The Abyssinian by Jean-Christophe Rufin: Sunday Salon

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   

Sunday Salon: Three Books This Week

In my mailbox

Red Is My Heart by Antoine Lauraine, illustrated by Le Sonneur, translation

Genre: illustrated romance novel; literary novel

The narrator has had his heart broken and tries to retrace his steps taken with his loved one. He wanders the streets remembering, and  the novel ends with a hopeful note that he may find a new love very soon. 

The story is cleverly illustrated in black and white drawings, with a red dot or spot that may represent love lost in the distance. I read it easily in one sitting, enchanted by the words and by the drawings. 

From the library:

I couldn't resist another psychological thriller, Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger, published October 5, 2021, Park Row.

This one centers around an online dating match, when the narrator is ghosted by someone she thought she had developed a close relationship with. He simply texted "Sorry" and disappeared without any other explanation. When it turns out he might be someone seen with other girls, girls who had mysteriously disappeared, the narrator decides to find him and the truth. 

I'm in the middle of the book so far, and enjoying it. Since I have been forgetting a lot of books in this genre soon after I've finished reading them, I wonder if this one will stay with me and be more memorable. 

For book club:

The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood, August 2017

Genre: contemporary fiction

A woman joins a book club for companionship after her marriage begins to fall apart after 25 years. Ava rediscovers a book from her past that has helped her and she embarks on a personal quest to find the book and its author. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon  

Khahn Ha: A Mothers Tale: Book Tour

A Mother’s Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha: On Tour

A Mother’s Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha

Publisher: C&R Press (October 15, 2021)
Category: Linked Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction
Tour dates: October 11-November 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1949540239
Available in Print and ebook, 150 pages

Description Mother’s Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha

A Mother’s Tale is a tale of salvaging one’s soul from received and inherited war-related trauma. Within the titular beautiful story of a mother’s love for her son is the cruelty and senselessness of the Vietnam War, the poignant human connection, and a haunting narrative whose set ting and atmosphere appear at times otherworldly through their land scape and inhabitants.

Captured in the vivid descriptions of Vietnam’s country and culture are a host of characters, tortured and maimed and generous and still empathetic despite many obstacles, including a culture wrecked by losses. Somewhere in this chaos readers will find a tender link between the present-day survivors and those already gone. Rich and yet buoyant with a vision-like quality, this collection shares a common theme of love and loneliness, longing and compassion, where beauty is discovered in the moments of brutality, and agony is felt in ecstasy.

My comments:

The Vietnam War ended for the United States in 1975, but for many who were personally touched by the conflict, the results lasted a much longer time, and may even persist to the present day. 

The stories of Khanh Ha in A Mother's Tale are testiment to the endurance of the memories of the history of the war in Vietnam, of the soldiers on both sides and of their families and loved ones who survived. 

Though frank and brutal in their honesty, the stories are a permanent reminder of the horrors of  war and of the consequences the mothers, families, and survivors had to face. 

The book includes descriptions of men injured and maimed by the war,  whose survival depend so much on families and their ability to cope and endure. They also include the voices of the soldiers themselves, both American and Vietnamese, both North and South. 

Mrs. Rossi in Mrs. Rossi's Dream is also a survivor. In her story, she has come to Vietnam from the United States to try to find the bones of her deceased soldier son in a dense, swampy forest, filled with the bones of so many others on both sides of the conflict. Hers is only a dream in the face of the stark reality that time plays.

It is not easy to read these accounts, but it is important that they exist, to remind us of a time in history from which we can all learn important lessons.  

Praise for A Mother’s Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha:

WINNER C&R PRESS 2021 FICTION AWARD

Follow Mother’s Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct 11 Kickoff & Excerpt

Sal Bound 4 Escape Oct 12 Guest Review

Jas International Book Reviews Oct 14 Review

Bee Book Pleasures Oct 15 Review & Interview

Cleopatra Amazon Oct 18 Review

Katy Celticlady’s Reviews Oct 20 Guest Review & Excerpt

Suzie M. My Tangled Skeins Book Reviews Oct 22 Guest Review

Lu Ann Rockin’ Book Reviews Oct 23 Review & Guest Post

Don S. Amazon Nov 1 Review

Harvee BookBirdDog (Book Dilettante) Nov 4 Review

Nancy Reading Avidly Nov 9 Review

Serena Savvy Verse & Wit Nov 10 Review

Betty Toots Book Reviews Nov 12 Review & Interview

Donna T Amazon Nov 18 Review

Denise D. Amazon Nov 19 Review

Ilana WildWritingLife Nov 22 Review & Guest Post

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 23 Review

vailable now, it is for pre-sale: C&R Press https://www.crpress.org/shop/a-mothers-tale-other-stories/

Top Ten Tuesday: Books for a Reluctant Reader

 Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week's theme is Books I Would Hand to Someone Who Claims to Not Like Reading

I wouild offer the person a mix of fiction and non fiction, and of genres.

A memoir on climbing 100 mountains in Japan in one year

A thriller set in the Colorado mountains

A mystery with food set in Tuscany

A mystery set in and around Tahoe Lake, Nevada and California

The Last Good Paradise by Tatjana Soli, set on an island resort where the visitors come to realize who they really are.

Title: The Iris Fan: A Novel of Feudal Japan by Laura Joh Rowland
Genre: historical mystery

Death with All the Trimmings

A cozy mystery: set in Key West, just in time for the holidays

Scorched Eggs

A light, cozy mystery by Laura Childs. 

The Nightingale Before Christmas

I enjoy humorous mystery novels too, and Donna Andrews writes these! 

 

Three Story House

 

Renovating an historic Memphis house together, three cousins discover that their failures in love, career, and family provide the foundation for their future happiness (publisher)

What books would you offer a reluctant reader? 

Sunday Salon: A New Genre of Books with "Girl" in the Title

There ought to be a new genre of mystery books titled: Girl Books, as there are now so many adult thrillers with "girl" in the title. I decided to look for them and have started reading and rereading. 

The Girl in Times Square by Paullina Simons, I read in March 2018, according to my Goodreads list. I cried then while reading it, and am crying now!

 My goodreads review: 

I don't remember crying so much while reading a book! The protagonist Lily grabs at your heart and doesn't let go. The author writes in dramatic superlatives, be warned - great love, great tragedy, great illness, great addiction, and an intriguing mystery of a missing girl, Lily's roommate. Enjoyed the excellent storytelling and characterizations in this book and looking forward to other novels by the author.   

Other Girl Books, mystery and non-mystery, I've found on my Kindle: 

I could go on listing for a while...What Girl Books have you read?

 

Why So Many Books Have 'Girl' in the Title by Emily St. John Mandel, an article printed in the October 31,2021 Time magazine, gives an overview of current and future book titles. 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon  

The Girl From Venice by Martin Cruz Smith

 From my bookshelves:

The Girl from Venice by Martin Cruz Smith, October 2016, Simon Schuster

Genre: WWII historical fiction, romance

The setting is Venice during the time of Mussolini in WWII, the German occupation of Italy during and just after the war, with the various partisans and their politics. Holding all this together is a love story between a simple fisherman and a girl he found floating in the lagoon, feigning death for her safety.

I learned a lot more about Italy during the war and the role of Il Duce, who changed sides during the war and who was shot by partisans at the end.

Book beginning:

Without a moon, small islands disappeared and Venice sank into the dark. Stars, however, were so brilliant that Cenzo felt drawn to them, even as mud oozed between his toes. The faint report of church bells carried over the lagoon, from farms drifted the smell of manure, and once or twice he caught the tremolo of a German gunboat plowing the water.  

Page 56:

"The SS is raiding hospitals. It makes no sense,"  Cenzo said. 

Would you read on? 

Memes: Book Beginning at Rose City Reader

The Friday 56. Grab a book, turn to page 56 or 56% of your eReader. Find any sentence that grabs you. Post it, and add to the Linky at Freda's Voice

Book Club Pick: The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica

The Other Mrs. by Mary Kubica, February 18, 2020, Park Row

Genre: psychological thriller

This novel is for next month's library book club, which rarely schedules thrillers. Someone at the library must have really liked this book! 

My goodreads comments: 

The mystery had me guessing till near the end, when I saw the only solution to the questions the story presented. So the ending was not a total surprise, but to have so many bad guys in the picture was different. 

This interesting psychological thriller had many serious themes: PTSD, child abuse, family dysfunction, mental illness, and of course, murderous individuals. 

For a book tour:

 A Mother's Tale and Other Stories by Khanh Ha. I've finished the first two of many stories:  tales of war and the aftermath of war. 

Other reading: 

I have numerious ebooks on my reader, but these days I prefer to read paper books from the library. 

I'm also not getting used to the cooler weather. I'm not ready for flannel pjs as yet! 

What are you reading this week?

Memes: The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer. Also,  It's Monday: What Are You Reading, and Sunday Salon