Review: The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga

The Actual True Story of Ahmed and Zarga by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first saw this book was coming out sometime last year and knew I hadn't read anything for Mauritania, and jumped at the chance. The author is the son of a Mauritian camel herder, but also the author of a memoir about his time held at Guantanamo Bay without being charged, until 2016 (Guantánamo Diary: Restored Edition.)

This tale feels more like a fable or parable. Ahmed goes after a missing camel that may have been stolen or just gotten lost. Along the way the reader learns a lot about Bedouin culture - the difference family groups, hospitality practices, how Islamic beliefs are wrapped into their traditions, and the ins and outs of camels. Ahmed talks about the camels by name so I got confused a few times, confusing camels with people.

Also in a weird pattern I've found in my 2021 reading - this is the third book I've read with random cannibalism. Not central to the story.

This book has connections to another book I've read recently - although I'm a different continent I felt some striking similarities between the difficulty of life in a hot desert to the Winter Pasture: One Woman's Journey with China's Kazakh Herders book with herding families in Kazakhstan. One of the threats to both ways of life is modernization of the world around them, whether that results in fewer people to trade with or climate change. Sometimes you really need that oasis in the desert.

I had a copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss. It came out February 23, 2021.

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Review: Laugh with the Moon

Laugh with the Moon by Shana Burg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For the Read the World 21 challenge, this month focusing on South and East Africa, I have focused on countries I had not read books from yet. I came across this middle reader novel set in Malawi. It is more of an outsider view as the main character, Clare, is a white American who travels with her father who is in Malawi to work as a doctor for nine weeks. He has a history there and friends in the village. Clare has recently lost her mother and is struggling.

I prefer ownvoices reads but the benefit of an outsider view novel for kids can be the bridge between two cultures. The author had two readers in Malawi checking for cultural accuracy, and visited herself to study the education system, which figures pretty heavily into the novel.

It took me back to my childhood in a sideways way, when my mom coordinated missions at the church I grew up in and I had a very good friend and penpal who lived in Kenya with her missionary parents. Much of the day to day stuff including the food sounds similar to her experience, although she did attend a boarding school as she got older.

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Review: Everything Lost Is Found Again: Four Seasons in Lesotho

Everything Lost Is Found Again: Four Seasons in Lesotho by Will McGrath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I look for books set in other countries, I always try to find ownvoices reads first. In a rare case I will read a memoir of an outsider's experience in the country, like I have done in this case.

Will McGrath spends his initial year in Lesotho (pronounced Leh-soo-too) because his wife is a cultural anthropologist focused on AIDs and resulting orphans. Lesotho's adult population is 25% HIV positive, with a lot of grandparents caring for grandchildren, so it was the right place for her to go. Will worked at a school.

Unlike some outsider writings where they seem to mock people living in a place (J. Maarten Troost comes to mind,) Will is curious about language nuances and how people think, without taking any of it too seriously. Both he and Ellen build relationships with people and seem good at going with the flow. I wish he knew that granadilla was passion fruit though. That's going to bug me forever.

I learned a lot about the country landlocked by South Africa, while also being entirely different from South Africa. This will count for the Read the World 21 challenge for this month, focusing on South and East Africa, and crosses another country off my world list.

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Review: Reading the Ceiling

Reading the Ceiling by Dayo Forster
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ayodele is turning 18 and is selecting a man to have sex with.

I don’t want to wait for this falling-in-love business, or aim for passion, even though everyone everywhere – books, films, magazines – makes it seem like the ultimate. I want to get this sex thing over and done with so my life can move on.

The novel is written in three sections following what would happen if Dele follows three different scenarios. It's not quite choose your own adventure in feeling, although the consequences are at times surprisingly long-reaching. It's like a coming of age story combined with an exploration of all the contextual factors a young person might face in The Gambia - economics, education, religion, marriage, children, loss, relocation, class, etc.

The voice in the writing is vivid and entertaining and it reads quickly. I like how details in the background that happen in one story happen again but not exactly the same and yet you need to know what came in the first version to understand the rest; this introduces a bit of complexity the author could have avoided with three distinct stories but I feel makes the reading experience better. The story is also very international as Dele has a Chinese friend, has travel possibilities that are wide-ranging (America, UK, or "just" Dakar....)

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Reading Envy 172: The It Book of NYC

Jenny welcomes Jon Laubinger of the Film Baby Film Podcast back to the Reading Envy Pub for a chat on books, the multimedia versions they connect to, and more. We spend some time chatting about recent book awards, including more on the Booker Prize and the Nobel Prize for Literature. If you're not that interested in award chatter, jump ahead to 15:15. And make sure to listen to the end for information on one Reading Envy guest who had a movie made from his work!

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 172: The It Book of NYC with Jon Laubinger

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Books discussed:



The Need by Helen Phillip
The Deep by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
Satantango by László Krasznahorkai, translated by George Szirtes
First Light by Charles Baxter
The Devils of Loudon by Aldous Huxley
Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin, read by Frances McDormand


Other mentions:

Booker Prize 2019
The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Quichotte by Salman Rushdie
Nobel Prize for Literature
Flights by Olga Tocarczuk
Wings of Desire (film)
Kindred by Octavia Butler
ZEAL & ARDOR
"We Are in the Future" - This American Life 623
Interview with Rivers Solomon
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Citizen by Claudia Rankine
Satantango (film)
Werckmeister Harmonies (film)
The Turin Horse (film)
Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky
Tinkers by Paul Harding
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
The Devils (film)
Black Wave by Michelle Tea
Beanpole (film)
21 Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich, translated by P&V


Related Episodes:

Episode 041 - Grotesque Beauty with Nathan Ballingrud 
Episode 080 - The Wild Things Helped with Jason Roland
Episode 102 - The Reading Women Reading Envy Crossover Episode 
Episode 106 - Falling Asleep During Tarkovsky Films with Jon Laubinger
Episode 126 - Bernice Bobs her Hair with Jon Laubinger
Episode 165 - Delightful Reads with Claire
Episode 166 - On Brand with Karen
Episode 167 - Book Pendulum with Reggie
Episode 170 - Permission to Read with Joshua Greer 
 

Stalk us online:

Jon's podcast website, Film Baby Film
FBF on Instagram
Jon at Goodreads
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

Reading Envy 083: Slowing Down and Rereading

Julie Davis stops by the Reading Envy Pub, where we talk about rereading, slowing down to appreciate an author's craft, and the best spy adventure the Vatican has ever seen! We also talk about good books we've read lately.

Download or listen via this link: Reading Envy 083: Slowing Down and Rereading.

Subscribe to the podcast via this link: Feedburner
Or subscribe via iTunes by clicking: Subscribe
Or listen through TuneIn
Or listen on Google Play
Listen via Stitcher

If you are interested in appearing on the podcast: FAQ


Books featured:



The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Eve Out of Her Ruins by Ananda Devi
Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
The Temporary Bride: A Memoir of Love and Food in Iran by Jennifer Kinec
Church of Spies: The Pope's Secret War Against Hitler by Mark Riebling
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin


Also discussed:

The Tolkien Professor
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit by Corey Olsen
Les Enfantes des Troumarons (film)
Slumdog Millionaire (film)

The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
The Franchise Affair by Josephine Tey
Taste of Persia by Naomi Duguid
America, the Last Best Hope by William J. Bennett
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens
The Book of Etta by Meg Elison


Related Episodes:

Episode 003 - 3 of 5 Stars with guest Julie Davis
Episode 055 - Too Late for an Autopsy with Julie Davis
Episode 071 - Bad Priest, Good Priest, No Priest with Scott (discussion of The Unnamed Midwife)


Stalk us online:

Julie at The Happy Catholic
SFF Audio
Julie at A Good Story is Hard to Find
Julie at Forgotten Classics
Jenny at Goodreads
Jenny on Twitter
Jenny is @readingenvy on Instagram and Litsy

Library Books Mid-December 2015

These piles represent the second half of (New Zealand) November and the beginning of the last month of the year, where I know I will have more time to read over the holidays but the interlibrary loan deadlines happen early. So get ready. I actually had to take pictures in batches because I checked out and finished so many already, and then got a bunch more.

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera
Potiki by Patricia Grace
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Far Eastern Cookery by Elinor Burt
The Adventures of Vela by Albert Wendt
When Sun And Moon Collide by Briar Grace-Smith
The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson
Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
Sam Choy's Polynesian Kitchen by Sam Choy
The Ethnomusicologists' Cookbook by X Williams

The Williams, Choy, and Burt were research for cooking baking in Oceania, to coincide with my reading. The Burt was useless, more like mid-19th century processed food recipes with a few Polynesian ingredients like canned pineapple. I loved the Williams and will probably need to own it - each featured country also has a bibliography of recommended readings (usually ethnographies) and music to listen to. It was a great connection to my former life in an ethnomusicology grad program.

I went to the stacks to pull a few books from New Zealand. If you know the Library of Congress system at all, you know that literature is shelved first by country and then by author. I grabbed the Grace-Smith and Ihimaera but then just a few shelves away found the Wendt. I had a brief lapse where I forgot I wasn't including Southeast Asia in this year's big reading project; Ilustrado has been returned to the library and will wait for another year. I requested the Grace through interlibrary loan after the recommendation from a Goodreads friend.

I wanted to read the Dick before watching the television series, although now that I have finished the book and started the show, I know that they are vaguely related. One does not necessarily need to be consumed before the other. Ah well. It wasn't my favorite Philip K. Dick novel but it was fine. I finished the Nelson this weekend - this book I got through interlibrary loan after Carrie Brownstein mentioned it in the Q&A of her audiobook recording for Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl.

 
Sons for the Return Home by Albert Wendt
Dear Thief by Samantha Harvey
The Spell of the Pacific by Stroven & Day
Fortune Smiles: Stories by Adam Johnson
African Kitchen by Josie Fison
The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa by Marcus Samuelsson

The bottom two cookbooks give a clue about next year's regional reading project. The Wendt and Stroven are both for reading Oceania - the large tomb is a result of reading a mention of it in a book I recently finished - Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All.  The Harvey was one of the many books listed in the Tournament of Books Longlist for 2016, and sounded interesting. I also hadn't heard of it yet, while many of their books were known to me.

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Why I read it: One of the January selections for the Great African Reads Group, and because it included several countries I hadn't yet covered in my Around the World reading - Niger, Gabon, Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Benin

This book brought me to tears, multiple times. I actually had to put a little bit of distance in between finishing it and reviewing it. The author, Uwem Akpan, wrote these stories to draw attention to the children of Africa and the struggles they face. It is tempting to dismiss it as merely fiction, to reassure myself that people surely do not live this way, but I know too much of the reality to be able to do so. The stories themselves are fiction of course, but pull from very real events.

I wouldn't recommend it to everyone. Be prepared; these are heavy.

Story by story, may contain spoilers:

The Ex-Mas Feast - This takes place in a Nairobi shantytown, where a family tries to plan for holidays when they don't have money for food. Chemicals for sniffing are given as gifts instead. My younger sister went to Nairobi to visit with missionary friends of the family a few years back, and I was reminded of her photos.


Fattening for Gabon - A story of two children, who already lost their parents to AIDS (they don't seem to understand this), being prepared to be sold into slavery by their uncle. The way it is told, heavy on dialect and food description, almost serves to mask the horror. But then I would stop to realize what was going on, ugh. I kept thinking maybe they are going to be adopted! But no. This story is very long, more of a novella.

What Language is That? - Highlighting the turmoil created in communities by religious groups encouraging violence. Could you explain to a 6 year old why she can no longer see her best friend?

Luxurious Hearses - Another very long story, more of a novella, about people fleeing a violent city on a bus. The main character is trying to hide that he is Muslim because of tensions. I liked how everyone on the bus had to have an opinion about everything, it gave a good sense of the cultures involved and what was valued. It gets more and more violent as the story progresses, and yet I was still hoping for a better end!

My Parents' Bedroom - This is the story I wish I hadn't read. Horribly violent, horrifying, I just can't even recall it enough to summarize it. Ethnic cleansing is something I will never understand.

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Two Books from Libya

I feel like pairing these two books because both are set in Libya, both are written by authors with ties to Libya, and both feature main characters who are on the outskirts of the violent changes in their world.

In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Publisher summary: Libya, 1979. Nine-year-old Suleiman’s days are circumscribed by the narrow rituals of childhood: outings to the ruins surrounding Tripoli, games with friends played under the burning sun, exotic gifts from his father’s constant business trips abroad. But his nights have come to revolve around his mother’s increasingly disturbing bedside stories full of old family bitterness. And then one day Suleiman sees his father across the square of a busy marketplace, his face wrapped in a pair of dark sunglasses.  Suleiman is soon caught up in a world he cannot hope to understand—where the sound of the telephone ringing becomes a portent of grave danger; where his mother frantically burns his father’s cherished books; where a stranger full of sinister questions sits outside in a parked car all day; where his best friend’s father can disappear overnight, next to be seen publicly interrogated on state television. 

Some authors make a political statement with their stories, powerful because of the emotional connections we make as readers to the circumstances. In this case, and despite the multiple awards and award nominations, I felt the story was a thin veil over circumstances that the author wanted to talk about. The nine year old makes confusing decisions, isn't afraid when a normal child would be, leading to destruction around him. He felt emotionally distant. At the same time, the author ends up not giving the reader very much background information on what is actually going on, since he tries to keep it to the world of that same nine year old. I'd have to go read another book to understand the context. I would prefer if it was all included here!

At the same time, I wonder if that was the author's intent - to portray the confusion a child would feel during war, revolution, and oppression. In his small universe, the parts of life he depends on - family, friends, school - are all disrupted by forces he isn't sure if he should fear or show loyalty to. He suspects his Dad may be a traitor, what is a child to do when he isn't told everything?

The Bleeding of the Stone by Ibrahim Kuni
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"I tell you. Be patient. How can you live in the desert without patience? The man who was never granted its contentment will never be happy there. I tell you. Use patience and cunning, they're the secrets of the desert...."
Asouf is a Bedouin living alone with his sheep in the cave-laden mountains of Libya. This novel tells his story and also stories of several surrounding characters, while also dipping into magical realism and mysticism.