Books Read August 2020: 194-228

 August was a busy reading month, especially because of Women in Translation Month (originally created by Meytal Radzinski.) I'll probably post separately about the reads I did for that month as I find myself reading *just a few more* in September. Not only did I read a heck of a lot of women in translation, one of my favorite novelists came out with a new book this month too. And my reading class had a book club. And my book club had a book club. Lots to read.

Here are my five-star reads for the month:

 

194. A Small Key Can Open a Large Door by Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
195. Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library eBook; my review)
196. Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
197. Fair Play by Tove Jansson, translated by Thomas Teal ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library eBook; my review)
198. Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
199. Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (review copy; my review)
200. Stephen Florida by Gabe Habash ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Kindle eBook; my review)
201. What's Left of Me is Yours by  Stephanie Scott ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from Edelweiss; my review)
202. Elysium by Jennifer Marie Brissett; narrated by Jamye Meri Grant ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
203. The Memory Police by  Yoko Ogawa; translated by Stephen Snyder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library eBook; my review)
204. Hold Me Tight by  Jason Schneiderman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
205. Junebat by John Elizabeth Stintzi ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
206. What Happens at Night by Peter Cameron ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (physical galley from publisher; my review)
207. Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
208. How to Fly (in Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) by Barbara Kingsolver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from NetGalley; my review)
209. Clea by Lawrence Durrell ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
210. The Fixed Stars by  Molly Wizenberg, narrated by Erin Mallon ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
211. The Piano Student by  Lea Singer, translated by Elisabeth Lauffer ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher in Edelweiss; my review)
212. The Switch by Beth O'Leary ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher in Edelweiss; my review)
213. Chef by Jaspreet Singh ⭐️⭐️⭐️  (personal copy; my review)
214. Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami; translated by Sam Bett and David Boyd ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
215. Grown Ups by Emma Jane Unsworth ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher in NetGalley; my review)
216. Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life by Ulli Lust; translated by Kim Thompson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla eBook; my review)
217. The Discomfort of Evening by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld; translated by Michele Hutchison ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
218. Transit by Rachel Cusk ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
219. Vanessa Yu's Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher in NetGalley; my review)
220. The Inheritance by Sahar Khalifeh; translated by Aida Bamia ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
221. Swimmers in Winter by Faye Guenther ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (print galley from publisher; my review)
222. Home by Various, translated by Various ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
223. Exquisite Mariposa by Fiona Alison Duncan; narrated by Natasha Soudek ⭐️⭐️ (Hoopla audiobook; my review)
224. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (library eBook; my review)
225. A History of My Brief Body by Billy-Ray Belcourt ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy; my review)
226. Sex and Lies by Leila Slimani; translated by Sophie Lewis ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (eARC from publisher; my review)
227. Spellbound by Bishakh Kumar Som ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  (eARC from publisher; my review)
228. The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke, translated by Jamie Bulloch ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (personal copy Kindle eBook; my review)

Books Read: 35

5-star reads:13

Audiobook:3

eBook:17

Print:15

Library: 7

Personal: 11 (subscription: 1)

Review:17

Comics: 2

Memoir: 4

Non-fiction: 5

Poetry: 4

Sci-fi/fantasy: 3

Translated:11

Around the World: 18

Booker or International Booker: 3

Middle East 2020: 5

Read the World:1

Sword and Laser: 1

Tournament of Books: 1

Women in Translation Month: 1 at very end of July, 8.5 in August

Review: The Mussel Feast

The Mussel Feast by Birgit Vanderbeke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the publisher blurb:
A mother and her two teenage children sit at the dinner table. In the middle stands a large pot of cooked mussels. Why has the father not returned home? As the evening wears on, we glimpse the issues that are tearing this family apart.

'I wrote this book in August 1989, just before the Fall of the Berlin Wall. I wanted to understand how revolutions start. It seemed logical to use the figure of a tyrannical father and turn the story into a German family saga.' Birgit Vanderbeke

Peirene intentionally publishes shorter, read in one sitting, translated works - it would have been hard to take much more of this one in the sense that you really get a sense of the dictator father and how his behavior has controlled the family. It is told from the perspective of the oldest daughter, and at least in the ebook there are no chapter or paragraph breaks. It's like being in the family yourself, oppressed with no end in sight.

I know it's supposed to be a metaphor for East Berlin and the wall coming down or something like this but it's also an uncomfortably accurate depiction of how one tyrannical person can limit the lives of the people he controls (okay, I see it now, this is also what happens in oppressive regimes, got it.)

The novel starts with the mother cleaning mussels for her husband's homecoming - he expects meals to be a certain way and she complies, even though as she has said on multiple occasions, she does not herself care for mussels. Everything must be done his way.

Another point in the novel, it says "...Music, my father said, was pure excess and would never get any engine started. He said this because ever since their escape to the West my mother’s violin had lain in their bedroom wardrobe, and only occasionally." He also refuses to go to the mountains for vacation, criticizes her appearance and wardrobe, and won't let the narrator play the piano.

I loved the ending, and will look for more from this press. I was happy to read this from the books I already had for Women in Translation month; this is translated from the German.

View all my reviews

Reading Envy 161: Women in Translation Month Recommendations

August is Women in Translation month (#WITMonth,) so Lauren and Jenny have recommendations for you. Some of our recommendations are linked to our reading goals for the year (Jenny's of Asia; Lauren's of Argentina and beyond) but not all. We also take a break in the middle to share recommendations from the founder of WITMonth, Meytal Radzinski. In the show notes, Jenny has linked to episodes where any of the books mentioned are discussed in greater depth, and at the end, the full list of all episodes that include a WIT title.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 161: Women in Translation Month Recommendations with Lauren

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Books discussed:



Wait, Blink by Gunnhild Øyehaug, translated by Kari Dickson
Arid Dreams by Duanwad Pimwana, translated by Mui Poopoksakul
The Property by Rutu Modan, translated by Jessica Cohen
La Bastarda by Trifonia Melibea Obono, translated by Lawrence Schimel
Mouthful of Birds by Samanta Schweblin, translated by Megan McDowell
The Dry Heart by Natalie Ginzburg, translated by Frances Frenaye
Awu's Story by Justine Mintsa, translated by Cheryl Toman
Maresi Red Mantle by Maria Turtschaninoff, translated by A. A. Prime
August by Romina Paula, translated by Jennifer Croft (Episode 095)
Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, translated by Bonnie Huie.
The Extraordinary Lives of Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, translated by Lucy Moffatt
Diving for Seahorses by Hilde and Ylva Østby, translated by Marianne Lindvall
American Fictionary by Dubravka Ugrešić, translated by Celia Hawkesworth and Ellen Elias-Bursać
Mars: Stories by Asja Bakic, translated by Jennifer Zoble
Voices in the Dark by Ulli Lust, translated by John Brownjohn and Nika Knight
The Blind Earthworm in the Labyrinth by Veeraporn Nitiprapha, translated by Kong Rithdee
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori
The White Book by Han Kang, translated by Deborah Smith


Other mentions:

Knots: Stories by Gunnhild Øyehaug
Bright by Duanwad Pimwana (Episode 154)
Article: What Does it Mean to be a Feminist in Thailand?
Exit Wounds by Rutu Modan
The First Wife by Paulina Chiziane (Episode 064)
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
Silvinia Ocampo
Sara Gallardo
Mariana Enriquez
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (Episode 024)
Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life by Ulli Lust
Flughunde by Marcel Beyer
Revenge by by Yoko Ogawa
The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (Episode 095)
The Diving Pool by Yoko Ogawa
The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa
Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto
Confessions by Kanae Minato
Penance by Kanae Minato
The Emissary by Yoko Tagawa
Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tagawa
The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagan
Human Acts by Han Kang (Episode 102)
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Away! Away! by Jana Beňová
Beyond Babylon by Igiaba Scego, translated by Aaron Robertson


Other Women in Translation Titles on previous episodes:

Memories: from Moscow to the Black Sea by Teffi, translated by Robert and Emily Chandler (Episode 067)
Tolstoy, Rasputin, Others, and Me by Teffi (Episode 138)
Suite for Barbara Loden by Nathalie Leger, translated by Cecile Menon (Episode 096)
Land of Love and Ruins by Oddny Eir, translated by Philip Roughton (Episode 119)
The Heart by Maylis de Kerengal, translated by Sam Taylor (Episode 122)
Eve Out of Her Ruins by Anana Devi, translated by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Episode 083)
Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga (Episode 053 and Episode 079)


Related Episodes:

Episode 097 - Blank Spaces with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 123 - Godlets and Forests with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 133 - To Understand the World with Lauren Weinhold
Episode 138 - Shared Landscape with Lauren Weinhold 
Episode 147 - Bonus Poetry Recommendations with Lauren 


Stalk us online:
Lauren at Goodreads
Lauren is @end.notes on Instagram
Meytal is @Read_WIT on Twitter for WITMonth
Meytal is @readwit on Instagram for WITMonth
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy