International Reads discussion

This thread is a place to post any recommendations that you think fit in with this groups theme. It would be great to hear what you've all read and enjoyed :)

A while ago a Dutch newspaper talked about this list:
http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/the...

It's a list with the most well-known/famous/best books from every country. I haven't read most of them, but maybe it can serve as a source of inspiration when we're out of ideas.

I'm a little disappointed about the Dutch picks though! I hope it's not a bad sign that the other country's picks are meh too. Mulisch's Discovery of Heaven is certainly the most popular book, but for example Cees Nooteboom's Lost Paradise is on there too. I think I would have rather seen them pick his book 'Rituals'.

Anywho, it's fun to see there's even books from countries like North-Korea and Myanmar. Those must require some good searching.

That link is AWESOME Amanda! It will definitely be a big help.

One of my suggestions in an earlier post was that we don't repeat a country within each year. So "The Slynx" is by a Russian author and I think that we shouldn't read another Russian book until 2015. (Says the girl who is imagining and hoping this club lasts until we've read something from each country and are old friends.) What does everyone else think?

Colleen wrote: "That link is AWESOME Amanda! It will definitely be a big help.

One of my suggestions in an earlier post was that we don't repeat a country within each year. So "The Slynx" is by a Russian author ..."

I think not repeating a country in a calendar year is a great idea and will allow for more diversity. When you figure there will be only 12 group reads a year, it seems repetitive to repeat a culture or country.

Amanda wrote: "A while ago a Dutch newspaper talked about this list:
http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/the...

It's a list with the most well-known/famous/best books from every country. I haven't read most of t..."

I've seen that list before! Scrolling through it again, it doesn't seem to list classic books, which is actually kind of good. The only recognizable name on the Polish list is Stanislaw Lem. He's a well known Science Fiction author. His books are modern classics in Polish right now, I'd say. I'd like to actually see branching out with genres as well in this book club, like reading unknown authors in science fiction or fantasy or steampunk? It only feels right.

What a wonderful link! Thanks Amanda!
I wanted to recommend Doppler by Erlend Loe. It's been my favourite read of the year so far, and i would love to read it again with all of you, as well as hearing your opinions on it.

I want to nominate Moment In Peking by Lin Yutang. This is a historical novel set during the turbulent times of the Boxer Uprising, the subsequent overthrow of the Imperial Dynasty and the Sino-Japanese War (1900-1945). The book follows three bourgeois families and is largely focused on the study of characters and family during an exceptional time. Lin originally wrote this book in English to target an American readership, but he wrote with Chinese literary influences from giants like Dream of the Red Chamber. Lin was a contemporary and friend of Pearl S. Buck, who wrote The Good Earth

edit: after I did a brief search on the major online bookseller websites, I realized just how hard and unrealistic it would be to read this for International Reads - I think the book has been out of print for many years now.

Hey everyone. For those new to the group I just wanted to clarify something.

These recommendations are awesome and I'm sure will make their way into the nominations at some point. However, the original 14 booktubers decided before opening the group up to keep the nominations of books and voting between ourselves. The main reason behind this being that we don't have to wait for 50+ people to vote. We already separated ourselves into voting groups as well. BUT again, these recommendations will definitely be taken into consideration and if you're a really active member and/or someone from the original group leaves, I'm sure you could bribe Mercedes and Grace to let you in on the voting. ;)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

This is a Filipino book. It's written by our national hero. It was a book set in the Philippines but was originally written in Spanish. It was used to spark the revolution that encourages reformation. It's a highly controversial book about how the Friars were in that time. :) I hope you would consider reading this. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Hello! I'd have to say this project is awesome! :D

The book I want to suggest is an icon in a quite unheard of genre: the genre in which something seemingly supernatural happens, but the author leaves it unclear whether it happened or the character imagined it.

Julio Cortázar is the writer, from Argentina. The book is a collection of short stories and it's called End of the Game.

I hope you take it into account! It's great

Here's the Best Translated Book Award (BTBA) List: http://tinyurl.com/mw3gxbg

Here's the International IMPAC Dublin Award list: http://tinyurl.com/l55eq2r

In both cases, the short list nominees are worth considering too.

Here's a Publisher's Weekly list of 20 GREAT translated titles: http://tinyurl.com/qfowdgq

If you're interested in translation, check this out: http://tinyurl.com/k4l2mp6
Here's a NewYorker piece on Arabic Literature: http://tinyurl.com/ybdj73g

And I'm going to shamelessly post 3% all over the place so that everyone on book tube interested in translated fiction will bookmark it: http://www.rochester.edu/College/tran... :)

Mona wrote: "I love this thread! I need to sit down and peruse each of these links for ideas on books and authors to add to my to-read shelf. :)

Here are a few of my favorites:
Words Without Borders: This is a..."

Mona, You get 10 thumbs up! :D

Whoah thanks Mona! I'll be on the computer for the next 4 hours....ah! It's already 2am! Okay, the next 2 hours.

I would like to suggest my all time favourite book - the god of small things by Arundhati Roy. It won the man booker in 1997 and is a beautiful book which has arrested me in the flaps of its cover since i read the first few lines of the book. I am delighted to be imprisoned in this beautiful and tragic world orchestrated by Roy and would love my favourite youtubers to review its unique and enchanting wrting style which reviels the end in the beginning , middle at the end and the beginning in the middle.

Alright, I'm kind of going to info dump right now, but here are a bunch of books I've either read or wanted to read by various diverse authors. I'm including a few authors who are based in America/Canada/England/Australia if they were born in other countries or have lived in another country and primarily write books set in that country, are aboriginal or of aboriginal descent, or if they write primarily about a group who is under-represented in the dominate culture. Most of these books fall into some type of magical realism, fantasy, science fiction, horror, etc genre because that is primarily what I read and consequently primarily what people recommend to me. There's also a few short story collections, and if you're looking to diversify your reading I highly recommend short story collections because they can give you a taste of many writers from a region, some of whom may have more works translated into English. Oh, I also tried to limit these to authors who have at least one title available in English.

The Apex Book of World SF and The Apex Book of World SF 2 Two short story collections (I've read them both.) Like all short story collections they vary in quality from author to author, but by and large these are very good collections which give a good range of authors.

Jo Nesbø A Norwegian (I think) author who wrote the Harry Hole detective series. The series is set all over the world.

Helen Oyeyemi Nigerian born writer living in England, her works draw on Nigerian mythology.

Nnedi Okorafor Nigerian born writer living in America, most of her works are set in Africa.

Lauren Beukes South African writer

Case Files of the Dread Eyes Detective Agency -Uriah's Vengeance Zimbabwean author

At the Cafe and the Talisman Algerian Author

Nalo Hopkinson Jamaican Author

Leslie Marmon Silko Native American writer from New Mexico

Sherman Alexie Native American from Spokane. I've been told I would enjoy his The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven but haven't read it.

The Way to Rainy Mountain I read this book as a part of a Native American literature class in undergrad, and it was pretty good, but it is a little confusing.

Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux Read this book for the same class.

Stephen Graham Jones Native American author.

Gerry William Native American author from British Columbia

Karin Lowachee Lives in Canada, from Guyana

Hiromi Goto Japanese-Canadian author who draws a lot from Japanese culture

Haruki Murakami Japanese author of science fiction. Very well known in Japan.

Samit Basu modern (as in still writing) Indian science fiction and fantasy author

J.V. Naralikar Indian science fiction author.

Anil Menon Indian Science fiction author

Satyajit Ray Indian author

Rimi B. Chatterjee Indian author

Lu Xun Classic Chinese writer.

The Fat Years This was described to me as a Chinese dystopian novel.

The Reverse Side of Life Korean magical realism type book.

Jia A novel about present day North Korea.

Cixin Liu Chinese science fiction author

Joyce Chng Science fiction author from Singapore.

Jorge Luis Borges Author from Argentina

The Master and Margarita It's Russian, it has the devil, you should read it.

Okay, these last four I wasn't sure if I should include, but they're all cool authors so I'll list them and people can decide for themselves if they're interested.

Will Elliott Australian horror writer.

N.K. Jemisin African-American fantasy writer.

Samuel R. Delany African-American fantasy author

Saladin Ahmed Arabic-American fantasy writer. I read his short story collection, it's pretty cool.

Throwing in Kim Young Ha into the mix! His book Your Republic is Calling You is from the perspective of a North Korean spy who is living in South Korea.

This is a bit unrelated, but Stephen Graham Jones from Nicole's list is actually my comic book professor...Small world, eh?

On a more related note, it is a bit of a shame that the December book is one that is Japanese related. I also know that Japan won't come around again for a long time because the point of this group is diversity. I have a lot of recommendations involving Japanese literature. Being that Japan is my focused area of study, I'll probably relatively unreliable in the recommendations area.

Sabrina wrote: "This is a bit unrelated, but Stephen Graham Jones from Nicole's list is actually my comic book professor...Small world, eh?

On a more related note, it is a bit of a shame that the December book is..."

I would like to know your recommendations for Japanese literature. Even if we don't read any as book club picks for a while, maybe me or somebody else in the group will decide the really like Snow Country and want to read more from Japan.

Also yes, small world. I read one of his short stories in an eZine and have been meaning to read one of his books for a while, but haven't yet.

Mona wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Alright, I'm kind of going to info dump right now, but here are a bunch of books I've either read or wanted to read by various diverse authors. I'm including a few authors who are ba..."

I plan to check out a few of the resources you listed as well when I get a chance. It's always great to find new authors.

Thank you all SO SO MUCH for all the wicked links and recommendations!!! I'm now going to spend the next few hours checking them all out - I've got some haribo and chocolate to eat while I do it and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets film on in the background. All in all a pretty good evening :)

Michiko wrote: "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

This is a Filipino book. It's written by our national hero. It was a book set in the Philippines but was originally written..."

Oh I'm glad you recommended this - I've wanted to read this for a while now! :)

Kirat wrote: "I would like to suggest my all time favourite book - the god of small things by Arundhati Roy. It won the man booker in 1997 and is a beautiful book which has arrested me in the flaps of its cover ..."

Oh I've had this book for ages and never got round to picking it up - so really glad to hear how much you enjoyed it :)

Hi everyone! I just read a great book - Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk. She's a Polish writer and, even though I rarely read anything in my native language, I really really enjoyed this one. I f you ever look for something from a Polish author - I'd highly recommend this one. It's the history of the 20th century in Poland mixed with magic realism within the boundaries of a very small village guarded by four angels. It just has everything that makes a book great for me :)

Nicole wrote: "Alright, I'm kind of going to info dump right now, but here are a bunch of books I've either read or wanted to read by various diverse authors. I'm including a few authors who are based in America/..."

Oh my, this list sent me on a total shopping spree. The Fat Years sounds like it would be very interesting.

Dear Amanda, I know about the list, imagine my suprise and delight when she found my little blog and asked me for recommendations on what to read from my native country - Moldova! Then she even mentioned me in her article because the book didn't arrive to her and she had to read just a short story in English!

Christina wrote: "Dear Amanda, I know about the list, imagine my suprise and delight when she found my little blog and asked me for recommendations on what to read from my native country - Moldova! Then she even men..."

Ah, that's so nice!


Books I wish to recommend:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... (author is from Cuba)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... (author is from South Korea)

I just finished Natsuo Kirino;s book

It was fabulous!!This is a crime fiction novel,horror,and a thriller.I do have a little review on it but I was floored,stunned and said to myself,I am so glad I read this book:)

Thanks to Marian for inviting me to this group. Reading international fiction is a superb idea – and one that is very close to my heart.

Lots of excellent suggestions already. "Your Republic Is Calling You" and "Out" both sound fascinating – for completely different reasons!

May I suggest the following titles? The first is a superb horror by a Swedish author, also a film both in Sweden and the US.



The second is a cheeky one – it's one of my books, a thought-provoking thriller set in Iran. I add it because it really says a lot about my love of Eastern countries and my desire to protect the people and cultures of distant places, otherwise spoilt by unnecessary war.



I will think of more (that are not mine) and add soon! Hope you enjoy my suggestions.
Amaya

Hello from Canada Amaya:)On Wed.I will be going to the bookstore to see if those 2 books are there.I sure hope so:)Would love to read them!

I started an international reading project a few months ago, after reading about the British woman mentioned above but before finding this site. Thank you all for great ideas. I am keeping a list at www.InternationalReads.blogspot.com so stop on by if you'd like other thoughts. I'll integrate titles you've mentioned here, too. Melissa

Marian and Melissa - I would add The Sabi .. from South Africa - beautiful, powerful and touching

I'd like to recommend De zwarte met het witte hart (translated as The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi) by my favourite Dutch author, Arthur Japin.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

To quote Wikipedia:
The novel tells the story of two Ashanti princes, Kwame Poku and Kwasi Boachi, who were taken from what is today Ghana and given to the Dutch king William II in 1837 as a surety in a business transaction between the Dutch and Ashanti kingdoms. The two boys are raised and educated in the Netherlands, after which Kwame returns to Africa while Kwasi continues his education in Weimar Germany and then takes a position in the Dutch East Indies. The novel is a postcolonial depiction of the Dutch colonial past. It quickly became a bestseller and was translated worldwide, and is now considered a classic of Dutch modern literature.

I finished reading it yesterday and I really liked it, it's one of my favourite Dutch books.

I can recommend Doppler by Erlend Loe (Norweigan author). I read it last year in the swedish translation and thought it was hilarious!

Donald wrote: "Marian and Melissa - I would add The Sabi .. from South Africa - beautiful, powerful and touching"


Donald, excellent! Many thanks!

Does anyone have recommendation for books from authors/set in:

Sweden
Germany
and
The Ukraine

Oksana ZabuzhkoI LOVED Astrid and Veronika set in Sweden and by a woman raised in Sweden (Linda Olsson). International Reads' comments here. As for the Ukraine, a tough read and a big allegory: "Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex" by Oksana Zabuzhko has taught me a great deal about that country. Contains unpleasant and graphic descriptions of power expressed through sex.

I'd like to recommend a book from an Argentine author that has an edition in the Penguin Modern Classics so I guess it'll be easier that others to get a hold of. It's The Tunnel by Ernesto Sabato. Hope it helps!

Very hesitantly, and with explicit approval from one of the moderators, I am bringing to light this novella that is set in the US, India, and Bolivia.

It is a story of love, loss, and pain; leaving a question mark on the fate of the main character.

Please see if it incites any interests. If not, I apologize in advance. Thanks and happy reading!


Amazon link

I would like to recommend two books:

The hour of the star, by Clarice Lispector (Brazil)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...

Silk, by Alessandro Baricco (Italy)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Thanks and happy readings!

I would like to nominate Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...
It's quite a big book but it's supposed to be amazing and it's sat on my shelf begging me to read it

Colleen wrote: "Does anyone have recommendation for books from authors/set in:

Sweden
Germany
and
The Ukraine"



For Ukraine, I would like to nominate Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Also the following book which has been on my TBR for years:
The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares (Argentina)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...

'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' -Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic.) I'm trying not to build it up too much in case you're disappointed, but it's one of my favourite books ever!

Amanda wrote: "A while ago a Dutch newspaper talked about this list:
http://ayearofreadingtheworld.com/the...

It's a list with the most well-known/famous/best books from every country. I haven't read most of t..."

Thanks Amanda, that's brilliant! :)

Fei Fei wrote: "I want to nominate Moment In Peking by Lin Yutang. This is a historical novel set during the turbulent times of the Boxer Uprising, the subsequent overthrow of the Imperial Dynasty a..."
In the "information age", it is amazing how only 4% of the US fiction market is from books outside the USA, while the rest of the world has access to up to 40% of world literature in translation. My book club can't even find enough copies of books by foreign Nobel prize winning authors, so we've had to postpone some selections until we can get the novels from other parts of the US shipped to us! This attempt to read more widely has been such an eye opening experience for me about how isolated and parochial we are in America,.

Louize wrote: "'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao' -Junot Diaz (Dominican Republic.) I'm trying not to build it up too much in case you're disappointed, but it's one of my favourite books ever!"
I had to have one friend help me with the "Geek speak" and another friend help me with the Spanish, but it was definitely worth it. It is one of my top ten favorites!