Around the World in 80 Books discussion

I'm a bit unsure about this one, but will give it a try and see how it goes. Here's the list:

1. Room Irish-Canadian author
✔︎2.The Pickup February selection, set in South Africa and unnamed North African country
3. Tess of The D'ubervilles UK
4.Gelobtes Land. Meine Jahre in Stalins Sowjetunion USSR
✔︎5. Die Magie der Namen December selection, fantasy with German author
✔︎6. Historias de amor September selection, Argentina
✔︎7.El espía del Rey March selection, Spain and England
✔︎8. Ja November selection, Austria
✔︎9. Time of White Horses January selection, Palestine
10. A Strangeness in My Mind Turkey
11.The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Japan
12.Holunderliebe Germany
13.We're Flying Switzerland
✔︎14. Allmen and the Pink Diamond Switzerland, October Selection
15. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Turkey
✔︎16.Umami Mexico and United States, May Selection
17. The Perfect Nanny France
✔︎18.Adèle France - July selection
19.A Horse Walks into a Bar Israel
20. The Catholic School Italy
✔︎21.Homeland March selection, Spain (Basque Region mostly)
22. Cat's Eye Canada
✔︎23. Mouthful of Birds Argentina, August Selection
✔︎24.The Unbearable Lightness of Being French (Czech background) June selection

As of 17 Jan, finished book #9 on my list, Time of White Horses by Ibrahim Nasrallah. It was set in Palestine spanning multiple generations from the time of the Ottomans to the founding of the state of Israel, and tells the story of the people of the village of Hadiya (fictional), but contains historical non-fiction figures and interweaves true accounts from people who lived there during that time.

Finished #2 The Pickup on Feb 9. Set in South Africa and an unnamed North African or Middle Eastern country. Very well written story by Nadine Gordimer about a complicated relationship between the a South African white woman from a wealthy background and an undocumented Arab man.

As of Mar 6, finished El espía del rey. This was an historical espionage novel set in the 18th century in Spain and England. Not that interesting.

Finished #21 Homeland by Fernando Aramburu translated by Alfred MacAdam on April 14. I really enjoyed this book about the intertwined fates of two Basque families during the times of violent separatism in Spain.

On 09.May finished #16 Umami by Laia Jufresa translated by Sophie Hughes from Spanish to English. I enjoyed this book, which contained voices over several years from several characters who live in a group of apartments in a mews in Mexico City.

On 04.June finished #24 The Unbearable Lightness of Being set mostly in then Czechoslovakia in the 1968 or so era. This was quite thought provoking, a mixture of philosophy and love(?) story following 4 characters over time and place. I've never seen the film version, it's hard to imagine they'd be able to convey the philosophical side of this novel.

I will have to shuffle my tbr list a bit since some of these books are to be physically found at the public library, not yet re-opened in my area. Will update in the next few days. Looking forward to the next reads. Edit: June 12, actually they are all available in ebook versions, so no changes needed.

on 05.July finished #18 Adèle. Very well-written, but intense book about a sex addict in Paris. Interestingly, the main character reads The Unbearable Lightness of Being and her behavior parallels to the promiscuity of Tomáš.

On 12.August finished #23 Mouthful of Birds. This was a collection of pretty strange short stories by Argentine writer Samanta Schweblin. They were well-written, but overall, I was not enthralled.

On 10 September finished #6 Historias de amor short stories from Argentine writer Adolfo Bioy Casares. These stories were just ok. I liked last month's book better.

On 6 October, finished #14Allmen and the Pink Diamond, a Swiss mystery.

On 13 November, finished #8 Ja by Austrian Thomas Bernhard. Very well written, but also dark (narrator suffers severe depression). (edited; was read in November, not October)

Finished #5 Die Magie der Namenby Nicole Gozdek. Young Adult fantasy. Was entertaining, but ending was disappointing...

That's it for the year.

Well done! I’ll “see” you in 2021. I’ve got a long slog this month so will likely finish just under the wire.