In a Nutshell: Ma Thanegi was imprisoned for three years for her involvement in the 1988 uprisings as a personal assistant to Aung San Suu Kyi. Whilst in prison, she decided that upon release, she would take a road trip/go on a pilgrimage, by bus in Myanmar. The Native Tourist is a travelogue of sorts … Continue reading Day 13 🇲🇲: The Native Tourist: a Holiday Pilgrimage in Myanmar
Day 12: 🇲🇽 Tell Me How it Ends
In a Nutshell: Luiselli is a Mexican writer/journalist, who currently lives in New York City. Tell me How it Ends is about Luiselli’s experiences working as a volunteer for the Federal Courts in NYC. She interviews unaccompanied migrant children, she then translates and transcribes their interviews. A wonderful if sometimes harrowing read. Observations: This book … Continue reading Day 12: 🇲🇽 Tell Me How it Ends
Day 11: 🇵🇪 Nine Moons
In a Nutshell: Published by Restless Books, a US indie publisher and written in 2009, Nueve Lunas in Spanish, this wonderful essay collection was translated into English in 2019 by Jessica Powell. Each chapter is a month of Wiener’s pregnancy, she is from Lima, at athe time of writing the book, she was living in … Continue reading Day 11: 🇵🇪 Nine Moons
Day 10: 🇷🇼 Not my Time to Die
In a Nutshell: This was the first book to follow the full story of one person’s multifaceted experiences of genocide and it was also the first account authored by a Rwandan survivor. Yolande Mukagasana was a nurse before being hunted down, her husband and children were murdered but she survived. Observations: I read this book … Continue reading Day 10: 🇷🇼 Not my Time to Die
Day 9: 🇲🇦 Sex and Lies
I first read this in French so the quotes below are in French, I have also included the quotes from the translation. In a Nutshell: Sexe et Mensonges (Sex and Lies) is about what it is to be a woman in Morocco today, this isn’t an academic study, but a series of interviews with mostly … Continue reading Day 9: 🇲🇦 Sex and Lies
Day 8: 🇦🇷The German Room
In a Nutshell: The German Room transported me to another place, it had notes of (Elena) Ferrante, Murakami and (Mario) Benedetti in this wonderful novel. The narrator of the novel is pregnant, she lives in Buenos Aires but escapes to her childhood home, the German city of Heidelberg to escape and clear her head. Heidelberg … Continue reading Day 8: 🇦🇷The German Room
Day 7: 🇨🇺 Havana Year Zero
After reading two brilliant books from Charco Press last summer: The German Room by Carla Maliandi ( tr. Frances Riddle) and Holiday Heart by Margarita García Robayo (tr. Charlotte Coombe). I decided to subscribe to their 2021 bundle. Charco Press is a small indie publisher, based in Edinburgh, that brings Latin American contemporary writers to … Continue reading Day 7: 🇨🇺 Havana Year Zero
Day 6: 🇭🇹 Dance on the Volcano
Observations: Originally published in 1957 in French, this edition was translated by Kaiama L. Glover, a beautiful translation I may add. It was published in 2016 by Archipelago Books. I loved it, a period romp in places and at other times, a devastating tale of the impact colonialism has on nations like Haiti. In a … Continue reading Day 6: 🇭🇹 Dance on the Volcano
Day 5: 🇫🇷 Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal, (tr.Jessica Moore)
Observations: There are two English translations of the novel, one for UK audiences (Mend the Living) and one for U.S. audiences (The Heart), which was published in the U.S. in 2017. The Wellcome Book prize rewards exceptional works of literature that illuminate the many ways that health, medicine and illness touch our lives. Mend the … Continue reading Day 5: 🇫🇷 Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal, (tr.Jessica Moore)
Day 4: 🇸🇻 Slash and Burn
In a Nutshell: Quite an intense reading experience. The book is written in the third person, yet at times it feels like it is almost in the first person. None of the characters are given names, and only one place, Paris, France, is referred to. It talks of the after-effects of El Salvador’s Civil War, … Continue reading Day 4: 🇸🇻 Slash and Burn
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 