Kerry (avatiakh) travels the world by book

Welcome to my category challenge. I've been doing this since 2009 and some years i've been more successful than others. Last year I travelled for some weeks and so I thought I'd revisit my trip by reading globally.
Books will mostly be categorised by location

1) Local - Australia & New Zealand
2) UK & Ireland
3) Europe
4) Israel & Holocaust Literature
5) The Americas
6) Africa
7) Asia
8) Scifi & Fantasy
9) Juvenile - children's & YA
10) Illustrated - manga, GNs & picturebooks
11) Nonfiction
12) Dropbox - anything that slips through the gaps

Local - Australia & New Zealand

1) The Attack by Catherine Jinks (2021) - Aus
2) Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump (1986) - NZ
3) Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath (2022)
4) Iris and Me by Philippa Werry (2023) -NZ/China - YA

UK & Ireland

1) The Five Minute Marriage by Joan Aiken
2) The smile of the stranger by Joan Aiken
3) The Weeping Ash by Joan Aiken (1980)
4) The Girl from Paris by Joan Aiken (1982)
5) How to kill your family by Bella Mackie (2021)
6) The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson (1888)
7) A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin (2022)
8) A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin (2023)
9) The Secret Purposes by David Baddiel (2004)

Europe with focus on Greece

1) The Donkey Rustlers by Gerald Durrell (1968) - Greece
2) The Dog of Pompeii by Louis Untermeyer (1932) - Italy
3) The Invisible by Peter Papathanasiou (2022) - Greece
4) The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso - Portugal
5) V2 by Robert Harris (2019) - Belgium
6) Butterfly's Tongue by Manuel Rivas (1998) - Spain

Israel & Holocaust Literature

1) The Postcard by Anne Berest (2023) - France
2) The Teacher by Michal Ben-Naftali (2016)
3) October 16, 1943 / Eight Jews by Giacomo Debenetti (1945) -Italy

The Americas

1) Susanna's Midnight Ride by Libby Varty McNamee (2018)
2) Don't forget to write by Sara Goodman Confino (2023)
3)

Africa

1)
2)
3)

Middle East & Asia

1) Shogun by James Clavell (1975) - Japan
2) How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino (1937) - Japan
3) The Consultant by Seong-Sun Im (2023 English) (2010 Korea)

Scifi & Fantasy

1) System Collapse by Martha Wells (2023)
2) Doing Time by Jodi Taylor (2019)
3)

Juvenile - YA & Children's books

YA
1) Seventeen Seconds by Ivan Southall (1973) - UK
2) Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler (2023) - Holland
3) Chase Me, Catch Nobody! by Erik C. Haugaard (1980) - Germany
4) The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros (2021) - Wales
5) The Sparrow by Tessa Duder (2023) - NZ
6) The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (2021)
7) Two can play that game by Leanne Yong (2023) - Australia
8) Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch (1954) - Israel
9) Stone Cold by Robert Swindells (1993) - UK

Children's
1) The Edinburgh Reel by Iona McGregor - Scotland
2) Flower by Irene N. Watts (2005) - USA
3) The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfield (1949) - USA
4) Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (2004) -UK
5) Fire, Bed & Bone by Henrietta Branford (1997) UK
6) Storm by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985) -UK
7) The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban (1967) - UK
8) Ravencave by Marcus Sedgwick (2023) - UK
9) Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler (1975) - Canada
10) A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2001) - Korea
11) Tamburlaine's Elephants by Geraldine McCaughrean (2007) - India
12) River Boy by Tim Bowler (1997) - UK
13) Koro's Star by Claire Aramakutu (2024) - NZ
14) Lopini the Legend by Feana Tu'akoi (2023) - NZ

Illustrated - manga, GNs & picturebooks

1) Go home cat (2022) by Sonya Hartnett
2) Blue Flower (2021) by Sonya Hartnett
3) Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis & Christos H. Papadimitriou (2009) - Greece
4) Heartsong by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Jane Ray (2015)
5) My elephant is blue by Melinda Szymanik (2021)
6) The Apothecary Diaries vol.7 by Natsu Hyuuga (2022)
7) The Dragon King's Daughter by Yen Samejima (2020)
8) Small in the City by Sydney Smith (2019)
9) Spy x Family, Vol. 3 by Tatsuya Endo
10) Spy x Family, Vol. 4 by Tatsuya Endo
11) The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 8 by Natsu Hyuuga (2023)
12) The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 9 by Natsu Hyuuga (2023)
13) The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 10 by Natsu Hyuuga (2023)
14) The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 11 by Natsu Hyuuga (2024)
15) A Chinese Fantasy Law of the Fox book 2 by Yen Samejima

Nonfiction

1) The Gardener's Year by Karel Čapek (1929)
2)
3)

Dropbox - books that don't fit
1)
2)
3)

The five minute marriage by Joan Aiken (1977)
romance / UK & Ireland
Read for the 75 Books group British Author Challenge January 2024. I didn't know that Joan Aiken wrote some romance novels for adults and I'll definitely be seeking out others.
This is set in Regency times and involves a hasty marriage of convenience to secure a provision in a will.

The Smile of the Stranger by Joan Aiken (1978)
romance / UK & Ireland
Paget Family Saga #1. Read for the British Author Challenge January 2024. Another of these Aiken Regency romances. Not as good as Georgette Heyer but nontheless a diverting quick read. A young Englishwoman who grew up in Italy with her father has some adventures on her way to reconciling with her grandfather and also finds her true love.
Seems that it is first in a trilogy. I have the third book out from the library and can e-borrow the second from there as well.

An Edinburgh Reel by Iona McGregor (1968)
children's fiction
It's 1751, six years after the Battle of Culloden. Christine's father is finally returning from six years of exile in France. He lost his land and she hopes he is over his Jacobite ways. A great historical read, quite exciting at times.

Flower by Irene N. Watts (2005)
children's fiction
This is about Home Children sent from England to Canada. There's a dual timeline where a girl in present day Canada learns her great grandmother's story. Not as harsh as some Home Children stories I've read in the past. Katie spends a few weeks with her grandparents in the Victorian house they've just moved into in Halifax.
I've read several fiction books about Home Children in Australia and New Zealand as well and also nonfiction on the subject. All very bleak stories. The children were meant to be fostered into families but this rarely happened.

Currently reading several books for lots of challenges and will have to see what fits in to the challenges in this group.

Welcome back, Kerry! I like the sound of >16 avatiakh:.

I have been introduced to so many great books by your threads. I am looking forward to once again following along.

What beautiful pictures, especially >8 avatiakh: !
It looks like you are off to a great start with your challenge! Happy reading!

Great to see you're back. I'm looking forward to follow your reading!

Good luck with your reading in 2024.

>19 rabbitprincess: Welcome to my thread. I really enjoyed that read and feels good to read off my own shelves.
>20 DeltaQueen50: Happy New Year and I also enjoy being hit by BBs from your threads.
>21 MissBrangwen: Thanks and welcome. We had to give up on visiting Israel as our flights there were cancelled due to the conflict and so ended up with an extra week in Bangkok. I really enjoyed the Thai culture, the food and sightseeing. I had never wanted to go and last year I read a ghastly thriller set in Bangkok so I went expecting the worse and was so pleasantly surprised.
The temples were just beautiful and the jaunts along the river in the various river taxis were fun.
>22 MissWatson: Waves to Birgit. Thanks for visiting. I didn't star my own thread so haven't been seeing the posts!
>23 lowelibrary: Hi April. I wish you a great reading year too.

I've finished 3 more books so need to update.

_
Go home cat (2022) & Blue Flower (2021) by Sonya Hartnett
picturebook

I was looking to see what Hartnett had published recently as previously she's written some great YA novels, only to see that she's currently writing picturebooks.
Go Home Cat is about a small boy going to buy licorice from the shop and his cat follows him.
Blue Flower is about finding out that being a different unique person is what makes the world a more interesting place. Seen through the eyes of a young girl who doesn't enjoy the same things as her school friends.

The Donkey Rustlers by Gerald Durrell (1968)
children's fiction
Set on a fictional Greek Island, an English brother and sister team up with their local orphan friend to save his inheritance, a farm, being taken from him by the greedy mayor. Fun read.

The Weeping Ash by Joan Aiken (1980)
fiction
Paget Family #2. I enjoyed this one, it was a much longer read mainly due to the split storyline which came together in the last part of the book. One part is set in England and is about a particularly abusive marriage and the young bride's optimism to find happiness amidst the despair. The other part is about half English twins making their way out of India overland as they are pursued by an angry Rajah's men. They travel with their guardian, an older American missionary woman, and an English adventurer who knows the region well.

The Painted Garden by Noel Streatfield (1949)
children's fiction
An English family relocates to California for the winter for the sake of their father's health. The oldest daughter is a promising ballerina, the son is a musical prodigy and the middle child, Jane, has no special talent. Surprisingly it's Jane who gets chosen to play the lead role in a film adaption of 'The Secret Garden' when the original child actress falls ill.
Fairly dated story that has its moments.

The Girl from Paris by Joan Aiken (1982)
fiction
Paget Family #3. Miss Ellen Paget takes the position of governess with a French aristocratic familyin Paris. The marriage seems to be unhappy, her charge, the young daughter has learning disabilities similar to autism. After a tragic event Ellen must leave Paris for her childhood home in the English countryside.
Not my favourite of the trilogy and the ending was quite weird.

The Gardener's Year by Karel Čapek (1929)
nonfiction
Delightful. Čapek describes a gardener's obsession with plants, soil and whether there is room in the garden for even more plants. I enjoyed this.

How to kill your family by Bella Mackie (2021)
crime
My daughter recommended this one, mostly because of the title. I could easily have put this down at anytime though glad I finished it because there is a great twist at the end. Grace is the unrecognised illegitimate daughter of a millionaire. After her mother dies she decides to go for revenge by killing off the family members one by one. The book reads as a confession written in jail.

The Dog of Pompeii by Louis Untermeyer (1932)
short story
I found this when looking for fiction set in Pompeii and Naples. I visited Pompeii in November so this story was a welcome read. Suitable for children too. A stray dog leads a blind homeless boy through the streets of Pompeii during the eruption.

Seventeen Seconds by Ivan Southall (1973)
YA nonfiction
This is an abridged edition for younger readers of his adult book, Softly tread the brave about the bravery of the Royal Australian Volunteer Naval Reserve bomb disposal officers, Hugh Syme (GC, GM and Bar) and John Mould (GC, GM) who served in England during WW2.
The title come from the seventeen seconds an officer has to get to safety if the mine he is working on goes live. These were very brave men.
I've had this paperback for a few years and Paul's War Room challenge inspired me to read it now. This was quite a technical read as each mine disposal had issues due to its location. Also the Germans kept updating the technology with the mines so disarming became more and more difficult. Both Syme and Mould along with other Australians volunteered to serve in the Royal Navy's RMS Rendering Mines Safe section. This unit was for disarming land mines that had been dropped onto British cities near the start of the war.
https://www.navy.gov.au/biography/lieutenant-commander-john-stuart-mould
https://www.navy.gov.au/biography/lieutenant-hugh-randall-syme

System Collapse by Martha Wells (2023)
scifi
Murderbot #7. Took me a while to get back into the Murderbot world but once I did I really enjoyed this one. I love the interactions between the various AI and Murderbot's relationships with the various humans on the team. Was interesting to read the discussion on Lisa's Club Read thread about the gender issue relating to Murderbot. I always assumed female but was amazed that there are other perspectives.

13) Millions by Frank Cottrell Boyce (2004)
children's fiction
This book won the Carnegie Medal (UK) in 2004. I don't know why but I have avoided reading this for the past 20 years. Picked it up finally and found quite a captivating read for all that it is a bit juvenile. It's set around the time of the changeover to euro and involves a boy, Damien, who has become obsessed with saints since dealing with the death of his mother, who everyone says has gone to the best place. When a bag full of old pound banknotes falls into his hands, he considers it a gift from the Gods. Then there's the problem of unobtrusively spending thousands of pound in two weeks.
The story has lots of twists and turns and a great cast of characters.

The Invisible by Peter Papathanasiou (2022)
crime
George Manolis #2. I haven't read the first book in the series I don't think that mattered. This one is set in a remote region of Greece, Prespa, in the north on the border with Albania and Macedonia. Manios is on leave from his police work in Melbourne, Australia and decided to visit the area that his parents came from. He ends up going undercover in an effort to find a missing acquaintance. Lefty is an invisible, someone who has managed to avoid having an official presence, no bank account, no ID, no birth registration, which makes it much harder to find out what he was up to.
Sounds interesting though much of the book is fairly plodding with great descriptions of the location, the locals and the sense of desolation from the long ago civil war. The last thirty or so pages ramps up and almost makes the slog worthwhile.

Fire, Bed & Bone by Henrietta Branford (1997)
children's fiction
This one I picked off my shelves at random and was a pleasure to read. Set during the 1381 Peasants' Revolt. The story is told from the perspective of a hunting dog who lives with Rufus and his young family. Quite outstanding as the sad events that happen to the family are countered with the dog's life in the woods once she is free of her captors.

The Return by Dulce Maria Cardoso (Portuguese 2011) (English 2016)
fiction
My last book for January. Rui and his family have lived in Angola but now due to the 1975 war they must return to Portugal. On their last day Rui's father is taken by soldiers and his fate is unknown. Life in Portugal as a returnee is quite miserable.
I had not given much thought to this period of Portugal's history and this book does much to raise my interest in these times.

Storm by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1985)
children's fiction
Carnegie (UK) Medal 1985. This junior novella is full of beautiful imagery and poetic language. It's not a usual winner of the Carnegie Medal which seems to have been mostly awarded to books for older readers, this book is for a much younger emerging reader.
This ghostly story is set on a stormy night when young Annie must walk across the marsh to the local doctor as her older married sister has gone into labour and the telephone line is down.

The Attack by Catherine Jinks (2021)
crime
Not as engaging as I hoped, I really like her work for teens and have now read three of her adult works which are mostly thrillers.
The book is in alternating chapters featuring the present and ten years earlier. Now Robin manages a remote island retreat where ex military bring teenagers for boot camp. This time it brings a troubled 16 year old she first met ten years earlier whose extended family ruined her life.

Shogun by James Clavell (1975)
fiction
My ongoing audiobook for the last several months. I hardly listen to audiobooks so this 36 hour monster took me some time but what a wonderful story. My son listened alongside me for the first half of the book while we were driving in the USA last September. He was familiar with that period of Japan's history so we had some good discussions about the book, and now he's looking forward to the miniseries which should appear this month on one of the streaming networks.

English sailor, John Blackthorne, is shipwrecked on the coast of Japan in the early 1600s. At first he just wants to salvage his ship and return to the West but that becomes an unattainable dream.

Code Name Kingfisher by Liz Kessler (2023)
children's fiction

This was a great story set during WW2 Amsterdam and the present day UK. Liv needs to do a family history research project for school and she has problems with her former best friend joining a group of bullies. Her project focuses on her grandmother who has never said much about her childhood.
The WW2 part is her grandmother's story when she and her sister are sent to live with a new family as life for Jews in Holland becomes more and more desperate. Her sister who is 16 starts doing jobs for the resistance under the code name Kingfisher.

Chase Me, Catch Nobody! by Erik C. Haugaard (1980)
children's fiction

I found this in a rummage through some books in my garage and decided to read it due to The Horn Book blurb that it was 'told with exactly the right overtones of schoolboy humour.' I've read Haugaard before so expected a reasonable story and wasn't disappointed either with the humor or the story.
1937. Erik is on a school visit to Hamburg, Germany from Denmark. There's over fifity boys from two schools and he finds a new friend in Nikolai from the first moments of the trip. On the ferry he is approached by an older man who thrusts a package in his hands telling him where to deliver it along with a password. German police or SS arrest the man as the school group is leaving the ferry. So begins an adventure that ends with Erik and Nikolai fleeing Germany with a Jewish girl who calls herself Nobody.
The differences between the various teachers and students as they are either swept up or repelled by the Nazi propaganda and Hitler Youth groups etc made this a worthwhile read.

Susanna's Midnight Ride by Libby Varty McNamee (2018)
children's historical fiction
Read for Paul's War Room challenge. A children's novel based on Susanna Bolling's historic night ride from her home in Hopewell to Half-Way House where General Lafayette was staying. The sudden arrival of General Cornwallis to her plantation home with a large contingent of troops and hearing the officers' talk at the dinner table of capturing Lafayette in an early dawn raid means there is no time to lose and the news must get to Lafayette.
The early part of the book focuses on the plight of the womenfolk who must keep their farms running and spin flax to make uniforms. How the tobacco warehouses are burnt and crops ruined by the British. The melting of all the lead and pewter in the homes to make into bullets. The agony of the casualty lists and seeing the injured young men around the town who have had their lives ruined by war. The spy, James Armisted Lafayette plays an early part in the story too.
In the book is says that Bolling's ancestor was Pocahontas and a quick look at wikipedia does confirm that the Bollings of Hopewell were descendants.
I saw this book in the giftshop of one of the museums in Yorktown, VA. We walked around all the sites of significance last September on a visit to the town.
https://www.princegeorgecountyva.gov/news_detail_T6_R2332.php
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+ful+HJ649ER+pdf

There's another famous ride, 'Betsy Dowdy's Ride', I saw the sign when driving from Kittyhawk, NC back to Williamsburg, VA. There's a picturebook about this ride, Ride: The Legend of Betsy Dowdy.

https://www.wgpfoundation.org/historic-markers/betsys-ride/

The Postcard by Anne Berest (2023)
autofiction
This has been a popular read on LT and I also enjoyed it. Based on the author's own family it slowly peels away what happened to her family during WW2. Not as confronting as some Hpolocaust novels it does give one an idea of how it was to be in France during the war years.

Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth by Apostolos Doxiadis & Christos H. Papadimitriou (2009)
graphic novel
Quite the fascinating read on the subject of Bertrand Russell's life and the theory of mathematics. We meet a number of famous mathematicians, philosophers and logicians along the way including an intense Wittgenstein. The GN is built around a lecture Russell gave during his 1939 US tour, where he discussed his evolving views from being a committed pacifist to the threat of Germany's facism. The GN also jumps back into real world Athens where the writers, artist and researcher all opine on the direction of the book.

Both authors are mathematicians though Doxiadis is now a writer.
Columbia University website: Christos Papadimitriou works on the theory of algorithms and complexity, aiming to expand the field's methodology and reach. His research often explores areas beyond computer science through what he calls the algorithmic lens: biology and the theory of evolution, economics and game theory (where he helped found the field of algorithmic game theory), artificial intelligence and robotics, networks and the Internet and, since 2013, the study of the brain and language.

Apostolos Doxiadis seems to have been a child prodigy, he was born in Australia and grew up in Athens, when 15 he entered Columbia University to study mathematics. His father was a famous international architect, Constantinos Apostolou Doxiadis, though a victim of politics.
I have his third novel, Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture, on my reading pile for this year.

The Mouse and his Child by Russell Hoban (1967)
children's fiction
Delightful story about a windup clockwork toy, a father mouse holding his son and dancing in circles. From a toyshop they are taken to a grand home and brought out each Christmas time until they are abandoned which is where their adventure starts. Illustrations are by Hoban's wife, Lilian Hoban.
I first came across the film version many years ago, it was one of our family favourites on VHS though we lost the viewing platform after DVDs took over. I found the book in a used bookshop and it's sat on my tbr pile for a long while.
I've read several of Hoban's books, he's quite the impressive writer.

Heartsong by Kevin Crossley-Holland, illustrated by Jane Ray (2015)
illustrated story

Quite a interesting story behind this one. Illustrator Jane Ray visited the Vivaldi Museum in Venice and was very taken with the list of orphan names in the ledger at the Ospedale della Pieta. She was swept up in a story and illustrations involving one of the names, but couldn't seem to bring her idea to fruition. Crossley-Holland came to the rescue and the result is an enchanting story involving a mute girl with musical ability and the work of Vivaldi with the church's choir and orchestra.

I wish I'd known about the museum as I was in Venice last year, the guidebook didn't help there.

The Blue Book of Nebo by Manon Steffan Ros (2021)
YA
Carnegie Medal UK (2023) winner. First published in Welsh, this is told in a sporadic diary form by both mother and teenager, Dylan. It's a story of surviving a nuclear fallout and also shows the love of the Welsh language of the writer.
One of those books you can read in one sitting, my library has classified it as adult scifi.

V2 by Robert Harris (2019)
fiction
Enjoyable read about the V2 rockets that were fired onto London in 1944. Told in alternating chapters from both sides. A rocket scientist who supervises the V2 launches from the coast of Holland and a WAAF officer who works in a special unit that tries to identify the launch sites of the missiles.

Wild Pork and Watercress by Barry Crump (1986)
fiction

This was a highly enjoyable read though the ending is bittersweet. The book was adapted to the film, 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople' by Taika Waiti. Crump was a wellknown personality in New Zealand, he was a bushman and this novel is all about going bush and surviving in the Urewera National Park.
Ricky does a runner with his Uncle Hec into the bush to avoid being taken to a children's home by Social Welfare workers when his Aunt Bella dies.

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson (1888)
fiction

A great adventure story set during the War of the Roses. I was hooked right from the start and the old fashioned language felt right for the type of story. Lots of escapades and a young hero who is courageous though impetuous. Stevenson does an interesting portrayal of Richard, Duke of Gloucester.
I'd like to watch the film version of this.

Don't forget to write by Sara Goodman Confino (2023)
fiction
This is set in 1960, a time when a young woman was expected to marry and become a homemaker rather than have a career. So when 20 year old Marilyn is caught in a compromising act with the rabbi's son and then refuses the parents' attempts to marry them off, she is sent to Philadelphia to spend the summer with her great aunt who is a renown matchmaker. A summer she'll never forget as her great aunt is not at all what she expects.
I almost DNF this one but kept going, I felt the writer was trying too hard and I didn't much enjoy the woman's role in life continually being thrust to center stage. Overall a light entertaining read with a side dish of matchmaking.
I DNF Lessons in Chemistry so I'm obviously not keen on reading fiction around this topic.

What was fun was that Marilyn wants to be a writer and is a voracious reader, recently published books mentioned that she and others are reading include To kill a mocking bird (1960), Hawaii (1958), Exodus (1959).

The Sparrow by Tessa Duder (2023)
historical YA
Previously Duder had written a biography of Sarah Matthews, Sarah Mathew : explorer, journalist and Auckland's 'First lady', and this novel makes much use of the research she would have done on Matthews.
Our heroine is 15 year old Harriet, who arrives along with the very first group of settlers and officials to the site of what will become the city of Auckland. Harriet is dressed as a boy and goes by the name Harry, she's an escaped convict from Tasmania where she has served 3 or 4 years before escaping. The story is of the surveying of Auckland's first streets by Mr Matthews, leading up to a land auction and also the settlers' interactions with local Maori.
The narrative inserts a back story at intervals which tells of Harriet's older brother's betrayal and her conviction for stealing an apple that he's given her when she's only eleven. Her time in Newgate Prison, the voyage to Tasmania and life in the Cascades Female Factory before escaping.

I enjoyed this look at the first weeks of the city I live in and will probably do the Auckland heritage historic shoreline walk at some stage.

Ravencave by Marcus Sedgwick (2023)
YA
A Barrington Stoke publication for reluctant teen readers, set in a font suitable for dyslexic readers. That does not detract from this excellent little ghost story by the late but great Sedgwick.
James is with his family on a holiday to Yorkshire but there's something not quite right with them. His mother has had writer's block for some years, his father has just been made redundant and brother, Robbie just ignores him.

The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera (2021)
YA scifi
Newbery Medal winner, 2022. Most likely I saw this one on Amber's thread last year. I've had it out from the library for a long while and finally started reading it last week.
A cuentista is a storyteller and Petra wants to be the storyteller for her people when they arrive to a new planet. They are on the last of three spaceships leaving Earth which will be destroyed by a stray comet. The passengers are to be put into a stasis until their arrival but when Petra's pod is finally opened it's to a situation she never thought possible.
This was a good not great read. I liked that the Spanish phrases scattered throughout were not translated, added somewhat to the charm.

A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting by Sophie Irwin (2022)
romance
A fun Regency romp with a delightful heroine who must marry in order to pay off her parents' debt and support her four younger sisters.I enjoyed this and dived into Irwin's next book.


A Lady's Guide to Scandal by Sophie Irwin (2023)
romance
I was really not taken with this second book. Irwin introduces too many characters with a difference and a messy plot which has the heroine falling for two men.
I still read the book but it wasn't as good as other Regency romances, the writer injected too many unusual aspects to the story.

Two can play that game by Leanne Yong (2023)
YA
I came across the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) awards 2024 shortlists on twitter and this was one of the books in the YA section. Liked the idea of it and really enjoyed this.
The main character is an Australian Malaysian Chinese navigating their family and career issues. Sam wants to be a game developer, she's been on the path since primary school but has won a scholarship to university that is for a mundane degree that she's not interested in. She meets Jay, who has the same Chinese Malaysian background, when they both vie for the last copy of a new game that includes a ticket to an indie games workshop. In the end they decide to compete against each other for the ticket and along the way they become good friends.
There's an element of romance but it's mostly about Sam finding her way. The competitive element is really fun especially with how their friendship develops.
There's lots of cultural references that don't feel intrusive, lots of Cantonese slang.

>57 avatiakh: I agree with you on Irwin's books -- I really liked A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting but was less enamored with A Lady's Guide to Scandal. If she comes out with another book, I may give it a try, but I'll keep my expectations moderate!

>59 christina_reads: Thanks for visiting. I'm also willing to give Irwin another chance depending on reviews.

Hi, you have read lots of interesting books since I last visited here! I took note of >54 avatiakh: The Sparrow.

>57 avatiakh:, >59 christina_reads: Same here. I enjoyed A Lady's Guide to Fortune Hunting, but was bored by the sequel and didn't finish it.

>14 avatiakh:, >15 avatiakh: Thank you for recommending Joan Aitken. I borrowed A Five-Minute Marriage from the OpenLibrary and liked it so much that I've just bought Deception (such a common title that it's a big job to find the touchstone). The Smile of the Stranger could be next because it's available in a local library.

>61 MissBrangwen: I hope you can find that one, i might be exclusive to New Zealand.

>62 pamelad: I was pleasantly surprised by Aiken and looked out Deception as well.

Paper Cage by Tom Baragwanath (2022)
crime
This won the 2021 Michael Gifkins Award for an unpublished manuscript which is administered by the NZ Society of Authors and the prize comes with a publishing deal from Text Publishing.
A fairly good crime novel set in Masterton, in the Wairarapa, hometown of the author though he's now living in Paris.
Three children go missing and one is Lorraine's niece's son. The local police, where Lorraine works in admin, are convinced it has something to do with the local gangs and a drug turf war. Lorraine isn't so convinced and neither is the detective who comes in from Wellington to help.

I've made note of the other winners of this award and will be reading a few at some stage. The award was established in 2018.

My elephant is blue by Melinda Szymanik (2021)
picturebook
A delightful picturebook. A blue elephant appears when a child is feeling down. Szymanik usually writes YA fiction. The illustrations are spot on.

The Secret Purposes by David Baddiel (2004)
fiction

This novel is about the internment of Germans on the Isle of Man during World War Two. Most were Jewish refugees, but the British Govt just saw them as enemy aliens. A communist, Jewish Isaac is from Konigsburg and married to a non-Jewish German. He's considered a threat and along with many others is an internee.
The other storyline is with June Murray who works as a translator of German documents in Special Operations. She's upset by a Ministry of Information memo that news of the atrocities against Jews by Hitler should be suppressed and is not in the public interest.
Baddiel's own grandfather was interned on the Isle of Man and he wanted to draw awareness to this historical event.
This was a slow read but definitely a worthwhile one. I didn't think there was much story in it but the plot picked up in the last 150 pages.

The Apothecary Diaries vol.7 by Natsu Hyuuga (2022)
manga
My favourite manga. Maomao was brought up in a courtesan house and then adopted by her apothecary father. She is now working in the Inner Court at the palace and solves numerous mysteries using her knowledge of herbs and medicines. Her patron is Jinchi, who she has assumed is a eunuch but perhaps he isn't.

Iris and Me by Philippa Werry (2023)
YA
An interesting prose novel about writer/poet/journalist Robin Hyde (1906-1939). She's highly considered in New Zealand but honestly her life seems to have been disaster after disaster. After a struggle to make a career as a journalist in New Zealand alongside much personal strife, Hyde whose real name is Iris Wilkinson decides to travel in 1938 to England to try establish herself there as a writer. She has almost no funds to support herself and yet still leaves her plans behind on arrival in Hong Kong to travel and report on the Japanese invasion of China. Amid much hardship she makes it to the warfront and does report from there but goes missing as the Japanese take over the territory she's in.
Some months later she finally arrives in England but it isn't the uptopia she hoped it would be.
I'm quite inspired now to read her work, I already have two books Passport to Hell & The Godwits Fly on my shelves and have picked up a kindle copy of Dragon Rampant about her time in China. I also want to read some of her poetry.
The mysterious 'me' in the tiitle refers to Iris's walking stick as she had a knee operation as a teenager and was left lame for life and somewhat dependant on opiates for pain.

Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang by Mordecai Richler (1975)
children's fiction

This slim paperback has spent many years in my house without being read until today. I kept it because it's by a well known writer. A hilarious read, the star of the story is six year old Jacob who is the youngest of five children and has to say everything twice as noone listens the first time. Jacob's adventure starts when his father sends him to buy two pounds of firm, red tomatoes from the local grocer.

How Do You Live? by Genzaburō Yoshino (1937)
YA fiction

This started off reminding me of Sophie's World in some ways though it is quite different. What is fascinating is that this was written in 1937 so is a snapshot of the values at play in those times in Japanese culture.
The book recounts episodes in Copper's life as a schoolboy and the chapters are interspered with his uncle's reflections on various subjects that relate back to Copper and what sort of person he will grow into. A quiet book that is quite beautiful.
This is shelved in adult fiction in bookshops and libraries though it's intended audience was mature children.

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (2001)
children's
Newbery Medal (2002). This came on my radar when seeking out Korean historical fiction. Set in the 12 century the story is based on the Thousand Crane Vase, a Korean treasure found in the Kansong Museum of Art, Seoul.
In a small village of potters, a homeless boy is drawn to the work of a master potter who makes the most wondrous pieces of Celadon pottery. Captivating.

The Dragon King's Daughter by Yen Samejima (2020)
manga
A Chinese Fantasy #1. Cute story about a human lad helping rescue the daughter of the Dragon King from an unhappy marriage prospect. There are a couple of shorter tales included after the main one. There's a second volume dealing with a fox maiden tthat I've requested from the library.

Doing Time by Jodi Taylor (2019)
scifi
Time Police #1. Highly entertaining read. The Time Police take in 3 oddball trainees who are put into their own team as no others want them.

Tamburlaine's Elephants by Geraldine McCaughrean (2007)
children's fiction

I liked this one. Tells the story of two boys and the elephants of Delhi, who come up against the great 14th century Mongol conqueror, Tamerlane. One boy is a warrior in the warlord's army, the other is his prisoner, together they look after the captured elephants.

Butterfly's Tongue by Manuel Rivas (1998)
novella / short stories

Three short stories set in rural Galicia, Spain. The first one, Butterfly's Tongue was the one I liked most about a small boy and his teacher as the civil war breaks out. The last story was only a few pages and quite forgettable. The middle one was a sort of 'wolf girl' story and had its moments.

The Consultant by Seong-Sun Im (2023 English) (2010 Korea)
crime
I enjoyed this one. It's written as a sort of confession and while there was for the most part a lack of emotion in the book, once things got personal the protagonist had to acknowledge his need to make a decision.
The consultant describes his behind the scenes work, how he was recruited, his success stories, and then things get tricky fast.

River Boy by Tim Bowler (1997)
children's fiction
Carnegie Medal (UK) 1997. Not a compelling read for me though quite a well thought out story. It's more for a thoughtful young reader as there's not much action.

The Teacher by Michal Ben-Naftali (2016)
fiction
Quite a difficult read as the narrator is so distanced from 'the teacher'. The narrative is told in the present day by one of her ex-students, many years after the teacher died by suicide and that was many years after her traumatic war experiences and guilt not just at being a Holocaust survivor but also from being one of those saved by Kastner and having to endure the 1954 Kastner trial.

Small in the City by Sydney Smith (2019)
picturebook
I requested this from the library as I noticed that Smith just won the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Medal (Illustration). I really liked his illustration work in Sidewalk Flowers so wanted to see what else he'd done. Quite a sweet story once you realise that a missing cat is involved. The artwork conveys the story as there is minimal text.

Knight Crusader by Ronald Welch (1954)
children's fiction
Carnegie Medal (UK) 1954. Carey Family #1. Read for the War of Religions April challenge.
I really enjoyed this one. The fighting scenes are well described as is the use of armour and weapons. Outremer born and bred, Philip's first battle is the Battle of Hattin where he sees not only his father killed but also his uncle and young cousin.
The book includes encounters with real life personages such as Usamah Ibn-Menquidh whose memoirs, Memoirs of an Arab-Syrian Gentleman Or an Arab Knight in the Crusades Memoirs of Usamah Ibn-Munqidh are probably an excellent primary source for those interested in how Muslims perceived the Crusaders. Also Rashid al-Din Sinan known as the Old Man of the mountains, leader of the Order of Assassins...and the leaders of the Third Crusade.

October 16, 1943 / Eight Jews by Giacomo Debenetti (1945)
essays
There are two essays by Debenetti, a preface by Alberto Moravia and a short essay by Estelle Gilson on the fate of the Roman Jewish Community Library.
In a few pages Debenetti describes the fateful morning of October 16, 1943 when the SS round up most of the Jewish community living in and around the Ghetto in Rome. The second essay, Eight Jews is a response to a police officer's testimony on the Ardeatine Cave Massacres (March 24, 1944).
There is a translator's introduction as well which offers background on Debenetti and the incidents.
From wikipedia: 'Debenetti was an Italian writer, essayist and literary critic. He was one of the greatest interpreters of literary criticism in Italy in the 20th century, one of the first to embrace the lessons of psychoanalysis and the human sciences in general, and among the first to grasp the full extent of Marcel Proust's genius.'

The essay on the fate of the Roman Jewish Community Library is also interesting as unlike most libraries of Hebrew manuscripts which were mostly recovered after the war only very few books or manuscripts have ever been found. The contents were transported to Germany but what happened then remains a mystery. As the oldest Jewish community in Europe the documents in the library were known to be rare and antique but had never been properly catalogued.

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Spy x Family, Vol. 3 by Tatsuya Endo
Spy x Family, Vol. 4 by Tatsuya Endo
manga
I'd requested these months ago after finishing the first two volumes. This is a wildly popular series about a fake family - the husband/father is a masterspy and needs a wife and daughter so he can infiltrate an enemy via an elite school. He's unaware that his fake wife is a deadly assassin and the daughter can read minds. Together they bumble along.
Vol. 3 wasn't great, but vol. 4 was fun as the story had a lot of action and the family adopts a dog.
Leaving this series here.

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The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 8 by Natsu Hyuuga (2023)
The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 9 by Natsu Hyuuga (2023)
The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 10 by Natsu Hyuuga (2023)
The Apothecary Diaries Manga, Vol. 11 by Natsu Hyuuga (2024)
manga
Continuing my read of my favorite manga series. Still enjoying finding out palace secrets and Maomao's unique skills in solving all sorts of mysterious incidents. The next one comes out in September.

A Chinese Fantasy Law of the Fox book 2 by Yen Samejima (2017 Japan) (2023 English)
manga
A collection of short tales relating to foxes, wolves, tigers and a bear which morph into human form. Most stories end sadly for the human whose fallen in love and not so well for the animal either. Enjoyable manga, I was attracted by the cover art but won't continue with any future volumes.

Koro's Star by Claire Aramakutu (2024)
children's fiction
Tom Fitzgibbon Award 2023. This New Zealand award is for a manuscript by a new writer for children. This was a worthy winner. Set in the 1960s it's about a family newly arrived to a home on an army base just as their father ships out to the Vietnam War. His father leaves Atama his own father's WW1 medal to help him be brave when making friends and fitting in to his new home.

Lopini the Legend by Feana Tu'akoi (2023)
children's fiction
Tom Fitzgibbon Award 2022. I really enjoyed this one. The story was very fun and quite believable. Lopini is a high achiever at school and his only problem is that he gets so stressed out at the possibility of failure that he no longer does anything where he might not come first.
With his best friend Fi to help him he sets out to be a failure at least once a week....but events tend to have a life of their own.

Stone Cold by Robert Swindells (1993)
YA
Carnegie Medal UK, 1993. Fairly good story about a homeless boy trying to survive on the streets of London. He left home rather than put up with his mother's boyfriend and now while living on the streets it's impossible to get a job or even help. Swindells says in the author notes that he felt compelled to write about the issue of child homelessness after a visit to London.

Cold Crematorium: Reporting from the Land of Auschwitz by József Debreczeni (1950 Hungarian) (2024 English)
memoir
One of the few new books I've purchased this year. I ordered it as soon as I heard about it on 'X'. This is a memoir of journalist Debreczeni's time surviving first in work camps and then in a hospital camp. While it was first published in 1950, the book was never translated due to Cold War politics and then became forgotten until recently. Incredible that he survived, the brutality and cruelty, much by fellow Jews in positions of authority, is heartbreaking.
His time in Dörnhau, a 'hospital' camp in the last months before liberation is described in bitter detail...so much death. .

Demonosity by Amanda Ashby (2013)
YA
Had this ex-library paperback on my tbr pile for a long while and started reading a chapter here and there a few weeks back. Ashby lives in New Zealand and has had a few romance novels publised in the US. I read her You had me at Halo many years ago and really enjoyed it.
This one is a YA book and an easy read. Cassidy is plunged into an adventure when she becomes the guardian of the Black Rose, an ancient force that's arrived through time from the 14th century.

Among the imposters by Margaret Peterson Haddix (2001)
children's
Shadow Children #2. I read the first book in this series many years ago and had the second book lying around probably since then. Luke, an illegal third child, is given a new identity and begins life at a boarding school that seems to be full of secrets.
Quite a good read though I won't continue with the series as too juvenile for me. I've also read the first in her The Missing series and enjoyed that too. These would be popular reads for middle graders.

Hour of Need: The Daring Escape of the Danish Jews during World War II by Ralph Shayne (2023)
children's graphic novel
The enveloping story is that of a Jewish grandmother visiting Copenhagen with her two grandchildren and as they visit the sights she tells them about when she was a young girl and her family's life in Denmark during the war and then their dramatic escape to Sweden. The GN covers background stories about the King of Denmark & various political leaders as well as one of the underground resistance movements. The art style grows on you.
Loosely based on Shayne's own family story.

Memory by Philippe Grimbert (2004)
fiction
Prix Goncourt 2004. This can be considered a Holocaust story though it's not focused on that aspect especially, it is Grimbert's own family story. First published as 'Un Secret' it's about Grimbert only finding out when he turns 15 from a family friend that his father had a son and wife who perished in the Holocaust. Before, his mother was actually his father's sister-in-law who he met and fell in love with on his wedding day before the war. The attraction was mutual though the couple persevered with their marriages but the war years resolved their relationship with the deaths of their spouses in camps. They lived all those post war years with guilt and disapproval from family, the lives of the lost two spouses and child were not remembered which Grimbert became obsessed with. He has re-imagined his parent's story.

As I was reading this I went to a Guardian review to find out how true the story was and was shocked by the opening sentence: 'Twenty years after his parents jumped from the window of their Parisian apartment to their deaths, Philippe Grimbert decided to write about the secret that had overwhelmed their lives.'
Quite a fascinating read.

Bullseye Bella by James T. Guthrie (2019)
children's fiction
Tom Fitzgibbon (Manuscript) Award 2018. I really loved this hardcase story. Bella is a 12 year old dart playing prodigy and ends up being eligible to enter the National Darts Competition. The 5 times winner is not happy and tries everything to sabotage her entry. Along for the ride is her little brother who has decided to live every day as a pirate. A total delight.
When I googled the writer to find out more about him, I came across a news item that the book's production rights had been sold and the film company had a list of actors they wanted for the various roles. This would make a delightful film though I think that the lockdowns killed it off before it was even begun.
I loved a lot about this book though special mention goes to Blackbeard, Bella's little brother and his fabulous pirate focused vocabulary. Laugh out loud moments.

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith (2023)
crime
Cormoran Strike #7. I love a good absorbing read and J.K. Rowling certainly obliges again in another Cormoran Strike story, this time in the world of cults. Robin goes in undercover to try and find any proof of crimes and also to convince the son of their client to leave the cult. Lots of tense moments and I ended up reading this in record time - the last 500 pages in one day.

Bookshop Dogs by Ruth Shaw (2023)
nonfiction
Ruth Shaw wrote the wildly popular local memoir, The Bookseller at the End of the World, and has followed with little stories about the various dogs who arrive with customers to visit her bookshop. Each story is accompanied by a photo taken by a photographer friend whose dogs also feature. Interspersed throughout are stories of Shaw's own dog, Hunza, from earlier times. Hunza was a German Shepherd who worked alongside her when she was a Youth Aid Officer. Many of the youths or children found the confidence to confide because of Hunza.
I found most of this only mildly interesting, but some of the stories especially Hunza's ones were heartbreaking.

Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent (2023)
crime
A few years ago I became a big Liz Nugent fan and read all her books in a rush but then bailed on Little Cruelties. I came across this one when it was mentioned in an X conversation, I liked the sound of the title and requested it from the library. I really enjoyed this, the story is set in both Ireland and New Zealand so some local flavour for me.
Now in her 40s, strange Sally Diamond has had an unusual childhood and that is before we find out about her life before she was adopted. After the death of her father everything changes.

Nordy Bank by Sheena Porter (1964)
children's fiction

Carnegie Medal (UK) 1964. This is set in rural Shropshire where a group of young teenagers decide to go camping for a few days. They camp on a windy hill on the site of what was once a iron or bronze age settlement, Nordy Bank. One of the girls seems to channel a connection through to those past times. There is also an escaped German Shepherd who has just been retired from the army and still needs to undergo new training for his retirement.
This was quite a lovely read set in an English world that I doubt exists anymore, though dated it's still a pleasure for those wanting 1960s nostalgia. There are puppies too.

The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad (2018 Hebrew) (2024 English)
three novellas
I really liked these stories featuring ex-pat Israelis though they covered topics that were uncomfortable.
The Hebrew Teacher - a long established teacher of Hebrew at a college is forced to face a changing world when the new Professor of Hebrew Literature is not that keen on things Israeli or Judaism.
A Visit (Scenes) - An older grandmother comes to the US to see her first grandchild who is two or three years old. She's made to feel unwelcome by her busy son and standoffish wife, the grandson spends long hours in a daycare so she hardly sees him. There seems to be no love or family life in the home.
Make New Friends - A mother is distraught that her 13 year old daughter has no friends and goes about fixing this in the worse possible way - logging in to her daughter's social media.
This story really made me squirm.