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Posts on ‘July 26th, 2007’

AFRICA – Reading the World

Jul 26th, 2007
by Caribousmom.
12 comments

THE LIST for AFRICAN COUNTRIES
(Bolded Blue indicates books already read)

Potential books to be read for each country are indicated in red type.
Asterisk (*) indicates books I already own by have not read yet.

1.   Algeria (Algers)

Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War, by Assia Djebar

2.   Angora (Luanda)

3.   Benin (Port-Novo)

Instruments of Darkness, by Robert Wilson

4.   Botswana (Gaborone)

5.   Burkina Faso (Ouagadougou)
6.   Burundi (Bujumbura)
7.   Cameroon (Yaounde)
8.   Central African Republic (Bangui)
9.   Chad (N’Djamena)

The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur, by Daoud Hari (finished 15 February 2008; rated 5/5; read my review)

10. Comoros (Moroni)
11. Congo (Brazzaville)

The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver*
A Bend in the River, by V.S. Naipal*

12. Congo, Democratic Republic of (Kinshasa)

13. Cote d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast (Yamoussoukro)

As The Crow Flies, by Veronique Tadjo
Whiteman, by Tony D’Souza
The Suns of Independence, by Ahmadou Kourouma

14. Djibouti (Djibouti)

15. Egypt (Cairo)

The Cairo Trilogy, by Naguib Mahfouz*
Three Novels of Ancient Egypt, by Naguib Mahfouz*
The Yacoubian Building, by Alaa Al Aswany

16. Equatoria Guinea (Malabo)

17. Eritrea (Asmara)
18. Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, by Dinaw Megestu
Sweetness in the Belly, by Camilla Gibb

19. Gabon (Liberville)

20. Gambia (Banjul)
21. Ghana (Accra)

The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born, by Ayi Kwei Armah

22. Guinea (Conakry)

23. Guinea-Bissau (Bissau)

The Dark Child: The Autobiography of an African Boy, by Camara Laye

24. Kenya (Nairobi)

The Camel Bookmobile, by Masha Hamilton
Out of Africa and Shadows on Grass, by Isak Dinesen

25. Lesotho (Maseru)

26. Liberia (Monrovia)
27. Libya (Tripoli)

In The Country of Men, by Hisham Matar

28. Madagascar (Antananarivo)

29. Malawi (Lilongwe)
30. Mali (Bamako)

Men of Salt: Crossing the Sahara on the Caravan of White Gold, by Michael Benanav

31. Mauritania (Nouakchott)

32. Mauritius (Port Louis)
33. Morocco (Rabat)

Stolen Lives: Twenty Years in a Desert Jail, by Malika Oufkir and Michele Fitoussi (finished 16 May 2007; rated 4/5; read my review)

34. Mozambique (Maputo)
35. Namibia (Windhoek)
36. Niger (Niamey)
37. Nigeria (Abuja)

Half of A Yellow Sun, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (finished 7 January 2007; rated 5/5; read my review)
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (finished 24 January 2007; rated 5/5; read my review)

38. Rwanda (Kigali)

A Sunday At The Pool in Kigali, by Gil Courtemanche

39. Sao Tome and Principe (Sao Tome)
40. Senegal (Dakar)

So Long A Letter, by Mariama Ba
Scarlet Song, by Mariama Ba
The Ambiguous Adventure, by Cheikh Hamidou Kane

41. Seychelles (Victoria)
42. Sierra Leone (Freetown)

A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah

43. Somalia (Mogadishu)

Knots, by Nuruddin Farah

44. South Africa (Pretoria, Cape Town, Bleoemfontein)

Disgrace, by J.M. Coetzee (finished 14 December 2007; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
Life and Times of Michael K, by J.M. Coetzee (finished 17 February 2008; rated 4/5; read my review)
Playing in the Light, by Zoe Wicomb
Cry The Beloved Country, by Alan Paton

45. Sudan (Khartoum)

The Translator, by Leila Aboulela (finished 23 March 2007; rated 4.5/5; read my review)
Acts of Faith, by Phillip Caputo*

46. Swaziland (Mbabane)
47. Tanzania (Dodoma)

Baby Khaki’s Wings, by Anar Ali
Desertion, by Abdulrazak

48. Togo (Lome)
49. Tunisia (Tunis)
50. Uganda (Kampala)

Tropical Fish: Tales From Entebbe, by Doreen Baingana

51. Zambia (Lusaka)
52. Zimbabwe (Harare)

Don’t Lets Go The Dogs Tonight, by Alexandra Fuller
Nervous Conditions, by Tsitsi Dangarembga
Rainbow’s End, by Lauren St. John

Reading The World

Jul 26th, 2007
by Caribousmom.
5 comments

In the last year, I have become interested in reading world literature. I was surprised the other day when I sat down and reviewed my 2007 reads and found I’d read many books either set in other countries, or authored by foreign writers.

Several lit-bloggers have proposed world literature challenges: Reading Across Borders, Around the World in 80 Books, and Book Around the World.  One of my favorite blogs is Around the World in 100 Books – a blog devoted to reading world literature.

So, I have decided to set up my own plan to read around the world. I’m not setting a deadline. I’m not formally joining any of the challenges (except for Reading Across Borders which is an ongoing challenge I’m doing).

There is some disagreement among scholars how many countries actually exist. The numbers range from 189 to 194. I have decided to use the list compiled by WorldAtlas.com and found here. My goal is to read at least one book for each country listed. The book(s) I choose will either be in translation from that country, primarily set in that country or written by an author from that country. I want to get a sense of each country from the books I read.

I plan to gather my ideas about books from several sources, including (but not limited to) the following:

1. Michelle’s blog at 3m3a and her list of potential books from around the world
2. Bonnie’s blog at Book Around The World
3. The wonderful blog Around The World in 100 Books
4. Books in Translation Yahoo group
5. The magazine World Literature Today

So Far This is What My World Literature Map looks like:
create your own visited countries map or vertaling Duits NederlandsIf you would like to customize a map like this for YOUR world reading, you may do so by visiting this site.

Blogging Tips Meme

Jul 26th, 2007
by Caribousmom.
4 comments

Bonnie over at Bonnie’s Books has tagged me for this meme…and it looks like fun so here goes:

-Start Copy-

It’s very simple. When this is passed on to you, copy the whole thing, skim the list and put a * star beside those that you like. (Check out especially the * starred ones.)

Add the next number (1. 2. 3. 4. 5., etc.) and write your own blogging tip for other bloggers. Try to make your tip general.

After that, tag 10 other people. Link love some friends!

Just think – if 10 people start this and the 10 people pass it on to another 10 people, you have 100 links already!

1. Look, read, and learn. *** http://www.neonscent.com/

2. Be EXCELLENT to each other. ** http://www.bushmackel.com/

3. Don’t let money change ya! * http://www.therandomforest.info/

4. Always reply to your comments. ***** http://chattiekat.com/

5. Link liberally — it keeps you and your friends afloat in the Sea of Technorati. * http://chipsquips.com/

6. Don’t give up – persistence is fertile. * http://www.velcro-city.co.uk/

7. Give link credit where credit is due. *** http://www.sfsignal.com/

8. Pictures say a thousand words and can usually add to any post. ** http://scifichick.com/

9. Visit all the bloggers that leave comments for you – it’s nice to know who is reading! * http://stephaniesbooks.blogspot.com/

10. Thrown in something humorous occasionally, to keep things fun. http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/

11. Make it easy for your readers – use tags and labels and keep it simple! http://www.caribousmom.com

-End Copy-

Time to pass it on, so here are my 10 links …

HeidiJane at Adventures in Bookland
CoversGirl at Between The Covers
Nyssaneala at Book Haven
Sally at Books and Musings From Down Under
Rebecca at Fond of Books
Maggie at Maggie Reads
Joy at Overwhelmed With Joy
Amy at The Sleepy Reader
Dane at So Many Books So Little Time
MaryDell at A Variety of Words