
(Translated from the Norwegian by John Irons)
Despite not liking any of the characters, not even finding anything remotely redeeming about any of them, I was drawn into this novella about two middle aged sisters and their toxic relationship. At the age of 24 upon the death of their parents, the older sister is thrust into the role of caregiver for her younger physically disabled sister, aged 19. They live alone in an isolated area far up north in Norway for many years until an outsider arrives and upsets their status quo. At the start of the novella, the younger sister has been banished to the attic and is thinking back a year explaining how she ended up there. The story is entirely from her perspective and over time the reader begins to question her reliability. It’s a story of loneliness and yearning for love and attention. It’s dark and unlike anything I’ve ever read and very discussion-worthy.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—A book from a favorite or unread challenge from last year’s challenge (A book set somewhere in Scandinavia you would like to visit)
- Reading Women Challenge—A novella
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you
Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos
Last year I read Marisa de los Santos’ I’ll Be Your Blue Sky and loved it (Reading Lately, August 2018), so I thought I’d read Falling Together as a book in the backlist of a favorite author for the MMD Reading Challenge. It was exactly what I needed after the darker and heavier books I’d recently read. This was about friendships that last despite distance and time. Pen, Will, and Cat became inseparable during college but then parted ways four years after graduation. Their 10-year reunion provides an opportunity for them to reunite. De los Santos’ writing is beautiful. I got lost in her vivid descriptions of characters, place, and time, though I could see how some readers might think it too sentimental or sappy at times. I was not bothered by that. I really enjoyed the unexpected trip to the Philippines. This was a book I couldn’t wait to return to either via audiobook or ebook depending on the situation for me.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—N/A
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book in the backlist of a favorite author
What have you been reading lately?
Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Reading Lately (September 2019)
This past month I’ve been focusing on checking off prompts for the Reading Women Challenge. My latest two picks were not quick and easy reads, but they were both very good and worthwhile. Coincidentally, both books took place in contemporary times (late 1980s and early 1990s) and were #ownvoices novels that dealt with difficult subject matter and opened my eyes to experiences and histories that I was unfamiliar with. After this and last month’s focus on women in translation, it’s back to my Scandinavian Reading Challenge!
What have you been reading lately?
Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn
What an eye-opening book about the world hidden behind the paradise image we have of Jamaica! It takes place in a poor village on the outskirts of Montego Bay in the early 1990s and explores race, class, women’s sexuality, and LGBTQ+ issues. It focuses on two sisters and their mother and their desire to create a more desirable life. They live in a community already struggling with poverty but which is threatened even more by severe drought and the construction of a new resort nearby. The characters are strong and memorable for a variety of reasons (some better than others!). The author, born and raised in Jamaica, paints a vivid picture of the area, even using Jamaican dialect in the dialogue. Though I thought the book excellent, sadly, I’m not so keen on visiting Jamaica after reading it. But I am certainly interested in reading the author’s latest book Patsy which returns to Jamaica.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A Lambda Literary Award winner
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you
The Round House by Louise Erdrich
I’ve been wanting to read a Louise Erdrich book for a long time and I’m grateful to The Reading Women’s challenge (and the Little Free Library where I picked one up!) for giving me that final push. This book provides an intimate look at life on a Native American reservation in North Dakota in the late 1980s. It’s a story of tragedy and justice narrated by Joe, a man looking back at his life when he was 13 years old and his mother had been violently attacked. The book looks at the challenges in prosecuting the crime and the effects of this crime on the community, especially on Joe himself. It’s a coming of age story as we follow Joe and his friends navigating this delicate time between childhood and adulthood. I really enjoyed getting to know the large cast of characters – Joe’s father, a tribal judge; Joe’s extended family (the elders provided some surprising comic relief!); Joe’s closest friends; and many other reservation members. And learning about the culture, history, and traditions of this community was a bonus.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—N/A
- Reading Women Challenge—A book by an Indigenous woman
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book by an author who is new to you
What have you been reading lately?
Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Reading Lately (August 2019): All About #WITMonth
In August, my primary reading focus was reading women in translation for Women in Translation Month (WITMonth). Founded Meytal Radzinski on her blog Biblibio in 2014, WITMonth is a monthlong initiative to promote women writers from around the world who write in languages other than English. Since I tend to read many Scandinavian female authors throughout the year, I generally focused on writers from other countries and continents this month. As I shared last month, I had a big stack of potential books to read. I read many, but my efforts will continue in September and beyond.
A fun project I contributed to was Meytal’s compilation of the 100 best women in translation (#100BestWIT). She asked for nominations from readers around the world. Nominations were due August 26 and the next day she published the results. I was pleased to see that 5 of the 10 books I nominated made it onto the final list. Among those were these three Norwegian ones: Love by Hanne Ørstavik (translated by Martin Aitken), Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset (translated by Tiina Nunnally), and The History of Bees: A Novel by Maja Lunde (translated by Diane Oatley).
How’s your reading life been lately? Did you read any women in translation in August?
Kristin Lavransdatter II: The Wife by Sigrid Undset
(Translated from the Norwegian by Tiina Nunnally)
Last summer I read the first book in the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy and was so surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I was curious to see how Kristin’s marriage to her lover Erlend would go. Just like the first book, this one provides a thorough depiction of daily life in medieval Norway. I was a little confused by the political history of the time and had some trouble remembering and distinguishing characters, but I chose not to let those issues affect my enjoyment of the book. Kristin’s life as a protective mother to seven sons, a faithful wife to a husband with questionable political intentions, and a very pious person eager to save her soul were very engaging. I definitely enjoyed the first book more, but I’m very eager to see how her life plays out in the last book.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—A Scandinavian book published before you were born
- Reading Women Challenge—A translated book published before 1945
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book published before you were born
Celestial Bodies by Jokha Alharthi
(Translated from the Arabic by Marilyn Booth)
This book came on my radar about a year ago and I bought it right away, but then it lingered on my bookshelf. However, when the author (first female Omani novelist to be translated into English) won the International Booker Prize this spring, it jumped to the top of my TBR pile for WITMonth. It’s a uniquely structured novel that follows three sisters who live in a village outside the capital city of Muscat. One sister marries after realizing she’ll never have the one she truly desires. Another sister marries out of obligation. And the third sister refuses to marry and instead waits for her beloved to return from Canada. The chapters jump between the first person perspective of the first sister’s husband and the third person perspective of various family and community members. It was hard to keep track of characters (grateful for the family tree at the beginning!) and time, but I was fascinated by the lives of these women in contemporary Oman, so different from what I’m used to or been exposed to in reading before. And I learned a bit about the history of the region which was interesting as well.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—n/a
- Reading Women Challenge—A book featuring a religion other than your own; A multigenerational family saga
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book in translation; A book by an author who is new to you
Human Acts: A Novel by Han Kang
(Translated from the Korean by Deborah Smith)
Last year for WITMonth I read Han Kang’s The Vegetarian and liked it so I thought I’d try another of her novels this year, especially since on May 25, 2019, Han Kang was the latest author to submit a manuscript to the Future Library in Norway for publication in 2114 (view handover ceremony in the woods of Oslo here). This novel was about a horrific historical event I had never heard of before, the violent 1980 student uprising in Gwangju, South Korea. The story is told through chapters that are interconnected short stories. In the first chapter, which takes place in 1980, readers are introduced to several characters who then reappear in the next chapters over a period of 30 years. Interestingly, the chapters are either in first or second person with one chapter in third person. Be aware, Han Kang does not shy away from the gruesome details of this violent time, but at the same time, she shares examples of kindness and compassion too. I liked this one even more than The Vegetarian.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—n/a
- Reading Women Challenge—A historical fiction book
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book in translation
Strange Weather in Tokyo: A Novel by Hiromi Kawakami
(Translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell)
I read Hiromi Kawakami’s The Nakano Thrift Shop last year for WITMonth and really liked it, so this summer I wanted to read this one, and I was able to convince my book club to join me as well. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy it as much. It’s about Tsukiko, a woman in her thirties, and a former high school teacher (whom she calls Sensei because she can’t remember his name) who happen to meet again by chance. Over time they fall in love, but it’s an odd relationship based on unplanned meetings at a bar to drink beer and hot saké. Both characters are quirky and their conversations are limited and formal. I did really enjoy the insight into Japanese culture and foods. Even though I didn’t enjoy this book as much as The Nakano Thrift Shop, I am still glad I read it, and our book club had a good reason to meet at a Japanese restaurant and enjoy our own hot saké.
Reading Challenges:
- Scandinavian Reading Challenge—n/a
- Reading Women Challenge—A romance or love story
- Modern Mrs. Darcy Reading Challenge—A book in translation
What have you been reading lately?
Disclaimer: AVikingInLA is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.