Something completely different:
in my reading
I was set to give away a book long on my shelves, The Abyssinian, but took another look at this 400 page book and decided I was in the mood, finally, to read and perhaps enjoy it. I am now in the middle of this extraordinary historical novel about an actual French embassy to the king of Abyssinia in 1699. The writing is superb and the fictionalized adventures of a French herbalist/apothecary as the emissary to Abyssinia, modern day Ethiopia, no less than astounding.
The author, Jean-Christophe Rufin, is a French author and doctor, one of the founders of Doctors Without Borders, and a former French ambassador to Senegal.
What are you reading this week?
Looking through Goodreads this morning, I came across a book recommended as "similar" to the Abyssinian, in other words a book about travellers from afar to a new country. This will be my next read.
The Discovery of America by the Turks by Jorge Amado, a romantic comedy by the incomparable Brazilian author Amado, a spoof on Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, in which two Turks are persuaded to try to win over a Brazilian shrew.
Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also, It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon
